──────────────
'GLITTER'
──────────────

♡

Mina huddled closer to Charlie in the Ravenclaw stands, pulling her jacket closer. Her face was numb against the icy wind gusting across the Quidditch pitch. Mina watched as Charlie watched the game intently, eyeing his animated reactions and facial expressions.

She lost track of the game from this—too busy thinking about Charlie's arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, to pay attention to the pitch.

Of course, it was normal for Mina to get sidetracked during Quidditch. The only reason she used to go to the school games was because of a certain Gryffindor seeker, except now he wasn't the reason for her distraction. Mina didn't even know where he was on the cloudy pitch.

Only as roaring cheers erupted from the Gryffindor stands, and Charlie groaned beside her, did Mina look at the pitch to see Harry with the golden snitch in his hand. He flew down to the muddy pitch, meeting the rest of his cheering team as the Gryffindor students flooded onto the field. Her eyes were drawn back to Charlie as he nudged her side.

"Wanna sneak into the kitchens for hot chocolate?" he said in her ear, and she grinned.

"Let's go."

. . . . .

"...and I'm bi so I said yes to the date, but it never ended up happening. A week later I hadn't called him back, and then he was all like, 'we shouldn't be together anymore, this relationship is completely stagnant.' and I was like, 'wait, we're in a relationship?'"

Mina dissolved into laughter that echoed through the hall.

"I literally had to look up later what stagnant means," he added, laughing as Mina half-choked on her sip of hot chocolate in another fit of laughter. "And then I was like, 'you never asked to be my boyfriend', and he's like 'well when a guy says yes to a date that practically means we're together', and I'm like—" he took a breath, laughing too hard to talk properly. "no the fuck it doesn't, Chris!"

Stomach hurting from laughter, Mina grabbed his arm for balance. She was still catching her breath as they rounded a corner and almost knocked into Harry and—surprise, surprise— Heather, hand in hand, also laughing amongst themselves at something. The former had changed out of his Quidditch gear, but the same couldn't be said about Heather, who still wore his sweater.

"Hey," Charlie greeted them breathlessly, straightening up. "Good job today, man. Nearly got ya," he said to Harry. Ravenclaw had only missed out on the win by a scathing 10 points after Harry caught the snitch.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry smiled, then looked to Mina. It was hard for her not to feel Heather's piercing gaze from where she practically hung onto Harry's arm. "Party in the Gryffindor com tonight, Mins. See you there?"

"Another one?"

He shrugged. "It's sort of...a weekly occurrence. Should be even better after today's win," he snuck a glance at Charlie.

Mina scrunched her nose. "I dunno...not really my thing."

"It's a glitter theme--everyone's dressing up. You should come!" Heather spoke up, smiling sweetly. "It'd give us a chance to catch up outside of the grubby potions classroom."

The words felt piercingly fake, but the way she said it was like they were best friends. Mina pressed her lips together to muster a polite smile. "Uh. Okay, then."

"That'll make two of us," Charlie said to Harry. "That is, unless today's losing team isn't welcome?"

"'Course you are," Harry said, patting his shoulder. "It's only your players that aren't."

"Hasn't stopped you from inviting Cho before."

"Who's Cho?" Heather spoke up, but Harry brushed the comment off with a casual laugh.

"We'll see you guys there, then," he said, gaze lingering on Charlie a bit before the two walked past them.

When they were out of earshot, Mina turned to Charlie with playful concern. "What was that all about?"

Charlie shrugged. "I don't get what you see in him."

"What?"

"You're friends, aren't you?"

"Oh. Yeah," Mina fiddled with her cup of hot (now cold) chocolate. "I don't know. We get along."

"Bit full of himself, eh?"

Now it was Mina's turn to shrug. "That's just him being extroverted. Get's it from his dad," she said with amusement.

. . . . .

As soon as they got to the party, Mina already wanted to leave. The teachers had apparently given up on trying to contain it, so students packed the large common room and spilled out into the halls outside it. It seemed even more crowded than the last one.

But, like Heather had said, it had a theme: glitter. Mina didn't know why it was this theme, exactly, but the festival-like makeup Ella had applied made her feel more excited about it. Soft glitter painted her upper cheeks and ran over her nose, and her shimmery eyeshadow caught the light with hundreds of its little sparkles. She had even dug out a top she'd bought during a summer phase of wanting to dress confidently--a sequined cream corset paired with a little black skirt and her beloved black doc-marten's. Ella had picked this out for her, and even applied some glitter to her collarbone.

Ella had insisted on putting some glitter on Charlie, too, but he had already rubbed most of it off. The small bits of glitter in his hair he didn't know were there remained.

Mina breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted everyone else sporting glittery outfits and makeup. Not that she thought Heather would lie to her about the theme and have them embarrass themselves, but...exactly that.

Inside the common room felt like a completely different place. The usual warm lighting was replaced by multicoloured disco lights that made sparkles and circles of colour move across the room. The fireplace had even been enchanted to change colour in time with the beat of the music, which was loud. It thumped in Mina's chest--but that might've been her heart as she caught sight of Harry across the room.

Glitter lined the side of his face from his cheekbone to neck. It was gold--probably to resemble the golden snitch he'd caught today--and as he ran a hand through his hair, talking to Ron and Dean, glitter also covered the thin line of his scar.

Even from far away, Mina couldn't take her eyes off it. He'd turned such a dark time in his very early life, something that had left a permanent mark he'd see every time he looked in the mirror, into something beautiful. He wasn't covering it with glitter to hide it--he did it to accentuate it. To make it stand out even more. A symbol of his survival that he was proud to bring attention to. Maybe he hadn't meant it that way, but that's how Mina saw it. It shimmered as the coloured light moved over him. It was beautiful. He was beautiful.

She longed for his ability to be so completely himself, scar and all.

It was like he felt her gaze because his eyes suddenly met hers from across the room. But she still couldn't look away. But then, neither could he.

♡

(TO BE CONTINUED)

a/n

HELLO ITS BEEN FOREVER

happy 3rd of december my loves <333 otherwise known as heather day!!

nearly missed this day AGAIN, but didn't thanks to @Luck_lover ! <3

i forced myself to write this chapter and now i'm feeling more inspired for this book again yay!!!!

i wanna write the next part of this chapter soon (had to split it in two cause otherwise id be spending a week on it), so it should be out in a couple days! i am starting a new job tomorrow tho so i might be a bit busy

thank u sm for coming back to read even after so long. i promise i haven't given up on this <3

-g

(p.s. fun fact, the story charlie was talking to mina about happened to me a couple years ago HAAA)