Do I Love Him?-- DolanxHarrison

6- When You Fall Off, the Best Thing is to Get Back on the Broom. Literally.

A/N: Im sorry that this chapter is so late. I have just been extremely preoccupied. One another note, I know it seems like I say this every chapter but I continue to be blown away. 3K?!?! You guys are too good to me! Ily all. Credit Warning: This whole chapter is my plot. And I'm very excited to introduce Cassie Burke, created by (@castea33) on Tiktok. She is so phenomenal. Go check her out. And I also posted some new videos on my Tiktok and Instagram of an Evie Masquerade cosplay. I know I kinda jumped the gun, but I wanted to get in on it while it was current. Go check it out, same handle for both accounts! I would also like to formally apologize for misspelling quidditch in the last 5 chapters. I will eventually get back to those chapters and change it, but I'm really sorry I was stupid enough to spell quidditch wrong. 😬🤷‍♀️

Sunday--
Evie ducked under an Expelliarmus and sent one right back at Cassie, hitting her square in the chest and sending her wand flying into Evie's hand.
"Yes! 9-0! You almost had me there, though, Burke. You're improving. Anything to add, Dolan?"
He was leaning against the corridor walls, his permanent scowling sneer had somewhat faded to a much more neutral and forgiving look.
"You're definitely gaining something from out lessons Burke. Evangeline is a good partner for you."
The timid Hufflepuff tried and failed to hide her adorable yet vulnerable blush. She brushed her hair back and got into a ready stance.
"Again. I want to go again."
Evie sent Dolan a look, and when he shrugged, she faced Cassie and raised her wand. They go through the motions of starting the duel, and Dolan counts the paces aloud and calls the start of the duel. Cassie sends the first attack, a stupify that Ev could have dodged blindfolded. She knew that Cassie was a very offensive duelist, but she struggled at short hand combat. So, Ev took advantage of her aptitiude for blockers and defensive spells to slowly creep closer to Cassie, throwing in a few narrowly missed Expelliarmus spells to try and throw her off. Once she is only 2 or 3 paces away, Evie comes in full force, striking again and again, dodging the now slower coming spells as Cassie was then very startled. She aimed for the side of her torso from under her non-wand hand, a very vulnerable spot that Cassie leaves exposed when she casts spells. She knocks her back with a stupify and walks up to Cassie, knealing at her side as she takes her wand from her hand.
"Better luck next time, Burke. Good run thou."
As Evie stands up and turns to Dolan, her necklace vibrates against her skin.
"Meet.
Pitch.
Now.
B redy."
Harrison's messages were always short and often misspelled to get the point across sooner. Evie rolls her eyes and sends back an OK and grabs her satchel.
"That was Harrison, I have to go. See you two later! Great job today Cassie!"
With a slight wave from Cassie as the stupify wears off and an abrupt nod from Dolan the emotional statue, Evie runs off to the quidditch pitch to meet Harrison.

As Evie makes it down to the field, she sees Harrison in the distance, both of their brooms in hand. She internally groans and marches her way up to him, all the while he wears a giddy smile on his face.
"Let me guess. We're here to get me back on a broom. I don't need counseling or an intervention Star. I'm fine. Really. I can fly perfectly fine thank you very much."
Harrison holds out her broom to her. Evie hesitates for one second, a second long enough for Harrison to notice. She grabs the broom and holds it to her side, the way they do before mounting at the start of a match.
"Then you won't have any problem racing me once around the pitch, I've raced everyone else and none of them can beat me. Maybe you'll break the record. Come on."
Evie feels a faint shiver, and she knows a memory might come soon, especially if she gets on that broom. But she has to prove to Harrison that she can fly, so she shakes it off and mounts the broom. Star smiles and mounts his, slowly rising in the air. Evie just sits there, trying not to let her fear show.
"Come on, Castor. Let's get going."
Evie looks up at Harrison and takes a deep breath, pushing off lightly with her foot. The broom rises less than two feet before Evie feels a rush that drains the color from her face and she gets back down in the ground, dropping her broom and stumbling away, trying to shake away the memory before it gets to her. Harrison comes back down from where he was hovering a few feet over her head. He walks over to her and cups her face, tilting it up so she was looking him in the eye.
"Why don't you ride with me? Would that be easier?"
Evie leaned into Harrison's touch and covered his hand with hers before gently pulling it away from her face.
"What would be easier is if you wouldn't make me fly. I'm fine, Star. Really."
Harrison leans back and crosses his arms across his chest.
"Evie, you're not fine. You barely made it two feet off the ground before you panicked. Let me help you. When you fall off, the best thing to do is to get right back on the broom. Literally. Come on. Just try. For me."
Evie looked him in the eye, and at the hand he had extended in front of her. Is she truly willing to risk a memory she never wants to relive just to get back on the broom? Yes, yes she is. Because flying is a part of her, and she needs to hold onto it. So, Ev takes Harrison's hand and mounts the broom behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"You ready?"
"No."
Harrison chuckles and slowly lifts off from the ground. Evie buries her face in his back, to avoid watching them rise higher and higher. It takes a moment for her to feel the wind on her face, pushing her hair around and tickling her cheeks. She slowly pulls away from Harrison and looks out on the pitch, taking it all in. For a split second, she feels herself again, free and alive. But the moment she glimpses the keeper's goals, her flimsy walls fall and a memory hits her. She can feel phantom pains of the bludger smashing into her, she hears the rush of air whistling in her ears and then all the breath leaving her body as she hits the ground. Her grip around Star tightens and her breathing speeds up.
"Put me down Harrison."
"Come on Evie, we haven't even flown level with the goal posts yet. You can do this,"
"No I can't. Harrison put me down!"
"It's my job as your friend and your captain to push you. Let's just make it to the goal posts."
"HARRISON PENDRAKE PUT ME THE HELL DOWN NOW!!"
Evie's breathing grew more ragged and her grip got tighter and Harrison had to bring them back down or he wouldn't be able to breathe. Evie immediately jumped off the broom and ran off, heading back to the school. Leo was walking into the pitch with his broom in hand about to run drills when she pushes past him.
"Wait, Evie? EVIE!"
He turns to go after her but Harrison walks up to him and grabs his wrist, holding him back.
"Let her go. She's just upset. She just needs to cool off for a bit."
Leo turns back to Star, eyes boring holes in Harrison's head.
"What happened? What did you do?"
Harrison held up his hands in surrender.
"I was just trying to get her back on a broom. You've seen her, she won't even look at the quidditch pitch. It's my job, as her friend and her captain to get her flying again as soon as possible."
"No, Star. She just went through the biggest trauma of her life. You're supposed to let her heal, not make her relive it. Not everyone is like you. Not everyone can pick up the pieces and immediately know what to do with them, man."
Harrison scoffs and rolls his eyes and Leo just crosses his arms across his chest.
"You think I don't know that? Of course I know that. Watching her go through this experience hurts, I'm not some monster. I just know what she needs, and what she needs is a push in the right direction, for someone-"
"NO STAR."
Leo flings his arms in the air and gets right up in Harrison's face.
"No. She doesn't need to be pushed. She can handle herself. You need to back off with all your wise words about knowing what's best for her, and let her figure that out for herself."
Leo grabs Evie's satchel that she left in her rush to get away.
"Just... back off, Pendrake."
Leo shoulders the bag and picks up his broom, stalking off, back to the school. Harrison is left with two brooms, two fights and a guilty conscience.

Leo takes the steps two at a time up to the Gryffindor dorms. Katie and Percy are sitting in front the fireplace, and when Leo comes in with Ev's satchel, Percy jerks his head towards the girls dorms. Leo mouths 'thank you' and runs up the steps. He slows down when he gets close to her door, and hears hardly discernable sniffles. He knocks on the door gently and walks inside to see her curled up in a ball on her four-poster. He comes around the bed and sits next to her, resting a hand on her side.
"I brought back your satchel. You left it on the pitch when you ran off. Are you ok?"
Evie turns to him, eyes red and puffy, masquera steaks running down her face. She looks him in the eye and hesitates before shaking her head no.
"I saw it. I felt it all again and I felt the fear flooding me and I was terrified. What if I never fly again Leo? I don't know what I'd do."
Evie sits up and Leo moves his hand to hold hers.
"If it's really what you want, you'll fly again Starshine. You never give up on the thing you want most. But you don't have to try until you're ready. And if you're not ready, that's ok too."
Evie nods, and her eyes well up again, and she rests her head on Leo's shoulder. He moves his arm around her shoulder and they sit there, watching the sun go down outside her window. Eventually, Evie falls asleep on Leo's shoulder, though he doesn't realize it until he hears the snores. Looking down, she seems so at peace when she sleeps. Leo lifts her off his shoulder and lays her down on the bed, and pulls up the comforter. Glancing down on her one last time, he leans down and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I love you Starshine. To the Moon and back."
With that he leaves her to sleep.

Word count: 1888

A/N: again, sorry this is so late. Hope you guys like it! And go check out my cosplay tiktok- (@imagine_my_reality) for some duets and Evie content. I even did some masquerade stuff for her!!
-💕Jae 💕