a trip down memory lane // raffaele cassan

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Sabrina raised an eyebrow at Raffaele's correction. A smirk played on her lips as she looked him in the eyes. Perhaps, a long time ago, Sabrina would've considered that to be a subtle insult, but with Raffaele's smile and teasing tone, she wondered if it was actually a challenge... and there wasn't anything Sabrina loved in the world more than challenges.

She moved closer to him, not enough to completely close the gap between them, but enough for Raffaele to catch a whiff of her perfume, for her shoulder to lightly touch his when she reached for the bottle to have a refill. Once she was done refilling, she set down the bottle a bit too carefully. That was how she knew she needed to stop, or at least slow down a bit, but she couldn't do that now. Not when Raffaele was so close to her, not when the past was an elastic string they were holding between them.

'You're stupid. The cleverest stupid person I know.'

Raffaele was moving closer, and Sabrina felt her heart beat wildly, like a drummer feeling the heat of the moment. Knowing what was about to happen, Sabrina immediately asked him the one thing she had always wanted to know—if he had ever hated her. If the last thing she had put in the jar was actually a lie. She braced herself for the answer, trying to comfort herself with the fact that jar was at least buried somewhere his curse breaking trips wouldn't take him.

But instead of breaking Sabrina's heart completely with his answer, Raffaele said no, that he wasn't a liar, and as he spoke, Sabrina could see the way his eyes travelled from her eyes to her lips. It was only then when she realised how close they were to each other, and how if she moved even just a couple of inches, she would be practically sitting on Raffaele's lap. And yet the feeling of his thigh against hers was a welcome, familiar feeling, along with the way their shoulders rubbed against each other.

One hand, as if moving by itself, put down the glass on the table, and her other hand brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead. 'That's the Raffaele I know,' she said with a sweet smile, the sort of smile she always gave him back in Hogwarts. If Raffaele looked closely, however, he would see a tinge of melancholy in her eyes. 'Thank you. For telling me the truth then, and for telling me the truth now.'

Gazing into his eyes, Sabrina held her breath. She was afraid to hold his gaze and let him see too much of her soul. But in that moment, she was even more afraid of looking away, and losing that sense of connection with him forever.

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'That's the Raffaele I know,'

A somewhat goofy, but genuine smile touched Raffaele's lips at that comment. It meant a lot to him, to hear those words from the woman he had loved for a period of his life. He'd changed, yes, but not so much that he was unrecognisable. Deep down he was still the man that- Raffaele cut himself off from thinking the rest of that sentence, it would not do well to dwell on if, buts and maybes.

"I think we owe each other that much." Raffaele replied when she thanked him. If they could be nothing more, they could at least be honest. As scary as that sounded.

For a moment, Raffaele held the silence that loomed, their eyes locked on one another.

He could still see the girl he'd once loved, with their closeness, it allowed him to focus on her eyes, the one thing that could not change. The pull of which only amplified with their proximity. He could feel himself being drawn in as his hand moved to hers in her lap.

"As we're on truths..." Raffaele whispered, breaking the eye contact for a moment to look down at their hands, together again, but older. Different, but comforting. His eyes moved back to Sabrina's and he knew that, magic or not, he was hooked on her. "You're still the most beautiful witch in the world..." He confessed in the most sincere tone he held.

"And... I've missed you..." Raffaele added, moving a little closer. "It's also going to be a mistake... but..." The Cursebreaker cut off, leaning in and pressing his lips to Sabrina's, gentle at first, but a moment later a little firmer. Need overtaking caution, before he parted from the kiss, though kept close to her.

"Tell me this is wrong, Sabrina, tell me not to do that again." He insisted, because he knew it was the alcohol that fuelled his actions. He knew if they had not been drinking he would have kept the boundaries in place, not pushed them.

But, he also knew this was what he wanted. What he needed. Raffaele had never gotten over Sabrina, he'd never really wanted to. And now that she was back, it was going to ruin his resolve.

It was a bad thing, what they were getting in to, but if it was what both parties wanted, could it ever truly be wrong?

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They looked down on their hands at the same time, their faces close to each other. Sabrina didn't even realise she was holding her breath—they were moving closer to each other, so close it was so comforting, and when she looked back up at Raffaele again, his stare was piercing.

'You're still the most beautiful witch in the world...'

She didn't even have time (or the mindset) to wonder if, right now, he indeed found her flushed cheeks beautiful, or how she was staring at him with parted lips, her breath caught in her throat as she stayed frozen, afraid of interrupting the moment with even just a small movement.

'And... I've missed you... It's also going to be a mistake... but...'

The kiss was like coming home, like a tall drink of water after a long drought, like the warmth of kindled campfire on a cool summer night. Closing her eyes, she could taste just a bit of the Firewhiskey on his lips, and she savoured the taste, and the intoxicating feeling of kissing Raffaele, of being able to hold him close and feel his body. Just like that, the years that had passed seemed to vanish, bringing her back to the Dance Room, where she first experienced what it was like to be one with him.

But before she could continue to enjoy the feeling of his lips, Raffaele moved away, asking her to tell him to stop. And Merlin, she could not do such a herculean task, not when he was holding her so close and she was just...

She had missed him too. So much. There were so many words bursting to be said that her chest hurt, and finding herself incapable of speaking, Sabrina closed the distance between them to kiss him again. Cupping his chin, she moved closer and seated herself on his lap. She knew it was wrong, to kiss him like this when she had left him so many years ago, but she didn't care any longer. She put all of the love, pain, and longing in her urgent kisses. She wanted the warmth of his body, and the way he used to hold her so close, as if he didn't just want her but need her.

She needed all of it so much she thought she was going mad.

Pausing to look him in the eyes, Sabrina spoke softly, and slightly out of breath. 'The real mistake is when I left you, and I paid for it dearly by missing you so much.' She kissed him again, as if she were afraid he would be taken away from her any minute. 'Don't let me go, not right now.'

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