Well at least she'd get some vindictive pleasure out of making Bella guess.

"No, not Jack." She had a lot of Hufflepuff friends, but honestly had only really been close with Zelda and Oliver in the long run. Would she even tell Bella if she figured it out? That was the real question, but as soon as Gem started trying to figure it out she already knew the answer; yes, because she was a terrible liar.

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Huffing, Bella began to make weird squiggly motions in the air as she tried to make a mental list of all the boys in the year above her. There were definitely a few names that stood out, so maybe it was best to ask—

"It wasn't the head boy, right? Mr. Gallivan?" He'd been cute, too, and on the quidditch team. Then, she impatiently began spouting some random names. "Bingham?" Pause. "Trask?" Pause. "Clearwater?" Pause.

  

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Well this was a little amusing, watching her friend try to puzzle this out while she was left with the inner turmoil to end all inner turmoil for herself.

"No." Theo Gallivan was a nice guy though, and admittedly handsome. "Nope, not Bingham, not sure we'eve ever properly conversed without someone else around." Gemma furrowed her brows trying to think about that one, but Bella was moving on. Gemma outright laughed at Oliver. "No, not Oliver. He was my own personal quidditch coach though." Damn she missed seeing him as much as she had in school.

It was then that Bella finally reached Alfie and Gemma just gave her a look to let her know she'd finally gotten it.

This wasn't fun again.

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Bella erupted giggles that had her involuntarily sending another pillow in Gemma's direction.

"Alfred Clearwater? Oh, but Gemma, he's a giant!" she teased. Bella preferred tall men, but she had a reason: she was as tall as the average gentleman! Gemma, on the other hand, was the encyclopedic definition of petite.

"But it does have a nice ring to it, don't you think? Gemma Clearwater," she continued, her giggling bordering hysterical at this point. Now she really understood why Lucy had such fun teasing her about her love life.

  

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This time Gemma threw the pillow back- and not nicely either!

"You stop that right now, Gemma Clearwater, you're ridiculous." How did they jump from a kiss on New Year's to marriage? Honestly!

Barely resisting the urge to punch one of her beloved pillows, Gemma let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Honestly though, I supposed I have to talk to him right?" There hadn't been any talking at all on New Year's after the kissing. No time. No words. Gems was still kind of in a daze over the whole thing even now, two weeks later.

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Bella's giggles subsided, and she pondered on the forming guilt in her chest before dismissing it entirely. She was just teasing, and Gemma should know that! She meant nothing malicious!

"Oh Gemma, I'm just messing with you!" she replied, her tone more calm and collected. "And you should talk to him. I can't imagine a man would just ruin a perfectly platonic friendship with a kiss if he didn't have feelings. Maybe it will lead to something!" she piped optimistically.

The thought of Gemma (out of all her friends) ending up married first was still hilarious, though.

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   Gemma Simpson

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Thank Merlin, a tone of voice without teasing. Gemma was not so used to being on the other side of teasing, though it was always in good fun, she rather thought this deserved a little seriousness!

"That's what I'm afraid of." It was a perfectly good platonic friendship. Gemma wasn't so out of touch with reality that the notion had escaped her, but damn if she didn't want everything to stay just as it was; perfectly platonic. She did like Alfie, of course she did, but she really wasn't sure she liked him like that. And now there was some crazy pressure on her to figure it out!

Gemma pulled a frown. Lead to something? What could it lead to? Disaster. That's what. And likely some heartbreak if he really did have feelings for her. "I don't want to ruin our friendship." She valued it too much to take the risk. Besides it really couldn't go anyway, not really. They were too close in age, different classes, not that it mattered to her, not one bit, but it would certainly matter to her father. He'd already had one heart attack, she refused to give him another! She was already on borrowed time thanks to her apprenticeship, after she was fully on her own, she didn't doubt her father would make her downgrade it to a hobby and start looking to get married.

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Boo, now their fun time was over and everything was serious. Why did everything have to be so serious? Why couldn't feelings be allowed to develop naturally without all the worries society put on women—fears about class, ages, jobs, and everything in between? Blood was also an issue for Bella, but luckily Gemma didn't have that issue. What she would trade to be a halfblood (or even a muggleborn, really, since she imagined it couldn't do further damage to her prospects).

"If you handle your feelings like that, you'll never find love, Gemma," she sighed, realizing that she was giving Gemma the advice she refused to follow herself. "You're such a happy person, and you deserve more happiness! As long as you don't rush into anything too hastily—" Once again, the pot calling the kettle black. "—I can't imagine how it would ruin anything."

  

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Gemma sighed. On the one hand, Bella was right, and on the other, Gemma had honestly thought she wasn't going to be one of those girls who did grow up and get married and have babies and all that other nonsense society wanted them to do. Did anyone honestly expect that out of her? Gem seriously thought that perhaps her father was the only one and he hadn't said anything to her yet about it, not while Kath was still single as well. Far more rested on her sister's shoulders, and even Joseph's for that matter, than it did Gemma's. Gem fully expected to take her herbology a far as she could and become a traveling spinster who went on all kinds of wild adventures.

Falling in love didn't fit into that plan, not that this was anything like falling in love, she supposed, but it could be, in the long run. Bella's idyllic thoughts on the matter were what any normal girl their age would be thinking, but there was a whole heck of a lot off about this situation and even Gemma realized that. Even if she was the least of her father's concerns in regards to marriage right now, she knew Bernard and she also knew that Alfie was not what he would be looking for to marry his daughter. Her father had high standards and while Gemma truly though Alfie was a wonderful friend, their compatibility on paper was pretty low.

"What if I don't even want that?"  Up until kissing Alfie, Gemma had never even considered falling in love and doing things the traditional way, at all, and frankly, she still didn't think that would be how it would go.

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Bella let out the Most Dramatic Sigh™ and flopped down on the bed.

"Well then you do absolutely nothing, and you go back to being just friends. Mr. Clearwater and you forget that kiss, and life goes on," she explained. That was the boring was, she supposed, but definitely the easiest. Bella knew a thing or two about difficulties in romance, though she supposed it was for different reasons than Gemma. Bella had never been kissed, nor had she ever had affirmation than her crush was requited. He was above her in position, but below her — according to her stuffy, prejudiced family, at least — in blood.

"No one can make you do anything, but you have to follow your heart." It was the cheesiest of sentiments, she supposed, but not far off from the truth. "I would think about. Love- It isn't a handicap, though. It's not supposed to be. If it doesn't feel right, don't pursue it."

(Little did she know in three months she'd forget her own advice completely.)

  

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Gemma echoed Bella's sigh, though it was quiet and more resigned. Gem supposed she could try and go back to the way things were with Alfie, but she also highly suspected that things would never quite be the same after this. What in the name of Merlin's beard was she going to do?

Mulling over Bella's wisdom about love, Gem rather thought her friend had misunderstood her- Gem had seen what love could do to a person, had learned what it was  capable of and what happened when it fell through. She wasn't actively avoiding it, not consciously anyway, Gemma had always been unable to focus on more than one thing at a time without losing sight of one thing or another and so she'd decided to focus on her apprenticeship and give it everything she had. If she were being honest she knew her friendships had suffered because of it, but what else was she to do? They'd grown up and moved on as much as they hadn't wanted to and that was just how it worked. Did she really have time for something like this?

"I guess all I can do is talk to him." She said finally. Without Alfie's half of the story- or at least more than a quick apology, no decision would feel fair, so that was that, she had to owl him or find a way to see him face-to-face to talk about this.

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This was a much more somber conversation than Bella would have hoped! She got the distinct impression that Gemma was not only cynical about a relationship with Mr. Clearwater, but also about a relationship in general. That was something Bella did understand (her biological parents hadn't exactly gave her the best impression of what a high-society marriage was like), but she didn't know why Gemma would have the same concerns. Still, with her friend deep in thought, it seemed like a poor question to dive into.

"Oh Gemma," she sighed, resting a hand on her friend's. "Just- Just don't go into it with the worst possible outcome on your mind. If you assume only bad things will happen, only bad things will happen."

  

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This conversation was too heavy for Gemma. She did not enjoy. Waving off Bella's advice this time, Gems knew her friend meant well- and she was right to boot, but it didn't ease her worries any. The petite brunette didn't even know what if anything, she wanted to come of this!

"I need air, let's go for a walk." Gemma did better when she moved. Laying around and moping in her room was not going to do the trick. Sure it was a little chilly out, but maybe the fresh air would give her some fresh perspective or something. Who knew! This whole thing was a little to existential for her now and the only way to know what would happen, would be to confront Alfie about it. They were friends still... right? They could figure it out together.

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