Chapter Text
It was almost comical how one look from Lila made Marinette feel fourteen again, alone and friendless and terrified of waking up with her stuff broken or missing.
Because Lila was here. In her school. And she was walking directly to her with razor sharp teeth in her smile. Marinette’s vision blackened at the edges. The inside of her mouth went raw with an acidic copper taste from biting her tongue too hard. Shit shit shit shit -
“Breathe with me, Angel. Slowly now, in and out.” Damian…She vaguely recognized that it was his voice. Damian was always safe. Damian was her friend. So she followed his instructions. In, out. In…out.
He grimaced when his fingertips pressed against her wrist; her pulse was thudding nearly a mile a minute. “Let’s get you back to my room.”
He steadily guided her to her feet and whisked her away from the Great Hall, but not before exchanging a terse nod with Chloe and Kagami, a silent look that they immediately knew meant “hold down the fort while I’m gone”.
When they reached his room, Damian immediately draped her favorite blanket over her shoulders and placed an unwrapped Chocolate Frog in her hands. It pained him to think about how this wasn’t the first - and certainly not the last - time that he helped bring her senses back into awareness. Throughout the last few years, Marinette would fall into a daze from time to time, the memories of Beauxbatons too great to shoulder by herself. Sometimes they sat together in silence until she felt comfortable to speak, and other times they laid side-by-side together until they fell asleep.
It seemed like this occurrence would be the latter. It never occurred to them how romantic that act could be seen. They only saw it for what it was: two friends trying to damnedest to comfort each other through their traumas.
A short while later, she curled into him and whispered into the darkness, her voice wavering. “What if I lose all of you because of this tournament?”
“We won’t let that happen, Angel,” Damian said. “I promise.”
Marinetted shifted her hips until she could face him. Her face was unreadable as she asked, “And you? What if I lose you? I know you’re planning on putting your name into that goblet.”
Damian shied his gaze away. Merlin, she always knew how to read his emotions. Still looking away, he stroked the sides of her jaw with the coarse pads of his fingers. “You know I have to at least try, Angel. Everyone in my family has done something exceptional. Now, it’s my turn. I need to prove that I’m not falling behind.”
Marinette snuggled into his chest as he continued. “I’m scared of what will happen if my name is drawn. But I’m terrified of what will happen if it isn’t. I’ve dreamed my whole life for a chance like this to come around…and if it doesn’t come true, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Well, that’s the good part I guess,” Marinette said as her hands hovered over his sweater. She yawned and pulled the blanket over them, knowing that they were on the brink of falling asleep. “You’ll get to go find a new dream.”
—
“Oh, it’s a shame that Marinette ran off before we could talk to her.” Lila’s well-practiced pout made Chloe want to vomit. “I can’t say that her behavior surprises me, though. I mean, just look at the house she was sorted into.”
The only other student from Beauxbatons that laughed was the girl who stood next to her, whose thick auburn hair swished around her shoulders; the rest of them looked mildly uncomfortable at best, but none made any moves to contradict her.
The Slytherin table remained silent, some of them unable to hide their scowls at the newcomer and her posse. Violent whispers rose among themselves. How dare she make that comment against Marinette? How dare she make those insinuations about our house?
Kagami was quick to strut towards the group, her fingers itching to grab her wand, and her housemates were more than eager to let her confront them.
“Care to repeat yourself?” Her tone of voice was enticing and poisonous as hemlock - Chloe couldn’t wait to hear what else she had to say.
Lila was unfazed by her presence and immediately deepened her trembling pout. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to cause any trouble -”
“Yes you did. Even before that inane drivel spilled out of your mouth, we knew what your intentions were.” Kagami cocked her chin back in defiance. “We know all about you and your little schemes, Lila Rossi.”
Lila faltered for a moment before gaining her composure; this wasn’t going to be as easy as she expected. She looked back towards her classmates for sympathy and raised her hand near Kagami’s shoulder. She cooed, “Oh Alya, look at these poor misguided souls. Marinette’s manipulations are so much worse than I thought.”
“Keep your filthy, lying hands off of her!” Chloe smacked Lila’s hand before it came into contact with Kagami.
Alya gaped and pushed herself against Chloe, furious that anyone would dare talk to her friend that way. She squared her chest, demanding, “Do you know who her mother is?! She’s an ambassador to the Ministry, and she can get you into so much trouble if you even think about hurting her daughter!”
“And?” Chloe cocked her hip and rolled her eyes in Alya’s direction, saying, “My daddy’s an ambassador too, and from what I’ve heard, Ambassador Rossi has been in some hot water with her superiors. Besides, unlike some people -” She glanced in Lila’s direction. “I would never abuse my parent’s job for my personal gain.”
Neither Alya nor Lila could fit in another sentence, for a newer, colder voice shook them to their core.
“I would suggest that you go back to your quarters, lest you want to start a riot with our school. And you should know now that out of all the houses, Slytherins especially don’t take kindly to strangers preying on one of their own.”
Felix’s rough timbre left no room for argument. Everyone, aside from a vaguely familiar blonde boy who lingered for a brief second, scurried out of the Great Hall. Perhaps as Head Boy, Felix could have been more cordial to their foreign guests…Nah, who was he kidding. They deserved what they had coming to them.
—
Several days later, Marinette went into Damian’s room without even knocking; they were far past the point of caring if she did. Her heart ached at seeing him lie so despondently on his bed, tossing a Quaffle into the air and catching it listlessly.
“How are you feeling, Dove?” She took a few steps towards him, but stopped a foot short. Not knowing what to do with her jittery hands, Marinette tucked them underneath her arms.
Damian stopped his game, but said nothing. What could he say even if he tried? He wasn’t picked for the Triwizard Tournament – Felix was. And to rub more salt into the wound, Marinette’s insufferable old crush Adrien Agreste was chosen as well (But if it was any consolation, Rossi was too busy hanging off of his arm to try bothering Marinette that night.)
“Felix deserves it,” he said truthfully. The older boy really did. He was cunning, intelligent, and agile: the ingredients for the perfect representative in the games.
When Felix’s name was called, Damian didn’t know if the feeling that burst in his chest was relief or disappointment. It’s a hard truth, but ultimately it’s something that I’ll come to accept, he mused. I still have my family. I still have my health. And I have Marinette by my side. The sudden jerk of his head and half-grin surprised her.
“I guess it’s like you said, Angel. Now I get to find a new dream.”
—
Naturally, Marinette’s housemates refused to speak to any of the Beauxbatons unless they cut their ties with Lila (which, of course, none of them did). Damian, Chloe, Kagami, and Felix did even better by walking with Marinette between classes and fending off any would-be interactions between her and Lila. This eased Marinette’s nerves for a solid couple of weeks, until one day she found herself cornered in an empty bathroom on the far side side of the castle. How Lila managed to track her down, Marinette wasn’t sure.
To her credit, Lila kept the interaction brief. She merely laughed at how Marinette believed that she was free from her, and promised to make her life a living hell by turning Hogwarts against her too.
Which would have been an incredibly threatening statement…except for the fact that it didn’t work - and Marinette didn’t even have to lift a finger to see it come undone.
Lila first tried her sob story on a curious crowd of Gryffindors, and cried about how Marinette lied about her to all of Slytherin. When she finished regaling her stories, Jonathan Kent had to be restrained from lunging at her (“Let me go, LET ME GO! If she thinks she can say that about my friend, I’m gonna -”).
The rest of them looked at her in pure disgust. After all, even though Slytherin was their default rival, Gryffindors couldn’t stand hearing her talk about Marinette behind her backs. It was the ultimate sign of cowardice.
They shunned her almost as quickly as Slytherin did.
Ravenclaw was next, and they tore every one of her lies to shreds using their extensive knowledge. In fact, most of them were even insulted that she thought they’d be stupid enough to buy into any of her nonsense. If any of Lila’s classmates happened to be around, a few Ravenclaws challenged her to discussions about magical theory and history since she claimed to be so well-connected to those famous wizards and witches.
Needless to say, it didn’t take Lila very long to walk away with her ego brought down a few levels.
Last, but certainly not least, was Hufflepuff who, despite their generous reputation, didn’t even humor her for a second. Many of them were part of Marinette’s knitting, baking, or sewing clubs, and she’d been nothing but kind to them since the beginning- and Hufflepuffs were nothing if not loyal to their friends.
The Hogwarts professors weren’t any help either. Normally, Lila was able to sweet-talk her teachers into giving her extensions or overlooking her frequent absences.
Not here though. One sharp glare from that Potions Master (Mendeliev, was it?) sent Lila dragging her feet back to her seat.
Even the moving stairs and portraits had it out for her, as they constantly guided Lila in the wrong direction or changed her route midway up the stairs. Peeves had a bit of fun dropping kitchen scraps onto her head, and more often than not, Lila would return to the Beauxbatons carriage smelling like day-old sausage stuffing or rotten cabbage.
That particular evening, she trudged through the cabin smelling of chicken bones and old banana peels. She passed a few of her classmates, who weakly nodded in acknowledgement but didn’t offer any help. With the mountain of evidence rising against her, very few of her classmates entertained her stories anymore.
She screamed into her pillow with unfiltered rage. This whole mess was all Marinette’s fault.
Lila was going to make her pay.
—
With Quidditch being suspended for the school year due to the tournament, Damian found himself with much more free time - i.e. more free time with Marinette - on his hands. The two of them spent several weeks quizzing Felix on different defensive charms, offensive spells, hexes, jinxes, curses, and antidotes to poisonous concoctions until late into the night. Chloe and Kagami were self-appointed to snack duty, and would sneak food out of the kitchen to fuel their studying.
Now, if Marinette was in her usual frame of mind, she would take points from the two of them for sneaking out past curfew. But, with the constant all-nighters helping Felix prepare, well…she was not in her usual frame of mind. (Plus, they bought her silence with extra chocolate croissants.)
With their nearly 24/7 preparations, it was no surprise then that by the time the First Task was revealed to be an endurance course (“Do not worry,” Headmaster Fu announced. “We have modified the tasks to prevent the least amount of damage possible. The challenges you will face will not cause long-term internal injuries.”), Felix dodged, deflected, and attacked his obstacles with the grace of a stallion.
He stood proudly at the finishing platform while Adrien and the purple-haired girl from Durmstrang struggled through their last several obstacles.
And Damian…he genuinely whooped and hollered for Felix without any trace of jealousy.
—
That lack of jealousy ended when he caught sight of an aqua-haired boy from Durmstrang talk to Marinette. Damian raced towards the Great Hall to meet Marinette for lunch and saw the pair closely sitting beneath the shade of a tree. The boy said something that made Marinette laugh and playfully shove his arm.
Damian lost his appetite.
He faintly recognized the guy as the Durmstrang contestant’s older brother, not that it mattered to him in that moment. All Damian cared about was the fact that the boy mouthed “Yule Ball” at Marinette.
And she nodded her head enthusiastically.
—
Chloe, Kagami, and Felix didn’t even need to press their ears against the door to hear them argue. Their voices rang clear like a song. They’d been arguing for two hours at that point, and Damian still refused to budge on his stance.
“I just don’t see why you don’t want to even talk about it, Damian!”
“I already said that I don’t want to go Marinette, can we please leave it at that?”
“But why? Why - ?”
“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO GO SINCE YOU ALREADY HAVE A DATE.”
There was a pause and a shuffle; Marinette was most likely shifting her feet as she thought of a response.
“I don’t have a date…I-I thought…I was hoping that you would ask me.”
“Oh….” They could hear a pin drop at his sudden silence. “B-but what about that boy who talked to you the other day?”
Marinette’s incredulous giggling turned to mirthful laughter. “Luka? Luka was asking if Felix would consider being his date, not me. That’s all. Luka saw that we were friends, and he only wanted to get my opinion about it.”
Chloe and Kagami glanced at Felix, who dutifully stared down the corridors and turned red in the face.
“So…would you reconsider your stance and take me to the Yule Ball?”
“Only if you can forgive me for being such an idiot.”
“It’s a deal, Dove.”
—
Chloe smirked and adjusted Marinette’s bronze hair pins. “He’s going to lose it when he sees you, Minette.”
“You think so?” Marinette twirled in front of their mirror and admired the way that her cap-sleeve jade gown hugged her waist while also flaring at her hips. Her movement caught the light, making the faint golden applique on her bodice glimmer like candlelight. In truth, despite the slightly uneven stitches near the hem, it was her best work yet.
“Oh, I know so.” Kagami emerged from behind the privacy shutter, looking like a dream in a cream-colored power suit. “He can barely string two sentences around you when you’re just in your uniform. I promise you that he’ll be speechless tonight.”
—
On the other side of the Slytherin dorms, the suit that Marinette made for Damian electrified his entire being until he was the sun personified.
A thick gold band ran down the length of both arms, with delicate white blossom prints scattered from his shoulder to his wrists. The lapels of his jacket had a rustic, golden splatter pattern that reminded him of a Phoenix opening up its wings to take flight. With the gleaming bronze cufflinks and shimmery champagne dress shirt gifted by his father and older brothers, Damian felt absolutely invincible.
—
That is, of course, until his legs went to jelly at seeing Marinette in her dress. She was stunning. Incredibly, unquestionably stunning. And the way that she looked at him nervously - and how her lips were coated in a delicious layer of berry gloss - drove him mad.
For hours, he spun her around the dance floor even though he had terrible coordination. And yet, in her own Marinette way, she accepted him wholeheartedly.
Every time she laughed at him stepping on her foot, every time she caressed his tie, every time she rested her head upon his chest - Damian felt himself fall deeper and deeper into an unknown abyss. Her eyes glittered up at him and oh shit everything made sense now.
He had to tell her how he felt. He had to tell her now.
—
When their professors weren’t looking, they snuck off to the castle’s garden and strolled beneath the white winter fairy lights; although students weren’t technically allowed to be wandering during the ball, they still kept up the festive decorations as if they anticipated some rule-breaking to occur. Between the distant sound of the water fountain and the occasional chime of a fairy’s harp, the crisp air was silent.
They walked deeper and deeper into the garden’s maze until they reached the center, which was decorated in thick vines and silky roses. Marinette felt her heart jump into her throat when Damian brushed his fingertips across her bare shoulders.
She realized just how alone they were in that private space.
“Angel…I didn’t bring you here just to go on a walk. I have something to tell you.”
His hands glided down her curves until they rested around her waist, switching between tapping a nonsensical rhythm and rubbing small circles into her hips. Her breath hitched; Damian was only a breath away. She could see the flecks of forest green in his eyes, the freckles that dusted his cheeks.
“I think I might have an idea what it is.”
Damian cupped the back of her head with both hands. The movement made the intoxicating scent in her hair waft around him. Chamomile and orange flower blossoms. His absolute favorite.
“Let me show you then.”
The night sky stilled as Damian brought his lips to hers in a soft, loving kiss.