Closed It's just karma

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio had had a crush on one of the Hufflepuff boys now for longer than he cared to remember. They'd already been on dates, headed out into Brightstone during the holidays, and helped each other out during class, although they'd never actually moved their relationship to the next level. Elio had instead been floating along contently for a while, happy just to have someone who seemed to have mutual interest in him romantically, but the time had come that he wanted more. With all the drama with Rowan admitting her feelings for Elio at the Valentines ball, he had been doing his best to repair what they had too, but it was quite clear that Rowan still wasn't talking to him and so it was time that Elio did something for himself instead. He wanted to be able to call Marco something more than a friend, and he knew that their months of friendship had been fun, but with a new year upon them, it was the perfect timing to add to what they already had. The prefect had a bold boost of adrenaline as he saw Marco leaving the Great Hall that morning, and taking his legs out from under the Lions table, he jogged his way out into the Entrance Hall to try and catch him. He was strangely not nervous at all, it just felt like the right thing to do. "Hey, Marco!" he called, hoping he would stop as Elio ground to a halt. "Have you got a second?" he asked, knowing that his day was about to get a whole lot better. ​

 

[Marco Mariani]

A prefect. Marco. The only boy in the Mariani family of his generation - well, direct family, anyway. What was this decision? They probably didn’t have anyone else to elect so they picked him. Maybe it was best not to ponder on the reasons for his head of house to have even considered him for the position. He should just accept it and move on, right? Yes. That seemed like the best option. Only one week of the semester had gone by and yet Marco was still wrapping his head around the idea. Most people would probably be excited, delighted in fact, to have such an opportunity, which also meant that the fifth year should be, too. What was great was that his good friend Elio had been chosen as prefect as well. Thinking of Elio reminded him of the last time he had seen him, before the holidays. They had hung out quite a bit and the boy had wondered if the Gryffindor thought of him as something more than a friend or if Marco had just been imagining things. To stop himself from thinking too much about that, he had avoided the topic altogether. He enjoyed Elio’s company, that was for sure. He was lovely, so Marco did not want their friendship to be ruined or for it to become awkward between the pair. He was convinced it wouldn’t turn out that way. They were getting along well. The boy was on his way out of the Great Hall when he heard a voice call his name and when he found the source of the voice he smiled warmly at his friend. "Oh hey Elio," he greeted. "Yeah, sure! What’s up?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

At first this had seemed like a good idea, but as Marco turned towards the fifth year he was reminded of how similar a declaration this would be to the one Rowan did to him. Out in public, in front of everyone. Elio knew he didn’t mind that, but also didn’t want to put Marco in a surprising situation either, and so he beckoned his friend a little further out of the way of the students that were coming and going. Elio would have loved it if he’d been paired up with Marco for the prefect patrols, not that he minded Analei but it would have fit better, and he would have enjoyed it a little more. “Look I just wanted to ask you something, tell you something,” he said, his voice a little lower than normal in an attempt to avoiding passing ears. Elio was usually someone who was quite confident, and found it easy to talk to people, but right now even he was finding this tricky. He’d opted for the approach Rowan had done. “I.. like you.” He started, looking into the Hufflepuffs eyes and hoping he knew what he meant. “I like you like you,” Marco felt the same, Elio was just sure of it. Then again so had Rowan been and look where they were now.​

 

[Marco Mariani]

When Elio beckoned him to move away from other people, probably from prying ears, Marco's curiosity increased. He wanted to know what was on his friend's mind, he was eager to find out what the other boy wanted to tell him, and yet he was unsure if he should be this curious or not. He was going to find out real soon anyway, but he did not know what Elio was thinking right now, and what the response he was going to give him would be. Marco followed the boy to a more private corner and he didn't say anything that might drive Elio not to say what was on his mind. He was slightly concerned about him, he seemed a bit nervous and Marco could not figure out why. "Sure, go ahead," he said slowly. What Elio wanted to say to him - or ask him, apparently - did not seem easy for the other boy to do. When the Gryffindor finally came out with it, Marco just stood there, a little confused. He should have seen it coming, and yet...The boy opened his mouth to say something, anything in response to what Elio told him, but he was finding difficulty in wrapping his head around what the boy just admitted. "Oh," was all he could come up with. The Hufflepuff blinked, before a small smile began to form on his lips. And before he registered what he was about to do, he heard himself say, "I...I like you too." Well that came out of nowhere, he thought surprised, and glanced back at Elio before he instinctively stepped an inch closer to the other prefect. ​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio was trying to tell himself that if Marco had the same reaction that he'd had to Rowan, well, at least in terms of some sort of rejection, then at least he knew what not to do back. When the Hufflepuff replied to him with just an "Oh," though, Elio faulted for a moment, wondering if he should brace himself for his version of dreams to be shattered. He'd tried not to get himself too caught up in Marco related drama, especially after having so many other things to think about, but just this once he'd wanted to do something for himself instead. The smile forming on the guys face had him hopeful though, and as soon as the next words left his mouth Elio was grinning from ear to ear. In that moment, it didn't matter if they had an audience, and his heart leapt in his chest as Marco took another inch toward him. He knew there and then they were on the same page. The fifth year closed the gap, the smile still on his face as he kissed the prefect right there and then. In all honesty it had been a long time coming, Elio had been attracted to the Hufflepuff for well over a year, and being with him right now felt like at least something in his life was actually going as planned.​