I'd do anything if it meant I could keep you.

Ireland was beautiful in the spring but the oppressive weather made venturing outside a trial and a half and no one liked spring snow. Slushy and awful, it was no condition to work in so Cordella left the hard work to her father. Her mother had gone into town with Elria and that left Cordella home alone; or at least, home alone until Gisele stepped through the Floo looking more beautiful than Cordella ever remembered her looking – even with the soot on clothes.

Cordella grinned impishly at the girl and took Gisele’s bag from her before pressing forward, pushing her up against the mantle to steal a cheeky kiss before pulling away and taking her hand, leading her up into her bedroom. The house was awfully quiet without everyone. Cordella knew Elria had left his girlfriend asleep in bed but considering how drunk they’d been the night before, there was no chance she’d move until well after midday.

Opening the door of her bedroom, Cordella immediately winced at the mess but was grateful it was books and parchment as opposed to any unmentionables. No, those were all safely tucked away in a draw save for the lacy monstrosity that her mother had bought for her the week before that Persephone insisted must be ‘broken in’. Cordella knew something was breaking but she was quite sure it wasn’t the underwear.

Putting the matter to rest, Della put Gisele’s bag down in the armchair by the window and reached for the wood. In one swift moment she shoved the window up to let some cool air into the room. She crossed the room again and kicked the door shut with her sock-clad foot before grabbing for Gisele. Della wrapped her arms tightly around the girl and snuggled her face into Gisele’s neck, sniffing greedily the sweet scent of her hair.

Della pulled away after a moment and shrugged her arms out of the jumper she’d donned that morning when she got up. She pulled it over her head and dropped it to the floor, leaving her clad only in the bralet that she’d worn to bed, and flopped back onto her bed. The covers rumpled beneath her and she smiled at Gisele before digging the remote control out from beneath her pillow. Della tossed the remote to the girl and gestured to the television before bobbing up onto her knees.

“There’s a few films recorded on there. Pick one.” Della encouraged.

She peered out of the window that was above her bed and noticed the postman already beginning to make his round. It’d wake up Franklin, she was sure. The cat thought he was a dog and would no doubt chase the postman about a bit before growing bored of the charade.

Mimi was asleep at the foot of Della’s bed, uninterested in the surprisingly hairless legs of their postman. She wasn’t quite as rabid as her other half. Della picked up the large maine coon cat and cuddled her close to her chest, her fingers rubbing Mimi’s belly, and she laid back against the pillows, content to watch Gisele fiddle with the television.

Gisele had grown to love Della's house almost as much as her own. At first Della had seemed reluctant to take her here but it was almost impossible not to fall in love with the charm the building possessed. Not to mention the company wasn't too bad either. The pair was spending more and more time at the Quinn family home and Gisele looked fondly forward to her visits where she got to see her family. Both Persephone and Darius had always been extremely kind to Gisele and she had nothing but compliments for both but she had to admit she was excited for a little bit of alone time with her favorite Slytherin.

Upon arrival, Gisele was almost immediately led to Della's bedroom and was given the task of picking the movie. She flipped through selections, pausing on some and looking back to search for a reaction from her audience. After some careful deliberation Gisele selected the old muggle film, Dirty Dancing, which always made her nostalgic in the most pleasant of ways. Dropping the remote on a pillow that had fallen to the floor, Gisele jumped on to the bed to join Cordella.

The bed squealed over the sudden added weight and Gisele let off a little laugh before flopping down next to Della. She lay on her back and looked up at the wood paneling on the ceiling, before her eyes scanned back to where Della sat above her. Catching her eyes, Gisele smiled and reached out, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers. This scene was so familiar.. The room, the movies, the girl. But it was a moment that Gisele was sure she could never tire of.

"I've been waiting to see you all day. I don't think I've ever been so impatient. I was held hostage as mother picked out new furnishings for the library of all things. Apparently my opinion on curtain colors is vastly superior to anyone else's."

Mimi was an odd cat. Incredibly fluffy but incredibly impertinent, she was no stranger being scolded by her mistress. Yet Mimi was a will unto herself and was very much a cat in the sense that she did what she liked. She didn’t like to be cuddled as much as she appeared to either and soon enough she had wriggled from Cordella’s arms and curled up on the girl’s pillow, determined to cover it in dark cat hairs.

Cordella tutted at the cat but did not move her, making instead to lay her head beneath where Mimi was sat. The cat shifted minutely and Cordella smirked, pleased to find that even in company, the cat was a little wretch.

When Gisele laid down next to her, Della’s heart sped up a little and the Slytherin leant down to press a kiss to the French girl’s forehead. Della’s fingers threaded through Gisele’s hair and slowly began to rake out the soft knots that the floo had formed in her dark locks.

“Dirty Dancing, eh?” Della asked with a smirk. “Nice choice. Mum loves it to bits. I have it on ‘keep.’” Della smiled and began to rub circles into Gisele’s palm with her spare hand, her eyes falling to the girl as she spoke.

Gisele’s mother was strange, Della had to admit. She’d never been overly fond of Della, either, and the feeling was mutual. Della got on much better with Gisele’s grandmother who found the Slytherin girl utterly charming for no apparent reason. She was old. That was reason enough.

“What are you doing up the library for? Didn’t your mum know you had a very important social call to make? Seriously. I don’t give a toss about her pigging curtains. She’s old enough and ugly enough to buy them herself, isn’t she? Merlin. I swear to God, the universe is conspiring against me getting any time alone with you.”

Gisele relaxed into Della's soft tough, an involuntary shiver traveling down her spine, a reaction that had not stopped over time. Gisele was convinced she would never get used to the pure beauty that radiated from her girlfriend or, for that matter, the fact that she could claim the brunette as her own. She could feel Della's fingers lacing through her hair and she looked up to the girl, a smile in both her eyes and on her lips. Such feelings of contentment Gisele only experienced on lazy days with Della like this. Somehow the rumpled sheets and fluffy cats and old muggle TV all added together to create the most beautiful place.

"Bloody universe." Gisele growled, her grin barely covered by the fake frown she gave for Della's benefit. Rising from her horizontal position, Gisele tenderly kissed Della and murmured to her "But we make the most of it, don't we?" She sunk back down to the bed, this time resting her head in Della's lap. The Ravenclaw found it hard not to stay close when she got alone time, since it was so few and far between. Della's scent was sweet and her body was warm, always pulling Gisele in. It became a matter of curtsey in Gisele's eyes, as she figured ripping off someone else's clothes in public was typically frowned upon.

"But I'm warning you - this summer I won't leave your side. You'll be sick of me and begging that I go home and leave you alone. I promise." The closer it got to the summer months the more desperate Gisele became for the holidays. Even if it was simply hanging around the house or the pair going on walks in the village, it would be a relief to be able to spend unlimited time with the brunette. Gisele often felt guilty for how little they saw of each other and the rushed nature of their visits. She knew it was only a matter of time before Della would once again bring up the topic of going public with their relationship and Gisele knew she couldn't refuse again.

It wasn't that she didn't want to tell people.. She adored Cordella and nothing would please her more than to let the world know that the very attractive Slytherin girl was also very much taken. It was simply the barrier of her family in the way again. It wasn't that Gisele was scared of them, per-say. She was just.. scared of them. There was a certain expectation of her that she follow example and marry a nice pureblood man and have nice pureblood babies. If her mother (and the rest of the pureblood world) knew she could not make good on this promise she would lose, well, she wasn't sure exactly how much. But the risks were not something she was looking forward to facing.

The only problem with this method of avoidance was the ticking clock of the said pureblood marriage. Things were expected soon and sometimes Gisele's world felt like a ticking time bomb. But for now things remained still and she could enjoy herself. Because right here, right now, there was no where else she would rather be.

There was something unsettled about Gisele and Cordella could not pinpoint exactly what it was. Regardless, Cordella continued to bring her fingers through Gisele’s honey-brown locks but did not cease in her wonderment at what it was the poor girl was brooding over. Cordella tipped her head back against the panelled wall and smiled dreamily before reaching up to rub her eye as if she were still sleepy.

Cordella knew what point Gisele was getting to. She was primed and ready for marriage and though Cordella wasn’t sure whether that was what the girl was worried about, unbeknownst to her, she was well on the mark.

Della lifted herself from her reverie at Gisele’s words and smiled wryly. “Can’t, chick.” She told Gis lazily. “The parents are going to Oz and Elria won’t go – he’s taking Heather or Mia or whatever to Egypt and I have to go with the ‘rents. Sucks. I’ll be back towards the end of the summer, though. We can hang out then. They want some serious parental bonding time seeing as I’m obviously going to move out and stuff when we graduate and this’ll be the last summer for them to do that. So, yeah. When we get back, eh? I’m sure you’ll be busy.”

The dark haired Slytherin shifted a little and smiled as Gisele laid her head in her lap. Della closed her eyes as she pressed her head back against the wall before adding, ever so slightly sardonically,

“Besides, you’ll probably be betrothed by then, huh?”

Ah, yes. Sometimes Gisele forgot that not all parents allowed their children to wander unsupervised around foreign countries when on vacation. She hadn't been on a family trip in ages, beyond small travels with Julien or to the city for the day with her mother. Spending good, quality time together was a luxury which Gisele often missed. Inside, she was jealous of how Persephone and Darius doted on their daughter. It was plain to see the love on their faces whenever they spoke of her, a sight much too unfamiliar in many pureblood families.

Gisele looked up at Della a bit sourly. Ah, her least favorite subject. And one that managed to come up extremely frequently. For a moment she wanted to deny that it would be so soon but her gut told her differently and she couldn't bring herself to lie, even for the benefit of the other girl.

"I don't know." she mumbled miserably, tracing imaginary pictures on Dellas arm to distract herself. Her fingers caressed the lighter girls skin softly and lovingly. Lately she really did feel like she knew nothing. Before she had known she wanted Cerelia. And before that Millie. But now things were so much more complex. There was Gabrielle and her threats that carried so much weight. There were the whispers of Alaric Krum. Gisele had had Cordella Quinn for herself almost since the beginning of the year but only recently had things felt like.. this.

Gisele didn't know how to explain it or talk about it. But she cared for Della in a way she had never cared for someone before and it terrified her. The ending of this story had already been written and it looked far from happily ever after.

"What happens if I am?" Gisele questioned cautiously.

It was a tender subject, betrothal. The daughter of a lesser Pureblood family with little desire to climb the social ladder, Cordella knew she had more or less escaped the necessity of betrothal that Gisele was being forced into. She was lucky in that sense but knew that when it came down to it, her parents would expect a good marriage from her to someone of wealth and security – and a man, at that. Cordella had huffed many times at the mere mention of marriage but there was only so much she could do to avoid the heavy subject that was her impending arrest for the rest of her life. She was supposed to be looking, she knew, but they weren’t going to force it upon her. Her mother had supplied her with options and Cordella knew that eventually her mother would grow testy and impatient. Cordella had more choice than her girlfriend, certainly, but she was presented with much more impatience. It was lucky, really, that the girl did not care to entertain her mother’s impatience – otherwise she would have been married weeks ago.

Exhaling a breath of impatience, Cordella looked down at Gisele. She could see the cogs turning in the Frenchwoman’s mind. Cordella had heard much of the same as everyone else; Pureblood betrothals were no big secrets. No, she’d heard the whispers and knew the name well enough. If there was one thing you could say about the Krums then it was that their reputations surely preceded them. Cordella’s temper piqued at the mere thought of the boy that Gisele would potentially have to marry and she exhaled another gust of impatience which was this time tinged with thinly veiled irritation.

“That’s not good enough, Gis.” Della told the girl with a petulant look on her face. “I’m not going to be around if you go off and marry someone else. That’s not on. I’m not going to be your mistress. Why can’t you just tell them no?” Della paled at her final question and the Slytherin got up with a flustered flourish, caring not for the way her sudden movements disturbed Gisele. “What do you mean ‘what happens if I am’? What? You’re already betrothed?!”