a/n Written for the 2012 Hogwarts Games, in the Pole Vault category, wherein every contestant had to write a 500 word drabble about their OT3. An OT3 is basically a One True Pairing (OTP), but with three people :)

My TrioGen OT3, and the one I decided to write, is Romilda/Demelza/Michael (that would be Vane/Robins/Corner) - I actually have never seen this before, so I would appreciate a mention if someone else writes one. This is pretty much a sequel to all the truths we ever said, as it relies a little on the canon of that fic, though this can be read as a stand alone.

I may do a continuation of this, but not a direct one - it'll probably just be bits and pieces of their lives together. I have a whole head canon for these three - four, counting Bridget (that's Colin and Demelza's daughter, in case it isn't clear later on) - and I'm pretty excited to have an excuse to flesh them out :D

Without further ado, may I present, And This Is How They Live.

She's not really surprised at how they end up, because even if the three of them in love isn't entirely expected, they've always been closer than just friends should be - though 'just' can't describe the feelings that burn through her with a simple touch or a smile, or the way they support her and mop away her tears as she cries.

(She always feels a little bit guilty for thoughts like this, because Colin and Bridget and a million what ifs, but Romilda kisses her sweet and slow while Michael holds baby Bridget in his arms, and she refuses to regret feeling happy again.)

The first year after the war is the hardest, because she's about to be a mother and her boyfriend died, and there's so many things she's lost that she's never getting back, but one look at Michael's face at his best friend's funeral reminds her that she's not the only one who has lost. She tries her hardest to pull it together, for baby Bridget's sake, but there are more days than she'd like to admit that she simply sinks down on Romilda's bed and cries until her heart doesn't hurt so much.

(She cries often, that first year, and Romilda buys her ten boxes of tissues for her birthday and tells her to make them last, and she laughs and laughs until her cheeks ache, and that's the moment that the king's horses start putting her together again.)

She uses up the last box of tissues when she pulls open Romilda's bedroom door on an ordinary Sunday afternoon and finds her and Michael tangled together in the yellow-green sheets, hands wound tightly together and lips almost blending, looking so in love that she wonders why she ever thought she had a chance with either of them.

And yet - and this is the only thing that gives her hope - there's a space between their lower bodies, a clear fissure where something is supposed to be, but isn't.

(It's her, she thinks; she's the missing piece, because they need her as much as she needs them, because the three of them were never supposed to be anything less than perfect lovers.)

"Are you going to leave me now?" she asks them, only once, when Bridget's asleep and she's busy pulling down the "Happy Birthday Bridget!" banner that Michael pinned to the wall that morning. They're sitting across from each other at the table, hands holding each other's and mugs of tea, and Millie chokes and almost spits her tea onto the tablecloth when she speaks.

"What gave you that idea?" Michael asks, looking so adorably confused that it reminds her of the Muggle Rice Cooker Incident from the previous week. For a Ravenclaw, he wears that expression a lot.

"Well, you guys are together now - you don't want to be held back by me and Bridget."

"Oh, Demy," Romilda laughs softly, and she almost falls off the ladder as they pull her down and hold her close, and yeah, this is definitely making her top five best nights.

("We love you," Romilda says later, and Michael's eyes are bright as he presses a kiss to her cheek.)

a/n Please review, and don't favourite without reviewing! :)