#yule ball

[winnienora13]

Barty wore a suit with no shirt under for the yule ball so all his tattoos were showing. Evan almost died. Now, I think you can guess what happened next *very exaggerated subjective blink.

[obsessedwithceleste]

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Mattheo Riddle x Slytherin reader

Prompt 4 of @thatdammchickennugget ‘s hogmarch challenge🫶🏽 and dedicated to this psychic anon request 💕

Summary: I’d kiss you as the lights went out, Swaying as the room burned down, I’d hold you as the water rushes in, If I could dance with you again.

word count: 4k

You watch silently from across the Slytherin common room as yet another girl places her hand flirtatiously on Mattheo’s chest, batting her lashes with that seductive grin you knew all too well from watching all the other girls do it too.

“Go to the dance with me?” Her lips read as she leaned closer to your friend.

You can’t help but smile as Mattheo just rolls his eyes, moving away from the girl, not giving her more than a shake of his head.

The girl’s mouth hangs open in shock of the rejection. Really she should be flattered you thought dryly to yourself. She’d made it significantly further than others you’d witnessed.

Truth was, you’d had a massive crush on Mattheo since you were kids, and watching as he rejected girl after girl was much more entertaining than you cared to admit.

Growing up, you’d always admired his bold brashness, and willingness to say whatever came to mind. The two of you had always gotten into trouble together, bouncing mischievous ideas back and forth. The summer before coming to Hogwarts, your mother had given you a heart shaped locket, and Mattheo had insisted that a photo of the two of you go inside it.

"In case we don't go to the same house." The boy had reasoned.

But of course, he’d never seen you as anything more than a friend, and unfortunately, the cringey, cliche nature of the situation was not lost on you. Even now, as you mindlessly fingered the carefully disillusioned pendant while Mattheo stalked towards your group with an air of agitation.

“Bloody hell I can’t wait for this fucking Yule ball rubbish to be over and done with,” Mattheo states flatly as he sits down lazily on the sofa next to you.

“Just pick a girl to go with then. They’ll leave you alone if they think you have a date. Why do you think I asked Daph so early on?” Theo replies, not bothering to look up from his book.

Daphne whacks him with her textbook.

You watch as Mattheo tilts his head in consideration before his eyes shift over to you, a sly grin forming on his face.

“Don’t even think about,” you say, holding up your hand as if to block out whatever idiocy the boy was about to spew.

Now it’s Mattheo’s turn to open his mouth in shock.

“Wha- you don’t even know what I was gonna say!”

“You were going to ask me if I’d go to the dance with you,” you reply dryly. “Honestly Matt, I’m not stupid.”

“Well will you?” He asks, giving you his most charming smile.

“I’m already going with Blaise.” You respond.

Looking back, had it been a bit of a rash decision? Yes. But you had made peace with the fact that Mattheo likely wouldn’t ask you to be his date, and Blaise was one of your best friends. You knew you’d have a good time with him, and all your other friends had been pairing up.

“Tell Blaise to go with Astoria,” Mattheo reasons.

“Toria is already going with Enzo.” Daphne intervenes.

“What about Pansy?”

“She and Millicent got accosted by Crabbe and Goyle last I heard,” Theo replies.

“He can go with Draco then! People already mistake them for gay lovers anyway.”

“Matt, you know Draco is trying to muster up the courage to ask Harry. Don’t be dense.” You reply.

“Oh come on! How do you all have this sorted out already? The ball was only announced yesterday!”

“We organized it at dinner,” Daphne responds, as if the answer was obvious.

“You mean while I was in detention?” Mattheo asks incredulously, only to be met with a chorus of ‘yes’ and ‘mhms’.

You look over as your friend slumps into the sofa in defeat, a wave of slight guilt washing over you.

“Lighten up Matt, you’ve already been asked by a handful of girls today, you’ll be able to find someone to go with easy,” you say.

“Not with anyone who matters,” he grumbles, so low that you almost miss it.

A week had gone by and you were about to lose your mind. You thought that after the initial conversation in the common room, Mattheo would relent and just pick one of his many admirers to take to the ball. You really should’ve known better. You’d known the boy long enough to know that once he had his mind set on something, there was really nothing in the world that could stop him. You just never thought that you would be what he set his mind to.

“Matt, I’ve told you a million times, I’m already going to the ball with Blaise,” you groan, collapsing on your bed as the raven haired boy follows you into your dorm.

“Well lucky for you, I have the perfect plan to steal you away from ole Blaisey boy,” Mattheo says, his signature smirk in place.

You roll your eyes, leaning back on your bed as you wait for him to continue.

“It’s easy. You just have to date me,” Mattheo replies, as if his idea was particularly clever.

You let out a rather unattractive snort as your heart clenches. It felt as though it might pound out of your chest.

“Matt, that has to be the worst idea you’ve ever had. And you’ve had a lot of really bad ideas.”

Though asking the girl that’s fancied him for years to pretend to date him, only for him to snatch it all away again a few weeks later probably had to be one of the cruelest, you thought to yourself.

“Oh c’mon. There’s no way Blaise would be offended if you ditched him if we said we were together. He’s a perfectly reasonable bloke. He’d understand!”

You shake your head once more. There was no way you were pretending to date the boy you had been pining after for this long. It was only going to end in one way. Heart break. And not on his end.

“Bloody hell. What if I can get Luna to go in your place. Will you do it then? We both know he’s been eyeing that loon up for months.”

“Don’t call her a loon Matty.” You tilt your head in consideration however.

If he was willing to actually encourage Blaise’s love life, and be willing to get intermixed within the logistics of it all, he must be desperate. And you had been dying to set the two of them up, you supposed.

But you just couldn’t shake the bad feeling this whole situation gave you. It couldn’t be all that bad though, right? You reasoned. You’d gotten this far without Matt realizing your feelings, a few weeks of bliss surely couldn’t hurt.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll tell Blaise we got together and that I want to go to the ball with you, only if Luna agrees to go with him instead.”

Mattheo immediately brightens at your words, a self satisfied grin spreading across his face.

“Good. Because I already told Blaise that we were together and that I was taking you to the ball,” he says quickly. “Also- considering Blaise is more of a yapper than people give him credit for, the rest of the group definitely already knows.”

Your mouth drops open as you glare at the boy in front of you.

“Matt. What on earth. Did you tell him?” You grit out, praying to Salazar that Blaise hadn’t embarrassed you too much.

Mattheo shrugs. “Just told him that we had been out by the lake on one of our walks and I kissed you. One thing led to another and I asked you out. He seemed to believe it pretty easily actually.”

The boy looked all too calm about making up a whole scenario in which he made out with his best friend for your liking.

You purse your lips, taking a deep sigh. What did you see in this boy?

“Mattheo.”

“Yes love?”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Can’t do that love, you wouldn’t kill your boyfriend.”

You continue to glare at the boy, fingers gripping tightly around your wand.

“Easy there, pretty,” Mattheo laughs nervously, slowly edging closer to you with a bashful grin.

“You better have thought this through Riddle. Because I’m telling you right now, that this is a bad idea.”

It was too easy. You know that much clearly. The two of you, you and Mattheo that is, walk silently along the streets of Hogsmeade, your friends surrounding you, shielding you from the brisk winter air. Mattheo's arm is wrapped securely around you, hand tucked into your jacket pocket, your fingers intertwined. It was so warm. So comfortable. So effortless, as if you had spent forever with his hands in your pockets.

Blaise and Daphne had been the only ones to know of your secret feelings towards your best friend, yet not a single one of the others looked particularly shocked when the both of you showed up in the common room wrapped in each others arms one night.

“Bout bloody time,” you’d heard Theo grunt to Draco from across the fireplace.

Daphne of course had been utterly elated for you, and Blaise had made sure you knew that there were no hard feelings about switching dates for the ball. Especially after he had secured one Miss Luna Lovegood as his date with the surprising help of Mattheo.

A warm squeeze of your hand shakes you from your thoughts as your group comes to stop outside of The Three Broomsticks.

“You sure you don’t want to come down to the shops, y/n?” Daphne asks looking back at you as she forges on with Astoria and Millicent.

“Bloody hell, yes! She’ll be fine with me. You can’t have her to yourself all the time!” Pansy says with exasperation, shooing the other girls away and linking her arm through yours on your free side.

The bell above the door rings lightly as the rest of your group enters the warm tavern, Theo and Enzo racing to secure your usual table.

“Hey Matty!” A voice shouts, stopping your trio in your tracks.

You turn to see another booth filled with familiar looking Hogwarts students and recognize one of the girls you’d watch Mattheo reject just a few days ago.

“Come sit with us,” she continues, attempting to wave him over.

Pansy gives the girl a sneer as you walk past, Mattheo not even sparing a glance in their direction.

“Don’t even know the bloody girl’s name,” he mumbles under his breath, causing you to let out a soft chuckle.

“Ey, what’s the hold up?” Theo shouts as you all hurry over to the table.

“Bloody hell. I thought y/n being my girlfriend would finally get those birds to back off,” Mattheo complains as he takes his seat in the booth.

His arm remains wrapped securely around you the entire time, sending warm tingles through you. It’s all an act, you have to remind yourself, pulling yourself out of your head.

Draco snorts at Mattheo’s grumbling.

“Half the school already thought you two were dating. Didn’t stop em then, so I don’t see why it’d stop them now.” He says matter of factly as the rest of the group nods in agreement.

“You lot are so dramatic. No one thought we were dating,” you sigh, rolling your eyes at your friends.

Their eyes flicker awkwardly back and forth between the lot of them. “Right.” Pansy says finally, bringing an end to the silence.

You glare pointedly at the girl.

“I’m going to the loo. Order me a butter beer Matty?” You say, standing up abruptly.

“I’ll come,” Pansy says quickly, going to rise as well.

“It’s fine Pans. I’m a big girl. Promise not to get attacked by a troll or nothin,” you say with a smile.

Mattheo opens his mouth to protest before closing it again and giving your hand a tight squeeze.

You make your way through the maze of tables, finally making it to the ladies room. Making a beeline to the sink, you take a breath, letting cool water splash against your face.

Salazar, you needed to get a grip. But everything about being with Mattheo felt so real. So natural. Which just meant it would feel all the more real when things ended. You take another moment to gather yourself, dabbing any remaining bits of water from your face. As your hand falls on the door handle to make your way back however, loud voices fill the hall.

“I don’t know what he sees in her,” a voice practically snarls. You can practically feel the malice, dripping from their lips.

“So it’s true then? Mattheo is taking that girl to the ball?” Another voice asks.

“I heard they’re dating.”

“They weren’t already?”

“I wonder if he’s taking her out of pity.”

A chorus of voices all say at once.

You immediately bristle, realizing they were talking about you.

“I hear she was the only one in their group who didn’t have a date and she practically forced him to take her.”

“I thought she was going with Blaise.”

Bloody hell. Where did they get all of this information?

“Whatever. It’s not like it matters either way. There’s no way they last. She’s a mess, and Mattheo has never been able to settle has he? It’s only a matter of time.”

You feel a deep frown form at the harsh words, but before you’re able to react, the bathroom door is pushed open and you’re face to face with the group of girls from before. The girl you had recognized as Mattheo’s reject smirks as she eyes you up and down before simply pushing past you. The rest of the girls follow, leaving you to wander back to your friends.

When you sit down again, Mattheo has a warm drink already waiting, and you let out a small smile as you cozy up next to the boy. No matter how hard you try to distract yourself however, the words of the girl’s echo through your mind.

Later that evening, you lay comfortably in bed with your head resting gently on Mattheo’s chest, hypnotized by the slow rise and fall. You hadn’t seen your roommates all day, and doubted they would be back if they weren’t there by now.

You lived for nights like these when Mattheo would bow out of whatever mischief Theo and Enzo had cooked up, and instead spend the evening holed up with you cuddling, talking, or getting into your own trouble. Your room had become a safe haven. A sacred oasis of sorts for the both of you to unwind, safe from the outside world.

“You were awfully quiet today at The Broomsticks.” Mattheo says, breaking the silence.

You only hum in response.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“How are we going to break up?” You ask, rather abruptly, as you look up at your best friend.

Mattheo looks surprised at the question.

“I don’t know. Didn’t really think I’d get this far in my scheming to be quite honest. I suppose I figured we’d just say that we figured we’d be better off as friends, or something of the sort. You can blame the split on me though if you’d like.” He replies.

You move your head to look down once more, picking at the blankets.

“No, no. The friends thing is fine. When should we do it?”

“Trying to get rid of me already, love?” Mattheo asks with a laugh.

“I just want to know what to expect.” You say quietly, causing Mattheo to grow quiet as well.

“Alright. Then how about a few days after the ball? We say that the dance made us realize we were better off as friends, and everything goes back to the way it was.” He says finally.

You feel your heart crack at his words.

“Yeah. Exactly like how it was.” You repeat.

Smoothing your dress out one final time, you turn around to hear Daphne gasp.

“Oh that’s stunning,” she gushes, her own deep blue gown cascading elegantly around her in waves of silk.

You’d spent the last several hours or so in her and Pansy’s shared dorm getting ready for the ball with the other girls, though where Pansy had wandered off to you had no idea.

All you knew, was that you were bloody nervous. You didn’t think you would be. It was just like any other night you reasoned. You and Mattheo were with each other constantly. What difference did a pretty dress make?

“I think the boys are ready for us whenever we are. Toria, come get these shoes,” Daphne shouts.

Astoria really did look like a princess you think to yourself, her soft yellow gown billowing gently with every movement.

“Ready to go down?” She asks, seeming to float over.

“As I’ll ever be,” you respond with a nervous smile.

Giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, Astoria slips on her shoes before making her way down to the common room, you and Daphne following close behind.

The boys are already congregated by the fireplace; their loud chattering could be heard across the room, but as soon as Theo’s eyes meet Daphne’s he freezes and the rest of the boys quiet down, noticing the shift.

Your eyes lock onto Mattheo’s and you slowly make your way over, nervously picking at your skirt with trembling fingers.

“Beautiful as always, y/n,” he says, smiling down at you when you finally reach him. Gently, he raises your hand to his lips, barely grazing over your shaking fingertips before looking back at you with his signature smirk.

“Where’s Draco?” You ask, not quite able to stomachs the intensity of his gaze.

“Had to be there early. Something about the champions and their dates having the first dance or something,” he replies easily, his hand finding its ever familiar place on your waist.

“Oh we are not missing that,” you say, your nerves quickly being replaced with excitement.

Mattheo grins back. “I knew we’d be on the same page,” he responds, tugging you towards the doors.

Together, the both of you rush to the main hall just in time to see Harry and Draco getting herded into a lineup of the champions to be paraded into the Great Hall.

“I certainly hope he took Snape’s dance lessons to heart,” you giggle.

It doesn’t take much longer for the rest of your group to join the both of you and soon enough you find yourselves following the flood of students into the newly decorated Great Hall.

It really was spectacular. The house elves clearly had spared no expense with thick, green trees covered in tinsel and ornaments lining the walls. Floating candles cast a warm glow about the room and the floor had the appearance of being covered in freshly fallen snow.

You watch, hiding a laugh, as Draco and Harry move awkwardly around the dance floor, almost colliding with Cedric and Cho on more than one occasion. Salazar help them.

Slowly, other couples begin to join the champions on the dance floor, swirling together in a sea of shimmering color.

“May I have this dance m’lady?” Mattheo asks with a lopsided grin.

Before you even have the chance to respond however, Mattheo is pulling you onto the dance floor, a look of pure delight across his face. There were very few times you remembered him looking this happy, and it melted your heart.

As the night progressed, Mattheo refused to leave your side, his hand rarely leaving your waist. Really, you hardly left the dance floor either. The few times you were able to escape with Daphne or Pansy to the punch bowl, Mattheo tracked you down shortly after, pulling you right back into his arms.

To say that you were in heaven was an understatement. You had spent hours daydreaming about what it might be like to have Mattheo’s hard-won affection to yourself. And now that you had it, you were practically floating. Which just made it all the more heart wrenching as you anticipated the inevitable. It was as if every move you made, every dance the two of you shared, was done with your hands tied.

People really weren’t going to believe your break up if he continued on like this, you’d thought at some point. But you couldn’t quite bring yourself to tell him to back off, especially as it grew later. Your time with him was fleeting after all.

“Bloody hell, Matt. Give the girl some breathing room,” Pansy exclaims after Mattheo had sought you out for the third time.

Mattheo just gives her a guilty grin before spinning you out onto the dance floor once more.

“I didn’t realize you liked dancing this much Matty,” you tease as the two of you away slowly on the floor.

“Oh I don’t. Just making sure I take full advantage of the night,” he replies, looking intently down at you.

You cock you head to the side.

“With you as my girl, I mean,” he adds. And before you’re able to put together another cohesive thought, his lips are on yours. In the middle of the dance floor.

Immediately it feels as though the lights had gone out, leaving the two of you alone in the room as you let your eyes flutter shut, focusing on the softness of Mattheo’s lips on yours. They move slowly at first. Carefully. Before quickly growing hungrier, more determined.

You barely register Mattheo’s fingers digging into you as he pulls you closer, and find yourself lost in the gentle sway as everything around you burns to the ground, leaving behind a fire growing steadily in your chest.

And just like that, you’re back in Mattheo’s arms as the water comes rushing in, jerking you back to reality. You stand frozen staring up at Mattheo as couples continue to move around you.

Had that really just happened?

“Um- fresh air. I think.” You stutter out, all but dragging the boy from the dance floor, praying no one had seen or noticed.

Mattheo wordlessly allows you to lead him out to the courtyard entrance before you all but collapse on one of the stone benches, still in shock.

“Please don’t avada me! I didn’t think that through entirely.”

“I don’t want to break up.” You say in unison.

“What was that?” Mattheo asks in surprise.

“No- hold on. Why in Salazar’s green bed sheets would I want to avada you?” You ask incredulously.

“More importantly, you don’t want to fake breakup?” Mattheo asks with a grin.

“Of course I don’t want to break up! I’ve fancied you for years!” You blurt out, slapping a hand over your mouth as soon as the words escape.

Mattheo looks at you with shock.

“No. I’ve fancied you for years. Why else do you think I refused to take anyone else to the ball?”

“Because you’re a stubborn arse,” you retort, barely processing the boy’s words.

He liked you?

The two of you stare at each other for another moment, still not fully believing the other as your minds race to put the pieces together.

It’s Mattheo who acts first, surging to connect your lips once more in a heated frenzy. It’s addicting really, the feeling of his soft lips against yours. The pull as he brings your bodies closer together. The warmth you can feel radiating off of him.

When you finally pull away this time, Mattheo’s eyes are shining down at you with that familiar intense gaze.

“We’re a pair of oblivious idiots, aren’t we?” You mumble, leaning into the boy.

“Well, you are. I haven’t exactly been subtle.” Mattheo replies with a snort, hugging you to his chest.

“Don’t be a twat. You’ve had girls fawning over you for years. What was I supposed to make of that?”

“I never looked payed them any mind, love. Think of it this way. I’ll just have years to make up for tonight,” he says with a cheeky smile.

You feel a familiar heat begin to rise in you once more as Mattheo takes hold of your arm, leading the way back to the dungeons.

“Oh I’ll hold you to that,” you reply, a mischievous smile making its way to your face.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less of you, love.”

[myrows]

Wolfstar Yule Ball AU🤞🏻

[enidsinclairaddams]

You belong with her me~ T.N x Reader

Summary: Theodore Nott, a type of guy every first years would try to stay away from and a guy who would make girls fall to their knees to get his attention. But y/n was different~ she genuinely whole heartedly liked him. Not for his looks or popularity, its just for him and for himself alone. She doesn't wear heavy makeup to get his attention, infact she doesn't do anything at all to get his attention. Its all in her heart. But how will Theodore notice her if she didn't even try?

Warnings: Singer!Reader, Slytherin!Reader, angst, fluff, swearing!T.N. lmk if I missed any.

please be nice as this is my first writing in Tumblr! And I dont own any of the pictures

Inspired by Taylor Swift's You belong with me song from Fearless album. 😊

It's the fourth year and the yule ball is coming within a week. And y/n hasn't got a date... yet.

"Common y/n! Go ask that cute guy out! You need someone after all" Pancy cheers you on, as you and her stand in the hallway and shamelessly look up on a Durmstrang boy.

"No! I have someone else in mind." You say.

"Oh thats what you said ever since... i dont know!" She mutters under her breath, "Say it! Tell me who is it? After all I'm your best friend ever since I sat beside you in Hogwarts Express three years ago!" She pressed on.

"Unfortunately," you say smiling nudging her a little, just to see how annoyed Pancy gets.

"I can see what our friendship means to you now. Good-bye!" She scoffs and turns and walks away. You laugh at your friend, as you know what she said is not true and within an hour or so she would come back running to you.

You decide to walk the other way. As you reach a turn you hear someone say- well shout. "NEVER! Not you Alexjandra! Now let me go!"

Theodore Nott. You quickly realize. You have known him for four years now after all. You take a quick look on what was happening there. It was him with Alexjandra Marlowe, a fellow Slytherin. Who was grabbing his arms. You felt your stomach was pulling you in: jealousy, you understood. You turned away realizing it would hurt you more, the more you look at them. But your legs refused to walk away from there and held you on.

"Aww, bunny! I'm your girlfriend, your supposed to take me with you to the yule ball!" She whined desperately. You tried your best to not laugh at her calling him 'bunny'.

"Girlfriend then! NOT ANYMORE!" He said in a voice that sent shivers down your spine and shrugged her hands off.

You felt a sweet feeling inside your mouth, happiness, you knew it. Your happy because he is breaking up with her. He deserves someone better... someone like you who will love him for his inner self.

You knew it wasn't a best idea to linger on. You heard footsteps marching towards you. THEY WERE COMING TOWARDS YOU! RUN! But you didn't. You know curiosity is going to kill the cat-

"What are you doing here?" Theodore demanded. "Spying on something your not supposed to hear!" It wasn't a question.

"I-I..." you gulped. You know he knows, why should you tell. "I'm sorry I was just walking towards my dorm and-"

A very bad lie.

He smirked "if thats the case, slytherin dorm is not here"

"well i wanted to take the long way around!" You say quickly, "I'm sorry-"

"That you stayed and decided to hear what we were saying?" He asked eyebrows raised.

You shake your head no. "I should probably get going" You turn to leave.

"You heard everything which I didn't want people to hear" he said.

"You didn't want people to know who you were dating? Well in that case everyone does!" You bursted out you voice cracking a little. shit.

He raises his eyebrows amused at your outburst. He shakes his head. "You have a price to pay." He says. Ok this is never good. You thought. But he surprised you by saying;

"Will you go to the yule ball with me?" He asked simply as if its the simplest thing a person would ask, but he failed to know how much it meant to you. I've been waiting for you to say that, you were about to say if you had let your guard loose.

"I'm not asking because I'm romantically or sexually interested in you," he continues, which puts a FULLSTOP at all your wild expectations that were running in your head. "It's because I want Alexa- Alexjandra fucking off my back! That clingy b#tch"

You stood silent. It's an excuse to look at him - After all Pancy taught you well. You stood and listened to him, in the same time studying his features, for the first time, at close quarters.

"I wanted to ask it to any girl I meet next, but seems like the lucky girl is you" he says. You feel the blood rush into your cheeks and quickly turn away.

"Well- I was searching for a handsome man myself- someone from Durmstrang to ask them out to the yule ball" You let him know, as you didnt want him thinking you felt him handsome. "Well seems like the lucky man is you" you say half smiling unsure if he would take the drift.

He smiles at you. "Well lucky me!" He laughs, as your heart melts. You smile as if you have achieved something, by making him laugh. "So... I will take that as a yes?"

You nod. 'I wouldn't want anything more than you', you thought.

================================================

To be continued...

(sry I did not recheck) This is a short part ik. I will try making next one longer!

Lemme know if u want to be in the tag list 💚🖤

Please be free to share your POV in the comments! #EncourageTheWriters

[kerimcberry]

Yule Ball Part 2 ✨

AHH FINALLY 😭💚💛

[polly-sly]

Look at these two distinguished boyfriends 💘

Artist: _daril.__ on instagram

[cassiopeiasdaughter]

gold rush

Theodore Nott x fem!reader

summary: loving Theo in secret was not something you had ever planned

word count: 5k

warnings: swearing, no use of y/n, no assigned House (reader isn’t a Slytherin tho :/ ), not proofread , alcohol consumption , sexual themes (but for like a sec)

ao3 & main masterlist

Stolen kisses in broom closets, hidden touches in-between classes, laying alone together in the astronomy tower or the room of requirement; that was your relationship with Theo.

A relationship his father, his peers, no one from the magical society he associated with would approve. Of course you knew that when everything started, and that is why you curse yourself now; minutes from the Ball all your friends are attending, dressed in a beautiful gown you picked, crying your eyes out for the love story you will never have with the person you want most.

But let’s take this from the start

You two have known each other since your first year, you met him on the train; a quiet boy, with curious eyes. 

When you said goodbye to your parents and boarded the Hogwarts Express you were filled with excitement and fear. Overwhelmed by the many unknown faces you came across, you quickly ran to the first quiet room you could find and that is how stumbled across Theo. You were shy at first but introduced yourself.

“Theodore Nott”, he responded, with a tone too formal for a boy his age, that you think about it now and laugh.

He shared his sweets with you and you told him everything you knew about Hogwarts. Its founders, the architecture of the castle, the stories written about the Forest and the Lake. He showed interest, explained how the stories are fake and you shouldn't believe in everything you read but then, feeling sorry for spoiling your favorite stories and myths, he told you about the ghosts of the castle and their stories.

He said he wanted to be sorted in Slytherin, make his father proud; and secretly he wished you would be sorted there too so he would spend more time with you.

After arriving at Hogwarts, and entering the Great Hall you and Theo got separated, but you were too thrilled with everything around you to care. It was everything you had imagined and so so much more!

He was indeed sorted into Slytherin and for some reason you felt happy for him.  He was quickly welcomed by the other Slytherins, the older seemed intimidating and the ones your age scared you just as much. But he didn’t mind them, he looked like he belonged there with them, laughing and introducing himself, making friends that would have his back.

You could not help but feel a sting of hurt inside you, not knowing why then. All that faded into nothing after you got sorted into your House. Laughs and cheers welcomed you as you sat at your table, shaking hands and hugging your classmates, you felt at home. Then the feast began and life took off quicker than you could have imagined.

As the years passed you and Theo barely talked. He was friends with people you never liked, or understood. You hated the way they thought themselves better than others, or how they would put your friends down, because of their House or blood status.

They never messed with you,maybe it was because you were quiet; insignificant to them, never talked back, not much of a threat. That is what you considered yourself.

Well, until things got bad.

One night after a study session with Hermione, in the library, both exhausted but content with yourselves, you stumbled across Theo and his friends, in the halls. 

The usual came up, the word mudblood now something ordinary for you to hear. Everything went on as it always did, voices raised, stupid jinxes threat to be hexed, until Pansy decided she wanted to have more fun and cast an Incarcerous at Hermione.

“Get used to it mudblood, soon we will have you and your kind just like this”, she shouted.

The look on Hermione's face told you that for the first time in her life she was scared, felt defeated. The boys had stopped laughing and the expression on Theo’s face was unreadable to you; shocked and embarrassed? 

You felt an anger you had not felt in a long time, not since the first time you heard about blood purity, Voldemort and his beliefs; face flushed and hands nearly shaking from anger you cast and Expelliarmus at Pansy and then sent a Bombarda her way that had her flying across the hallway.

After casting a Finite Incantatem and freeing Hermione you went up to Pansy, now being dragged up by Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini and shouted:

“How miserable and pathetic are you really that you have to act this way? Did your parents sell you off to a rich, pureblood wizard, Dumbledores age that you have to take it out on us?”

Pansys face changed many colours, before opening her mouth to shout, “How dare y-”

“Enough.” Theo cut her off, speaking for the first time that night. His voice serious and louder than you had ever heard it be. 

“Come on, let’s go, curfew will begin soon”, Draco mumbled and they all left, Theo being the last one to walk away, his gaze fixed on yours, eyes speaking many things- none of them clear to you.

You paid more attention to him now, noticed the way he looked and acted. How he never raised his hand in class, but always knew the answer. He paid attention to many things simultaneously. He was a skilled wizard, that much you could admit; there was no spell in class that he could not perform, his potions always came out perfect and the way he flew was impressive. 

He was also handsome, tall figure, brown messy hair, he would occasionally run his hair through, and green eyes you could get lost in forever. These things didn’t mean anything to you, of course not, you were just being honest and fair, he was smart and beautiful, but also a Slytherin and member of the Sacred 28. 

Beginning of 6th year, some teachers agreed to take certain measures to deal with House rivalry. One of them being, mixed seating charts. As if Slytherins and Gryffindors sitting together for one hour per day will be enough to end the Wizarding Wars that have lasted so many years.

Your ‘partners’ were students you were on good terms with, some of them your friends and others classmates you were mere acquaintances with. There was one class though, Potions with Slughorn to be exact, where you were seated with Theodore Nott.

At first you hated the idea, dreading the awkward hours you would have to spend with him, judging you for cutting up ingredients with the wrong technique or not stirring your potion thoroughly; all these thoughts made you feel inadequate and self-conscious.

But you decided to get over yourself, ignore Theo and his remarks as best as you could and study hard to prove yourself to him. And that would be 6th year for you. Oh how wrong you were.

You had decided, Tuesday was the worst day of the week. Too many classes, too much homework, far too many extra curricular activities you foolishly had decided to take up and worst of all the dining hall served your least favorite foods, all together that day.

Immediately after waking up, you looked forward to getting into bed, after a nice hot shower and relaxing until falling into a deep peaceful sleep; but unfortunately that would have to wait. First class of the day was History of Magic, and todays subject would be “the 14th Century Wizarding Economic Bubble” -as if anyone cares about this, you thought to yourself.

After many failed tries at focusing in class and pay attention at professor Binns, you gave up and let your mind wander to many distant places, how you would spend your weekend, when your next Hogsmeade trip would be and what items you couldn’t wait to buy from the shops there; suddenly you felt the person sitting next to you smacking your arm in attempt to wake you up from your daydreaming. You gave her a confused look and then heard Binns call out your name, you slowly turned your head to him with a guilty expression on your face.

“So she can hear, great news, doesn't everyone agree?”

A few Slytherins laughed at that, but he quickly continued and said: “Enough now, would you be so kind and answer my question?”

“I am sorry sir”, you stammered, “Could you repeat the question?”

“Very well, remind us please what event lead to the Economic Bubble of the 14th century.”

Fuck me, thought, you had no idea what the answer was, and couldn’t really improvise. You looked around the classroom, embarrassed and not wanting to look anyone in the eyes, and let out a curse of “ummmm”s and “give me a minute”s.

Then, your eyes landed on Theo, who was looking at you so closely that you wanted to Incendio yourself and escape this mess; he was judging how stupid you were, and at that thought you felt your cheeks heating, after a few seconds you realized he was mouthing something at you, the words “1378” and “Soap Blizzard” being repeated slowly and silently.

The Soap Blizzard of 1378 you realized, but couldn't bring yourself to say it. You didn’t like the feeling of being pitied by Theodore Nott that he helped you in class, and you also didn’t want him to think you needed his help or anyones for that matter. 

You turned your head and looked at Professor Binns, calm now and serious.

“I don’t know sir.”, you exclaimed, eyes blank and looking forward.

“I’m sorry to hear that, that will be 5 points from your house, mister Longbottom, care to answer the question?”

Class continued, but Theos eyes never leaving your figure, looking puzzled and disappointed.

Your last class of the day had finally come; Potions. Professor Slughorn had explained to you the method to create todays potion and it was your turn now to brew it.

You were chopping up dragon scales when Theo, interrupted you; 

“You should cut them up a little smaller, like this.”

“Nott, I don't remember asking for your input. Brew your potion and let me brew mine.” you answer annoyed, picking up from where you had left form, ignoring Theodores advice (even if it was correct).

He scoffed and said “I just wanted to help, but you are so bloody stubborn that-”

“That what? I don't need help from you, I don’t want to owe you anything and I don't even trust you.”

“Impossible, that is what you are.”, he said with a sigh

“Excuse me, have you given me any reason to not be cautious around you? Do you remember who your friends are and what pretentious bullshit you believe in? Superficial, that is what you are.”

“And you are not superficial? You don't know me, yet you judge me for my friends and my family.”

“Better than judging you for your blood status.”

“I never-”

“Mr. Nott, if I may disrupt this interesting conversation with your classmate, your potion is fuming and the noise you are making is distracting the rest of your classmates, please now, stop chatting and continue.”, Slughorn said, not in the mood to put up with loud teenagers.

You rolled your eyes at his “Yes, of course sir. We apologize” and then resumed your work.

Your interactions with Theo shifted from utter silence to snark remarks, him calling you “a stubborn and pompous witch” and you responding with the occasional scoff, eye roll, threat to jinx him or all three. 

Unfortunately came the day when Professor Slughron assigned you to brew “Dreamless Sleep Potion”, a difficult task that you had to complete with Theo. This meant you would have to spend most of your free time, two or three days a week with him, but at least your chances at perfecting this potion were extremely high.

The first few weeks you didn’t really talk to eachother, just did what you had to do, kept notes and then bid each other goodnight. Then you realized he could be civil if he wanted to, so you talked about basic stuff; bonded over the boring classes you hated, complained about Transfiguration homework and discussed Quidditch games. After a few more weeks, he began walking you back to your dorm, not wanting to disrupt the conversation you were having and you let him.

One night, both of you sat at a classrooms floor facing eachother, exhausted from the worked you had done, you asked him a question. 

“You are nothing like your friends, w-why are you even friends with them?”

He looked at you and smiled, then looked back down at his fingers and toyed with the signature Slytherin ring her always wore.

“We are more similar than you think”, he says playfully.

“You are a bigger asshole than you seem or are they kinder than they look?”, you answer, not backing down, challenging him with sparkling eyes.

“So I am kind?”, he smirks avoiding the question.

“Shut up.”, you roll your eyes smiling.

“They are my family, they- they mean more to me than my real family does. I can't leave them, don't really want to.”

You turn your eyes to look at him closely, disappointed by his answer, but you have to admit that you understand him. Your friends are like family to you too. You don't know what you would do without them.

You then feel guilty, you have heard of Theos situation; his mother having passed early on, giving birth to him, his father being a bitter man, who blamed his son for his wife's death. Escaping that situation and finding people who love him and have his back, no matter what, at last you don't find it that odd- him being friends with them. 

“Makes sense”, you say, sincerely.

You walk back together that night, silence settling on you two, but not the awkward one; the peaceful one, where you are content and relaxed with the other person, just by being around them, not needing noise to fill out the void between you two.

You think about him as you doze off in bed and the thoughts put a smile on your face.

Ravenclaws knew how to throw a party. Maybe it was because of their ridiculously expensive and rare alcohol, or their choice in music. Maybe it is because their Common Room looks absolutely insane lit up and full of teenagers getting drunk and dancing like crazy; either way Racenclaw parties are a must. That is what your friends tell you. For one night students put away their differences and get absolutely smashed together. 

And that is how you ended up on a Saturday night, with a glass of firewhiskey in hand bobbing your head to the Weird Sisters and other rock bands.

“I am going to get a refill.”, your friends shout at you

Not bothering to open your eyes you shout “Alright”, and keep dancing. Moving your boy to the beat and feeling the music has always been something that you sought out. The freeing yourself aspect of it is what you love most; for once not caring what you look like or what others think of you.

After a few minutes of waiting for your friends and not finding them, you go to look for them. The room is dark and they are pretty drunk so you don’t blame them for disappearing. Instead you bump into a certain Slytherin you wished to see.

“Hello!” You shout out to Theo, smiling up at him, alcohol fueling you with courage, “decided to leave your lair for once?”

He laughs at that and replies “I was forced to come, this isn’t exactly my scene.”

“Oooh don’t tell me the Theodore Nott is too cool for a party like this” you say playfully, voice teasing him “are you more of a Ministry Ball type of man?”

He makes a face at that and says “Hate those even more actually”, “I just like something a bit more quiet”

And maybe it was the alcohol, or the fact that you were both alone and you can forget your differences for just this moment, but you extend your hand to him and say, “Come on let’s go outside”, and maybe for the same reasons as you, he accepted.

He let you lead him outside, at a quiet space looking at the night sky.

You both remain quiet for a while, savoring the silence and serenity of the night.

"You were the first person I met.", you say softly before turning to look him in the eyes, "In Hogwarts, out first day, we spent the train ride together."

"You remember that?", he asks surprised

"Of course I do.", you answer "I was terrified when I stepped on that train. I-I was so scared that this image I had created in my mind about Hogwarts would turn out to be nothing like I had thought."

He looks at you, waiting for you to continue, to open up to him.

"I thought everyone would judge me and hate me- no one would ever truly accept me. Not even here.", you continue, staring at his eyes, voice filled with complain.

"But I stumbled across you and you were kind and you listened to me babble about Godric knows what. But you-you didn't make fun of me and you stayed with me. And all those years I've wondered if-if you did that out of politeness and perfect manners or-or because you liked me- my company.", you laugh at the end, embarrassed. Your cheeks have grown red and hot and you can't look him in the eyes anymore.

"I am babbling still, nothing has changed after all these years."

You curse yourself for revealing all that to him, lowering your walls- letting him in. You don't know why you trust him, or if you should. Preparing yourself for the awkward response he will give you even better if he says nothing and just leaves, you think.

"I did like you", he says and snaps you out of your thoughts. You feel his hand on your shoulder, turning you to him.

You face each other now and his hand comes up to your jaw, thumb lightly stroking your skin.

"I do like you" he says, barely a whisper. And it stirs something in you, to slowly tip your face to his and he does the same.

You kiss each other, gently, as if both unsure and afraid to step into this new territory with eachother. But as time goes by you relax into the kiss, eyes closed, his hands in your face your at his shoulders; keeping close to one another. You let out a sound as you feel him open up your mouth, tasting you as he deepens the kiss.

You let go after a while, both out of breath

"I should get inside, I need to find my friends.", you say apologetically

"Alright, yeah, and I think I'm calling it a night.", he says, lips red and swollen, and hair a bit messed up from earlier.

You reach up and give him a quick kiss, sweet and filled with things you can yet put into words, "Goodnight." you whisper and he responds smiling "Goodnight.".

The next time you talk to him is at your Potion-brewing-dates in an empty classroom. It is a few hours after classes have ended. It is dark outside and you can hear the rain pouring outside.

You couldn't stop thinking about him after the kiss. Going to bed, with your hands inside your underwear pretending they are his, and the image of his face after you kissed him, glassy eyes and maroon lips.

You rush to the class you are supposed to meet him, a few minutes late- not something you typically do.

You open the door hastily, and say "I am sorry I am late."

He is waiting for you, arms crossed at his chest defensively, legs straight in front of him, back leaning on the wall, "It's alright.", he responds. "Shall we?", he points to the ingredients at the table.

You nod and get to work. Falling into silence both busy with what you are doing.

After an hour, while waiting for the potion to brew you are found sitting down, your legs crossed and arms leaning on top of your knees; his back being supported by the wall across from you while his legs are sprawled out in front of him.

You look at eachother, both silently daring the other person yo make the first move- say something about the kiss- or anything at all.

You are the one to break the silence, "Do you regret kissing me?", you ask scared.

"No.", he responds and then asks, "Did you hate it?" now him being the one to sound scared, self-conscious, not typical of him.

"No", you respond by shaking your head, and then having found the courage you ask what you most want to know, "Do you still like me?"

"Yes." he exclaims, with a sigh, not comfortable with sharing his emotions, being this vulnerable with someone.

You smile and then move to straddle him. "I like you too.", you say.

His body is now between your legs and your hands find purchase on his shoulders as you kiss him deeply. He sighs and closes his eyes as he kisses you back; his hands roaming down your back, tugging and holding you close.

You stay like that, kissing and eliciting sounds out of one another, until the noise the potion makes after being brew scares you and you have to pull back. You laugh at eachother, Slughorns assignment completely forgotten.

You both get terrible grades in Potions, but couldn't care less.

After that, you can't get enough of eachother, always craving each others touch. He drags you into empty broom closets and kisses you in between classes. You sneak out and meet him at the astronomy tower, holding back noises every night- not wanting to get caught. after Quidditch matches he pulls you into the showers with him; one hand on your mouth and his other inside of you.

He knows you now. Knows exactly what to do in order to drive you insane, get you to lose control. Savors the sounds you make as he whispers praises in your ear every time he moves inside of you aor when he kisses the spot underneath your ear. You love how he orders you to open your eyes and look at him everytime you come undone, because of him.

But you also know how to turn him into clay, what buttons to push to make him lose himself to you. You know now, that it turns him absolutely crazy when you turn your eyes to look into his when you take him in your mouth and you love to feel his reactions when you say his name as you move with him inside of you.

You are his and he is yours, but only in secret.

You lay on top of him now, face nestled on the spot under his jaw, breathing him in, your hand drawing patterns on his chest and his hand running up and down your spine.

"We should get going." he says, with his eyes closed and with a smile that still hasn't left his face.

You always hate it when this moment comes, how you have to go back to acting like strangers, not saying anything when he sits next to you in class, or when his friends are around.

You hate the anger you feel when you see him talking to other girls, knowing you have no right to these feelings, because you have chosen this. This, being something you don't even know how to call.

"Why do you even care? We are just fucking", you had shouted one night, angry at him for showing he cared when he found you crying in an empty classroom over something ridiculously insignificant. You knew it wasn't true later that night; your back hitting the bookshelves as he took you over and over again, with his voice in your ear whispering "you are mine" over and over again until you came.

You remember that now, as you are dressing up and getting ready to leave him and it hurts how you are only his here, closed off from the world and the people that clearly mean more to him than you do.

"The Ball is next week.", you say, hopeful he will skip it or jokingly ask you to go with him.

"Yeah, you have a date yet?", he asks as he puts on his tie.

"No, you?", you respond, curious and hoping- wishing for him to say no.

"I think I'll go with Daphne", he replies and continues after pausing to look at your reaction to his words. "It's like a tradition".

"Oh.", is the only think that comes out of your mouth. You hate yourself for feeling like this, second best, not even a choice you realize. You are just something for him to play with in his free time.

Eventually he will grow bored of you and move on with a girl his father approves for him. Someone like Daphne, rich, pureblood, a Slytherin, with great manners and parents who raised her to be proper and civil.

The worst thing is that Daphne is actually nice. She has never said anything bad about other Houses, made comments on blood purity, she is smart and beautiful and kind. She is someone who would make Theo happy and that makes you sick.

As you walk over to the door, ready to leave him and run straight to your dorm room and cry your eyes out he asks, "What is wrong?"

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”, you exclaim loudly, trying to convince yourself as well as him.

“Don’t do this, not over something so stupid like the Ball.”, he says, startled after what you just confessed.

“It isn't about the Ball, I can't feel like your whore Theo, I want something more. You don’t get to have your fun with me and then hide me away, like there is something wrong with me.”, you say crying now, hating yourself for letting your emotions show. 

“Like you would be proud to be with me around your friends? The ones who call me and my family Death Eaters?”, he replies annoyed and shaking his head.

“Are they wrong? Have you seen the way you and your friends treat them? Treat anyone who isn't a pure blooded Slytherin? Have you thought that maybe, everything you have been told in your life needs to be thought, checked? That you need to rethink your values? You can't stand and do nothing when people have died because of your beliefs!”, you shout at him, knowing that not everything you are saying is true. You know you are being unfair and hurtful; but you want him to also feel the ache in your chest.

“You knew who I was before we started this, why did you start this with me? Did you think you would change me? Fix me? Did you think I would drop everything to be with you? Well, I will not.”, he says. His voice is stern and cold, as if you two are strangers once again.

“Fine”, you say, “Goodbye.” you shout walking away, not bothering to look him in the eyes.

The next few weeks are unbearable. 

Every time you see Theo you feel your insides turning, your heart leaping out of your chest, tearing into pieces. You see him laugh with his friends, with other girls, acting as if nothing has changed in his life. As if what you had was minuscule, meaningless. As if you were just another girl, disposable.

You feel betrayed, mostly by yourself, for allowing you to let him in, trust him, trust that what you had was as important to him as it was to you.

And what did you have?

Stolen kisses in broom closets, hidden touches in-between classes, laying alone together in the astronomy tower or the room of requirement; that was your relationship with Theo. A relationship his father, his peers, no one from the magical society he associated with would approve.

Of course you knew that when everything started, and that is why you curse yourself now; minutes from the Ball all your friends are attending, dressed in a beautiful gown you picked, crying your eyes out for the love story you will never have with the person you want most.

Your friends forced you to dress up, snap out of whatever was happening that you didn’t want to tell them. They helped you fix your hair, put on makeup and jewelry, get a beautiful gown from Hogsmeade; all ready. Dance, drink and forget; that is what they told you. 

Dance, drink and forget, then; that is what you will do. 

As you enter the Great Hall, Theo is nowhere to be found. Good, you think, for all you care he could sulk on his own, down at his pathetic common room, with his depressing friends. 

While heading to the dance floor you spot Daphne Greengrass swaying with Blaise Zabini, odd you think but decide to ignore any more thoughts that could lead to Theo.

You hug your friends after you find them and let them lead you to the dance floor.

You laugh and sway to the music, carefree, until you see him enter. His hair is messed up and his tie is tied up as if he did it in a hurry.

When he sees you he comes running, bumping into classmates on the way to you, shouting apologies left and right.

He stands before you now, breathing heavily, pupils blown out, skin flushed, hands moving nervously. You realize he isn't wearing his ring and that confuses you even more than him, standing here, in front of you and the whole school. 

“I was wrong”, he says, looking at you sincerely, his green eyes sweet and kind once again.

“About what?”, you ask thunderstruck, afraid to move or speak, scared that everything will disappear.

“I would drop everything for you, I-I will do it. Ask me anything and it is yours. I am yours.”, he confesses. 

And you want to tell him to stop, take it all back, he can still pretend nothing is going on between you, he doesn't have to ruin his life for you. Because no matter what you think of his friends and family, he loves them and they make him happy. That is all you want for him, to be happy.

“No Theo, you don't have to do this. I don't care about it anymore, I am sorry we fought. I am sorry, you were right; I was jealous and insecure, but it doesn't matter now. I just want you to be happy, and I don't care anymore if they make you happy and not me. I can live with that.”, you say to him. Hoping he understands how you feel about him, that you love him, truly.

“You. You make me happy. And I want to be happy with you, I don't care who sees, I don't care what they say. I want everyone to know I love you. I want them to know”. he says, smiling and holding your face in his hand, gentle and steady. 

You can only smile and say “I love you too.”

And you don't see Pansy smacking Draco in the arm and then pointing at you; or your friends coughing up and spitting out their drinks. You don't see Daphne Greengrass whispering I told you to Blaises ear. 

No, you don't see all that, because you and Theo kiss eachother for the first time after all those weeks, and it is as if you two are the only people in this world.

fin

SORRY FOR MISTAKES, I WAS TOO BORED TO READ THIS AGAIN AND ENGLISH ISN’T MY FIRST LANGUAGE.

feedback and criticism are appreciated and needed! 

divider by: @saradika​

[orionscelt]

Yule Ball Oufits (1/?)

Ominis and Sebastian

[the-colourful-witch]

✨🩷Parvati and Padma Patil at the Yule Ball🩵✨

This was by far the biggest challenge and the biggest fun to make. I wanted to do these girls justice, because as we all know, the film costumes were atrocious. BUT, I want to say that just because Parvati and Padma have Indian heritage, it does not mean they would wear a sari to the Yule Ball. In the books, they wore robes with gold bracelets (read: bangles). So, I explored different options for their dress robes. I imagined they received the dress robes in the post by their mum. And she had lovingly put the outfits together for her girls, passing on jewellery that had been in the family for generations, finding their new homes with the twins. Bangles and hair clips and necklaces and earrings. Gorgeous pieces they wore at the ball with pride.

My personal favourite design is 2. What are your thoughts?

Final note: hot pink and turquoise are not exactly my favourite colours to work with. So, that too, was a challenge. I’ll be happy to leave the pinks, purples and turquoises with lavender and the Patil twins for now :)

[georgeweasleyslostearhq]

ENTRY- HER

Pairings: George Weasley x Fem! reader Summary: George reads the letters he wrote about you to himself throughout Hogwarts Warnings: mention of have a b0ner, boobs, tears, hinting to masturbation, the use of Y/n is used a few times, I'm sorry

George bent down on the floor of his bedroom, he looked beneath to bed and pulled out a box that had been left untouched since he and Fred opened up the shop before the war

he sat down and leaned against the side of his bed, opening the box and pulling out the book

he sighed before opening it, turning to the front page, the first day he met you

-

1 september 1989

Dear diary

it's the first of september, meaning it's the day Me and Fred go to Hogwarts.

Me and Fred couldn't find an empty compartment to sit at, and there was no way we were going to sit with Percy, or Charlie- as his was already full

but we Found one with a boy in our year, Lee. he's cool, he let us sit with us and gave us some candy- which made mine and Fred's nose bleed. I didn't think anybody other than me and Fred would care about jokes and pranks, but i guess I was wrong, cause Lee does too!

the train started moving and we waved to our parents. i think it was about five minutes later when i saw a girl walk past, still holding her bags and stuff, she looked lost

I opened the door and let her inside

she smiled and sat with us, she wasn't that interested in pranks, but she laughed at the stories we told her.

Her name is Y/n, and I have a feeling she's going to stick around for a while.

George smiled and turned to the next page, a year and a bit later.

-

December 12, 1990

Christmas is coming up soon and our friends are doing a muggle thing Lee told us about- secret santa

not all our friends wanted to do it, but the main ones like Y/n, Angelina, Alicia, then it's me, Fred and Lee, so there's six of us, even

I got Y/n, I still don't know what to get her, there was no money limit or anything like that, but I just don't want to get something too cheap- but that's probably all I can afford

she's a good friend and after the first day of first year, she's stayed by our sides, no one else let her in to sit with on the train but we did, so she stayed

I'm glad she did, she's funny. and as much as she says she hates doing it- she helps me and Fred with pranks a lot, mostly because she's smarter than us

I wonder if she got me for secret santa, the odds of that would be really low, but it's not impossible, i would accept anything she would give me with a smile

George had gotten you some candy from Honeydukes- and you, infact did not get him, instead you had Fred, to which you gave him a bunch of products from Zonko's

George flipped to the next page as he heard noise coming from outside, dinner was probably coming soon and George would have to hurry before he was caught reading these

-

November 28, 1991

My third year at Hogwarts started a few months ago, the Famous Harry Potter started his first year

my younger brother Ron is his Friend, along with a strange girl, Hermione?

her and Y/n gets along pretty well, i think they go to the library together

speaking of Y/n, we've gotten closer, she would have to be my best friend- other than Fred. Lee is up there but he's been spending quite a bit of time with Alicia, I think there's something going on there, but i don't really know

Y/n decided to try out for the Quidditch team, due to mine and Fred's encouragement, she's really good, she should've been on the team last year, she's a chaser, and she's brilliant!

she's got the latest broom and it goes wicked fast, sometimes in training, we'll just race each other, she always wins though, mostly because I let her but who cares, it's worth it when i see the big smile on her face when she rubs it in

Fred started to tease me about it, saying i'm being soft.

I'm just being nice

-

October 13, 1992

fourth year started last month, school is getting a bit harder.

Fred Invited Y/n over in the holidays, she stayed at our house for about a week, I was a bit nervous that she would be overwhelmed by our family but she fit in great, Mum loved her and said she should come over for breaks from now on.

so she'll be coming over for christmas this december.

she stayed in Ginny's room, although she snuck into our room to mess around with jokes before she'd actually go to bed, I think mum knew that we did that because she glared at us when we would come down for breakfast the next mornings, she wouldn't say anything, just put her hands on her hips when we yawned

she's really cool, she's really pretty too, i don't think i've ever noticed it before, but she is, and Fred doesn't mind telling her that.

I think he fancies her because they always giggle to themselves

I don't know why but I would always get this pit in my stomach every time I saw them alone together.

He talks about her to me before going to sleep in our dorms, it's starting to piss me off, it was getting annoying because I just want to go to sleep and he'd start talking about something funny she said to him that day and he'd just laugh

i cover my eyes with my pillow every time to try and block him out, though it never really works

George laughed at that entry, looking back on it now, he should've known what the feeling meant

-

September 5, 1993

we got back from Holidays a few days ago, Y/n couldn't come over because she went over to Italy with her family

she had gotten boobs and the tight low cut shirt she wore to the train station really left little to the imagination, I know I sound weird and like a pervert, I shouldn't think this way about my best friend

but I can barely make eye contact with her anymore without my eyes lowering to her chest.

she's stunning and everything about her makes my heart flutter now.

she also had a slight tan and her hair was longer, she's always playing with it and I can't help the way my mind begins to wonder when i stare at her

she's making my body feel different, the way she bites her lip when concentrating, the way her eyes flutter when she looks up at me to talk

she's using lip gloss too, one that makes her lips look really kissable

I hate to admit it but i sat next to her in class yesterday and my dick decided it was a good time to get a boner, as painful as it was, all i could do was push it down.

she had noticed my uncomfortable state and in her sweet, innocent voice she asked if i was alright

"you ok there, Georgie?" she giggled

I could only nod my head.

and as horrible as it was, later that night, when laying in my bed, I couldn't help but ease the pain to the thought of her.

-

September 20, 1993

I fancy her, I've completely and utterly fallen in love with her,

it sounds like its just because her body has changed but it's so much more than that

she is kind and funny and sarcastic. and beautiful, like HOT.

too bad she has a boyfriend now, he doesn't deserve her and he wouldn't treat her half as good as I would if I were hers

Fred found out, turns out he never fancied her, but he just cares for her, as friends.

Fred thinks I should tell her, but I can't and I never will

Update- she broke up with him!

George laughed at the update at the end, which was 2 months later and flipped to the next page

-

December 6, 1994

McGonagall told us about the Yule ball today, a dance

my eyes were fixated on Y/n as she sat down laughing with Angelina across the room as I stood with Fred

Fred told me he liked Angelina a few weeks ago and I'm sure he'll ask her to the ball

Ron got called on to demonstrate the dance and she whistled at him, making him glare at her, to which she laughed

when the class was dismissed, Y/n came up to us and started joking around

I couldn't help but notice the way she has the top buttons of her shirt undone, and her tie a bit loose

it was getting rather chilly and she wasn't even wearing a jumper

I asked her if she was cold and she shook her head with a smile

"I like the cold, George, you should know that" she giggled, nudging me

she was rather short compared to me, the top of her just barely met my shoulder so she always looks up when talking to me

I've also noticed she likes to roll her skirt up, so merlin forbid she bends down to pick something up.

she's also gotten a bit more touchy, not just with me but with the rest of our friend group

her hugs would only happen coming back from breaks and holidays but now she'll hug you almost everyday in the mornings

her hugs have always been nice, but the way I can practically feel her boobs pressing up against me makes it all the better.

-

December 18, 1994

most people I know already have dates to the ball, Fred had asked Angelina to the ball within the first few days of hearing about it

Y/n has been asked a few times but she's politely declined every one

Fred keeps pressuring me to ask her already and I strictly telling him no, she'd reject me like every other guy whos asked her, and then it would make it weird.

We're also doing another secret santa this year, I got Alicia

Alicia is...nice? she just has a really big flirting problem, and that's not with everyone, just me

she asked me to the Ball a few days ago, and as much as I didn't want to go alone, I still said no

She's not really my type, and as much as i try to make her stop flirting with me, she just keeps doing it, I speak for all of our friend group when I say it's annoying, and I know that because they've all said it

it's nothing against her, but it's just weird

and Y/n doesn't mind talking about it, making jokes and stuff

the only person i have ever felt something for has been Y/n, and I don't want it to be anybody else

-

George remembers that week like it was all yesterday.

-

George was sat on the Gryffindor couch, your head in his lap as you told him about your day

"but anyway, why haven't you asked anybody to the ball!?" you sat up, sitting on your knees next to him

"I- I don't know, why haven't you said yes to anybody?" George questioned

"I don't like any of them, barely friends with most of them" you shrugged

"w- well do you? like anybody?" George stuttered

George noticed the small blush rising to your cheeks

"uh- not really" you smiled sheepishly "you?"

George's heartbeat quickened as he grew nervous

does he tell her?

"not really" he responded, copying your words

"you should go with Alicia" you nudged him shoulder, making him roll his eyes

"merlin" he cursed under his breath as you giggled

"only kidding of course..unless you actually want to?" you frowned

"if i wanted to go with her I would've said yes"

you smiled

"it's getting pretty late, i'm going to head to bed" you yawned

George nodded his head

"alright, goodnight"

"night, Georgie" you kissed his cheek before getting up and going to the dormitories

George stared off at the fire as the kiss lingered on his cheek, making his skin feel funny, a good funny

-

a few days later, Fred pushed George into asking you

"just go talk to her, this is probably your only chance!" Fred whispered before shoving George into you

you stumbled forward and almost bumped into Angie, who had to pause her sentence

you looked back and saw George

"sorry" he apologised

you grinned and gave him a hug "it's fine!"

Angelina saw Fred look at her from behind and walked over to him, leaving you with George

you stared up at George to see what he wanted but he only looked back at you nervously

"is there something you wanted, George?" you chuckled

"I want a date to the ball" he sighs, finally saying it, knowing that Fred would kick his ass if he didn't

"I'm sure Alicia will take you" you smirked

George licked his lips and thought of what to say

"no- no ok um...do you want to go with me? no! I would love if you would accompany me- wait ok. I really want you to go with me to the ball...I- I uh-"

-

December 20, 1994

I asked her to the ball, after what feels like forever being in love with her, I asked her

Fred pushed me into doing it

so I did, I sounded like a complete fool and I wish I could've said it better, word it so I didn't sound so stupid

maybe if I did that, she would've said yes

better yet- I had also admitted that I loved her, that I have for a long time. I had gotten so nervous that I outed myself

she just stood there in surprise before I ran off in complete and utter embarrassment

-

December 25, 1994

I went with her, it turns out that she was going to say yes but I ran away before she could've said anything

she told me she loved me too, and she made me the happiest man in all of Hogwarts

it was the Ball a few hours ago, you should've seen her, she was stunning- a type of stunning that when you see her, you can't say anything out of shock on how beautiful she is (which I did)

I can't describe the feeling I get when I'm with her- or see her, but it's overwhelming

i feel faint now every time I see her

she told me she would go with me the day after I had asked her in that stupid way. that was when she told me she loved me

she actually loves me.

I don't know how I can manage to make her love me but I'm grateful- and cautious

what if I mess up?

but that doesn't matter, we're not together

Update: jan 5- I asked her out, she said Yes!

-

February 19, 1996

Valentines day was 5 days ago, Y/n was obviously my Valentine and we had a great day, I took her to that tea shop in Hogsmeade she's been talking about for a while, if was very...pink and not the type of romantic that I like.

but she enjoyed it so I loved it.

we've been dating for a little over a year and it's great, I am absolutely in love with her and I think she is too

she's mad at me right now though

Today, at Quidditch, I beat up Draco Malfoy for bad mouthing, making Umbridge ban Me, Harry and Fred from the team, which is total bullshit!

anyway, I didn't get badly injured, Malfoy can't punch for the life of him

I only got a cut on my lip but Y/n yelled at me when walking back to the castle

I told her I don't really care I got kicked off but she still told me off, she's cute when she's mad

and I can't be mad at her for worrying about me, especially when she said I looked hot when beating Malfoy up

she let that slip from her mouth and hit my arm when I laughed at her

Merlin I love her, and I never want that to change, so just so you know. you are an idiot if you EVER LEAVE HER.

Fred and I are finalising our plan on leaving Hogwarts to start the shop up

Y/n knows about it, I've reassured her that we'll see each other, but I'm still worried she'll break up with me so I can focus on the shop

but right now I have to make it up to her for getting in a fight so.

-

April 21, 1996

she told me she wants to break up, she said it wasn't because of us, but because she wants to focus on our futures

I refused, it's the day before me and Fred leave.

I don't want to leave her, it feels like I only just got her and screw anyone who will try to take her away.

I told her I didn't want that and then it turned into a fight

she said she only wants what's best for us, but she is the best for me, and I will try to be the best for her

she left my dorm and I don't know where she went, but I want to see her, to tell her it will work.

I knew this was going to happen, but i didn't want it to.

Update- I found her and I begged her to stay with me, I told her that she should come live with me and Fred when she graduates and she didn't know what to say, she said she'll think about it

-

June 26, 1996

she moved in with us, she decided to stay with me and live with me, all her things are here now and she's in the bathroom right now, going through it and putting things in there, I couldn't be more happy.

I have the girl of my dreams to wake up beside me and go to sleep in my arms, forever

"George! dinner!" He heard Fred yell out before the door opened

"George..." he heard Fred sigh sadly

George felt the tears start to prickle in his eyes as he thought of you and how much he loved you

"I told her not to go...why didn't she listen?" George asked as his tears met the page from a few years prior, before the war

the same war that took you away from him

Fred walked into the room and sat next to his twin

"come on, I told you not to find this" Fred said, taking the book away.

--------------------------------------------

it's been a while! i'm sorryyyyy

[emeritusemeritus]

Since never. [Fred Weasley x Reader]

Title: Since Never.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Gryffindor!Reader (background George Weasley x Angelina)

Timeline: GOF, McGonagall’s dance class.

Summary: George meddles and Fred finally finds the courage to ask you to the Ball, not liking the idea of anyone else taking you. Inspired by TikTok, based on movie canon.

Warnings: Friends to lovers, minor kissing, harmless pranks. A load of fluff. Fred has a crush.

I’m thinking of writing a part two to this, but it would most likely just be self indulgent fluff 🤍

"You know," George whispers into his twin's ear, trying to get Fred's attention whilst also trying to stay under McGonagall's radar as she addresses the Gryffindor students all huddled into one large classroom. The Triwizard Tournament and the associated Yule Ball had been announced the day before and as head of house, Mcgonagall had been tasked with teaching her students the traditional Waltz. The girls were seated on the left side of the room whilst the boys were seated on the right, kept separate for now as they listened to her explaining the ins and out of the tournament and the ball.

George leans forward to whisper once again to Fred who stands with his arms folded, watching in amusement as Filch hopelessly fiddles with an archaic megaphone, trying to get it to work. "Lee told me this morning that y/n's going to the ball with Cedric Diggory."

Fred's head immediately whips round with a face of utter horror as he turns to his brother, before briefly diverting his eyes over to you on the other side of the room and then returning his gaze to George.

"What, since when?"

"Since never," George smirks dangerously as he takes in Fred's rather apparent distaste to his words, his dismay and disappointment etched right across his face. "But your reaction just told me everything I needed to know."

Fred huffs and slinks back onto the windowsill where he'd been leaning feeling a little embarrassed at being caught out so easily by his twin. His crush on you was one of the only secrets he'd ever hidden from his twin, though apparently rather unsuccessfully, never wanting to be teased about it. You'd all been friends for so long that he never wanted to make things awkward by admitting his feelings and so he'd kept quiet for nearly two years of loving you secretly and silently.

"You should ask her," George says, leaning in once again. Fred doesn't reply, at least not verbally, but instead shoots his brother a fierce look that tells him to back off.

"Something may be about to burst out of Eloise Midgen, but I don't think it's a swan," Fred hears Ron mumble to his surrounding classmates, their eyes all sneakily turning to look at the girl in question, who shifts uncomfortably where she stands, unaware that half the boys of Gryffindor are looking at her. Fred's gaze doesn't linger long, instead finding you in the crowd, whispering with Angelica seated beside you as Hermione shoots you both a chastising look from the other side, clearly trying to listen intently to Mcgonagall.

Your hair is down now, not tied up in a high ponytail like it had been at breakfast. Your legs are neatly crossed in your seat, your school skirt revealing an appropriate but delicious amount of leg that Fred can hardly look away from. You're effortlessly beautiful, or at least you are to him, never looking better than when you are laughing and joking with your friends like right now. Sat surrounded by only the girls, Fred thinks it seems to to enhance your beauty, the prettiest face in a sea of girls.

"Mr Weasley."

Fred immediately looks up upon hearing his title called out as it so frequently is, though he's mightily relieved when it appears McGonagall was addressing his younger brother Ron, no doubt hearing him muttering.

"Will you join me please?" She asks, moving towards where he sits with an outstretched hand. The tone of her voice leaves no space for refusal as she tentatively reached out for his jumper and pulls him up of the chair, moving to stand in the middle of the room. The boys all make teasing noises as he stands, dragging his body over to Mcgonagall, feet hardly shuffling on the floor.

"Place your right hand on my waist," she says, opening her arms for him.

"Where?" He asks utterly horrified. Everyone looking on watches with sadistic amusement at his predicament. Fred can barely contain his delight at the scene before him, watching with utter glee, just like his twin beside him.

"My waist!" Mcgonagall replies, grabbing Ron by the sleeve and firmly placing his arm on her waist.

Fred heard a wolf whistle from the other side of the room and looks at you just in time to see your hand pull away from your mouth, clearly having been the perpetrator. The looking of delight on your face mirrors his own as you each catch each others gaze and he thinks just for a second that if he didn't love you already, it was firmly cemented now.

Ron turns and shoots you a look but you simply wink at him with a dung-eating grin before he is dragged back to focus on the professor.

"Mr Filch, if you please," Mcgonagall commands, prompting the caretaker to drop the needle on the record player, flinching only moments later as the speaker begins to crackle, before a signature waltz pours out.

"One two three, one two three," Mcgonagall starts counting as she leads Ron into a waltz, showing the steps that were specific to the champion's waltz.

Fred and George had been goofily dancing along with the music, hardly taking their eyes off of their embarrassed brother when Harry calls over to them.

"Oi!" Harry says, gesturing for Fred and George to come closer. They move in perfect unison and never take their eyes off Ron as they listen to Harry.

"You're never going to let him forget this are you?"

"Never," the twins say in synchronised perfection with identical smirks before leaning back slinking away to lean on the window as they had before.

"Everyone, come together!" Mcgonagall says from the centre of the room, finally pulling away from a bright red Ron to gesture everyone forward. The boys make no effort to move forward, clearly not wanting to participate whereas nearly all of the girls leap forward in excitement, waiting in a line to be picked.

Fred watches as Angelina drags you up, noticing that you had not leapt forward with the rest of the girls and he has to hide a snicker at seeing your disgruntled face, evidently not as keen to dance as your female classmates.

"Boys! On your feet!" Mcgonagall claps, getting the boys to also move forward. Neville stands first, followed by a few stragglers but no one moves forward until Fred steps out of line and whilst ignoring the looks from his twin and fellow Gryffindors, marches straight over to you.

"May I have this dance mi'lady?" He says dramatically with a bow of his head, extending his right hand to you.

"You may mi'lord," you laugh, placing your hand in his. He drags you over to the dance floor and places his hand on your waist just as he'd seen in the demonstration and with surprising precision, pulled you further away as he began spinning you. Your laugh echoed through the classroom even over the music as Fred span you around and around, completely ignoring the choreography until Mcgonagall shouted over and warned you both.

He seemed, for once, to heed the warning and pulled you closer into his chest then, placing his hand back onto your waist as he held you close, managing to quickly pick up the footwork that was needed for the waltz.

It was so intimate and romantic that you had to remind yourself frequently that this was Fred you were dancing with, knowing that he was out of bounds on account of your friendship with him and his siblings.You had to resist the urge to rest your head on his chest as you danced, enjoying the closeness as you half watched the rest of your house dancing around you.

"Do you have a date to the ball yet?" You hear Fred ask as he dances with you, hand resting on your lower back after lifting you in perfectly sync with the music.

"Not yet," you say, looking up to see him watching you with an intensity you couldn't place. "You?" You ask, temporarily breaking your eye contact as he clutched your waist, lifting you again and then taking your waist and your hand to spin you, just as the champions waltz demanded. He didn't verbally reply but instead shook his head with a frown before pulling you in closer and spinning you with more intensity which had you laughing again.

"Y/n," Fred says as he looks down at you, pausing his movements to speak but he's interrupted by Mcgonagall calling time on the dance class. She begins addressing the room of students on details of the ball and you all listen intently until she dismisses the class. When you turn back to Fred you notice he'd joined George and was already walking out the door, bag slung over his right shoulder. Angelina joined you, bringing you your bag as you said goodbye to Ginny and Hermione before walking to your next class together.

"You and Fred looked rather close," Angelina says as you place your bag onto your shoulder.

"He's my best friend Ange," you say, nudging her shoulder and rolling your eyes, pretending that you hadn't enjoyed it quite as much as you did.

"Has he asked you to the ball?" She says, not even flinching.

"No and I doubt he will," you say with a forced huff of a self-deprecating laugh.

"I hope George asks me," she says longingly as you turn the corner towards the charms classroom, instantly falling silent as you see the two brothers you'd been discussing already standing in the doorway to the classroom.

George looks over and smiles at you both, mainly Angelina as he beckons you over and you don't hesitate wiggling your eyebrows at her once he looked away, causing her to nudge you forcefully right back. You momentarily loose your balance from the unexpected nudge and as if on instinct, Fred's arms reach out to catch you.

"Falling for me princess?" He smirks, causing you to roll your eyes.

"You'd love that Weasley," you counter once you'd steadied yourself, seeing that George and Ange had already taken their seats.

"Ladies first," Fred says, opening his arms to gesture for you to go through the doorway first and you send him a sarcastic smile of gratitude before taking your seat next to Ang, in front of Fred.

Throughout the class you were desperately distracted, barely even listening or taking notes. thinking of your dance with Fred earlier and how he'd marched directly over to you ahead of all the other boys. You hoped that he was going to ask you to the ball, though you knew it would just be a pipe dream. Hopefully someone would ask you, even just as friends.

A piece of scrunched up parchment hits you square in the head, making you look round with a glare. Fred immediately smiles widely at you, if not a little sarcastically before he sends another note over to you with his wand, a little origami bird flying over your shoulder and onto the desk in front of you. Your eyebrows knit together in questioning as you look up at him again but he simply raises his eyebrows as if to say 'read it' and you turn and unfold the note delicately, shooting a quick look towards the professor to check that they weren't watching you.

'Black lake 7pm?"

You turned around, still looking confused but when you saw Fred watching you eagerly, you nodded with a little smile. He smiled back, winking at you before dropping his gaze back down to his work.

You secretly nudged Ang beside you and gestured with your eyes down to the little note, seeing her eyes bulge comically as she let out a little silent squeal of delight once she reads the note. She looks at you excitedly and wordlessly nods, as if thinking the same thing.

It's 6:50pm and you hadn't seen Fred or George at dinner which was unusual to say the least. Angelina and Harry had been there so it wasn't a Quidditch thing, which only confused you more. You made your way out of the castle utilising one of the secret passageways that you'd taken multiple times with the twins to avoid being seen, climbing around the statue of Gregory the smarmy and slipped down into the passage, walking the length of the little corridor until you could hear water rippling. You climbed up the little rocky steps and found yourself looking out at the Great Lake, beside the rocky cliffs that hid you from sight.

"Evening," you a voice called out from behind you, making you turn and frown. It was hard to see in just the moonlight with the shadows of the cliffs creating even more darkness, but you immediately sensed that something wasn't right. The person jumped down from where they had been perched on the rock and as they moved closer their long red hair and wooden jumper emblazoned with an 'F' came into focus.

"Hi, Fred," you said unconvincingly, looking at the bloke in front of you.

"Glad you could come gorgeous," he says, shifting to stand next to you. You couldn't help but observe him, looking at his features with subtle glances and questioning eyes.

"It's pretty out here tonight don't you think," he says with a shy smirk, though his eyes focus entirely on you as he speaks.

"Uh yeah, really pretty." He seems to briefly notice your lack of reply and casts a glance up at your eyes before looking away, focusing his attention on something to the right for just a moment.

"I've been thinking a lot about our dance earlier," he says shyly and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes now that it's all added up in your mind.

You gesture for him to move in closer, placing your hand on his shoulder as he leans down so that you could whisper in his ear.

"We didn't dance earlier," you say bluntly though with humour behind it, picking up a rock and trying to skim it on the water.

"Eh?" He asks, turning quickly to look up at your face in surprise, taken aback by his words.

"I danced with Fred earlier. Where is he anyway?" You ask quietly, raising your eyebrow at him, foiling his plan. He barks out a loud laugh at your discovery and you immediately see the performance drop from his body as he slinks down to his regular stance, once again being himself. He subtly nods his head to the right and your eyes light up in glee as you lean back over to him.

"Want to mess with him?" You ask with a suggestive wiggle of your eyebrows. George's eyes immediately light up as he nods, a smile tugging at his lips already.

"You know I've been thinking about our dance a lot too," you say flirtily and a little louder now, ensuring that whenever Fred was, he would hear you. You even lean over to touch George on the arm as you speak, your body language changing as you play heavily on the flirting.

"Oh really?" He says, playing along with a concealed smirk.

"Mmm," you hum, tracing your fingers up his arm with exaggerated movements so you knew that Fred would see them if he was watching. "I spent the whole dance really hoping you were going to kiss me," you said innocently and you immediately have to bite your lip as you and George share a little silent laugh.

"What a coincidence," he says, trying to sound like Fred, "I was thinking the same thing."

"Are you thinking about it now?" You ask, reaching to play with his collar, your voice seductive and airy as you pull out all the stops. "Maybe you could give me a demonstration of exactly what you were thinking about."

All of a sudden you hear a few loud shouts and a shuffle as another figure comes into view, quickly making their way down the rocky cliffs and running comically with waving arms, straight over to stand between you and George, who are both now in hysterics. Fred immediately notices the two of you laughing and freezes in confusion before realising that he'd been played.

"When did you figure it out?" He says, sounding aghast at you seeing through their little scheme.

"The second George said 'evening'," you chuckled, straightening back up and laughing again as Fred and George begin to squabble about who's fault it was.

"Anyway, have fun you two," George says with a wiggle of his eyebrows before walking down the steps to the concealed passage, leaving you and the real Fred alone.

"You know that doesn't work with me," you say, turning to him with a smirk on your face, seeing him already looking at you and shrugging with a playful grin. "Why did you swap?"

"Needed to know you could tell us apart," he says with a cheeky grin that makes you frown, silently questioning him. "Gonna need to know which one's your date to the ball aren't you. Can't have you dancing with the wrong bloke."

Your eyes immediately widen and a smile beams across your face as his words register with you. He chuckles, seeing your reaction before dramatically getting down on one knee as if he was proposing.

"Y/n, would you do me the honour of being my date to the Yule ball?" He asks seriously, holding out his hands as if he was presenting you with a ring. You giggle and let out a little squeal before lunging at him, knocking you both to the floor.

"I might be wrong but I think that was a yes," he chuckles.

"Yes! Yes you great oaf," you reply with a smile, feeling completely elated. His smile matches yours as he pulls you down onto him and suddenly there's a tension that falls between you both at the intimacy of the moment.

"Still thinking about that kiss?" He asks, a nervousness falling across his features that you had so rarely seen. You don't reply, at least not verbally and give a small, shy nod as you look at his lips in anticipation, thinking of nothing else.

Not a moment passes before he leans up, gently pulling you down until your lips meet, his soft lips pressing gently against yours. After just a few seconds, his hands hover over your waist before he seems to find the courage to hold you, placing his hands on your waist and hip as the kiss deepens, lips working completely in sync as you sink deeper and deeper into eachother.

You pull apart a little while later and both giggle shyly at what had just happened. Fred never takes his hands away from your waist, even as he gently manoeuvres you until you're lying down on him, head on his shoulder as you both look up at the star filled sky, a comfortable silence falling between you as you both replay the moment in your heads over and over again.

[theillusionmachine]

Where Love and Confusion Begin (Ominis Gaunt x F!Reader)

"Do you really think I could be that cruel and careless to you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 25th, 1893 The Yule Ball... Wear your best formal attire-

Everywhere I turned I seemed to hear about. Countless after countless bouts of excited, restless chatter would always manage to come echoing back to me. And while I understood why most would be excited about the prospect of a ball, I on the other hand couldn't help but feel... downright anxious about it all.

I knew it sounded silly, completely dramatic. Afterall, I had been through a lot worse things during my time in Hogwarts. But for some reason, my mind, my thoughts, my worries just couldn't relax. And when they did for a short while, they'd slowly begin to drift back onto one person...

Ominis Gaunt.

I was practically infatuated with the man. For a multitude of reasons, besides his obviously good looks. He was marvelously kind, had a whit so quick it could make your head spin, and could be snarky and sarcastic one minute. But caring and loving the next.

Ominis simply made it hard not to love him.

But he did, however, make it hard for me to even think about going to the Yule Ball with him. We were friends, close ones despite the fact that I had only been at Hogwarts for a couple of years. Our friendship would be something I'd always treasure, something I would never want to ruin because my love for him clouded my judgement.

And the thought of losing him because of that was enough to make me nauseous.

"Enjoying a cat nap, are we?"

I slowly cracked open one of my eyes, wincing slightly at the beam of sunlight that had been slowly warming me as I laid down in one of the many alcoves at Hogwarts. But once my vision focused fully, Sebastian came into view. Grinning down at me cheekily.

"I wasn't napping." I muttered, forcing myself to sit up. "Just enjoying the sun.

"You could've gone outside for that." Sebastian suggested, now sitting down on the floor too.

"It's freezing, you sit outside for an hour." I replied, a little too snappy for my liking.

But Sebastian wasn't fazed by my crass mood in the slightest. In fact, Sebastian seemed to find me to be quite humorous. "Aww, is someone missing their nap partner?" He teased, making me grumble in annoyance.

"Oh, shut it, I don't know what you're talking about."

Sebastian let an exaggerated sigh, leaning back slightly on his hands before continuing. "You both are insufferably stubborn you know that right? Ominis was in a terrible mood after History of Magic because you decided to ditch today."

I scoffed at Sebastian theatrics, not even bothering to hide the fact that I had rolled my eyes. "History of Magic is painfully boring, anyone who goes to that class will be in a ba-"

"History of Magic is tiring enough, but her not being their made it worse." Sebastian deadpanned, trying his hardest to imitate Ominis's tone.

"Well, I am very entertaining." I replied sarcastically. "And can you really blame me for skipping out on that class? I swear if I hear one more time how many wizarding cloaks were destroyed during the Goblin Rebellion, I'll lose whatever mind I have left."

"It's 632." Sebastian couldn't help but laugh at my less than amused expression.

"Are you finished? Or did you actually approach me to talk about something important?"

"Yes." He began, clearing his throat. "If you would stop changing the topic that is."

"I am not-"

"Ah, ah, that's the same thing Ominis said to me after classes. You two are so incredibly in sync today." Sebastian teased. "It's quite adorable really. He's moody, you're moody, you're happy, he's smiling up a storm, if you've disappeared to... god knows where, a majority of the time he's right there with you."

It annoyed me to no end how right on the money he is...

"What're you getting at Sebastian?" I questioned meekly, trying my hardest to ignore the flush I was beginning to feel on my cheeks.

"I think we both know exactly what I'm getting at." Sebastian spoke bluntly, raising up from the stone-cold floor. "Maybe you should ask him, Ominis can get into his head rather easily. And you know that can stop him from saying what he wants to."

Sebastian then walked away, leaving me practically dumbfounded on the floor.

Ask him... ask him... merlin I don't know if that idea made me feel better or worse. The idea of being rejected by him was painful. But maybe if I asked to go with him as friends that it would work...

"Sebastian, you might've actually had a good idea for once."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had decided to skip dinner for the night, not feeling too hungry after the talk I had with Sebastian. I figured a moment alone would give me enough clarity to decide whether I'd actually bite the bullet and asked Ominis to the ball.

"Ah, there you. I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

But a moment alone in this school was a rarity... Of course, he was here... why wouldn't he be?

"Ominis, I figured you would've been in the Great Hall for dinner." I greeted, trying to keep my nervous laughter from bubbling up to the surface.

"Wasn't hungry." He answered nonchalantly, turning back to face the fireplace of our common room.

I stood there for a moment, in silence, completely unsure of what to say next. But Ominis beat me to it, filling the silence before I got the chance to.

"Aren't you going to sit?" He began, I hadn't even noticed he had turned his head again, his eyes somehow managing to land right on me.

Just like they always managed to do...

"Or were you really avoiding me?"

That sentence managed to snap me out of my tongue-tied state. That nervous laugh I held in before leaked out before I had the chance to stop it this time around. "You know I wasn't avoiding you."

I finally moved from my spot, walking over and sitting next to him on the couch. I couldn't help but gaze over at him. His hand was lightly raised in the air, his wand beaming red at the tip as a book rested in his lap. A small smile curved his pale pink lips, he looked completely at ease. Which after the past couple of years was a nice sight to see.

"You're nervous." Ominis muttered, and though his voice was soft, I couldn't help but tense up. "You keep bouncing your leg... I know you only do that when you're anxious about something."

"I didn't even realize I was doing it." I admitted, leaning back into the cush couch cushions.

Ominis copied my movements, leaning back against the cushions a mere moment later. His book was now abandoned, the pages of it turning carelessly on their own accord. "Something on your mind?"

I took in a steady breath; thankful it had not trembled like I thought it would. "Maybe." I answered coyly, making Ominis's small smile bloom slightly.

"Are those thoughts the reason I've hardly heard from you all day?"

damn it damn it damn it... think of something to say quick... don't come off as suspicious...

"Hey, maybe you were the one avoiding me. Last time I checked I haven't heard from you too much either today." I deflected, trying to sound humorous.

"Hmm," Ominis hummed. "You've got a good point there... but I have a reason for my... disappearance." He added vaguely.

I leaned forward trying to get a good look at his face. The shadows of the fire danced along his face, illuminating his marble eyes beautiful. His expression was humorous too, and I knew exactly why...

"You know I hate it when you leave me hanging like that." I grumbled, making him let out a smooth chuckle.

"I merely wanted to avoid the constant chatter of the Yule Ball is all. It's beginning to become a bit... excessive."

"You two are so in sync today."

I shook my head, trying to get the words Sebastian had spoken out of my head. "You're telling me, you should hear what I wake up to everyday as of late."

"I could only image." Ominis replied, chuckling once again. "I would rather not hear about something I know I'm not going to."

I could feel my heart sink at his words. I hadn't even thought of the fact that he might not want to go at all.

"N-not going to? Why wouldn't you go?" I questioned curiously.

"A blind person spending their night alone at a ball doesn't exactly sound to enticing to me."

"Oh." Is all I could think to say, I leaned back into the couch contemplating my next move carefully.

Should I ask him... what if he just really doesn't want to go. I don't wanna look stupid.

Screw it...

"Would you want to go with me?"

I tense at my own words, not daring to move to see Ominis's reaction. My heart was racing, so much so it felt as though my pulse was about to burst through my skin. And the silence I was met with after I asked was completely unsettling.

Merlin why did I listen to Seb-

"It's a bit untraditional for a girl to ask a boy to a ball, isn't it?" He pondered.

Okay, it's not a total no... that's a relief.

"Maybe, but it's not like that has to be a bad thing." I replied hopefully. "And besides, it'll be fun to go with someone who... so entertaining to you." I added, attempting to sound boastful, but it just came across as a bit... jumbled.

Another bout of silence came, and in those few moments of the quiet. Part of me wished I was a legilimens, so I could see what was going on inside his mind... so I could hear what he thought of all of this.

When finally, I got my answer.

"I think it'd be nice to go with you."

Oh, my Merlin he actually said yes...

I couldn't stop the smile that began to form, a bubbling shyness began to boil to the surface. And my heart still definitely felt like it was going to beat out of its chest. With what little shred of coolness I had left, I finally was able to reply.

"It's a date...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, the 25th rolled around... a day I was dreading at one point. But now felt so excited about it that I couldn't sleep.

I felt giddy, or like a swarm of butterflies was fluttering throughout me. I felt restless, I couldn't stay in one place, and I fought the urge to not pace most of the night. But for some reason, I couldn't seem to care... and with every passing hour that I stayed awake, it just revitalized me.

Though, judging from the bags in my eyes, my body didn't exactly share the same sentiment I did.

But thank goodness for Samantha Dale...

I never would've guessed she had such a knack for Herbology. Yet, when she let me up into her dorm in the Ravenclaw tower, after we agreed to get ready together. A whole spread of concoctions was set up.

"You know there is such a thing as beauty sleep." Samantha teased as she stared at my reflection in her vanity.

She carefully places a mint green cream under my eyes, making a pleasant tingling sensation hit me. "That'll clear those bags up in no time!" She stated confidently.

"Thank you." I began to bounce my leg again as the nerves began to creep up on me.

"Nervous?" Samantha asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"Is it obvious?" I asked in reply, letting out a shaky chuckle.

"Just a smidge." She spoke considerately. "But I don't think you need any reason to fret. I find you and Ominis to be a lovely pairing."

My eyes shot up from my hands to gaze at her and I could feel an eyebrow raise questioningly. "P-paring? as in?"

"A couple?" Samantha replied, just as questioningly as I did.

"Oh... we aren't together... like that." I muttered sheepishly.

Samantha chuckled, looking over at me incredulously. "There's no way! Honestly, a lot of people already assume you two are together."

"Really?"

Samantha scoffed, shaking her head at me. "Look, I've seen the way you look at him. And I've seen the way he is around you. People who aren't in love don't act like that."

"Hey, I'm not denying that I've fallen for him." I admitted honestly. "It's just... a hard thing to say to someone you've grown so close to."

Samantha just eyed me for a moment, seemingly taking my words in. "You think he doesn't feel the same way, do you?"

I felt my lips curve into a bittersweet smile. My sights falling onto my hands again. "It's hard to believe that he would."

"Hmm... but, you two are going to the ball together?"

I chuckled at her puzzled words before nodding my head. "Sounds maddening, doesn't it?"

Samantha was quick to shake her head, a sudden, bright smile coming second later. "Not maddening, but an opportunity. You should say something to him!"

"Eh..."

"No, no, just listen for a second!" Samantha exclaimed. "It'd be the perfect opportunity to, honestly this sounds like something that would be in a romance novel!"

"But this isn't a romance novel."

"Exactly! So, it'll be even more beautiful, when the pair of you are slow dancing... and the music and the others around you fade because all you can focus on is yourselves. And before you know it, you two will kiss."

That truly does sound picture perfect...

"Why would it be more beautiful?"

Samantha lovesick smile faded into fondness. "Because it'll be real, and I'll know that the love you feel will be real as well."

I took in a deep breath, trying not to get consumed by the possibilities Samantha planted in my head. But I simply couldn't...

"You have such a way with words." I huffed playfully. "So, I'm really going to do this? I'm... I'm going to tell him that I... love him."

Samantha nodded; her expression full of enthusiasm. "That's exactly what you're going to do! You'll arrive as friends and leave together reveling in love."

"Won't leave tonight as friends." I muttered moreso to myself to... pep myself up.

But Samantha managed to hear me. "Exactly." She spoke, her tone full of satisfaction. "Now, enough chit chat. We must get our hair done." She added, jumping up from her bed before walking over to me.

"Yes let's..."

As I gazed at myself in the mirror, and I felt the occasional tugs of my hair, my mind began to wander. And soon enough, it wandered right onto Ominis. I was sure he was being a lot more composed than me. But part of me wished that he was just as giddy as I was. Or had thought of little scenarios about how out night would go like I had.

But I seriously doubt that would be going through his mind..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cross, shift, pull, tie...

"Ominis?"

Cross, pull... shift, tie

"Uh, Ominis?"

Tie... tie... tie...

"Ominis! Are you trying to fix your tie or choke yourself?" My friends' words were humorous. And I could hear him try to, but fail to hold back a laugh.

"I couldn't tell you honestly." I admitted, laughing myself as I attempted to tug my fingers out of the knot, I managed to get them in.

I could hear Sebastian begin to walk over to me before I suddenly felt a slight tugging on my undone tie. "You can slick back and swirl your hair into... merlin knows how many swirls; you can somehow manage to perfectly button hundreds of those tiny damn things. But you can't fix a tie?" Sebastian muttered humorously.

I let out an exaggerated sigh before I replied. "I can't be perfect at everything can I?"

"Oh, shove off." Sebastian rebutted, breaking out into a laughter. "There, now that looks like a bowtie... you're welcome princess." He added mockingly.

I sighed, attempting to give him a glare. "Don't call me that."

Sebastian bellowed out another laugh before his footsteps began to wander in our room once again. "What would you prefer I call you?"

"Not that." I scoffed, carefully sitting back down onto my bed.

My thoughts began to push to the forefront of my mind, and it didn't take too long for it to fixate itself on her. Since she asked me, I couldn't help but spend many nights thinking about us... about her. Or how tonight would go, if by the end of the night we'd still be nothing more than friends... or something more.

Merlin did I wish we'd end up being something more. I don't know how much longer I can keep up this... facade with her.

"Ah, what's going on in that mind of yours?" Sebastian questioned but before I even attempted to respond he cut me off. "Is it her?"

"When did you get so bloody... observant?"

"I always have been, dear friend of mine. You just never bothered to notice." Sebastian boasted, I could only imagine how cocky his demeanor was as he spoke.

"My apologies, I've simply been too distracted by all the dabbling in the Dark Arts you did." I replied sarcastically.

"Hey, I stopped... eventually." Sebastian grumbled. "S-stop changing the subject... you two are way too good at it. You must've rubbed off on her."

I simply smiled at his words, soaking in the thought of her once again. The smooth sound of her voice, her raspberry iris perfume, her touch. I could drown happily in the thoughts of her, day in and day out.

I couldn't help but not to... I was hopelessly in love with her. And part of me was terrified because of it. But it was a fear I was thankful to experience in some way, and I'd experience it time and time again if it meant I could have her.

But I knew it my heart that I would never get that lucky...

"You should tell her, Ominis." Sebastian suggested, taking me out of my head once again.

I shook my head at his words, doubt began to replace the feelings of fondness I felt before. "I don't know..."

"What's there not to know? Tonight is the perfect opportunity to."

"I don't want to ruin things with her." I muttered lowly.

"Trust me, you wouldn't." Sebastian reassured me. "And, it's better to say something to her now. 'Cause it'll eat away at you mate, and you don't want that."

"How can you be so sure?" I questioned, genuinely wondering how his mind could work so optimisticly.

Sebastian let out a soft scoff, as if he was stating the obvious. "Friends don't act the way you two act with each other. And last time I checked I never saw you and Anne cuddled up on the common room couch."

"Well-"

"Or had Anne playing with your hair while you napped on her lap."

"Okay but-"

"And I know for a fact that I've never seen Anne get... viscerally envious because she heard a group of girls talking about trying to slip you a love potion."

"Okay, okay, I get your point." I managed to speak, letting out a huff. "I understand what you're saying, I do."

"Ah, finally, you admit I'm right. Your life would be so much easier if you said that more." Sebastian boasted once again. "So, you're going to tell her tonight then?"

"I am." I spoke strongly, though I couldn't help but feel that doubt that had stopped me so many times before seep through. "I can't believe I'm going to, but I am."

Sebastian sounded thrilled as he let out an elated laugh. "Finally! Seriously, watching you two pinning over each other was starting to get old."

"Sorry for the inconvenience." I apologized, rolling my eyes at Sebastian's theatrics.

"Don't beat yourself up over it." Sebastian replied nonchalantly.

"Now let's get a move on, you don't want to keep your lady waiting too long now do we?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second I left the Samantha's dorm and made my journey back to the Slytherin common room. It was like my nerves continuously dashed away with each step I took. I felt levelheaded, as cool as one could be. It almost eerie to me, how I felt so nervous one minute but then completely calm the next.

Things just... felt right, like whatever was bound to happen tonight was simply meant to be. And I couldn't wait to spend my night with him, gently swaying as time seemingly ceased to exist.

Damn Samantha and her romance novels.

"Well, someone knows how to dress up." I turned my head, following the sound of Sebastian voice.

But any reply I attempted to come up with was lost the second I saw Ominis.

Green looks amazing on him...

"Wow," I began, sitting up from the arm of the plush couch. "You look fantastic."

Ominis was stood there, that same, at ease smile I looked forward to seeing so much greeted me tauntingly. "I'm sure you do as well." He spoke gently, my hands were then lightly gripped and placed in his hold.

My eyes mindlessly wandered down to them, and the longer my hands were place in his the more I realized how warm his felt compared to mind.

"Well, on that note, I think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Sebastian teased, quickly exiting the common room soon after.

The silence that came after Sebastian left was comfortable. There was no pressure or... plaguing thoughts to think of something to say. It was as if we were taking each other in, or simply just wanted a moment to ourselves.

I began to trace the faint lines I could feel on his palms before moving over to the next. Ominis's smooth laughter came soon after, making me look up to gage his reaction.

"Reading palms now, are you?"

"Mhm," I replied, smiling softly. "You want to know what I see?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Okay, I see..." I paused, tracing over a particularly deep line, one that almost felt like a scar. "That you have great hands."

I could see that he was taken aback, but not uncomfortable. A light, red flush soon bloomed on his cheeks, illuminating his blue marble eyes.

"And, that your cheeks will glow with a marvelous red tinge." I added whimsically.

"Stop it." Ominis muttered, a light laugh following his meek words.

"Fine." I relented easily, smoothly dropping his hands before hooking my arm with his. "We have a ball to get to anyway."

It didn't take too long to find our way to the great hall, that had been transformed into an icy yet stunning ballroom. The sounds of the classical were an easy guide for the pair of us.

"There seems to be a lot of people here." Ominis spoke, I could feel his arm tense under my hold.

"Seems too." I replied nonchalantly. "Doesn't surprise me too much, after all, all we've heard about these past few weeks is the ball.

"I just... don't want to bump into anyone."

I took my eyes off of the crowd and back towards him. He looked nervous, unsure of himself.

Can't have that...

"Oh, don't worry about that, you won't." I reassured him, giving his arm a light squeeze. "That's what your lovely date is here for." I added teasingly, bumping my hip against his.

Though the worry was still evident on his face, Ominis had begun to smile. Hopefully I was able to ease his nerves slightly. "You definitely are lovely."

"Hmm, so are you." I complimented, before gently guiding him through the crowded hall. "More than lovely." I grinned as I saw his cheeks flushed again.

"Darling..." Though he sentence stopped once I did, finally managing to find an open enough place to dance.

Wordlessly, I clasped his hand, Ominis seemed to catch onto what I was doing and was quick to glide his hand from my ribs to the middle of my back. My breath became caught in my throat at his touch and my posture straightened.

Don't tense, don't tense... we're just dancing.

"Is this okay?" He nearly whispered; I hadn't even noticed how close we were to each other, as we glided... cheek to cheek.

"P-perfect." The breath that was got in my throat finally escaped as I spoke. "Wouldn't want to be in this embrace with anyone else."

"I don't think you mean that." Ominis stated bashfully, delicately turning us around before we began to glide again.

"I know that I do." I answered defiantly. "I honestly couldn't imagine dancing with somebody else."

"Really?" He didn't sound completely doubtful this time around, honestly, he began to sound a bit humorous.

"Are you doubting my honesty, Ominis?" I asked, trying to match his playful tone.

"No, no... i just think you haven't... considered your options." He replied carefully, trying his best to articulate his words.

"Hmm, let's me think then... Amit? Nice, but no. Garreth? He's nice as well but not my type... and he's definitely into Natty."

"Sebastian?" Ominis chimed in, his face becoming void of much emotion.

"No, I imagine he'd step on my feet all night. That sounds less than pleasant does it not?"

"You have a fair point." Ominis agreed, before a slightly sinister grin took over. "Leander."

I grumbled at the mention of the infamous Gryffindor's name, the vibrations of Ominis's laugh could be felt soon after. "Don't make me retch."

Ominis's hand began rub circles into my back, I began to smile at the sensation, closing my eyes as he began to lull me into relaxation.

But then...

"So, why, would you choose me?" He asked, my eyes opening once again.

"Wh-why are you-"

"I just want to know." He cut me off gently. "It's been baffling to me as to why you chose to go with me."

"Because I know you-"

"You know Sebastian quite well."

"Not in the same way I do you... not in the same way that you know me too." I explained, finding it hard to believe I was starting to be so open about something I was so used to shoveling down.

But I wasn't going to stop now.

"You... you make me feel safe, and I know that I can trust you with anything I come to you with."

"I'm not always the most... understanding with some of the things you've spoken to me about." Ominis argued, as if he was trying to downplay my points.

"And I love how honest you are with me. You don't fill me with false confidence, or some... mindless delusions. You're my voice of reason, my tie to reality."

His grip began to tighten on my, and I could see his jaw begin to tense. "Reality isn't always the sweetest."

"You make it sweet."

He stopped his movements at my words, his eyes shut, and his head lowered, shaking. "Stop it." He muttered lowly.

"Why?" I spoke quietly. "Why do you want me to stop?"

"You don't mean it, you, you can't mean it."

"You know I'm no liar." I stated bluntly. "I mean every word... and I mean it when I say that I love-"

A harsh bump made the pair of us stumble, our hold finally coming apart. My words fell mindlessly, like the many specks of enchanted snow that surrounded us.

"Oh I'm sorry!" A voice spoke, clearly beggining to panic at what they had just done.

"It's fine don't-" The sound of hurried footsteps stop me once again, and I didn't need to turn around to know who they had belonged to. I didn't bother to try and finish my sentence, instead opting to hurry after Ominis before I lost him completely.

That wand really did imprint this place in his mind...

I could hardly keep up with him as he ran through the mostly desolate hall. The only people who were lingering in them were broken hearted girls, and the occasional... handsy couples.

Thankfully, before Ominis could fully disappear from my sight. I managed to see him slip outside into the courtyard. I hurried toward the large double doors, hoping I had the chance to catch him.

"Ominis wait!" I called out, my breath desperately trying to calm itself.

He was at the now frozen fountain, leaning against the stone tensely. "Why are you doing this to me?" He asked through clenched teeth.

I stepped down from the snow-covered stone steps, carefully approaching him. "Doing what?"

"Toying with me like this!" His voice was trembling, and he was clearly upset.

Was I too forward? Did he not take what I was saying seriously?

"Toying with you?" I repeated distantly. "Do you really think I could be that cruel and careless to you?"

He turned his head toward me, his eyes seemingly swimming in emotions he was struggling to contain.

"Ominis, my emotions, what I've said tonight, was never a game. It's real to me and it always has been." I admitted, feelings of vulnerability began to creep in. "I- I honestly, don't know how much blunter I need to be for you to believe me but, whatever it takes I'll do it!"

"Darling," Ominis called out fondly, he took in a deep breath before he continued. Most likely wanting to compose himself. "I'm sorry I... It's my mind toying with me, not you."

I grasped his hands, gripping them in hopes of emphasizing my point. "Well, tell your mind to stuff it." I huffed, Ominis bit his lip, holding back a bout of laughter.

I then laid my head against his chest, and I felt him rest his against mine soon after. "Friends don't act this way with one another, do they?" His voice was deep, vibrating slightly through his chest.

"No... and most don't cuddle by the fireplace or... spend all night talking, not even caring about how exhausted they felt because... they were with each other.

I felt him drop my hands from his before his arms wrapped themselves around me. "I treasured those nights, you know that?"

"Feelings mutual." I spoke against his chest, taking in a deep breath of his cologne. "And I hope they're still mutual when I tell you that I've fallen in love with you, Ominis."

My heart at that point felt like it was about to burst through my chest. But at the same time, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of it.

I had never felt so free yet so... terrified at the same time.

One of his hands that had been embracing me began to travel up my body. Undoubtably leaving goosebumps in its wake. My jaw was then cupped, and my breath stuttering once I felt his thumb gently tugged on my lower lip. Before gently tilting my head up toward him.

"Definitely mutual." Ominis muttered, his lips tauntingly ghosting over mine. "Is this okay, love?"

We weren't leaving tonight as friends.

I closed the gap that kept our lips apart, and with that action, my breath dissipated with it. But I honestly could care less about that. Not when it was stolen away because of Ominis, not when he every touch of his lips and hands warmed nearly every inch of me.

Not when I found out that he actually loved me too.

He pulled away a bit too soon for my liking. A tremor quaked through my body. And I couldn't tell if it was cause my body was finally aware of the cold. Or if I simply missed the sensation of Ominis's touch.

Ominis attempted to warm me up, rubbing my arms as he pulled me closer to him once again. "Cold? Would you like to head back inside?"

A mindless smile curved my lips, a hazy wave of lovesickness came soon after. "No, being here is perfect... nearly perfect."

"Nearly? What can I do to make things picturesque for you?"

"Just... kiss me again, please."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, I hope you all enjoyed this fic. It was actually a request someone sent in, and I absolutely loved writing it!

Sorry if there were some typos. I tried to proofread it as I went along but sometimes things slip by me. I have another request sent in that I'm going to work on next. But if you liked this one and had an idea of your own. Send it in and I'll gladly take the time to write it for you! Until next time, Illusion.

[eternalremorse]

Gorgeous Ominis x MC art by mira_fenris on IG (also Iren Paponova on Pinterest)

Posted with the artist's permission.

[omniluci-estumbra]

Small talk with Viktor at the Yule Ball

[nu-lin-blin-art]

Little dream about Yule ball💕

[n0va25]

Sneaking kisses at the Ball 💕