#came with me to my extended family Christmas and was lovely and charming and so comforting to have with me.

[francesderwent]

incredibly sexy things my boyfriend has done lately:

snatched my little niece out of the path of a door that would have opened smack into her head

remembered which Wimsey books I was missing from my collection and got me one of my favorites as a gift

whilst looking at my parents’ wedding photo album said “oh you guys got married at the cathedral? I didn’t know that” in a tone that secretly meant “we’re gonna get married at the cathedral”

[starlingflight]

Killing time while I wait for my husband to finally finish work for Christmas, and very in my feels about both Hinny and Drastoria, so here is some Christmas fluff of the Malfoy and Potter families meeting on the Platform at the start Al and Scorpius' first christmas holidays (in which there is no blood curse, because I said so 😤):

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was in chaos, a great mass of children, carrying owls, cats, and luggage far too big for most of them to safely manage, having descended upon it moments before. The confusion was not helped by the chorus of greetings, the hooting of owls, and the thick smoke billowing from the Hogwarts Express adding to the general mayhem. 

“He's there.” 

Astoria's gaze followed the direction of Draco’s nod until her sights settled on an identical, though much shorter, pale blond head, struggling against the crowd. She smiled at the sight. 

“He looks skinny,” Draco added, frowning. 

Astoria rolled her eyes. “He's always been skinny – he grows like someone's cast a stretching jinx on him.” 

Draco's frown remained in place, “I knew he wouldn't be wearing a cloak. He's going to freeze to death.” 

“Well, thank Merlin you insisted on bringing that, then,” Astoria inclined her head to the scarf clutched in Draco's hand, the concession he'd made to the fur-lined cloak he'd wanted to bring. One that Astoria had only agreed to because she'd also suspected Scorpius’ forward planning would not extend to the weather. “He's coming – don't fuss him in front of his friends, you're going to embarrass him.” 

She had no time to press upon Draco the severity of her warning before Scorpius came barrelling out of the steam, grinning broadly. “Hello! Merry Christmas!” 

Scorpius’ arms immediately wrapped around Draco's waist. A hug that was not returned only because Draco was preoccupied wrapping the awaiting scarf firmly around Scorpius’ neck and looking extremely unsatisfied about the warmth it would provide. 

“Merry Christmas, darling,” Astoria bent to kiss the top of Scorpius’ head. 

“How was your first term?” Draco asked. His wand was out now, no doubt casting a silent warming charm. 

“It was awesome!” Scorpius declared, a word he'd evidently picked up from his new friends. “They have all these cool plants in the greenhouses and the library is huge – the librarian is the worst though – and Al and I found a secret tunnel that leads to –” 

Scorpius stopped speaking abruptly, evidently realising a moment too late that this was not information he wanted his parents to be privy too. 

Draco raised a question eyebrow, “...leads to…?” 

Scorpius shrugged, “A place.” 

Astoria had to cover her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. He had never been a good liar, apparently a few months away from home hadn't improved that. 

“Will you come and meet Al?” Scorpius asked suddenly, apparently seizing on a change of subject before any follow up questions could be asked. 

Astoria's eyes flew to Draco. He tried and failed to hide the grimace this question brought on. Fortunately, Scorpius was too busy searching the crowd for any sight of his new – and oft-mentioned in his letters home – best friend. 

“We'd love to, darling,” Astoria said smoothly. “He's probably busy with his family right now, though.” 

Scorpius shook his head. “He told me to come and get you – there he is!” 

Astoria followed the direction of his pointed finger, her eyes settling on the family huddled a short way down the platform. A small boy with untidy black hair was pointing in Scorpius’ direction, their stances identical. 

Astoria slipped her hand into Draco’s and squeezed. She smiled at Scorpius, “lead the way.” 

He was off like a shot, dodging other students and their parents, in his haste to reach Albus. 

“This is proof karma is real,” Draco muttered to Astoria, following Scorpius at a much more sedate pace. “I'm not sure what Potter's done to deserve it though.” 

Astoria elbowed him gently in the ribs. “This isn't proof of anything. It's not about either of you at all, it’s about the kids.” 

Silently Draco nodded. There was very little he would not endure for Scorpius. 

They reached the Potters. Scorpius and Al were already chattering excitedly, as though they hadn't just spent eight hours on a train together. Harry Potter's arms were crossed firmly over his chest, his wife was on her tiptoes, whispering furiously into his ear. Astoria wondered if he was receiving the same reminder Draco had just been given. 

“Mum, Dad, this is Al,” Scorpius stepped back, waving a hand in front of Albus Potter as though he was a painting Scorpius was especially proud of creating. “Al, this is my mum and dad.” 

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Astoria said, painting a wide smile on her face. 

Draco rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Hello.” 

“I'm Ginny!” Ginny leapt forward, cutting through the awkward silence that threatened to overtake the little group. “I don't believe we've officially met.” 

“Astoria, it's lovely to meet you.” Astoria took her outstretched hand and quickly shook it. 

“And this is Harry,” It happened quickly, but Astoria could not help but notice Ginny's booted foot quickly step on her husband's shoe.

Harry did not unfold his arms to greet Astoria. He did, however, offer a smile that was quite clearly strained, before his eyes flicked to Draco. “Malfoy.” 

Astoria resisted the urge to hide her head in her hands as Draco's mouth formed a thin line that she knew to a casual outsider looked incriminatingly like a sneer, but was actually him trying –and most likely failing – not to fall into a shame spiral she'd spent years pulling him out of. “Potter.” 

They stared intensely at one another. Astoria silently wondered if she was going to be forced to hex the head of the Auror Department and her husband in the middle of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. 

Fortunately, Al, who was apparently impervious to the tension unfolding around him, chose that moment to speak, “Dad, can Scorpius come to the Harpies match with us on Boxing Day?” 

Harry's eyes finally broke from Draco's. Astoria breathed a sigh of relief. She took the moment of distraction to dig her elbow into Draco's side once again. 

“Er,” Harry struggled to find a suitable answer in the face of Scorpius and Albus’ pleading expressions. “He could, but I'm sure he has plans with his own family, Al.” 

Scorpius’ head whipped around, staring questionly between Astoria and Draco questioningly. 

“We have to go to your Grandparents',” Astoria said apologetically. She didn't know which of the three of them were looking forward to it the least. 

Scorpius' face fell. 

“You don't have to go,” Draco said quickly, “to your Grandparents' house, I mean. You can go to the match – if Al's parents are sure?” 

Harry looked at Ginny. She shrugged. “There'll be plenty of room in the box – and it's hard enough to drag Al to a match usually.” 

“Scorpius loves Quidditch,” Al announced, apparently in explanation for his newfound willingness to attend. 

Scorpius flashed Al a grin before turning his attention back to Astoria and Draco. “Can Al come to our house too? I want him to meet Artemisia!” 

Harry frowned. “Who's Artemisia?” 

“She's our hippogriff,” Scorpius explained. Harry and Ginny shared a look of shock that made it clear they were both thinking of one of Draco's worst school-aged transgressions. “Mum looks after loads of them, but Artemisia is special.” 

“I'm sorry,” Harry rounded on Draco, not looking very sorry at all. “You have a pet hippogriff?” 

Draco cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, she’s Astoria's hippogriff. She's had her since before we got together. The rest of them, she adopted after we got married, but…” 

Draco trailed off, clearly deciding he'd been speaking for too long. Harry was staring at him as though he'd just grown a second head. 

“She's very safe,” Astoria said, bringing the conversation back on track. “She loves kids. I'm sure she'd be delighted to meet Al.” 

“He could stay over after the match!” Scorpius suggested. 

Astoria nodded. Looking to Ginny for confirmation that this was alright, their husband's both seemed to be struggling too much internally to contribute anything further. 

“That should be fine. Merlin knows I don't plan to do anything more exciting than eat as much chocolate as physically possible between then and New Year.” 

“Oh, that's practically mandatory,” Astoria agreed. “Do you want us to drop Scorpius to you before the match or –” 

Ginny nodded. “My brother can probably arrange a Floo connection between our house and Malfoy Manor, he works at the Department of Magical Transportation.” 

“We don't live at Malfoy Manor,” Draco cut in, apparently having recovered the ability to speak once more. 

“Al has our address,” Scorpius added, making it abundantly clear they'd planned the whole thing already and were asking their parents only as a courtesy. 

“Right,” Ginny shook her head, clearly coming to the same conclusion as Astoria. “In that case, we'll see you on Boxing Day, Scorpius – Now, we need to go and find James, his absence is only more concerning the longer it continues for.”

This seemed to shake Harry – who had been staring, puzzled at Draco since the revelation of Artemisia's existence – from his reverie. “I'll go find him. It was nice to meet you, Scorpius.” 

“We need to go as well,” Astoria said even as Draco tucked him securely under his arm. “Have a lovely Christmas,” she added, smiling from Ginny to Al. 

“You too,” Ginny grabbed both of Al's shoulders, spinning him to face the opposite direction. “Go and get your sister, she's talking Hugo's ear off.”

Al waved enthusiastically at Scorpius before disappearing into the crowd.

Draco wasted no more time, guiding Scorpius and Astoria towards the barrier that marked the exit of the platform. 

“Dad, can we go to Diagon Alley and get some chocolate frogs? They're Al's favourite.” 

“You want to go to Diagon Alley on the Saturday before Christmas?” Draco's tone made it clear he thought this was a horrifying idea. 

Scorpius nodded, apparently unconcerned. Astoria leant closer to him, speaking quietly enough to only be audible to Draco. “Pick up more wine while you're there. I'll need it to endure your mother's reaction when she learns she's not seeing Scorpius for Christmas because he's with Harry Potter's son.” 

Draco shook his head. “Wine won't be strong enough.” He smiled at Scorpius who was still happily chattering away about the plans he had for Al's visit. “He looks happy though.” 

[landhficrecs]

Fake Dating

cause I want you (for the worse and for the better) by nonsensedarling 26k

When Louis gets invited along to Anne's wedding, Harry is prepared to let people think whatever they want about their relationship. That's what Louis said -- let people think whatever they want. That changes when Louis sees his ex, who turns out to be Anne's future husband's son. Now, Louis wants to prove that he's an omega that an alpha could want, and Harry wants to get through this weekend without letting his best friend figure out he's in love with him.

A Boyfriend for Christmas by Chelsea Frew 5.5k

Louis' co-worker, Gemma, asks Louis to be her date for Christmas dinner. She needs a fake boyfriend to keep her family from harassing her about her singlehood. Louis adores her, so he doesn't mind helping out--until he meets Gemma's handsome younger brother.

Whatever Floats Your Boat by larryftnoctrl 24k

When Harry's mother convinces him to attend his ex's wedding, he must enlist support in the form of his handsome and charming best friend, flatmate and convincing fake boyfriend, Louis. With Louis by his side, the ever present sun and the plenty of open bars, an all expenses paid week long cruise doesn't seem like the worst he could do.

Wasn’t expecting that by Cherrie 49k

There were two ways of dealing with ignorant, homophobic parents. First one involved talking, explaining and tons of patience, and well noone ever accused Louis of being patient. That's probably why he always chose the second road: instead of reasoning- piss them the fuck off. The only thing he needed was over the top, flamboyant fake boyfriend to make that happened. And while Harry may not be exactly what he was looking for in a fake boyfriend, he is everything he ever wanted in a real one.

Not Another Lonely Christmas by haztobegood 8.6k

Harry should be more nervous that he’s bringing a literal stranger to meet his extended family, but he figures it can’t be much more awkward than Aunt Sharon’s Christmas parties usually are. Instead, he’s looking forward to having an extra person to buffer the conversation.

A knock comes one minute after eleven. He lets out the breath and opens the door. “Hi there— Louis?!”

Or, the one where the friend Niall sets up as Harry's fake boyfriend turns out to be Gemma's best friend Louis

No Candle No Light (No Friendzone to My Love) by TeamLouis 11k

Louis glanced at his friend, glaring daggers and Niall chuckled. He looked like his idea could end world hunger and Louis was horrified. [...]

“Come on, Niall! Tell me!” Harry insisted, excited.

“You can threaten him other than with violence. You said you want a little revenge, right? What if an ex-boyfriend came to reconquer you? You know, the jealous and aggressive kind.”

Harry sighed loudly, closing his eyes. Louis frowned, just like Liam and Zayn. What was he talking about? And why was he still looking at Louis that way?

“Niall, this could’ve been a nice idea if I had an ex-boyfriend, but-”

“Let me explain!” Niall barged in. “ You don’t have an ex-boyfriend but you can pretend you have one! I’m sure Louis would love to help you with that.”

Liam almost choked on his wine and Zayn bit so hard on his lip to contain his laughter that it might have bled. Niall looked satisfied as hell, of course he was the little shit, and Louis just had time to flip him the finger before Harry turned to him. He was fucking delighted.

Or the one where helping Harry getting rid of his boyfriend may be the only way to his heart

bring out feelings in me I never show by ophan_account 24k

“I really think you should stop reading,” Liam says, having moved to hover behind Louis’ back at some point. “I can already see the cogs turning in your head, Louis, and I don’t like this.”

“Shut up,” Louis waves him off and continues reading.

I can do these things, at your request: openly hit on other female guests while you act like you don’t notice; start instigative discussions about politics and/or religion; propose to you in front of everyone; pretend to be really drunk as the evening goes on (sorry I don’t drink, but I used to); start an actual, physical fight with a family member, either inside or on the front lawn for all the neighbors to see.

[Louis accidentally hires a felon to be his fake boyfriend for Thanksgiving.

Dinner Date by pinky_heaven19 3k

“Sorry, what are you doing?” Louis managed to say, looking at him with his head cocked to the side, trying his best to sound more polite than intrusive.

“I'm on a date, apparently,” Harry replied with a smile so big that a dimple appeared on his cheek. Fuck. “I was at the bar and saw you here alone. People were giving you weird looks and I thought it wouldn't hurt to come here and pretend to be your date.”

OR the one where Louis gets stood up by his date and Harry comes to help him.

Before You Came Into My Life (I missed you so bad) by down_tumble 16k

Louis has made a lot of bad decisions after smoking up with Zayn at one in the morning. Oddly enough, texting a random phone number he found tucked into a library book turns out not to be one of them.

Or an AU where Louis is a closeted A-list actor and Harry is just your average Uni student who only signs things with smiley faces.

Love Me Like You Do by lululawrence 4k 

“Yeah, but is working in a field completely unrelated to what I’m educated in and what I want to do really paying my dues? And Lou, I’m 28. I’m 28 working a job I don’t enjoy, still living with my best friend, minutes from my mom’s house.”

“You’re saying that living with me isn’t the best part of your life right now, fucker,” Louis complained, poking Harry in the ribs where he knew he was sensitive. Harry squeaked and moved his arm to protect his side before apologizing.

“I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just…” Harry sighed. “I feel like I’m just treading water and I have been for ages now. I’m glad I have a job that covers what I need it to, and I’m incredibly lucky to have you with me as well, but like…”

Louis waited, but the silence wasn’t filled.

Or the one where it's time for Harry's ten year reunion and Louis being his fake boyfriend for the night changes things more than they expected.

(That’s Just) The Way I Am by lululawrence 17k

“Yeah, but is working in a field completely unrelated to what I’m educated in and what I want to do really paying my dues? And Lou, I’m 28. I’m 28 working a job I don’t enjoy, still living with my best friend, minutes from my mom’s house.”

“You’re saying that living with me isn’t the best part of your life right now, fucker,” Louis complained, poking Harry in the ribs where he knew he was sensitive. Harry squeaked and moved his arm to protect his side before apologizing.

“I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just…” Harry sighed. “I feel like I’m just treading water and I have been for ages now. I’m glad I have a job that covers what I need it to, and I’m incredibly lucky to have you with me as well, but like…”

Louis waited, but the silence wasn’t filled.

Or the one where it's time for Harry's ten year reunion and Louis being his fake boyfriend for the night changes things more than they expected.

@lululawrence @hlficlibrary @larryfic-recs @haztobegood

( Please @ the authors if you can xx )

[mariellaolden]

My Favorite Holiday

Growing up, I have always loved the cherished traditions that mark the Christmas season in our country. While other nations celebrate Thanksgiving at the onset of December, Filipinos, including myself, start to build our Christmas tree at home as soon as the “Ber months” commence. Christmas carols would be everywhere, and Christmas lights would light up every house in the streets. No place in the world could come close to the Christmas spirit here in the Philippines.

During my childhood, I have always believed in Santa Claus. Whenever it was the 1st day of December, I would write letters to Santa. Color it red and green, and draw it with symbols of Christmas. I used to be artistic as a kid. I loved writing and giving letters. My parents would tell me I had to finish it as soon as I could so they could send it to Santa through the post office. On Christmas Eve, I sleep early with excitement because I know Santa will come to our house along with his reindeers afterwards. Each morning of Christmas, I would wake up with joy, seeing my wish come to life. It goes on without fail every year. It was then that I came to the realization, just like in the movies, that Santa Claus was, in fact, not true but rather a legendary figure, a Christmas character who served as a charming tale that made children believe in the reward of their wishes if they behaved well to their parents throughout the year. Well, as for me, I found out when I was ten that the real Santa Claus in my life was my father and my mother, who made sure to give me the material gifts such as toys I wanted and written in my letter, all in the pursuit of my happiness. I am forever thankful and grateful for them.

Being the eldest in a Filipino household, I grew up celebrating Christmas together with my extended family. We would set up our Christmas trees and decorate our homes with lanterns and Christmas lights. Attending every Simbang Gabi and completing the nine-day masses have also become a tradition. After the mass, our evenings were sweetened with the delights of puto bumbong or bibingka as dessert after dinner. Each year, we plan a specific theme, pairing our attires with it, and the chosen best outfit is awarded a prize. By the night of Christmas, we would play different games for children and adults. Another segment of the program is the performances of every family, which they prepared days prior. The highlight of the night is whenever we exchange gifts together. Much of our memories were made up of the preparations, the holiday foods, and the shared stories. Our family makes time to celebrate together every Christmas. For most, this is just typical. But for mine, it is one of a kind.

As the year passes and another Christmas season approaches, a faint but deep ache of sadness settles in. Memories of our previous celebrations flashback, marked by the presence of every family member — parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, children, and the inclusion of some close friends. There’s a noticeable difference between those treasured times and now. Even while most are still with us to celebrate this holiday, the absence of others creates a shadow that highlights the hole left by those who are no longer here to join us in our seasonal gathering. I missed them, and I missed celebrating Christmas with them.

As the song goes, this is the season to be jolly. The season of joy and a time dedicated to celebrating the birth of Jesus. Beyond that, for us, it also serves as a period of reflection to look back on all the events and experiences we’ve had in that year. As we approach the end of the year, it becomes a powerful reminder that we have conquered the challenges, and we look forward to the promise of a new year: a fresh start and a new beginning.

Now, in my adulthood, I’ve come to recognize that the true essence of Christmas is still there. It never left. Despite the absence of some loved ones I wish were still here with us, their spirit and unwavering love remain in our hearts. If someone were to ask me what my favorite holiday is, without hesitation, I would still answer them with a smile on my face: it is Christmas. My sentiment extends beyond our traditions but lies in the joy of sharing this wonderful season with my favorite people.

If I were given the opportunity to make a wish to Santa again, my wish would not revolve around materialistic things anymore. Instead, my heartfelt wish would be providence, continuous good health of our family, and, most of all, to relive the magic of Christmas, not only this year but also in the years to come, just like the old times.

(written and last edited on december 16, 2023)

[humanoidalien27]

Content warning: Sebastian being Sebastian

.....

Chapter 4

Sebastian's Wand

      You were prepared for Draken to show up and even ask for you and Ominis to produce your wands, a fact which you were grateful for Sebastian's wand and that Draken hadn't seen yours before.

"What is this about?" Ominis asked politely once Draken said you could put your wands away.

"We had a prison break at Azkaban. A Sebastian Sallow and Mr. Williams escaped. I came here first because you have ties to both of them."

You screwed up your face at the accusation. "I'm trying to become an auror. That's to put dark wizards away. Not let them out."

You made sure your tone voiced disapproval, getting him to nod. "As you two still have your wands, I can see I was wrong. Good day."

You glanced at Ominis as his brows pinched and Draken disapparated. "A wand? How'd Sebastian get a wand?" His head moved your way when you didn't reply. "You didn't-"

"I know, but it was impulsive. Something he always brought out."

Hearing you sigh, he lightly patted your shoulder. "I understand, if he was telling the truth, I hope he finds out what he needs. If he's lying, you're going to get into a lot of trouble if they find your wand. Speaking of which, how do you have an extra wand?"

"I actually had four. I have Fig's, Miriam's, mine and... Sebastian's."

"You actually have his wand?"

"I picked it up that night. I never got the chance to give it back," I answered softly, looking at it.

"So, Sebastian's now on the loose. We have no idea where he is or what he's doing," he said, pausing for a second. "No, that was pretty much normal."

You laughed, knowing he did that to lighten the mood.

"Just do me a favor and don't get involved with whatever he's doing. I don't want to lose another friend."

"I can't promise that, but I promise to try."

"Alright, you said you were taking a trip to Hogsmeade today?"

Glad to get off the subject of Sebastian, you nodded. "Yes, I'm meeting Natty and Poppy today. They've been excited about this the whole week. Christmas break only comes once a year, so I decided to indulge them."

He smirked. "You have too many presents you bought for them, don't you?"

"That too, but you're not allowed to complain, you knew I was like this before moving in," I teased, earning a laugh.

"Pack rat of the year award goes to you, every year. Does your dormitory look as bad?"

You let out a scoff. "No, that would set a bad example and ruin my reputation."

"What?" He snickered, shaking his head. "You're not afraid to ruin your reputation when it comes to me?"

"No? You're family, I don't have to. You know pretty much every bad habit of mine and you stayed-"

"Coerced," he clarified.

You narrowed your eyes his way, not that he could see it. "Jerk."

He smirked. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Yes, dad. I'll look both ways before crossing the street. Check my surroundings to make sure I'm not followed."

Giving a deadpan expression for calling him "dad", he nodded, thanked you and then waved you to leave.

If only you knew how those words should have been guidelines for the day.

     Natsai and Poppy almost scolded you for buying them too many Christmas presents, but it was hardly that much, maybe six each.

It was nothing compared to the presents you bought for Sebastian that you knew you'd never be able to give him and you still got them anyway.

You couldn't help yourself, everything that reminded you of him or you'd think he'd like, you'd buy.

Ominis scolded you the first time he found them, but then calmly explained that you were only hurting yourself, so you got creative and used an extending charm, to hide them in the bag you kept in your pocket alongside your wand.

Ominis was a smart man, he'd put it together, if he hadn't already.

You knew why you were annoyed at the manipulation Sebastian put you through, why you took a chance and gave him your wand in Azkaban. You loved him, a feeling that hadn't gone away in the months he'd been locked up.

You didn't know if that was naivety on your part for falling for someone who played you so often or just hoped he'd been serious at least once. But, in the end, the silence was your answer.

Something poked you hard in the shoulder, making you jump, before you saw Imelda smirking at you.

"Weren't you doing a race today?" Poppy asked, barely drawing her gaze.

"Had to come back," she answered simply and held out her hand. "You dropped your wand."

Instantly understanding this was Sebastian, you quickly grabbed it from him.

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem," he said slipping into the booth beside you. "So, I feel like we haven't spoken in a while. How are things?"

Poppy laughed. "We spoke this morning. You told us you were going flying, remember?"

"It was cancelled, my opponent didn't show up."

Surprised by how nonchalantly he said that, Natty and Poppy side glanced.

"So, anyway. How're things going between you and Ominis?"

Confused, you looked at him. "Ominis?"

"You're living together, right?"

Poppy laughed softly. "If I didn't know Imelda, I'd think you were jealous."

You sent him a warning glare.

"Not at all, I'm just curious, you know."

Rolling your eyes you stood. "Well, I'm going to head back home."

"Yes, got to make it back home before Ominis gets there first."

Ignoring that, you walked outside after saying goodbye to Sirona.

It's like nothing changed in those months. Of course he'd go right back to fighting with you.

Shaking your head, you moved to head out of town, barely making it half way before you were grabbed and pushed into an alley.

When you spun, you saw Imelda behind you, taking a few steps back.

"Sorry, I needed to get you outside."

Casting a glance around, seeing nothing suspicious, you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Why? And why attack the friendship between Ominis and I?"

"Well, a man and a woman living together usually ends in one thing happening-"

"Oh, grow up Sebastian. Ominis is like a brother to me."

He raised his hands and sighed softly. "Alright, alright. But I need your help."

Crossing your arms, you sighed. "For what? I thought you were looking into the whole innocents in Azkaban thing. Why come to me?"

"You're an auror in training, you can grab the things we need to prove it."

Wondering who "we" meant, a familiar man moved out from under a cloak, making you jump.

"My apologies," he whispered, though amused.

Pressing a hand to your chest, you looked to Sebastian as he changed back to his original form.

"Look, I'm already under suspicion for just having ties to both of you."

Startled, Sebastian looked to Felix. "Both of us?"

"Yeah, he killed my mother."

Felix's eyes flickered closed as he sighed and moved to try explaining.

"I'm not broken up about it."

Their eyes widened in shock, before Sebastian babbled out random noises, before shaking his head. "Why would you-"

"Not the time Sebastian. Anyone could be around and recognize you," you said quickly, knowing he'd be curious about it being you never spoke of your past before.

Felix held out a piece of parchment. "This is the location of the documents and the password to the safe. Once you're safely away, read them and you'll know we're telling the truth."

Staring at Sebastian for a moment to gauge how serious he was about this, you took the parchment.

"Fine."

He visibly deflated and smiled. "Thank you."

Nodding, you reached into your pocket and took Sebastian's wand out.

"You did keep it," he whispered taking it carefully.

"You should go before you're seen."

You jumped when Sebastian rested his hand on your shoulder. "Thank you, I'll be around."

You nodded as Felix let him climb under the cloak. 

.....

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[k1ll3r-k4rg0]

📜 🦃 📝 For Warren/Jay

📜 :  Is your muse on the nice list, or the naughty list?

Warren: “i’m on the nice list coz i’m really cool n i do lots of cool things for my crew n also i came back from the dead n made sure that jay would find me so yeah i’m on the nice list”

Jay: He looks at you for a long second. He’s thinking about it. Judging you for asking this. Then he splits into a big nasty grin. “Naughty.” His grin widens. “As to why... that’s for me to know, and you to find out, hm?”

🦃  : What does their Christmas dinner look like? Is it a huge feast? Something small? Or do they maybe settle for takeout?

Warren: “We all cook somethin’ nice for each other n have a big fuckin’ feast. Lots n lots of fuckin’ food. We have leftovers for days after. I usually like to cook one thing I’ve always cooked n then somethin’ new. This time I did my usual big roast meat with Christmas spices, n then I made some mac n cheese for it. Good fuckin’ shit, everyone absolutely DEVOURED that shit. Ryfraf usually makes cookies, his cookies r really fuckin’ nice. The other guys make all sorts of different types of shit. Side dishes usually, since I’m in charge of the big main course. Everyone helps out n shit.”

Jay: “I usually help Warren with whatever he’s cooking. I also try and make a key lime pie every year. Warren’s tried to get me to adjust the recipe multiple times. He insists I’m a terrible chef, but I think his tastes are just terrible. My key lime is the most excellent thing I know how to make, AND it tastes really good in coffee, and that’s truly what matters.”

📝 : Does your muse or their family have any holiday traditions?

Warren: “Well like I said we all try n cook somethin’ for dinner together. N then on top of that we do some gift exchangin. We usually just get each other gifts n shit n put em under the kringlefucker that’s what y’all call it, but this time we tried out doin’ a secret santa type shit which was a whole lotta’ fun. So I think we’re gonna’ do taht again next year. We also get everyone from everywhere to come back to the ship n hang out n stuff. It’s like a big extended family visit complete with all the fuckin’ n melodrama n’ yellin’ at each other n’ shit. Big fun party with all the guys we know, it’s great.”

Jay: “I enjoyed the secret santa. Our nurse bought me scented colored candles. For the wax. : ) I quite like the concept of purchasing gifts to embarrass or scare people. Warren also neglected to mention the joint effort taken to decorate the entire ship. It’s just among the hive, excluding extended members. Just the few close crew members. Naftha insisted on fucking with me and ruined every perfect little excellently centered decoration I would place on the walls, so I made sure to teach him a good lesson about that, but otherwise decorating went well this year. Ryfraf seems to find so many exotic and interesting items from his travels around which I always enjoy going through. And Riymah always adds a lovely touch... she puts blood on the walls. Which normally would disgust me because it’s messy... but there is a certain charm to jade and rust colored walls for Christmas...”

[kawaii-harrys]

PICTURE PERFECT PART 2

Word count: 2k+

Warning: none but it's probably shit and angsty.

Part 1 here. Part 3 here.

Harry and Y/N sat in the dining room, after having run around for Christmas. It’d be the twins’ last one before they go to college. After Lilith had left the abode, she never contacted back to them, leaving Harry and Y/n in tears.

“Will she come?”, Harry nervously asked Y/N. The weight of mistakes was heavier now that he was unsure if he could ever mend them. Both of them had tried to invite her back over the holidays, only did all of the calls go to voicemails. Frustrated, Harry went to Lilith’s apartment, somehow figuring out where she lived, but she wasn’t having it. “I don’t know. We can’t do anything but hope for the best”, Y/N tried to muster the best smile she could.

“Mom, Dad”, Eric came down cheerily with a red Santa hat on his head as he jumped down to hug his parents, Erica following his lead. “Hey Champ”, Harry laughed.

To love the twins, came naturally, he didn’t have to think twice. For Lilith, he needed realizations, flashbacks of his mistakes to know that he needed to love her.

The Christmas dinner has been just like that Monday morning in the Polaroid.

Lilith didn’t come.

Harry stayed up all night, even after his progeny went to sleep. Y/N had tried keeping him company but had fallen asleep somehow. Harry kept gazing at the door as if it would magically open to reveal Lilith. The morning came up, but she didn’t.

The twins had started packing their stuff to get into their apartment. They had the same interests and got into the same university so they had decided to share a room too. Harry smiled in deja vu. It felt like yesterday when he had heard Lilith’s heart-wrenching confession.

Two weeks later, the picture-perfect family was now stripped of the two oldest members.

It was a random Sunday when the bell chimed. Harry had tried to keep his guilt-consuming thoughts to himself, telling himself that it was selfish to feel this miserable when he was the culprit. That Sunday, Harry was home, playing with Jake and Stella, while Y/N went for work. Harry stood up from the couch and went to open the door and shock befell his features.

Distant sea-green eyes, short purple-blonde hair, and short-full lips, all in front of him. He was so ecstatic that tears burnt the rim of his eyes. “Li-Lilith”, Harry choked out as Lilith swallowed guilt of her own.

She hadn’t meant to make her dad feel so bad.

“I figured the twins would still be there for their last Christmas with you guys, if I came back then, the festive mood would’ve gone down, so…”, she trailed off and Harry’s heart was clenching, relaxing, beating, palpitating hard.

He took a step forward and pulled her to his chest, tight. Lilith hesitated to put her arms around Harry. This man, who is her father, who had never even held his hand during a carnival, let alone hug her, should she bask in the moment and forgive him or should she let him struggle a little more.

“You don’t know how important this moment is for me”, Harry muttered.

He pulled back, wiping away his bleary eyes as she took in her figure once more. A girl who was barely half his height a decade and a half ago now reached his full height. He caught sight of a couple of tattoos on the side of her neck and the shell of her ear. When did she get so big? A little moment later, he caught sight of something, rather someone behind her. A tall figure, ash-brown hair, flat chest, and a penis. Harry watched the guy with scrutiny. “He is Lucas”, Lilith sighed. “Hello”, Lucas extended his hand, which Harry unwillingly shook.

“He will be gone now. Our only deal was he would give me a lift to my dad’s”, Lilith said, sharply, looking at the charming boy who lifted his hands in surrender.

“Geez. I’ll back off”, he laughed, jumping down the stairs and into the car where she was once sitting.

Harry had questions swirling in his mind, but for now, he wanted to keep them at bay. “Come in”, Harry forced a smile and stepped to the side. Lilith walked behind him, only with a small bag, but it was enough to make Harry smile. She was willing to stay, even if for a day.

Harry wouldn’t really admit it to the media, but the recent few songs that he had written were about his daughter, Lilith. ‘The grass is greener, under your feet, And I know I’m terrible, I’ll admit. I’m just another culprit at fault, and you, you’re my fleeting summer. You’re my picture-perfect moment, even if you deny’

Harry wondered if Lilith heard any of the lines, any of his songs to know that he was guilty. The childhood room was stark dark, but it wasn’t dusty or dirty. Harry and Y/N made sure to clean and air the room every day.

Damn, if that didn’t show how much they missed Lilith.

But Lilith had other interpretations, they missed her because they were guilty, because they overheard her express her feelings; if she never said those words, never let the walls know, he would not miss her. He would be relieved she was gone.

“Dad, I know”, Lilith muttered, stopping Harry in his tracks. “What do you know?”, Harry asked, gulping down his own saliva. “Matilda Brown. A mistake in 2003.”, she muttered and Harry’s heart was faster than a damn snake. “Li-Li”, Harry couldn’t even complete her name.

“You cheated on mom with some woman. Not a random one, but your fleeting ex whom you dated for merely a month before breaking up. It was a mistake. I was a mistake, you shouldn’t have committed. But now that I know, I can see it. It was difficult for you to look at me and not remember what happened. It was difficult for mom to look at me and not think back to a time where it was rough. But yet, your thoughts pushed me back into a dark place. I always used to wonder what was my fault, but who knew my only fault was being born”, she let out a humorless chuckle.

Harry’s heart was hurting, strings pulling painfully as he imagined once again, how it felt like to be in her shoes. A child who doesn’t know anything, but tries everything she could just to get an apprehensive nod from her father or get her mother to at least join her for a picnic where all her friends and their parents were present. But she fails again and again until she gives up.

Without knowing what to do, he just took a few steps forward and pulled her into another heart-wrenching hug. “I am sorry, I am really really sorry”, Harry said, breaking into sobs, although he yelled at himself to stop. In his mind, he was making everything about himself. Following the sound, Jake and Stella reached Lilith’s room. “Li-Li”, they exclaimed clinging to her leg. “Hey buds”, she smiled. It took them a few seconds to notice the new dragon tattoo on her neck and a little fern at the shell of her left ear. Harry followed their curious gazes. “That must have hurt. Dada said that needles poke into the skin to get that thing done”, Jake said pointing to the tattoo. “Well, it did hurt a little”, she said, rubbing the neck tattoo, “but it's fine”, she muttered.

Harry ushered the kids out and said, “Rest for a while before your mom comes, she’d be ecstatic to see you”

And then when she fell on the bed with a dramatic thud, she woke up straight at 8 PM, almost dinner time.

She changed into comfortable pajamas and walked downstairs. “You think she’ll forgive us?”, she heard hushed whispers from the kitchen. It was Y/N. “I don’t know. We did her way too wrong. I wish I noticed my actions sooner”, it was Harry.

Lilith knocked on the kitchen door to break them from their stance. Y/N smiled ear to ear as she lurched forward to hug her. Lilith broke a smile. This affection felt odd.

“I missed you”, Y/N muttered, barely above a whisper.

Lilith let out a humorless laugh. “Well, you wouldn’t have if you both hadn’t eavesdropped that night.”, she let out and both the parents froze.

Lilith noticed the shift in energy. “I know. I know every last bit of information I was kept away from.”, Lilith sighed.

“I am --We’re just sorry honey.”, Y/N didn’t know what else to say.

“18 years. 18 years, I felt so unwanted, I was 10 when I first thought I wasn’t supposed to be born, which is well, kind of true. At 13, I gave up everything I had because I started thinking that you guys didn’t even care. You know it hurts like a double-edged sword was piercing again and again. On top of that, I watched as you guys acted as the perfect parents to the other kids. I was jealous. I knew I wasn’t supposed to feel that way, but I couldn’t help it. Guilt, remorse and hurt. 18 years of feeling that, and I couldn’t even cry when I lost friends or became alone in this world. And 7 years of contemplating dying so at least then, you guys would acknowledge my presence, or rather the lack thereof. When this feeling surmounts to years, you want me to forgive you in one day?”, Lilith muttered, choking at the end. She was not the kind of person to express her thoughts, but somehow, voicing them felt more hurtful than keeping it inside.

Harry’s mouth was left hanging, gulping for air. Only if he had known.

Y/N felt guilty. Only if she had noticed.

“I--I, Fuck, Just give us another chance, even if we don’t deserve it, please, Lilith. I am sure we were the worst parents to you, but you don’t have to forgive us, ju--just give me another chance to be your mother”, Y/N muttered.

“I’m not here to forgive and forget. I am here to get closure. I don’t know if we are ever going to cross paths after this, but if we do, that will be it”, Lilith muttered, with a stoic face.

“P-Please”, Harry was crying.

Lilith’s heart was hurting, seeing the people she searched attention from crying. What kind of a daughter was she? She had promised herself that she would never make her parents cry, that she’d never be that kind of a daughter, but she was doing just that.

“D-Don’t do this, it ain’t fair for me. You still have four other kids that you’ve loved and who have loved you back. J-Just, don’t do this”, Lilith stuttered. She never stuttered.

“You don’t need to come every holiday. You don’t need to bring the boy you love to us. Just please come here once a while, just stay here, even if in silence, just please”, Harry’s head hung low.

Lilith couldn’t see straight with the tears blurring her vision.

She battled internally. To or not to?

“Al-Alright”, her shaky voice gave in. She had nowhere else to go to after all.

The couple beamed at the single yes she had given to them. “Don’t expect me every holiday. Don’t expect me to introduce my boyfriend. Don’t expect me to do things that the other kids would. But maybe if I marry one day, I would invite you guys. Maybe if I bear children, I’ll let them call you grandpa or grandma. And if I die someday, unexpectedly, you guys are welcome to conduct my funeral”, Lilith sighed, getting rid of the tiny droplets.

Harry lunged forward, bearing her into a warm hug, one that only Lucas had ever given her. Harry had a big smile, which she couldn’t quite believe.

As he parted, his brows furrowed for a while, “Anyways, who was the guy who dropped you off?”, he asked, with curiosity. He didn’t want to overstep, he didn’t want to cross the line he had just mended, but he was tired of keeping tabs on her, knowing what she was up to only from a third party.

“Just my drug dealer”, Lilith shrugged, Harry’s body went rigid and Y/N’s smile fell. “Joking.”, she raised her hands in surrender. “Lucas is a classmate, a guy I’m familiar with”, she replied, pushing her hands into her pockets.

Harry smiled, Y/N smiled too. As they sat at the dinner table, she took a better look at the house, there were new pictures, not only the ones with six people, but also with one another shadow-like girl.

The girl hiding behind her father when everyone else posed for the picture.

The girl was captured as a mistake while she was playing football behind the family.

The girl looked at her father as he, for the first time, tucked the rose that she had picked out behind his ear.

And under one of the pictures where the two-year-old girl was wrapped in a sky blue blanket along with her father as Y/N sat with two newborn kids, was written ‘picture-perfect’

She was glad she took up Lucas’s suggestion to visit her parents.

_______

Do you guys think I should do part 3 of Lucas and Lilith's relationship? Lmk.

[nationalharryleague]

Christmas in Holmes Chapel

Pairing: Harry Styles x Y/N

Genre: Christmas fluff on top of Christmas fluff

Word count: 1.7K 

A/N: Hi everyone! This is something I wrote super quick because I was in the Christmas spirit! I was/am also quite drunk (so be nice)!! More of my better writing can be found in my masterlist and I would love to hear what you think ab this in my ask! Also shoutout to Liz (@kiwicherryallaboutharry​) and Morgan (@soullikestyles​) for beta-ing and being sweethearts!! Thank you for reading <3

***

Shouts of “they’re finally here!” were the first things she heard when Harry opened the door to his mum’s house. After two delayed flights, ten hours on a plane, and bumper to bumper traffic the entire way to Anne’s, they were in shambles. This was the first time the pair were spending Christmas with Harry’s family, and this was definitely not the way she wanted it to start. She almost started crying when Gemma took her into her arms after nearly running across the house to greet her.

“I’m so happy you two made it,” she smiled, rubbing Y/N’s tired back when she didn’t release from the hug right away. “I was afraid that you weren’t going to make it tonight.”

“I could cry, Gem. I'm so happy to be here right now,” she confessed honestly, exhaustion clear in her voice.

Gemma released her from the embrace when Harry tapped her on the shoulder. “Hello? I’m here too. Do you not miss your baby brother?” His voice dripped with sarcasm and his dimples were deep on his cheeks, as they always were when he was home.

She rolled her eyes at him, muttering sarcastically “not as much as I missed your lovely girlfriend,” before he pulled her into a hug of his own. The two were the spitting image of each other, both with their exceptionally similar smiles and adorable noses. He squeezed the smaller woman tight, enjoying their reunion after not seeing each other for at least three or four months. They were still so close, even after Harry’s move to LA to be closer to his girlfriend. Y/N had pretended more than once that she hadn’t overheard them when he would call her for relationship advice.

Looking away from the Styles siblings, she was met by Anne's bright smile paired with her wide open arms extended for a hug. “Sweetheart, it’s so good to see you!” she exclaimed with a Santa hat sitting snugly on her head, pulling her close to the woman’s warm and kind body. “There are plates of dinner made up for the two of you in the kitchen and plenty of leftovers in the fridge if you want any more.” She was naturally so caring about those around her and tonight was no different.

“Thank you so much, Anne,” she said graciously. “I’m so sorry we’re so late.”

“Oh, stop it. It’s a Christmas miracle you made it at all with the snow,” she brushed away her apologies, her voice taking a more serious turn as she locked her eyes with hers. “I’m so happy you’re here, Y/N. You’re just as much a part of our family as Harry is now.”

Y/N’s heart warmed with the kindness behind Anne’s words. There was so much love surrounding her right now, too much for her to comprehend without getting teary eyed. She was so thankful for the tenderness and care Harry’s family had shown her over the last three years. She felt at home in what used to just be a house to her; like she was a part of the family.

“Oi, stop hogging her,” Harry teased Y/N, bumping her hip lightly with his and nudging her out of the way so he could hug his mum.

“Harry Edward, I raised you to be polite. Leave the poor girl alone,” she scolded, but opened her arms up wide to receive her son. He was so much bigger than she was, seeming to swallow her body whole in his arms. Y/N couldn’t help the smile that came to her lips as she watched the two interact.

The pair of travelers were passed around the living room, giving hugs and kisses to the various aunts, uncles, cousins, and stragglers that were attending Christmas Eve dinner at Anne’s. The room was full of loud boisterous laughter and Christmas music that played off an antique record player and it smelled like wine and the remnants of a large dinner that had been eaten when they just couldn’t wait any longer for the two to arrive.

Y/N’s stomach growled without permission as soon as she saw the plates of food resting on the counter that had been waiting for them. The pair stood hovered over the plates and ate like they hadn’t seen food in weeks. At the moment, she could only think of two things she knew about Anne for sure: she knew how to raise children and she was a fantastic cook.

When she looked up and saw a spot of gravy hanging on the edge of Harry’s mouth, she just couldn’t resist. She tiptoed and pressed a short kiss to the corner of his lips, taking the gravy with her in the process. He looked down at her with a slightly surprised, but mostly loving, look after she pulled away. The edges of his lips turned up, asking “What was that for?”

“You had something,” she mused, jokingly twirling her pointer finger in the direction of her own mouth.

Before she could process it, his lips were back on hers, kissing her slowly and with so much love. His lips were soft and pillowy as always, but there was something more behind them that she just couldn’t place.

“What was that for?” she asked breathlessly when he released her, using his own words against him.

“I know I have been kind of on edge all day and I just wanted to thank you for dealing with me. I love you so much.” She couldn’t fight the grin that found its way onto her face every time he told her that he loved her. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe she had nabbed such a good one.

“I love you too. Are you alright?” She asked worriedly, noticing the way his eyebrows were nervously knit together and how his posture was slightly worsened like it always was when he was stressed.

“I’ll be okay soon.” There was more behind his words, she knew it for sure, but Harry was very good at playing it cool when he wanted to. She knew he would either tell her soon or it would resolve on its own; she trusted him to tell her what was going on if he really needed her.

Her train of thought was interrupted when Gemma stuck her head into the kitchen and announced that the annual Charades tournament was beginning. Y/N had only heard about the myth of the Charades tournament before and she was excited to find out why her boyfriend raved about it so often. Harry excitedly grabbed her hand, leading her into the crowded living room, watching as the first teams had already begun acting out and guessing.

Before long, it was Harry and Y/N’s turn to go, matched up against Gemma and her husband. She sat on the couch, assigned to play the guesser after he cockily told her ‘there's only one actor in this family,’ and watched closely as both Harry and Gemma read the clue written on the small slip of paper. Gemma gave him a playful and excited smile before extending a friendly hand for him to shake.

“You ready for this, H?” she asked, but once again, Y/N felt like there was more behind her words than friendly competition. Y/N began to think she was being kept in the dark about something, but before she could think too hard about it the pair had begun their miming.

Harry took the approach of creating a circle with his pointer and thumb, repeatedly slipping the whole he had created over his left ring finger.

“Wedding ring!” she guessed excitedly from the couch, only to be met with a shake of his head.

He then moved to get down on one knee, pretending to hold a ring box in his hands. “Asking someone to marry you!” she questioningly yelled again, only met with another shake of his head, but she could tell she was getting closer.

It was when he performed the same ring gesture while on his knee that she got it. “Engagement ring!” She nearly screamed and jumped off the couch, twirling in celebration (a symptom of always being a bit too competitive) after Harry’s face lit up and signaled they had won.

She was confused for a split second when she came back around and Harry was still on his knee, but it all made sense when she saw the real ring box that was now in his hands. Her hands flew up to her face in shock and she was unable to form coherent thoughts, let alone words.

“My love,” he began softly, “I knew I wanted you in my life forever from the moment I met you at that stupid bar. I fought Mitch so hard that night, but he dragged me along and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She remembered that night fondly, but it had admittedly been a mess. She had just gotten dumped and so had Harry, when they found each other at the end of the bar, far away from anyone who was actually having fun, they had started talking and never stopped.

“You make me a better person,” he went on as tears had begun to roll down her cheeks, “and I never want to be who I was before I met you ever again. I love you so much and I never want to live without you. So,” he took a deep breath with hopeful eyes, “will you marry me?”

A shout of “Yes!” let her lips before he even finished, throwing herself at him and bringing him into a kiss.

It all made sense now. She understood why Harry had been so upset when their flight had been messed up, and why Gemma and Anne had been so excited to see them, and especially why he had been on edge all day. He was nervous to ask her, in the most charming and endearing way.

The crowd around them cheered when they finally stood up and their eyes locked as Harry delicately slid the ring onto her left hand. His eyes were slightly teary, but held an excitement that was unmatched. The ring was giant and beautiful, exactly what she expected from him when the time came, and she could barely tear her eyes away from it.

“This is the best Christmas present ever, H. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Thank you for reading! Reblogs/feedback are much appreciated!! 

[whatisthiswritingthing]

I’ll be home for Christmas - Tobin Heath x Reader

Prompt: I just heard Mistletoe by Colbie Caillat, and it gave me a prompt idea.. A little angsty Christmas and happy ending, like someone can’t be home for Christmas and it causes a fight? But they’re able to make it just in time for a kiss under the mistletoe

Title is cliche as fuck, I know 🤷🏼

“You really can’t come?” Tobin asked Y/N.

“I really can’t Tobs, I said I would work months ago,” Y/N replied, laying on the bed watching Tobin pack her bag.

Christmas was five days away; Tobin was going home to New Jersey to spend it with her family. Y/N would be working over Christmas, staying in Portland for the holiday, flying out on the 27th to join Tobin and the rest of her family for a belated celebration.

“Why would you agree to work? You knew I would want you with me, you’re supposed to meet my family,” Tobin commented, clearly frustrated her girlfriend wouldn’t be coming home with her.

“I agreed months ago,” Y/N repeated, “before I had any idea you would want me to be part of your family Christmas. I was pretty sure I would be alone like every year, so I agreed to work like always.”

“But we were dating when you agreed! Did you even think of me when you said you would work?” Tobin shouted, throwing a ball of socks into her bag, looking up to Y/N.

“Of course I thought about you Tobin! I thought about how happy you would be with your family, something I haven’t had for years. I thought about how I haven’t celebrated Christmas in years. I thought about how much I would love to spend it with you and your family, but I also thought about how much it would hurt for you to say no. I thought about a lot of fucking things Tobin.”

With the outburst Tobin’s shoulders slumped, realizing she had only been thinking of herself in this situation, not about Y/N and her turbulent past. The soccer player opened and closed her mouth a few times, not knowing what to say.

“I’ve got to go to work, have a good flight, let me know when you land.”

Defeated, Y/N placed a hesitant kiss on Tobin’s cheek who still stood unmoving and walked out of the apartment.

At hearing the door close, Tobin snapped out of her haze, she flopped down on her bed, all frustration leaving her body.

Tobin sat on the bed thinking for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, she slowly got up to continue packing; her flight leaving in four hours.

Sitting in the airport, waiting for her flight to be called, Tobin played with her phone, debating if she should message Y/N or give her space. She had no idea what to do, she knew she had to apologize, but should she do something before her flight or after? Should she call or text? Wait for Y/N to make the first move?

Deciding to at least let Y/N she aware she was in the wrong, Tobin to text Y/N.

           Tobin:              Hey Y/N, I’m sorry for what I said, I know you would rather be with me than here working. I’m about to get on the plane, but I’d really like to apologize better when I land. I love you.

Her message went unanswered before Tobin turned her phone off for the flight.

By the time she landed late that evening in New Jersey, Tobin immediately turned her phone off airplane mode to see if Y/N had responded.

           Y/N:                 It’s all good Tobs, I get it, you don’t need to apologize.

Tobin could tell through the text that Y/N was still upset, though not mad at her, sad for sure.

Wandering to the baggage claim, she focused on her phone, debating what to say to her girlfriend when she was wrapped up in a tight hug.

“Tobin!” Perry shouted excited.

Tobin immediately hugged Perry back, happy to be back with her sister, feeling some of her stress from her fight fading.

“Hi Perry,” Tobin snuggled in for a second before pulling away.

Perry pulled away as well, grabbing Tobin’s cheeks in both hands, squinting her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just landed, I’m just tired Per,” Tobin shook her head, stepping back, turning her focus to the luggage coming around.

“Where’s that hot girlfriend of yours?” Perry commented, immediately figuring out the problem.

“Work,” she shrugged, not looking away from the luggage carousal.

“She isn’t coming? I thought mom said she was coming?” Perry asked, confused.

“She is coming after Christmas,” Tobin sighed, the conversation getting on her nerves. She wanted it over with so she could call her girlfriend and apologize properly.

Sensing Tobin was done with the conversation, the two waiting patiently for her luggage

           Tobin:              Just landed, can I call you in a bit. I’d really like to talk to you.

                       Y/N:                 I’m just about to go into surgery, I’ll call you when I’m done.

           Tobin:              Sounds good babe, safe a life.

Tobin tucked he phone away, knowing she wouldn’t get a response until Y/N was done her surgery.

Tobin was greeted by her whole family when she walked into her parents home. Everyone excited to see her, nieces and nephews immediately asking what she brought them.

The couple hours were overwhelming, family supper an event in itself. Questions thrown around the table, everyone catching up, the kids struggling to sit still, everyone happy to all be together again.

Later while everyone was lounging in the living room watching a movie, Tobin’s phone went off, causing her shoot off the couch to answer it in the other room.

“Hey Y/N, I wasn’t sure you would call me,” Tobin started, unsure, “how was surgery?”

“Surgery went well,” Y/N yawned, “why wouldn’t I call you?”

Y/N was a pediatric surgeon at the hospital in Portland, it made for long hours and not much free time, causing her to miss many important events. Like Christmas.

“We had just left things so weird; I wasn’t sure.”

“It’s really alright, Tobin, I understand where you are coming from. If I could be with you I would,” Y/N tried to sound as reassuring as she could.

The two continued to talk, things felt mostly normal by the end of the call, but still off.

For the next few days, the couple talked, but it seemed strained and forced. Y/N taking a long time to text back, rarely answering her phone, and when she did, she would the calls were brief.

Christmas morning, Tobin woke to a simple Merry Christmas text from Y/N. Tobin tried to call her before going down to Christmas morning with her family, only for the call the go straight to voicemail.

Tobin checked her phone constantly throughout the day, getting no response from Y/N. She knew Y/N did not have the best experience with Christmas, but she hadn’t expected her ghost her for the entire day.

She did her best to distract herself, helping the kids set up their toys and test them out, going for a run after lunch, taking a nap on the couch after.

Tobin was woken up from her nap to a hand on chest and pressure on her lips. She initially flinched back from the contact.

Y/N pulled back slightly, letting Tobin wake fully and get her bearings.

Opening her eyes, Tobin registered who it was that kissed her.

Shooting up, almost hitting head butting Y/N who quickly pulled back.

“You’re here!” Tobin launched herself into Y/N’s arms.

“Yea, I’m here.”

“I thought you had to work?”

“I did, pushed all my surgery’s back-to-back, got a flight out right after my last one and came here,” Y/N shrugged. “I wanted to spend Christmas with you.”  

Tobin glanced to the hallway and saw her family watching with large smiles.

“You are amazing, I love you,” Tobin pulled Y/N back into a gentle kiss.

For the rest of the evening, Tobin followed Y/N around the house, proudly introducing her to the extended family that had arrived for supper. Y/N charming them all instantly.

“You guys have a to kiss!” one of the smaller children yelled, pointing at the couple while they stood in the hallway.

Y/N leaned in a gently kissed Tobin on the cheek.

“No! You have to kiss her lips!” an older child yelled.

The two women chuckled, making eye contact.

Tobin dramatically placed a hand on Y/N’s hip and supported the back her neck with the other, dipping her down dramatically, kissing her fully.

Helping Y/N standing back, Tobin pulled her girlfriend back into her side, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Is that better you goobers?” Tobin chuckled.

[wholesomemendes]

The Winter Ball Date

College/Friends to Lover Au

Summary: When one year you get asked to the annual Winter Ball by someone other than Shawn, the two of you realize what you’ve been looking past for years.

Author’s Note: Long time no see! This is part of Julia’s Winter Writing Challenge by @wondershawns and I am so excited to have participated! My setting prompt was “A knock on the window” and the line “You’re so cute when you’re half asleep like this”. I hope you guys enjoy! As always, I love hearing any type of feedback and I love you all x

Word Count: 8.4k

Presents, Christmas music, your mother’s famous cookies on your tongue, all playing one by one in your mind. The feeling of just being home again instead of in a small, stuffy dorm seemed so close, yet so far away and you couldn’t help but wish that this last month would fly by. A soft nudge to your foot broke you out of your thoughts, “What’s got you in a daze?” You blinked your eyes rapidly to focus your thoughts to the present once again, turning your gaze to the curly haired boy next to you with a bright smile on his face. 

“I’m just thinking about Christmas and being home again,” you sighed dreamily, your head coming to rest on your hand. 

“Christmas is over a month away, you’re better off worrying about finals if you’re thinking that far ahead,” he laughed as a hand came up to lightly push your shoulder.

You cast a harsh glare at him through the dim light of the library, “It’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas. Aren’t you excited?”

“Of course I’m excited.” Shawn leaned back against his chair looking into space, “I get to go home and see family and I only have to worry about my sister instead of a bunch of rowdy frat boys.”

You let out a chuckle at his words, “Aren’t you also a rowdy frat boy?”

“You wound me.” He dramatically placed a hand over his heart, “Besides, I’m more excited to annoy you every day over break.”

“You already annoy me every day.”

“Maybe, but it’ll be much more convenient than me walking all the way across campus to get to your dorm.” You couldn’t lie that he did have a point there. The two of you had been best friends ever since the day your family moved into the house next to his in middle school. You had been inseparable ever since, choosing to go to the same college a few hours from your houses and meeting almost every day since you had joined as freshman. Three years later and nothing had changed, except for how tall Shawn had managed to grow in those years and how the both of you definitely had matured in both personality and appearance since you were in middle school.

“How fortunate for me then,” you laughed, turning your attention back to the abandoned textbook in front of you. 

Shawn’s eyes remained on you, cocking an eyebrow your way, “What, you’re not looking forward to my random visits?” 

“Oh no, I am so looking forward to being woken up in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep.”

“Hey that was only twice!”

“Two times too many if you ask me,” you mumbled under your breath, however the smirk on your face told Shawn that you meant for him to hear it. He simply pulled your chair closer to him and rammed his knuckles into your head until you were laughing and begging him to stop. 

____________________

“You’re coming to the game tonight right?” You had found your way into Shawn’s bed after a full day of classes with your head on his chest, a random hockey game playing on the television across from the two of you. Shawn’s arm provided a comforting warmth as it laid across your stomach, pulling you into him, and each pass of his fingertip onto your skin made you relax further into him. The cuddling wasn’t anything new to the two of you, even the electric feeling you felt from his touch had almost become normal to you. Almost.

“Of course I am. I’ve never missed one, have I?”

“You’re right you haven’t,” he smiled down at you, a stray curl falling in front of his face, “Just wanted to make sure my good luck charm would be there.”

You reached up to brush his hair out of his face, but Shawn quickly grabbed your arm, playfully biting your finger until you pulled away and your wrist was left in his grasp. “I refuse to believe I’m your good luck charm.”

“We’ve been undefeated for three years, hun. You’re my good luck charm.”

“But-”

“Nope, shut it. Don’t want to hear a peep from you.” He pulled you tighter into him before placing a delicate kiss to your hair, “Remind me to give you my jersey for tonight. Want to make sure everyone knows whose good luck charm you are.”

“You’re such a goof.”

____________________

Shawn won. Again. It was no surprise, especially since the team they were up against were no good, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t incredibly proud of him. He absolutely amazed you every time he went out on the ice and you couldn’t help but wait impatiently in the main corridor of the arena. Students rustled around you as you waited though you paid them no mind, simply choosing to admire the banners on the wall instead. The sudden increase in noise caused you to turn your head towards the locker rooms where a certain curly-headed boy was leading a pack of freshly showered athletes. You sprinted past the crowds of people in his direction as Shawn dropped his bag, opting instead to pick you up in his arms as you ran straight into him. You wrapped your legs around him like a koala with your head buried into his neck, breathing in the strong, heady scent of his shampoo. “There’s my good luck charm,” he sighed into your hair and you laughed, only causing a brighter smile to form on his face.

“You were incredible, Shawn. You’re constantly impressing me out there.”

“Thank you,” he smiled, lifting his head to look you in the eyes, “Always means the most coming from my number one fan.”

You flashed him a smile that mirrored his as he slid you down to the floor, making sure that you were always close to him even while others were surrounding him. Your eyes stayed trained on him and the aura that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. They followed the path of his jaw, his neck, to his broad shoulders he always made you massage for him. But before you could finish admiring him, you felt a presence behind you and a slight grasp on your arm. You turned only to be met with a tall figure with beautiful green eyes and dirty blonde hair. He seemed to be about Shawn’s height, maybe an inch shorter, and although his smile wasn’t as bright as Shawn’s was, it still managed to take your breath away for a moment. “Hi, I’m Grant,” the man introduced himself, extending his hand for you to grab, “Are you Shawn’s girlfriend?”

You turned your focus back to Shawn who was currently in the middle of a conversation with a couple fraternity brothers and sorority sisters before coming back to this new mysterious man. “Oh no, we’re not, we’re not dating. We’re just best friends.” Grant seemed to have some distrust in his eyes at your words, his eyebrow lifting up slightly in question. “I’m Y/n by the way.” Grabbing his outstretched hand you let yourself appreciate the polite person in front of you.

“I’m sorry I assumed you’re dating. I’m in the frat with Shawn; we’re not good friends or anything but I’ve seen the two of you around in there.” Suddenly your mind clicked to where you had seen him before off of the rink. Most of the boys on the hockey team all resided in the same fraternity so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to you to learn that you had been in the same house as Grant multiple times. “You two are really close, I can’t be the only one that has mistaken the two of you as dating.”

“Yeah…,” you trailed off, sparing a glance back at Shawn, “It happens a lot more than you think. But I promise we’re not. I’m as single as one can be.” Grant’s smile seemed to grow at your words and his shoulders relaxed an inch. 

“Well in that case I actually wanted to ask you…”

“What’s going on over here?” A heavy weight slid across your shoulders, effectively pulling you into a warm body you immediately recognized. You rolled your eyes at the interruption. Perfect timing as always, Shawn. 

“Nothing, just introducing ourselves to one another,” Grant replied, that smile that you were beginning to grow fond of diminishing slightly. 

“Good, was worried that my good luck charm was switching sides.” Shawn sent a pointed look your way with a smirk playing on his lips.

“Good luck charm?”

“Why do you think we haven’t lost a game yet?” Shawn questioned, reaching out to pinch our cheeks, “It’s this little one right here giving me all the luck.” You swatted his hand away bitterly, but his smirk only grew. “Well I’m sure this has been great. Grant, I’ll see you later at the frat and you missy, we have a celebratory dinner to catch.” He maneuvered his way through the people calling his name, bringing you right to his classic jeep.

“You’re horrible you know that right,” you huffed as soon as you got into the seat.

“What ever could you be talking about?” he said innocently.

“If you keep acting like this, I’ll truly never get into a relationship.”

“You’re being silly.”

“Says the one that literally interrupted an entire conversation I had barely even started yet.”

“I was simply worried about you.”

“Mhm, sure.” You stared out the window in protest, not even moving when you felt his hand on your lower thigh.

“Honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you liked Grant. I was just looking out for you.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I like him, I’ve known him for all of five minutes, but it would be nice to maybe explore some options without my personal bodyguard getting in the way.”

“Once again I’m sorry that I got in the way then. I guess Grant is not the worst guy you could have chosen out of the bunch,” he trailed off as he pulled into the diner parking lot the two of you had been frequenting at after almost every hockey game, “Now let’s put this behind us. I’m really craving some fries and a milkshake.” 

____________________

The brisk wind of the courtyard made you tighten your jacket around yourself in a poor attempt to keep the chills away. A sigh of relief escaped your lips once you rounded the corner of the lecture hall you had previously been in, leading you through a row of buildings that temporarily protected you from the harsh weather of Toronto. You kept your eyes trained in front of you, desperately trying to will your feet to somehow move faster to get you to Shawn’s frat house for your usual post-class wind down.

“Hey Y/n!” You whipped your head around to see the source of your name, but after coming up empty handed in the small crowd of students behind you, you shook your head, convincing yourself you just imagined it as you continued your walk. “Y/n, wait!” Pausing this time, you turned your body around completely only to be met with the sight of Grant maneuvering his way carefully around the other students. Upon seeing you stopped, his face light up and he started to jog his way towards you until he was close enough for you to feel some of his body heat. “Hey.”

“Hey, Grant. How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. Sorry to catch you at such a bad time, but I didn’t know when I was going to see you again,” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “I also didn’t want to wait too long to ask this because I was afraid I’d miss my chance.”

“What’s going on?”

“Are you going to the Winter Ball with anyone?” The Winter Ball was the annual end of the semester party Shawn and Grant’s fraternity held every year that was incredibly exclusive. The only way to get in was if one of the members took you as their date, which meant that almost every girl was dying for someone to ask her. 

At that moment your gaze fell to the beautiful bouquet of red roses that were present in his hands before your eyes lifted to meet his that were so full of hope and nerves. “As of right now I am not. Why do you ask?”

“That’s great! I mean, that’s not great that you’re not going with anyone, but great because I, um, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go with me?” 

You flashed him a bright smile as he handed the bouquet towards you, “I would love to go with you, Grant.”

“Really? That’s, that’s amazing. I’m looking forward to it.”

“So am I.” 

He wrapped his arms around you in a quick hug before moving the other way, “I hate to leave right away, I’d love to stay and talk, but I really need to get to class.”

You waved him off, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah of course,” he began walking away until his eyebrows raised and he came back, “Wait, can I actually get your number?” You saved your number into the contacts of his phone and gave him a wave, heading your way back to the line of frat houses you were looking for. The butterflies in your stomach were doing front flips as you tried to will the humongous smile off of your face. A guy just asked you to be his date to the Winter Ball. A really cute, sweet guy just asked you to be his date to the Winter Ball. Never in a million years did you think someone like him would even imagine asking you to be their date yet here you were, the most delightful smelling roses in your hand and a fluttering feeling in your body. You hardly comprehended that you had already stepped foot into the frat house until you were opening the door to Shawn’s room and falling onto his bed next to him with a dopey smile on your face. 

Shawn looked over at you questioningly from his phone, ‘What’s going on with the flowers and the face?”

“Shawn, you won’t believe it!” you practically squealed, turning onto your side, “Grant just asked me to be his date to the Winter Ball!”

“The Winter Ball?”

“Yes! Isn’t that the best thing ever! I’ve never been asked before!”

“What do you mean? You’ve been my date every year.” If you hadn’t been so caught up with the giddiness in your chest you might have been able to notice the fleeting look of sadness in his eyes as he spoke.

“That’s not the same though. I wasn’t really your date, we just went as friends.”

“Yeah, but you were still considered my date.”

“Still, it’s not the same thing.” 

A small moment of silence took over the room before Shawn cleared his throat. “So...you said yes?”

“Of course I said yes, I’d be stupid not to.” 

“Oh.”

You watched as he focused back on his phone, a tiny frown on his face that you could hardly notice, “What’s wrong.”

“Nothing. I’m glad you’re so happy about this.”

“Don’t lie to me, Mendes, what’s wrong?”

“Just wondering what I’m going to do about a date this year.”

“That’s what you’re upset about?” you looked at him incredulously, “Please, you’re one of the most sought after guys in this school. You could go up to any girl on this entire campus and none of them would even hesitate to say yes.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?” you scoffed, “What about Jessica? I’ve seen the two of you talking a lot at post game parties and everything. You two look like you get along.” 

“Yeah, I could always ask her,” he sighed, “But Jessica isn’t going to drag me into my room at four in the morning asking me to sing her a song on the guitar so she can fall asleep.” He sent a teasing smile your way as he referenced your habit of pulling his hand through crowds of people until you got to his room when you felt too tired and wanted to go to sleep.

“I’m sorry, Shawn. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” You thought for a moment, “I know! I’ll buy you pizza from your favorite pizza place! You know, the one across from the campus coffee shop where they put extra cheese on top.”

“That’s not my favorite pizza place.”

“But every time we go there you say…”

“I only say that because I know it’s your favorite pizza place.” His gaze fell soft upon you, “Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad, but I don’t have a favorite and I know you’re more likely to go there if I said it’s also my favorite.”

“Oh,” you looked down at your hands, “Well thank you.” Shawn hummed in response, his eyes traveling back to his phone. “You can still come over beforehand to get ready together like we always do.”

He let out a sad chuckle, “Don’t think Grant would much like that, honey.”

“That’s too bad if he doesn’t like it because it’s important to me that we get ready together and you’re the first person to see me all fancied up.” 

Shawn swore he felt his heart stutter in his chest, “If you want me over, I’d be more than happy to get ready with you.”

“Perfect, it’s a date.”

____________________

You couldn’t lie and say it didn’t hurt when you noticed that Shawn had been a little more distant with you in the past week. Your texts sat on delivered for longer, you were no longer going over to his room after every lecture due to him “being busy”, and the nightly FaceTime calls were no longer nightly. You blamed it on hockey practices piling up and finals getting closer but in reality, you knew that wasn’t the case. There was only a week until finals, and therefore the Winter Ball, when you finally ran into Shawn again on your way to a class, very obviously catching him off guard. “Hey, long time no see.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been really busy lately,” he told you, but you knew him long enough to tell that the way his eyes wouldn’t maintain contact with you was a telltale sign that there was more to the story.

“Don’t worry about it, just miss you is all. Did you find a date yet for the ball?”

“Oh yeah, I asked Jessica like you told me to.”

“That’s great! Are you doing anything later today?”

“Uh, I don’t know…”

“I’m going dress shopping for the Winter Ball if you want to come with me like you always do.”

“Uh…”

“Come on, Shawn, you’re not going to break tradition are you?” 

He desperately wanted to respond with, “You already broke a tradition by ditching me without warning and going with Grant,” but he bit his tongue. “Sure,” he replied with a heavy heart, “I’d love to help you pick out a dress.”

“Yay! Why don’t we go right after class?”

“Ok, I can pick you up at three?”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you later, Mendes!” You left a searing kiss on his cheek before rushing off to class, leaving him staring after you longingly.

____________________

“Any ideas on what you want?” Shawn trailed behind you like a lost puppy as you skimmed your way through the many clothing racks. 

“Not really. Just want something that says ‘Please don’t regret inviting me. I swear I’m a good choice.’”

He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips, “I don’t think you need a dress for that. You do that by yourself.”

You bit your lip to contain your smile, “Thank you, but I don’t know if everyone feels that way.”

“Well they should,” he mumbled, his fingers mulling over the beautiful items of clothing. A deep maroon, velvet dress caught his eye immediately and he pulled it out, examining it carefully before nodding his head, “Try this one on.”

“Hm,” you turned to look at him as he studied the dress, “Oh, that’s gorgeous. I’ll try it on if you want me to.”

He nodded his head before turning back to the dresses silently, not making any other comments as you looked around. Once you were satisfied with the dresses in your arms, you headed towards the dressing rooms, looking both ways to ensure that no one was around before pulling Shawn into one with you. He turned around as you changed; sure he had seen you in bikinis before and you were both sure that on more than one occasion when you were drunk that you had both changed in front of one another, but he still had enough respect for you to turn around whilst you put the first dress on. 

The first one was a simple black dress with long sleeves that you thought would be nice for the cold climate that came with living in Canada and although it was flattering, it didn’t feel like anything special. You turned to Shawn with a sigh, “What do you think?”

Personally, from the second you told him to turn around, Shawn swore he had seen an angel. The way the dress hugged your curves had him twitching in his pants and he had to swallow thickly in an attempt to control his thoughts. “I, um, I mean you look beautiful. I like it.”

“Really?” you asked, admiring yourself in the mirror, “I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel special to me.”

“Why don’t you just come back to that one then. I think it’s really pretty on you.”

“Yeah, you’re right I’ll just do that.” Four dresses later and you still hadn’t found the dress for you. There was a dark green one that you didn’t feel complimented your skin tone well enough (Shawn begged to differ), a black one with a plunged neckline that went way too far down for your comfort zone (Shawn was glad he didn’t have to protest against that one, he didn’t particularly like the idea of all the drunk, disrespectful boys in the frat seeing that), another black one that went too far down your legs (even though Shawn argued that it would keep your legs warm), and a light blue one that didn’t really fit your feeling of winter (Shawn almost lost his mind when you had bent down in front of him in that one to pick up a loose string that had fallen off of it). 

Finally, you had reached the dress Shawn had picked out for you, just as you were beginning to lose all hope of finding a dress. The moment you slipped it on you knew it felt different than the others: it fit you perfectly with a plunging neckline that showed just enough, the fabric wrapped along the middle to the bottom to accentuate your waist, your curves were shown in a way that it was flattering, but not too overwhelming, and the maroon color complimented your skin beautifully. You couldn't lie, Shawn had somehow managed to find the perfect dress for you. “Ok, you can turn around now.” 

He slowly uncovered his eyes and faced his body towards you, his mouth immediately going dry at the sight of you. The combination of your body in the dress and the gorgeous smile on your face was kryptonite for him and he couldn’t help but wish even harder that he was the one who was lucky enough to be your date for the ball. He motioned you towards him, rubbing his fingers along the fabric of the dress in a way that sent your stomach flipping. “This the one?” he asked, looking up at you with bright doe eyes. You nodded slowly, watching him tug his bottom lip between his teeth. “Grant is very lucky to have you as his date, honey.”

You paused. The thought of Grant taking you to the ball instead of Shawn had completely escaped your mind and in that moment you regretted ever agreeing to changing your date this year. “Yeah, um, right, I hope he likes it.”

“If he has a brain in that head of his then there’s no doubt he’s going to be blown away by you.” He gave a gentle smile your way before tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear and tapping your hip lightly, “Now go and get changed so we can go cash out.”

You nodded your head as he turned back around, silently smacking yourself in the face for the sudden butterflies that were forming in your stomach. Since when did he have such an effect on you? And why was he doing it so easily?

The moment you got to the cash register, he immediately pushed you out of the way and gave his credit card to the cashier before you could even pull out your wallet. “Shawn, why did you pay for that? I was going to…”

“Calm down, honey,” he laughed at your outburst as he opened the car door for you, “Think of it as an apology gift for me not hanging out with you as much as I usually do this week.”

“But…”

“No buts, it’s already done.” The car engine roared to life and all you could think about while you sat in the passenger seat of his car was how you were going to be wearing a dress that not only did Shawn pick out, but also bought for you while you had to act like you weren’t constantly thinking about him as you stood next to Grant the whole night. Shawn had made sure that you were completely and utterly screwed.

____________________

“Are you almost done?” you heard Shawn’s impatient call from your bedroom. You were living in a larger suite with a bunch of other girls so you were lucky enough to have your own bathroom attached to your room. Shawn had gotten ready in the bathroom before you but you refused to look at him until you were finished as well, not wanting to ruin the surprise. So he sat out there waiting for you while you fixed your hair and makeup relentlessly, watching the time pass by ever so slowly.

“Give me one more second!” you called out to him, adjusting one final strand of hair. You checked your makeup one last time before opening the door, revealing yourself to a Shawn who was sat perched on the end of the bed, phone in hand. 

He looked up at the sound of the door opening, his mouth dropping open ever so slightly, “Damn, you look just perfect.” 

You willed the heat in your cheeks to go away, “Thank you. You don’t look half as bad yourself. Quite dashing if I say so.” It was true, he was wearing a simple black button up with black dress pants that fit to his thighs perfectly as he stood up in front of you. His outfit shouldn’t have looked as attractive to you as it did, maybe it was something about the way he had the top few buttons open to reveal the small amount of chest hair he was currently sporting or the way his hair was styled to perfection with your favorite curl hanging out in front, but your heart couldn’t stop fluttering at the sight of him. And then it dropped the moment you realized that you weren’t the girl that got to walk hand in hand with him that night.

“Before we go I have something for you.” Shawn turned towards his bag where he pulled out one single rose for you, “I know I’m not your date this year, but it felt wrong to break tradition. Besides, needed to make sure a beautiful girl like you got a flower in case Grant dropped the ball.”

You were suddenly extremely aware of how close he was to you, his nose almost touching yours. His eyes flickered to your lips for a brief moment, so fast that you couldn’t even tell by the way you were so focused on his breath hitting your lips. “Thank you,” you whispered, “You shouldn’t have.”

“I definitely should have.” His eyes went to your lips once again, this time letting them linger slightly longer so you got the hint. Your hands were trapped holding the rose against his chest as his hands ghosted over your hips, fingertips teasing the fabric of your dress. Shawn tilted his head ever so slowly, nudging your nose with his until your lips parted with a breath.

The sound of your phone ringing broke the two of you apart in a hurry as though you were both afraid of being caught. You scrambled away from him, heading to your dresser to grab a hold of your phone, Grant’s name lighting up the screen making the guilt in your stomach grow. “Hey, Grant, what’s up?”

“Hey are you going to be here soon?” his voice filled your ear.

“Yeah, I’m leaving right now.”

“Perfect, can’t wait to see you.”

“Can’t wait to see you either,” your voice came out soft before you ended the call, bringing your phone down slowly to face Shawn. He had the same conflicted look in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher as he held eye contact with you. 

He let out a deep sigh, picking up his bag that was on the floor, “We should probably go.”

“You’re right,” you agreed, but made no move to head towards the door.

Shawn came over to you, placing his hands in his pockets. “Grant’s waiting for you.” You nodded your head. “Jessica’s waiting for me.” You nodded once again. He let out another sigh, putting a soft hand on your cheek and a kiss to your hair, “We need to go.” You watched as he walked towards the door, looking back at you once he reached the doorway, and you had no choice but to follow suit.

____________________

Oh my god, I almost kissed Shawn. We almost kissed and we would’ve kissed if Grant hadn’t called me. Oh my god Grant. Why didn’t I think of Grant when I was with Shawn? Shawn’s my best friend, I can’t like him like that. Does he like me like that? Can you imagine if he liked me like that? 

“We’re here.” You looked over at Shawn who hadn’t uttered a single word to you the entire way here and was already proceeding to get out of the car without you. The door slammed shut and you winced, not understanding why he was so angry about what happened. Did he really want to kiss you that bad? Your heart couldn’t help but beat faster at the thought of him wanting to kiss you, but you willed it away, instead choosing to clamer out of the car after Shawn and attempt to focus your thoughts on Grant who was without a doubt waiting behind that door for you. 

“Shawn, wait up!” you called out as you ran after him, almost catching up to him as he reached the top of the steps before your heel got caught on the step and sent you tumbling forward. The second a squeal left your lips, Shawn’s arms were already around you, effectively saving you from a face plant on the concrete. You looked at him breathlessly, trying to compose yourself after what felt like a near death experience, “Thank you.”

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern evident in his eyes. Even when he was combating his emotions he still cared so deeply about you.

“Yeah I’m fine. I wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for you though…”

“Y/n, there you are!” Grant opened the door, with a wide grin on his face, but upon noticing the position you and Shawn were in, his brows furrowed, “Are you two ok?”

“What?” you looked between the two of you, “Oh, we’re perfect. Just took a little tumble up the stairs is all.” Shawn pulled you up with an arm around your waist until you were stable on your feet before immediately retracting as though you were made of fire. 

“Thanks for saving her man,” Grant told him, clapping his shoulder as he snaked an arm around your waist, “Jessica’s been asking about you in there by the way. Told her you’d find her when you got here.”

“Right, thanks.” Shawn awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck before excusing himself to push past the two of you into the house.

Grant leaned in closer to you as you both watched Shawn leave, “Is he alright?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about him,” you reassured him, “Why don’t we get something to drink?”

“Sounds perfect.” Grant took your hand softly into his, leaving a light kiss to your cheek and leading you into the noisy house.

____________________

It had been hours since you arrived at the loud, people filled house. You had barely seen Shawn the whole night; you thought you might have seen him and Jessica making out in a corner at one point, but the multi-color lights in the house didn’t exactly make picking people out of the crowd as easy as it usually was. You had spent the entire night with Grant attached to your hip, whether it was while you were getting a drink, talking to friends, or dancing, he was always right by your side. His hands were currently on your hips, chest pressed to your back and peppering gentle kisses to your exposed neck as you swayed in rhythm to the beat of the song blaring through the speakers. The two of you hadn’t kissed yet, but with the way the drinks were affecting you, you doubt that statement would stay true for long. You were nursing your almost empty drink, the description of the contents long forgotten, all you knew was that your body had a nice tingly sensation running through it and your head was feeling just foggy enough that you knew exactly what you were doing, but you were willing to make some decisions you definitely wouldn’t make sober. Grant pressed a longer kiss to the back of your ear before whispering into it, “Stay here. I’m just going to run to the bathroom.” 

You nodded your head in his direction, taking the time to look around at the people around you. After waiting a few minutes for his return, you became bored and took it upon yourself to get yourself a new drink. You had been here enough that even drunk you knew your way to the kitchen so you easily maneuvered through the clusters of couples until you pushed open one of the entrances to the kitchen. No matter how much you desperately wished you couldn’t recognize the brown haired boy that was in there with you, there was no amount of alcohol that could make you forget his defining features. At the sound of the door closing, his head perked up to look at you and you became painfully aware of how the two of you were the only ones in there as you stared into his honey colored eyes. “Hey,” you breathed out, stepping closer until you were practically shoulder to shoulder with him. 

“Hey,” he bumped your shoulder with his, “Long time no see.”

The loopy smile he gave you told you that he was also feeling the alcohol, but probably only as much as you; the man knew how to hold his drinks. “Whatcha doing in here?”

“Told Jessica I’d get the both of us something more to drink,” he motioned to the two cups in front of him, “What about you? Where’s Grant?”

“Bathroom,” you replied, leaning back onto the counter, “I got bored waiting for him out there.” 

You lifted up Shawn’s hand that was resting next to you and began tracing the pattern on his fingertips. “What are you doing, love?” he laughed, the pet name slipping out as they usually did when he had some alcohol in his system.

“Playing with your hand.” You locked hands with him while he moved in front of you to make it all the more easier for you to continue your task. His large body trapped you against the counter, but you hardly noticed until his breath fanning over your face tore your attention away from his hand. “You’re very handsome you know,” you smiled, releasing his hand to run your finger over the light scar on his face, “So pretty.”

He let out a breathy laugh as he moved his now free hand to the counter to fully lock you in between his body, “That’s funny coming from someone who looks like those goddesses we used to learn about in school.”

“I don’t look like a goddess…” your voice trailed off, too occupied with outlining the features of his face.

“Yeah you do. Look like the prettiest one...what was her name again?” He smirked down at you, knowing Greek mythology used to be one of your favorite topics in school.

“Aphrodite?”

“Mhm, that’s the one. Swear you’re a real life Aphrodite.” He moved in closer to you, brown eyes boring into you and forcing your gaze back into them. He heard your breath catch in your throat as his nose touched yours, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...you’re just close is all.”

“I am close,” he whispered, biting his lip when he felt the hand you had on his jaw move to his neck. “Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“What would you do if I kiss you right now?”

Your wide eyes batted up at him innocently from where he was towering over you, your heart absolutely racing, “I’d kiss you back.” 

And with that his lips connected to yours feverishly, his body pressing to yours harder. His lips were soft and you could taste the alcohol from whatever drink he had been sipping on before that made him intoxicating. He licked tentatively over your bottom lip, practically groaning into your mouth when you immediately opened up for him. You tasted so sweet to him, so sweet that he swore he could easily become addicted to your taste. He pulled your bottom lip between his teeth, eliciting a soft moan from you that made his grip on the counter tighten and his hips push against yours harder. You could feel a bulge pressing against your lower stomach and you couldn’t help letting out another moan that Shawn eagerly swallowed into a kiss. Pulling him closer to you by his hair, he took that as a sign to thread his right hand through the base of your hair, the other hand reaching down to harshly pull your leg around his hip. Your hips bucked against his as his tongue fought yours for dominance that you easily gave him. 

Just as his hand was about to run up your thigh, the door to the kitchen burst open and Shawn swiftly moved completely away from you and back in front of the drinks he had originally come in for. You almost whined at the sudden lack of content, but the look of shock on the stranger’s face shut you up. It only took one look at your wide eyes and swollen lips and the sudden wrinkles in Shawn’s shirt for them to hastily exit the room with an apology spilling from their lips. 

The second they were gone you made your way back to Shawn, who was breathing heavily as he stared at the counter. You placed your hand on his chin, bringing his face back to you. Using your thumb to swipe at a rogue smudge of lipstick that had transferred onto him, you looked at him carefully, swallowing thickly when he placed a gentle kiss to the pad of your finger. You looked him in the eyes for the first time since your heated moment and while you could only see what you believed to be lust in his eyes, he saw yours change from lust to fear and to what finally made his heart drop: regret. “Oh my god,” you breathed out, successfully dodging Shawn’s attempt to grab your arm.

“Y/n wait!”

“I’m sorry, Shawn.”

“Please!” was the last thing you heard before you shut the door to the kitchen and rushed through the crowd of people. Your breathing was becoming erratic the deeper into your thoughts you got until you felt you were on the verge of a panic attack with no one to save you.

“There you are,” Grant sighed relieved, causing you to jump when his hand wrapped around your arm, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” 

“Sorry, I was bumped around in the crowd and got lost trying to find you again,” you lied, trying to avoid his eyes.

“That’s alright, I’m just glad you’re here,” he smiled at you, his brows furrowing while his hand came up to your lips, “Hold on your lipstick is a little smudged.”

Your eyes grew ten times wider, “Um, I think I must have just messed it up while I was drinking or something.”

“Ok, do you want to go dance again?”

“Yeah, uh, that sounds great…” your eyes met a frantic Shawn’s as he searched for you in the crowd, “You know what, I actually think I’m going to go home.”

“What?” Grant asked, confused as he followed you through the people.

“I just don’t feel good all of a sudden, it has nothing to do with you I swear. You’re amazing, I just need to go.” 

“Stay here overnight, don’t go home.”

“Grant, I don’t feel well.”

“I know, I don’t want that. I mean you’re gorgeous and everything, but if you’re not feeling well then obviously not. It’s just, I’m not in the right mindset to drive, it’s frigid out there, and a drunk girl all alone in an uber sounds like a horrible idea. So why don’t you just stay? I’ll sleep on the floor so you can sleep in my bed.”

“I don’t know…”

“Please, I just want you to be safe.” 

Your eyes lingered over to wear Shawn was still watching you, this time with Jessica in front of him, obviously trying to get his attention onto her. “You know what...sure. I’ll stay.”

A bright smile formed on Grant’s face, “Perfect, let’s get you all settled then.” He grabbed your hand and led you up the stairs toward his room, Shawn’s eyes following you with a heavy heart.

____________________

The next morning you bumped into Shawn in the hallway as you were exiting Grant’s room wearing his clothes he had let you borrow to sleep in for the night. Neither of you said a word as you silently made your way past him and down the stairs towards Grant’s car while Grant came strolling out of his room with his classic smile on his face, having no clue how heart broken Shawn felt when he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

____________________

It had been a week since you last spoke to Shawn. Not a single message or interaction between the two of you. You didn’t know what you would say if you even had approached him, but you hadn’t gotten the chance to find out. Having to pack up your dorm for the semester gave you an excuse for not talking and a way to busy yourself to get your mind off of him. But no matter what you did Shawn Mendes was still hanging in the back of your mind, taunting you with replays of different moments with him over and over again. You were lucky that this time you hadn’t been planning on driving back home with him so you didn’t have to face him on the hours long drive back, though you knew that didn’t mean you wouldn’t be seeing him at some point upon your arrival. All these thoughts were swimming through your head as you pulled into your parent’s driveway, immediately being met with a swarm of greetings from your family. You seemed to have arrived before Shawn, which you felt incredibly fortunate for as you were ushered into the house. 

You didn’t see Shawn the whole first week you were there either, no matter how much your heart ached for him. You found yourself more often than not wondering what he was doing just next door and if he was thinking about you too or if you had already become something unattainable and therefore not worth his time. Even though you knew he wasn’t that type of person, the little devil on your shoulder kept telling you that he wanted nothing to do with you anymore.

Christmas Eve you were tucked into your bed, soft breaths coming from your mouth. The snow was coming down in light, fluffy flakes, just enough that it was the pretty white Christmas you always loved without the terrible snow storm you couldn’t stand. The first knock on your window sounded like the wind, but the second one was unmistakable, abruptly pulling you from your sleep and to the window. A gasp escaped your lips when you saw Shawn’s face staring back at you and you hurried to open your window for him. “Thank god,” he chuckled, “It’s freezing out there.” Shawn had been climbing up the side of your house to reach your room since you were young, so it truly should have been no surprise to you that he was scaling it in the snow.

“What do you want, Shawn?” you sighed, already making your way back into bed as he followed you, “It’s two in the morning.”

“That it is,” he agreed, “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” you turned to face him, eyes only opening slightly in your sleepy haze.

He brushed a stray piece of hair out of your face, “You’re so cute when you’re half asleep like this.”

You shrugged his hand away, “Shut up.”

“It’s true,” he whispered with his hand still lingering on your face, “My little Aphrodite.”

Your eyes shot wide open, your senses suddenly wide awake, “What’d you just call me?”

“My little Aphrodite.”

You sat up next to him. “Ok, Shawn, what do you want? Why did you come here in the middle of the night on Christmas nonetheless?”

“Can’t I just say hello to my best friend?”

“You haven’t said hello to your best friend in two weeks so that’s not a good excuse.”

“Don’t say that like you haven’t been avoiding me either,” he chuckled darkly.

“I couldn’t face you, Shawn!” you choked out, eyes beginning to well up with tears as you scooted away from him, “I couldn’t, not after....not after that night.”

There was a heavy silence for a moment before Shawn spoke harshly, “Why’d you hook up with Grant that night?”

“What?”

“Why’d you hook up with Grant?”

“I didn’t hook up with Grant,” you spat out, “Why would you even think that?”

“You really expect me to believe that after I saw you not only go upstairs with him, but also leave his room the next morning wearing his clothes!”

“I do expect you to believe it because nothing happened! I wanted to leave after what happened because I didn’t want to be in the same room as you anymore and he offered me a place to stay since it was cold and I was drunk. Nothing. Happened.”

“You didn’t want to be in the same room as me? Wow.” He shook his head, leaning back against your headboard on the other side of the bed, “One second I have your leg around me, moaning in my mouth, and the next you’re leaving me without an explanation and now you’re going to tell me you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me?!”

“You don’t understand…”

“What don’t I understand?!”

“I couldn’t be in the same room with you after I realized something…”

“What did you realize, huh? What was so groundbreaking that you couldn’t even stand to see me?”

“That I was freaking in love with you!” Your mouth hung open. You had mulled over the thought of loving Shawn in the weeks you were apart, but you dismissed it every time, not believing you could have allowed yourself to fall in love with your best friend. Shawn stared at you with bated breath, his silence slowly killing you from the inside. 

Just as you were about to hide under your blanket in embarrassment, you felt something warm covering your mouth and a hand in your hair, his lips moving softly on yours. You sighed into his mouth, wrapping your arms around him eagerly to let him push you back onto your bed. He hovered on top of you, holding you close to him as he kissed you with every ounce of passion inside of him, stealing your breath away completely. His kisses were gentle, but still heavy with emotion. He parted from you to let you both catch your breaths, placing light kisses to your cheeks. “I am so in love with you, Y/n. You have no idea.” 

He left one last searing kiss on your lips before pulling away and leaning off the bed to retrieve a small wrapped box. “I got you something for Christmas.” 

You gingerly took the small box in your hand, carefully pulling off the paper to reveal a small black box. You looked up at him with curious eyes, but he only nodded his head for you to continue, placing a gentle hand on your thigh. Opening the box, a beautiful silver dove charm was revealed to you on a necklace, the light of your room catching off of it making it shine. “Shawn…” you breathed out, “it’s gorgeous.”

“It’s a dove. You know, the symbol of Aphrodite,” he smiled at you nervously, “Do you like it?”

“Of course, I love it. Put it on for me?”

Shawn pulled your back into his chest and brushed your hair out of the way to place the delicate necklace around you. Once the necklace was clasped, he left the softest of kisses to your shoulder. “There you go. Perfect for my little Aphrodite.”

[bubblefina]

King of Hearts chapter 14

Masterlist

Summary: Reader and Tom meet during their years at Hogwarts, but as the years pass a rivalry grows between the two of them, which leads from soft beginnings to tragic endings.

“Are you…alright?” he stepped closer to you, which made you step back and wipe at your eyes with your robe even harder.

“I’m fine.” 

“You’re crying, what happened?”

Pairings: Tom x f!reader

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.

Chapter 14- Not completely alone

The last few days before Christmas break were charming. Decorations were set up all across Hogwarts, allowing for a cheery and jolly feel, classes weren’t too hard, the professors were going easy on the students. Since the aurors were assigned to protect Hogwarts, no problems have arisen since the attack of the acolytes.

The Great Hall was especially Christmas themed, with twelve large Christmas trees around the hall, mistletoe hidden in the corners, along with falling snow that came from the ceiling.

“What are you planning on doing during your break?” Melissa asked you. She and Azalea were sitting next to each other, across from you, eating their breakfast while chatting about the upcoming holidays.

“Most likely the same thing as last year, maybe I’ll give Grace another beating for some fun.” 

The reluctance to go back home for the holidays was itching at you. You never made up with your mother after your fight during the summer, and if another argument were to happen now, it wouldn’t be good since she was expecting.

An owl flew down the hall and dropped another letter near your plate. It was addressed to you from your father. Opening it, your face dropped once you read what was written on it.

Dear Y/N,

Hello sweetheart, I hope that your school year is going well and that you’re doing good. Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. Me, along with your mother and brother are leaving for America to visit your mothers' brother for Christmas, by the time you get this letter we’ll most likely be packed and ready to go. Your mother insisted that we leave as soon as possible, since the airlines might be full as Christmas gets closer. I’d hate to leave you alone this Christmas, but I’ll make sure to send you a present on Christmas day. I’ll see you when you get off for summer break, take care, I love you.

Love, dad.

Exhaling sharply through your nose, you shove the letter into your robe and look down at your breakfast with disgust.

“What’s wrong?” Azalea asks.

“My family decided that they would leave for America right now and not bring me. Apparently the airlines would get fuller as Christmas rolls around. Plus flights are expensive, so I’m sure they’ll be saving money by not bringing me.”

“That’s awful! How could they celebrate knowing that you won’t be with them? I’m sure they could have waited a few more days.” Melissa looked as if she was just as hurt as you.

As Melissa kept talking about how wrong it was, a few tears formed in your eyes, but you blinked them away, not wanting to cry in front of all the students that were in the hall. Despite trying to hide your feelings, your heart felt like it was being squeezed into your throat.

“You’re welcome to join my family for Christmas, y/n. Although it’s probably just going to be my mom, me, and my aunt.” Azalea offered, her hand extending to yours, trying to give you a sense of comfort.

“Or mine, we’ll have lots of food, and lots of people.” Melissa said, now too, noticing that you weren’t looking the best either.

“Thank you for the offer, but it’s okay. I’ll just stay here at Hogwarts for the break, I’m sure they’ll have something planned for the holidays…excuse me.” you abruptly got up from your seat and ran towards the girl's lavatory, tears now swelling up in your eyes, too great to blink away.

While running, one of the tears fell, then another, making your vision blurry. Now that you couldn’t see very well, your shoulder harshly bumped against someone else's.

“At this rate, you might as well bump into a wall, l/n”

You rubbed your eyes until you could make out the face of the person who said that. With your blurred vision, you could see pieces of Tom's face, who looked the slightest bit concerned.

“Are you…alright?” he stepped closer to you, which made you step back and wipe at your eyes with your robe even harder.

“I’m fine.” 

“You’re crying, what happened?”

“Something not important, I need to go.” you rushed away from Tom, leaving him dumbfounded and alone in the hall.

In successfully avoiding everyone that appeared to walk near you, when you got to the girls' lavatory, the tears spilled mercilessly from your eyes. Why did it hurt so badly? It’s not like the previous holidays were that enjoyable that you had to cry about not experiencing it this time around. 

The bell for the first class of the day rang. You splashed your face with water and did your best to try to hide your red eyes. 

For the end of the first semester, professor Slughorn had decided to demonstrate how to make a frost potion. If brewed correctly, whatever the potion spilled upon would immediately freeze, and it couldn’t be counteracted because there was no antidote.

You didn’t bother paying attention during class. No notes were required, and it was only a demonstration, so the class wouldn’t be making the potion either.

“You’re sulking again, I see.” 

Solomon had incidentally been your potions partner for the past few weeks, and if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have made it through these past lessons. He had been skilled in potions, skilled enough to carry your partnership as you slowly followed along. 

“You noticed?” your gaze was still caving downwards towards the open potions book in front of you, not wanting to show your eyes.

“No one stares at a book for that long unless they’re sleeping or staring at the same sentence over and over again, now tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Same thing as last time, but the situation is different.”

“Different how?”

You took a small piece of parchment and wrote out what you had learned earlier that morning.

“Your family sounds horrible.” he passed the note back to you.

“Tell me about it, I don’t even know what to think anymore. It’ll be my first time being alone on Christmas.”

“You can come with me for Christmas with my family. Although pure blood Christmas gatherings can be quite overwhelming, extravagant balls, large tables filled with food, people judging you everywhere you go.”

“Thank you for the offer, Solomon, but I really don't want to intrude.”

“Very well then, but you won’t be able to hide your emotions forever. People will ask why you won’t make eye contact and why you keep sniffling every five seconds.”

Your eyes shoot up to look at him, “Is it that obvious, I tried to stay as quiet as possible.” you quickly wipe your nose to stop yourself from sniffling.

“Maybe, or I’m just that perceptive,” He chuckled and closed his book, “Cheer up, I heard that Hogwarts Christmas celebrations are beautiful. I’m sure that you’ll have fun, there will be plenty of students here too, you won’t be alone.”

“How do you always know what to say?”

“It’s just intuition, I guess.”

“Thanks for the advice, I’ll try to enjoy Christmas at Hogwarts as much as possible.”

You were finally able to look up at Slughorn after avoiding eye contact the whole period. Solomon was right, staying here for Christmas won’t be so bad, Hogwarts is already your home, and what better place to spend the holidays than at home.

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚

The rest of the week had passed by smoothly. You didn’t get another owl from your father, or from anyone else for that matter. Doing your best to complete the semester, you managed to convince Slughorn to give you an extra credit assignment to raise your potions grade. Since this year had so many mishaps, it was hard to keep up with certain classes, so you had to take some of your free time to study concepts that you didn’t quite understand.

Many of the students had already left Hogwarts for Christmas break, including your friends. They still offered to take you into their homes just in case you felt lonely, but you rejected their offer.

Now here you are, sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. A book about potions concept on the table, a glass of orange juice in your hand, and a turtleneck that was wrapped around your throat.

‘To understand the fundamentals of brewing a Hysteria potion, one must understand the uses for it. During the 12th century, a witch used this potion to-’

“Boring.” you whispered to yourself as you turned the page. The extra credit assignment that Slughorn had assigned you was to pick a potion from a known textbook, write an essay on it, and then make the potion in the potions classroom and have it inspected.

It sounds easy, but all of these potions were so boring to read through.

Having read enough, you put the glass of orange juice to your lips and began to sip it with your eyes closed. Maybe if you think hard enough, you could find a way to finish this assignment quickly, so you don’t have to spend the entire break staring into a book.

“What are you doing here?”

You opened your eyes and set down your cup.

“Oh, Riddle. I can ask you the same thing.”

Tom Riddle, dressed in a green sweater with a white collared shirt underneath. Of course, he’d look put together even during breaks.

“I asked you first.” he replied.

“I’m just hanging out, reading a book, eating some breakfast,” you held up the glass of juice that was partially empty and pointed to the book that was closed in front of you, “What about you?”

“I was heading to the library, and I meant what are you doing here, at Hogwarts. Shouldn’t you be at home lighting up a Christmas tree or something?” 

“I could be, but I can’t. My family went overseas earlier this week, so I had to stay behind.” you awkwardly looked around the room after answering, unable to sustain eye contact.

“Is that why you were crying earlier this week? Because your family decided to spend the holidays without you?”

“Shhh! No one needs to know about that, besides, I will gladly entertain myself with this book and other things.”

Riddle took a seat across from you and snatched the book from your grasps.

“Guide to potions-intermediate entries?” He opened the book and began flickering the pages with his fingers, “Why are you reading a book about potions during break, I know you’re in Ravenclaw, but you don’t strike me as the type to voluntarily read something.”

“For your information, I happen to be assigned a very important project by Slughorn, and that’s why I’ve been reading.”

Tom glanced up at you with a raised brow, “Slughorn assigned you an important project?”

You nodded at him, a satisfied smile on your face.

“Rubbish.” he said, closing the book and sliding it back to you.

“What do you mean?”

“Why would Slughorn assign you something important, I’ve heard about you in potions class. They say that Solomon has been your partner for the past few weeks because you’re too incompetent to be put with someone else.”

“Must you insult me at every meeting? I’m not incompetent, I just have a lot on my mind that’s distracting me.”

“I’m surprised there’s anything in your mind. What seems to be the trouble?”

You shoot him a look of surprise when he asks you, which causes him to shoot one back.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks.

“You’re asking me what’s troubling me?” 

“Is it a crime to do so?”

“No, it’s just weird coming from you, but if you must know, I just haven’t been feeling good since…you know what.”

Tom looked at you puzzled, “What are you on about?”

“You know…the thing!” 

“For the love of god, l/n, say what you mean.”

“The attack of the acolytes, it’s just messed up all things I considered normal. That and my own mother is just, ugh!” you groan out of frustration and wrap your hands around your face.

“You’re still worrying about something that happened over a month ago?”

“Aren’t you?”

“I was for the first few days, but I quickly got over it. Why are you still getting all worked up about it? And what of your mother?”

“What if it happens again, they got into the school so easily, no one saw it coming, what if some of them are still here, just disguising themselves as students or something.”

“You have nothing to be worried about. The headmaster and Dumbledore made security tighter, no one can apparate onto the campus at all, and they do security checks on everyone.”

“I suppose you’re right, but the overall experience has just bugged me since it happened.”

Tom nodded in agreement, and continued to look at you with an ‘I’m waiting’ look on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you ask him.

“You said something about your mother, don’t tell me she was an acolyte as well?”

“No, she’s not. She’s a muggle. She’s just…very difficult to deal with sometimes.”

“How so?”

“Our relationship hasn’t been the best, ever, really. When I would be bullied during school, she wouldn’t take the time to ask me if I was okay, and go immediately to ridicule me. When I showed signs of magic, she seemed even more irritated, and she began acting distant towards me. We had a fight during the summer that we never recovered from, and now I found out she’s pregnant and left to go overseas to visit her brother and leave me here, alone.”

“Congratulations on the new addition to your family, I hope that they’re nothing like you.”

You shoot Riddle a glare and watch as a mischievous smirk appears on his face.

“As for your mother, it seems it can’t be helped. She sounds like she doesn’t like magic at all. You’re half blood, right, how could she marry your father knowing he was a wizard?”

“Yeah, I don’t know either, I remember them having an argument about it when I first started doing magic, it didn’t sound so good. It’s just something I’m going to have to live with, at least my father is supportive of me.”

“That’s good, at least you have one parent that cares for you.”

“I’m sorry, is talking about this making you uncomfortable?” you noticed the faint irritation of his expression.

“No, no, it’s quite alright. Is there anything else that’s bothering you.”

“Nothing I can think of, but thank you. You’re a real easy person to talk to.”

It did surprise you, how good of a listener Tom was. He made it so easy for you to tell him everything that was bothering you, and he didn’t pressure you at all, and took the time to listen to your problems.

“If that's the case, then I’ll be heading to the library.” Tom got up from his seat and began to walk away.

You thought to yourself. Tom is excellent at potions, even as good or better than Solomon, one might argue. If he could help you with this potions project, then you’d be bound to get a good grade.

“Riddle!” 

Tom turned around when you called for his name.

“On second thought, I think I need help with something else too, if you don’t mind.”

“What might that be?”

You held up the potions book, “I’m slightly stuck.”

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚

Tom took you to the library to look for a better potions book for your project. You finally opened up and told him about the extra credit assignment. Surprisingly, he was happy to help you with your assignment, saying something about gaining Slughorn's favor.

“Here, this has unique potions that aren’t talked about during class. This one too, it has a few beginners stuff, also this one, it has some that’s good for everyday use.” he kept piling books into your arms until they started to wobble on top of each other.

“Riddle, I can’t carry this many.” your face was covered by the stack of books, but your strained voice told him that you really were struggling with the weight of the books.

He took off the top portion and placed them on the table that the both of you were sitting at.

“This is enough, isn’t it?” you ask him. There were multiple piles of books on the table, ranging from beginner potions to advance.

“I suppose.” Riddle put back the book he had in his hand and sat down in one of the chairs, you sitting across from him.

“How about a lunacy potion, turns whoever drinks it into a mad person?” You slide the book over to him, pointing at a small section.

“You’re already mad as it is, don’t need it to become worse. Besides, it’s an advanced potion, we need something more on the beginners side for you.” He slides the book back and continues reading his own.

“Then why did you pick all of these advance potion books, it's half of our inventory.” you ask, picking up all the books that were for 6th years and above.

“Those are for my entertainment. The ones in that corner are for you.” he pointed to the bottom left side of the table.

A flash from outside interrupted your reading as your gaze quickly turned towards the window.

“Relax, it’s just thunder. It’s beginning to rain, I heard there’s a storm that’s approaching.”

“I wasn’t scared, just curious.” you go back to reading the passages in the book, but get distracted again when the chandeliers above you start to flicker.

“Concentrate, or you’ll be stuck reading books for the whole break.” Tom demanded.

Your gaze travels back to your book, ignoring the flashing of lightning outside and the flickering lights above you.

The concentration doesn’t last very long, however. After a few minutes of silence, the table starts to shake slightly.

“Will you stop shaking the table?” Tom asks.

“It’s not me.” you try to defend yourself, but the shaking of the table gets more aggressive.

Suddenly, a head pops out of the middle of the table, causing you to let out a loud shriek.

“Now, there’s no need to scream about it.” It was a ghost. One of the more annoying ones, Peeves, was his name.

“You scared me half to death!” you breathe out, hand clutched over your chest.

“Guess I made a good impression.” The ghost let out a shrill laugh and flew away to another section of the library.

You were much too startled to possibly concentrate on the task at hand now. Flipping the pages of the book rapidly, you pointed to the first potion that showed up on the page.

“This one,” you said out of breath, “we’re making this one.”

Tom took a look at the potion you picked out and nodded, “A balancing potion? Not a bad choice, it seems simple enough.”

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚

The very next day you met with Tom in the potions classroom, which Slughorn let you enter for your assignment.

It was empty, but full of the ingredients you needed to brew the potion.

“What do the instructions say first?” Tom asks you.

“Grind exactly 40 sunflower seeds until they turn into fine dust.” you reach for the mortar and pestle, placing it safely on the table, and begin to add the sunflower seeds one by one, making sure that you add the right amount.

Tom was watching you with sharp eyes. He wasn’t going to help you hands on, no no, he was going to watch you like a hawk and make sure that you were doing it correctly.

“Next is to dilute gargoyle blood with pearl water and set it to the side, so it can oxidize for a few minutes.”

You carefully poured three spoonfuls of gargoyle into a small container, and then added two spoonfuls of pearl water and mixed the liquids together.

“Add two hickory leaves into a cauldron that is boiling with water.”

You set the cauldron onto the small fire burner and light a flame underneath it. Carefully pouring the water into the cauldron and waiting for it to boil.

“The next step after the hickory leaves is to add sapphire powder to the boiling water and wait for it to turn blue before mixing it 15 times exactly.” Tom was reading you the instructions while you observed the water becoming hotter and hotter, bubbles erupting in the cauldron.

“It’s making huge bubbles, and they look gross, is that supposed to happen?” you ask Tom out of curiosity.

“It is water that’s boiling, it’s bound to happen.”

“No, look, there's one over here that looks really weird-” you attempted to point at a forming bubble, but it backfired. The bubble erupted near your hand, causing boiling hot water to splatter itself across your skin, making you yelp in pain.

“What happened?” Tom put the book down and walked towards where you were violently waving your hand, trying to cool it down.

“That damn bubble burst on my hand. It’s not normal water, ugh!” the burning sensation made you bite your lip in pain.

“Forget about the water, here, let me take a look.” Tom grabbed your hand that you were shaking and examined it. The water that splattered on your skin dried and left a searing red mark.

“Hang tight, I know that Slughorn keeps salve and a few bandages in here somewhere. Stick your hand in some water to cool it down, make sure it's not too hot or too cold.” Tom went to a different area of the room and began looking for first aid supplies.

“Can’t we go to the hospital wing? It seems easier.” 

“Surely you’re not thinking of going to the hospital wing every time you get into an accident. Besides, it’s nothing too serious, here, give me your hand.” Tom walks back to you with a small jar of cream and a few rolls of a sterile bandage.

You place your hand in his and wince as he applies the cold cream onto your burn.

“It’s a salve for burns. Slughorn keeps a few on hand because some students tend to get burned by their potions or fires, especially first years.” He wraps the bandage around your hand, securing it in place with precision. 

Taking one final look at your hand, he affectionately rubs his thumb over the area where the burn had once been. The action made your heartbeat against your rib cage.

Quickly retracting your hand, you look over to the boiling cauldron.

“I’m telling you, normal water doesn’t boil like that, there’s something else in there.” you stare at the water from a distance, observing as more and more bubbles begin to pop.

This time, Tom takes a look at the water, and hums in curiosity. He cuts off the flame and cools off the water by using a wind charm.

Taking a spoon, he scoops some water out into a bowl to examine it closer.

“The water, it’s thicker. I’m guessing whoever used this cauldron last didn’t clean it properly, who knows what was stuck to the bottom of it. I’ll get a new one, discard this one if you will.”

You use your wand and levitate the cauldron to the area where dirty potion supplies were stored.

Tom came back with another cauldron and placed it on the burner.

“This one is clean, you can pour water in it, and we’ll continue.”

The process to prepare the potion continued, and this time, without any injuries.

The final part of the potion was to let it simmer overnight. During your downtime you began to write your essay about what the potion was about and what it was used for.

The book that the potion was in had all the information you needed, but you couldn’t help but blank when you were writing.

Your vision always returned to Tom, who was reading his own book, and to his hands, the very hands that caressed your own-

“Stop thinking about that!” you mentally slap yourself and go back to writing again.

“I'm done.” After about an hour spent writing, and your ink nearly running dry, you had finally finished the essay and rolled up the parchment and inserted it into your bag.

“Already? And here I thought you’d want to stare at me for longer.” he gave you an arrogant smile as he kept reading his book.

“It’s not like I wanted to look at you. I kept getting distracted, and you were in my field of vision, next time I'll look directly behind you.” you close the potions book and roll your eyes as he starts to get up from his seat.

“It’s getting late as well, dinner should be served not long from now. I’m heading back to my dorm, see you tomorrow, l/n.” The lights to the potions classroom flicker off as he exits the room, leaving you in darkness.

Your eyes head towards your injured hand once more. Was there a reason he rubbed your injury with such tenderness? Was it him trying to tease you? Who knows. Too tired to care anymore, you pick up your bag and head back to your dorm.

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚

The next morning, after breakfast, you were back in the potions classroom, observing your potion and reading what to do next.

‘Pour the mixture through a strainer and into a container. Place the container in an ice bath until it cools, and then your potion is finished.’

After carefully pouring the potion into the small flask, you put the flask into a bowl of cold water and waited until it was cool enough to drink.

“Started without me?” The footsteps approached and who do you know, Tom Riddle was up and early, sitting in front of you.

“I couldn’t possibly wait for you all day, what if you decided to sleep in?”

He rolled his eyes and examined your work area and the potion that was resting inside the cold water.

“Did you finish it?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m just waiting for it to cool down now, I’ll try it out in a few minutes.”

“I didn’t see you at dinner last night.” Tom fiddled with his fingers on the table.

“Oh right, I was a little too tired to come out from my dorm last night, I guess I missed dinner.” you gave him a straight lip smile and began to check the flask which seemed to have cooled down.

“It’s cool enough, let’s go try it out.” you gestured to Tom to follow you as you walked out of the potions classroom.

There was a room with tables that were long enough to walk on.

“Do you mind levitating them when it’s time for me to try it out?” you ask Tom. He nodded in response.

Opening the flask, you slightly smelled the liquid, it smelled like a smokey barbecue. Sipping a small amount, you gestured to Tom to start levitating a few tables, so you can test the potion. You stood on one of them and waited for him to pull out his wand.

 “Wingardium Leviosa.” he pointed his wand at the table you were standing on, and it started to rise near the ceiling of the room, the ground was so far away, Tom looked like an ant from down here.

“Facere Invalidi.” Another enchantment was cast from his wand, one that you didn't recognize.

“What are you doing?” you ask him, the table underneath you starting to shake.

“Well, it wouldn’t be fair to test a balancing potion on a wide table, so this would be more accurate. Hold on, I informed professor Slughorn that the potion would be done today, he’ll be here any minute.”

The table underneath you began to shrink in width, becoming thinner and thinner until it was like a thin balance beam.

Right on queue professor Slughorn walks into the room the both of you are in.

“Ah Tom, y/n, I see you’re ready to test out the potion. Which one did you pick?” He stood next to Tom and smiled gleefully.

“A balancing potion, sir. If brewed correctly, it allows the person who drinks it to balance themselves on anything.” you replied, legs slightly shaking.

“Very well then, but may I ask, why do you look like you’re about to fall off?” Slughorn asks.

“It’s not that I’m going to fall off. It’s just that I don’t trust him with levitating me for this long.” you gesture over to Tom, who rolled his eyes at your distrust.

“I see. Tell you what, I’ll levitate the table, and you watch guard Tom,” Slughorn took out his wand and chanted the levitating charm at the table while Tom let his enchantment run dry, “Now, begin if you may.”

You steadied yourself and took a deep breath. The table was still thin, but the effects of the potion were kicking in, making you much more relaxed. You slowly start to walk across the beam, the professor made it move around to test the abilities of your potion making skills, and so far it was working.

Slughorn made the table spin around a few times as you kept walking. The potion kept you perfectly balanced on the beam, earning praise from Slughorn.

“Well done, y/n! You definitely earned those extra credit points, I’ll collect the potion along with your essay.”

You sighed in relief, now you could finally enjoy your break. The effects of the potion were wearing off, you only took a small sip after all. Still balanced on the beam, you saw something emerge from it. Stepping closer to take a look, you rushed back when something popped at you. It was peeves, scaring you again. After the sudden shock, your foot slipped off the edge of the beam, struggling to keep your balance, the potion fully out of your system.

“Oh-” you groaned out as your hands flailed around you.

“Shit-” Tom watched as you were about to fall down and rushed under the beam, where he was hoping to catch you.

It didn’t go as planned. Instead of falling into his arms, you fell right on top of them, taking Tom tumbling down with you.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” you ask Tom, whose head  pointed to the floor. Your bottom was aching, despite his attempt to save you from falling, you still fell onto your bum in the end, and it hurt.

Tom got up and shook off his hand.

“I’ll be fine.” he turned to Slughorn, who walked over to the both of you and offered you a hand in getting up.

“Are you alright, y/n?” Slughorn asks.

“It aches a little, but I’ll manage.” you give him a forced smile and rub your lower back to soothe the pain.

“Well, your potion did work, how much did you take of it?” he questions.

“I only took a small sip sir, if I’d known that Peeves was going to scare me half to death I would have taken more.”

“Very well then, I’ll collect your essay along with the flask. If your pain gets worse, do go see madam Crafince, dear, hate for the rest of your break to put you in pain because of this.” 

“I’ll send them both to your office later today, professor.”

Slughorn waves you and Tom goodbye as he heads out of the room. 

“I guess that’s the end of our partnership. It was nice working with you.” Tom follows Slughorn out the door, leaving you alone in the room, again. At least the lights didn’t go out this time.

He didn’t even give you the chance to reply to his goodbye, his awkward goodbye at that.

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚

Later that day, you wandered to Slughorn's office, which was on the sixth floor of the castle. Knocking on the door, you heard him telling you to come in behind the door.

Slughorn's office was much more luxurious than any other professors. Decked out with fancy cushioned sofas, curtains looked as if they were made with velvet, a private balcony and even a grand fireplace. 

“Did you bring the potion and essay?” Slughorn asked, scrambling through his small potions cabinet.

“Yes sir, they’re right here.” you held up the flask along with the rolled up parchment, and he nodded at the sight of them. When you put them down on a nearby table and turned to leave, he stopped you.

“Well don’t leave now, come, take a seat, I’ll prepare some tea.”

You humbly took the offer and made yourself comfortable on one of his luxury couches.

A pot of tea had poured itself into a cup and was levitated towards you.

Slughorn took a seat across from you and was handed a cup as well.

“Is there something you wanted to talk to me about, professor?” you ask, blowing away the steam on the piping hot tea.

“Actually there is. I heard from professor Dumbledore and professor Elms that you are excelling in both Charms and Transfiguration.”

“They said that about me?”

“Yes, they seem very proud, actually. Your grades are at the top in those classes, and it is said that you dueled very well during your match with Lela Selwyn.”

“I think that was just me acting off of impulse during that match, but I do generally enjoy both charms and transfiguration.”

“You’ve become quite the talk among the staff. With sneaking off to the Astronomy tower late at night to being a fantastic dueler and great student. Tell me, have you heard of the Slug Club?”

“I have not, sir.”

Slughorn put down his teacup and cleared his throat.

“It’s a group of students that I find to have promising futures and excellent talents. From your progress and growing popularity, I can see you becoming a member soon, does it interest you?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I didn’t even know I was that popular to begin with, what does the club offer?”

“Well, firstly, during a few of my parties I invite important people from all around the world. Wizards and witches from the ministry, aurors, alchemists. They can help you get a head start in your wizarding career, and you young lady show promise.”

“It sounds like a wonderful offer professor, but I’m not sure if I’d want to join right now, would I be able to get back to you on the offer?”

“Of course, I’ll always have a spot open for you.”

You smiled as you sipped your tea, it now being cool enough for you to drink freely.

“If you don’t mind me asking, professor, who is in your Slug club?”

“Lots of people, a few of them being youngsters like yourself. You may know one, however, Tom Riddle.”

You stopped sitting your tea and looked at Slughorn in bewilderment.

“Tom Riddle is in the slug club?” you repeated what he said.

“Indeed he is. The boy is top of every class, I think both of you are tied in charms and transfiguration, however. He’ll have a wonderful future ahead of him, I’m sure.”

“Well that doesn’t seem too surprising, he is a seeming nerd after all.” you continued to sip your tea.

“He speaks rather fondly of you, y/n. Whenever we have tea together, he sometimes brings you up and tells of how he admires your determination to get what you want, along with your adeptness at mastering spells.”

“He talks about me, with tenderness?” you jokingly laugh at Slughorn's statement, finding it impossible for Tom to see you in that way.

“Yes he does. He’s rather fond of his fellow peers, never says a bad thing about them.”

You found it hard to believe. Tom was usually snarky with you, never expecting him to hold you to such high standards.

“I’ll keep that in mind, professor. Wouldn’t want to let you or him down. It’s getting late, I should get back to my dorm, thank you for the tea.” You set down the cup and head for the door, waving Slughorn goodbye.

You weren’t really going back to your dorm, you wanted to corner a certain someone and find out if he meant what he said.

You were going to find Tom Riddle, which wouldn’t be hard. Where else would he be other than the library?

[mariellaolden]

My favorite holiday

By: Mariella Angela H. Olden (December 17, 2023)

Growing up, I have always loved the cherished traditions that mark the Christmas season in our country. While other nations celebrate Thanksgiving at the onset of December, Filipinos, including myself, start to build our Christmas tree at home as soon as the "Ber months" commence. Christmas carols would be everywhere, and Christmas lights would light up every house in the streets. No place in the world could come close to the Christmas spirit here in the Philippines.

During my childhood, I have always believed in Santa Claus. Whenever it was the 1st day of December, I would write letters to Santa. Color it red and green, and draw it with symbols of Christmas. I used to be artistic as a kid. I loved writing and giving letters. My parents would tell me I had to finish it as soon as I could so they could send it to Santa through the post office. On Christmas Eve, I sleep early with excitement because I know Santa will come to our house along with his reindeers afterwards. Each morning of Christmas, I would wake up with joy, seeing my wish come to life. It goes on without fail every year. It was then that I came to the realization, just like in the movies, that Santa Claus was, in fact, not true but rather a legendary figure, a Christmas character who served as a charming tale that made children believe in the reward of their wishes if they behaved well to their parents throughout the year. Well, as for me, I found out when I was ten that the real Santa Claus in my life was my father and my mother, who made sure to give me the material gifts such as toys I wanted and written in my letter, all in the pursuit of my happiness. I am forever thankful and grateful for them.

Being the eldest in a Filipino household, I grew up celebrating Christmas together with my extended family. We would set up our Christmas trees and decorate our homes with lanterns and Christmas lights. Attending every Simbang Gabi and completing the nine-day masses have also become a tradition. After the mass, our evenings were sweetened with the delights of puto bumbong or bibingka as dessert after dinner. Each year, we plan a specific theme, pairing our attires with it, and the chosen best outfit is awarded a prize. By the night of Christmas, we would play different games for children and adults. Another segment of the program is the performances of every family, which they prepared days prior. The highlight of the night is whenever we exchange gifts together. Much of our memories were made up of the preparations, the holiday foods, and the shared stories. Our family makes time to celebrate together every Christmas. For most, this is just typical. But for mine, it is one of a kind. 

As the year passes and another Christmas season approaches, a faint but deep ache of sadness settles in. Memories of our previous celebrations flashback, marked by the presence of every family member – parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, children, and the inclusion of some close friends. There's a noticeable difference between those treasured times and now. Even while most are still with us to celebrate this holiday, the absence of others creates a shadow that highlights the hole left by those who are no longer here to join us in our seasonal gathering. I missed them, and I missed celebrating Christmas with them.

As the song goes, this is the season to be jolly. The season of joy and a time dedicated to celebrating the birth of Jesus. Beyond that, for us, it also serves as a period of reflection to look back on all the events and experiences we've had in that year. As we approach the end of the year, it becomes a powerful reminder that we have conquered the challenges, and we look forward to the promise of a new year: a fresh start and a new beginning.

Now, in my adulthood, I've come to recognize that the true essence of Christmas is still there. It never left. Despite the absence of some loved ones I wish were still here with us, their spirit and unwavering love remain in our hearts. If someone were to ask me what my favorite holiday is, without hesitation, I would still answer them with a smile on my face: it is Christmas. My sentiment extends beyond our traditions but lies in the joy of sharing this wonderful season with my favorite people.

If I were given the opportunity to make a wish to Santa again, my wish would not revolve around materialistic things anymore. Instead, my heartfelt wish would be providence, continuous good health of our family, and, most of all, to relive the magic of Christmas, not only this year but also in the years to come, just like the old times.

***

Mariella Angela H. Olden, 18, is a Biology freshman at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. She wishes to celebrate the holidays again with her family, just like the old times.

[geo-winchester]

I’ll be home for Christmas.

Summary: Eggsy was sent for a mission a few days before Christmas, his family thought they have to spend Christmas Eve without him, but he give them a surprise.

A/N: hey guys, I hope you’re doing well, so here’s another Christmas blurb, thanks to @farfromjustordinary for the request, I hope I didn’t disappoint you and I hope you like it! If anyone had another request send me an ask!

Holidays blurbs

—————————

Eggsy didn’t expect to be on a mission this time of the year, he imagine that this would be like any other year, he would help his wife making the food, help his children decorating the cookies while they listen to Christmas songs, watch Christmas movies with them or taking them to bed because they wait in the living room for Santa, he had everything plan but a few days before Christmas Harry send him for a mission, he want to refuse but he knew this was something important.

It supposed to be an easy mission, it supposed that he was just a tracking a guy but things get more complicated when they saw what kind of business he had. Every night he made the time to call his family, he heard what the kids do today and his wife try to tell him everything as if he was there. He look at the time on his phone before he call his wife.

-Hey, babe- she answered as fast as she could.

-Hey...

-What’s going on?- she asked worried.

-Nothing, how’s the night going, did you and the kids are having fun on Christmas Eve?- he asked.

-So that’s was about- she said -Babe, I know you want to be here but we know this job was important.

-I know, and I’ll be home soon- he said with a weak smile -What’s going on?

-Well, Rox try to help Michelle decorating the cookies, she end up eating most of the icing- she said laughing -then she want Icing too and they end up with a blue and green tongue- he laugh -they play with JB for an hour, Harry came over, he help me with the cook and he’s watching a movie with the kids... they ask him about you to day- she said.

-Really? What does he told them?

-He told them that their daddy was saving the world, now they think your an avenger- he laugh.

-I know you want me to be spider man- he said.

-What can I said, I have a thing for the guy who can climb walls.

-So that’s why you talk to me on the training room?- she hum in agreed and they laugh.

-Jesus babe... I wish you were here- she said in a soft voice.

-I know, listen I send you some gifts for you and the kids, Can you pick them up?

-Right now?- she asked him a little confuse.

-Yes! I want to hear your reaction...

-God Eggsy- he heard her walk to the door- if it’s the Pony Roxy is been asking for, you’re going to sleep on...- she stop talking when she opened the door and saw him standing on the porch, he smile at her.

-Is it better than a pony?- she nod in shock -ok I’m going to hang up...

-You’re here- she said before she run to him and hug him, almost making him fall -But how? Did you finish the mission?- he shook his head.

-I told you I’ll be home for Christmas- he said -We prepared everything so we could go home, beside Merlin is keeping an eye on the bad guys...- he couldn’t keep talking as she kiss him.

-Daddy?- a six year old girl asked from the frame of the door, when Eggsy smile the little girl run to him and he carried in his arms.

-Hey darling- he said with a big smile -were you having fun?- she nod.

-Mom let us decorate the cookies...

-And I realize that we have a couple of monster cookies- Yn said -We only have enough cookies for Santa.

-Grandpa Harry is here, he fall sleep with Michelle- the little girl smile.

-Do you want to do something fun?- Eggsy asked but his wife, stooped him.

-You ain’t going to scare them, you’re going to give the man a heart attack...

-Thank you for defending me, Yn- Harry said with Michelle on his arms -But I’m not that old- he said before he look at Eggsy and smile -I’m glad your home Eggsy, merry Christmas.

-Thank you Harry, and thank you for keep an eye on this little monsters.

-My pleasure.

They spend most of the night on the living room, after they had dinner on, the kids start to asked them questions about how they saved the world, of course they didn’t extend in every detail, they take pictures of the kids opening their presents, they take a picture of Harry with the ugly sweater they give him. Yn knew it was late when they went to bed but she didn’t want that night to end, she want to spend all the possible time with her husband, she want to spend all the time she could with her family. Know she was waiting for Eggsy to came back from down stair, when he finally get back he had the cookies they left on the living room and sit beside her as they took a cookie.

-Let me guess, our kids were on the couch, right?- He nod.

-They’re starting to grow, it’s was more difficult to take them to their beds.

-Or you’re getting older- she jokes making him rolled his eyes -At what time do you have to come back?- she asked after a moment, he bring her close to him.

-I had to get back tomorrow- she just nod -Hey it’s ok, we’re almost done and your handsome husband will save the world again... and you know what that mean- he winked at her making her smile.

-About that... there’s another present I want to give to you- she said as she went to her dresser and came back with a box in her hands, he look at her with curious. He start to open it excited to know what is it, when he open the box he took a little shirt that had something write it.

-Third is the charm?- he asked confuse until something -Wait... is this?- she nod -how, when..

-I found out a few days ago, and I’m thinking it happened when you saved the world last month- she said.

-Fuck, we’re having another baby- but she punch Him on the arm.

-Language...

-Sorry, we’re having a baby- he said with a smile and took her cheeks before he kiss her -Definitely this is the best Christmas gift.

-I hope you remind that when you have to change dippers again- they laugh before they lay side by side as they cuddle.

-I’m really excited about this- he said -Now I don’t want to go tomorrow- he start to play with her hair but before she could say or do something he low to her belly -Hey there, it’s your dad, I’m really excited that you’re there- he said -I have to go tomorrow, but I promise your beautiful mom and your amazing sisters that I’ll come back soon, I’ll be there to hear your heartbeat and lie to your mom that I saw you on the ultrasound- she laugh -but I love little bug.

-We love you too- she said, he kiss his wife.

-Merry Christmas darling.

-Merry Christmas babe.

[raindancer2004]

A Cullen / Volturi Christmas

Word Count: 2,357  Demetri x OC Cullen Part Two Warnings: Fluff

Esme and Lily decided to have a mom and daughter day and left the castle to spend it shopping for gifts, which worked out well as it was the last castle ‘tour’ day before Christmas. Esme drove them to the mall and once there they began their Christmas shopping although Lily couldn’t buy her mom’s gift with her there and Esme didn’t buy Lily’s that day either. Esme treated them both to a manicure in the mall’s beauty salon. Lily opted for blue nails and had snowflakes painted onto her ring fingers; Esme opted for red nails and had a snowman painted onto her ring fingers. “Thank you mom for the manicure” Lily said as she hugged her mom “You’re very welcome sweetie” Esme replied smiling.

Once Lily and Esme had finished shopping they made their way back to the car “Mom, will you help me with something but it involves going back into the mall?” Lily asked Esme as they were putting the bags in the car “Of course. What do you require help with?” Esme asked smiling “You’ll see” Lily replied smiling as they made their way back into the mall and down to the Christmas shop.

Demetri was surprised when he returned from guard duty that evening to find that Lily had bought and decorated a 4ft Christmas tree that now sat in the corner of his room between his desk and the bookcase. He also noticed that Lily had bought him a Christmas stocking with his name on and had hung it on his fireplace alongside one with her name on. “I hope you don’t mind but I wanted to make your room feel a little…festive seeing as we spend so much time in here” She said smiling at him “I don’t mind, it was just a surprise that’s all. The tree looks beautiful and thank you for the stocking.” He replied smiling, trying to ignore the warm feeling running through him, knowing that he was starting to feel fond of her “You’re welcome” She replied smiling “I have one back home and thought it’d be nice to hang a couple over your fireplace. There was a stall in the mall that personalised stockings and tree decorations” She added still smiling at him “I must admit I don’t usually decorate my room at Christmas but it does look really nice, although the tree is missing something” He said pointing at it only just noticing there was nothing on top of the tree “Oh yeah. Here I left this for you to put on the tree” She said as he handed him a white star and watched him place it atop the tree.  

The following evening Demetri took Lily’s warm hand in his cold one and led her down to the family room for what was supposed to be movie night, but Caius had decided on something a little different. “Right now you are all here; I can tell you the plan for tonight. Athenodora and I have spoken and instead of family movie night we’re going to have a family games night” Caius said addressing the room. “Bella will you shield the other teams’ thoughts from Edward so it’s a fair game for all” He added “Of course Caius” She replied; everyone was surprised that he had asked her rather than making it an order.

The teams were; ‘The Cullens’ – consisting of Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Edward and Bella, ‘The Royals and the guard’ – consisting of Marcus, Aro, Sulpicia, Caius, Athenodora, Corin, Afton and Renata, ‘Lily and the non-veggies’ – consisting of Felix, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Lily, Chelsea, Heidi and Santiago.

Once each team had a name they let the other teams know. “Who came up with their team name?” Bella asked Edward chuckling and pointing at Lily’s team “Felix did. He thought it would be funny and the others didn’t object” Edward replied smiling. “I can’t believe a Cullen is on the same team as the Volturi” Emmett said “Yeah, who would have thought?” Afton agreed “Lily is an honorary Volturi as she is staying with Demetri” Aro said smiling “Not to mention it makes the number of people on a team fair too” Jane added. Gianna was the one who created and read out the Quiz questions ensuring that there were topics for everyone “I have used Wikipedia and google for some of the answers so if any of the ‘History’ questions are not quite accurate you know why” Gianna smiled nervously “It’s ok my dear” Aro replied smiling. Lily’s team did really well when it came to answering questions to do with current music stars, modern films etc. “I’m glad you’re on our team cara or we probably wouldn’t have done so well” Demetri whispered in her ear, causing her to smile “See us humans have…other uses” She whispered back and giving him a wink; he nodded chuckling low “So it would seem.” Marcus smiled seeing Demetri and Lily getting along so well.  

Once the quiz was over they played charades, again Gianna had written down some ideas. Edward tried acting out ‘First man on the moon’ and the Cullens didn’t guess correctly “That was a bad impression bro” Emmett called out once Gianna called time “I did my best” Edward replied. Lily got a bit creative when it was her turn; she walked over to Aro and began miming a conversation with him “Interview with a Vampire” Demetri called out pointing at them “Yep” Lily replied smiling and gave Demetri a high five before sitting back down beside him. Corin acted out the ‘can-can’ which had everyone laughing and as a result her team almost missed correctly guessing the mime. Jasper went next and mimed ‘running man.’ When it was Demetri’s turn he pretended to eat something then fell to the floor with his eyes closed “Snow White and the seven Dwarves” Lily called out smiling, Demetri got up and nodded at her “Well done cara” He smiled down at her. “How do they do that?” Afton asked “I don’t know but it works in our favour” Chelsea replied smiling at her mate.

At the end of the night before everyone left Felix gained the room’s attention “Right Christmas is two weeks away and the Cullens have agreed to do Secret Santa with us this year. I have put all of the names in this bowl so please come and pick a piece of paper out of the bowl to find out who you are buying for” Everyone chose their ‘person’ and Lily smiled when she got Jane as she knew exactly what to get her from the conversations that they had had, where they had gotten to know one another a little better. Felix had picked Lily’s name and made a mental note to ask Alice or Esme for ideas as he didn’t really know much about her.

The Cullens had been at the castle for two weeks when their month long stay was extended until after the New Year at Marcus’ request. Carlisle was sitting in Marcus’ private study and they were reminiscing about the years when Carlisle lived with them when Marcus changed the subject “Carlisle I would like you and your family to extend your stay here by two weeks so you leave mid-January instead of a few days after New Year’s” “Is there a particular reason for the offer to extend our stay here Marcus?” Marcus thought for a moment before answering “No, nothing in particular I would just like to have you and your family around for a little longer” “I will speak with Esme but I do not see it being a problem” Carlisle replied and Marcus nodded. Carlisle sensed Marcus was up to something he just wasn’t quite sure what.  

Demetri had gotten used to hearing Lily play her favourite Christmas songs low in the background during her stay in his room. Once she found out his favourite Christmas songs she added them to her playlist and he was both surprised and pleased the first time he heard his favourites playing amongst hers. He also found that sharing his room with her was easy as she was just as tidy and organised as him, she enjoyed reading and he found himself enjoying her company and the conversations they had by the fire. ‘I could get used to this, to having her around’ Demetri thought to himself one night after they had spent the night talking and laughing about the antics that go on both at her house and in the castle; discovering that Emmett and Felix had more in common that people would think. He also found that the slight burning feeling in the back of his throat when he was around her was becoming easier to deal with; so much so he rarely noticed it was there now.  

Demetri, Felix and Alec were sent out to track down a couple of rogues who were hunting a little too close to Volterra and would enter the city of an evening. They were gone for the day and warned them to move on; however one of the rogues didn’t like the warning and went for Alec and got himself dismembered and set alight by the three of them. The other two rogues took off running and vowed never to set foot in the Volterra again.

The following morning Demetri went Christmas shopping for his Secret Santa; he had gotten Renesmee and bought her ‘Beach Barbie and Barbie’s Beach House’ as he remembered Gianna had told him that all little girls loved that sort of thing, when she’d bought one for her niece’s birthday a few months prior. Demetri bought a gift for Felix and Heidi as he always did but this year he bought a few extra gifts that were to be given to Lily as he enjoyed her company and had started to think of her as more than just his friend’s daughter. He was pleased with his purchases and couldn’t wait to see everyone open their gifts, especially Lily. He wrapped the gifts that night whilst she slept and hid them at the back of one of the cupboards in the closet knowing Lily would never look in there and because it was out her reach.

Lily went shopping that afternoon with Chelsea as they had gotten the twins for their Secret Santa. Lily bought Jane make-up from Mac; two x eye shadow quads, a contouring kit and a selection of lip pink glosses. Chelsea bought Alec a book of poetry and a book containing 365 puzzles; one for each day of the year. Lily bought her mom’s gift too during this trip deciding on a rose gold bracelet with a heart charm and her mom’s favourite bath products. Lily also bought a few extra gifts that Christmas, which were for Demetri as a thank you for sharing his room with her and because she had come to think of him as a friend, although she secretly hoped it would become more. Chelsea smiled at Lily “It’s nice that you bought him something, he’ll appreciate it” “Thank you Chelsea, but please don’t tell anyone” Lily replied “Of course not hunny, this stays between us. I promise” Chelsea responded and drew a cross over her frozen heart; both of them giggling.

Later that evening Lily decided to run herself a bath and used one of her Cranberry Martini bath bombs. The bath was ready and she was in the closet looking for something comfortable to change into and decided to borrow one of Demetri’s jumpers, knowing he wouldn’t mind. Meanwhile, Demetri had returned to his room after being on guard duty that afternoon and could hear soft music playing and the smell of Cranberry coming from the bathroom and noticed the bath full of hot water and bubbles ‘Don’t mind if I do’ he thought to himself as he quickly undressed and climbed in the bath; the hot water relaxing his tired muscles. Lily entered the bathroom in just her robe and dropped it to the floor and turned around to climb in the bath when she saw Demetri laying in the tub with a big smile on his face “Hello darling, I must say...this is a beautiful sight to come home to” He winked at her “Well make some room then” She said and walked towards the tub; Demetri’s eyebrow rose in surprise “I ran the bath for myself using one of my favourite bath bombs…so now we’re sharing seeing as your tub is big enough for two” She added climbing in the bath and adding some more hot water. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him; her back resting against his chest “Who knew sharing my room with you would lead to having a bath with you” He said low in her ear “This is our little secret…if you want this to be repeated whilst I’m staying here” She said as she shifted slightly in his arms so she could look at him “So this ‘accident’ can be repeated…huh…my lips are sealed” He replied smiling and placed a kiss to her shoulder; her eyes closing at the feel of his lips on her skin, he left a trail of soft kisses along her shoulder working his way up her neck before capturing her lips in a light kiss. They looked at each other for a moment before she leaned up slightly and pressed her lips to his; one of his hands made its way to her face, gently turning it towards him allowing him to deepen the kiss “Wow” She breathed out when he pulled away allowing her to breath; he nodded and they both leaned into one another sharing another kiss before she relaxed in his arms enjoying their shared bath ‘Mine’ he thought as they laid there; him holding her close to him.

That night as he sat on his bed reading one thought kept going round in his head ‘How do I show her she’s mine’ He smiled looking down at her asleep in his bed; then it hit him ‘Jewellery.’

[krisdreaming]

PART 2 | A PLAN

｢ Masterlist ｣  |  Next >

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x gn!reader

Summary: Somehow, you ended up agreeing to bring your non-existent boyfriend to the family Christmas gathering at your grandparents’. Your chem lab partner and fast friend, Kuroo Tetsurou, agrees to play the part. Your developing feelings for him won’t cause any problems, right?

WC: 1.7k

A/N: As you’ll (maybe) notice there are a few small tidbits I lifted from the original fic, but this is very different from it in a lot of ways! I hope it isn’t seeming too repetitive for those of you who have read the first one. Also, I know it’s a bit of a slow start, but I promise it’ll really get going in the next part.

You plan to meet Kuroo at the coffee shop again a week later. This time, you beat him there, which gives you the perfect opportunity to gather your thoughts. As you wait in line to order, you remind yourself for the hundredth time that this is really happening. Kuroo Tetsurou with his messy hair and his teasing jabs and that stupid smile has agreed to spend three whole days pretending to be your boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong?

Luckily, before your mind can concoct an answer, your turn to order comes up. Remembering last week, you order a cup of black coffee in addition to your usual macchiato. It’s a french roast, described as “dark and bold” on the menu. For the guy who reminds you daily that adding anything to coffee is only for the weak, it seems fitting. The comment is always paired with a teasing wink that shoots right to your middle, but that’s definitely not what you need to focus on as you carefully carry the two mugs to a table by the window.

You get situated and you’ve just taken your first sip when Kuroo plops down across from you. “Hey.”

“Hey! Here,” You push the mug in his direction.

“Oh,” He peers into the mug and gives a small, approving nod, “Thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s for last week,” You say with a wave of your hand, watching as he lifts it to his lips and takes the first sip. When he sets it back down, he holds the mug in front of himself with both hands.

“You were right,” He says suddenly, “This coffee shop is better than the one on campus.”

“Oh really?” You grin smugly.

“Don’t look too proud of yourself,” He laughs, lifting his mug and taking another sip, “You’re the one who has to hire a fake boyfriend.”

“I didn’t hire you,” You snap back quickly, “And it was your idea, if you’ll recall.” You sigh, propping your chin on your hand. Judging by the expression on his face, he’s already enjoying this far too much.

“Details, details,” He waves his hand. “Doesn’t matter. I am curious, though. Why exactly did you tell your family you have a boyfriend when you don’t?” The question comes from a place of genuine curiosity, but you still feel your cheeks begin to burn. You glance down into your own mug so you don’t have to look him in the eye.

“It just gets old, you know?” You mumble to your coffee. “Having everyone ask about it at every family gathering. It seemed so easy to just make up a tiny story. It wasn’t supposed to get this big,” You laugh weakly. “I know it was stupid to lie. I guess I just didn’t want them to be disappointed in me.”

“I get that,” He says softly. “But hey, what do you need me to do?”

You shrug. You haven’t thought about that end of things as much as you probably should have. “Just... be my boyfriend. Charm their socks off. I know you’ve got it in you.” You chuckle. “It’ll be nice to have someone there,” You add after a beat.

“Yeah?” He says, leaning in a little closer. You’re a bit surprised by how much he genuinely seems to care. Half of you had expected him to treat this whole thing like it’s a big, elaborate joke.

“A lot of my cousins have significant others already. Maybe that’s why I felt like I had to make one up. Sometimes I just feel like the odd one out. Don’t get me wrong, I love them,” You add quickly, “But it’s just…”

“I get it,” He saves you from your floundering. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be there. And as an honorary grandson, tell your grandma she can feed me as much as she likes.”

You stifle your laughter behind your fingers. “You think it’s a joke, but she might just take that as a personal challenge,” You shake your head, already feeling a little bit lighter. “Anyway, we need details, don’t we? About our ‘relationship’?” You lift your hands to make exaggerated air quotes.

“Probably a good idea,” He nods, “How awkward would it be if our stories didn’t match?”

“I’d rather not think about it.” You squeeze your fingers tighter around your mug. “So we started dating a few weeks into the school year, I guess?”

“Sure, makes sense,” He props his chin on his fist, his lips curling into a half smile as a teasing tone cuts into his voice, “And was it love at first sight?”

You think back to that first day of class. You’d been running late because you were having trouble finding the room. You’d slid into one of the few open seats left, next to that ridiculous head of hair, and you’d glanced at him in a silent apology as he flashed you a quick smile. Love? Probably not, but you can’t forget the slight leap you’d felt in your middle and chalked up to nerves.

“Why not?” You say lightly instead, adopting his teasing tone. “And for our first date… we saw a movie, then came here for coffee after. That’s normal, right?”

“Sounds like it to me,” He shrugs. “And you can call me Tetsurou. I don’t mind. Or even Tetsu.”

You think about it for a moment, mentally testing the words on your tongue. His full name seems strange enough, never mind shortening it to a nickname. “Tetsurou,” You clear your throat, “Tetsurou is fine. Thanks. And you can call me Y/N.”

“Perfect. Y/N.” He says it experimentally, a strange small smile on his face. Something in the air between you feels just a little heavier, but you push forward before you can think about it too much.

“And I should warn you,” You run your fingertip absently around the edge of your mug, “My grandma is going to show you every single photo she’s ever taken of me. Last year, it took her almost an hour to get through them with my cousin’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, perfect, I was running out of things to make fun of you about,” He just barely dodges your hand as you reach across the table to swat him.

“And my family loves all kinds of games, so we’ll probably end up playing a lot of different ones,” You continue, choosing to ignore the playful jab. “So I hope that’s not too boring for you.”

“Are you kidding? Boring is sitting at home with my dad and eating the dinner he ordered from the store. Honestly? I’m looking forward to this. Christmas with your family sounds kind of like paradise.” He looks into his mug for a few moments before lifting it to his lips and draining the last swallows. “If you want the truth, I think you’re pretty lucky.” He finishes softly.

Your breath catches in your throat for a few moments. You forget, sometimes, that not everyone has a close, crazy, embarrassing family like yours. You open your mouth, but before you can come up with a response, his expressions shifts back to his easy smile as though he hadn’t said a word.

“We’re going to have a great time. I won’t let you down,” He lifts his hand, pinkie extended, and you don’t catch on right away. “Promise,” He prompts, sticking his hand out a little further. After a moment of hesitation, you reach out and link your pinkie with his. He grins.

“Thanks. Hopefully I don’t let me down,” You say with a chuckle, pulling away and lifting your mug to swallow the lukewarm dregs in the bottom. “I should be getting back,” You say as you set the mug back down, “I have a history exam before break starts, and I really need to study for it.”

“I should get back too, I have an assignment due tomorrow that I haven’t started yet,” He admits sheepishly.

“Tsk, tsk,”  You tease as you push back your chair and stand, knowing full well that you’re the last person who can scold him for procrastinating. Judging by his incredulous expression, he’s fully aware of that fact. Side by side, the two of you step out into the early winter darkness.

“Really though, thanks for helping me out,” You say as you start making your way down the sidewalk, your words puffing steam into the air, “I appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” He knocks his arm against yours. “To be honest, after all your talk about your grandma’s cooking, I might have tagged along even if I didn’t have to pretend to be your boyfriend,” He laughs.

“You certainly won’t go hungry,” You agree, “She’ll make sure of that. Just don’t blame me if it affects your volleyball physique.”

“Don’t worry, I’m naturally slender,” He pats his middle, “I’ve got the quickest metabolism you’ve ever seen.”

You shake your head with a chuckle. “If you say so.”

The remainder of the walk back to campus is relatively silent, the two of you walking with your hands shoved down in your pockets against the cold. Occasionally, his arm brushes against yours. It’s nice in a way, just being next to him like this. You don’t feel any pressure to fill the silence with mindless chattering, and he obviously doesn’t either. You’re content to just walk together through the chilly night.

Winter break starts in less than a week, and you and Kuroo will be leaving for your grandparents’. In an odd way, you’re looking forward to this. Of course you always enjoy spending the holiday with your family, but knowing that Kuroo will be there too has you anticipating it just a little more than usual.

You’re so lost in your thoughts that it takes a few moments to realize you’ve come to a stop in front of your dorm building. “Alright, guess I’ll see you in class Tuesday,” Kuroo says, lifting his hand in a wave.

“See you then,” You wave back, watching his retreating back for a few moments before turning to go inside. You close your hand into a light fist at your side, remembering the feel of his pinkie linked with yours. It isn’t until you’re back in your dorm that you realize that, despite the long walk in the chilly evening, you don’t feel cold at all.

[wannawritefast]

Whiplash: Ch. 3- Practicing

A/N: Thank you for your kind words, lovelies! I really appreciate you guys engaging with my work.

Pairing: Gwilym Lee! Brian May x Reader

Pt. 2

Warnings: Mild language, alcohol, again... mentions of Stupid Men... fluffy??? kinda???

You and Brian had worked out that you would split the holiday between your families: Christmas with yours and New Year’s with his. Although you had confirmed with your parents and brother that you did, in fact, have a (fake) boyfriend and, yes, you were bringing him for Christmas, that didn’t make you any less nervous. You weren’t entirely certain you could even pull it off.

Brian suggested acting as if the two of you were a couple before you left for holiday. Just so it would be easier to play the part later.

The whole experience gave you metaphorical whiplash. It wasn’t because of any drastic changes in behavior. It was quite the opposite actually.

There wasn’t a massive change in how the two of you interacted. Sure, there was a little more couple-y PDA. But there was no other change in how he addressed you or interacted with you. That was what was most alarming. And, boy, did people buy it…

“Brian, I can’t just buy cereal for dinner.” You tidily placed the box of sugary carbs back on the shelf with a pointed look at the curly-haired man and continued pushing your trolley. Brian followed closely behind but not before plucking the box off of the spot you had placed it on, unbeknownst to you.

Brian underhand tossed the cereal over your head and it landed in the trolley with a clang. You could practically hear the defiance echo through the metal after the brightly colored box cut majestically through the fluorescent lighting. If you weren’t so taken aback, you would have been impressed with the aim.

You halted and immediately looked at your faux boyfriend. There he was, whistling and inspecting another box of cereal with trained attention. You plucked the box out of the trolley and tried to stroll past him but the box slipped out of grasp suddenly.

You whirled around and saw the cereal box in the hand of your favorite curly-haired guitarist. Brian shook it victoriously with a brow raised in challenge and you narrowed your eyes, determined. Oh, if he wanted to play… you could play.

All Brian had to do was hold the box straight in the air while you jumped up desperately trying to reach it. He even taunted you a few times lowering his arm just enough but raising it again when you got close.

“Brian,” you whined exasperatedly. Trying to be angry at him was much too hard when he was chuckling at you with that cocky smile on his face. “Give it back!”

“No way!” He replied. “You’re very cute right now, did you know?”

You rolled your eyes but didn’t relent. And you certainly didn’t let him see the blush spreading on your face. “I see we’re trying to charm our way out of trouble again.”

“Ah, indeed I am,” Brian affirmed with a cheeky smile. You kept hopping up to reach it. You would have to work smarter not harder. “Is it working?”

You huffed a few times, beginning to tire, and blew a strand of hair out of your face and ceased all jumping. He cocked his head in confusion and you pressed a peck to his cheek. Now it was his turn to be stunned. 

Brian’s guard was down and you swiftly pulled the cereal box out of his hand. While he was still in shock you tucked the box into your torso and moved to run back to the spot where you had found it, not unlike a rugby player.

You made it about half way there before long arms locked around yours and stopped you. You squealed in surprise and Brian spun you around dramatically from behind. The cereal remained in your vice-like grip but Brian wasn’t letting go any time soon either. His laugh was right next to your ear and yours joined in.

“You kids are so cute.” A brittle voice sounded from behind you.

You and Brian immediately halted your antics, unraveling yourselves, and stood stiffly next to each other like two kids who had been caught red-handed. Your arm swung the cereal box roughly into Brian’s chest and he grunted. You blurted out an apology.

“No, don’t stop on my account.” An older woman shakily supported herself on her trolley. Her hair was white and her knuckles were knobby and her back was hunched but she smiled sweetly at the two of you.

“I remember when my Harold and I were that young,” she rasped. The woman put her hand on the middle of her chest. You giggled sheepishly to diffuse the awkwardness. “It seems like just yesterday that we-”

“Marianne!” An older man yelled a little too loudly from the end of the aisle.

“I’m right here,” she answered. Harold hobbled over to where she was and put two boxes of chocolate biscuits in the trolley. “Harold, we have biscuits at home, luv.”

“But not the good kind,” he groused.

“We bought them yesterday, darling,” Marianne explained. “They’re blueberry. We only bought them because you said you wanted them. I don't even like blueberry.”

“Well, I changed my mind. I want chocolate biscuits now.”

Marianne rolled her eyes. “You do this every time. It’s wasteful. We’re not getting the biscuits.” She began waddling away still muttering to herself with the trolley after placing the biscuits on the shelf next to her.

Harold watched her with a frown on his face. After making sure that she was no longer paying attention to him, he mischievously put a finger to his lips and shushed you and Brian. You put a hand over your mouth to stifle your laughter. He grabbed the boxes off of the shelf and marched slowly but surely after her.

“My God…” Brian muttered after Harold was out of earshot. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”

You hiccuped on your laughter as you watched Marianne scold Harold from the other end of the aisle. “You think so?” You asked.

He hummed contemplatively. “I’m about 80% certain.”

“Only 80%?”

“Yeah, I figure if you don’t murder me before we reach that age, I’ll actually outlive you.”

“Oh, really,” you laughed. “And why would I commit such a heinous act?”

“Because of this.” Before you had a chance to stop him, Brian took his arm and scooped approximately seven boxes of that godforsaken cereal from earlier into his chest and shot toward the basket. He dumped the boxes haphazardly into the trolley and began pushing it away like a mad man.

He made it to end of the aisle and made sure you saw him drift the cart as he turned into the next aisle.

A child… You were fake dating an actual child.

[{...}]

The following weekend your sister came into the city to visit you. When she had originally planned to visit you, you had been sans fake boyfriend. But since you had made the arrangement with Brian, she was much more excited than she had been initially.

Donna took to temporarily living in your flat with extreme comfort. Your cat certainly enjoyed having another person around to dote on him and you certainly enjoyed having someone else to talk to. Brian was a great friend, er, fake boyfriend but it was nice to have another friendly face around.

Having your sister over meant showing her how you lived and taking her to the places that you usually went and that included seeing Queen play a gig.

With an ale in hand, you headed backstage little sister in tow. The people guarding the doors knew you by name and let you pass. Following intuitively the layout of how most pub stages worked (you had been to plenty of Brian’s gigs before to understand) you navigated your way to where the band was backstage. 

“Hey,” you bumped Brian with your shoulder who was turned around, tuning his red guitar.

Brian immediately smiled upon recognizing you. Instead of greeting you with a side hug, he took the mug out of your hand with a ‘for me?’ and began chugging it.

“Hey!” You scolded. You grabbed at your mug but by the time you got your fingers around it, half of your ale was gone.

“That was really good, thank you!”

You kept a tight grip on your mug in case he was getting any ideas about continuing his antics. “I asked if you wanted one!”

“I changed my mind.” He shrugged. “Plus, it tastes better when it’s yours.”

“So you just decided to drink my mug half-empty?!”

“I prefer to look at it as half-full,” a smile spread across his face. Cocky bastard. You batted your palm toward his shoulder and he laughed gleefully at your reaction. Brian caught your wrist mid-swing and halted your assault. You paused standing as still as Brian was.

“If you wanted me to grab you one, you should have told me,” you spoke gently, suddenly calm for some odd reason. “I offered to get you one.”

He still had his hand on your wrist. It wasn’t tight but the contact was there.

“I might take you up on that after the show,” Brian contemplated. He slid his hand down to hold yours and swung your arm playfully. “Thank you for letting me have some of your drink-”

“I didn’t really have much choice in the matter.” The lights on stage slowly turned on.

Someone cleared their throat next to you and you suddenly remembered that your sister was, in fact, present as well. Brian let go of your hand gently and turned to face her.

“Donna,” she supplied with an extended hand. Brian shook her hand firmly with a smile.

“Brian,” he answered politely, “it’s nice to finally put a face to the great ‘Donna.’”

“Likewise. My sister and I don’t get to meet up often but when we do, she does NOT shut up about you,” she looked at you with a giggle.

Your sister really loved digging you into holes, didn’t she? You gave her a pointed look. The realization of her lack of filter dawned on her suddenly.

“Not that she doesn’t talk about other things! She talks about you a normal amount. Definitely not obsessively or anything like that!” She rushed out her words in a poor attempt to fix what she had said. Donna smiled at you like she had smoothed everything over.

“Please make me sound more creepy, Donna.” You iterated through gritted teeth.

Brian chuckled. “Aw, you couldn’t be creepy if you tried.”

“Thank you, Brian.”

“Maybe a tad pathetic,” he joked with a grin. “A little sad, perhaps.”

“Yeah?” You lightly smacked his arm. He laughed in response. “Keep talking, poodle.”

Roger jogged up to the two of you. “Hey, Y/n,” he greeted with a charming look. The drummer clapped his friend on the shoulder. “We’re about to go on.” Roger suddenly noticed Donna next to you and turned up the charm. “Hello there. I’m Roger.” He extended his hand toward hers.

Donna smiled back at him and grasped his hand as she introduced herself. “You must be the drummer.”

“You’re a smart girl, how’d you know?”

“You’ve got drumsticks sticking out of your pocket.” She explained. “I have good eyes.”

“They’re beautiful, too.”

You rolled your eyes and groaned. But neither your sister nor Roger heard you. Your sister giggled and twirled the end of her hair around her finger.

Not this… anything but this… 

Brian chuckled and put an arm over your shoulders. He rubbed the side of your arm. The body of his guitar lightly rested against your side.

“I’d be more than happy to give you some private drumming lessons after the set.” Roger took the drumsticks out of his pocket and twirled one of them skillfully in his fingers. “How’s that sound?”

Before she could get another word out you interjected, “Yeah, that’s not happening. Turn it around and march it away, Rog.”

Roger faced you with a scoff. “But-”

“Did I stutter? Move it along, casanova.”

“Y/n!” Your sister scolded incredulously.

But you didn’t pull your gaze from Roger. You narrowed your eyes at him as he defiantly pressed his lips together. “Fine.” Roger stalked away.

“Are you kidding me, Y/n?!” you sister asked. “He was cute.”

“He does this with literally every girl, Donna.”

“Whatever.”

Brian turned back to directly face you and pulled his arm from your shoulder. “Anyways, I’ll take you up on that drink offer after the show, darling.”

If trying to repress your blush from his pet name wasn’t enough, he grabbed your open hand suddenly, pressed an exaggerated kiss to the back of it, and let it drop to your side. Brian walked to the huddle, leaving you dumbstruck with a half-finished mug of ale and an irritated younger sister.

It took you a moment to come back to reality and go back into the fray to watch the show.

[{...}]

The set ran unbelievably smooth. But to be fair, they usually played without any noticeable mistakes.

As per routine, you went out with the band to get drinks and you did, in fact, buy Brian a drink. He claimed to have been joking but you still got him a mug of ale.

The two of you together waited for the round that you were covering at the bar.

“How was the set?” Brian asked, leaning sideways against the bar and facing you.

“Horrible,” you sighed exaggeratedly. Brian’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m kidding. It was wonderful as usual.” You patted his cheek affectionately. He gnashed his teeth at your hand as you pulled it away.

He glanced over his shoulder at the table where the rest of the band, Mary, your sister, and a groupie were sitting. Your eyes followed his quick glance.

“And what’d your sister think?” He asked.

“Still a little cross at me for preventing the Roger situation. She’ll get over it by the morning though and-”

Brian cut you off. He turned back to you, looking down and fiddling with his fingers. “No, darling. Not about Roger. What’d she think of the music? Me?”

You smiled at Brian. He was nervous. There was certainly no need to be. “Donna loves you, Brian. And she loves Queen.”

“Really?” He questioned. “You’re not just saying that? I want to make a good first impression.”

“No,” you exclaimed assuredly. You grabbed hold of his hand. “She’s really impressed with you guys.” Brian let out a casual sigh of relief, feigning no big deal, but you knew better. “It’s impossible for people not to like you, Bri. What are you so worried about?”

Brian inhaled like he was going to speak but the bartender set down mugs on the counter for you to take. Only half of the round. You asked Brian to wait for the other half of the order and you walked to the table with the first half only to find your sister and Roger heatedly arguing. Freddie was leaned against Mary in amusement and John was fiddling with his wallet in his hands as if this was a common occurrence.

“Are you joking?!” Roger exclaimed. “Have you seen the way they look at each other?”

“I think I know my sister. Now pull your head out of your ass before I kick something else in that region, prat.”

“I know Brian.” Roger iterated. “I’m not a dimwit like you.”

“Perhaps your drums have affected your hearing so I’ll say it slower and louder,” Donna leaned forward exaggeratedly and Roger rolled his eyes angrily as the groupie sat back with her arms crossed, simultaneously irritated by the lack of attention and overwhelmed by the anger. “BRIAN. AND. MY. SISTER. ARE NOT DATING. Okay. Do I need to write it down for you too?!”

“No!-”

“Good!” She brought her mug of ale to her lips. “Its not like you’d be able to read it anyways.”

Roger weakly mocked her by leaning forward childishly and imitating her voice before retorting. “You don’t see what we see on a regular basis. You’re just visiting.”

“I’m her sister, you wanker! She tells me everything.”

Brian appeared next to you with the mugs in hand. You had been frozen to the spot in shock and amusement of the situation. “What did I miss?” He asked from the corner of his mouth.

“Look! They’re right here,” Donna turned to you and gestured her arm at you. “Why don’t we ask them, hmm? Are you or are you not dating?”

You and Brian looked at each other momentarily before beginning to stammer.

“Well, technically-”

“-it’s for a challenge with-”

“-and we’re staying the holidays with each others’ families-”

Roger halted the two of you assertively. “Wait, so you are?”

“No…” Brian’s voice went high in consideration. “Not technically.”

“How do you mean?”

You handed out the mugs as Brian and you explained what was going on. You both sat down in the booth with you in between him and your sister; Brian rested his arm on the top of the booth behind your shoulders as you leaned comfortably against his side. Roger sat scrutinizing the backstory and the explanation.

“Let me get this straight,” Roger shifted in his seat and gestured to you and the guitarist, “The two of you are fake dating over the holidays because your brother,-” he switched to gesture between you and your sister “-amongst other male members of your family, is a pillock who won’t leave you alone unless you’re dating someone even though you’re more than adequate without a boyfriend. No offense, Bri.”

“None taken,” Brian shrugged and took a drink from his beer.

“Did I get it right?”

You and Donna looked at each other for a moment before nodding at each other. You turned to Roger. “Yep.”

Roger, with his sunglasses on, nodded at you and Brian for a moment and finally put his arm around the groupie. “Yeah, and what‘re the two of you going to do once the holidays are over?”

You were taken aback for a moment. Brian and you suddenly looked at each other, both startled. You stopped leaning on him. Neither of you had considered what would happen after the holidays.

Brian scratched the back of his head and took a swig of his beer before answering, “Well, I suppose we go back to normal. Being friends. All that.” He took another swig of his beer.

You hummed in agreement and took a big gulp of the alcohol in front of you. “Yeah. We’ll go back to how it was before this arrangement or whatever you want to call it.”

Donna scoffed to herself. “Have you met our family? If Brian comes out alive, he certainly won’t come back normal.”

“He’ll be fine. They deal with crazy fans every weekend. It’ll be a walk in the park.” You leaned into his side again. 

“What if it doesn’t work,” Mary inquired sweetly. “I mean, I hope it does for your sake but on the off chance it doesn’t…”

“It just has to.” You answered with a shrug. “I have faith in us.” Brian brought his arm down to rest on your shoulders and he rubbed your arm.

“Well, what if it does work?” The blonde drummer asked. You cocked your head in confusion. 

“How do you mean?”

“What if it works a little too well and they end up really liking him? What are you going to do next year?” Roger asked. 

John spoke up too. “Yeah, what are you going to say if they ask about him again and want him to visit with you?”

You were beginning to panic. There was so much you hadn’t thought about. “I’m just trying to get through this year’s holidays. We’ll worry about the rest later.” You polished off the rest of your drink. You needed to get away from the table suddenly; the urge to vomit was bubbling in your chest. You put on a polite smile. “I need to use the loo. Anyone coming with me? Donna? Mary?”

Brian slid off the bench to let you out and you briskly began walking to the restrooms with Mary and Donna in tow.

You threw the door open and took pacing steps. “What have I gotten myself into?” Donna and Mary stepped into the bathroom, watching your distress. “Roger was right. I didn’t think this through at all. My god, what have I done? What if this doesn’t work? What if James doesn’t believe me? Or Dad? Or Granddad?”

“Hey…” Donna began. But you were too wrapped up in your thoughts. You fiddled with the ends of your hair.

“Oh goodness, what if this does work?! What if they want to keep seeing him? We can’t fake date forever! Brian has a life ahead of him. He doesn’t need to waste time on helping me with my stupid family.” You froze in your tracks as your stomach dropped. “What if Brian and I aren’t friends after this?” 

Out of all of the logistical worries and stresses, there was nothing more terrifying than not having Brian in your life. You couldn't bear it if you ruined the friendship between the two of you.

“You’re worrying over nothing, dear,” Mary urged. She stepped forward and pulled you into a warm hug. “One thing at a time, remember? Just like you said at the table.”

You nodded and took a deep breath. Mary was right.

Your stomach lurched suddenly. You ran to the nearest bathroom stall and emptied your alcohol-filled stomach. You’d had quite a few beers since the evening began, even before Queen’s set. Maybe your nerves had been a result of your drunken state… You were drained all of a sudden.

“I think,” Donna pushed open the stall door behind you, “that’s our cue to leave.”

“God, Donna, I’m sorry.” You clutched your forehead. “I know you don’t want to be dealing with hungover-me when you’re visiting.”

“It’s alright,” your sister grabbed your upper arm and guided you up from the floor. “Let’s go.”

You waddled out of the bathroom with a headache pounding behind your eyes and a dizzying ringing in your ears. The two of you headed to the booth together; the after effects were hitting you hard and fast and you were beginning to wonder if you had a touch of food poisoning. You leaned over the back of the booth with your head hidden in the crook of your arm while Donna grabbed your bags.

“Are you alright,” Brian’s voice asked. Everything was much too loud. The music playing. The people chattering. The drinks clinking. The chairs scraping. Your stomach tossed again but you repressed the reflex with a deep breath. 

You shot a thumbs up to him before quietly saying that you had thrown up. You were feeling seriously under the weather.

You felt a hand on your back, Brian’s. “Let me walk you and Donna home.”

“It’s alright, Brian,” you began. It was worth a shot to not pull Brian away from spending time with the band. Deep down you knew he was going to insist on walking you home; he always did. “I don’t want to stop you from having a good time.”

“I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.” Of course he wasn’t. “You and Donna both have alcohol in your system. No good time is worth your safety on the line,” he spoke gently. You leaned on him as he put his arm under yours to support you upright. “Alright, let’s go.”

“I’ve got our bags,” Donna affirmed gently.

You waved a vague goodbye at the table and there was a hum of ‘goodbyes’ as you left with Brian and Donna.

You arrived clumsily at your flat, to the simultaneous excitement and dismay of your cat. He immediately yelled at you for food after yelling at you in greeting. Brian went to feed him as Donna walked you to your bedroom.

Brian, on many separate occasions, although an animal lover, claimed not to be particularly fond of cats. And just as many times as he had said that he didn’t like them, you had caught him baby talking, petting, and even cradling your cat. Not fond of them, your ass… Brian stood in the doorway with your furry baby draped over his shoulder.

Donna helped you clean your face and tucked you into bed. You apologized to her and Brian once again. They both hummed that it was alright.

“You’re sure?” You asked groggily, already feeling sleep tugging at your consciousness.

“Yes,” Brian answered. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Both of you, I promise.” You slurred.

“It’s alright.”

“Breakfast tomorrow morning and we’ll call it even,” Donna bargained.

“Deal. To both of you,” you agreed through a yawn. “Okay. I love you both. Good dreams.”

You were so tired that you turned on your side and fell asleep almost immediately. You missed Brian set your cat on the bed. And adjust the blanket over your shoulder. And whisper ‘I love you too’ back.

But Donna didn’t miss it. Not at all.

TAGS:

@phantoms-lynn​ @andtheswordwentsnickersnack​