#a draft for the yule ball robes

[itsevansart]

a concept sketch of tom from remember when we ruined by @mosiva <3 i'm not very used to drawing women anymore, i admit, but fem tomarry is good practice haha. wanted to make good on my promise, even if only for a little bit right now ^^

make my day by reblogging and not reposting!

[neochan]

DESIRE (M) — PART ONE

he wants you. you want jeno. desire is a jealous little thing, isn't it y/n?

PAIRING. slytherin!haechan x hufflepuff!reader ft. gryffindor!jeno

WC. 12.1k

GENRE. harry potter au!, smut

WARNINGS. cursing, drinking, depictions of breaking a bone, solo male smut, haechan is sort of a perv in one (1) scene, oral male receiving, just really sloppy head <3, haechan does fuck someone in detail and he's mean abt it, but it's not y/n (oops spoiler of sorts), blonde!haechan, he's not a good person, so don't expect him to be. he's a big ole meanie with a longtime crush on reader.

A.N. this has been in the drafts for like three years. i want it out, so i'm splitting it into two parts :)

The Mirror of Erised - The mirror shows the most desperate desire of a person's heart, a vision that has been known to drive men mad.

He loves you.

But he fucking hates it.

First year he was holding hands with you, sitting next to your huddled body on the train, and later sharing a meal in the great hall. Second year he saw you clinging onto him as he flew you over the quidditch field. Third year he watched the both of you sneak out to explore the restricted section in the library and run around the castle late at night. Fourth year he saw you in a beautiful dress as he took you to the yule ball. Fifth year he was kissing you on the astronomy tower. Sixth year you went down on him, and all he could do was watch and pretend that his hand was your mouth.

Now it’s seventh year.

Though the actions changed, it was always you he saw in the mirror, and he fucking hated it. Ever since first year, when all he knew was that you were cute and funny, there you were, taunting and teasing him in that godforsaken mirror.

And yet, he always comes back to sit and watch. 

Just like tonight.

The train only arrived an hour ago, but instead of filing into the great hall to see which house the first years would be sorted into, he’s sitting on the floor in the room of requirement, back against a dusty chest of drawers, and eyes narrowed down to slits as he watches the scene unfold in the mirror before him.

It always starts with you appearing out of thin air. You’re wearing your house colors – a small grey skirt, barely covering the swell of your ass and a yellow button up. You’re rid of the required tie, but only for a second, only until Haechan shows up to stand behind you in the mirror with it stretched between his fists.

He shifts in his place on the ground. It wasn’t real, but lord have mercy, he wished it were.

In the mirror he watches himself loop the tie around your wrists, which were set behind your back. You were so beautiful, smiling up at him with those luminous eyes, and your lips parted in a sinful smile.

Under his robes, his hand inches across the flat of his stomach, towards the growing bulge in his pants. It was becoming hotter in the room, almost stifling, but if someone were to come in, he couldn’t be caught half naked. He’d have to get by fully clothed. 

God, he despised the way you made him feel; so desperate for any sort of friction, anything to help relieve himself of the aching lust he felt in the pit of his stomach.

When his reflection is done tying your wrists together, a desk appears. He recognizes it as the one from potions class. His mouth drops open in an O as he watches himself back you up, so you were sandwiched between the desk and his broad chest.

His hand disappears under your skirt, and he could only imagine what his reflection was doing. Could only imagine how good you probably felt clenching around his fingers, gasping at his touch. Feeling pleasure because of him.

Your body arches against his, head dropping down to rest on his shoulder. He watches his lips move against your ear, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Biggest fucking curse of the century.

Stupid mirror should come with speakers, he thinks.

It was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep his composure, skin slick with sweat, and hands buzzing with the temptation to touch himself.

Fuck you, y/l/n

He watches as his mirror persona spins you around and pushes you flat against the desk, yanking your skirt up around your waist to bare your glistening pussy.

It’s never been this explicit, and he can’t help himself. Tentative fingers wrap around his cock. He throws his head back and hisses between his teeth; it felt too fucking good. His eyes snap open. There was no way he was going to miss the rest of the show, not when it was just getting good.

In the mirror, his cock replaces his fingers. He watches himself inch his way into you slowly. Watches your mouth loll open, eyes glazed over. You were already fucked out and he had barely started.

Haechans hands stroke himself under his robes as he watches the scene in front of him. He was having a hard time keeping his hips still, bucking up into his fist. He softly groans to himself when he sees his reflection grab your tied hands and pull back, fucking himself into you faster.

It was so unfair, so embarrassing, that he had to resort to getting off in front of a mirror displaying his deepest fantasy. It was so unfair that it was always you.

So Haechan sits there, watching the mirrored version of himself completely ruin you, while trying to pretend that his hand is your dripping cunt. He sits there thinking of all the things he would do to you if you would give him the time of day.

Fuck you y/n.

The first years had already been sorted by the time he arrived. In fact, dinner was almost over.

He makes his way to the Slytherin table where his friends were loudly joking. Renjun was the first to notice when he sat down and slides him a half-eaten piece of pie.

“Where were you?”

Through a mouthful of blueberry pie, Haechan acknowledges him, “I had to take care of some things.”

He shuts the discussion down quick. No need for them to know he shoved in a dusty room with his cock in his fist, and his mind full of you.

Speaking of which...

His eyes scan the great hall till he sees you sitting with your roommates, Jihyo and Mina. He almost chokes on the next bite when he realizes you were wearing the same outfit you had on in the mirror.

“Fucking hell man, don’t die,” Chenle slides him a glass of water, “We thought we were gonna have to sneak you some food back to the dorms.”

He gulps down the water and taps the glass with his ring clad pointer finger, automatically refilling it. The silver metal makes a tink sound against the glass. “Well, like I said, I had some things to take care of.”

Why the fuck did his friends have to be so damn nosy. A guy couldn't disappear for an hour?

“And was Y/N one of those things?” Chenle snorts.

The rest of the table bursts into laughter, louder than the entire great hall combined, and it makes you peek your head in their direction. Haechan drops his gaze away from you, grabs a stray spoon and chucks it at Chenle, hitting him square in the chest, “Shut up.”

“Dude, we all know you've been sweet on her since, what, first year?” Renjun snickers.

Chenle wipes the gunk that splattered off the spoon from his robes, ‘Yeah, we’re not blind man. I mean, she might be, but not us.”

"Sweet on her? What the fuck is this Renjun, the nineteen-fifties?" Haechan doesn't do anything but scowl. He hates how his friends knew. Hell, pretty much all Slytherins that knew him, knew.

His eyes flick up and catch yours. A soft smile forms on your lips, and he returns it. He hand twitched up for a wave, but Jeno, the infamous Gryffindor Seeker, sits beside you and steals your attention away.

“Ah look, now you’re too late.”

“Could’ve had a chance dude.”

Haechan turns to his friends and gives them a death stare, “Next word out of you guys and I’m gonna stuff the rest of this pie down your fucking throats.”

With a roll of their eyes, they turn their heads and start to talk amongst themselves about the new school year. Haechan can’t immerse himself in such conversation. His attention is pointed solely on you and the kiss ass that was Lee Jeno.

One of his arms sat slung around your shoulders, his face dangerously close to yours, but for some reason, you weren’t pushing him away, you were laughing.

Why weren’t you pushing him away?

Something in Haechan snaps when he watches Jeno lean his forehead against yours, both of you sharing wide smiles. It’s as if his heart was set on fire, the heat threading itself through his body and taking home in his hands. Oh, how he wanted to go punch that smile right off of Jeno’s lips. Smash his fist in his face and leave a nice mark, bloody broken gums bleeding.

Bet he wouldn’t smile at you then.

Haechan knows it’s insane. He does, but he quite honestly doesn’t give a single broom-flying fuck.

With determination, Haechan stood, pushing his chair back, and ignoring the calls from his friends. Everybody he walks past is enjoying their first-day-back meals, but Haechan has something else on his mind.

He walks by your table, hearing the pretty lilt of your voice chatting away with your friends as Jeno hangs off your side. Haechan’s tongue pokes his cheek in jealousy, but he walks right past without a word, no matter how much his brain is screaming at him to just hit Jeno.

Making it to the doors that seal off the great hall from the main corridor, he draws his wand out from his robes and flicks his wrist.

“Aguamenti”

A jet of clear water shoots out from the tip of his wand and smacks the side of Jenos head, effectively drenching him from head to toe.

Haechan stays for a split second, just to watch you and your friends erupt in a fit of giggles while Jeno picks at his wet robes.

He smiles triumphantly before slipping out into the hallway and sprinting to the Slytherin dormitory.

Haechan 1, Jeno 0

The first night back at Hogwarts; The first night back home.

You and your dormmates lounge in the common room and stare into the fire whilst making small talk. It had been a while since seeing them, but you had kept in touch out in the muggle world.

Jihyo hung her head over the arm of the couch, the rest of her body sprawled out and cozily covered with a blanket, attempting to toss popcorn in the air and catch it in her mouth. Her success rate, however, left the floor scattered with smashed pieces and kernels.

Mina sat on the end of the couch with Jihyo's feet in her lap, occasionally contributing to the conversation but mostly engrossed in her textbooks. It wasn't even the first day of actual classes, yet here she was, staying ahead. If you didn't know her kind nature, you'd think she belonged in Ravenclaw.

You were slung in the other chair opposite of them, fiddling with your wand. The end was slightly cracked from where you had accidentally stepped on it one day and it was worrying you. The last thing you needed right now was another trip to Olivanders.

“I’m just saying Y/N, I think Jeno really does like you!” Jihyo insisted, throwing another piece of popcorn in the air only to get hit in the face with it seconds later.

Mina snorts without looking up and Jihyo makes a face at her that she doesn’t see but leaves you giggling. You twist your wand around your fingers, something you learned back in second year, “Well if he does, he hasn’t said anything.”

Mina hums in agreement but Jihyo thinks differently, “He wouldn’t have offered to take you broom flying after hours if he didn’t like you.”

Shrugging your shoulders you turn to the fire, the burning warmth spreading over your chest. “Maybe he just wants some pussy.”

“Well, you better take the chance before I do. He can show me his broomstick anytime.” She winks in your direction sending you into a giggle fit. Mina rolls her eyes but continues reading her textbook. The both of you were used to Jihyos sexual jokes, but they never failed to make you laugh and Mina cringe.

A brief silence passed before you spoke, “Okay, but you have to agree, whoever splashed him at dinner tonight has it coming.”

“What do you mean whoever it was?” Mina piped up, giving you an inquisitive look.

“I didn’t see who it was, did y’all?” you asked, mildly confused. The water had seemingly come out of nowhere, and everyone around Jeno had denied responsibility. With everyone denying it, you suspected it might have been one of the lingering spirits.

“Are you kidding me, Y/N? He couldn’t have been any more obvious,” Jihyo said incredulously, sitting up to look straight at you, abandoning her bag of popcorn.

Were you supposed to have known who the culprit was? You were too busy watching Jeno splutter and gasp to have paid much attention to your surroundings. One thing she said caught your attention, “He?”

“Haechan? Lee Donghyuck?” Mina says slowly.

Jihyo chimed in, “He was walking toward our table all angry, and then when he made it to the doors, he turned around and used the Aguamenti spell.” Your mouth dropped open with every word she said, “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice?!”

“I didn’t!” you argue defensively.

“Oh, and before that, he was staring at you.” Mina added, closing her textbook and standing up, dumping Jihyo's feet on the ground.

“I knew he was staring.” You say, chewing on your bottom lip, “Are you guys for sure he was the one?”

“I’m telling you,” Jihyo starts, “We both saw him.”

Emotions bubble in your chest. You were pissed off for sure. Who did Haechan think he was getting in your business like that, especially given the history, or lack thereof.

Ever since you met the Slytherin boy, he had despised you. There was something about you that completely irritated him, and no matter how hard you tried, he just wouldn’t be your friend. He wouldn’t even talk to you, only stare and mess with your relationships. Every time you were getting close with a boy, he would get in the way, first with Mark and now Jeno? This was becoming an issue, and one that you needed to correct soon.

“I’m heading to bed.” Mina says, waving goodbye and heading off to her room.

You and Jihyo are left to stare at each other. She narrows her eyes down to slits, “Don’t get any ideas.”

“I’m not,” you spun the wand faster around your fingers, twisting and spinning it until it dropped into your palm, “I’m just going to remind him who the hell I am.”

“That’s not very Hufflepuff of you.” she giggles, reaching for more popcorn and shoving it in her mouth.

Your grip your wand tightly, “Hufflepuff or not, Lee Donghyuck needs to learn who he’s fucking with.”

As you pondered your next move, Jihyo leaned back and said, "You know, a well-placed hex might jog his memory."

"No. Not a hex. He get's one warning. His only warning."

Haechan knew you were after him.

The past couple days consisted of him dodging your every attempt at waving him down. After classes dismissed, he was up and out the door in the blink of an eye, he never showed his face at the great hall, and when you caught sight of him during his quidditch practice, he disappeared while everyone else headed to the locker rooms.

Three days after the water incident, you catch him.

The professor asked him to stay back after class, supposedly to discuss his recent test scores. So, when the bell rang, you lingered outside the classroom door. A couple of minutes later, Haechan emerged, his blonde hair paired with a scowl etched onto his face. He made a beeline in the opposite direction, but you had other plans.

“Lee Donghyuck!” you shout, attracting stares from the other students milling about the corridor. You scurry over to him and tug his arm, his eyes shooting down to where you made contact “We need to talk.”

He glanced around, ensuring no one was watching, and cleared his throat. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The threats you had rehearsed - the biting warnings you promised Jihyo you'd give him...they all catch in the back of your throat when you look up and make eye contact. It was almost condescending the way he looked down at you, without even saying anything, he made you feel small.

"I—um, I want you to leave me and Jeno alone," you managed to say, attempting confidence but knowing there was little force behind the words.

He knew it too.

His eyebrows shoot up, “I’m sorry darling, I’m not quite sure what you mean.”

Oh, how good he was at feigning innocence.

Too bad you knew he was a big fat fucking liar, “The whole Aguamenti spell you did the other night in the great hall? Yeah, I know it was you.”

His jaw clenches and he reaches for his wand to twirl around his finger – something he did when he was nervous. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit Haechan. Me and my friends saw you do it.”

As more people stared at the confrontation in the middle of the hallway, you considered finding a more private place, but you knew he wouldn't follow.

“What do you want me to say? I’m telling you I didn’t do it.” his voice is a low growl, his demeanor darkening and body slightly leaning towards your own. You wouldn’t be surprised if the next words out of his mouth were, ‘now get lost you little freak’.

Deciding to stand your ground, you stared up at him defiantly. However, instead of backing down, he laughed straight in your face, deflating any hope of setting him straight.

“Good one, Hufflepuff.” With a roll of his eyes, he palms his wand in thought. How could a girl like you go for a guy like Jeno? Didn’t you know he was an asshole?

Speak of the devil, he thinks.

A heavy arm wrapped around your shoulders, accompanied by a sweet and cheery voice. "Y/N! Just the girl I needed to see." Jeno's crescent eyes and beaming smile were inches from yours.

Haechan rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. He needs to leave; He should leave, but his feet don’t move when he tries. It felt like he was under a spell.

Yeah, if jealousy was a fucking spell, the thought bitterly.

“I hope you don’t mind me talking to your girl.” Jeno acknowledges Haechan and playfully punches him in the shoulder. The older boy just sneers.

“Oh, I’m not his girl” you declared adamantly.

A derisive scoff rumbles in the depths of Haechan's throat, and a fit of coughing seizes him, forcing him to double over.

“Careful there buddy.” Jeno smirks, harshly slapping Haechan’s back as way to help him catch his breath.  

When the older boy straightens up, a look of pure hatred crosses his eyes and you giggle, “I’m fine, buddy.”

Jeno looks from left to right confused at Haechan’s hostility, but shakes it off and turns to you instead, “I wanted to invite you to the Quidditch game tomorrow night.” A ‘no’ forms on your lips but Jeno is quick to shut it down, “Look… I’ll play better if you’re there. You can be my good luck charm!”

A fake gag sounds from the back of Haechans throat and you stare daggers into him until he throws two hands up and takes a step back.

You turned to Jeno with the intention of declining, citing the need for studying, but his trademark smile was plastered on his lips. Wasn't the point of this conversation with Haechan to be something with Jeno someday?

“I’ll go.” You smile, and Jeno's face lights up like a kid on Christmas.

One second, you were on the ground, and the next, you were in Jeno's strong arms, spinning around. "Yes! You won't regret this, Y/N! You can even wear my jersey if you want!"

He slows down and sets you back on your feet, your head slightly spinning, “Jeno… you do realize you’ll need your jersey on the field.”

“Oh right.” He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “Didn’t think of that.”

Haechan makes an unamused snort, and you notice his hands are balled into fists at his side.

How could Jeno do that right in front of his face?

“I guess it’s the thought that counts.” Haechan spits, and turns on his heel, robes flying behind him as he hurriedly walks away.

“Wait! We still have to talk!” you shout after him, but he doesn’t acknowledge it, just keeps walking until he rounds a corner and disappears.

Why did he have something against Jeno? He hated you anyways. Was his job to make you miserable your entire Hogwarts life? Why was he always in your business?

Jeno startles you out of your thoughts, “Come on, I’ll walk you to class.”

A smile formed on your lips, and you murmured an 'okay' as Jeno looped your arm in his. Unfortunately, Haechan was long gone, along with any hope of setting him straight.

Hopefully he got the message, you think.

It’s the last thought of him before Jeno is tugging on your arm and walking you to class, the smell of cinnamon on his robes and his jovial tone taking home in your head and root in your heart.  

He can’t stomach the sight of her face, but that doesn’t stop him from fucking her.

Who was she? He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. She was wet enough and that was all that mattered. Thrusting into her sopping cunt was what she was here for, nothing more, nothing less.

His mind drifts while he pounds into her, the image of Jeno dragging you away, his arm slung over your shoulders driving Haechan to fuck harder. The girl hollers in pain but doesn’t tell him to stop, just grits her face and bears it, and he doesn’t check to see if she’s okay.

She said she wanted him to fuck her, so that’s what he was doing.

“Hy-hyuck.” She whimpers, fingers digging into his dark green sheets.

A harsh smack lands on her ass, “What, can’t take it Y/ -”

He stops himself before finishing your name. How stupid could he be. This wasn’t you; this could never be you.

Whoever the girl was, she doesn’t notice, too rung up on his cock pushing into her over and over again to understand that he didn’t give a single fuck about her.

Poor girl.

Her legs start to shake, an overwhelming orgasm washing over her right before Haechan pulls out and rolls off the bed, hastily putting on his pants. She’s left to catch her breath on his bed, peering at him from between parted fingers, “You didn’t finish.”

“Don’t need to.” He throws his sweater over his head and starts to fix his tie, “Here.” He picks her yellow robes off the floor and tosses them onto the bed next to her.

“Let me suck you off or something.”

His response is instantaneoous, “I’m good.”

Her voice is soft when she speaks up again, “It’s because of that girl isn’t it… the one in my house, Y/N?”

Was it obvious to everyone else but you? This random fucking girl knew, but you couldn’t catch on? Fucking ridiculous.

His eyes narrow down to slits, “I got to get to class. You better be gone when I get back.”

The door slams behind him, the echo being the only indication he was there in the first place.

Robes askew and papers flying out of your hands, you rush into potions class at the last possible second.

Jeno is already seated at your shared table, something that’s become normal these last few weeks. Out of the corner of your eye, you take note of Hyuck slumped over a piece of paper, furiously scribbling—probably homework.

Thankfully, the professor nods you off without issuing you a detention slip.

Slamming your books on the flat black table, you hop onto your stool.

“Thought you weren’t gonna show y/l/n” Jeno’s smile stretches from ear to ear, his fingers twirling a quill between them.

“I may not be a Ravenclaw, but I’d never miss a class.”

“Couldn’t bear to miss me?” His flirtatious comments always make your heart skip a beat. Your pulse becomes increasingly erratic, face flushed. A snort sounds from behind you, and when you swivel around, you see Haechan’s face adorned with a sneer. He doesn’t deserve a response from you, no matter how much you want to flip him off.

You turn back around, “I guess I couldn’t…” The blush on Jeno’s face is unmistakable and it warms your heart.

From the front of the room, the professor claps his hands, “Alright class, today we will be doing something I’m sure you’ve done before.”

“Please don’t say truth potion.” You mutter under your breath.

“Not quite, Ms. y/l/n. Today we’ll be brewing amortentia potions! All your ingredients should be in the back of the classroom, gather them and begin brewing! The instructions are on page 287 of your textbook! The first group to accurately brew their potion gets five points on the chapter quiz this week.”

The professor calling you out would be enough to send you into an embarrassed state of tucking your chin against your chest and keeping your head down for the rest of the class, but the mention of extra points on the quiz has you leaping up off the stool and waltzing to the back of the classroom.

Jeno doesn’t even have time to say anything. You’ve never done this potion before, but you know the ingredients by heart, just waiting for the day you get to brew it.

You make it to the ingredients table first, followed by Haechan, who’s furiously flipping through his textbook, trying to find the ingredient list. When he notices your empty hands, he narrows his eyes, “Don’t you need to know what to put in the potion?”

Grabbing various vials and jars of dried leaves, you snort, “Don’t need to. Jealous I know it by heart?”

His eyes slide to yours while he follows your lead and picks up a jar of blue rose petals, “Me? Jealous? Yeah right. That’ll be you when me and Chenle win the extra points.”

“Don’t count on it Hyuck.”

The nickname has him tensing, knuckles going white when he accidentally grips a vial of milky substance too hard. He puts it under his arm and reaches for another vial. Coincidentally, you were reaching for the same one, both of your hands brushing against each other's. Neither of you is hasty in withdrawing.

His Adam's apple bobs in his throat, nervousness flitting across his brow. Before you can make note, he clamps down, and his expression goes stoic again.

Heat pools in your stomach. A sickeningly sweet feeling that leaves you confused when Haechan plucks the vial away and whips around, his robes fluttering out behind his body.

Other students begin crowding the table, so you grab a different vial, the interaction leaving you all too confused.

When you get back to the table, Jeno has already begun heating the cauldron.

The ingredients spill from your hands.

“Have you ever done this before?” Jeno asks, “You didn’t even need the textbook.”

Your voice comes out mumbled, “No. I just know it by heart.”

His own textbook is splayed out in front of him, one finger rubbing down the page to read the ingredients list. Why don’t his hands make you feel like that? Sure, it makes you feel all cozy inside, but it isn’t… hot like that. There;s no heat when Jeno walks hand-in-hand with you in the hallway. Why?

“… petals.”

His voice peeks through your thoughts that were flitting around your skull at a million miles an hour.

“Huh?”

“Why did you grab blue rose petals? It doesn’t say we need them in the book.” He teeters on the edge of his seat as if he wanted to take them back to the ingredients table at the back of the room.

A smirk plays on the edge of your lips, “Haechan was copying what I was grabbing, so to trip him up, I grabbed those. Hopefully, he doesn’t pay close attention to the textbook like you…”

Jeno laughs, “Never would have struck you as the type Y/N.”

“What, too much of a Slytherin thing?” You bite back.

“No…No, I like it. It makes you… I don’t know… hot?”

Your eyes go wide, a laugh sticking in your throat. You cough it up and turn to the spread of ingredients in front of you, “Let's, uh… let’s start so we can get those extra credit points.”

Jeno turns around and so do you.

What you don’t notice is Haechan, who had become immensely interested in your conversation after hearing the word Slytherin leave your lips. The jealousy flickering through his nerves is hotter than the boiling substance in front of him. Oh, how he wishes this was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He’d love to put Jeno flat on his ass.

You and Jeno effortlessly master the brewing of amortentia in just twelve minutes, a symphony of perfectly blended scents swirling in your cauldron.

Chenle and Haechan shoot you annoyed glances as their potion turns into a goopy, blue disaster, nowhere close to the enchanting pink hue of yours.

The professor strides over, congratulating the two of you with a smile. He hands each of you golden slips of paper, designating you as the undisputed masters of amortentia potion-making.

Haechan stands with arms crossed, bitterness etched across his face as he joins the students gathered around your table. His jaw clenches when he witnesses Jeno pulling you into a snug side hug.

“Alright! As the first pair to get the potion right, you get the pleasure of telling us what you smell.

Fuck.

His jaw unclenches and instead is replaced by a shit-eating grin.

“W-What?”

Other students nervously chuckle, eager to see if Jeno, the star of Gryffindors quidditch team, would possibly smell their scent.

“I’ll go first y/n. Don’t sweat it.”

Carefully, Jeno leans over the cauldron and lets the steam waft up into his face. He takes a sniff. Another one. Another one. And finally a deep inhale.

“It’s smells like cherries… um, vanilla, I think… and, sweets? Like baked sweets?”

The professor applauds, “Good! Sounds like someone's after a Hufflepuff!”

All eyes turn to you. It's true, the Hufflepuff dormitory is adjacent to the kitchens, but why must everyone assume? Why must it be you?

The professor continues, “You next Y/N!”

Haechans doe eyes follow your figure closely, drinking in the way you lean over the cauldon, the top button on your blouse having come undone, breasts peaking through the top. He feels like a pervert, but he can’t help the stiffness rising in his slacks.

He should’ve had that girl suck him off.

You sniff one, twice, and a third time. Haechan watches as the blood drains from your face.

Why couldn’t it be cinnamon and firewood? Why not something to complement Jeno? It had to be that.

“I smell apples… and, and, um, caramel, and qu-quidditch gear.”

You don’t even have time to assess Jeno or Haechans faces. Jeno knew it was Haechan’s scent. Haechan knew it was his scent. Everyone knew. How could they not? Slytherins best asshole was known for smelling like caramel apples.

Fuck.

Your eyes are downcast, contemplating whether or not to do that chin tuck.

“Alright! Who’s next?”

“It’s not like it’s our house that’s playing.”

Slumped on the common room couch and stuffing your face with leftover popcorn (thanks Jihyo), your argument doesn’t come across as very convincing – to yourself, or Mina, who stands in front of you with her hands on her hips. “And anyways,” you raise a skeptical eyebrow, “Don’t you have to study or something. You’re not one for quidditch games.”

She reaches for you, snatching the snack bowl out of your hand and plopping it down on the coffee table. “I’m two weeks ahead in every single class. I can afford to skip a day of studying.”

For a moment, you shoot her a glare, sensing there's more to it. “Jihyo put you up to this, didn’t she?”

“Why do you say that.”

“Because I know her.”

“Okay, yes.” She sits down next to you, grabbing your hands. “But come on! Jeno invited you to watch the game and then go to the afterparty. You know how hard it is to get invited to those parties!” She drags out the last syllable, pretending to beg, “And Jihyo said she’d kill me if you bailed.”

You sigh. Jeno did invite you, and he had that killer smile on his lips when he did it. The reminder sends butterflies in your stomach fluttering about. The only reason you were planning to skip out was because you were nervous. And what happened in class yesterday. But that didn’t matter! Gryffindors seeker asking you to come watch him play, and then walking you to class? That made you more than friends, right? You didn’t know how to navigate that without being awkward… and you’d hate to disappoint him.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Mina squeals next to you and pulls you into a hug. “You won’t regret this! But hurry up, I wanna see if I can spot Renjun before the game.” She smiles to herself, a light blush dusting her cheeks that she tries to conceal.

“Renjun… Isn’t that the boy you’re tutoring in potions?”

She hums in response, a dreamy expression so evident on her face you could almost make out hearts in her eyes. It's like a real-life cartoon.

“You have a crush on him!” you tease, giggling when she holds her arms out defensively and tries to deny it. “That’s why you’re going to the game today! Not because you don’t need to study, but because you wanna see Renjunnnnn.” You draw out his name like you used to do when you were first years.

“Don’t tell Jihyo.” She groans. “She’ll give me hell for it, and I want this to progress naturally on its own.”

“I won’t, I’m just shocked our Mina has a crush!”

You feel happy for your friend. Happy that she’s found somebody who could actually drag her away from being holed up on a Saturday afternoon – it's real progress.

“Enough about me! Go get ready!”

She throws a pillow at you when you leap off the couch, and it hits you square in the chest, both of you thrown into another fit of giggles.

The stands were so jam packed with students, you thought there was absolutely no way you were going to grab a seat.

That was until you spotted Jihyos yellow Hufflepuff cap sticking out in a sea of Gryffindor gear. It was against house rules to wear anything outside of your house colors, so while you wanted to wear red to support Jeno, the best you could do was the red handheld flags they were passing out at the gate to the field.

A first year Slytherin tried to hand you a green flag, but you upturn your nose and brush him aside. You didn’t hate all Slytherins, but you’d be damned if Haechan caught sight of you supporting his team, especially since it was him pitted against Jeno. It saddened you that he was a seeker like the boy you were there to support; he didn’t deserve the position.

Mina grabs your hand and drags you into the thick of the crowd where elbows jostled you every few seconds and your cheeks were being whipped with waving flags. You duck your head down and try not to trip, a sigh of relief rushing past your lips when you make it to where Jihyo is sitting front row, batting away a couple who were trying to sit in the seats she was keeping for the two of you.

“See!” She yells, gesturing wildly to the two of you walking up, “My friends are here, and these seats are now occupied!” She grabs your wrists and tugs you to sit down.

The couple rolls their eyes and move on to find another seat.

“Bitches.” Jihyo curses under her breath.

“Thanks for saving the seat.” You breathlessly laugh, adjusting your jacket so that you were bundled up. Hogwart winters weren’t for the faint of heart.

Jihyo smirks, “Had to fight off about half the Gryffindor population for this good of a view, but it was worth it.”

On the other side of Jihyo, Mina laughed and clapped her hands at the commotion on the field, right before every other student erupted in cheers, hoots, and hollers.

From your midfield position, you saw the Slytherin team filtering out on the green, brooms in hand.

“WELCOME ALL FACULTY AND STUDENTS TO THE FIRST HOME GAME OF THE SEASON!! PLEASE WELCOME OUR SLYTHERIN TEAM!” The announcer's voice boomed, rattling through the entire stadium.

As much as you resisted cheering, Mina was there to support Renjun, so you gave a few half-hearted claps on her behalf, earning dirty looks from the surrounding Gryffindors. You were in the wrong section if you wanted to support the snakes.

You weren’t looking for him, but Haechan’s blonde hair immediately grabs your attention. He’s smiling, all sharp and smug, and you can make out green face paint dotting the side of his neck. It irked you that he was soaking in the cheering – you bet he got off to on the attention. What? With him being the infamous Slytherin seeker? It went straight to his head, and you knew it.

The team hopped on their brooms and flew around the students, tossing Slytherin gear into the stands as they weaved in and out of the sections. When Haechan passed, he blew you a kiss and winked, infuriating you to the point your face flushed hot.

“Ignore him.” Jihyo rolls her eyes and gives your hand a squeeze, “He’s trying to get you mad. Jeno will put him in his place.”

The thought of Jeno putting him in his place warms your heart. Oh, how good that’ll feel.

Once the Slytherins stopped showing off, the crowd went relatively quiet, waiting for the real star of the show to come out. A thrumming chant started somewhere opposite your section, and soon enough, the entire student body was collectively roaring for Gryffindor.

“WE WANT BETTER, WE WANT MORE, SHOW US GRYFFINDOR!!”

A rumble goes through the crowd right before cold air whips your face and a sea of red jerseys flies over your head. It makes you laugh giddily, and your eyes desperately search for number seven – Jeno.

It takes a second, but soon enough your eyes are locked on his lean figure which presses forward on the thin broom stick. He looked good.

Jihyo goes fucking wild beside you, “There’s your man!” she screeches, and you let out a belly laugh. You both watch as he makes his rounds around the towers filled with cheering students – each and every one until he gets to yours.

“You look beautiful” he shouts, and a dozen girls around you squeal in adoration. He was talking to you though, and you knew it. His eyes sparkle when he gives you a wink. “Wish me luck.” he mouths.

“Omg how cute are you two!?” Jihyo swoons.

You pressed a kiss to your palm and then blew it to him – a signal of your affection. With a wide eye-smile, he grabbed it out of the air and pressed it to his lips.

It was then and there that you decided you were going to kiss him after the match. All too quickly, he flew away, and you watched as he went.

Not two seconds later, a new Gryffindor player was in front of you, balancing on the tail end of his stick. Johnny, you remembered his name.

His jersey was tucked between his teeth, his abs on full display, which sent the hoards of girls around you into a screaming fit. You caught a quick glimpse before he spat the hem out of his mouth.

“Y/N, you want us to win?” He asks, his voice a deep timbre.

You were shocked that he was talking to you – let alone that he knew your name.

Gingerly, you nod your head.

“I bet. You coming to the party after?”

This interaction was so bizarre, and all Jihyo and Mina did to help was stare at the six-foot, built, fine specimen lingering only three feet in front of you.

“Jeno invited me.” For some reason, a blush settles on your face, and you fight the urge to cover it.

“Bet you’re gonna have a fun time with him after.” A dazzling smirk plastered itself on Johnny’s face. “You should ask him if he’ll let you ride his broomstick. I heard he’s a good teacher. It should be fun.” He flew around so quickly it left you blinking in his wake. Over his shoulder, you heard him call out, “See you after, prize girl.”

The entire twenty-second conversation left you reeling, and you tucked a mental note away to ask Jeno about it later.

From across the field, a certain Slytherin seeker was seething. Both his hands grabbed the broom so tightly his knuckles turned white. If he applied any more pressure, it would have broken.

The fuck was Johnny talking to you about? Did it have to do with Jeno? What did you see in him anyways? What did Jeno have that he didn’t? Did he have to prove himself? Yes, he thinks. That’s what he’ll do. He’ll win this match to prove to you that he’s better than Jeno. Maybe then you’ll truly see him – and give him a chance.

Game on.

Two minutes were left in the last quarter, and it was neck and neck.

Green and red jerseys fly around each other.

The stadium echoed with the thunderous cheers as the Quaffle exchanged hands between the opposing teams. The bludgers were like rogue comets, threatening to disrupt the fluid dance of the players. Jeno and Haechan had their eyes fixed on the glittering snitch.

A collective gasp filled the arena as Haechan executed a daring spiral dive, narrowly avoiding a bludger. Simultaneously, Jeno executed a swift roll, evading a clever attempt by the opposing team to intercept him.

The golden snitch continued to flit teasingly ahead, leading the seekers on a merry chase.

You grip onto Jihyo and Mina as the game comes to a crescendo.

It happens so quick you almost miss it, but in three seconds everything changes.

Three.

Jeno becomes unbalanced, teetering sideways on his broom that keeps flying straight. His eyes are locked on yours when a wave of pure panic engulfs his sweaty features.

Haechan flies past him, one hand outstretched towards the golden snitch that loomed just mere inches from his fingertips.

Two.

He flips over the side of his broom, hands reaching out to try and catch himself. One by one his fingers tap the stick, not able to gain any purchase, and then he’s falling.

The other seeker presses ahead, dodging his teammates who don’t have time to get out of his way with how fast he’s flying.

One.

Jeno’s body slams into the grass field beneath the players, his broomstick landing next to his broken figure. He doesn’t get up, doesn’t scream in pain, doesn’t move.

Haechan's hand closed around the golden snitch, a victorious shout echoing from him and his teammates. He turned, searching for you in the crowd, but your gaze was fixed on Jeno.

Zero.

Shouts and cries erupt from the crowd, half in victory and half in shock. Someone screams Jeno’s name and you’re not sure if it’s your own shout, or if that person was just really close by.

With wide eyes, you watch as a bunch of medical staff rush towards him on the field and surround his body. Your body becomes ice cold and you can feel your heartbeat in your throat.

Please let him be okay; he has to be okay.

The Slytherin team flies around the field, visiting their supporters in the stands while everyone else’s eyes are on Jeno.

Jihyo grabs your shoulders and gasps when a white medical cot is lifted onto the shoulders of a few Gryffindor players.

“He’s okay. He’s okay.” Mina repeats, taking hold of your hand between hers and you almost sob in relief when you see him wiggling around in the cot, moans of pain falling from his lips too low for your ears to pick up.

Haechan watches from a distance, eyes wide in shock when he takes notice of Jeno’s condition and when he looks up, he sees your dormmates consoling you. He wanted to fly over to you and ask if you’re okay, but he knew you wouldn’t want to hear it, not when Jeno was hurt.

Once Jeno and the medical staff made it off the field, the stands began to clear out, but you feel like you can’t move.

“Come on.” Jihyo murmurs, pulling you up and wrapping an arm around you. It was silly that they had to take care of you like this when you weren’t even the one who was hurt.

When you made it to the bottom of the stand, you huddle together in a group.

Jihyo, with her arm still wrapped around you, gave you a side hug. “I’m sure he’s fine.” Mina nodded in agreement, but you started biting your nails – not that there was much to bite, lord knows they were almost stubs as it was.

Another person slides into your tight group, and you don’t notice until you hear his voice, “The scorekeepers say there was no evidence of foul play.”

When you looked up, you were surprised to see who you thought was Renjun. When he noticed your gaze, he gave a soft smile.

“That’s bullshit,” Jihyo declares, “We all know who did it, and he’s on your fucking team.”

Renjun just shrugs and slides an arm around Mina, and despite the timing and circumstance, you raise an eyebrow at her. She waves you off and slides her attention to Renjun, “Everyone knows it was Haechan.”

“Well, the scorekeepers say otherwise.”

You felt like screaming and crying and running away all at once, but you just stood there, biting your nails.

“I know I probably shouldn’t be asking right now,” Renjun's eyes flickered to you before looking away quickly, “But, I wanted to invite you guys to the after-party. I don’t need an answer, just show up if you want to, and I’ll have Chenle watching for you guys at the door. It starts in half an hour.” He started to pull away from the group but turned back at the last second. “By the way, Y/N, I’m sorry about Jeno. Just because I’m on the opposite team doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad.”

A hum falls from your lips and then he’s off.

“Well, if I need anything right now, it’s a fucking drink,” Jihyo joked, but one look at you, and her laughter died.

Mina is more concerned with you, “We won’t go if you need us.”

“No,” you blurted, dropping your hands from your face. “I –” A particularly loud shout jarred your attention away, and when you looked around to find the culprit, you saw the entire Slytherin team gathering to your right. Haechan stood in the center only long enough for you to make out it was him, then he was being hoisted onto his teammates' shoulders. His eyes met yours, and he smirked, lifting a hand to wave at you. It took everything in you to not storm over there and punch the absolute shit out of him. He wished he was your fucking priority, but that wasn’t the case.

“You sure?” Mina asks, snapping you out of your murderous thoughts.

“I gotta go check on Jeno.” You give a small smile, “Save me a drink?”

Jihyo and Mina both nodded, and before you walked off, you threw a middle finger at Haechan, who caught sight and clasped his chest like he was dying.

It pissed you off, but you had bigger priorities right now.

Haechan would have his turn.

As the cheering fades, the screams take over.

Deep, guttural screams of someone in agonizing pain echo through the empty castle halls leading right to the medical wing. They come in bursts; long strings of curses, grunts, and broken yells, and it makes you inwardly cringe because you knew who they belonged too.

“Jeno…” you whisper, after hearing a particularly jarring shriek.

After rounding the corner, the tall double oak doors loom in front of you, inviting you to join Jeno in his agony, or at least be there to comfort him. Pushing them open, you reveal a large, brightly lit room sectioned off by blue plastic curtains and medical cots. On the left side of the room, you see a nurse tending to who must be Jeno, but you can’t see his face.

You can hear him though.

His voice is amplified ten-fold now that you were in the same room, and instinctively you raise your hands to plug your ears but shake it off. Tentatively you walk over.

“Goddamn Slytherin.” You hear him groan, legs twisting in discomfort when the nurse applies pressure to his arm. It’s evident he’s never been in this much pain before.

“Jeno?” You whisper, startling the nurse who accidentally puts too much pressure on his arm, causing him to jerk away from her, a yelp passing his thin lined lips.

Her hands pepper over his body in apology, not turning her head to look at you, “You shouldn’t be in here.”

“I know.” You whisper, and she doesn’t press any further on why you’re there or ask you to leave, so you stay.

Jeno doesn’t even seem to notice you, but that doesn’t matter. You shift around the bed slightly and catch sight of his face. Both his eyes are shut, one ringed in purple and his bottom lip split in two separate places. His nose seemed to get busted in the fall as it was surrounded by dark red, almost black, dried blood. A few droplets splattered on his shirt, accompanying the grass and dirt he had slammed into after falling thirty feet from the sky,

As bad as it may sound, you’re glad Jeno only broke his arm. A fall from that height could have meant paralysis or worse, death. He truly got lucky.

You stand quietly, watching as she shifts Jeno’s arm into a sling, securing it with a couple items you don’t know the name for and then popping a few muggle meds in his mouth. Lifting a glass of water to his lips, he groans, knocking back the pills.

It never sat right with you how the nurses used muggle methods of healing when there were more than a fair share of spells that could work much quicker. It was as if they wanted you to stew in your own misery.

Wasn’t the point of magic to make things easier?

Your thoughts are cut off by the nurse brushing past you, arms full of medical supplies. “Visiting hours are over in twenty minutes. Make it quick.” She warns, before walking away.

“Why are you here.” Jeno groans when she leaves the room, eyes still sticking shut.

“I –”A dull ache lands on your heart and the words catch in the back of your throat, a sudden cough clearing them away.

His lip curls into a sneer, “Spit it out y/l/n,”

The aggression radiating off of him makes you stumble back but you don’t let it scare you. You knew Jeno and he wasn’t scary… or so you thought.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” You speak quietly, like any word above a murmur would startle him and hurt him worse.

“Obviously, I’m not fucking okay.” His voice is nasally, mocking you, “But you don’t care, do you? Bet you’re just here to make sure I don’t snitch on your little boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Your eyes narrow down to slits. It angered you that Jeno thought you would give any time of day to the little prick who kept messing with you.

“You should tell him that.”

His eyes snap open and home in on you, glaring from his spot on the bed. Uncomfortable in his position, he squirms a bit, trying to right himself, but he grunts and falls back down, the pain too much for him.

‘You should tell him that.’

The words bounce around the inside of your skull. Did Haechan think you were together? Think he had some kind of weird ass claim over you?

"Jeno –”

“You know I can’t even play quidditch now that my arm is broken. My fucking arm Y/N.” Tears form in the corner of his eyes, whether from the pain or the prospect that he was out for the season, you weren’t sure, “He knocked me off my broom. That’s like… that’s like attempted murder!” he splutters, a crazed expression overtaking his face.

As much as you disliked the guy, there was no way he was capable of murder. No, this was due to his unrelenting jealousy, and someone needed to set him straight.

“Oh, come on, it’s not attempted –”

Jeno’s free hand is shoved in your face, one finger pointing at you patronizingly, “Yes, it is. You and I both know he’s a crazy son of a bitch, and he obviously has something for you so stay the fuck away from me.”

“Really, can we just talk?”

He shakes his head, “No. Get the fuck away from me and keep your little boyfriend in check.”

“For the last time, he’s not –”

“I don’t care what he is! The both of you need to leave me the fuck alone.”

Your heart breaks.

It wasn’t because you liked him. No, that wasn’t it. You just thought this could have been the start of something new since your love life had been wrecked for years thanks to the one and only Lee Donghyuck.

You can’t believe he had the audacity to wreck it again.

“I’m sorry.” Your voice comes out in a whisper, way too low for him to hear, but he waves you off anyway, “I’ll go.”

He doesn’t say anything; doesn’t even watch as you turn your back and walk away, past the blue plastic curtains and out the heavy double doors. The more steps you take, the heavier your heart feels in your chest. Tears burn in your eyes and anger clouds your head with each passing second like poison.

Haechan wasn’t getting away with this, you were going to make sure.

You see fucking red.

Storming through the halls of Hogwarts was a rare occurrence for you, but today was different. People gasped as you briskly brushed past them, your head so hot it felt like smoke might billow from your ears. Annoyed shouts of 'hey' or 'watch it' barely registered as you descended the stairs leading to the ominous 'Slytherin Dungeon.' The air grew colder with each step, mirroring the iciness in your gaze. Thoughts of pounding Haechan's face swirled in your mind, and you couldn't shake the fiery anger fueling your every move.

You knew if Jihyo was here she would make fun of your anger, claiming that you didn’t belong in Hufflepuff with your temper.

Too bad she wasn’t.

Maybe she could have calmed you down, slowed your racing heart and spoken some sense into your hard head, but alas, she wasn’t, and you were only growing more furious by the second.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase, you rounded a corner and collided with a Slytherin you recognized as Chenle, thanks to Renjun's heads up. His light green hair parted down the middle, coupled with the trademark Slytherin resting bitch face, transformed into a smirk upon seeing you.

“Y/N! Glad you could make it!” His voice is deeper than you would have thought, and he was much taller when you walked up to him.

"Yeah, yeah, let me in." Impatiently tapping your foot, you watched as he opened the door, revealing the booming bass of the music inside.

"Say hey to him for me." Chenle grinned, extending an arm to welcome you.

You pushed past him, retorting over your shoulder, "You can tell Renjun yourself." Confusion flashed over his face, but the door slammed shut before further words could be exchanged, sealing you inside.

The ambiance in Slytherin territory starkly contrasted with your dorm. Damp darkness replaced the natural sunlight, and the air carried the scent of spicy cologne rather than the comforting aroma of food.

Thank God I wasn’t placed in Slytherin, you think.

Music reverberates off the walls and lands loudly on your eardrums, a soft green glow emitting from the end of the hallway. Conversation and laughter can be heard just slightly above the music, and you follow it till you’re at the end of the corridor and in the den of the snakes.

Green.

There’s green everywhere.

But your dormmates were nowhere to be found. In fact, all you saw in every direction were green robes with the occasional pop of yellow and blue.

No Gryffindors, interesting.

A hand lands on your arm and you jump back at least ten feet.

"Woah, it's just me." Renjun's eyes crinkled with a smile as he extended a drink towards you. You accepted it with a silent 'thank you.'

"Your friends are in the bathroom, I think, but I can wait with you if you like." Renjun's politeness caught you off guard. This has got to be the nicest Slytherin boy you’ve ever met.

As you took a sip of the bitter liquid, you mused, "No need to wait with me... I came to see someone real quick, and then I'll be on my way."

"I know he deserves it, but go easy on him, okay?" Renjun's words hung in the air, causing you to stare at him with disbelief. Sensing your anger, he quickly stepped back, raising a hand. "You know what, forget I said anything."

Cocking your head, you smiled, "Know where I can find him?"

Renjun simply pointed behind you.

Turning around, you spotted the boy in question, lounging on a couch stripped of his robes. Clad in a white button-up shirt and black slacks, Haechan exuded an air of arrogant nonchalance. Two girls clung to either side of him, and a few friends surrounded him, exchanging laughs and banter.

"Thanks, Renjun." You mutter, not bothered to look behind you and see that he wasn’t standing there anymore.

You down the rest of your drink in one gulp and leave the plastic solo cup on a random side table as you stalk over to where the blonde headed boy was lounging. When you push past his friends, his eyes snap to you.

“Glad you could make it.” He beams, eyes washing over your body. You were in that damn skirt, and it drove him fucking wild.

Ignoring him, you placed your hands on your hips. "Get up."

He chuckled, patting his thigh. "Why don't you sit down and enjoy the party?" Laughter erupted from his friends, and the girls hanging off his arms glared at you.

“Get. Up.” You seethe.

“Feisty aren’t you.” He murmurs, shrugging off the girls at his side and standing up.

“Lead the way to your room.”

A few hoots and hollers followed you as he guided you away from the party and into the hallway. "Can't wait to get your hands on me?"

Ignoring him, you followed, your gaze trailing from the back of his neck to his shoulder blades visible through the sheer fabric of his shirt. The muscles rippled as he opened the heavy door of his bedroom, and you had to tear your eyes away before saying something stupid.

The room was as expected, draped in dark green bedding and scattered quidditch gear. The scent of him surrounded you, reminiscent of that damned amortentia brewing session.

While he walks further into the room, you slam the door shut and spin around, “Where the hell do you get off – ”

“Right there.”

“What?” You blink.

“I get off right there.” He jabs a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of his bed, “Almost every night, unless I have a match the next day. You know, gotta keep the tension building so I do my best…”

You groan, “You’re unbelievable.” He chuckles a bit and steps closer to you, igniting the nerves that were already high strung, on fire, but you push the thought away, “Why do you feel the need to fuck around with the guys I like.”

“I was trying to win the game. Trust me, you and your relationship was nowhere on my mind.” What a fucking lie, he thinks. “I’m flattered you were thinking about me though.”

“Are you always this full of yourself?” You bite.

He flashes a beaming smile, pearly white teeth on display and you wished you didn’t stare too long at his canines. He had such a pretty smile and you wished you didn’t have to notice it. “When you look like I do, it’s kind of hard not to be.”

“Slytherin suits you, huh?” you sneer.

“Exactly.” He reaches an arm overtop of you and semi cages you against the door and his body, “So now that’s cleared up, can I go back out there and celebrate my win?”

He was so close to you, his lips only inches from your own, and his cologne was wafting up in your face sending you into a daze. God he was so cute, no not cute – hot. He was hot. You wonder what it would feel like to stretch your neck and kiss him. Did he taste how he smelled?

The fucking drink.

Whatever Renjun had given you was reaching your bloodstream way faster than muggle alcohol. You make a mental note to rip his head off later, but for now you turn your attention back to Haechan’s insanely close face.

“You need to realize –”

He cuts you off again, “Look, I’m all for being in here with you, but if you insist on keeping that pretty mouth running, I suggest you put it to good use instead of chastising me.” His eyes flicker from your own to your lips, almost like he was thinking about kissing you just as much as you were thinking about kissing him.

Do it, just kiss me, you think, but different words are said, “You wish.”

“Yeah, I do.” He quips.

“Can’t you be serious for one fucking second you asshole.” A drawn-out groan escapes you as you press your hand against him, hoping to coax him into backing off. Regrettably, he remains a solid wall of muscle and strength, unmoved by your attempts.

“Sorry, it’s just hot when you insult me. Do it again” He wiggles his eyebrows at you and leans in, one hand reaching out to caress the underside of your jaw.

He doesn't know where the newfound confidence was coming from. You were supposed to hate him, yet he had you in his bedroom. The same bedroom where he thought about fucking you. Where he got off to the memories of that goddamn mirror. Where he fantasized about you slotting your thighs on either side of his head, and sitting down on his waiting lips.

You swat his hand away, “Do you have any idea how stupid you are?”

“Not as stupid as you would look with a cock in your mouth.”

Wishful thinking, he muses.

You roll your eyes at his remark, but nonetheless a heat surges between your legs. You would look stupid – but Haechan’s cock in your mouth sounds all too great. “Are you done?”

“Done with what?”

You roll your eyes. Again. “Being an idiot.”

“Would an idiot make you flush so easily like this?” He strokes a stray hair behind your ear, his fingertips burning against your skin, “See? I make you flustered. You want me. Badly.”

Again, wishful thinking.

“You think I want you badly?” You scoff, a hand coming in contact with his crotch, “You’re the one hard. Do you get off on hurting people?”

“Yes.” He stares into your eyes, a mischievous glint shining in them, “I do.”

“God you’re fucking pathetic.”

He groans and pushes his hips into your hand. “Say it again.”

A loud and drawn-out gasp leaves your lips, “No fucking way you’re getting off on this too.” His dick twitches in his pants at your accusation.

“You talk too much. Just suck my dick already.”

Third times a charm.

Seeing him like that, pliant underneath your hand… it makes your heartbeat erratic and your face flush. You could tell he wanted it, and he wanted it bad, so why didn’t you give in to it? Give in to him? The air around you shifts and whatever it was, it has you lowering yourself down onto the floor so that you were kneeling below him, hands clawing at his belt buckle.

His eyes widen when he realizes what you’re doing. “I was kidd –”

“Is this what you want?” you coo, “Want me on my knees like this?” You slip his belt through the loops slowly and muster up the most innocent smile you could.

“You should stop, I was kidding.” He grunts, forearms tightening when you get his belt off and start on his pants button.

“I think you should shut up.”

He complies and doesn’t say a word while you pull both his pants and boxers down till they pooled around his ankle and he kicked them off.

Lee Donghyuck had a right to be cocky.

His cock sprung up against his abdomen standing tall and hard, clear, sticky precum droplets collecting on his tip. He fidgets under your gaze, but you were in awe at how big he was.

“Are you just gonna look at it?” He whines, one of his hands wrapping around your head and fisting tightly in your hair, “At least kiss it or something.”

You watched him twitch slightly as the cold air met his length, and again when your hand wandered past his thigh to grip him in your palm, squeezing him tightly at the base. He shivers into your touch, “You have a pretty dick.”

“So, I’ve been told.” He all but moans and tries to bring your head forward.

His neediness draws you closer, and you take him in your mouth. He was heavy and sweet, so fucking right for you that you don’t think straight and take him all the way in till he hits the back of your throat.

“Fuck.” He groans, holding your head down till you were choking and batting his thighs.

When he lets up, you gasp for air though you don’t find yourself mad, instead, you feel the fire in your stomach growing hotter and the wetness in your panties pooling.

“Ke-Keep going.” He stutters, the intent was strong, but his words broke in the moment.

You turn you head and lick from the base of his cock to his tip, relishing the way he bucks his hips into your fist. A rosy blush covers his neck and cheeks when you look up at him. When you meet his doe eyes, they were hooded with lust. For a split second he watches you lick all over him, giving a few small kisses on his tip, before he rolls his head back and closes his eyes.

Messily, you spit on his tip, using your hands to spread it down his length and he groans into the stilled air. “You’re so fucking hot.”

“So, I’ve been told.” You mock his earlier words, and his hold on your hair tightens as a warning.

Rolling your eyes, you take him in your mouth again, leaving your hand to pump his base while you harshly suck at his hot skin. He tries to push into the back of your throat again but knowing that you couldn’t take him again without choking, you dig your nails into his thighs, leaving him to shamelessly whimper out.

“Your mouth feels so fucking good baby.” He grunts, losing himself in the way your warm mouth glides down his length, and the right amount of pressure you’re squeezing around his base. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend it was your cunt he was pounding into.

You hum around his cock at the praise and repeat your movements, slightly taken aback by his pet name. In the back corner of your mind, you hope it was just a slip of the tongue.

The alcohol had too much of a hold on you to think about anything else other taking his cock down your throat, and loving every second. 

His chest begins to heave, and his legs start to shake bit as you draw him deeper down your throat, and when you look up, you notice his curious eyes watching you. He thinks about unbuttoning his shirt but pushes the thought aside when you erratically rub the underside of his length with your tongue.

“Bet you love the taste of my cock.” He whispers and you moan around a mouthful of him, the vibrations sending him into a euphoric head high.

He wasn’t wrong. You loved this, loved the feeling of having him slightly submissive under you with his dominant nature peeking through a bit.

It felt like a fucking dream.

“Can I cum down your throat?”

You’re shocked that he’s close already, but with the palpable tension beforehand acting like foreplay, you shouldn’t be. You try and nod to the best of your ability and you guess he gets the message because he’s fisting your hair again and drawing you close, a string of curses falling from his lips.

Uncontrollable gasps and grunts leave him as he fucks your throat, leaving you to helplessly take it – take all of him, and before you know it, hot white cum is shooting down your throat, his head thrown back as he snaps his hips against your face.

You felt like a rag doll in his grip but that didn’t matter right now, all that mattered was swallowing his arousal, a bit of it landing on your tongue and while you thought it was going to taste salty, you’re mildly surprised to find its sweet.

“My god, I can’t believe you actually did that.”  He pants, moving to put his slacks back on while you stand up and wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, “I – Thank you.”

A darker blush flushes on his face and he turns to you now fully dressed. He wasn’t sure what to say now, and that was a first for him.

“Are you happy?” You spit, a bout of spite coming out of nowhere, “Did you get what you wanted? Will you leave me and Jeno alone now?”

He stumbles back like your words had a physical effect on him, “What are you talking about? You dragged me in here?”

Where did the sudden flip of emotion come from? One minute you had his cock in your mouth and the next you’re yelling at him again. The both of you can’t come up with an answer, but somewhere in your brain you knew it was your way of trying to convince yourself the rising feelings you were having towards him weren’t a thing; would never be a thing.

“Just leave me and Jeno alone now. Okay?”

You straighten your blouse and fix your hair before opening the door behind you and storming out. He tries to follow you, half stumbling through the hall till he was out in the party again where his friends clap him on the back, congratulating him on ‘hitting that yellow tail’, but he can’t find it in himself to smile and jeer back. All he does is watch you storm away, his friend Renjun reaching out for you. Your dormmates try and stop you but you blow past them and round the corner where the door to the stairs were.

Should he let you go?

Or should he follow?

"Fuck this."

TAGLIST. @txpxwxk @sunshinedhyuck @honeym4rk2 @saenora @peachjaem00 @grassbutneo @capri-cuntz @seajae @kenmathegreat @aliceinwhateverland @fraechan @monyuno @meowniee @ggukkyu @quarter-life-crisis2 @nominsgirl @dewydew @httpxelysian11 @rainyjeno

[its-actually-minicika]

A Bumpy Aftermath (18+)

(HotD Hogwarts!AU)

part 2 of "The Yule Ball";;

List of headcanons for the main three;;

Pairings: Aemond x Reader, Jacaerys x Reader, Aegon x Reader;

Warnings: ANGST, pining, jealousy, NSFW content (not in the way that you hope for), (Y/N) is crushed in this one, not proof-read yet;

Word count: a lot, and we're not even done;

Author's Note: I apologise for the delay! I know I was meant to post this long ago, but I got wrapped in so many things this holiday season. When the time came to edit what I had in my drafts, I rewrote the whole thing from scratch - I think you guys deserve the best I can offer, and I wasn't proud of that particular end result :")

Speaking of time, this fic contains a lot of time-travelling - as opposed to how it's portrayed in the Harry Potter franchise, the time travelling in this fic works quite differently; When you do it, not only do you disappear from the present you left, but you also fully replace the past version of yourself from the time you decided to travel to - as such, there no "clone" lurking around that you have to be careful with. The only disadvantage for our heroes is that there is no one to fulfil the good and the bad actions that they did a night before...

After the wrap up of last night's celebrations, (Y/N) wakes up with dread flooding her veins - although she has Aemond, the sun rays bring both Jacerys and Aegon forth, shining over her confused feelings.

All's well when ends well, but what will happen if she can't figure out her heart?

The gentle promise of a new dawn slowly stirrs (Y/N) awake.

Her eyes flutter open, and she brings her hands up in a lazy stretch. Slowly, yet surely, she gets up from her warm bed, and stiffles a yawn that threatens to escape her parted lips.

"Well, good morning, sleepy head!" Celeste Bone, her roommate, teases the girl lightly. "We thought you were dead for a sec there. Not even the screams of the Quiddich team woke you up."

(Y/N) is taken aback, and her eyes widen momentarily - not only was it a Sunday afternoon, but there were no games to play during that time of the term, either.

Noticing her confusion, Celeste shakes her head and adds through a mouthful of jelly beans, "The Slytherins had a fight with our guys - tell me something new - and they took it up on the empty playing field. But Lucaerys got pretty roughed up. They're not sure he's gonna play in the next games."

(Y/N)'s mouth hangs open in shock - a pained look graces her features, and she bites her inner cheek, while quickly dressing up in her robes. "Merlin's beard, is he okay now?! What started the fight?"

"He's in the West Wing, in the Infirmary. Wost thing he's donning on is a concussion. They..." Celeste scratches her head in an attempt to remember what exactly started the misunderstanding. Her expression turns sour and she snaps her fingers.

"They overheard the Slytherins taking shit about that Graphorn Professor Lynnen brought last week to class. You know how Androw got scratched by it? His mommy issued a whole investigaton over the legality of bringing a real magical creature to class... turns out there's a lot of but's and if's when it comes to that."

(Y/N)'s head pumps in pure shock and adrenaline. You oversleep one time, and this is what happens to the whole school?

Celeste shrugs her shoulders.

"Either way, their guys said some fucked up shit, ours retaliated by punching them real good. Luke called Androw a 'hairy butt' or something, and those bastards full on jumped him!"

"Fuck." (Y/N) exhaled through a strained breath, not even bothering to tie up her shoelaces. "Poor Luke. And poor Jace, too..."

She left her Common Room in a hurry, jumping once every two steps on the moving staircase, until she reached the Infirmary. As she entered through the big oak doors, the exasperated sighs of Miss Margelle, the school's main nurse, could be heard as clear as day.

"To anyone who isn't his immediate family, get out. Out, I said! Let the poor child rest!" She scolded infinitely, until the students of the Gryffindor Quiddich team started leaving the waiting room one by one.

(Y/N)'s back stiffened, and she lowered her head to sneak past the student body to reach Luke's bed. There, she found Jace, Baela and Rhaena already seated, and a very beat up Luke to match their worried faces.

"Luke!" The girl uttered affectionately, reaching for his bandaged palm. "I came as soon as I heard. Those Slytherins are God damn savages."

Jacaerys is the first to leap up, his eyes full from a mixture of affection and reluctance over last night's events. He is quick to offer (Y/N) his chair, running a hand though his brown hair, not knowing whether he should apologise once more or concentrate on the subject at hand.

(Y/N)'s eyes are the first to soften up at the sight of him, and his bloody nose.

"Jace... don't tell me they got you too!" She muses with a crooked smile, worry evident in her voice.

"If you think they got him, you should've see how they looked like after Jace had a turn." Baela announces loud and proud, jerking her head in the direction of two far away beds, separated from her field of view by a sheer curtain.

"Baela...!" Jacerys chastises the young Targaryen with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"What? They can listen in all they want - It's not like it's a lie!"

After shaking his head with a barely hidden smirk, Jace turns his full attention to (Y/N), and bites his lower lip. "We're fine. Those fuc--... those Slytherins aren't gonna touch either one of us anytime soon."

"But they'll take their revenge on Böfur alright!" Rhaena sniffles loudly with teary eyes.

This snaps (Y/N)'s attention, and the girl exchanges a look with Jacaerys, who only bites his cheek in remorse at the reminder.

"Wait, what happened?" The Gryffindor enquires, leaning onto the chair more, her hands clasped tightly over her chest. "Celeste told me that Androw pressed some charges against Professor Lynnen. What will happen to the Graphorn?"

"That's the thing." Luke sighs in the hospital bed. "The lawyers pressed charges against them both - they wanted to arrest Lynnen and euthanise Böfur."

"The news for the latter came by this morning." Jace added sombrely. "Their request actually went through."

For a second, (Y/N) can feel her heart stop. The only noises that befall the Infirmary are Lucerys' growl and Baela's loud curses.

She nods her head briskly, and gets up on her feet, just as fast as Jace did. "Then we must do something. We can't just let the poor guy be taken in by the Ministry."

Jace's eyes fill with glee and determination, and the male hums in agreement. "Absolutely." He concludes, dusting the creases out of his robes.

"And I know just the way to do it."

Two sets of rapid footsteps descend from the moving staircase. Jace and (Y/N) scurry along, on a pathway that could only lead to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

With each taken step, the girl's brows furrow deeper - what did Böfur's fate have anything to do with the gentle Hufflepuffs?

And, if she could be honest to herself, she had no wish to bump into Aegon again.

Mayhaps sensing her distress, or simply being wrecked by their lack of conversation, Jace takes in a deep breath and lowers his head to the ground.

"I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about the things I said last night." His husky voice echoes throughout the empty corridor. Only when he feels (Y/N)'s shoulders relax, in a silent encouragement to continue, he keeps going. "I behaved like a jealous pig, and I want you to know that I'll spend every single day that's left in this year to make it up to you."

Chocolate hues clash with shining (y/e/c) eyes - Gryffindor glances at Gryffindor, until both their stares soften in fondness.

"Jace..." (Y/N) utters through a deep sigh, "It's okay."

"No. No, it isn't." He whispers amusedly, vexxing himself for his unprincely behaviour. "You were so happy on the dance floor, and I ruined it all, because... Because I couldn't stand the idea of you having fun with someone other than me."

Jacaerys' pained face speaks of his honesty from miles away - still, he takes in a shaky breath and recoils into himself, persisting with his confession.

"I was selfish. I was an ass. Most of all, I was a coward." His eyes flutter close for a few seconds, before opening them again to grace the girl with the softest of smiles. "I wanted to ask you to the dance myself. I had everything ready, I knew all the things that I had to say, and yet... I never did."

He shrugs his broad shoulders and runs a hand through his rebel hair. He can't say he expects the girl to answer. Even now, he feels selfish for staining a heartfelt apology with his feelings for her - still, he had to let her know.

The only thing he was hoping for now was that (Y/N) could find it in herself to still be his friend.

Her mouth hangs wide open, before she collects herself, biting her lower lip in tribulation.

Although Jace's confession made her heart leap in place and her face surely turn red, the girl had to swallow down the feelings he awoke in her - she was Aemond's girlfriend now, and she had to let him know. As gently as she could.

Before she can cook up an apology and a reasonable explanation for her following rejection, a familiar head of silver hair catches her eye.

Of course it was him.

"Jace - there you are!" Aegon's distressed groan shook the very staircase to the core.

His leg was jerking rapidly in place, and he looked as if he'd been waiting on him for hours on end. "Took your sweet time, didn't you? You know I can't stay here for long."

Quickly, his attention falls on the familiar clump of (y/h/c) hair, and Aegon averts his eyes while choking on his own remarks. "(Y/N)." He says in a most stale manner, coughing in the back of his hand.

Utterly unimpressed, the girl apprisingly nods her head, keeping her mouth in a tight line. As for Aegon, the older male was doing anything but look at (Y/N), shifting from one foot to the next.

The other one who is sharing her expression is the older Velaryon, who completely gives up on waiting for his uncle; instead gesturing towards Aegon's pockets and taking the first step forward.

"We're sorry we're late - but we're here now." He finally says, as Aegon's hand frantically searches through his robe. His purple eyes light up when he gets a hold of something.

"Ah, here we are - good as new." The Targaryen muses expectantly, handing Jace a rusty looking necklace with a proud look.

"What is that?" (Y/N) asks through a quirked up brow, as she runs her fingers down the dainty hourglass.

"That, dear (Y/N), is a very old and important family heritage." Whilst speaking, Aegon pauses dramatically, waiting for the girl to gesture him to keep going.

Noticing her lack of enthusiasm towards his antics, he nods his head in awknowledged defeat and quirks the corners of his mouth downwards in a most amusing frown.

"You're still mad about last night - fair enough. Are you familiar with the term... 'time-turner'?"

At that, (Y/N)'s eyes turn up. She nods her head decidedly and huffs out in a breath.

"The magical device that allows any witch or wizard to turn back in time for a limited amount of hours."

Jace gives her a boyish wink and smiles happily. "That's right! ... This is our best bet to save Lynnen and Böfur." He adds in a more serious tone.

"How in the world did you get your hands on this?" The Gryffindor asks, mesmerised by the priceless antique. "I thought the entire stock of Time-Turners were somewhere in the Ministry building, held under lock and key."

Aegon throws (Y/N) an arrogant smile, and shrugs his shoulders playfully.

"As I said, it's a very precious family heirloom... and the name Targaryen weighs very heavily in the magical world." He snickers while adding, "You know, just in case you were wondering."

A pang of annoyance graces (Y/N)'s features, and Aegon raises his hands up in quiet surrender.

"I only meant it as a helpful tip in case you ever need anything." The oldest of the Targaryen brother solemnly says.

Jacaerys, too, rolls his eyes silently, but pats his uncle on the back in a greatful manner. "Thank you, Aegon. We couldn't do it without you."

"I know." The older male agrees thickly, checking his own pocket-watch. "Well, look at the time, indeed." He chuckles to himself, "I wish you good luck on your ventures, dear nephiew, darling (Y/N)."

Choosing to ignore his petname, the Gryffindor looks at the Targaryen with renowed interest and confusion.

"You're not coming with?" She asks tentatively, to which Aegon shakes his head, rocking an expression akin to frustration.

"Tsk, I can't." He tuts lightly, as he buries his hands into his black robes. "I have to go to court - courtesy to my baby brother."

"Aemond?" (Y/N) asks in disbelief, before adding on. "Court? I knew you'd eventually end up there, but I thought it'd take more time than that."

Feigning hurt at her silacious words, Aegon placed both his hands atop his heart, moaning painfully, as if he'd been shot.

"You hurt me, wound me truly - mom always said that the prettiest girls have the deadliest mouths."

Snickering at his double edged meaning, no doubt more than overjoyed, Aegon rose to his feet again.

"It's not what you think, though - thanks to your precious Aemond, Professor Lynnen is in more trouble than worth." This time, his attitude is serious.

Aegon lets out a bitter laugh and clicks his tongue in pure annoyance. "That brat can't keep his mouth shut about anything he deems improper."

"What do you mean?" (Y/N) asks, eyes wide from both confusion and offence raised at her boyfriend.

"You don't know?" Aegon asks, fully befuddled, before letting out in a low whistle. "I though you were the first to know, since my brother is your best friend and all."

As Aegon turned his back on the pair, taking the way down on the moving staircase, he threw nonchalantly over his shoulder:

"Aemond was the one who alerted the Ministry of the 'misconduct' the head of my house was showing. Professor Lynnen is facing trail because of him."

For once, (Y/N) is happy that Aegon has his back turned on her, for she imagines that the expression she's wearing beats the result of any farce he may have pulled on her over the years.

Anger bubbles inside her: not only from Aemond's lack of communication and transparancy with her, but from his cruelty, as well.

Professor Lynnen was an old man, with a happy attitude and a kind heart. He never showed up late to class, and was always understanding with missed deadlines and less than stellar turned-in homework.

Most of all, he took it upon himself to give his students the best possible experience with the 'Care for Magical Creatures' course. And if you were to take a survey over Hogwarts' most popular and loved professors, Lynnen was a safe bet to always come out on top.

To say that (Y/N) took the news personally was an understatement. Aemond knew - this was her favourite faculty employee!

... And Lucaerys' too. But there was no way he did it on a whim to hurt him, despite all the differences they both had. ... Right?

Although she defied the thought with everything inside her, (Y/N) couldn't help but feel as though this mummer's farce was a sleek attempt for revenge; over something that happened way before their time at Hogwarts.

Always the kind and attentive soul, Jace quietly puts his hand over the girl's shoulder, rubbing small circles in a soothing manner. He offers her a sympathetic smile, one that lets her know just how much he understands her fury.

"I'm... I'm so...?" She tires to say though a quizzical brow. The Gryffindor lets out a huff of pure disbelief, and shakes her head, not knowing what to think.

"I know how you feel. It sucks being left out of the loop. Especially on something so important. But we'll fix it - together, right?" Jacaerys offers her a tiny smile, reassuring her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder.

"Right. Together." She repeats, eyes full of determination.

Jace's hands reach for (Y/N)'s neck shyly, and, for a moment, the pair catches each other looking into the other's eyes with unspoken longing. (Y/N) is the first to break the stare, coughing slightly while glancing at their shoes on the hard floor.

The boy's ears are caught ablaze, but he brushes off the feeling soon enough.

"Right, so..." He whispers, biting his lip, "About 32 turns should do it?"

"32 hours sounds good." (Y/N) concludes as well, "It gives us enough time to prepare for everything and talk to the twins and Luke about our plan."

Jace smiles at her fondly, and lets out a small chuckle. "I'll tell Luke to mind his business when he hears those rascals talk nonesense about Böfur and Lynnen."

The pair share a laugh and turn their eyes to the dainty necklace that sits over both their necks. Silently, they beging to count.

One... Two... Three... Four... Five...

"Alright, here's the plan: since there isn't anyone who can take our place at the Yule Ball, I fear we'll have to attend." Jace's velvety voice rings into the girl's disoriented ears, puncturing through her dizzy head. He's holding onto her, gently, ensuring that she doesn't fall over or backwards due to the nature of their trip.

(Y/N) lets out a groan in protest, and brings a hand to massage her temples. "What a ghastly way to time-travel..." She heaves out in an attempt to ground herself back to reality. "How do you look so well after all that?"

The eldest Velaryon smiles sheepishly and shrugs his shoulders.

"Fine, keep your secrets." The Gryffindor nudges him playfully, though still with a quirked brow. She nods assuringly, and returns her attention towards the subject at hand.

"Right. I still have to dance the opening waltz with Borya. We'll leave after - thankfully, everyone will be preoccupied with the ball, so the sneaking around part should be easy."

Jacaerys gives the girl a wide smile, and checks his hand watch from underneath his Gryffindor attire. "It's twelve o'clock. We need to get to Lynnen's office first, talk to him about what'll happen to Böfur."

As he speaks, the two begin walking side by side towards the small hut by the trident river.

(Y/N) exhales shortly, and gives her classmate a saddened look.

"I wish we could do something for him, too. Even if we sneak the graphorn out and away from Hogwarts, Lynnen is still going to face trail for school misconduct."

Jacaerys' steps cease for a moment, and a deep frustration crinkles his eyes. He spares the girl a comforting look, and runs a hand down his face in defeat.

"Aegon will still testify in his favour, to be sure." He breathes out in deep thought, "As will the Headmaster and every other student involved - safe maybe for Aemond and Androw."

In exchange for his words, (Y/N) hums in agreement, and adds in her own right.

"He's held in too high esteem to ever lose his job. Most of our Professors are eccentrics, anyway." She agrees quickly, "The worst they can do is prohibit him from bringing any more magical creatures to class."

Having given each other some courage with their shared hopes and beliefs, the two resume their walking in a more hurried pace. They pass classroom after classroom with their heads hung low, until...

"Ahaha, oh, Aemond!"

The soft giggling of a girl catches (Y/N)'s attention. It seems to be coming out from the 'Advanced Potions' class. Both Gryffindors share a curious look, before taking a peak inside the empty room.

Sure enough, there they are: Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen, fevereshly conversing about something with wide smiles on their faces.

"Listen, Alys, I wanted to ask you something." The Slytherin's smooth voice echoes throughout the spacious room.

"Of course~ anything!" She replies in a flirtatious manner, pulling her lavish hair out of her sleek ponytail.

(Y/N) was fast to take a step back, pulling at Jace's robes in a quiet attempt to grab his attention.

'Let's go.' She mouths to him, jerking her head to point at the ever moving enchanted set of stairs. He nods promptly.

For the rest of their way down, the Gryffindor tries her best not to think about the interaction she unwillingly spied upon.

So that's where Aemond was when he...

Her partner in crime disperses her thoughts with a nonchalant smirk.

"You know she stole Rosaline Petch's hair conditioner last year? Then she gaslit her into believing she just used it all up. That's why they had that ugly fall out." He states in a matter-of-fact tone.

Unexpectedly, a roaring laughter cascades from (Y/N)'s lips. Unable to calm down, she leans into the cold wall for support, raising up her brows in a display of surprise.

"Jacaerys Velaryon! Where in the world did you hear this?"

"It is known!" He laughs alongside his friend, "Come on, everyone in the Gryffindor Common Room talked about it!"

(Y/N)'s fit of giggles aggravates by the second. She quirks her head to the side and holds her sides from shaking. "Oh, everyone, is it?"

"Okay. Maybe not everyone." Jace's ears redden at having been caught. He offers the girl a beaming smile and admits shyly, "It was Sara and Elisabeth who wouldn't stop talking about it, and..."

"And?"

"And they might have invited me and Cregan to one of their super-exclusive gossip groups last winter... and..."

(Y/N) lets out a fake gasp, jabbing his side with her elbow in a playful manner.

"I cannot believe my ears. Jacaerys Velaryon and Cregan Stark - listening to gossip about Alys Rivers' hair!"

"Hey, it's like, totally full of extensions!" Jacerys strains his mellow voice to a higher pitch, immitating Elisabeth's manner of talking.

"Oh my God!" The girl exlaims, undisputably laughing even harder, crouching forward to steady herself once more. "That's what you were doing instead of Charms homework?"

"Come on, it was totally worth it!" He chuckles whilst looking a way for just a moment.

"How?" She grins cheerfully at her friend. "Past you would cuss you out to the Seven Hells and back! I remember even now how you used all your money to buy an enchanted feather, only to have it taken away when we took our O.W.L.'s."

Jacaerys groans into the air, and shuts his eyes while shedding an imaginary tear. "Please... don't remind me about that. It's supposed to be a well guarded secret!" He whispers near (Y/N)'s ear.

His eyes soften, however, and he ruffles the back of his head. "It was worth it... because it made you laugh now." He answers truthfully.

A comforting silence befalls the two after that: both hiding their faces away, smiling wistfully and blushing profusely from the all-but-an-actual-confession that Jace managed to slip from his lips.

"Sir, you must allow us to help you release Böfur back into the wild." (Y/N) says categorically, leaving no more room for pleading or refusing.

Professor Lynnen sits down at the pumpkin shaped table, a warm cup of tea presented in front of him and his two little guests. He runs his spotted handkerchief over his bald head and neck, taking in a deep, consoling breath.

"(Y/N), Jacaerys..." The old man begins, but cuts himself off at the sight of the distressed teens. "Böfur will be returned to his herd in Switzerland by the end of the month, I, I..." His eyes squint from underneath his rectangular glasses, and he shakes his head in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand why you're so adamant in having him go tonight."

"Something bad is about to happen if we don't smuggle him out tonight - or at least hide him in the forest." Jace's voice is laced with worry, and he openly pleads with the Care for Magical Creatures professor.

At his explanation, Lynnen's shaky hand comes to ruffle the boy's hair affectionately, as he smiles down at the two of them prudently.

"Child, there is no reason to worry over the unknown. I, I know that the Ministry wants to seek judgement against the poor fellow, but rest assured that nothing bad is going to happen to him." Having said that, Lynnen sniffs into his handkerchief and readies his voice by coughing. "All life is precious. The Ministry knows this, as well." He adds wistfully, with an admirable determination for a person so spent.

"Sir, but you don't understand... we do know." (Y/N) bites her lip harshly, glancing at her professor from over her simmering cup of tea; prolonging herself against the chair even further.

Lynnen's already expanded eyes widen to a comical amount.

"You... know already?" He asks tentaively, taking in a deep breath of understanding. His eyes swell with the warning of tears, and he brings another pocket handkerchief to his runny nose. "Oh, my poor Böfur..." The old man wails silently.

Both Gryffindors exchange a look of worry, and get up from their seats in order to console the hurting soul.

"He doesn't have to die." (Y/N) says with renowed fire, "We'll make sure he doesn't, but we need your help to take him away."

Jacaerys follows the pattern of her words not a heartbeat later, "Tonight is the Yule Ball. Every teacher and student will be in the Great Hall, dancing. We can come unseen to your hut again - we'll take Böfur and give him in the care of some centaurs we know until the time comes for him to leave." He speaks with passion in his heart.

"You can stay with the rest of the students for the whole celebration - you'll have an alibi, and no one will suspect you of freeing him. There's thousands of students at Hogwarts, but only twelve professors." (Y/N) proclaims optimistically, giving his wrinkled hand a gentle squeeze.

To both their surprise, Lynnen squeezes back, giving the pair a big, tight smile.

"That went better than expected." (Y/N) huffs, as she skips yet another two steps on their ascend.

"We still got a mouthful for using a Time-Turner on school grounds." Jace shudders at hammering tone Professor Lynnen used with them, but still smiles to himself when (Y/N) laughs. "Everything is falling into place, though." He takes a moment to collect himself, before uttering, barely above a whisper, "I'm glad we're doing this together."

"Me too. I don't want to jinx it, but I think we're actually going to pull this off." The girl muses to herself, and stops her walking once they reach the portrait guarding the entrance to their common room.

"I'll see you tonight?" Jace hushes in a sweet promise.

"I'll see you tonight." She replies with a wide smile that scrunches up her freckled nose.

The two turn to the awaiting Fat Lady, and prepare to say the month's ever changing password:

"Caput Draconis!"

The rest of the evening went on in an uncanny recall of déjà-vu.

(Y/N) put on her black and red silk dress, and she asked Celeste to do her hair.

She put on the same red lipstick, and did her eyes with the same eyeliner.

Finally, she walked down the stairs to the Great Hall, skipping down the exact same steps.

Borya bowed down, he kissed her hand - she might have blushed.

Alys tugged on Aemond's arm, and she might have glanced at them - although her nerves were pulling her apart.

This time, she forgot to wave and smile.

The first waltz began.

A flutter of emotions overcame her.

She looked at Jace.

Once.

Twice.

Three times, before the dance was over.

Once.

Twice.

Three times, she was twirled around by the Durmstrang student.

When they pulled apart, she looked at the clock - half past eleven, so close to midnight.

She danced two more, maybe three dances.

Jacaerys did the same.

When the clock struck the hour of the wolf, both Gryffindors excused themselves, promising to return momentarily.

While everything went down, Aemond looked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four times.

Five times.

Endlessly - until (Y/N) disappeared into the night with Jacaerys Strong following her foosteps.

The one thing that wouldn't change that cursed night, was the feeling of pure anguish he felt, as he watched the girl he loved leave with his nephiew in such a hurry.

Then Alys called out to him. And his vision became blurry.

Two sets of hurrying footsteps made their way across the smooth pavement, seemingly chasing each other to who was the fastest runner.

Jacaerys' hand went under and into the green flowerpot, in which Professor Lynnen left the set of keys to Böfur's fence.

(Y/N) let out a sigh of relief when the boy presented the set to her, and she grasped it with her own cold fingers.

Since no one was watching them, and there was no reason to hurry besides for their own benefit (the sooner they freed the graphorn and took him into his safe oasis, the sooner they could return to the warmth of the Great Hall), the two friends joked and wrapped their heads around the one problem they were facing in between small breaks: 'Just how are we going to transport him without having the guy scream into the night and alert everyone?'

Jacaerys came with the solution. There was plenty of fresh kill inside Lynnen's house, to feed the beast during the day, and they so happened to have all his keys.

Baiting him into the forest with it, all the while keeping him busy with the copious amounts of meat, the daring Gryffindors managed to pull through with their plan.

(Y/N) bowed down in reverence when she handed Böfur to Magorian, the mighty centaur who overlooked all which moved and entered in the Forbidden Forest - and Jace followed suit.

"Okay, now let's get out of here." She whispered to him in a grave tone, shaking to the core from the unforgiving cold.

Jacaerys soon noticed her shaking, and no amount of future protest from the girl managed to sway him into taking his coat back from her smaller form.

"I have the blood of the Dragon." He jested lightly, shaking his head at another of her failed attempts. "It keeps me warm enough. Don't be proud and wear it! I wouldn't forgive myself if you caught a cold."

"Y-You could die from anaphylactic shock, you know." The girl retorted through grittered teeth, rubbing her hands together to bring more warmth to her stiffened limbs.

"And it would be an honor to die knowing you were safe."

The smallest of smiles graced her lips, and she grabbed the eldest Velaryon by the robes again.

"Today is not the day you die."

Now it was Jacaerys' turn to smile.

The celebrations might've just as well ended when (Y/N) and Jace reached the Great Hall again. More than half the student population seemed to be utterly drunk on the spiked punch - courtesy to Aegon, who, in lack of both his nephiew and darling (Y/N), got bored during the forth or fifth dance -, and the other half poisoned by the questionable cookies that Vela Castillo made 'especially for the occasion'.

Not even Borya escaped their deadly clutches. Almost green in the face, he bowed down stiffly before his date - it was a miracle that he didn't empty his bowels then and there -, excusing himself profusely from the dance floor and scurrying to the Dungeons, where the Slytherin Common Room resided.

Baela had already went to sleep.

(Y/N) scrunched up her nose in amusement, and Jacaerys stiffled a small laugh.

"It seems that we're both partnerless." The girl noticed with a quirked brow. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the wide room, but found no sight of silver hair, or charcoal black.

Where did Aemond and Alys go?

"Yeah, but the party's spent." Jace noticed in a stale manner, glancing at (Y/N) with the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry." He added, barely above a whisper.

"Huh? What for?" It was her turn to question him, utterly perplexed.

"For... I mean..." Jace gestured towards the ballroom with a solemn expression, "For taking you away from the ball. You didn't get to dance like last night - or, well, tonight."

A cautious smile graces (Y/N)'s lips, lighting up her fair features. She pats Jace on the back and jests delicately.

"I don't need two nights in a row of dancing like that - I have a killer muscle ache already."

Hearing her words, Jacaerys laughs earnestly. Still, he gives her an apologetic look, which (Y/N) shoots down with a passing wink. "Don't worry. I mean it."

Her hands go above her head in a linguid stretch, and the Gryffindor stiffles a yawn.

"Good job to us for today!" She concludes lazily.

Although tiredness was taking over her, she couldn't help but feel a tad aggravated by what the end of the Yule Ball meant.

Since I never had the fight with with the boys... then there's no reason for Aemond to take off on his broomstick and confess to me tonight. When I wake up tomorrow, we won't be...

A heavy sigh unwillingly parts from her lips - (Y/N)'s eyes trail down sadly, but a pang of optimism finds it's way to her heart.

Even if he didn't confess, I know the way he feels about me. I can just tell him that I love him tomorrow. Explain it to him the way he explained it to me.

With her mind made up on the matter, she relaxes her tense muscles once more. Still...

"Jace, I think I should check up on Aemond. Make sure he's not... food-poisoned and whatnot."

For a second, the girl can swear that his jaw tightens in repressed anger, and his brown eyes glaze over with sadness and longing - but just as quickly as that look seemed to appear, it left his face in an instant.

"He's still your friend." The Velaryon reassures her with a strained smile, "Of course. But let me at least accompany you to their dorms - it's far too dark for comfort, and there's a lot of drunk students haunting the halls still."

"Thank you, Jace." (Y/N) returns his grin sweetly.

Their walk through the catacombs is one of a pleasant silence, and (Y/N) even finds herself humming to a low tune that her mother used to sing.

All's well when ends well, but...

"O-Oh! Oooh, shit!" A slurry moan cuts through the established taciturn.

"Shh, keep quiet..." A loud slap carries it's sound through the deafening darkness, spilling over the Gryffindors' ears. "Fuck, good girl..."

The man's voice shakes with lust, and with each passing second, a feeling of dread seeps into (Y/N)'s body. Jace stiffens next to the girl, and shoots her a quick look.

"Look at you, taking me so, so well - can you give me another one? Hmm?"

"Mmhh, yes, yes, yes, Aemond...!" The woman gasps louder and louder with each wet thrust, until she lets out a muffled scream, no doubt covered by... Aemond's... hand.

The same hand who held onto (Y/N) the night before. A night that didn't even happen. This was now her reality.

The girl's throat closes into itself. It's getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Yes...!" Aemond lets out in a loud bark, groaning loudly, "Good fucking girl. That's it, Alys, that's it, take all my fucking cum."

A loud step back. And then another one.

Retreating is all that (Y/N) can think to do.

Hot, scorching tears fall from her eyes, wasting over her red cheeks, falling on the floor.

She's running away now, clawing at her collar for a chance of fresh air.

She doesn't mind the fact that the couple more than certainly heard her, or that her sobs are so loud, that they're threatening to wake the whole castle up.

"(Y/N)!" Jace's desperate tone chases her down the hallway.

He marches towards her, before changing his mind in favour of approaching the tangled Slytherins, who are definitely closer yet.

"Lumos maxima." He commands with a rage fuelled voice, lighting over Aemond Targaryen and Alys Rivers - who tries to hoist her skirt up in great haste.

Jacaerys doesn't spare her a second glance, instead concentrating on Aemond - without even thinking twice, he punches him straight in the face, busting his knuckles and leaving them bloody in their right crochet.

"You piece of shit." He hisses at his uncle, and he wants to hit him again, but the unforgettable sobs that left (Y/N)'s throat make him immediately run after her.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N)!"

The Gryffindor must have lost his voice by the time he finally finds her, in the inner garden of the castle, resting her head on her knees, trembling with the intensity of her cries.

For what feels like an eternity, he sits on the icy steps with her, silent; rubbing her back soothingly after placing his coat over her smaller form.

The blood that coats his knuckles coagulates, and the initial sting turns into an easing numbness.

Eventually, like all things, her crying ends. Either from acceptance over the situation at hand, or from lack of remaining tears - it ends.

"... When this whole mess happened for the first time," (Y/N) began with a breathy voice, "Aemond sneaked in o-our dorms and told me he lo-loved me."

The girl swallows thickly, and levels her breath again before choking out. "A-A-And he said... that he always will."

Jacaerys is borne of the Blood of the Dragon. Despite all that, when he reaches to hug her, his hands are cold.

His chin rests atop her head in a comforting manner. His strong arms engulf her fully, better than his coat can. Jace's body radiates heat and safety, and he begins to rock her gently from side to side, feeling his own heart break with every venture.

"I can't e-even be mad at him, can I?" She weeps harshly into his arms, "We're not a thing here a-anymore... w-we never were in this reality, I s-suppose."

Jacaerys can't say anything - he doesn't know what she'd like to hear, or how to judge the situation impartially himself.

He feels his blood boil. Of one thing he is certain: he would never do that to her.

He wants to tell her that. He yearns to let her know - but the Gryffindor realises that they are both heartbroken in their own right. And that he had no right to, in light of her situation, to confuse her.

Jacaerys Velaryon settles on hugging her tighter, on smoothing the hair on her back in a gentle caress. "Shh, shh... don't cry. Don't waste your tears on that guy."

Jacaerys Velaryon stays like this however long she needs to. Burning on the inside, and shivering from the cold on the outside.

His jaw clenches and unclenches repeatedly. His concious is fighting against his selfish will - the former wins, and so he tells her.

"We can turn time back again, you know." He rubs her back, creating enough friction to keep her warm. "A turn or two should do the trick. I'll go set Böfur free, and you stay here and dance."

Tears well into his eyes again. They cloud his vision, blurring his surroundings - but he doesn't need eyes to continue, anyway.

"You dance with Borya and have fun... you let Aegon and his stupid brother froth at the mouth again. And then you go to your room. And then you wait for him. And then you talk to him."

For the first time that night, (Y/N)'s eyes shoot up in their own accord. She shakes her head relentlessly, parting from the warmth that Jace's body provided.

"No. No way." She denies him strongly.

"Why not? I can do it by myself." He soothes her back into his embrace, "I'll get it done and you, and Luke, and Böfur will be happy."

"And what about your own happiness? ... No." (Y/N) repeats again, as she brings her own hands to hug Jace back into her. "If Aemond truly loved me, he'd fight harder for me. What s-sort of relationship am I hoping to have, if he jumps Alys the second I'm not available?"

"He's an ass." Jace whispers atop her head again. "Ever since we were children. Don't waste your tears on him, sweet girl. He doesn't deserve you."

After a few more sniffs, (Y/N) finally raises her puffy face from the boy's robes. Her cheeks are red from crying, her eyes still glassy from the tears.

Her full lips quiver in the moonlight - once, twice, three times -, before she collides them with Jace's.

Hers move in wild abandon, while his stay frozen in their place. Perhaps they truly are.

Sensing his lack of desire for their unconventional peck, (Y/N) feels the heaviness of guilt suddenly pierce her soul.

"I'm sorry..." She whispers, an inch away from his swollen lips. "I misunderstood."

"You didn't misunderstand a thing." He murmurs against her turning cheek, while bringing his hand out to cup her jaw delicately and kiss her in his own right again.

Quiet moans leave both their lips. Jacaerys brings his free hand down, down to her waist, and pulls the girl closer to his body yet.

A flash of awareness brings him back to his wits on earth, as (Y/N) lets out a small whimper in his mouth.

With a tenderness rarely found in men, Jace pulls away from her face, caressing her stained cheeks with his calloused thumbs. "I'm sorry. I... I can't."

Seeing her eyes squeeze in pain and her body recoil in sadness, Jace holds her face in his hands gentler still, and whispers once more.

"From the first moment I met you, all I wanted was to kiss your lips." He admits fevereshly, shaking his head, "But I don't want to take advantage of you. You're hurt right now, and for good reason."

Jacaerys slowly rises on his feet, taking (Y/N) with him in his protective cradle.

The two make their way inside the castle. The warmth of the thousand fires flooding their veins like a warm bath after a harsh day in the Winter's outskirts.

"If we are to do this... I want you to choose me." He adds softly.

"I'll wait for you, (Y/N). And even if I'm not the one, I promise you to always be by your side."

All's well when ends well, right...?

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

Taglist:

@caramelcandescence @spn-obession @ramielll 💗

└─── °∘❉∘° ───┘

[imagine-that]

Thing of the past

One shot #56

Summary: Regulus’ wedding brings up old feelings, especially since it’s not to you…

Pairing: Regulus x gender neutral! Reader

Warnings: none unless you count angst lol

A/N: it’s been a while!!!!! I missed this, just haven’t gotten around my laptop as of late, it sucks lol. I’m trying to get back into it I promise, this is mostly just an old edited draft, but I love it so much, and I hope you guys do too!!!!!!

As you slowly rose to your feet, your breath caught in your throat, watching the bride enter the room with all eyes trained on her.

She wasn’t an exceptionally pretty girl, but that was just in your bitter opinion. In reality, you knew she was quite stunning. It wasn’t that you were insecure about yourself, it was more the tired anger bubbling inside you, making you wish you could deny the beauty of the woman gliding past you, enchanting the hall with her smile.

The groom, well you couldn’t bring yourself to look in his general direction either. Your head bowed as though you were saying a prayer for the happy new couple, you nearly toppled over just sitting back down.

The minister stood at the front, ordaining the ceremony with a cheerful tone but your heart was racing so loudly in your throat that you barely registered a look. The people sitting next to you occasionally glanced with narrowed eyes, reminding you just how out of place you really were.

Of course you’d begged Sirius to come with you, be your arm to hold for the day but he would rather be hung upside-down by his robes than set foot back into the House of Black, so you had been forced to take on the burden alone.

you heard a chorusing of ‘I do’s’ over the loud beating of your pulse and turned your attention to the front of the room, trying your best not to seem more anxious than you really were. 

Celestina Ellesmere was really a sight for sore eyes, despite your own best efforts to see otherwise. Her dress was perfect for the wedding, completely as extravagant, elegant, traditional and proper as the Black family themselves prided themselves as. Her thick, dark red hair was curled to perfection, just as you envisioned Walburga insisting on, as there was no way possible she was allowed to decide such things on her own. The only thing that seemed out of place was the smile on her face, too bright to belong in a house so darkened with rage.

Had it been any other day than this, perhaps you may have cracked some kind of Weasley related joke, just to watch Walburgas face contort as it did when she was angry, which was most definitely often. Of course that would have earned a grin from Regulus.

And Regulus. Oh Regulus, the reason you had showed. He looked like a far more grown up version of the boy who had let you stumble over his feet at the yule ball without a word, yet chuckled every time he had to catch you by the waist. He was a less innocent version of the quiet boy who gave you a book he had already read without so much as an explanation, and then waited patiently to hear your thoughts while he ran his fingers through your hair.

He looked like a right and proper Black himself, looking just as sullen as the rest. You frowned, watching as his gentle eyes looked cold, dark. 

Smoothing your ensemble over with your hands, you reminded yourself you were there to support him, despite the pain it brought. He deserved a familiar face aside from family and you knew he never had many friends.

Truthfully, Celestina seemed like a terrible match for him. She was just as quiet, and even more compliant by the way Walburga seemed to be bossing her around when you had arrived earlier. 

You remembered her being from Beauxbatons when the ball had rolled around and she was a nice enough girl. But her cheerfulness and social nature was far from that of Regulus. He kept to himself always.

“You may kiss the bride.” The minister said, drawing you back from your analysis of the poor girl. Everyone seemed to be clapping so you joined in, trying not to watch as their lips finally met.

The ceremony ended as they walked out the back of the foyer and others followed, making their way to the front yard.

“Do you know the bride or the groom darling?” A young french girl asks and you automatically know she’s a friend or relative of Celestina.

“Groom. Reg and I go all the way back to Hogwarts.” You explain dryly, trying not to draw out the topic too much.

“Yes they were very close.” Teases a woman behind you and you grit your teeth, recognizing the sound of Bella’s voice instantly.

She had taunted you and Reg for year after year of your relationship, making visits to Regulus’ family all the more wearing on your nerves. 

The young girl nods kindly and walks away to your dismay, leaving you with Bellatrix.

“What are you doing here?” She demands.

“I am supporting a friend.” You hiss back defensively, trying to walk away from her.

“Reggie doesn’t need your support dirty blood!” She growls back and you scoff, pushing her further away from you.

“I am not here to discuss my bloody blood status so if that is all you want to talk about, bugger off. Actually either way, leave me alone.” You tell her, storming off towards the reception.

You stand around the corner for a while once you reach outside, trying to collect your thoughts. Everything seems so messy, so wrong. Its selfish to think Regulus should have been kissing you up there instead but you just know it’s true, despite however wrong it may be.

“Y/n, I told you, I don’t care if my mother doesn’t approve. She’ll get over it, but I will never get over you. You have my word.” He’d promised, kissing your knuckle with the silver band on it. Just moments prior, he slid that ring on your finger as a sort of promise, the kind you only make to your truest love.

“But Reg, you and your parents are so close. I know how much it means to you to impress them...” You argue, a worried frown on your face.

“They are not going to disown me over the person I bloody love. Besides, they need at least one golden child, and that certainly isn’t my dear older brother.” He joked, making you sigh at the implied competition. 

Still, you had accepted the excuse with open arms, hugging him tightly with glee when he told you you would always be his person.

The music quietly starting across the yard lulled you slowly to a less tense state, taking deep breaths with your hand wrapped around your necklace chain instinctively. 

Regulus still looked dashing as ever as the couple made their grand entrance as a married union, earning loud applause and whistles of encouragement from even the worst of the Black family. Andromeda was the loudest, yelling and whistling with a childlike glee you hadn’t seen in a long time.

Her eyes caught yours as Walburga went to scold her and she immediately b-lined to you, a storm of blue hair running towards you.

“Hello you!! You look absolutely lovely. I can’t believe you came!!!” She says, immediately embracing you in her arms.

“Hi Andromeda, it’s been a while.” You say with a light laugh, trying to keep your smile up for her sake.

“Blimey, I thought you would run for the hills with Severus before you would ever show your face here! Not that I’m not pleased to see you of course, I’m just surprised Reggie was allowed to even invite you. His mother is.... well bloody hell you know how she is, I don’t need to explain it.” She says, taking you swiftly by the arm, dragging you towards the refreshments.

“Perhaps Walburga had a change of heart? Either way, I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m here to congratulate my FRIEND Regulus. That’s it.” You say, more to assure yourself than her.

Andromeda fills a glass from the glittering crystal fountain and takes a quick sip.

“Well you look rather eye-catching doing so... a little too much for an exes wedding if you ask me.” She teases and you sigh.

“Is it so wrong for me to prefer to look my best in front of him? We haven’t spoken much since Graduation or since our... run in in Diagon Alley. I was shocked to even get an invitation, let alone a personal note with it.” You explain and her eyes widen at the new information you didn’t realize you’d given her.

It was true, you hadn’t seen him since about a year ago on a trip to Diagon Alley with your niece. You were taking her to get her first group of supplies for Hogwarts and there he was, looking closely into the window of a very recognizable storefront.

You held up a robe for Halle, raising a brow to ask if she liked it, to which she shook her head and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

“Halle you have to have plain robes for school. I know you don’t love them and they’re a little boring, but they’ll get better once you get sorted.” You promise her, giggling as she dramatically sighs, throwing her hands up in dismay.

“If you cooperate with the rest of the rules for school things, I will let you pick out the most amazing pet you can think of to join you there.” You offer, earning a large grin with an excited nod.

Just as you finish getting her items rung up with your brothers money in hand, you notice a shaggy head of raven hair loitering across the way. Your face grows a grin and you take Halle’s bag, taking her hand and leading her towards the familiar face with you.

“Aunt/uncle y/n, can I pleaseeee go look at the new brooms? There’s Annie’s family right there, she’s a friend! I’ll be good I promise!” She begs, pouting her lip at you. Annie’s mother looks up at the sound of her daughters name and gives you a smile, nodding in agreement to the idea.

“Yes I suppose. But behave please! When you’re done we’ll go get your wand, alright?” You promise, but she’s already with the group before you’re finished.

You turn back around, finding a familiar face staring back at you.

“So you’re a parent now?” Regulus says with a smile, making you practically swoon at the sight.

“No no, Halle is my brothers. I actually thought you had met but I suppose I was mistaken.” You reply, smiling back shyly.

“We have actually. I was only kidding.” He explains, smiling wider at your flustered nature.

“Right, right. How could I forget.” You giggle, a pained smile taking over as your face blushes. “So what brings you to Diagon? I mean last I checked you didn’t have any little ones of your own running around but it has been a while.” You joke, making him shake his head with a small but suddenly awkward chuckle.

“No um... I’m actually here to pick up... pick up a ring.” He explains, his adams apple bobbing as he swallows.

“Oh! I should have known, I mean you are standing outside the jewelry store.” You respond, trying to lighten the mood and hold back a frown.

He nods, his face having since lost the smile you loved. You bite your lip, a nervous habit adopted in times of need such as this one.

“Reg?” You say after a moment when he turns to go back towards the store.

“Hm?” He responds, his eyes once again meeting yours and filling you with an equal mix of dread and glee at his quick, almost excited reaction to the nickname.

“What’s her name?” You ask, swallowing thickly as the question escapes your lips.

He looks surprised at the question, turning his full attention back to you.

Regulus takes a deep breath before giving you an answer. 

“Celestina Ellesmere.” He responds, without so much as a lick of joy or love in the answer. You nod with a sad smile, not bothering with a goodbye as you turn around to find your niece, letting a few tears fall down your face as you silently hope for him to stop you, which never comes.

“We ran into each other when I was bringing my niece to the shops, that’s all.” You explain, giving her warning eyes to tell her there’s nothing more. You felt bad for lying but knew it was best it stay your own little secret.

“And what about this special invitation? You have to explain that as well!” She demands.

“It wasn’t special, it was personal, that’s all.” You try to dismiss but she’s not having it and you know it.

“Fine! Come here.” You sigh, pulling her with you to a quiet and empty corner. She eagerly follows, wanting more.

“When I got the invite I was shocked enough. I went to throw it out, rip it up, whatever I was going to do with it.” You start, taking a glass of whatever drink from a nearby tray and downing it quickly.

“Well when I ever so harshly put it back in the envelope, I found a note from Reg himself that said ‘It was good running into you, I really wish things could be different for us. Perhaps in another life, things would work like we wanted. Hope to see you, R.A.B.’ It was odd and kind of scary. We hadn’t properly spoken since graduation, as I already mentioned. And now I am here.” You say in a low voice, trying to keep your cool. Andromeda fails to keep her own, gasping at full volume.

“You have got to tell him! I can tell you still love him too, he must know!” She insists, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

“No! Bloody hell, he’s married now Andromeda. It wouldn’t do anything but ruin his happy life.” You say with a sullen tone.

“But-” She starts and you shake your head.

“But nothing! I’m not going to ruin his life, his future for my own selfish needs. Despite my own feelings, professing my undying love to the man who just professed his own to another woman would do no good. I can’t do that to him or myself no matter how much I know that will hurt when I’m old and wondering all the what ifs, but I love him far too much to ever drag him through that hurt alongside me.” You cry, tears making their way down your face. Andromeda reaches over and pulls you into a tight, warm hug.

“I’m sorry, you love who now?” A voice says behind you, warranting a loud gasp from your formerly sobbing lips.

“No one! Your-your brother! That’s who.” You exclaim, trying to brush away the tears nonchalantly.

“Y/n, my brother is in love with his best friend, I highly doubt you and him have ever had much to do with each other romantically, now please explain what you meant by everything I have just heard you say.” Regulus demands, ushering Andromeda away and taking her spot, stood directly in front of you.

“I can’t do that Regulus.” You say sternly, going to leave the spot anxiously.

He grabs your arm gently, his warm hand resting in the crook of your arm.

“You’ve not called me by my full name since the year we met. I know why you’re calling me it now, but I just... I need to hear it for myself... Please Y/n.” He pleads, his eyes full of something you can’t fully determine.

“Regulus...” You sigh, trying to get a better distance between the two of you.

“Please.” He asks again, his gaze meeting yours.

“You shouldn’t make me do this to you on your magical day. It’s rather cruel. But if I must...” You reply, watching as he nods in agreement.

“You should have never put that note in my invitation. I should have never come to begin with. You are a married man now Regulus. We’re not the same idiot teenagers we were at Hogwarts when we promised our love to each other. We’re grown adults with other responsibilities and one of yours now belongs to your wife.” You scold and he rolls his eyes, earning a swift smack on the arm. He chuckles in shock as soon as the impact meets.

“This is not funny!” You cry. “I loved you then and I love you now and I never wanted to tell you that ever because you deserve to have a good full loving marriage and I shouldn’t be selfish and risk ruining that for you-” You ramble until he steps in closer, trying to kiss your lips.

“Regulus!” You shriek, pushing him back.

“She calls me Regulus.” He says plainly, as if it’s an excuse.

“What?” You ask back, eyebrows drawn in confusion.

“She calls me Regulus.” He repeats with a shrug. “No Reg, no Reggie, no nicknames or terms of endearment at all really. Just my name.” He continues.

“I don’t dislike her. I just don’t love her either. I feel indifferent towards her, and she’s my wife now.” He laughs in disbelief. “Every bloody man I know tells me how lucky I am to be with a woman as beautiful as she is, as kind as she is but when they do that all I can think about is YOUR eyes, YOUR lips, YOUR smile, YOUR hair between my fingers. People rave about her but the only person I can think of is you y/n/n.” He confesses and you stay silent, biting your lip just like you used to.

“Why in merlin’s name would you marry her then for gods sake?” You ask hoarsely, tears in your eyes once again.

“Why do you think?” He responds, running a hand over his face. “My mother wants pureblood, and she always gets as she wants.” He says simply, as though it’s just a fact of life for everyone.

“Why would you invite me then? Why make me watch your suffering while going through my own?” You question, feeling especially small in such a grand room.

“Because I couldn’t do this if you weren’t in the room when it happened.” Regulus admits and before you can inquire what he means by that, he grabs you by the face and kisses you again, only this time you give in for a few moments of bliss.

“Stop, stop... Reg please.” You hum, trying your best to keep your mind straight through the haze.

“I can’t, they’ll notice I’m missing soon darling.” He hums back, pressing his lips lightly on yours again. You push him back gently, looking him in the eye, both of you flushed.

“I’m not... I can’t let you do this...” You sigh, your lip pouting naturally.

“Let me do what exactly? Be with the woman I truly do love? Trust me y/n/n, I don’t need permission to do this. I’ll gladly do it without a second thought because you and I belong together and we both know it.” He declares, running his hands over your body slowly.

“Reg, it’s more complicated than that and you know it... there’s vows attached, and they aren’t between the two of us. I may love you, but I am not your woman on the side.” You laugh, grabbing his hands and placing them at his sides.

He takes a deep breath, weighing his words in his head.

“I didn’t choose this for myself love. I don’t choose anything for myself. The only thing I’ve ever truly had for me was you. I know this isn’t an ideal situation but... please give it a chance. Let me show you we can be more than just a behind the scenes thing, because I’m not sure I can go on if you don’t darling.” He pleads, his gaze practically melting you.

“Regulus please, please stop. I can’t listen to you without turning to warm butter when you call me your pet names, I can’t even think straight. This is wrong, we both know it.” You murmur, staring down at the floor to keep from seeing his moment of defeat.

“I can’t be with her you know. I can’t- I won’t be with her when you’re still out there and I know how you feel for me.” He promises, groaning in frustration.

Suddenly, a dreaded idea occurs to you. On any normal occasion, you would have never once, even for a split moment wanted such a thing, but looking at him in his suit, practically on his knees for you while another woman stood in the other room, waiting for his company, it was the best you could come up with.

“Then don’t. You don’t have to know.” You whisper, taking his face into your hands gently, letting a tearful smile take over your face. He looks puzzled, his mind nowhere near where yours was at now.

“We’re a thing of the past Regulus. Your family would never accept this, we both have always known. It should stay untainted, two young people in love for eternity. That’s all it could ever be. Your bride deserves better, as do you.” You continue, carefully drawing your wand from your pocket with shaking fingers.

His eyes leave yours and dart down to your hands, the realization hitting him all at once.

“Y/n/n, no. You can’t- you would never-“ he begs, his eyes once again filled with sadness.

“It’s for the both of us Regulus. In due time, perhaps the story of us will take a turn… but for now it has to be this way.” You say, your voice so soft you weren’t sure he’d hear a word you said.

He holds up his hands, trying to pull your wand from your grasp but you back away swiftly and take a deep breath before uttering the word “Obliviate” with tears falling down your face.

Regulus shuts his eyes as his memories are stolen from him and you take that split second to slip out and disappear into the crowd, wiping the salty tears from your cheeks and sniffling as you hide in the back, watching as they call for the first dance.

There, you see his face reappear, joined by that of Celestina as they join hands, gliding around the floor in the way you were sure his mother had insisted they learned. He spins her around and you feel the ghost of his hand in yours again, shutting your eyes to savour the feeling.

As their dance comes to a close, you watch the small smatter of applause and make your way towards the door, not looking back. Though if you had, you’d have seen his once again cold, indifferent gaze change to a glimmer of recognition as his eyes caught your figure exiting the festivities, going alone into the starry night.

[ladyvesuvia]

Where or When

PAIRING: Remus Lupin x Fem!Professor!Reader

SUMMARY: Some things that happen for the first time seem to be happening again when the Yule comes around once more. (Where or When by Dion & The Belmonts) || REQUEST

WORDS: 1.1k

REMINDER(S): Happy AU where Remus is a professor in GoF and the Yule Ball is yearly/frequent. Super smol angst if u think about it but all in all mostly fluff and dancing :))

for @draconisxcaput’s harry potter writing event! major props to her for organizing everything <3

A/N: my drafts are constantly having errors where it keeps repeating certain sentences idk why skdhej so lmk if something’s wrong !!

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—

—

You bump into someone. “Sorry, I wasn’t — Remus!”

“Hi,” he says, abashed.

You scratch the back of your neck, resisting the urge to just run out as fast as you can.

You smile back. It’s just Remus, you think to yourself. Just Remus and myself. “Hi.”

“That’s a lovely dress.”

You chuckle. “Why, thank you.”

Remus had considered all the things he could say: May I have this dance? Would you like to dance with me?

“Dance?” he manages to ask, blinking rapidly.

You take the hand he had been hesitant holding out. “Alright,” you say.

The music keeps playing, and so does the dancing.

“Remus,” you say in greeting.

“[Y/N],” he greets. “So, uh, how are you this fine evening?”

“Bearable.”

You’re thankful for the music taking up space between the both of you. Neither of you really had a date yet according to what’s happening as of the moment, it looks like the two of you do.

The night goes on as perfect as it could be, but the days that followed weren’t as lovely.

It was never mentioned again, and you couldn’t bring yourself to do so.

And so it was all lost somewhere in your mind.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

YULE BALL 1994

He stands and lingers by one of the tables, just watching the students chat with one another. On another night, he’d only be in his quarters, figuring out the next plan of action for his lessons but attendance has become a requirement for everyone.

As well as for you.

You, on the other hand, are standing at the other end of the room, trying out the new delicacies they had for this year’s Yule Ball. 

When the music began, however, you found yourself left alone, stranded in the sea of dancing teenagers.

You pass by the spinning students in their beautiful dresses and robes, the memory of your own Yule Ball presenting itself in your memory. It was a night like this, your classmates and other familiar faces both younger and older dancing past in your view and—

You bump into someone. “My apologies, I wasn’t — Remus! I mean, Professor Lupin!”

The students are still dancing, but you could tell there were subtle glances here and there from them but you tried to pay them no mind as you stood there right in front of your old friend.

It seems we stood and talked like this before

We looked at each other in the same way then

But I can't remember where or when

“Hi,” he manages to say. 

Wait, you think. You’re quite sure you had this dream once already.

You could have sworn you’ve already been in this very moment not so long ago. “Hi,” you respond with an amused laugh, “wintry room, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah, wintry room,” he says, his head bobbing up and down in awkward agreement. He then gestures to you. “Lovely dress you’re wearing.”

“Thank you, kindly,” you say with a laugh.

He had seen this movie once upon a time unfold before his eyes, as well. But when?

The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore

The smile you are smiling you were smiling then

But I can't remember where or when

“Dance?”

“Alright,” you respond, allowing him to take your hand and lead you among the countless other pairs of students. 

And just like that, you were watching a distant memory: yourself in a dress the color of which complemented your complexion in the flurry of spinning gowns and delightful music as you tried to escape the scene only to find yourself standing before the very person who stands before you now — Remus Lupin.

At the Yule Ball of 1974, you had stood rigidly in front of each other, both wearing clothing you’d never thought you’d ever wear again.

Yet here you are now, two decades past, standing in the same spot you once stood as naïve teenagers.

You had grown apart over the years and yet it’s as if the world is ricocheting; as if it wants you together.

You shake off the thought.

Some things that happen for the first time

Seem to be happening again

“Remus,” you greet, just like you did back then, half-hoping he’d catch on.

“[Y/N],” he responds knowingly. 

These greetings were the exact thing you’d said to each other on the night of the Yule Ball.

The night when you both willingly escaped the chance to escape just to dance with each other only to never speak of it again for the times that followed.

Is that what’s going to happen again?

But the weight of the future matters no longer when he bows with a glint of mischief in his eyes before reaching out his hand to you. “How are you this fine evening?”

You know he knows. He has seen this before and he’s willing to see it again.

“Bearable,” you answer, your mouth used to the words despite only having been in this conversation once two decades ago.

And so it seems that we have met before

And laughed before

Remus leads you a bit far away at every spin, hoping to get away from the blurry scene of dancing teens.

“I didn’t know you had moves,” you whisper, catching him off guard upon hearing you say something you had not said that night. 

This is now.

Remus spun you, making sure to not mess up the footwork so as to not ruin the moment. “I’ve aged but I haven’t gone senile, of course I have moves.”

He brightens up after you laugh, and all the tension from all the unsaid things that have hung between the two of you died away and it’s all so easy to be yourselves in this moment.

And suddenly you’re close to each other, closer than the dance is typically choreographed and you try hard not to think of the aftermath. You try hard not to think of how it’ll be again. You try hard not to think of the several more times there’ll be more unsaid things.

And loved before

But who knows where or when

As Remus strays away from the song’s direction and leads you to a slow dance instead, you seize the opportunity to ask him.

It’s now or never, and you’d rather that it’d be the now.

“How many more dances do I have to dance with you for you to stop tiptoeing around me?”

You had expected him to go rigid. Melt, even. But he doesn’t.

This time, the dance will last long after the music stops because he knows.

He’s seen this movie before, and he’s more than just willing to change how it ends. “Just one more in the garden and I’ll make it up to you.”

One of the many impeccable things about Remus Lupin is that he keeps his word, and so you let him guide you outside for one more dance.

yall idk what happened at the top but here’s how it’s originally meant to start omfg

click here to be added to my POTTERVERSE taglist.

REMUS LUPIN TAGLIST: @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts @suditi-says-chai-is-trash @bellatrixscurls @ameliasbitvh @mjoubertt-1 @sibelius7 @princess-jules47 @percyweasleyspuff @pottahishotasf @whoreforgeorgeandfred @cupids-crystals @everythingisdefinitelynotfine @siriusbarnesslut @ferretboysupremacy @spxncervibes @gemmachaos @aconfusedslytherin @pmissuluger @cant-ruin-my-night @bberee

[plant-flwrs]

three’s a crowd // draco malfoy (cologne pt 2)

request from @jadam268​​ :  after y/n and draco had kissed that day and confessed they had smelled each other in their amortentia, draco and y/n had a known relationship. however the yule ball was coming up and draco still hadn’t mentioned it to y/n. you tried to hint it at draco but he never took it. cedric and y/n were in the same charms class. he was always interested in her/you. after awhile cedric noticed u hadnt been asked for the yule ball. this caused a small love triangle to build up. (you can choose the rest haha its all up to you but if you want please let y/n and draco end up together still🥺)

a/n: my first request!! this is a sequel to cologne, and i hope it lives up to the first one. i really loved the idea for this so thank you again @jadam268​ <333 (i looked for that gif of draco shoving people out of the way during that scene of hagrid’s first class, but i couldn’t find it. here is an equally attractive gif of draco) [the gif is not mine] 

summary: Cedric Diggory takes notice when Draco hasn’t officially asked you to the Yule Ball. Cedric only wants to make sure you don’t go alone ;)

(4.6k)

part 1 here: https://plant-flwrs.tumblr.com/post/628194591952257024/cologne-draco-malfoy-3k-an-another-tik-tok

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Through tall, ancient windows, soft sunshine flooded the castle halls.

You and Pansy walked through the crowded hallway with your arms linked, talking about the upcoming Yule Ball.

"Oh of course he will, don't be daft," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know, Pansy," you bit the inside of your cheek, a nervous habit, "he hasn't even mentioned it!"

You and Draco had been nearly inseparable since you had both confessed your feelings for each other. The day the ball was announced, you excitedly looked to your boyfriend, only to find him casting a charm to make Goyle's frog have hair. Every day since you hinted at it. You had even asked him what color your dress should be but he still hadn't properly asked you. It was weighing on you, the uncertainty of not knowing what Draco was thinking. It made you question his feelings for you. Had he not liked you enough to have you on his arm, to parade you in front of the school?

"He's just a boy, y/n, they're stupid creatures," Pansy said matter-of-factly, pushing her short hair behind her shoulder, "I expect you've got to bring it up."

"I have!" you unlinked your arms, throwing your hands into the air in exasperation.

Pansy looked at you sympathetically, which really only made you feel worse, "I'm just trying to help."

"I know," you hadn't meant to make Pansy feel bad, but it was just so frustrating, "I just don't know what else to do."

Pansy rubbed your arm kindly, and you gave her a weak smile.

"What else to do about what?" Draco's voice purred in your ear as he eased up next to you.

"She's got a big Charm's project coming up, doesn't like her partner very much," Pansy said quickly, giving your arm one final soothing rub before she walked ahead of you and up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower.

"Who's your partner?" Draco said worriedly.

"Diggory," you said, sighing as the lie left your mouth. You were actually quite pleased to have Cedric as your partner, he was smart and kind. The Hufflepuff attitude was a nice contrast to the brooding Slytherins you loved so much.

"Diggory?" Draco repeated, crossing his arms like a pouting child, "he's an oaf."

You didn't agree, but you didn't defend Cedric. You had to seem cross about him being your partner, and it was better to have Draco think that's why you were upset. A small part of you wanted to ask Draco then, why he hadn't asked you. You felt ashamed to even bring it up, afraid he would just look at you like the answer was obvious: you aren't good enough.

Draco pulled your robes close to him and ducked into an enclave in the hallway. You glanced at your watch while he moved the two of you with ease; you still had enough time before Charms.

Draco pushed you against the cold, stone wall and brought his hand to your face. His thumb grazed your cheekbone, and he stared into your eyes for a moment.

"You're beautiful," he whispered, before his lips connected to yours.

He was gentle and slow, but his body pressed against yours feverishly. Your hands fell to the back of his neck. You felt his tie had slipped from under the collar of his shirt, so you fixed it quickly. He smiled at the gesture and you could feel the upturn of his lips. Your fingers twirled in the hair on the back of his head, and your fingernails lightly grazed his scalp. Draco made a heavenly moaning sound into your mouth. His hands slid from your face to your waist, pushing past your robes. His nimble fingers eventually nudged your shirt untucked on each side of your waist, and he slipped his hands to rest on the bare skin of your hips.

You felt your mind going foggy but still had enough sense to open your eyes and look at your watch while Draco's head ducked to suck on your neck.

"Dray," your voice was weak and barely audible, "Dray, I've got to get to class."

Draco pulled away from you slowly, upset to have to do so. He had a proud smile on, and his eyebrows tugged upwards smugly. His eyes fell to your neck, where his lips had previously been attached.

"No you didn't," you knew the look on his face and brought your fingers up to feel the pain of a small bruise forming.

"I did," he replied, moving his fingers to graze over the love bite he had given you.

You sighed, pretending to be annoyed with him.

He laughed, his hand going to move some hair behind your ear. He pulled up the collar of your shirt, pushing it to hide the mark.

"There, all better," he said proudly, not trying to hide his ridiculous smile.

You moved your collar back down, your face becoming flushed. You swatted Draco's hand away and adjusted your hair to fall over the mark.

"Walk me to class," you said, clutching his hand and dragging him away before he could accept the offer.

Sitting in Charms class, Cedric Diggory stood leaning over your shoulder to look at your work. You could feel his toned chest pressed against your back, and his breath was hot on your cheek as he read the paragraph you had written for your project.

"I like it," he muttered, moving to stand straight and offering you a crooked smile.

You smiled back as thanks for his compliment.

"You're a really good writer, y/n," he continued, going to continue the wand movements required for the charm.

"Thank you, Cedric," he only smiled at you, now returning his focus to his wand.

You wrote down what he was doing, the project requiring an essay about the technicalities of the Confundus Charm. You felt tempted to write about how his brown hair fell wonderfully over his forehead, or how his shoulders looked strong and handsome as he stood tall, but figured it was unnecessary to the assignment.

He looked onto his Hufflepuff housemate, his brow furrowed, and with unwavering confidence, he cast the spell.

"Confundo!"

His housemate shuddered, the Confundus charm obviously working. She looked dazed at Cedric, waiting for him to tell her something, give her something to do. You wrote quickly, watching the way her eyes looked a little glassy, and the way her hands fell limply by her sides.

"Uh," Cedric started, looking back at you with a giddy grin on his face, "go get my books."

You watched her, your quill moving as fast as you could manage. She walked to Cedric's desk, across the room, and picked up his books. She walked back and placed them delicately on the table next to you.

Professor Flitwick must have noticed the charm take effect, and he walked over to the three of you.

"Very well done, Mister Diggory," he praised Cedric, moving his wand to cast the charm that would release the girl from the effects of Cedric's Confundus charm.

The girl looked at Cedric, seeming confused. He nodded and smiled at her, and she walked off, her hand nursing the side of her head as if she had a headache. You wrote that down.

Cedric fell into the seat next to you, his arm falling to the back of your chair.

"Did you get all of it?" he questioned, leaning in close once again, "Especially how handsome I looked?"

You laughed weakly at his joke, mainly because you had thought about how handsome he looked while casting the charm. You felt a wave of guilt rush over you, thinking about Draco. You shouldn't be ogling over Cedric, but then again, shouldn't Draco have asked you to the ball by now?

Charms class had been fun for the next few days. You had finished the final draft of your essay earlier in the week, leaving you and Cedric with plenty of time to talk.

"You and Malfoy still going at it?" Cedric questioned, his tone changing when he said Draco's name.

You flashed a confused looked at Cedric, hoping he continued his thought.

"You're neck, it seems to have healed," he continued, his hand moving to brush your hair back to expose your neck.

"He's my boyfriend, Cedric," you said, confused as to where this topic of conversation came from.

Pansy had teased you in the past, insisting that Cedric had some sort of crush on you.

"He's staring at you right now, y/n," she'd say loudly at the great hall, "big puppy dog eyes!" She would laugh, and you would lock eyes with Cedric, sending him a polite smile while his face would blush red.

"He's not much of a boyfriend," Cedric mumbled, ducking his head into his Muggle Studies homework.

"What's that supposed to mean?" you said, becoming slightly annoyed by his comments about Draco.

"He hasn't even asked you to the ball," he said, raising his head to look at your shocked and slightly hurt expression.

"How do you-" Cedric interrupted you, seeming pleased with how the conversation was going

"How do I know he hasn't asked you? Y/n, everyone knows when one of the prettiest girls in their year has been asked to the ball, and everyone knows when they haven't," he looked at you with a kind and sympathetic look.

Cedric Diggory had just called you one of the prettiest girls in your year, and yet your face blushed red from embarrassment over the fact that people knew Draco hadn't asked you to the ball.

"Cedric, I appreciate your concern for Malfoy and I," you only used Draco's last name when you were cross with him, "but if he doesn't ask me, I'll be going alone."

Cedric furrowed his brows and a slight scowl came over his face. He looked at you for a while before something in his face changed. He didn't look angry, but determined. He was determined to make sure you didn't go to the Yule Ball alone.

The Slytherin table erupted with conversation. Next to you, Pansy was chatting away with Daphne Greengrass about the dress her mother had sent her for the ball. On your other side, Draco angled his body away from you, talking to Blaise about his newest plan to get Harry Potter expelled.

You stared into your plate of roast chicken with mashed potatoes, pushing it all around on your plate. You had already run Pansy's ear off about what had happened in Charms earlier that day, but you still felt fixated on it. Cedric's words ran through your head, especially his comment about your status of appearance. The longer you thought about it, the angrier you got with Draco. Your built-up resentment and inward worries about him had gotten the best of you. Instead of being direct and asking him, you sulked cowardly and gave him the silent treatment.

Draco had been fine to let you sulk in peace, reasons unbeknownst to him, until a delicate, but rather large, paper airplane landed in front of you on the table. The piece of paper had been enchanted to fly its way across the hall, and when it landed, it unfolded itself rather impressively.

Draco had seen it in the air, and by the time it landed he had turned towards you, abandoning his discussion with Blaise.

It sat in front of you, and once it lay flat, you gathered it in your hands.

Y/n, You looked quite miserable over there with Malfoy, why not come sit with me? I have enough sense to ask you to the ball, if you let me. -Cedric

You read over the note quickly, and before you could turn to show Pansy, Draco had snatched it from your hands.

He read over it a few times, and each time, his eyes became wilder and wilder with furry. He began holding the paper so tightly that it threatened to rip under his grip.

"Diggory? Who does that git think he is?" Draco snarled, crumpling up the paper and tossing it into the table.

At the same time he stood from the table, dinner was incidentally dismissed. Everyone began to leave the hall, except for Draco, who seemed to be rushing towards the Hufflepuff table, towards Cedric.

You gathered the paper from the table before rushing after Draco. He moved through the crowd with ease. Anyone who hadn't cowered out of his way, he simply shoved out of the way. You were being knocked back and elbowed as you followed him, unable to muster the rage Draco seemed to walk with.

It must have been intimidating for Cedric, seeing Draco storming at him the way he did. His fists were clenched by his sides and his robes flew behind him as his legs moved quickly towards the taller boy.

When Draco finally reached Cedric, the way Cedric towered over Draco by a few inches did not matter. Draco held his wand to Cedric's throat, the action hidden by the crowd of students around them.

"Don't you ever even look at her again," you heard Draco say in a hushed, deadly tone.

"Why not?" Cedric asked, puffing his chest out and shoving Draco back. He collided with a few students behind him, but rebounded quickly, regaining his threatening attitude.

"She's with me," Draco snarled.

Cedric laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. All you could do was watch, you had no words as your hands shoved the crumpled paper into your robes. You felt Pansy next to you, wrapping her arm around you in a side hug as you both watched the boys.

"You haven't even asked her to the ball, Malfoy," Cedric spoke.

Before Draco could reply, Professor McGonagall glided between the boys. She held her hands out to both of them, palms out.

"Enough, dinner is over," she looked at everyone who had stopped to watch the interaction, "go to your common rooms," she yelled over the noise.

Cedric moved first, laughing at Draco and walking away with his friends.

Draco stood there for a moment, too angry to move.

You looked at him, wishing you could comfort him, but not finding it in your heart. You were too upset with him, filled with too many questions to worry about Draco. Your hand went to the note in your pocket, and you held it as a reminder.

Draco's eyes found yours, and before he could move towards you, you slipped out of Pansy's grasp and left the hall.

You had left Draco there, nothing to say about his little standoff with Cedric. You thought the whole thing had been ridiculous. You figured, however, that if you hadn't already been cross with Draco, you may have found his words a little romantic. He had, after all, said you were "with him".

You shuddered with nerves as your hand hovered over the doorknob to your Charms class. You didn't want to face Cedric, and you had been successfully avoiding Draco.

Part of you wanted to skip Charms entirely. You had finished your essay, you wouldn't be missing anything, but the idea of detention did not entice you.

You walked to your desk, seeing the back of Cedric's head as he sat in the seat next to yours.

"Hello, princess," he said, not lifting his head from the book he was reading.

He had been leaning back in his chair, the two front legs teetering off the ground. With a harsh kick from you, the chair landed on all fours and Cedric jolted forwards. You had been hoping he would fall backwards, but you can't win them all, you supposed.

"Cross with me?" he teased, bringing his arm to rest on the back of your chair.

You ignored him and pulled out your Potions textbook, opening it to your homework assignment.

"Oh come on," he said, pushing his hair out of his face, "I thought you'd like it."

He was talking about the note, you figured, and suddenly your cheeks felt hot as you remembered it was still in your pocket.

His mouth curled into a smile and he quickly pinched your pink cheek before you could slap his hand away.

"Ooooo," he called, leaning back again in his chair, "you did like it."

You ignored him, willing your cheeks to return to their normal color. You hated to admit it, but you still couldn't deny how attractive Cedric really was. His thin lips curved into an arrogant smirk, revealing his white teeth. His green eyes were alight with mischief and entertainment. His sharp jaw entranced you.

You couldn't even distract yourself with thoughts of Draco. Every time you thought of him, you got angrier with him.

You successfully ignored Cedric for the rest of Charms, and now you were trying to avoid Draco as you walked through the courtyard with Pansy.

"They’re both such idiots," you complained, your books clutched tight to your chest, "Diggory's making a fool of himself and Malfoy is making a fool of me."

Pansy sighed heavily, throwing an arm over your shoulder.

"You're not a fool, no one thinks your a fool," Pansy reassured you, "Draco isn't held of that high of an opinion around here."

Pansy's words had almost soothed you, but once again, you couldn't help but feel a familiar sadness creep over you. Even if other people didn't notice that Draco hadn't asked you, you certainly did. He was making your life much harder than it needed to be.

Cedric saw you from where he sat with his housemates. He leapt from the bench and bounded over to you. He casually shoved off Pansy's arm, before either of you noticed he was there, and replaced it with his arm.

"Hey, princess," he said familiarly.

"Shove off, Cedric," you pushed his arm off your shoulder.

He simply laughed and took a step ahead of you, standing in front of you and Pansy, blocking your path.

"What do you want Diggory?" Pansy asked.

Your hands were wrapped so tightly around your books, your knuckles were turning a starch white.

"Just wanted to let y/n that my offer still stands," he said to Pansy. He turned towards you, "I'd still love to take you to the ball."

You let out an empty laugh, feeling completely exhausted. Pansy rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. She walked away, leaving you with Cedric.

"Haven't you ever heard, Diggory," you heard Draco's voice from behind you, "that three's a crowd?"

When he finally came to your side, he made no move to touch you, and part of you was grateful. You were still so upset with him that you may have just shaken off his touch.

"Oh, Malfoy," Cedric drawled, looking between the two of you, "I'm sure y/n wouldn't mind if you left."

Draco let out a sarcastic laugh that sounded a bit like a growl. You rolled your eyes, bracing yourself for another pitiful interaction like the one at dinner.

"I was simply asking her to the ball, she's been looking quite lonely these days," Cedric said, taking a step closer to you and Draco.

Before Draco could reply, you slammed your books into his chest for him to hold. Stepping up to Cedric, you had to tilt your head upwards to fully look him in the eye.

"You arrogant prick," you started, feeling a wave of anger wash over you, "how dare you talk about me as if I'm some sort of object," you took in a shaky breath, "like a toy for you two to pass back and forth."

You whipped around to scowl at Draco too, and he looked down, ashamed.

You saw the beginnings of a smile of Cedric's face, and your anger bubbled. You winded your hand back to slap him, but Draco's quick grasp stopped you. Cedric had flinched, and you laughed dryly. Nodding to Draco, assuring him you wouldn't slap Cedric, he dropped your hand. You took a step back from Cedric and he still looked smugly at you. You spat on the ground between you two, some landing on his shoe. He stepped back in disgust and looked at you like you were crazy.

"Fuck off," Draco hissed, coming to your side again.

You let him stay there, watching Cedric retreat to his friends.

You began to walk away from Draco as you had done at the great hall, but his hand on your bicep stopped you.

"Y/n," he said sadly, "can we talk?"

You looked into his silver eyes and saw the look of regret on his face. You turned to face him, putting a few feet between you two.

"Are you cross with me?" he asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

You scoffed and folded your arms over your chest.

"Why?" he asked softly, taking your reply as a yes, and stepping towards you.

"Are you serious?" you asked, genuinely wondering if he had no idea why you were upset. Was he really as daft as Pansy said?

"Yes, you've been upset all week and I don't know what I've done. Have I done something?" he asked. Hearing the desperation in his voice softened you. You supposed he actually was that daft, and you couldn't blame him for that.

"The ball, Draco," your voice was almost a whisper, afraid tears might spillover, "you never asked me."

Draco took another step forward and pulled his hands from his pockets. He reached for yours, and you let him hold your hands.

"Really? That's why you've been cross with me?" He sounded like he had an epiphany, like he couldn't have possibly imagined that's what was wrong.

"Yes, Draco," you sighed, giving up on your anger and allowing yourself to be vulnerable, "it made me think..." you trailed off, unable to will yourself to say what it made you think of yourself.

"What?" Draco pushed.

"I don't know Dray, it'll sound stupid," you dropped your eyes to the ground, your head tilting downwards.

"Tell me," his hand moved to lift your head, forcing your eyes to his.

"It-" your voice cracked, "It made me think you didn't want me, like you didn't want people to see us like that," you refused to let yourself cry, but the tears could be heard in your voice.

Draco held his mouth open, his brows lifted in shock. He pulled you both over to the base of a tree, out of sight of anyone else in the courtyard. He held you close to him.

"I would never want you to think that, y/n," he rubbed his hand soothingly on your back as he hugged you.

You lifted your head from his chest, looking up at him.

"Then why didn't you ask me?"

"Oh," he started, looking away from you, "well now I feel a bit stupid," he said sheepishly.

You waited for him to answer.

"I had just thought," he pressed his lips into a thin line, thinking of how to word his thoughts, "I had thought, that we were already going together. I think I forgot to ask you."

You recoiled away from him, looking at him with amazement. Here stood the boy with the best marks in your year, impeccable wit, and an unwavering reputation, admitting that he forgot to ask his girlfriend to the Yule Ball.

You let out a high laugh that surprised Draco. He looked at you, waiting for your fit to end, but you had doubled over with laughter. You clutched your stomach and tears brimmed your eyes.

Once you finally recovered, Draco expected the slap you were prepared to give Diggory earlier.

Instead, you launched yourself into his arms, which he hesitantly wrapped around you.

"Oh, Draco," you exclaimed, "you idiot!'

Your smile was bright, which confused Draco the most. He had just seen you at your wit's end, prepared for you to break up with him, and here you were, arms wrapped around his neck and placing little kisses all over his face in delight.

"Does this mean you'll go to the ball with me?" Draco asked nervously.

"Yes," you replied, subdued, "I suppose I could go with you."

Watching you come down the girls' dormitory stairs, Draco's breath caught in his throat. He nervously toyed with the flower he had for you behind his back, his eyes roaming all over you, trying to look at everything at once.

You looked stunning. You had sent an owl to your mother, telling her all about the dress you wanted and a week later, your owl had a large box with him in the owlery.

It was perfect, it fell elegantly in the right places. You felt Draco's eyes on you as you looked down at the steps, careful walking down in heals.

He immediately embraced you, his hands pressing you into him by your lower back.  When he released you, one hand stayed at your hip as he felt the wonderful material of your dress. He pulled the flower up to your face between you, and you leaned in to smell it. Taking it from him, you kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Dray," you whispered in his ear.

You were glad you hadn't worn lipstick, because with the force Draco kissed you with, you were sure it would have been all over the both of you.

Pulling away feeling dazed, you allowed him to lead you out of the dungeons and to the great hall.

The two of you walked through the tall doors, your arm looped with his. A few people standing by the walls watched as the two of you swept through the crowd.

Draco led you to the dance floor when a slow song came on. His strong hands gripped your waist, your hands rested around his neck, and your cheek was pressed against his chest. The soft, white material of his shirt felt comforting under you.

“Have I made it up to you?” Draco asked, bending to speak into your ear.

You pulled your face back so he could see you pretending to be in deep thought.

“I suppose you have,” you said smoothly, looking up at him.

He looked beautiful. His hair fell over his forehead, parted at the side. His pink lips were twisted into a peaceful smile as he looked at you. He rolled up the sleeves to his dress shirt at some point, exposing his toned forearms.

“I want you to be happy, y/n” he said, pulling you close to him.

“I’m happy with you, Draco,” you replied, your voice muffled from being pressed against his chest again.

“I’m happy with you, too,” he whispered.

That night, after you two had stumbled down the stairs to the dungeons, Draco stood with you in front of your dormitory door. He had a blissful smile on his face, content with staring at you all night.

You pulled him towards you by the collar of his dress shirt, your fists still wrapped around the cloth as he tumbled into you, pressing you against the wall.

You kissed him hard, your tongue grazing his bottom lip. You felt him shudder against you, his hands bunching up the sides of your dress as he gripped onto your waist.

You hands pushed through his hair, and ran your fingernails down his back, making him shudder again. You smirked into the kiss, and he pressed his body against you even harder. He slipped his leg between yours, the dress gathering at his leg. Your chests were pressed against each other and you could feel his fast heartbeat and heavy breathing.

“Y/n,” he moaned, moving his swollen lips to kiss your jaw.

He began chanting little praises as he moved down your neck, calling you beautiful, amazing, wonderful.

Your hands gripped his biceps as he reached the spot just below your ear, making you whimper beneath him. At the sound, he moaned again, panting against your neck.

“Hey guys,” Pansy said casually, “mind if I slip past ya?”

You and Draco pulled apart awkwardly, he turned his back towards Pansy, presumably hiding something in his pants. You wiped your swollen lips and fixed your hair.

You began to giggle wildly, causing Pansy to giggle. Her intoxicated hands couldn’t manage the doorknob to your shared room. You began to heartily laugh as you watched her hand continuously slip off. She slammed her shoulder into the door, and she stumbled back, nearly falling. She must have had a lot of Fred and George’s after-party-punch. 

You held her up, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. Draco moved to open the door for you, and you walked in with Pansy.

She was still giggling as you guided her to her bed. She flung herself onto it, and you moved to take her heals off. You pulled the blanket over your friend and turned to Draco.

“Sorry about tha-” you started.

“Oh no, don’t, it’s fine” Draco interrupted, that enchanted smile back on his face.

You smiled back at him, both of you feeling completely and utterly smitten with the other.

[blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms]

Yule Ball (2) - Draco Malfoy

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Characters: Draco Malfoy, Fred Weasley, George Weasley

Warnings: N/A

Request: Anon: “I have a Harry potter one shot request. It takes place during The Goblet of Fire. Y/N is a Gryffindor who loses a bet/draft/draw and has to attend the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy. The drama is they liked each other in first year after Y/N saved him from an acromantula. But Lucius made Draco drop Y/N because shes close with the Weasleys and a half blood. There's a lot of tension between Draco and Y/N. I know its detailed but i'd like to see it come to life.”

Word Count: 576

Author: Hannah

In the week that had passed since you’d lost the bet, you’d barely seen Draco around the castle which wasn’t unusual previously, but you’d found yourself looking around for him more ever since he’d said yes.

The crush that you’d had on him had never really gone away but it was now back in full force thanks to him actually speaking to you again. You knew you shouldn’t be giving him the time of day, but you had to admit to yourself that you really did miss him.

Fred and George knew that you missed him, and even though they had never liked Malfoy they wanted you to be happy, hence their wager which they made sure you lost.

“You look great Y/N,” Fred told you as you came down from your dormitory into the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione had helped you choose your dress, and whilst you didn’t want to look like you’d catered to Draco you had chosen a stunning deep emerald green velvet gown.

“You really do Y/N,” George confirmed his twin’s words.

You smiled at them both, trying to hide the nervousness that you were feeling deep down. “I suppose it’s time to face the music, yes?”

The twins’ brows furrowed at your reference but they both nodded and smiled reassuringly at you. And so, the three of you made your way down to the Great Hall, Fred and George both meeting their dates along the way.

“You four go in,” you told them when you reached just outside the Great Hall. “I’ll wait for him out here.”

Both Fred and George nodded, escorting their dates inside, leaving you to wait for Draco as you hoped to merlin, he didn’t stand you up.

There was a low whistle from behind you and you turned to see Draco stood there, looking far too handsome in his dress robes.

“I approve of the dress,” he complimented as he walked towards you. “Definitely not embarrassing.”

You rolled your eyes. “I didn’t do it for your approval.”

He nodded, choosing not to say anything in response, and then offered you his arm in order to escort you inside. You took his arm, tucking your hand into the crook of your elbow, and tried to ignore all of the stares that were directed your way at the two of you being together.

The stares were uncomfortable, you couldn’t deny that, but what made you feel even more uncomfortable was the fact that Pansy Parkinson was practically staring daggers into the back of your head – you were sure if she could curse you right then and there you would.

Draco led you to a table to sit down, pulling your chair out for you.

“It surprises me that you still have such manners,” you commented as you sat down.

Draco scoffed, sitting down next to me. “My manners have not disappeared Y/L/N, my mother taught me how to treat my dates.”

It was your turn to scoff. “Ah yes, but just not how to treat your friends,” you commented bitterly. “Or at least those you considered close.”

If Draco was surprised by your words, he didn’t show it, he simply crossed his arms and leant back in his chair, observing as the rest of the students entered the ball.

“Why did you say yes?” you asked after a few moments of silence, not being able to hold it in anymore.

Draco shrugged nonchalantly. “No better offer I suppose.”

[futurewriter2000]

Becuase I hate you the most ~ pt. 4

A/N: Finally decided to edit this draft. Bruh. But I’m finished it wit it and I hope so much that you like it. It’s not one of my proudest fics but I am trying here. All the loves <3

PAIRING: George x reader! Malfoy/BlackTAGS:@siriusly-loves-snuffles, @slither-in-a-half, @nadinissavage, @shadyladyperfection, @geeksareunique, @ashkuuuu, @xinyourdreamsx, @maralisa124, @loserslytherpuff, @chloe-geoghegan1, @musekala, @moonysmilkshake, @crispyfrenchfrieschrusis, @unicorn-sparkles123, @queenofravenclaw05, @redhead-weasley, @fashionlive15, @quokkatrash, @bennie-badeend, @sly-vixen-up2nogood

Other parts —> MASTERLIST

(requests are closed)

Xx

You didn't think words could sting so much. That his absence would hurt and that his eyes could hold so much hatred towards you. You hated how your whole relationship, if you could call it that, changed so much in so little time.

But no. You could never have feelings or future with him. No, your father would disown you if you were ever even rumored to be dating a blood-traitor like George Weasley.

Though he didn't seem like a blood-traitor to you. He was kind and compassionate, funny and always keen on the jokes. So fierce when it came to protecting the ones he loves and so shy when it came to love.

You simpered to yourself, knowing how shy he was at the beginning when the two of you started your "thing" and how he was so braver after, kissing you in places he knew the two of you would be seen. And as much as you hated his try on getting the two of you exposed, you liked how dominant and determined he was in every kiss.

And it was now that you thought you heard his steps coming your way but as they approached, you knew they definitely did not belong to George Weasley.

" Ciao Bella." greeted his twin, smiling and wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

" Ciao idiot." you retorded back, pushing his arm from your shoulder and walking away from him.

However your quick pace was not even compared to his long steps, he slid in front of you, stopping by an inch, and giving you the famous Weasley grin. " You're avoiding."

" I wonder why?" you faked a daft look before throwing your bag on the other shoulder and crossing your arms over your chest. " What do you want?"

" Here's the thing." his grin spread wider, his body backing you against the wall while his hand, which rested on the wall behind you, kept the distance safe. " You're a Malfoy, I'm a Weasley and there has always been a rivalry between our family as well as the houses. You hated me, I hated you-bam boom- but now we have gotten to a point where I, Fred Weasley, has to, as always, drag your stubborn and determined arse back there to explain the Snuffles situation and then fix the miserable twin brother situation,"

"Snuffles?"

" The almighty father of yours, yes." he rolled his eyes, closing in the proximity between you two to which to your surprise started to make your heart race. Blushing, you couldn't decide if it was because of his handsome features or the fact that he had pissed you off by speaking of your father.

Yet you pretended not to care. " The only way you'll be able to drag my arse to him is when I'm dead. So good luck." you knocked his shoulder and started walking away from him.

" Yes, yes, I understand that." he kept walking after you. " But-"

"No! No buts." you cut him off.

"If you only list-"

"Fred no! I don't want to ever hear about him!" you finally snapped, glaring at him.

"Fred yes! Fred is the one responsible for his brother and Fred wants you to see the truth behind the hidden dirty lies." he spoke more seriously, his grin disappearing from his lips.

"Why are you talking in a third person?"

"That's not the point " he rolled his eyes. " The point is that if you don't come with me to see him, to try giving him a chance to explain the last fourteen years, you - and him- will feel and understand each other much better." he spoke as he put his hands on both of your shoulders.

" I never thought of you as the serious, caring type, Fred Weasley." you snorted and quirked an eyebrow

"Stop avoiding the subject." he sighed.

And it was his eyes, his kind and beautiful eyes that made you say what you said. To make the frustration inside of you finally break free. " Oh, wouldn't you just like to hear from your father after fourteen years of spending your life with a different family. Thinking about why you didn't belong! Knowing why you didn't resemble them at all! Thinking about why your father preferred your younger brother and not you. YES! Wouldn't you just love to see a father who has left you for fourteen years, two of those spent outside Azkaban with his Godson instead of his daughter? Why don't you just go spend time with your father who always put you in second place! A father who put the Potter family before his own! Always!" you shouted, blind to the tears that shed from your eyes.

Fred, shocked at first, watched you in empathy and his hands all of a sudden wrapped around your body and pulled you closer. You put your hands around him as well, gripping his robes and sobbing into them. As a twin, you have sworn to believe that he would smell like his brother but he didn't. He smelled after a different cheap cologne. Spicy and fresh, like mint, but sweet like honey. And it was that kind of smell that comforted you. It was the smell and touch to make you calm and vulnerable.

---

A week had passed and you were on the verge of breaking down. Every single week was filled with exams and projects, essays, reports, party, ... you didn’t know how to start and to top it all off, there was a Yule Ball coming up.

But that was the last thing on your mind. Your little brother has once again, as always, pissed you off.

So, wherever you were now storming off was better than anywhere near that castle. When the tears started gathering and your throat started to squeeze, you plopped down on your ass and leaned against the tree. Hugging your knees, you let your head fall on your arms and you sobbed.

All the stress and the anxiety that has been bugging you for so many months now expressed through your tears and sobs. The worst part was that as much as you hated to admit, you wanted George by your side. You needed him by your side because he was the person who could always cheer you up in this situation.

But your thoughts about your problems were soon interrupted by something cold and wet touching your arm. You quickly looked up and were faced with a pair of familiar grey eyes. His fur was long and curly, in a dark black color while his quite big snout kept forcing itself under your hand.

You shot him a puzzled look at first, wondering about the boned looking dog who continued to force his snout under your hand until he finally succeeded and let your hand travel to the top of his head.

Simpering, you scratched his head and brushed your thumb against his big ear. “ You really know your timing, mate."

He whined and moved forward with his body, letting his head fall on your lap.

“ You’re adorable.” you smiled, letting your fingers travel down his fur, feeling his ribs on the sides. “ A stray? “ you mumbled to yourself and he let out another whine. “ Well, don’t worry because I am a sucker for dogs and will get you fat immediately.” you cupped his face and kissed his forehead.

He shot his head up immediately, staring at you with his bright blue eyes. Almost as he was expressing surprise. Almost as he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

You gave him a suspicious look because as much as you stared at those eyes and as much as they reminded you of him... it couldn’t be true.

You denied that feeling. Always. You denied it because you didn’t want it to be true. He gave you warmth and safety. It was what you felt every time you came and visited him since that day.

He was a stray. A stray with no family and no owner.

It’s what you kept telling yourself. Every single day when you visited him when deep down you knew the truth. You just kept denying it.

So as months passed by and another day followed, you plopped down on your ass and waited for him to come.

Yet he didn't. You waited and continued to sit on the cold grass. It felt like hours have passed when only 15 minutes did. Twenty minutes, 30 minutes...

You grabbed your bag and slung it over your shoulder. " Guess today someone is busy." you grumbled under your breath and pulled out a bag of food, placing it next to a tree.

" Guess I am." a voice came from behind and you froze where you stood.

Like your heart has stopped and the whole world started to spin, you continued to stand there, frozen, with your eyes spread wide and staring at the Hogwarts castle.

" I kept thinking the ways to approach you. Guess it's too soon." he chuckled slightly, scratching the back of his neck.

" What are you doing here." you tried to speak but it came out as a weak, broken voice.

And as much as you didn't see it, it broke him. It broke him to know how much you really hated him. How much you were afraid of being alone with him...He didn't want this. He didn't want you to be left with the Malfoys or his mother or growing up to know your biological father was a criminal. He was far from that and he resented Remus for not taking you in as a godfather duty.

" I just want to talk, Layla." he spoke softly.

You sharply turned around, glaring at him through your fallen tears. " My name is (y/n), not Layla!"

" (y/n). Okay then." he spoke calmly, slightly lifting his hands. " Can we talk?"

"No! We cannot!" you snapped immediately. " YOU ABANDONED ME! FOR FOURTEEN YEARS!" you shouted at him, tears streaming down your eyes. " I WAS THREE! THREE!" you continued to bawl. " AND ODD HOW I CAN REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE MOMENT SPENT WITH YOU! 'Princess, you called me.' " you spoke quietly now. " Layla, you named me but Layla is not here." you continued. " The day you left me, left your whole life behind, was the day you decided to give me a new life. A life as a Malfoy."

" I didn't abandon you. I-I."

" You chose them. You chose them every time. Even when you got out you went after Harry first."

" You really think I would do that." he spoke surprised and your eyes met his. " You were the first thought when I woke up in the morning and the last when I fell asleep." he said and took a step closer. " You were the person who made me sane in that prison. You were the happiness I clung to when I thought I'd lost it all." he smiled and took another step to you. " I made a mistake, going after Peter the way I did. I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't thinking at all but when James died I was ought to feel lost and angry. But I wasn't ought to not think of you."

He was now so close to you that his hand could touch your chin and brush the tears from your cheeks.

" I did see you. Before Harry. " he sighed and you felt your heart somehow lighter for tons. "I saw you walking down the corridor with your friends, laughing and teasing Draco...you were so happy...so grown up." this time a tear escaped his eye. " So obliviated by the fact of who I was to you...and I was afraid you would be scared if I came to you because you thought of me as a murderer. And after the holidays you came back different and I knew that you found out. Every time somebody mentioned Sirius Black, you flinched yet pretended to be fine." he paused for a moment before speaking again. " I couldn't do it. I couldn't face the hate you felt for me every single day since you found out. "

" I didn't hate you back then." you cut him off. " I hoped that you would come to me and tell me that you didn't kill that wizard. That you have an explanation for all of this...but you didn't. And I waited for you for a year and stopped after I realized you just didn't want to see me."

"But I did!" he took a hold of your hands and pulled you closer, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. " I did, Princess. I wanted to." he pulled you into a hug, squeezing you so tightly as he decided never to let go of you. " I love you so much. My life is nothing without you in it and Harry may be my godson but you will always be mine." he pulled away and cupped your cheeks. " You gave me three the most amazing years of my life. Even when you told me you hated me I found it a blessing just to see your eyes, your hair..a Slytherin-wow." tears streamed down his cheeks as well on yours. " So bloody proud of you." he sobbed, smiling before he pulled away and cupped your cheeks once again. " And I'm sorry. I am so so sorry for what I put you through."

[bangtan-spells]

Seokjin Scenario: Winter’s Glow.

Request: A Jin x reader Hogwarts scenario where the reader is a Ravenclaw pureblood and Jin is from another house and they're both really competitive with each other and what not but everyone thinks they should get together and like it's around the yule ball and they make a competition out of who can get a date first but neither of them do and so they end up going together and he confesses to her at the all + Fariygodmothers~ An HP AU where y/n and Jin are classmates and forced partners in potions and divination class. They started at the wrong food and hated each other after an incident. Y/n and Jin tries to work things out for the class sake and their friends see an indeniable chemistry between them so they set them up for Christmas ball. Thanks a bunch^^ /poofsaway!

Genre: Fluff / Romance.

In the name of Merlin, this was unacceptable. You glared at the rest of the crowded classroom annoyed, usually you wouldn’t be all the way to the back seats, but for the first time in your life you had been late to class.

-Looks pretty empty to me- Seokjin said and you turned your eyes again to him, crossing your arms.

You didn’t want him out of all your classmates to sit next to you so of course, you had told him the seat was occupied but he was so insisting and annoying, weren’t Hufflepuffs supposed to be sweet and all? You despised the bright yellow scarf and how it didn’t make him look stupid or sick, it should, that was the least he deserved.

-I don’t care how it looks to you- you said being as petty as ever. -Don’t you have flowers to grow or something? Go somewhere else, why are you always around me I mean…-

He huffed, tensing his lips for a second.

-For a Ravenclaw is pretty clear you aren’t using your intelligence, that is if you have one- he said satisfied and you felt so offended.

-How dare you?-

Seokjin continued despite the anger in your eyes.

-We Hufflepuffs do more than just grow flowers around as you said and as unfortunate as it is, we are in the same year that means I’m forced to be near you-

You were standing up by then, fisting your hands. He was  infuriating, was what he was.

-Do us all a favor, find your way into the dark forest and get lost-

-Well I…-

Jin was so ready to retaliate when his text book was smashed against his head by professor Snape.

-You will shut up now, Mr. kim- Snape intervened and glared at you, fixing his robe. -Now both of you will be partners for the class, in silence, and I won't hear a single complain unless you want me to take points off both of your houses and believe me, it would be a pleasure to me-

Both of you shut your mouths after that and Snape walked to the front, Potions was one of your highest grades, you were on top of the class and most importantly, way ahead of Jin, for what now you would have to share your grade with him.

Losing house points because of a Hufflepuff? That would be such a shame for you, it would haunt you the entire year, and not only because of any Hufflepuff, but because of Seokjin. You glared at him while he fixed his abused text book on the desk.

-Thanks for nothing- he said in an annoyed whisper and you took a deep breath.

Your pride was the only thing stopping you from turning him into a badger right there and then since he was so proud of his house.

-Just do your part and I’ll do mine- you opened your Magical Drafts and Potions book still furious, that day you were finally going to make an intricate antidote against common potions. -Try not to ruin it-

You saw him roll his eyes and sigh. Why was it that you needed to be so bitter and rough with him? What he’d done had been a lot of time ago but he never apologized and you weren’t really one to forget.

If wasn’t particularly a secret that you weren’t each other’s cup of tea, most of your friends knew you liked to avoid each other and some other people at school also did since Jin was ridiculously popular and what he and his friends had done to the Ravenclaw dorm had been a huge prank.

You could feel different pairs of eyes on you through the class while you did the best to work together and not ruin the stupid potion you were creating. The couple at your right had already made theirs explode for how unstable it was and you didn’t want the same happening to you.

-That’s too much- you said, Jin was about to add the Unicorn Horns and he looked like he was ready to ignore what you said. -Trust me in this ok?- you emphasized, taking a bit out of his hands, your heart was beating too fast, perhaps because you were standing really close to him now and because you never thought you would tell him to trust you.

-Alright -Jin said softly, you almost talked back since you were so ready for him to retaliate so it surprised you. You looked at each other for a moment before resuming your tasks and do the best to work side by side without lunging at your throats.

-What is it between you and the Hufflepuff guy?- two of your friends asked while you were crouched down putting on your knee pads.

Today’s quidditch game was between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, which meant, you would have to frustrate Jin’s tries in scoring since he was one of the Hufflepuff’s chasers and you were your team’s keeper.

You sighed, why was everybody asking that?

-There’s nothing between the Hufflepuff guy and me, what do you mean?-

-We’ve seen you two, like in those classes together…-

-It’s not like I had any choice, and last time in divination I had actually partnered with my roommate but she got sick-

-Exactly, and then you went with him- you were about to object again but your friend interrupted you. -I know you will say it was forced but you two actually seemed to enjoy it Y/N, that’s kind of weird-

-You’re seeing things were they are not- you said unamused.

-Maybe, or maybe you are yet to see them yourself- your friend took her bat, you were about to step into the pitch.

-Try not to get distracted by him alright? We can’t lose against Hufflepuff today-

Ravenclaw’s name was announced and you straightened yourself, you knew some Ravenclaws were prideful but it wasn’t like Hufflepuff’s team was any bad,  they were pretty skilled actually, and somehow you felt defensive for the way she had said that but you shrugged off the feeling and took your broom to take position in front of the three goal posts you were in charge of protecting.

Your team was on full attack mode that day, you were fifty points ahead from Hufflepuff but both of your seekers were out of sight after the snitch, you wished it was yours the one who caught it but you couldn’t get distracted since the chaser from Hufflepuff had the Quaffle and they were coming your way. You saw them throwing it between each other until it remained on Jin’s arms, he was going for the points.

He threw the Quaffle to the ring on your left and you made a swift turn to stop it with the back of your broom. You smiled satisfied at him.

-Nice try, but you’re too easy to read!- you laughed when a chaser from your team stole the Quaffle and flew towards the Hufflepuffs rings.

-Don’t be so full of yourself- Jin said. -You never know what might happen-

-Oh I already know, we will win this match of course-

You saw him shake his head but smile lightly. A brief thought crossed your mind, he looked really good with that quirky smile, his hair disheveled, his quidditch uniform and the faint gleam of sweat on his skin. You backed yourself out of that thought immediately.

-You think you are right in everything?- you shrugged as answer to his question, smiling too, your team scored and you clapped.

The snitch wasn’t caught by any team but yours won for the score, at the end all of your teammates were celebrating in the middle of the pitch, the Ravenclaws in the public vitoring your win.

You saw Jin reuniting with his team and giving you a look, he noticed your eyes on him so he went to you.

-So, how does it feels like losing?- you said as a knee jerk reaction before he even had the chance to say anything. He smiled shaking his head.

-You really think you can win it all Y/N, don’t you?-

-The majority of the time, if I’m sure of the result- you crossed your arms.

-You’re impossible really- if it was supposed to be an insult, it didn’t feel like it because he laughed.

Someone by your side was cheering excitedly for the win and for the upcoming winter ball.

-Do you have a date already for the ball?-

His question took you off guard and he noticed the answer in your face. -I see that you don’t-

-And why is that important? I can find a date soon-

-Not before I do, I bet-

-Oh really? What kind of silly competition is that Seokjin, please, you are just salty that I won you today-

-So the almighty Y/N is backing off from a bet? Do I sense some fear here?- he motioned with his hand between your bodies for emphasis and smirked.

-Well if you insist so much, then, why not? I will find a date sooner than you so you can swallow your words, it’s a deal-

-Deal, good luck with that- he smiled sarcastically and for some reason it made you feel too agitated, so you turned around like a walking fury and left the pitch.

Seokjin was running out of time to get a date for the Christmas ball and the only thing that kept him at ease was that you didn’t have one yet either, but that could change anytime soon.

-C’mon bro, I’m trying to tell you something here- Hoseok complained, they were at their common room, sunshine dripping over them from the low windows and Jin noticed he’d been spacing out while his friend spoke.

-I’m sorry Hoseok…- he frowned down at the polished wooden table between them-Do you think Y/N found a date today?-

Hoseok sighed, shaking his head and stretching his hand to play with the small cacti at the corner that reacted to his proximity with a soft dance.

-Look, Jin- Hoseok started, with the tone of a father about to give a lecture which in fact, his best friend had been giving him one too many of those lately. -You barely talk about anything that is not Y/N anymore, I don’t get why you are so eager to compete with her and make her think you just want to play her and annoy her to death, it’s ridiculous really, when you are practically in love her-

-I’m n…- Hoseok lifted a hand to his face to stop him from talking.

-I’m not having nonsense right now, if you are not in love you are close to being it or obsessed my friend, and that you can’t deny it-

Seokjin fell silent, Hoseok was too painfully right. His eyes wandered to the windows again and saw a few feet coming and going from the other students.

-She hates me, I’m almost sure about it-

-Almost- Hoseok remarked with a smile Jin didn’t understand and Hoseok sighed dramatically, throwing his arms up in the air in desperation and scaring off the small cacti who backed against the wall before Hoseok hushed it with a soft happy whistle. -Look Jin, what I mean is that you are not a hundred percent sure Y/N hates you,maybe she does, or maybe she just follows your competition because you don’t give her anything else. Besides, have you stopped to think you always have her attention somehow? That’s gotta mean something-

Jin felt his heart rate increase, what if his friend was right and not only talking chatty nonsense as Hoseok usually did? He sighed, with half the drama Hoseok had done, too much time with his friend was rubbing off on him. Jin pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back on his chair to think with his eyes closed while the feather like caress of the long leaves from the plant dangling from the low ceiling above him brushed through his hair.

You were once again sitting together at divination, Jin was rolling his lean hands over the crystal ball between you.

-There’s only three days until the ball- he said softly, you were supposed to be reading each other’s future.

You looked up and found his eyes on yours,it made you choke on air and you coughed.

-Certainly- none of you had a date yet. -We still have time- you said, your competition ended the day of the ball and only then.

Jin laughed under his breath.

-We actually don’t, don’t you see?-

He spoke too softly so you leaned forward to be able to hear what he was saying when a guy from hufflepuff that you always saw with Jin and one of your friends started to hit on their table and whisper kiss kiss kiss under their breaths. You backed off immediately, feeling your cheeks burning and ignoring the way Jin’s own face turned bright red.

Tonight was the ball, for a moment you had thought about not going because you didn’t want to be there while Seokjin walked inside with some other girl, but your friend told you she had found you a date and that you had to meet him at the entrance of the hall, by then it didn’t really matter to you who the guy was and had thanked her effusively the day prior to the ball before rushing to find yourself an outfit to fit the occasion.

You had decided on a flowy dress made with a special shade of bronze that when the light casted on it just right, shone blue, it was the best way to represent your house with your outfit. The rest you kept it simple, dark blue heels, an enchanted pair of feather earrings  that seemed to move with the wind and your hair in a braid.

You were waiting by the entrance, while your mind drifted to Seokjin even if you hadn’t seen him yet. You had been thinking perhaps to much of him as of lately and thought than when you saw him coming to you at the entrance, you were actually imagining it.

-Y/N?- he asked confused, you looked around and there was nobody else there, the gears started to turn inside your mind, your friend wouldn’t have done this, would she? -What are you doing outside here?-

-I guess the same as you- you sighed, fidgeting with your fingers.

-What do you mean? I’m waiting here for someone, Hoseok said…-

-Don’t you see?- you cut him off, not nearly as harsh as you would have done in any other occasion, maybe seeing him looking so fine with his suit was making things to your brain. -They have set us up, your friend and mine-

He reacted a heartbeat later than you, you saw a lot of emotions crossing his face.

-Are you for real? - he said with a tint of joke and it made you notice suddenly how in another situation you would have truly liked to meet Jin another way, maybe in a date like this, but not like you were his last resource.

Anyways why were you even thinking all this? Seokjin was getting into your head and your heart and you hadn’t allowed that to happen. You turned around to leave but he stopped you.

-Y/N wait... why are you always so defensive and evasive with me?- Jin said defeated and you closed your eyes strongly.

-Because…- you took a deep breath, fisting your hands. -Because you make me like this, because you just play around and don’t care for others feelings, I have feelings ok? You never said sorry to me Jin, and the only thing you have done since then is compete with me and you know is not my nature to give in and I don’t care to win this anymore, if that's the only thing you want so be it, you won, be happy about it-

You were breathless by the end of your outburst, you were infatuated with Jin since second year but then he had thought some day that it would be a nice joke to expose all the girls changing in the bathroom when actually there was only you and half the school had seen you in your underwear.

-I don’t really want to fight you Y/N, or have any of these stupid competitions but you never really talked back to me for anything else than that- he took a step closer to you and your heart was beating too hard.

-Look, I’m sorry, I truly am sorry for what happened but it wasn’t me doing that, I tried to tell you but you won’t let me anywhere near you, I just happened to be passing by when those guys did that, I’m not even friends with them anymore-

You didn’t say anything, you had no way to know if he was lying or not and you wanted to believe him because deep down, you knew you were still infatuated with Jin.

-You might think this is a all a lie, and you know what? I’ll just say this because you won’t believe it either, I like you, I actually think you are the prettiest even when you are just fuming around me, I think you look marvelous with that dress and I wish I had the guts to invite you myself to the stupid ball-

Now it was him the one gasping for air after the outburst and you blinked at him. That had been too fast but you had caught all. Jin turned around to leave when he could breathe properly but you called him.

-Is this another one of your games? Because if it is...- you asked softly.

-If it is, what?-

-I will not forgive you Jin-

-No need to- he said in a whisper, his eyes looking away from you longing. -Is not a game-

You looked at each other until the silence was broken by Hoseok peeking outside the doors with your friend.

-Will you stop arguing about who likes the other more and get inside? You won’t get any food-

They went back inside laughing and you and Jin entered the hall together, after all, you were already there.

It was funny almost how when you were bickering you had too many things to say to each other, and now you were in an almost comfortable silence.

You had been lounging around together for a bit, trying to lighten your moods with silly enchantments to the other students that made you laugh.

-This one matches you tonight- Seokjin handed you a gleaming blue flower from the table, it did match the blue reflect of your dress.

-Thank you…- your eyes met and both of you looked away flushed. The music had changed to something softer and a magical snowflakes were falling on the dance floor.

-Do you want to dance?- he asked suddenly, for the first time that night.

-I…- you were shy to admit it to him but you did it anyway. -I don’t really dance that much-

-I don’t either- Jin said laughing, standing up and offering you his hands. -It’ll be twice as fun then-

You went together to the dance floor, Jin helped you place the flower he’d gifted you behind your ear and you danced a bit awkwardly, laughing every two or three steps.

-You didn’t say anything back to me Y/N- Jin said softly, his hands were on your waist. -I told you how I felt and you didn’t-

-You didn’t ask- you said with a smirk.

-How do you feel about me then?-

-Is not that easy - you laughed and Jin shook his head, the snowflakes shone pretty on his hair. -But I’ll give you a clue-

You reached up for Jin’s lips and kissed him, it was short and sweet, but enough to make you feel exhilarated. You had wanted to do that since you met him, you had wanted to do that in the middle of your fights, at the end of a quidditch match, outside of his dorm. You had longed his lips for so long.

The response was pretty clear to Seokjin, this time he wasn’t slow to react because he smiled satisfied and then leaned down to kiss you for good while the snowflakes danced and fell around you.

[madebycinexo]

Pathcode #HOGWARTS

I’m going to talk a bit about the inspiration and the idea first, then about my process of working with movies in terms of organization. I’ll then go over each individual edit and talk about why I chose the shots I chose for each member, the difficulties that came up and I’ll also share drafts and alternate versions of some edits.

This post is extremely tl;dr, so here’s the sources real quick:

Font: Neoteric

Member Emblem PNG (Just a heads up, the background of the page is dark and the emblems are black so you might not see them right away, but they’re there.)

I don’t remember if I got the idea to make a Harry Potter crossover before or after Pathcode came out. I do remember though that Tao’s Pathcode gave me Harry Potter vibes for some reason. When thinking of a crossover I knew I wanted it to be superpower related right away. 

At first I wanted to do Exo x Harry Potter spells, but when thinking about it, there isn’t necessarily a spell you could match with every superpower. Take teleportation, for example. When thinking of teleportation in the HP universe you’d think of apparition, floo powder and portkeys, but there isn’t a spell for it per se. So it quickly became Exo x Harry Potter... things. 

I wrote down everyone’s names and power and made a list of things that I could think of related to each power. I then watched the movies and took screenshots of everything that might be useful for this edit. At some point I realized that that wasn’t really the best way of doing this, because I would look at the screenshots and be like ‘well ok but what is the movement, and how long is it?’ it just wasn’t enough to help me determine which shots I wanted to use. Another thing I realized was that the first movie came out in 2001, and the last one in 2011. 10 years can really make a big difference in terms of visual effects; it’s quite fascinating when you look at the first and last appearances of Voldemort, Dobby, Fawkes and the Whomping Willow; so I figured it was a better idea to start watching the movies from last to first, so I wouldn’t feel the need to consider every random scene that has fire in it for example. 

Instead of taking screenshots, this time around I wrote down the timecodes for everything with a short description of what it was. Then I extracted the frames and tagged every folder with the relevant member. After doing that I could watch a member’s Pathcode and then go through the HP scenes to compare and get a better idea of which shots could work together.

I knew I wanted the format to be approximately a 5:7 ratio with 10 gifs, 268px width each, and be one half Pathcode, one half HP with the members name, power and emblem in the middle.

So, while going through the HP shots, I realized there were a lot of great ones and I wasn’t going to be able to use all of them, and while making some of the edits I realized that it was difficult to blend them together well in the middle, so I decided to use some extra shots to help the transition look smoother. I hadn’t accounted for that while watching the movies though, so I wasn’t specifically looking for shots that could be useful for that. Some of them were quite tricky to figure out, but I’ll get to that.

I’m gonna go over each member’s edit individually now.

Kai | Teleportation:

I chose apparition for him. I think it’s the best fit visually. Alternatives were floo powder, which, you know, the powder itself just kind of looks like rough sand and when used, it creates a green fire, which to me was just reminiscent of Chanyeol, as his power is fire, and Slytherin house because of the green. It just didn’t seem like a good fit. The other alternative was a portkey, and since that’s always an object, the point of focus would have been that object as opposed to the teleportation itself. I had also briefly considered using Alohomora, since his emblem is a keyhole, but given the other options, this one felt kind of unspectacular. The shot I ended up using is from Deathly Hallows Part 2. It’s faceless, which helps focus on the effect and the coloring matched well. For Kai, I wanted to use the shot of him actually teleporting, but you can’t see his face there, so I used the other bit of his Pathcode where you can see his face (everything else is in black and white and shaky, his Pathcode is kind of a nightmare to edit with) but in that scene he’s on the very left side of the screen, so there was too much space to his right and it looked really empty, so I opted for blending both shots together. For the middle I tried using the bit from Goblet of Fire where they’re teleporting with the old boot, but that just didn’t work at all. So then I used the slow mo apparition shot from the very end of Deathly Hallows 1, where Bellatrix throws the knife at them as they apparate (which is kind of sad, because we all know how that ended...) Here’s a very early draft with a different Pathcode clip:

Tao | Time Control:

So for Tao it was either going to be the Time Turner, the Hogwarts clockwork or the hourglass. I had also written down Arresto Momentum, but watching the scene I probably didn’t think it would work. The amount of green in the shot with the hourglass feels very reminiscent of Slytherin house– now I’m not about to start making assumptions about who would be in which house, but I always felt that Tao would make the perfect Draco Malfoy. The hourglass, I realize, doesn’t have as much meaning as Time Turner, but I just remember seeing it in the sixth movie and thinking ‘I need to use this.’ There was just something about it, and with edits like this I generally try to find a compromise between meaning and aesthetic. The person tapping on the hourglass (I don’t remember if it was Riddle or Slughorn doing that) kind of feels like a nod to time control as well (in this edit at least. In the movie it’s probably more so about the scene being a flashback). And since I’ve always found clockworks really cool, that worked nicely as a transition shot.

Chanyeol | Fire:

This one was kind of a no-brainer, because it was either going to be Fawkes or some random fire spell. When I was still watching the movies in the right order I was a bit worried though, since Fawkes in the second movie looks like those animatronics you’d see at a theme park, and especially that scene where he bursts into flames just does not look great. And I wasn’t sure wether he shows up anywhere later in the movies, but he does! In The Order of the Pheonix... so that scene was perfect actually. There was also a cool scene in Goblet of Fire, when the Durmstrang guys come in and blow fire in the shape of a bird. I tried using that as the transition shot, but that just failed horribly. I also tried the scene where Hermione sets fire to Snape’s robe in the second movie, but that didn’t look good either. I ended up using a shot from Chanyeol’s Pathcode for that, because it’s a flame with a completely black background, which doesn’t do a great job at blending the top and the bottom gifs together per se, but unlike the other two shots I tried it doesn’t look like a stripe in between the two gifs, and it still gives them a connection. 

Xiumin | Frost:

I think I knew right away that I wanted to use that shot of Ron’s hand on the window from Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s always been one of the most memorable shots from the whole series to me. Other than that, the only thing I could think of for frost was the Glacius spell, which is not in the movies. Anything do with frost in the movies is either when it’s actually winter, the Yule Ball or things freezing over when dementors come around. There was a really pretty shot of a flower freezing when a dementor flies by in Prisoner of Azkaban, but it’s one of those things that looks nice when you watch it, and then when you turn it into a gif, it doesn’t have the same effect. With the window freezing up around Ron’s hand, you can kind of trick yourself into thinking he’s the one doing it, so I think it works well for showcasing a superpower. For the transition in the middle I originally wanted to use the frost at the end of Xiumin’s Pathcode, but it didn’t look very good. I tried to find stock footage of something similar, but couldn’t find anything that really fit, so I ended up using a scene from Prisoner of Azkaban where the lake freezes over towards the end. I tried some different options for Xiumin’s part of the gif: 

I like the one on the right because of the cold breath and the hat, it fits the theme, but overall I found the shot I used in the final version more intriguing.

Lay | Healing:

For him it was either going to be Phoenix tears, Unicorn blood or that healing spell Snape uses on Malfoy in the sixth movie. Since Lay is often nicknamed Unicorn, using Unicorn blood felt kind of cruel, and while it makes you immortal, it does’t exactly have healing powers. Phoenix tears really works best here, because in the shot the healing aspect of it is shown really centered and precisely compared to the healing spell:

For the transition shot I originally wanted to use the mistletoe growing when Harry and Cho kiss in the fifth movie. I tried really hard to make that work, but no matter what I did with it, it still looked awful, so I settled for the flower at the end of Lay’s Pathcode. I did try different variations with Phoenix tears and the healing spell, but as you can see, those just look very odd. For Lay’s shot I wanted to use something where you could see his sweater well, because the giant W on it really reminded me of a Weasley sweater. Playing off of the yellow lighting in Lay’s Pathcode, I wanted to make the overall coloring yellowish as well, but I just wasn’t happy with it. I tried making it more reddish, but that wasn’t right either:

It felt like it just didn’t want to be yellow (or red), so I started over and tried to focus on enhancing the natural coloring and just really amp it up. It worked much better and made the skin and wound stand out a lot more so it really draws attention to the healing effect.

Sehun | Wind:

With this one, I wasn’t quite sure at first. Nothing particular came to mind for wind. A few things related to flight maybe, but that’s a different power. I looked up whether there was a spell or something. So there is a spell called Ventus, but it’s not in the movies. When I watched the first movie I think I decided on the Snitch quite easily. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it just felt right. I still looked at other things. There were some scenes at the ministry of magic where stuff is flying around, and a scene with wind in the maze in the Goblet of Fire. Those felt a bit random. For the transition in the middle I originally wanted to use footage of a dandelion in the wind, like the one shown at the end of Sehun’s Pathcode, but once again, it looked more like a stripe in the middle. I ended up using a scene from the Exordium VCR. Here’s a few variations I tried out:

Chen | Lightning:

Chen’s was probably the easiest to decide on. It had to be the lightning scar. I mean he even dressed up as Harry Potter before. The only difficulty was finding the right transition for it. So I used the lightning from the very end of Deathly Hallows Part 1, but the rest of the sky was really dark and heavily graded, so it wasn’t really possible to make it look decent enough. Again, I looked for stock footage, but whenever I look for something specific, you could probably make bets on that I won’t find it but then somehow stumble upon it some time after I finish the edit I needed it for. I remembered Sehun’s Pathcode having a shot with a cloudy sky, so I used that, but it didn’t quite look right:

I kind of left it like that and started working on other edits, so then while watching D.O.’s Pathcode, there was a quick shot, which I didn’t remember, and it worked perfectly together with the lightning.

Suho | Water:

This was the first edit I made for this set. It came together by just experimenting and trying to figure out the layout. That’s also how the idea with the transition gif came about. I had written down quite a few things for water; The Aguamenti spell, the black lake, the faucet in Goblet of Fire when Harry takes a bath, the sea in Half Blood Prince (that’s the transition shot). I went for the water spell Dumbledore uses when fighting Voldemort in the Order of Phoenix, because it looked the most impressive, the most magical and it gave more of a sense of having the power to control the element. Coincidentally, it worked out quite well that the movement in both gifs kind of makes it look like Suho is controlling the water with his hand (even though you can still see Dumbledore doing it with his wand). 

Baekhyun | Light:

Lumos and the Patronus charm were obvious choices. A less obvious choice was the Deluminator, which is very cool of course, but visually it doesn’t have as much of an impact as the other two. I knew which shot I wanted to use for Baekhyun’s part. For the transition shot I originally wanted to use the Patronus when it comes out the wand as a burst and have it rotated. So this is what that looked like when I tried it:

It definitely looked a lot better in my head. This is just a draft of course, but even if I had cleaned it up, I just don’t think it would have worked. After that I thought about what Baekhyun’s Patronus would be, and I felt like it would be a dog. It slipped my mind that Ron’s Patronus actually is a dog and I oversaw it when watching the movies, but after looking it up I went back and used that instead. I tried a bunch of different variations and had a hard time deciding what the final version should be:

So after a while I got goosebumps after looking at what ended up being the final version, and that’s when I decided on it. (It may have been the lack of sleep, honestly.)

D.O. | Earth:

I made this edit before Power came out and his power was officially changed to force rather than earth. I think force is a more fitting term actually, since most of the time his power is shown as superhuman strength. But what did that mean for this edit? Usually he’s always shown breaking the earth by stomping or making boulders fly, in his Pathcode however, there’s none of that. His Pathcode is really interesting when you think about it. Now, this is my own interpretation of course, but to me it seemed like there was a connectedness with nature (which made sense with his power being earth back then). There’s also a sense of connection to the other members, a sense of control, and the feeling of the calm before the storm. I believe the hint for his Pathcode was beginning = end. So with all of that, I had a lot of ideas of what I could do. I considered the Bombarda spell, and generally anytime something blew up in the movies. But all of those things seemed really random. I considered using the Grim (who isn’t actually the Grim) because it matches his emblem (commonly described as ‘the Beast’). Even the Maurauder’s Map and the inscription on the Snitch; “I open at the close.” seemed like things that could work. In the end I decided on the Whomping Willow. I thought it made sense in a lot of ways. It’s a tree, so that obviously fit with the nature/earth aspect of it. It’s calm most of the time, if you don’t mess with it, but once you get too close to it can and will whip your butt. It also hides a secret passage to the Shrieking Shack where the majority of the film’s climax happens. I know some might see it as ‘just a tree’, but honestly, it makes perfect sense to me with everything I said about the Pathcode earlier. The transition between both gifs is from Deathly Hallows Part 1. Since it’s trees falling and shaking the earth it had both aspects of his power. I wanted to use more of the shot, so you could also see the leaves of the trees, but it’s a very long shot with a veeeeery slow focus pull and I just couldn’t include all of it. 

This time, instead of putting the gifs on the same canvas to see what worked together, I saved them out individually, since they all had a very different amount of frames, and then uploaded them here on tumblr and moved them around so I could get an idea of what the final version would look like. 

Whenever you see the Whomping Willow in action, it doesn’t have many leaves and the coloring and lighting doesn’t go with Kyungsoo’s Pathcode that well, and while that can be worked on, overall it just doesn’t fit the energy at all. Sometimes that kind of juxtaposition can be interesting, but for this, I wasn’t feeling it. 

So I decided on a more calm, more vibrant shot that really channeled the earth/nature aspect.

These were some alternate options for Kyungsoo’s part:

I chose a scene where he’s outside because unlike the two above, it wasn’t too close or too far away, and there’s a plant, so it makes it more cohesive with the Whomping Willow. 

For the final touches, I put a frame around the edits on soft light. It just helps bring everything together and center it a bit more. I wanted a font that was simple, but modern. I also tried a serif font, but liked the one I used better. I actually had the hardest time centering the member’s names and their power evenly between the emblem and the frame. I often struggle with the simplest of things and get extremely frustrated if I can’t figure it out. I tried to google it too, but I didn’t quite know how to word it. In the end, I figured it out somehow by doing some math and using guides. So I hope that the alignment is somewhat correct. 

Overall, I’m very happy how everything turned out. I think it’s still my favorite edit I’ve made. I’m happy I could combine two things I love and I hope that everyone who likes both Exo and Harry Potter can enjoy it.

[starsandmaple]

Dances and Drafts, Final Chapter - The Most Beautiful Thing

Synopsis:

It is 1977 and the Triwizard Tournament has come to Hogwarts. As the school prepares for its first Yule Ball in two-hundred years, Lily Evans finds herself completely put off going thanks to a certain toerag, and Severus Snape too shy to even consider attending. Can a cunning plan change that?

Notes:

I do not own these characters or anything deriving from the Harry Potter universe. All of that comes from the lovely J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Insert obligatory joke about being broke.

The Most Beautiful Thing

“Severus!” Lily’s voice echoed through the empty halls of the castle. He had run off so quickly, Lily hadn’t made it out of the hall in time to see where he’d gone.

“Severus!” she continued to shout as she ran through the corridors with no clear destination.

“Lost him already have you?” a warm voice called out towards Lily from one of the dark passageways.

“Professor Slughorn!” Lily was breathless but grateful to have run into him, “Professor, James Potter and his friends… They played a trick on Sev and he… He ran off and I don’t know where he’s… gone,” Lily was still catching her breath as she tried to quickly explain the situation. Slughorn nodded and looked up pensively.

“Well it seems to me that if I were a certain young man and wanted away from everyone else that I would go to the same place I always went to be alone in times like these,” Slughorn was being purposefully cryptic, though Lily got the hint.

“I think you might be right Professor,” she smiled at him, his eyes twinkled.

“Well off you go then, I would love to stay and chat but I have a ball to attend and I’m worried Dumbledore has already eaten all of the stuffing.”

“Yes Professor, thank you,” Lily sprinted past him.

As she rounded the corner which would take her to the potions room, she was relieved to see a dull light shining from within.

“Sev!” she called out as she passed through the threshold.

He sat on the other side of the room, with his back to her and his robes and cravat strewn across the floor.

“Sev, I’m sorry,” Lily approached him slowly, reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder.

“L-leave me alone Lily,”

“Potter was just jealous, he made all of that up to try and get to me but I know he’s an absolute prat who probably just had one of his minions make the mask for him so he could try and scare me away from you but-“ she stopped. She heard a small sniffing coming from the young man in front of her,“Severus, are you-“

“Just leave me alone Lily,” Severus turned away from her, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve cuff.

Lily was a little bit startled by his reaction. She had expected anger from him, but not this.

“Talk to me,” she sat down beside him, regarding him with a look of concern. Seeing him like this broke her heart and all she wanted to do was take this feeling, whatever it was, away from him.

“It belonged Lucius,” Severus said after a long moment between stifled sobs. His tears had subsided and what was left was the pure anger which had caused them, “they did get it from my dorm but it was Lucius’s mask,” he spat.

Lily had never seen Severus like this before; he was upset, he was furious, he was vulnerable. She carefully placed an arm around his shoulder.

“Lucius gave it to me when he left, he hoped it would inspire me. I wanted to get rid of it but how could I in a school where everyone is watching everything you do. And besides,” he grimaced, “Death Eaters don’t carve their names into their masks, they have the bloody dark mark,” Severus rolled up his sleeve with force and held out his bare forearm, “I am not one of them Lily, I never have been and I never will be,” he finally looked at her, eyes pleading.

“I know,” she said and smiled at him, “You would never be able to keep something like that secret from me anyway!” she laughed a little and he looked away, his expression softened.

“It’s okay,” Lily said to him. Before she realized what she was doing, she had place her hand over the bare arm which he had extended towards her. Severus jumped a little at the sudden contact of her skin on his own and he stole a sideways glance towards her. She looked brokenhearted. Her own eyes were as red as his own, the feeling of anger which had begun to subside within himself echoed in her. He place his hand on top of hers and she looked up at him, slightly surprised by his gesture.

In the silence of the abandoned potions room, Severus and Lily could hear the sound of music coming from the Yule Ball which they had just abandoned. Severus stood up, still holding Lily’s hand, which had become warm under his own.

“Lily Evans,” Lily regarded him quizzically at his sudden formality.

“Y-yes, Severus?”

“Would you do me the honour o-of,” he cleared his throat with a small cough, “Of dancing with me again?”

Lily couldn’t help herself, she let out a genuine smile, which broke through all of the tension she was feeling, and laughed.

“Of course Sev,” she stood up and he led her into one of the empty rows between the benches. He was trying to act elegantly, but in true Severus Snape fashion he couldn’t help but let a little bit of that awkwardness show through in his motions as he stood before Lily, placing both of his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. He hoped she wouldn’t notice how nervous he really was, especially after how their last dance had nearly ended.

Lily placed her arms around his shoulders, it wasn’t a formal waltz this time. They began to sway in time to the distant music. Severus held Lily to him, daring to embrace her far more intimately than he ever had, than he’d ever dreamed he would. Lily rested her head onto his shoulder, she felt warm, comfortable and safe here. She did the best she could to ignore the hammering of her heart, the blurring of her vision as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in everything that was her best friend.

He was her best friend.

But something within Lily told her, and she knew deep down, that he wasn’t just her best friend anymore.

Giving in to the complex emotions which had been brewing both in and out of that potions room for a while now, she turned her head and her cheek made contact with his own.

At the sudden contact, Severus drew his head back to look at her and their eyes met. He brought his hand up to her face to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Lily closed her eyes again and leaned into his hand, pressing her cheek into his palm. Severus’s breathing had become quick and he pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. He noticed how her own breathing was equally hastened. The tips of their noses touched, sending a shiver through Lily. Severus couldn’t hold himself back any longer, his mind was racing almost at the speed of his heart. With a fluid movement of his hand from Lily’s cheek to the back of her head, Severus pulled her in.

Their lips met in a soft, innocent kiss.

It lasted only a moment, but a moment was all either of them needed for confirmation of what was happening between them. Lily barely had a chance to look at Severus before they kissed again. And again. And again.

Until all of a sudden the kisses were lasting longer, each one filled with something more passionate than the last.

Lily’s fingers tangled themselves into Severus’s hair, not caring if she messed up the dark locks which for once had been so neat. She held him, taking in everything familiar that she knew about him and experiencing it completely differently than ever before.

Severus’s hand, caressing my neck.

Severus’s body, pressed against me.

Severus’s lips, kissing my own.

Severus brought both of his hands down towards her waist, pulling her in towards him as if he couldn’t bring her in close enough. He was surely dreaming. Kissing Lily Evans was something that could only every happen in his dreams, yet right now she felt so real, so warm, so Lily. He resisted the urge to pinch himself as that would have meant releasing her, and to do that for even a second would have been such a waste. Before he knew it, he found himself pressing Lily against the work bench, the same one they had sat at together just a few days ago. Without really thinking, Severus lifted her up onto the bench, bringing her closer to his own height. Lily gasped as she felt herself become weightless and broke their kiss for only a moment before quickly bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks and kissing him again.

Time mercilessly stopped for them while they were together in that potions room. They were there for what felt like an eternity but also no time at all. Finally they stopped to look at each other, sparkling green eyes meeting deep black ones as they caught their breaths.

Lily smiled and to Severus she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Thanks so much for reading! Please leave feedback and let me know if you’d like to see a sequel :D Also please send prompts if there’s a story you’d like to read, especially if it’s in the Harry Potter universe (though I do take other prompts too).

[hoof-lepoof]

poc potter week day 3: lightning era

cedric diggory

aesthetic: blushes a little whenever a girl says hi although he doesn’t let it shine through, folds all of his clothes perfectly before going to bed, clenches his jaw whenever his father brings up something he’s done wrong, notices his mother’s face fall when he’s told off but knows she’s been in the same position, constant paper cuts on the tips of his fingers from leafing through books too fast, learns mending and tailoring charms himself to alter his quidditch robes during his growth spurt, walks to the quidditch pitch on sunny weekends barefoot and in jeans, crumpling up drafts of love poems penned to cho, spends too much time in front of the mirror before the yule ball trying to get his cowlick to stick down, smiles and shrugs when he’s stressed because he doesn’t want to burden anyone else, fights with sprout in the common room about why hufflepuff should have two team co-captains because it’s best to get ideas from others, sniggers whenever someone is brought down a peg although he would have never done it himself, is confused when all of his friends ask why and how he turned down taking fleur to the yule ball because cho is tucking her hair behind her ear over at the ravenclaw table, runs up to the owlery to send letters to his parents on sunday evenings, gets angry when other hufflepuffs say harry gets too much help during the tasks and defends him because he’s younger and needs attention to catch up to the other champions, is not the spare.

see more of my creations over on my main blog

[starsandmaple]

Dances and Drafts, Chapter 12 - The Yule Ball

Synopsis:

It is 1977 and the Triwizard Tournament has come to Hogwarts. As the school prepares for its first Yule Ball in two-hundred years, Lily Evans finds herself completely put off going thanks to a certain toerag, and Severus Snape too shy to even consider attending. Can a cunning plan change that?

Notes:

I do not own these characters or anything deriving from the Harry Potter universe. All of that comes from the lovely J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Insert obligatory joke about being broke.

The Yule Ball

The ball lived up to the excitement. Well, visually at least.

As soon as they stepped into the Great Hall, Lily’s jaw dropped in absolute awe. The room had been transformed into a winter wonderland; icicles trickled down from the bewitched ceiling which had been enchanted to look like snow fall. The silver statues which lined the walls seemed to sparkle as they reflected the white lights of the hundreds of enchanted candles floating around the room. Round tables, upon which stood incredible ice sculptures of various magical creatures, were scattered throughout the hall, only leaving space for the dance floor in the centre of the room where the champions and their partners stood in pairs. Three large Christmas trees, each covered in a delicate dusting of snow, had been placed at the end of the hall where a small stage stood in front of them. On this stage, a string quartet was just beginning to play the next song.

Lily and Severus were stood at the back of the crowd of students, some of whom seemed impatient to join in the dancing now that the champions had finished their waltz. Lily looked up at Severus, who was looking nervously at his feet. Lily felt butterflies in her stomach as she regarded him. He looked very handsome in his robes, something which Lily wondered why she hadn’t expected. His usually messy, ungroomed hair looked to have been tamed a little too, giving him an air of something ‘not-quite-Sev’ about him. He usually could not care less about his appearance, but he’d clearly made an effort tonight.

Finally, the bulk of the crowd in front of them had managed to make their way onto the dance floor for the next dance, another waltz. A few groups of students hung back; most of them were witches and wizards who had appeared to have come alone, and some were couples who, like Lily and Severus, hadn’t quite brought themselves to join in with the couples dancing.

“Would you…” Severus spoke suddenly, causing Lily to look up in surprise. He wasn’t looking at her, purely because he thought that if he did all of the courage he had would be sucked out of him at the sight of her.

Severus cleared his throat and tried again.

“Would you like to dance, Lily?” he finally took the chance to carefully gaze at her from the corner of his eye. Lily blushed and looked away just as their eyes met.

“Um, y-yes!” she tried to seem confident, but failed miserably as she stuttered. Severus hesitated before leading her through the last few students to the edge of the crowd of dancing couples, hoping that she couldn’t feel his pulse which was thumping in his chest.

They turned to face each other, they were stood very close together neither taking initiative to lead. Severus quickly looked around, a slight panic striking him as he realized he had no idea how the dance went.

“I-“ he quickly looked back at her, “I didn’t pay much attention in the dancing lessons we had,” he confessed as they stood there, a little awkwardly.

Lily gave a nervous giggle. She wasn’t used to feeling like this; she was usually so confident and couldn’t help but feel frustrated with herself that she should get nervous over something so simple.

This is Sev, she reminded herself, trying to mentally slow down her own heartbeat.

“That’s okay, I don’t think many people did,” she got to work at arranging their arms into the correct position, trying to remain very methodical about it to avoid, unsuccessfully, any feelings of embarrassment as she placed one of Severus’s hands in her own, and his other on her waist. Finally, she placed her own hand on his shoulder and waited for the beginning of the next bar in the music.

“Ready?” she looked Severus in the eye. He was visibly a little red in the cheeks, obviously not quite sure what to do with himself as he shifted his weight onto each foot in an obvious sign of nerves. He managed to keep her gaze and gave a small nod.

Lily smiled up at him and took the lead, stepping back on her left foot to join in the dance. Severus was visibly tense as he followed her, stepping forward on his right foot. As Lily led him through the motions, Severus couldn’t help but keep his eyes fixed on his own feet, terrified that one wrong step would cause him to trod on Lily. As the steps began to repeat themselves, however, he started to get the hang of it and relaxed little by little, even managing to look up at Lily every once in a while, who he realized was also looking at his feet. She looked up slightly and caught his eye, smiling a small, sweet smile.

Severus’s world became focused on just her and oh, was it enchanting. The feeling of her hand in his, his arm around her, being closer to her than he could have ever hoped for. His heart was absolutely pounding and his stomach was tying itself into knots as it usually did when he was around her. But this was different. They were together, dancing together, actually doing something romantic together. If this moment could have played out for the rest of his life, Severus would have died in bliss.

They were so focused on each other they may as well have been the only ones there. Both of them finally feeling confident in the steps, their eyes remained fixed on each other. They had managed to become even closer together with the movements of the dance; there was no longer space between their bodies as they glided across the floor, Lily no longer completely leading Severus through the steps.

Severus returned Lily's smile, her brilliant green eyes were sparkling at up at him, reflecting the candlelight which glittered around the room.

Severus barely noticed that his face was moving closer towards hers until he began to feel her breath against his cheek. Lily’s eyelids fluttered and Severus could almost feel her eyelashes tickle him. His heart raced. His breath quickened. His own eyes began to close as their noses nearly touched and then…

The sound of applause snapped them both out of their trance. The dance had ended.

Lily’s eyes widened and she slowly joined in the applause.

What was… Did he almost just – No, we almost just… Lily’s thoughts were swimming. The haze that had clouded her mind throughout the dance had not completely cleared and if she were not mistaken her vision had become slightly blurry. She dared looked up at Severus, who was very clearly avoiding eye contact, having also put a little distance between them since being jolted out of their embrace.

Lily shook her head a little in attempt to clear her mind, trying to fight the wave of confusion and, if she would dare admit it to herself, slight disappointment that had resulted from what had just been interrupted.

Hogwarts’ headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had made his way onto the stage as the string band cleared. He was met with increased applause from the crowd below. As the applause died down, he held his wand up to his neck and spoke in a clear, bombing voice.

“Welcome, students and faculty, to the 1977 Yule Ball,” Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, a hint of pride gracing his features, “now I know you are all keen to continue with the festivities so I will keep this brief, as we celebrate the first Triwizard Tournament held in centuries with an evening of feast and dancing, I encourage you all to put aside the competition for a brief period and enjoy the company of friends, old and new,” he smiled warmly, “now, if you would each find a seat, we can let the feast begin!” with a clap of his hands, food filled the tables and soft music began to play throughout the hall, covered by the sudden waves of conversation from the students who were all finding their places.

Lily suddenly realized she didn’t know where they would sit. Would they sit with her friends or his? Luckily, Severus seemed to be one step ahead of her.

“We should find your friends,” he said, still not ready to look at her yet.

“Oh,” Lily said, mildly surprised “I-if you’re sure?” she regarded him carefully. He nodded.

“Not many of my friends are here anyway,” he grinned slightly to himself.

Lily surveyed the room and quickly spotted Dayana who was waving at her. She was stood next to a dashing Durmstrang boy with short blonde hair and a broad stature. This caught Lily off guard a little, Dayana hadn’t mentioned a date to her in the many many conversations they’d had about the ball. As Lily and Severus approached them, Dayana motioned to him.

“Lily,” she said, a hint of smugness in her voice, “this is Nicolai, Nicolai,” she gestured towards Lily and Severus, “this is my friend Lily and her date, Severus,”

“Nice to meet you Nicolai,” Lily smiled at him and he returned it, “shall we find somewhere to sit down?”

Lily quickly grabbed Dayana by the arm and led her towards a table with a few other Gryffindor student, leaving Severus and Nicolai following behind them.

“Who is he?!” Lily whispered excitedly into Dayana’s ear. Dayana giggled a bit.

“He asked me to dance during the second song, isn’t he lovely?” Lily nodded enthusiastically. She could feel herself being swept up in the excitement of it all, the ball, the music, the almost ki-

She mentally cut herself off and took a seat at one of the tables. Severus took the seat next to her, looking more than a little uncomfortable, and Dayana sat on her other side looking elated. They could not have been more opposite.

As Dayana talked Lily through all of the events of her evening so far, Lily realized, much to her relief, that Dayana seemed to have been so caught up dancing with Nicolai that she hadn’t noticed Severus and Lily together during the waltz. She wasn’t in the mood to be quizzed on something she didn’t really understand herself.

“He actually cleaned up pretty well didn’t he?” Dayana said, shooting her eyes towards Severus momentarily.

Lily smiled and nodded, picking up some turkey from the big plate in front of her and placing it on her own, along with some extra stuffing and cranberry sauce.

“You know whatever you decide to do I’ll be happy for you right?” Dayana’s comment caught Lily off guard.

“What do you-“

“I just mean that if you’re worried about what people think you shouldn’t be,” Dayana said clearly.

But Lily wasn’t worried what people thought of her. She had always found it so strange that people, particularly Gryffindors, treated Slytherins like they had the plague, that people treated Severus like he was weird and different. They were just people who valued different things, shouldn’t that be celebrated?

Lily frowned a little to herself as she stole a quick glance towards Severus at her side; he was clearly still very uncomfortable. She wanted nothing more than to make him feel welcome anywhere that she was, especially among her Gryffindor friends. Deep down, however, she knew that the simple fact of him being in Slytherin would make this near impossible in the company of members from her own house, not to mention the fact that he personally was the target of bullying by the Marauders.

“Hey Sev?” Lily turned towards him, finally causing him to look at her for the first time since their dance.

“L-lily?” he stuttered a little but didn’t look away. She smiled at him.

“I’m really glad I’m here with you,”

“Lily, I’m-“

“Well well,” Severus was cut off by the icy voice of someone approaching them, “how’s it going Snivellus?”

Lily froze, her eyes widened at Severus, not wanting to look at who was slowly walking towards them, though she knew that voice perfectly well.

“What do you want Potter?” Lily could not believe he was doing this now, what more could he possibly have to say? It was over, Lily was here with Severus, he had nothing to gain from causing a scene here.

“Oh, Evans, I just thought there might be something you’d like to know before you let a Death Eater try and snog you again is all,” he smirked. Severus was frozen, wide eyes staring at the floor between himself and Lily, who turned in her seat to face James. Of course he had been watching her and Severus together.

“What on Earth are you talking about?”

James twirled his wand casually in his hand, putting it on display obviously in case anyone tried to get in his way.

“Oh, didn’t you know? I thought you two were so close that Snivelly would have mentioned that tiny detail,” Lily glared at him.

“I don’t care what rubbish you make up about Sev, I will never be your girlfriend James,” anger was boiling within her now. She was perched on the edge of her seat, ready to stand up to him if needs be. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that though, the whole table had already gone silent and others around them were beginning to listen in too; she did not want this to get out of hand. Not tonight.

“It’s not rubbish, I had the pleasure of hearing it from Severus’s old friend Malfoy that he was being recruited after he graduates. Ask dear old Sevyourself if you don’t believe me,” James placed an arm on the back of Severus’s chair, who had visibly blanched and looked like he wanted nothing more than to apparate into thin air.

“That’s not true,” Lily spoke defiantly, “everyone knows Malfoy is an eccentric, and even if he was trying to recruit Sev he probably tries to recruit everybody in Slytherin!”

James grinned slyly.

“We thought you might say something like that,”

Lily frowned.

“What do you mean-“

“Peter!” James called over his shoulder. The small, bumbling Peter Pettigrew scurried to James’s side, “Would you show Evans what you uncovered on your trip to the Slytherin dorms?”

Lily’s eyes widened.

“How did you…”

Peter reached into his robes and pulled out a shiny, silver object which he handed over to James, who held it in front of Severus.

“Snivellus, would you care to explain to Evans what this is?”

If it was possible for Severus to go any paler, he did.

“That is not mine,” he spoke in a small voice, not looking up at anyone.

“I’m sorry Snivelly, that wasn’t quite what I asked,” James said in a contemptuous tone.

Severus had had enough. He stood up quickly and faced James, a sudden look of venom in his eyes.

“It is a mask and it is not mine,” Severus spat.

“It isn’t just a mask though is it,” James turned it over and placed it in front of Lily on the table, “this is a Death Eaters’ mask,”

Lily glared at James from her seat.

“You thought this would convince me that my best friend is a Death Eater? You could have gotten this from anyone!”

“But you see Lily, I didn’t,” James held Severus’s gaze, “look.”

Lily rolled her eyes and picked up the mask, turning it over in her hands. It was incredibly ornate and heavier than it looked. She narrowed her eyes at it, failing to see what James was trying to get at until.

“The inside, Evans,” Lily spotted it just as James spoke. Her eyes widened.

Engraved in clear, decorative writing on the inside of the mask were the words:

A lifetime of service or death.

S. Snape

“Y-you did this,” Lily’s hands shook slightly and she looked up at James with timid eyes.

“Is there anything you have to say for yourself, Snivellus?” James did not look at her.

As he spoke, Severus’s right hand twitched at his side, he was one little push away from drawing his wand.

“Severus, don’t…” Lily said in a small voice.

“No, Snivellus, go ahead,” James said, stepping forward even closer to Severus, “Wouldn’t your Dark Lord praise you for it?”

At that, Severus couldn't stand there a second longer. Without looking towards Lily, he stormed out of the hall, attracting countless gazes from nosey on lookers who had witnessed the scene.

Lily stood up and went to follow him.

“Good luck with that one Evans,” James called towards her, “He’s a real keeper!” Lily turned on her heels, her eyes pooling with the beginnings of tears which threatened to fall in anger at any moment.

“Don’t you dare Potter!” she pointed at him, furiously, “Don’t you dare,” and with that she ran out of the hall.

[starsandmaple]

Dances and Drafts, Chapter 3 - Come With Me

Synopsis:

It is 1977 and the Triwizard Tournament has come to Hogwarts. As the school prepares for its first Yule Ball in two-hundred years, Lily Evans finds herself completely put off going thanks to a certain toerag, and Severus Snape too shy to even consider attending. Can a cunning plan change that?

Notes:

I do not own these characters or anything deriving from the Harry Potter universe. All of that comes from the lovely J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Insert obligatory joke about being broke.

Come With Me

The following day, Lily had decided to start trying to brew some of the potions from Slughorn’s book. She had spent the last day researching the recipes and some of the ingredients, and bar a few which required special herbs to be tended for a full moon cycle, she had made a note of a few that could be made using ingredients from Slughorn’s cabinet, which he had told her she could have full reign over for the winter break.

She was awake much earlier than a lot of the students were on their holiday, making it out of the Gryffindor common room at 10am, leaving most of her fellow cohort snoring in their beds. She wandered through the castle without running into anyone at all. Students and faculty alike were obviously making use of their holidays and Lily was glad for the peaceful walk. When she turned the corner just before the potions room, a faint smell hit her nose. Upon further approach towards the classroom, she noticed that the door was ajar.

Someone is already in there.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows. Slughorn had told her that the classroom was for her own use over the break, so no one else should be in there. She gently pushed the door and stepped inside the classroom.

She stopped in the threshold and took a sharp intake of breath.

Severus was there, concentrating very hard on the potion her was brewing; the steam from the cauldron had dampened his long black hair, which he would push back every few seconds as it fell around his face and in front of his eyes. His robes and blazer were hung gracefully over the back of the chair to his right, leaving Severus in his white collared shirt - the sleeves of which he had rolled up to the top of his arms - and a slightly loosened green and silver tie.

Ingredients were scattered across the table and a single book lay open in front of him. By the looks of things he had been there for hours.

Lily shook herself slightly, not realizing that she had been staring for a while. She was glad to note that Severus hadn’t appeared to have spotted her either because of how focused he was on the potion he was brewing.

He didn’t even notice me come in, Lily smiled to herself.

“Good morning Sev,” Lily smiled and walked further into the room.

Severus jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Lily! What are you doing here? I-I mean good morning, but…” he trailed off and started to relax a little after the initial shock of her sudden greeting. Lily walked towards him and stepped behind the bench he was working at.

“Slughorn gave me a project to work on over the break, I was researching some of the potions yesterday and figured I’d have a go at some of the recipes this morning,” she brought the book out of her bag and held it in her arm.

Severus paused for a second and narrowed his eyes.

“Mind if I take a look?” he eyed the book and extended an arm. Lily complied, gracefully handing the book over to him.

Severus flipped the old book over, it didn’t take him more than a second to let out a barely audible groan as he closed his eyes tightly and handed the book back to Lily, who cocked her head to the side quizzically. Severus sighed.

That sneaky little-

“Everything okay Sev?” Lily looked a little concerned.

“Y-yes,” he said, picking up his own potions book and handing it to Lily for her to examine.

“Oh!” she said, slightly surprised, “It’s the same…” Lily was now holding two identical copies of Gregory the Smarmy’s potions book which she held up side by side for comparison.

“Slughorn must have found two copies of the same extremely rare book,” Severus said flatly.

Though, more likely he made a very convincing copy himself, Severus thought to himself and he began to turn a little bit red.

Lily smiled.

“Well in any case, this is great!” she said cheerfully, Severus looked at her slightly taken a back, “We can work through the book together now,” she smiled widely at him and he couldn’t help return it.

Lily took the space next to him and removed the blue cardigan she was wearing, placed it on top of Severus’s uniform and rolled up the sleeves of her white t-shirt. As Lily regarded Severus’s discarded uniform she frowned slightly, and thought to herself.

Of course he would rather wear this than his own clothes, even on holiday.

Shaking the thought and what it implied out of her head she sat down on the high chair and looked at what Severus was working on.

“I already worked through the first two potions from the book, the third is impossible to complete at present because we need stewed lacewing flies so I have moved on to the fourth,” he paused for a second “though I am having some trouble making out what this says,” Severus pointed to a line in his book which had faded, “here it looks like it says 2 cups but it could just as easily be ½ a cup and that is too big a difference to just guess.”

Lily opened her own book to the fourth recipe and dragged her finger along to page to the line Severus was reading from.

“Definitely half a cup, my copy is much clearer, see?” she leant over to Severus, indicating to the line in question.

She suddenly felt Severus breathe in sharply and she noticed how close they were; leaning over to him and brought their shoulders together, and the way that Lily’s head was positioned brought her face close to his own. Her heart jumped a little at the sound of his gasp and she felt hot, though she figured the sudden rise in temperature was simply due to the heat from the bubbling cauldron next to her.

“Ummm, yes so half a cup of basilisk venom poured in quickly and stirred…”

Severus and Lily followed the recipe until its conclusion, then moving on to the next one and the one after that until they had lost track of time. Lily’s rumbling stomach finally alerted them to the fact that they had long missed lunch.

“Oh wow, it’s already 3:30!” Lily gasped as she caught sight of the time on the old clock by Slughorn’s desk at the end of the room, “we’ve missed lunch,” Lily smiled, her hair was now also slightly dampened from the steam of the cauldron, her cheeks pink from the heat.

She looks breath-taking, Severus thought.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, Lily’s stomach rumbled again in response and they both laughed a little.

“I should probably go and see if there’s anything left in the great hall from lunch,” she said, though they both knew how unlikely that was.

“Why don’t we call it a day, we’ve made a lot of great progress,” Severus admired their handy work; four bottles of completed potion now sat on the table behind their cauldron. Lily gave him a look of pride in what they had accomplished.

“All right, we better clear this up then,” Lily waved her wand and the various ingredients levitated back into their rightful places inside Slughorn’s cabinet, the cauldron’s flame went out and the smoke was cleared from the room.

Lily went to put her personal belongings back in her bag before reaching for her cardigan, which was no longer on the back of the chair where she had left it. Puzzled, she looked up.

“Have you seen my –“

To her surprise, Severus was already holding out her cardigan for her, open and waiting for her to step into it. His gaze was averted and his cheeks slightly pink, something which easily could have resulted from the hours of brewing they had just done, or something else.

Lily parted her lips slightly and then smiled at him softly.

“Oh, thanks Sev,” she placed her bag on the chair and turned her back to him, holding out her arms as he pulled the cardigan over them and onto her shoulders. It wasn’t the smoothest motion, the cardigan got stuck on the bunched up fabric of Lily’s t-shirt for a brief moment and Severus had to quickly smooth it before pulling the cardigan up the rest of the way. He stepped in close and let his hands linger on her shoulders for a second longer, his heart racing and his breath quickening as he did so.

He had missed his chance to help her yesterday, he wasn’t going to hesitate a second time.

Severus was very aware that they had less than a year left together like this before school finished for good. Internally, he was battling with this thought and the fact that he lacked the courage to ever do anything to make his feelings known. He was scared of what he could lose, the ability to be with Lily like this, as friends. He had just about convinced himself that that was all he could possibly hope for.

But he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t try. And if that idiot Potter had the guts to ask Lily out every single day then Severus knew he couldn’t let Potter best him.

Severus stepped back and Lily turned towards him.

They were still close, though not as close as they had been before.

“L-Lily, I’ve been thinking…” for once he found himself unable to look into those beautiful green eyes, he was shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously.

“What’s that Sev, are you okay?” Lily looked concerned.

“Y-yes I’m fine!” Sev reassured her. He took a breath and wrapped his arms around himself.

“I was just wondering…” he paused.

“Yea?”

“I-if you might want to…” he was struggling to form words, Lily was still looking at him, a look of bewilderment on her face.

“Ummm…” Severus took another, deeper breath, sighing as he exhaled.

“Uh, go ahead without me, t-there’s something I wanted to check out,”

He couldn’t do it.

“Oh, er…” Lily paused and smiled at him “Yea sure, I’ll see you later?”

“Yea, see you tomorrow,” Severus watched Lily leave the room and waited until he was sure she was gone before he let out a large, frustrated sigh and slumped onto the chair, pressing his forehead into the table in front of him.

“Hey Lily,” he said to himself in a mocking voice.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the ball with me.”

[starsandmaple]

Dances and Drafts, Chapter 11 - Patience

Synopsis:

It is 1977 and the Triwizard Tournament has come to Hogwarts. As the school prepares for its first Yule Ball in two-hundred years, Lily Evans finds herself completely put off going thanks to a certain toerag, and Severus Snape too shy to even consider attending. Can a cunning plan change that?

Notes:

I do not own these characters or anything deriving from the Harry Potter universe. All of that comes from the lovely J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Insert obligatory joke about being broke.

Patience

The time was 6:56, four minutes before the doors to the Great Hall were due to open marking the start of the Yule Ball. Groups of giddy students were huddle on the wall opposite the large doors in anticipation, while more well-dressed individuals descended the nearby staircase, each making their own sort of 'grand entrance' before joining the throng.

Severus was surprised at just how good everyone looked. Boys who normally didn’t make any effort in their appearance whatsoever had cleaned up well, and girls who Severus may have harshly described as ‘plain’ now shone in their own way.

He couldn’t spot one witch in particular however; Lily had yet to arrive.

For some reason this made him even more nervous, the anticipation building as he was forced to wait patiently for his frien- no, his date to arrive. He drummed his long fingers against the stone wall on which he leaned, trying to avoid looking around for her every two seconds.

6:58, the clock kept managing to catch his eye, even though he was trying desperately to ignore that too. Not ten feet away from him, he spotted a Gryffindor girl who he recognized as one of Lily’s friends, Diana? No, something like that…

She was nothing to sneeze at either; she wore a floor-length gown of red silk and crystals, her hair twisted neatly into a knot at the back of her head, loose curls falling out and framing her face very nicely. Lily obviously hadn’t arrived with her and this made Severus even more nervous.

6:59, only about 30 seconds before the doors were due to open. He knew she never would, but the thought did cross his mind that perhaps she had asked him as a joke with the intention of standing him up.

They were beginning to line up the champions and their dates for their special dance to initiate the ball. Severus couldn’t help but notice the tall, handsome James Potter, who was leading the line. Everything about him was irritatingly perfect. Not only was he just naturally good looking, but the way he wore his tailored dress robes and his hair smoothed in a way that looked effortless made students, male and female alike, glare with jealousy at his date, who was also quite attractive in her own right. She was a tall girl Severus recognized as being one of the Beauxbaton students.

Just then, the doors to the Great Hall magically creeped open, inviting a loud cheer from the students followed by even more excited chatter. Startled, Severus started looking around in panic; Lily was still nowhere to be seen. Students were filing into the hall, leaving Severus stood against the wall by himself as the chatter funneled inside with them. James spotted him and called from across the room.

“What’s the matter Snivellus, date stood you up?” he sneered before turning back to his own date, a grin of satisfaction plastered on his face.

Severus remained where he was and gazed down at the floor, exhaling in annoyance.

Lily wouldn’t do that, she’s not like them, he reminded himself.

Just then, Severus heard music being played from inside the hall, giving the champions their cue to make their entrance. They walked in, heads held high, and left Severus completely alone.

Lily wouldn’t do that… Would she?

At that, Severus shifted in place and looked down the hall in his right. Silence. Nobody was coming.

He sighed and kicked the tip of his foot softly into the ground, his slightly dulled black dress shoes making a soft tapping sound which echoed down the halls. The silence that followed was deafening, to the point where the sound of quick footsteps coming from atop the staircase brought on the biggest wave of relief he had even felt.

“Sev! I’m so sorry I’m late,”

He let his gaze fall on the most beautiful sight he thought he would ever see.

Descending the staircase in front of him was Lily, and she looked stunning. She wore a gown of deep blue, the colour perfectly complementing her auburn hair which was lightly curled and pinned back so that it was half up in an elegant knot and half cascading around her shoulders. Something about her seemed to sparkle, but Severus wasn’t positive that wasn’t just his imagination as what he saw could not have been real.

“I’m so so so sorry, I lost track of time trying to get my hair to co-operate… Sev?” she looked at him quizzically, this snapped him out of his daze.

“N-no! That’s okay, you…” he coughed to clear his throat, “You look stunning Lily,” his words came out in no more than a small whisper.

Lily smiled so brightly, something which added to a vision Severus didn’t think could get more beautiful.

“You look very handsome, Severus,” she walked to his side, suddenly Severus realized they had a ball to attend. “S-shall we?” he asked, gingerly offering his arm which Lily placed her own atop of carefully.

She nodded and they walked towards the door, pausing for a brief moment to wait for the sound of applause which marked the end of the champions’ dance before Severus opened the doors with a small wave of his wand and they walked inside.

[starsandmaple]

Dances and Drafts, Chapter 10 - Another Embarrassing Encounter

Synopsis:

It is 1977 and the Triwizard Tournament has come to Hogwarts. As the school prepares for its first Yule Ball in two-hundred years, Lily Evans finds herself completely put off going thanks to a certain toerag, and Severus Snape too shy to even consider attending. Can a cunning plan change that?

Notes:

I do not own these characters or anything deriving from the Harry Potter universe. All of that comes from the lovely J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Insert obligatory joke about being broke.

Another Embarrassing Encounter

Severus had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Earlier that morning, he had intentionally skipped out on breakfast and run into Hogmeade.

He immediately went into Galdrags Wizardwear, where he faced the same, slightly surprised witch that Lily and Dayana had just the night before.

“Welcome young man, how can I –“

“I don’t have any money,” he began quickly, “But would you be willing to accept this as payment for a set dress robes,” he fumbled around in his pocket and brought out a glimmering vile labelled Felix Felisis.

Esther took it from him and regarded it quietly. She looked up at him, a faint glimmer in her eye.

“Follow me young man, I could use some good luck,”

After trying on a few sets of robes, all of which looked practically identical to Severus, he ended up exchanging the potion for a set of modest, plain black robes and returning to the castle. Now back in his dorm room, Severus suddenly realized there was a little more too this than he had originally thought. The robes were easy enough but he found himself struggling with the cravat the shopkeeper had given him.

“You’ll need one of these too,” she had said, loading his already full arms with a long strip of white fabric she soon had to explain was a cravat and that it went around his neck like a tie.

“Get one of the other students to help you,” she told him simply, waving him away. Despite their deal, Severus couldn’t help but think she was glad to see the back of him by the time he left the shop.

Now that he stood in his white shirt and slacks in front of the long, ornate mirror by his bed, struggling with the silky white material he had left hanging around his shoulders in frustration, he couldn’t help but start to wonder what on earth he was doing. He looked at himself and thought how ridiculous he looked.

Sighing heavily, he realized he had no other option than to ask for help.

Severus left the dorm room in search of someone who could assist him, but it was empty. Most of the Slytherin cohort were likely already on their way to the ball by now, leaving him alone to fend for himself. He exited the dungeon and walked along the corridor, looking left and right and hoping that he wouldn’t have to settle for his last resort.

Finally, he came to a wooden door with large iron hinges. Severus inhaled and knocked quietly, part of him hoping that no one would answer.

Unfortunately for Severus, a tiny window in the door opened to reveal the face of Professor Slughorn, who obviously hadn’t expected to be disturbed as shaving cream covered the left half of his face.

“Yes?” Slughorn said, sounding a little annoyed.

“I’m sorry to bother you Professor, it’s just… I need a little help with...” Severus averted his eyes and held up the cravat, his cheeks turning a little red with embarrassment.

Slughorn closed the window and the sound of about five locks clicking could be heard from the other side. Finally, the door opened to reveal Professor Slughorn in full. He was wearing an ornate dressing gown, brown slacks and a pair of very comfortable looking dark brown slippers.

“Well come in my boy!” he welcomed Severus inside cheerfully, any trace of annoyance of being disturbed gone from his voice as he walked back into the room, leaving Severus to close the door behind him. He motioned for Severus to sit down on the antique looking sofa in the middle of the room as Slughorn made his way over to a mirror positioned over a bowl of slightly steamy water. Slughorn picked up his razor and began gliding it over the places where the shaving cream remained, removing it and his stubble in gentle, practiced motions.

“I see you have decided to take part in tonight’s festivities,” he said, his voice slightly altered as he twisted his face in order to get the best angle for the next stroke of the razor.

“Yea, I guess so,” Severus said in an attempt to be flippant and to avoid more questions from his professor. He knew it wouldn’t work.

“Any reason for your change of heart?” Slughorn asked, swirling his razor around in the steamy water and hitting it on the side of the bowl to remove any excess drops.

“I, umm… That is to say, I was able to…” Severus couldn’t get the words out through his embarrassment.

“It’s alright my boy, I already know,” Slughorn said, finally rinsing his face with the water and patting it dry, “These kinds of things don’t stay secret in this castle for very long,” he walked over to the sofa where Severus was sat, gesturing for him to stand up, which he did.

Slughorn signalled for Severus to hand over the cravat, he complied and stood very still, looking away in order to avoid awkward eye contact with his professor as he draped the cravat around Severus’s neck and got to work at knotting it.

Severus knew that things like dates and relationships never remained in clandestine for very long at Hogwarts, however he was surprised to learn that the news had already reached Professor Slughorn of his date with Lily. He most certainly hadn’t told anyone, he wasn’t sure about Lily but he didn’t think she had much reason to tell many people. Maybe news was just travelling particularly fast due to the decreased volume of students in the castle at present, Severus thought to himself logically.

“There you are my boy!” Slughorn beamed as he let go of the cravat, now tied neatly around Severus’s neck, and grabbed him by the shoulders, beaming.

“Now off you go, enjoy your evening,” Slughorn hurried him out of the door with haste.

“Will I see you there sir?” Severus asked as he stood in the doorway.

“Later, I still have some things to sort out here,” he pointed to the underside of his chin where a patch of stubble had clearly escaped his shave.

Severus nodded and left the room, closing the heavy door behind him.

He hurried back to the Slytherin dormitories, scooping up his waistcoat and robes from his bed and putting them on in front of the mirror.

Once he had them buttoned up he looked at his reflection.

This is as good as it’ll get, he thought as he regarded himself with a small grin. His heart was racing with anticipation and he took a deep breath in attempt to steady himself.

With that, Severus exited through the door and headed quickly towards the Great Hall.