December 24th, 1910.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly.
Scotland, United Kingdom.

When the night of the Ball arrived, Theseus found himself waiting impatiently by the end of the stairs. Fixing his dressing robes anxiously. Always pulling the white blazer vest, his bow tie, his sleeves and checking every two minutes the pocket watch his father had gifted him last Christmas.

He fixed the tie one more time, and looked at the clock. He sighed. He was extremely nervous. He looked at the ground but looked back up immediately when he heard the clicks of some heels walking down the stairs.

  And his ocean blue eyes met hers. Her red hair was perfectly placed in a bun on the back of her head and the silver silk dress was wrapped around her body so gracefully that it looked like water whenever she gave a step or when the wind moved it. She smiled at him and he felt more nervous that he's ever been in her presence. Amélie chuckled when she reached the last step and Theseus didn't say a word, but looked at her features with a smile.

"Good evening." He said.

"Bonne soirée." They smiled at each other and none of them could believe you could feel so much at the young age of fifteen. "You look very handsome." She complimented him, making him chuckle nervously.

"And...tu es magnifique? Did I get that right?" She blushed and looked down to laugh. "I didn't?"

"No, no. You did." She looked up and smiled at him. "You did." They stayed like that for a while until they had to enter the Hall.

"Well, are you ready m'lady?" She laughed again.

"I am. You, on the other hand..." He frowned.

"What about me?"

"Your tie."

"Oh." She adjusted it as she giggled. He had moved it a bit too much to the left when he nervously fixed his clothes.

"Magnifique." She said once it was done.

"Thank you."

"De rien." With that, he offered his arm and she took it as they entered the room. They were amazed by the decoration and they were amazed at how cozy it felt, despite having a lot of ice decorations around.

  As soon as the music started, Theseus did that characteristic downwards smile of his and his eyes asked her if she wanted to dance. She gave him a side smirk —that soon turned into a whole smile— before nodding. With that, Scamander brought Rosier to the middle of the dance floor.

  They danced together the entire night, they laughed, cracked jokes as they looked around at the different people, they danced some more. And then something happened. As they danced a slow song, they looked deeply into each other's eyes. He thought he had never seen such beauty in any other pair of eyes and she was deeply mesmerised into his. They were in so deeply into each other's stare, they didn't notice how close their faces had gotten. They simply closed their eyes when their lips collided against each other.

  That's when they knew. Amélie knew he loved her when he ran to Honeydukes to get her favourite candy and wrote a note to gift her for her birthday, and Theseus knew that she loved him when she sneaked into the library to get a book he needed for a task, looked everywhere for it because she wasn't familiarised with Hogwarts' library, and stayed up all night trying to help him get that task done properly.

They knew that love is a terrifying word, let alone, feeling. But they loved the fact that they loved each other. However, none of them would ask how the other one felt and they wouldn't admit how they felt themselves. Even if they've felt like this for months now.

  Theseus pulled her closer to him by the waist while Aurélie's hands found his perfectly pulled back chocolate curls on the back of his head and caressed them. Moments later, they pulled away from each other. Their eyes didn't open, instead, their foreheads met as they chuckled. Then, they looked at each other.

"I'm thirsty." He said and she laughed, throwing her head back. This single gesture of her was so childish and incredibly lovely to Theseus. "Want to get some refreshments?"

"Yes, please." She said. They pulled away from each other and he held her hand. Then, they walked a few steps until Amélie was stopped by some of her friends, who wanted to know what that had been. "I'll meet you in a moment." Theseus nodded and walked away, letting go of her and looking over his shoulder at some point. He smiled at her with that downward smirk and she smiled at him as she looked at him from across the room.

  As Amélie talked to her friends, Theseus poured the red fruit juice into two glasses, smiling to himself as he heard her chuckle from the other side of the room. He, once again, was snapped out of his thoughts when a hand fell over his shoulder.

"Well...that was something." Said Thomas and James chuckled while Theseus giggled nervously. "I thought you hated each other."

"Yeah, me too." Said James.

"Nah, I don't think we ever did." Said Theseus making the boys chuckle.

"I guess we were right to say she caught his eye months ago." The boys high-fived each other at Tom's comment.

"Well...people change, I suppose." Thes said after he took a sip of his juice.

"So...what's the deal? Are you two in love and together?" Theseus got nervous. He didn't know how to answer. He scoffed anxiously and thought quickly.

"No. No, I don't think so." He finally said.

"What do you mean?" Asked Tom.

"Well, I still think she's annoying and exasperating from time to time...and I don't think we love each other as you're saying." He quickly realised his words weren't exactly expressing what he had thought. And he didn't finish speaking. When he opened his mouth to continue, he realised his friends had gone dead-serious and heard a familiar scoff behind him. Theseus turned around with the two glasses in hand and found the French girl looking at him with a mix of feelings all over her face: confusion, anger, disbelief, and overall, disappointment and hurt. It hurt him to see that. "Élie..." She shook her head as she frowned, pursed her lips as she lifted a hand and walked away to get out of the Great Hall. "Élie, wait!" He gave the glasses to Tom before he chased after her. "Wait, please!"

"Ne le fais pas." She shook her head as she walked upstairs with the boy right behind her.

"Come on, Rosier, please." She scoffed again.

"Tu es tellement...ugh."

"Allow me to explain."

"Explain?" She stopped on her tracks to turn around and face him, making him give a step back. "Explain what exactly? How you find me annoying and exasperating? How we don't love each other like that? What does that even mean?"

"I was going to say we care about each other, not exactly that-"

"Caring is loving, Theseus! The problem is that you're afraid of it."

"And you're not?" She was. She fears what everyone fears about love...she fears being hurt and not being enough.

"Yes. Le problème est que je t'aime mais que tu ne m'aimes pas. Pas comme je pensais que tu le ferais." Her eyes filled with tears while he frowned. This is what he found annoying, when she'd make sure he didn't understand what she had said. But now, she did it because she knew that it wasn't worth it for him to know. "That's the difference."

"I didn't-"

"I know you didn't understand. That was the point." She looked away from him for a second before breathing in and out. "Don't speak to me again. Ever. I suppose you did understand that." She turned away and continued walking upstairs. With him chasing after her.

"Amélie. Amélie, please!"

"Ever. Again, Theseus!" She yelled, looking over her shoulder before looking back at the front to continue her walk.

  She didn't allow herself to break until she was in the spare room she got to sleep in and laid down on her bed. Theseus just stood there, realising he had fucked up and that he had lost the one. He took off his tie and made his way to his dormitory to lay down on bed as well as he looked at the ceiling with frustration. He didn't mean it like that.

He thought she was annoying whenever she spoke French for him not to understand, exasperating whenever she bragged about getting the answers right. But he learned to love that about her, that's what he was going to say. That he liked the way she smiled, proud of herself or how she'd chuckle in the most cheerful way before explaining what she had said moments before. He learned to love her flaws because he knew he had flaws himself. And he didn't say 'we love' each other because he wasn't certain she felt the same way he felt. He didn't knew if she had fallen down that cliff alongside him. He sighed, ran his hands through his face and closed his eyes.

  From that moment on and until the end of the year, Rosier didn't talk to him. She'd avoid him all the time, their eyes didn't meet across the rooms, the second he sat beside her she'd stand up and sit somewhere else, no more partnering up, no more sneaking out to spend late nights at the Astronomy Tower, no more hanging out in the library. Simply, no more of her in his life and no more of him in her life.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

July 10th, 1911.

Theseus ran desperately across the corridors to avoid her from hopping in that carriage before he could have a word with her. He thought about admitting how he felt to keep her, to accept the fact that he made a mistake but hope that they could figure it out. He had been scared of the fall but she was worth that fall. And he'd take the risk for her.

  "Amélie!" He yelled as he arrived at the Courtyard. He saw how the golden carriage pulled by white pegasus was already there and the Beauxbaton ladies were about to get in, the boys already inside. "Élie!" Even if she always pretended not to hear him when he called her name, she couldn't avoid looking at the source of the voice every once in a while. And this was not the exception. She turned around and spotted his face amongst the crowd. "Élie!" He called again but she turned around to approach the transport. "Amélie, wait!" Theseus pressed the run and pushed people here and there to reach her and he didn't stop until he was holding her hand into his. When their eyes met he was surprised to see how her eyes had gone cold. They weren't a warm and cozy welcome, but a sad and icy goodbye.

"Don't. I don't have time, I need to leave." She said, pulling her hand towards her to make him let go, but he didn't. "Let go of me, please."

"No. Not until you listen, please."

"I have nothing to listen to."

"Come on." She pulled her hand again and Theseus felt it slipping through his fingers. "Come on, don't leave me like this."

"I'm not leaving you in any way."

"Yes. You are." She looked into his eyes and was confused. She could see that he meant it, but she saw that he meant everything before and, according to her, it ended up not being right. How could he be truthful this time?

"You know? I thought I had you figured out, but I never seem to have it correct. How do I know you mean it this time?"

"Because I do. Because...you've been distant and I can't breathe whenever you're gone. Because I'm sorry." He held her hand again and she frowned sadly. She wanted to say yes but her ego was too bruised as well as her heart as to say it. He breathed in and out and thought 'here goes nothing' before he opened his mouth to say... "I love you." Her eyes opened wildly as a silence fell upon them. The world had gone quiet for a moment.

"I can't go back." She said after his words had sank in making her feel a knot on her chest. He matched her frown.

"What do you mean?"

"That I- I can't. I am still hurt and I am still mad at you, I can't just...go back."

"Élie, please. I'm sorry." He grabbed her other hand while she shook her head. "You've hexed me. I'm haunted by that moment, that kiss."

"Amélie, dépêche-toi!" Yelled Monique from behind, making her turn around before facing Theseus again.

"I'm sorry." She said and pulled her hands to hurry up and get to the carriage.

"Élie..." He grabbed her arm. She turned around but before she could say anything, he pulled her in and kissed her again, the crowd that didn't have the context cheered, but for them, the world was still silent. So silent their ears rang and it hurt.

  That kiss was not making butterflies fly like the first time, instead, it was a kiss that burned. It was sad, it was a kiss of two hearts breaking. She frowned as she pulled out her wand and made a swift flick that made him fall. He looked at her, hurt and in disbelief. Now both eyes had looked at each other in the same way.

"Je t'aime...et je suis désolé. Now we're even. It was enchanting to meet you. Goodbye, Theseus." With that, she turned around and held her hat when a gust of wind arrived out of the blue. When she was about to go in, the navy blue ribbon that goes around her neck as a tie —because that's how the members of each house at Beauxbatons wear the distinctive element of their houses— flew away. She didn't notice until she took off the little silk cape once she was in the carriage and they had started to fly away. Rain started to pour.

Theseus saw the fabric fall and pulled out his wand to pull the silk towards him. When he had it over the palm of his hand, he looked at the sky and saw the carriage getting lost among the clouds. Every student went back into the castle to find shelter from the cold water while Scamander stayed there, sitting on the pavement. As he held the silk in his fist, he understood why she said they were even. She just broke his heart the same way he had broken hers. Both times with a kiss beforehand.

  Neither of them thought they'd have a last kiss. And neither of them thought they'd end like this. It was painful to think that their names would forever be on each other's lips. It was a painful to even consider it. The first heartbreak is everlasting, it takes a very long time to get over it. And believe me, they know it.

It was that night that they both decided it was better to forget each other, at least try to. And it was a moment in which they decided to hate each other. Hearted blinding them as they only thought of their broken hearts. That night, both cried in their bedrooms. Quietly enough as to not be heard by those around them.

Obviously, they sort of failed. On the way home on the train, Theseus pretended to be asleep to avoid the tears from falling down his cheeks. James didn't notice, but Tom did. However, he said nothing. Then, at his house, Theseus sobbed when his mother walked past his door. Aura left everything she was doing, prepared some tea and opened his door. Thes washed the tears away quickly and pretended to be okay, but mothers know the sight of heartache. She tilted her head and Theseus knew that she knew based on the look in her brown eyes, and allowed himself to keep feeling. She hugged him and he hugged her back, ever so tightly. He drank the tea and when the last teardrop fell, he fell asleep.

Not that far from London, the girl in Paris cried too. She cried in the shower to make the water that splashed on the white marble of the shower floor hide her crying. Then again, mothers know. Angeline knew her daughter was not alright when she saw her all alone in the garden of their house and sit there for hours. Until the blue sky turned black. Eventually, she asked Amélie to help her in the kitchen and they baked some cake together for Vinda's birthday, Élie's younger sister. After a while, and with the scent of freshly baked bread, the Roiser's firstborn went to bed.

That was the last time they spoke to each other, saw each other, heard, felt, tasted and smelled each other. The very last time they were together. And none of them heard of the other for years, and to be honest, neither of them wanted to.