Room of Doom

Room of Doom
second floor of hogwarts

There is a rumor that whoever enters the Room of Doom will be cursed to fail at least one OWL, and no one's ever risked going in before fifth year to see if it holds true. It is a dark, circular room with thick drapes covering the windows. Even if anyone would actually *want* to go inside, it's infested with pixies and boggarts so there's really no point in staying here unless you feel like torturing yourself.

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Rayy waits patiently in the Room of Doom, minding their own business, having learned that as long as you don't do anything stupid like kill the pixies or go poking around old cabinets then the creatures inhabiting this room will generally leave you unbothered. It's become one of their favorite spots to meet up with Lemon at, seeing as most other students avoid this room like the plague. They are currently staring at their phone, eyes fixed on last night's exchange with Marisha. Why she has to go and say 'I love you' *now* when Rayy is having all these complicated feelings, they have no idea. They suspect though whoever's in control of the universe is having a good laugh, though. Lemon should be here any minute now, and so Rayy braces themselves for the teasing that's about to come. They will likely tell the rest of their friend group at a later date, but Lemon is their best friend and deserves to know first. Not that it's a very big revelation, Rayy realizes, considering how early she had seen it coming... The real terror, honestly, is if Ant makes them sit through another ridiculous talk about not hurting Marisha. Rayy would not put it past him to be awkward enough to do it again.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Lemon is ecstatic to see them, mostly because she was right that their terribly embarrassing situation had something to do with Marisha and she is eager to hear more about it. They aren't that embarrassing, which means she never has anything to tease them for except for the object of their obvious affections and this time even Rayy is admitting she should be excited to hear about it. Sure, Lemon could act more concerned for her best friend and whatever they're going through at the moment, but she trusts that they would have communicated to her if it was a genuine emergency. "Hellooooo!" Her presence is announced the moment she enters the infamous Room of Doom, catching the door before it swings into anything and turning around to close it gentler than she first opened it. Usually she wouldn't mind, but she set off the pixies once by slamming it into a coatrack on accident. Her next move is barreling towards a table with a few magical belongings on top of it, hopping and sliding across the table and stopping just inches before she would have pushed the items to the floor. It's routine, and not that scary anymore. Besides, Lemon and Rayy can handle some stupid pixies or doxies. "What happened?" Getting straight to it, she's grinning at them and even lifts her brows. "Did she sting you?" Lemon laughs even though she doesn't even find the comment *that* funny.

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Rayy rolls their eyes at the joke but it *is* a bit funny (Lemon would not be their best friend if Rayy did not find her amusing). "Worse." they say, adding a flair of drama to their intonation because they do not want this whole issue to be taken so seriously. "She told me she loved me." They finish, taking one last glance at their chat with Marisha before turning their phone off and putting it away in their pocket to fully focus on Lemon and the conversation at hand. "Platonically!" they make the very important clarification right away before Lemon can say anything. "She's just one of those people, I guess. She and Ant say it to each other all the time or at least every time they end a conversation." Rayy did not think Ant was that kind of person, but then again he looks uncomfortable every time he says it. Then again, when *doesn't* Ant look uncomfortable? Rayy almost laughs at the thought. "I'm just not sure I can say it back as platonically..." Rayy drifts off, not seeing the point of beating around the bush and would rather get straight to the point so that they can get all the teasing over with already. "You were right." Rayy says, knowing Lemon would love to hear that. "I have feelings for Marisha." They know they aren't dropping some bombshell considering that their whole friend group has been teasing Rayy about this for nearly a year at this point, but saying out loud still feels as if they have relieved this very heavy burden off of their shoulders. Now that Rayy is no longer in denial, they think it's honestly stupid how long they've gone without admitting it. They understand now, definitely, why their friends were teasing so much. They would not have let Lemon hear the end of it if the situation were reversed, definitely. It was so *obvious*. Of course they had feelings for Marisha. "I know you've known this whole time but I only realized this *yesterday* so I'm still processing, alright?" Rayy is half-joking, still trying to wrap their head around this whole situation. Do they even have a shot with Marisha? And God, that height difference... They decide to wait for Lemon's initial reaction before proceeding with the story of the embarrassing almost kiss.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

"*Worse?*" Lemon gasps, hands shooting towards her face as her features all widen in horror. Then Rayy says what happened, and her mind whirls through every reaction at once. It plays on her face too as she visibly melts at the thought of such intimacy... Lemon is such a loser for these things, but then her features knit together as she tries to piece together what they could be so distraught over then... When Rayy confesses their feelings, her features melt again and she laughs into her hands before putting them down against the edge of the table, leaning forward. "*I told you so!*" It's followed by a scream of excitement, lifting her hands to scream into them again before putting them down against the table. Lemon appears absolutely delighted, having waited for this moment for *months* now. It's finally here, but she didn't expect them to be so... nervous? Her eyes fix on Rayy's hands for a moment to see if they're fidgeting before lifting her gaze, rolling her head over to one shoulder and letting her two pigtails fall over to the same side. Her grin is still there; trying to hide it would be a pointless task that she isn't going to bother with. "You have feelings for Marisha. Congratulations!" Lemon somehow rationalizes that that's the best response, grin widening as her eyes illuminate with excitement. Clearly she believes that that's the nicest reaction to the news. It's good news for Rayy too! Marisha *has* to be interested in them too, so this is the perfect scenario for their first big crush, right? "Whatcha gonna do?"

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Lemon's excitement is contagious so they can't help but smile when she lets out her little scream. Then, she asks what they plan on doing moving forward and immediately they cringe, exhaling as if to prepare themselves to tell this story. Rayy is turning pink already just remembering it, rubbing the back of their neck awkwardly with their hand. "Well, I *did* do something. Er, *almost* did." they say. Rayy bites the inside of their cheek as they struggle to get out the words. Just reliving the moment is so embarrassing, which truthfully, is a bit stupid because it's not like Marisha *knew* what they had intended to do, right? Otherwise, she would not have messaged them later that night to say that she loves them. Or maybe she's just being nice? Fucking hell, it's completely within Marisha to just be nice and pretend it never happened even if she noticed that Rayy had attempted to do something... Rayy does not pray very often anymore, but in that moment they say a quick prayer that this isn't the case. "So," they begin, slowly. They do not have it in them to rip off the bandaid all at once and get this telling of this dilemma over with. "Did you ever notice... how *short* Marisha is?" Rayy grimaces. They really had not until Morp and did not think this would ever prove to be a problem, truly. How were *they* supposed to know that they had feelings for her? Stupid.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Lemon tries to bottle herself. Would that mean she's now Lemonade? Her grin is the smallest sign she can manage to maintain to show she is interested and still actually *listening*. Rayy would be used to that by now though, and regardless she wouldn't exert extra energy into it when everyone else can just *learn* that that's what she is doing: listening. Her eyes are sort of glazed over, but they bulge when they mention how short Marisha is. "*Tiny!* An itty bitty bee," she says, laughing at herself as she raises her hands and pinches her forefinger to her thumb to show just how small their friend is. Their own height difference is dramatic enough to the point that Lemon is grateful most of their interactions occur when Marisha is walking towards where the taller of the two is sitting. "I can't *bee*-lieve you would want to date someone so short. Good thing the wind could blow you over, so you could never *crush* her, but sti- OH!" Lemon laughs to herself again, arms clinging to her sides as she leans over just slightly. Her mind is racing as the thought of Rayy ever- "Oh, nooo!" Tears form at the corners of her eyes, falling over onto her round face before she catches them. Lemon breathes in and tries to really collect herself this time, straightening her posture before leaning forward again. Her attempt at seeming so collected if anything creates a larger mockery of the situation. To think that she could ever be so serious when discussing something so ridiculous is a joke in and of itself. "I'm listeninggg," she says, huffing out a stifled laugh.

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Of course Rayy knows that she's listening, and the moment they realizes she has pieced together where this conversation is going, they cringe slightly as if to brace themselves for the full force of Lemon's ridicule. They know that she is doing this with love, so they are unbothered by anything she has to say. It *is* true, anyway! A gust of wind could truly blow Rayy over; honestly, *they're* the real stick bug. They wait until she's calmed down before continuing. They *appreciate* that she's trying to be composed, even if it's just making this conversation more ridiculous and embarrassing than it already is. Rayy doesn't know what is more painful – having 'the talk' with Ant, or having to tell Lemon about the almost kiss fiasco. "I didn't *realize* that she was so short." they admit, sounding so pained by this. "I only noticed at Morp, and I didn't think it was that big of a deal! Then, yesterday..." Rayy swallows, their face turning incredibly pink. "I tried to kiss her." they finally say, a large exhale accompanying the end of their sentence. "I thought it was a good time! She told me she loved me and I was about to leave, and I thought, hey! This would be perfect! Like a fucking dumbass." Rayy ducks their head, too embarrassed to look at Lemon directly. "But I just... couldn't... because I didn't know how to... bend?" Rayy rolls their shoulders, wanting so desperately to bang their head against something as they remember this moment. "She's so much shorter, Lemon." they say seriously, finally looking at her.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Rayy's agony over this is quite ridiculous. It's justified because Marisha is truly *that* short, but she can't manage her ridicule over how insanely ridiculous this situation that they have found themself in truly is. Watching them blush in embarrassment, she stares in pure wonder just as her expression turns sheepish on their behalf. It's so humiliating to her that she can't even manage to be anything but be visibly embarrassed for them. When their eyes meet, hers go wide. "You're right. You're a fucking dumbass." Lemon grins, huffing amusement to herself. "In my opinion, the worst part is that you were planning on kissing her and then *leaving*!?" It's a little flabbergasting and Rayy deserves criticism for believing that that was a smart way of going about things. Lemon is unsure of what experience Marisha might have, but she doesn't necessarily act as if she's kissed someone before... Whatever that means, so she imagines it would be terribly humiliating to have someone kiss you for the first time and then *leave*. "Wait, but you *tried*. What did she say? What did you *do*? Show me." Lemon gestures them to come over and show her, grin widening as she laughs at them. "Showww me. I need to know."

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Rayy rolls their eyes and sighs, but stands anyway and extends a hand to help Lemon up so she can stand as well. As if to copy the situation perfectly, Rayy leads her to the doorway of the Room of Doom. "It was – It was like this." Rayy gently positions Lemon underneath the door frame while they step out into the corridor. They look both ways to make sure there aren't that many people around. There's a group of first or second years hanging out in the hall, but Rayy couldn't care less about what they see because it's not like they know them anyway. "Okay, bend a bit..." they instruct, so that the height difference could be accurately captured. "There!" Rayy exclaims once she's gotten the height correctly. Rayy's face is still burning red. "I sort of just – Wait." They hurry inside for a bit to get their bag in order to accurately recreate the scene. "So she said she loves me, and I thought it would be a good time to kiss her... You *know* I've never done this before, so I don't know if that was actually a good time. And for the record, I would've *stayed* if she was receptive to it. I just thought... You know, if she shoots me down, then I could just leave and never have to show my fucking face around the head dorms ever again." They defend themselves, but they're still heartily embarrassed while explaining the whole situation. "So, I sort of... tried to lean in like this." they say, mimicking their movements at the time. "But I realized it was too awkward? So I pretended I was adjusting my bag like this." They shrug their bag onto their shoulder as if to support it more securely. "I don't think she noticed. She didn't say anything. Unless she's being kind, which could definitely be the case... Shit."

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Lemon follows, starting to bend her knees to reach Marisha's height before they even gesture for her to. "Aww, Rayy! You're so *tall*," she mimics the accent of their short peer, bringing her hands to her face just as she's noticed her do before. After the reenactment, she screams and bounces to her regular stature, running into the room and swirling around to stare at them. Instantly, she screams again and then laughs. "Nooo!" she shouts, bringing her hands to either side of her face as she stares at them. "How was that subtle?" Lemon mimics the brief swoosh downward before trying to lift an imaginary bag higher onto her shoulder. It's a little exaggerated, but she doesn't realize that. "Are you *kidding*? She definitely noticed. Oh, my God..." Slowly, she starts to return to a state of less chaos, chest rising and falling dramatically as her grin falls. It's as if with each breath, the situation dawns on her more and more and she becomes more embarrassed for them. "Hey, she might not've! Obviously, you have seen her since then because you go on daily *study dates*. I don't know, Rayy, how either of you have lasted *so fucking long* without realizing— Wait, so what did she say when you saw her next? Nothing? No shot."

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Rayy scoffs when she mimics Marisha's accent, though it does make them remember her and how she *does* talk and they absent-mindedly begin to think about how pleasant her voice sounds. A smile almost forms on their face before Lemon mimics the swoosh downwards and immediately, the expression on their face becomes a scowl. "It was *not* that obvious." they say, even though now they're wondering if it *was*. It would be so embarrassing if it was really that obvious. "It was more like – " They do it again, a lot more subtly than she did. "Like that." Rayy's face only burns more when Lemon insists that Marisha must have noticed. "I don't know! I saw her in the library this morning but we sort of just studied in silence after talking a bit. Like always! And right after she messaged me," Rayy enters the room again, taking out their phone for Lemon to see and scrolling up in their chat with Marisha. Just scrolling through it, the amount of 'I love you'-s they've gotten through in just two days is a lot, or at least a lot for Rayy. They don't mind, obviously, but it's embarrassing that Lemon can see this. It doesn't occur to them, though. They stop scrolling once they reach the messages immediately after they had left her at the head dorms. "Here. This is what she said *right* after."

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Lemon reaches for their phone, finger swiping just a little lower than what they intended to show her. Her eyes bulge again, grinning before waving their phone through the air. "Rayy! The Wasp *loooves* you!" Her voice is taunting, pushing their phone back into their hands before bringing her hands to her face. "And you love her! I knew it. I knewww it! I fucking told you so!" Lemon wishes silently that there was someone to remind her so proactively of how much she is loved. Imagine being told so often just how much you are appreciated... Oh, her heart is fluttery for them. Maybe she should put more effort into befriending Marisha and she will get this sort of treatment too! "Hey, even if she noticed, she doesn't seem to *care*, right? You're fine then!" Her shoulders rise toward her ears in a half-assed shrug. "Or she's scared to say something, but then you won't have to ever acknowledge it and that's better, right? Or would you prefer she confronts you over it?" Her brows raise as she watches for their reaction. "We can act it out! See which option you prefer."

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

Rayy almost sighs again, but they're too busy feeling their face somehow grow even warmer once Lemon starts teasing them about how Marisha *loves* them. "To be fair, I've *always* known I loved her. I just thought it was... platonic?" Dumb. So dumb. The moment the word leaves Rayy's mouth, they bury their face in their hands as if disappointed in how stupidly they have been acting. "The *ideal* scenario is that she didn't notice." they say, though talking to Lemon they are beginning to lose more and more hope that this is the case. They struggle with themselves for a bit before deciding that no, they don't need to act it out because that's so embarrassing and they are already so mortified by what they've acted out already. "No, no, no, it's fine." they tell her, ears burning. "I should just talk to her about it, right? And see if she feels the same way?" Rayy asks, looking for confirmation that this is the correct course of action. "Ugh, but what if she *doesn't* and it ruins the friendship forever? Fucking hell." They let their head rest against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. They look around as if to make sure nobody is listening or passing by the Room of Doom, which nobody ever does, before looking at Lemon and saying, in a low whisper, "And she's so *short*." they say, eyes widening a bit. "What if we get together, but all our future kisses are that awkward?" Why couldn't they just be *shorter*? Rayy never enjoyed being tall anyway.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Lemon doesn't analyze the situation nor try to construct something well thought out for them to follow. Instead she uses her instincts. "Totally! What is the *worst* that could happen? Truly?" Her eyebrows raise, but they fall quickly as she resumes talking. "What are the chances that she would seriously unfriend you over that? Whatever the flying *fuck* she has going on with Travert has to be way weirder." Her face contorts as if to say she's totally correct in this thought. How the two are friends is beyond her, but she has heard plenty of whispers about them being interested in each other now that she knows them. It's one of those things that you don't notice until you know who the whispers are about. And she understands why! When she passed them outside Charms, she wanted to *gag*, but she isn't sure if that's because of Ant or because of how gooey and gushy Marisha is with him. It's worse with Rayy though, she thinks. "Talk to her! Talk to her, and it will be *fine*. Her eyes are so—" Lemon does her best impression of the Ravenclaw, bringing her hands to her face. "Legit whenever she lays her eyes on you. It's fucking gross." She laughs; it's said with love. "And when you two date, each awkward kiss can serve as a reminder that your brain chose the shortest seventeen year old at Hogwarts!" *She blends in with the second years,* she thinks, but that's too far even if it's objectively true. Short people are freakish. "It's punishment for your *sins*."

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

What *are* the chances Marisha would seriously unfriend them over what happened? Shit, Rayy doesn't know. They *hope* she wouldn't. She doesn't seem like the type to, but definitely if she had noticed then it would surely be awkward and perhaps this is the beginning of a slow and painful end to their friendship. Rayy doesn't want to think about it, except it's all they can think about. "Maybe I *shouldn't* talk to her. I don't fucking know." they reason out, mostly just afraid to have this conversation. Rayy would never claim to be *brave*, especially no in a situation like this, where they are so out of their depth. "And her eyes are like that with *everyone*. Have you seen her with Ant?" It is so amazing to Rayy how much love Marisha is capable of holding in her heart and how effortlessly she expresses that love with her eyes alone. It is one of the many things that they love about her. "But yeah, maybe I should just keep quiet? Then see if she says anything or if anything changed. I think it'd be pretty easy to figure out whether or not she noticed." Rayy likes to think that they know Marisha well enough to be able to tell if something's off. "And if she noticed and she's not saying anything, then that means she doesn't want things to change, right? Right?" Rayy exhales. "I'd rather be just friends than nothing at all, Lemon. *That*, I'm a thousand percent sure of."

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Rayy ignoring her comment sort of irks her, but she reminds herself that now is the exact time that her mother always always tells her about— when she absolutely needs to shut it. Whatever. Lemon thought it was funny. "Nooo, it's extra with you. I'm telling you. It's really, really—" Her eyes do it again, opening her mouth to mimic Marisha's accent again before stopping herself. Their vulnerability in those last few seconds is not completely startling, but her heart really swells at the thought that they care about her *that* much. "Wow, you love her *so much*. It's so obvious." Her comment is followed by a short huff before she just stares at them for a long second, totally unimpressed. "Even if you don't tell her, which... I *guessss* you shouldn't if you're *that* scared about it— but anyways, I don't know how she couldn't tell. Do you spit this sort of sappy shit to her too?" Everything about her demeanor in that moment says she has accepted that she shouldn't fight for them to say anything and is instead focused on how smitten they are and just how cute it is. Lemon seems to drift off, trying to conjure something that Rayy might say to her that would sappy and ridiculous so she could mimic them. There's nothing that she honestly (despite how humiliating this would be to her character) wouldn't also want to hear, so she tries not to joke. "Hey, do you even know if she's— y'know, not totally straight?" The Bugs are just about the two straightest looking individuals Lemon has ever met.

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

"Normally *she's* the one initiating all this sappy shit, so it's not like when I do it, it's coming out of the blue." Rayy would never call the stuff Marisha tells them sappy. They know that this is how Marisha expresses love and they are grateful that she wants to express so much of it to them. Obviously, it's not entirely their thing but they do appreciate it. The idea that Marisha might not even be interested in Rayy because she's straight suddenly occurs to them. Rayy seems to be having a lot of these belated realizations when it comes to her. Their face immediately falls a bit as they make some sort of strangled noise with their throat to express their stress over the situation. "Fuck, I haven't even *thought* about that." Suddenly, all these other things come rushing into mind too. "Shit, I'm not Jewish either. She's really religious, so she might care about that?" Rayy really wishes that these feelings had just remained dormant forever and then they would never have had to deal with these problems. They take a deep breath as they collect themselves before finally composing themselves once again and sighing. "Okay, so I just have to get over this then." Rayy frowns, not seeming entirely convinced by the idea.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Her shrug becomes less exaggerated as she watches them fall into a larger puddle of stress than they came here with, feeling quite terrible for them though she's self aware enough to know that it's not her fault. It isn't theirs either, but she certainly doesn't feel terrible for bringing the matter to their attention. One thing is definite though, which is that she didn't think that that realization would create such a noise out of her best friend. "I don't know shit about Judaism. It might not matter? Assuming she's not straight in the first place... Yeah." Even for a moment, Lemon sounds defeated for them. It's primarily due to trying to really let them process, and every second she doesn't spend talking is spent biting at her lips to force them closed. "Yikes. I don't know. If you don't want to tell her, then sure, you obviously have to just fucking get over it. I guess?" Since she's never had to, she doesn't really understand the point of just throwing in the towel. Never once has she been interested in someone who wasn't obviously interested in her though, so maybe her perception is just terribly off. Rex pursued her first; Haydn reciprocated her feelings. It was never an issue. Watching it become an issue for someone else though is a little scary. No wonder so many guys were total assholes about it. It seems stressful, and guys can nearly never ever ever handle their stress the way they should. Hm. "You're sorta lame for just quitting like that though."

Rayy Stone

duckweed, sixth year
paintedred

"It *is*." Rayy agrees wholeheartedly. This is their first time really seriously considering a relationship with someone and to have it fall to pieces so quickly is just defeating. They fiddle with their fingers as they take in a breath then breathe out, deciding they really just have to fucking get over it then. "I'll figure it out." they say finally. Whether that's figuring out how to get over Marisha just when they've realized the full force of their affection, or figuring out whether or not they still have a chance in the first place – Rayy doesn't know, actually. They likely won't be able to get any sleep tonight trying to figure that out, not that Rayy expected they would be getting any in the first place. "That's it, I think." they say, looking at Lemon again. "Thank you for helping with this." Perhaps it is because Marisha is rubbing off on them, but they are quiet for a couple more seconds continuing. "You are *so* fucking annoying sometimes," they say, with all the fondness that they can muster, smiling a little bit. "But I love you and you're the best. So yeah, thanks."

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Any downer feelings from that depressing conclusion are washed away by the sound of someone she loves telling her that they love her especially Rayy. Apart from her brother, she never hassles someone to tell her that they love her, so she hardly hears it from them as much as she would want to. It's fine though. Sometimes you just know and that has to be enough. "Duh. Obviously. Everyone loves me," she says, flipping her hair as best she can with some of it pulled together on top of her head. It's dramatic and intentionally annoying because... Rayy said it best: Lemon can be so fucking annoying sometimes. "Not kidding, but... Duh, I love you too. Seriously." She smiles, modest for her tastes. It's difficult for her to try to be sentimental though, so any course of action that had involved some sort of encouragement goes out the window. Lemon's smile widens as she raises a finger at them. "You're my *bestest* friend. Anyone would love you, but especially *me* and you're not allowed to forget it." A pause, leaning back slightly. "Shit'll work out."