TO

Theo and Fenella have been best friends for years. They’ve always been physically comfortable—leaning on each other, sharing a bed after parties with friends around, hugging, stealing each other’s food. No one thinks twice about it. Then, after a Slytherin party… Everyone else slowly filters out. They’re tipsy, sitting in the common room by the dying fire, talking about graduation, the future, and how strange it is that they’ll only have another year together. Theo says something unexpectedly honest, like: “I don’t think I’ve ever pictured Hogwarts without you.” She laughs it off, but the moment lingers. There’s a long silence. One of them kisses the other. Not a dramatic, movie-style kiss—just a quiet, impulsive one. And instead of pulling away… They kiss again. Maybe it goes a little further—touching, tangled up on the sofa, all that unresolved tension finally surfacing—but before they fully cross the line, one of them comes to their senses. The next morning: “Last night doesn’t change anything.” “…Right.” Except it changes absolutely everything. ⸻