#I had to talk to a professor and I didn’t even hide under a bench afterwards 😎 careful don’t let my swag blind you.

[meteortrails]

oh and not ONLY did I get an A on my pathophys exam, I also started attending the classes I had skipped for a week without even needing external pressure!! I actually just sat myself down and did my ochem homework and turned it in even though it was imperfect and late!!! idk if these sound like victories when I put them like this but trust me they are LOL

[trulyunholy]

no in-between | part seven

matt murdock x reader

notes & warning: mature, minors please dni ; college au, student x teacher

word count: 4.1 k

series masterlist | ao3 link

The stale air of the large orchestra room echoes with the sad, soft notes of the piano. Early evening light floods in through the large windows and a feeling of isolation surrounds you as your fingers play over the keys. Music has always been your escape. You can lose yourself in the music, focus on the creation of melodies at the tips of your fingers and forget about the world outside. It’s peace in a way you rarely experience otherwise.

“I thought I might find you here.”

A voice breaks through the peace and startles you, and your fingers fumble as you lose the melody. You turn on the bench quickly to find the source of the intrusion, and you find Matt standing in the doorway.

“You scared me,” you admit with a huff.

“I’m sorry,” he says, and you can see he’s trying to hide a smile as he tilts his head toward the floor. “You’re very good.”

“What?” you ask as your head tries to catch up to your frightened pulse.

“The piano,” he clarifies, leaning in the doorway. His cane is folded in his hand, and you wonder how long he’s been listening. “You’re very good.”

“Oh. Thank you.” You feel your cheeks flush but you try to ignore it. “How did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t,” he admits. “I wasn’t sure, I mean. But I remembered what you said, about your music.”

You can’t explain why the simple act of remembering a conversation you’d had before sends your stomach into flips and your heart into a new set of flutters. You don’t say anything, don’t know what to say, and the tense silence lingers far too long between the two of you before he speaks up again.

“I haven’t seen you in a few days,” he says simply, letting the implication linger in the air.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” you say lamely. “End of the semester and all.”

He crosses his arms, nods his head as if he understands, but says nothing else. It’s like he’s waiting for you to say something, like he knows you have something to say. So you bite the bullet.

“I think we should talk,” you say, your voice almost lost in the expanse of the room.

He grimaces, nods his head again, but doesn’t seem surprised. You swallow hard.

“Coffee?” he asks.

Your throat goes dry.

“Sure.”

Thirty minutes later, you meet him at the small cafe a few minutes from your house. It’s far enough away that you feel confident no one will see you. And if you are spotted, the idea of a professor and a student running into each other at a cafe and spending a few minutes talking isn’t unheard of.

The smell of fresh bread and stale coffee wafts through the small cafe. There aren’t many other people around, the sun getting low in the sky outside. A woman in a red apron brings a coffee and a glass of water to your table, and the way she places her hand on Matt’s arm and calls him sweetie before walking away causes a twinge in your chest. You don’t mention it, watching Matt silently as he takes a drink of water.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asks as he sets the glass back on the table across from you.

And you know what you want to talk about. You know what you want to say. You know you need to end things before they go any farther, before you lose yourself any more than you already have. But then you think about how he was there when you were drugged, how he may have actually saved you that night. And you think about how he came to your house and brought you dinner and kept you company when you didn’t want to leave your house for a week after it happened. And you think about how he offered to let you share his hotel room and his bed when you were somehow screwed over yet again, and how that night he brought you down from a panic attack, and how his heart felt under your hand and how his fingers felt on your skin and how his lips felt on yours.

And you know you can’t do this. Your resolve, now matter how strong you thought it was, is no match for the way your heart beats wild when you’re even near him. But you have to try. You owe yourself that much.

“I don’t know where to go from here,” you finally say with a deep sigh. The way his brow furrows tells you he isn’t really following.

You take a drink of your too-hot coffee and try to ignore the burn on your tongue, down your throat.

“We can’t keep this up, right?” you clarify. Then you drop your voice. “I mean, you’re my professor, for god’s sake.”

You take another drink to prolong the inevitable, and your ceramic mug clinks a little too loudly on the tabletop when you set it back down.

“You told me once that you don’t have time for relationships,” you continue, your voice so low you aren’t sure he’s even able to hear you. But he gives no indication of trouble, his hands resting on the table in front of him, a hint of white on his knuckles.

“I…yeah, that is what I said,” he says with a short nod, his voice wavering slightly. You swallow hard.

“And that’s where you still stand?” you ask, pushing down the bitterness making its way back up your throat.

He’s quiet, and he flexes his right hand into a fist a few times, his mouth settling into a tight line.

“It’s not that simple,” he starts.

“Why?” you ask. “Why isn’t it that simple?”

“Because…” he looks like he’s at a loss for words. You notice his hand flex one more time before he moves it off the table, out of your view. He licks his lips, runs one hand through his hair, and then it feels like his eyes are locked directly onto yours, like you can feel his stare even though you can’t see his eyes behind the dark glasses. “It’s just complicated.”

“That isn’t an answer,” you say firmly, though the waver in your voice is unmistakable. He sighs, laughs humorlessly once, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen him look so unsure. “I just need to know where we go from here,” you continue. “The other night…Tuesday night…when you left…”

You let your whisper linger between the two of you, unable to bring yourself to finish your thought.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity of silence filled only with the chatter of the few other customers and the bubbling of a fresh pot of coffee brewing, Matt speaks up again.

“You deserve so much more than I can give you.” His voice is soft, low, rimmed with the faintest amount of hurt. “This, us…I’m just not good for you.”

“No,” you stop him immediately, voice sharp. “No, you don’t get to tell me that. You don’t get to tell me what you think is good for me, or what isn’t. I don’t care whatever religious-guilt moral bullshit you’re leaning into. That’s my decision to make. And you haven’t even given me a chance to make it.”

A huff of air passes his lips and you aren’t sure how to interpret it. His face is damn near unreadable, his head tilted toward you slightly, and you want nothing more than to crawl inside yourself and never come back out.

“I think this is something we need to talk about a little more privately,” he tells you, his voice low, stern.

You realize he’s right. You’re out in public and you never know who could see you, hear you.

“Fine,” you say, standing on unsteady legs and throwing your bag over your shoulder. “My house, then.”

Without a second thought to your half-full coffee on the table or Matt’s reaction to your words, you turn to leave.

Not fifteen minutes pass before there’s a soft knock at your door. Matt looks dejected as you open the door and invite him in. The silence is tense as you make your way to your living room, sitting on the couch and watching Matt fold up his cane before he joins you.

“There are…things about me that you don’t know,” he starts immediately, as if your conversation never stopped. His hand fidgets with his tie, loosening it but not taking it off. “Things that I don’t want you to know.”

You wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.

“Okay, you have secrets,” you say, moving your hands to rest on your knees, body turned in toward him even though he isn’t offering the same. “Everyone has secrets. And I’m not asking to know yours. All I need to know is how you feel about me. Because…” You scoff, unable to believe that you’re even having this conversation. “Because I know how I feel about this. About you.”

You’re quiet, and you watch him for some sort of indication of how he’s feeling, but he gives you none.

“Matt.” You find the courage to move one of your hands to his knee, and to your surprise, he follows you, placing a warm hand on top of yours. You try to ignore the spark it ignites in you. “If you tell me right now that you aren’t…interested, that you don’t want this to continue…well, it’s all you have to say, and I’ll drop it. I’ll go back to being just your student, and you can go back to being just my professor. I won’t push you anymore.”

Something akin to sadness wraps itself tightly around you.

“But I need to know,” you continue. “Hell, I deserve to know. This has been fun, but if that’s all it is, all you want it to be…I just need to know.”

His face remains unreadable, and you have a feeling that even if you could see his eyes, they’d give nothing away, either. There is a tension in his body, a tension in his hand on yours, a tension in his jaw as he seems to mull over what you’ve said. Then his hands move to your hips and he’s pulling you closer until he’s grabbing your ass, nudging you onto his lap. You want to protest, but you can’t resist him, and you know that’s the whole problem. But your knees are bracketing his hips, your weight on his lap, and one of his hands is on your lower back while the other finds your face, and his touch is so gentle you think you might cry.

His fingers glide over your lips and your breath hitches. Something in him seems to relax the slightest bit at the reaction. His thumb rests on your lips for a second longer before he’s tracing down your jaw, so slowly, until he stops at your throat. Though he’s not applying any pressure, his touch on your pulse point feels suffocating. Then his fingers are gone and his lips take their place. It’s gentle, maddeningly so, and you can feel a familiar heat flooding your body. But your hands find his face and pull him back, your finger brushing the cut on his lip that hasn’t quite healed yet.

“Matt, please,” you whisper. “I need an answer.”

“I never thought I deserved happiness,” he tells you, his voice like he’s admitting a secret. His face angles into your touch, his eyes falling closed. “Still not sure I deserve it, not really. But clearly, somebody thinks I do.”

You aren’t sure how to decipher his words. It doesn’t help that your brain is so foggy from his proximity, so muddled from his touch.

“I know this is complicated,” you tell him. “But I don’t care. I just need to know how you feel.”

He grabs your hand, the one you fractured months ago, and he holds it as gingerly as he did then, when he showed you how to properly wrap it. He kisses your palm, your wrist, then lets it fall from his grasp.

“Just let me show you.”

His hands are back on your face, fingers slightly pulling your hair as he pulls you toward him. He kisses you like a man running out of time. You tilt your head to give him more, urge him to take everything he wants. It’s wet and hot and desperate, and unlike anything you’ve experienced before. It’s like a plea, like a question and an answer all in one. It has so much weight to it, you can feel the significance in the way he moves his jaw, the way his hands tighten in your hair. His tongue explores you, your bottom lip, your teeth, your tongue, the whole thing so heavy and slow. One of his thumbs is digging into your jaw as his pace quickens. There’s a pounding in your chest and you aren’t sure if it’s your heart or his, or maybe both, the beating intertwined in the moment.

His hands move smoothly down your back and his fingers are pulling at the hem of your shirt, asking silent permission. You pull away and allow him to tug it off of you, the fabric feeling rough over heightened touch. His hands are back on you immediately, and you sit back and let him touch your bare skin, fingers tracing hot lines on your stomach, your back, your breasts. A quiet moan escapes you and it spurs him on, becoming more frantic as he pulls you closer to him and replaces his touch with his mouth, wet hot as his tongue takes in the taste of your skin. Your head is back and your eyes are closed, but your hands find his hair, petting, tugging. His glasses hit cold on your skin, and you manage to carefully take them off his face before tossing them aside and hoping they make it on the coffee table. He doesn’t even notice, or if he does, gives no indication that he cares.

When he pulls away, your hands go for his tie. You can’t deny that he looks good in a nice button-up, but the feeling of his admittedly soft shirt on your bare skin isn’t exactly comfortable at the moment. He lets you pull his tie loose, a devilish smile on his face as you toss it to the side, too.

But when your fingers start working on the top button, he freezes. He whispers your name like a warning. His reaction takes you by surprise.

“I-” you start, pulling your hand back. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t…” he starts to say, but stops himself. He’s hesitating, but you aren’t sure why. Is he self-conscious? You have no idea why he would be. He looks gorgeous even fully dressed, and you’re sure he hears that often.

“It’s okay,” you say in an attempt to reassure. He doesn’t say anything, and a look of conflict plays over his features. You wish you could know what he’s thinking. “Matt,” you say instead, trying to bring him back down from wherever his mind was racing to. “You can trust me.”

After a silence the length of a held breath, he nods his head, says “Okay.” He moves his hands from around your frame and starts fumbling with the buttons himself, but you put your hand over his, stopping him.

“Let me,” you offer. Then, “Please?”

When he slowly moves his hands around you and plants them on your hips again, you take a deep breath and curse your fingers for trembling as you take over the work. You notice his chest is rising and falling just as quickly as yours, and when his shirt is opened enough for you to press a palm flat on his skin, his breath catches, too. You close your eyes and stay like that for just a moment longer, savoring the feel of such an expanse of skin on skin, so soft and sturdy under your touch. When you finally get all of the buttons undone, Matt helps you take it off completely.

Your hands are finally on him, on his bare skin, and you realize that he isn’t just sturdy, he’s basically solid muscle. You let your hand wander over his chest, his shoulders, brushing over every swath of exposed skin, every muscle, and he’s patient while you do so. The room is dark, the sun outside nearly gone, but you feel small scars scattered over his abdomen and chest, some on his shoulders and arms, but you decide that now is not the time to ask him about it. He’d told you there were things about him that he didn’t want you to know. Some people had pasts that were just too painful to bring up, especially in such an intimate moment. So you say nothing, your hands finally making their way back to his face.

“Thank you,” you whisper into his ear as you lay a gentle kiss on his temple. “For trusting me.”

He doesn’t say anything, just puts his broad hands on your back, pulling you in closer, until you feel the hot skin of his chest brushing against you. Even the simple contact of skin on skin feels electric. His touch is feather soft and his fingers smooth as silk as he trails two of them over the base of your spine. Your eyelids flutter shut as his fingers continue their trail up and over each notch in your spine, reading your back like it’s telling him the story of you, or who you’ve ever been and who you could be. His touch reaches your mid-back and his breath is hot on your skin, but goosebumps erupt everywhere he touches, like your body can’t decide which sensation will win over, like it’s being overwhelmed by the mere existence of him so close to you. By the time his hand reaches the back of your neck, you're desperate, tension coiling, heart racing, body flushing, all from his touch alone.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this,” you whisper.

“I think I do,” he answers, voice low and rich, and the smirk on his face should be illegal.

“I want you,” you tell him, the finality of those three words unmistakable.

Then, as if it’s the simplest thing in the world, he whispers, “You have me.”

The fire that has been building inside of you explodes now. It wraps like vines around every fiber of your being and latches on, forever changing you. Nothing will ever be the same now. It can’t be. Not now that you’re burning to ash in his hands.

You’re awkward as you scramble to remove the rest of your clothes, frantic and stumbling. It’s never as sexy as it is in the movies, you think. But that’s okay, because when you’re back on his lap and the heat of bare skin radiates between you, it’s everything. His hand finds your cheek again, and the way he says your name as his lips barely brush against yours, well, you don’t think you’ll ever tire of hearing him say it. It’s not just a name anymore; it’s a prayer, a sanctification. And after he kisses you, somehow simultaneously fervent and chaste, you whisper his name back, and it isn’t just a name, either. It’s a plea, a promise, a declaration of trust. It’s soft and it’s needy and it would probably embarrass you any other time, the way you’re already falling apart under his touch. But it doesn’t. He holds you together and breaks you apart all at once. He’s kissing you again, becoming more desperate as he starts to lose himself, and you want to follow him down.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?”

His voice is so soft, so gentle, you could have easily lost it behind the rushing of blood in your ears. You swallow hard, a rush of nerves and excitement flooding your body. It’s getting harder to see, and you realize that you hadn’t bothered turning on any lamps. You guess it doesn’t really matter.

“Yes.”

His hands are firm on your hips as he adjusts himself underneath you. You move your hand to his face, stroking his cheek as if to encourage him to move. You slip your thumb in his mouth as he guides you down slowly.

“Please,” you whisper again. It’s quickly becoming your favorite word.

He puts the slightest pressure on your thumb between his teeth before you move your hand. Then, you aren’t sure you can move at all. A low, shameful moan escapes your lips as he pushes inside you.

“Oh, shit,” you moan, breathless, boneless. Suddenly nothing else exists in the world.

You resist the urge to move yourself, to take him all in one motion, to feel him fully and completely. You let him take the lead. And he does, slowly. Devastatingly so. Every inch he moves your hips elicits a whimper from you, and a deep noise from his chest that you can’t quite describe, somewhere between a moan and a whimper. Like it’s too much but still not enough. You bite your lip hard when he decides that the temptation is too much and he pushes the rest of the way inside you. Your head falls to his shoulder, teeth finding purchase there, but he gives you no time to recover before he’s moving your legs from below you until they’re wrapped around him. You’ve never done it like this before, don’t know how to do it like this. But that doesn’t seem to matter. 

Every subtle motion he makes feels like electricity popping through your whole body. It’s deep and almost painful, but it’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever felt. His arms are around you, anchoring you close to him, as you moan into the skin on his shoulder, his throat. His own noises spur on the heat burning you from the inside out. You tighten your legs around him and his fingers dig into your skin, groaning into your hair. His lips find your skin again, pressing feverish kisses on your throat, devouring you like a man starved. You’re going up, up, up, feeling all of your muscles tighten as the thrust of his hips becomes faster, more erratic. You want to fight it, you aren’t ready to give in yet, you want this moment to last forever and never end. But he doesn’t give you a choice. With one hand on your thigh, the other on your back, and his mouth at your throat, you fall apart. It’s powerful, more so than you’re expecting, and it takes you by surprise. You gasp as your grab for anything, gripping tightly as wave after wave of electric pleasure washes over you.

“I’m close,” he says quickly, grunting while you’re still a tightened mess on top of him. “What do you-”

“Give it to me,” you say through gritted teeth and stuttered breath.

You aren’t sure how he’ll respond to that. It could lead to a full stop. It could result in a quick and messy halt.

Instead, as soon as you feel yourself coming down, your muscles finally releasing and your body still twitching, he loses himself, too. A strangled cry, a low, rough moan, he sounds so completely overwhelmed. He pulls you impossibly closer, and you can feel the pulse of him strong and unwavering. He moans into your skin and it’s the most beautiful sound you’ve ever heard. After the movement finally stops, he lets out a long, shaky breath before letting you go.

And then you laugh. It’s a nervous, relieved, overwhelmed, happy laugh. You wipe a tear from your eye that you weren’t even aware of, and he laughs a little too, though he sounds absolutely exhausted. You readjust yourself, moaning softly at the feeling of him pulling out of you, and then you lay down on the couch, boneless and exhausted and sweaty and satisfied. He follows you down, wedging himself between you and the back of the couch. You decide to ignore the inevitable mess for now. You only want to bask in the warmth of his body as his arms find a place around your waist. He puts a hand on the nape of your neck and pulls you in for a kiss so gentle it feels out of place. You kiss him back and then bury your head in his neck, wanting to live in this moment for just a bit longer. He lets you, holding you close to him, not asking any questions, not hurrying things along. Just letting you be. Just letting the two of you exist here, in this moment, where everything’s changed.

[thehalfbloodedwitch]

Crystal Clear Vol. 3 (D.m x reader)

Pairing- Draco x Femreader

Summary- Y/n, is a girl who usually stays alone, she knows that she cannot be liked by anyone…. what if all of that changed?| Angsty fluff

House- Gryffindor (even though it’s not mentioned anywhere in the story)

Warnings- Problems with stress, mentions of panic attacks, and Cursing that’s all I guess, if any more please do inform me.

Words- 2,000 words

Crystal Clear Masterlist Navigation

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“Do you live on Mars? Cause you look out of this world” he said and laughed at his own attempt on using a pickup line, she too then laughed but then Y/n heard a rustle in the nearby bush…. then something unexpected happened…..

The bush that was near Y/n started rustling and something black hiding under it came out and slowly made its way out but Y/n saw this and excused herself from Draco and went towards where this thing was heading.

The black-cloaked thing then ran towards one of the shops and nearby and as soon as Y/n caught up to it, there was a person standing there, with black hair, black eyes, and a black dress, can you guess who? Severus Snape emerged from the black cloak and Y/n just shook her head “Snape, what are you doing here, that too where exactly I was with Draco?” she said to which Snape replied sternly “I thought Mr. Malfoy was troubling you or something but turns out it’s a date isn’t it?” he asked to which she widened her eyes, she had totally forgotten to mention about Draco to Snape. “I am so sorry, I totally forgot about telling you this.. it just kind of slipped out of my mind, and then Saturda-” she was cut off by Snape “No need for explanation Y/n, I have found out about this from Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Weasley, indeed Mr. Malfoy or Draco is very… very bad at pick lines..” he said as he tried to suppress a laugh by clearing his throat, “Now that’s something he has to improve on,” she said and laughed.

By now Draco was confused, he saw her run behind something he didn’t get a chance to look at and it had been what? 10 or 20 minutes by now? She hadn’t returned still, so he decided to search for her. He went the way in which she had run and soon found her talking to… Snape? Oh, wait! He had forgotten that before even dating her he needed approval from Snape which he was sure he wouldn’t get at all. He then sighed and went in her direction.

“Okay Snape, I need to go Draco might be waiting for m-” she was yet again cut off by Snape “Mr. Malfoy, Do you plan on having detention? Because you look like you would be getting one soon.” Draco looked at him and just widened his eyes as Snape had heard his pathetic attempt at using a pickup line. “Umm, Professor, I wanted to talk to Y/n..” he asked hesitantly at first, and looking at him Y/n spoke “Yeah, Snape I am now going with Draco, can we talk about this later?” she asked and Snape nodded and glared at Draco as he went towards the castle.

“I am so sorry Draco, Snape just came and.. well you know the rest..” she said and to which Draco nodded and said “I know, well then shall we continue our umm, meeting?” he asked and she immediately nodded and went with him to again the same bench and the pair talked and laughed at the incident with Snape. While going back to the castle, Draco asked her if she was willing to talk to him tomorrow at night again in the seventh-floor corridor. She happily agreed and then they went back to the castle and Y/n went straight towards Snape’s office as she knew if she didn’t go then Snape wouldn’t talk to her, and she didn’t want the silent treatment from him.

Without knocking she entered and closed the door behind her, “Finally decided to tell me what is going on with Draco?” he asked as he folded the Daily Prophet he was reading, she sighed and sat beside him and said “Snape.. I am sorry I forgot about it okay? Now shall I tell you or should I go back to my dorm?” she asked and Snape simply looked at her with a stern look on his face, “Okay, okay, so remember when I had the panic attack in the girls bathroom? That’s when all this started..” she went on and on about her meetings with Draco, about the topics they talked about, Snape was the other person she talked to freely and Snape didn’t at all judge her, neither did he interject her in the middle, instead he just silently listened as he saw her eyes gleaming and he had a small smile on his lips as Y/n finished her story of how she and Draco started talking, he cleared his throat and said “Done? That’s all? I thought you had more to say, well, you don’t want to sleep now do you?” he said in a sarcastic tone and to which Y/n rolled her eyes, “Well, what do you say? Harry, George, Fred, Neville and Ron were saying things like they would break his jaw if he ever broke my heart and all, let’s see what do you have to say about this?” she asked to which now Snape came into a serious tone and a serious face and said “Y/n, now don’t take this lightly, you know what has happened to you in the past… so it’s better to first see him and know how he is and then take any decision you want, but I wouldn’t mind them breaking not only his jaw but use the Sectumsempra spell too, I wouldn’t mind” to which she laughed and said “Snape, for now I haven’t thought about this but let’s see in the future..” to which Snape just scoffed “Y/n, you might fool the others, but not me” and motioned her to leave “Go and sleep for now” he said and she waved a bye and left his office.

As she lay on her bed she thought about what Snape had said “Y/n, you might fool the others, but not me” she was confident she didn’t have feelings for him, at least not yet, but deep within her, she knew that she had a little spark of love lighting inside her. But she couldn’t help it, no one had since the last time at least, cared for her, at least not like this. She was not used to so much affection at first so it was bound to happen, but she hid it well, didn’t let it ignite into a huge flame which she couldn’t extinguish, she didn’t want history to repeat itself again and wouldn’t want to face this again. She then closed her eyes and slept.

Fast forward to a few months later, 7 or 8 months to be exact. She was in close proximity with Draco Malfoy, her friends (especially Luna, Ginny, and Hermione) shipped her with Draco, Neville even said once that he kind of liked the idea of both of them dating, Ron said he liked Malfoy to speak to him respectfully and Harry agreed to him. George and Fred had made it their mission to prank him once every week to which in response, Draco pranked them every once a week too. Draco was hanging along with her friends too, just for her. She couldn’t even believe it herself that she had finally come out of her introverted self and started being a little extrovert too, just for him. Well you see, Draco was a very extroverted person and he had to talk to many people and have a bit of fame too, hanging out with him ensured her a bit of fame too, to which she didn’t slip out or do anything to get away from there. Instead, she tried her best to talk to them, to which Draco smiled at her with the widest grin he could get. He was sure he was falling for her even more than ever, and she too now was falling for him.

Soon enough Draco was planning on asking her out on a date, he was pretty nervous (very to be exact). He had asked her to visit her again in the seventh-floor corridor and told her to wear something nice, she too agreed on coming as he had told her he wanted to tell her something very important. And she was excited on knowing what it was

As Draco waited, leaning against the railing he saw as the moon shone beautifully and it was as if the rays only touched him and illuminated his face alone, the stars looked as if small accents on the dark blue sky as they shone brightly as ever. The scene was beautiful and when he turned his head to his left he saw Y/n, the moon in his life, the girl wearing an extravagant dark blue dress with small sparkle accents in it. She looked breathtaking, for a moment he forgot how to breathe. The moon’s rays touched her face and illuminated it and this just added to his view. “Draco?” she asked in her angelic voice, it was as if he had been summoned to heaven, or had he actually reached heaven? It looked just like heaven, and even if it wasn’t he wanted to savor the moment to himself and never let it end.

(Your dress)

“Draco! Are you even listening?” she asked as she too now leaned against the railing, just like the first time they met. “I was listening to you from the first darling,” he said and he just couldn’t take his eyes off this beauty in front of him. Her hair was in a beautifully messy bun, “Okay then, tell me why have you asked me to come here?” she asked and he replied, taking a deep breath “Y/n, I have always, and I mean always liked you from the start, I wanted to talk to you but I just couldn’t. I was too much of a coward-” in the middle she giggled and he smiled at her and continued “I have been waiting for this moment from the moment we first talked right here. Y/n Y/l/n, will you go out on a date with me?” he asked in a questioning tone to which Y/n smiled brightly, but as soon as she was opening her mouth to reply some flashes came in her mind…

“You know what Y/n! You are such a big asshole! You are the most disgusting person I have ever met, and you know what she was way better than you anyways. You are a clingy ass bitch and I literally despise you, do you hear me?” her tears were spilling down her face as she saw...

She shook those thoughts away from her mind but Draco could sense her discomfort, “Oh, I am so sorry Y/n, I....I thought… nevermind.. forget this ever happened, I should have known… such a pathetic idea…. Y/n..I am … sorry” he said as his gaze was down on the floor, “No no, Draco I am… it's just...” she stammered as she remembered that horrible night. “Y/n, are you alright? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it...” he said as he kept his hands on her shoulder and comforted her as she spoke, she had decided on telling him, she loved him she knew it and had decided on telling him her secrets, this time she had a chance of getting comfort rather than giving comfort for the first time in her life and she wasn’t going to stay silent like she had stayed for practically her whole life.

“Draco, I am going to tell you something I haven’t told anyone except for my friends and Snape…

A/n- We are almost reaching the end of Crystal Clear! The last chapter will come soon but will try to write it as fast as possible as I have my exams going on so might take a while. Anyways have a nice day today and Byeee!

Tags- @pottahishotasf @i-have-my-issues @blackthunder137 @draco-spencers-girl @itchywitch33 @nevilleismywhore @nicofiliac @littlemissnoname13 @lilmissquackson @jeanthebeans-blog @elysian-i @sleepy-kody @e-m-christina @loopy-lupinn @panda-noosh @crisppudge @cait2212 @slythermuf @dracoslittlesunflower @rouguecheneyswife @tsukibaby1 @dracoslittleangel @thesecretwriter

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[chudleycanonficfest]

Day 20, Story #2 is by @floreatcastellumposts

Title: Dittany Author/Artist: FloreatCastellum Pairing: Neville/Hannah Prompt: Bravery Rating: T Trigger Warning(s) (if any): Discussion of maternal death, mentions of violence. 

Hannah's mother had been a muggleborn, and that had been her death sentence. 

Or rather, she had been a muggleborn with the audacity and bravery to be proud about it. 

Most muggleborns ended up slipping entirely into wizarding society, and as much as they might say that they would keep in touch with their roots, the magic took over. Jeans became robes, electronics didn’t work in their homes so their pop culture references grew stale, the effort involved in keeping the statute of secrecy for extended family and old friends was too exhausting to sustain, so they saw them less and less and eventually… 

This had not happened for Mum, even though the Abbotts were a very old family, well rooted in the magical community. She had agreed with Dad to live in Godric’s Hollow, because the Abbotts had lived there for many generations, but she had insisted on Hannah attending the local primary school, where she could make muggle friends. She was adamant that they make regular trips to Liverpool, to visit her side of the family, who believed that she worked in HR (which she did, but for a potion manufacturer, not for a haulage company as they believed) and that Hannah had received a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school, and that Dad owned a pub (which he did, but they neglected to mention that it was frequented by witches, wizards, goblins, the occasional hag and a half giant). And when the Stephens side of the family came to visit, they would have a flurry of activity where they would hide away anything magical-looking, and from the loft they would bring down the big television, and they would speed read some muggle newspapers so they could give their opinions on Tony Blair or Men Behaving Badly or Charles and Diana’s divorce or whatever else they thought might come up.  

That was life as Hannah knew it, and it never felt complicated or brave or shocking or daring or any of the things she later found out it was. 

She remembered certain details from the day very clearly. She’d been easing sneezewort plants out of their pots, the last repotting before winter, her fingers shaking at the long, pale roots, creating a rain of soil. The last of the cream coloured petals, curled and brown at the edges, fell onto the potting bench. There was a sudden shock of cold air, a breeze from the door opening that hit their faces and whipped through their hair.  

‘Professor Dumbledore’s here,’ said Susan with surprise, and Hannah had glanced up to see him closing the door to the humid greenhouse, his long white beard tucked into his belt, Professor Sprout hurrying over to him. 

Hannah looked back down at her plant. The roots were all tangled together. Professor Dumbledore was probably here for Harry Potter, there were all sorts of rumours flying around about secret meetings between the two of them. 

The plant needed a much bigger pot, but the roots were strong, there was no rot there. 

‘Hannah.’ 

There was no hiding the bewilderment on her face. She had never had a direct conversation with the Headmaster before, and here he was, speaking kindly, gently, softly, one hand touching her shoulder and the other, black looking, gesturing to the door. 

‘I need to-’ she started saying, as he led her out. Everyone was staring. 

‘Don’t worry, dear,’ said Professor Sprout, and her voice sounded so strange, ‘I’ll finish up here for you.’ 

Perhaps part of her had known then. She knew it was something terrible. She was too afraid to ask. No one was ever pulled out of class for a good reason. She walked up to the castle alongside him as though in a dream, her heart beating up through her throat and into her mouth.

She was not sure how it happened, but suddenly she was in the warmth of his office, staring at Professor Dumbledore’s grave face, his lips moving, without really hearing, except for that first, terrible, world destroying little phrase. 

‘I’m so very sorry to tell you that your mother has been found dead.’ 

There would be no worse event, no greater loss, no stronger pain in her entire life. 

There was still dirt under her nails and in the creases of her palms, she noticed, as she reached into the silver box of floo powder. 

It had been so long since she had seen Godric’s Hollow like this, golden and red in its autumn. Fallen leaves tumbled and floated down the river that rushed through the village, or collected in the gutters along the cobbled roads, damp and heavy. The sun stayed a little lower each day, casting long shadows across the beer garden of The Lost Owl, and the wind ruffled the sign on the door which read ‘Closed due to family bereavement.’ 

During the days, she wondered what to do with herself, stuck between boredom and terrible, overwhelming grief. When she could cry no more, she wondered if there was something wrong with her for wanting to find something interesting or fun to do, but when she tried to read, she could not focus. When she tried to listen to the radio, she would fall asleep. She could not bring herself to ask her weeping father to play cards or chess or anything with her. She thought of going back into school, but how could she see other people? Now that the world had ended? She wanted to tell people about it, wanted to say the words enough until they made sense to her, or until someone found the right words to say back that would make it OK, but she did not want to do this to her friends. 

At nights, she would cry herself to sleep, and her whispers, please come back please Mummy please come back, would grow and grow and grow into sobs, begging into her pillow as the agony of it tore at her, the desperation, the feverish thought that there had to be something, that this couldn’t be it, there had to be a way, a special way, just for them, just for her, because it was her mother and there was no way she could live without her. Mum wouldn’t leave her like this, there was no way Mum would allow it, she would go to the ends of the earth to make sure that Hannah was happy, she had always said so, she had always promised… 

But Death was something parents could not protect their children from, it seemed. The more Hannah thought on it, the more she became crushingly devastated, horrified to realise that each and every human on Earth had to endure this at some point. In different ways, at different times, with different feelings, but the mere act of bringing a child into the world was to condemn that child, one day, to the unbearable pain of loss. Every person she passed, she wondered, have you suffered as I have? Or is it yet to come for you? She wished she could spare them from it.

The aurors said she was probably targeted because she loudly and openly discussed her muggle heritage in the pub, and it must have been heard by the wrong people. That was what passed for bravery these days. 

In the church of St Jerome, the stained glass window pattered with rain, and Hannah looked up at the colours of red and yellow and green rather than looking at the coffin with the splay of lilies, and she wondered when this nightmare would end, when Mum would come back, and tell her that everything would be all right. 

***

Months passed in unbearable agony, worse than she could have imagined. But there were glimmers of light there too. 

Here, at the school she thought she would never return to, in the place that was filled with unimaginable horror and oppression, she had purpose again. More purpose, in fact, than she had ever had in her life. And with it, new friendships that ran deeper than she had ever expected. 

‘This way,’ Neville whispered, and they ran low across the lawn of the grounds. Some of the windows in the castle behind them blazed with light, so that she thought for a terrible moment that they must be visible from the Great Hall, but, of course, the windows would be black with night to anyone who looked out from them. 

It was the summer term now, but the air was still cold as they panted, as though Dementors were close, which, she reasoned, they might be. She could feel the dew of the grass, left to grow long since Hagrid had left, soaking the bottoms of her jeans, seeping through her ratty trainers. 

Following the dark shadow of Neville’s figure, she ran through the grounds until she heard the crunch of gravel underfoot, and, ahead, the slight shine of starlight reflecting off the greenhouses. 

‘They’re in greenhouse three,’ Neville muttered, and her stomach dropped. 

He did not notice, and continued to hurry along the garden path, past the raised beds for the hardier plants and herbs, and she followed, but at a walk now, dread gnawing at her. 

He stopped at the door, holding his hands up to the glass to peer in. ‘OK…’ he said, still breathless from the run. ‘OK, looks clear… Now, while I talk to the venomous tentacula, you grab a tray, and fill it with perlite and only a few handfuls of compost, it’s a mountain plant so it likes it nice and rocky.’ 

‘OK,’ she said, and though she thought she sounded normal, he turned to her. She could barely make out his expression in the darkness. 

‘Are you all right?’ 

‘I… I’m sorry, I just… I haven’t been in the greenhouses for a long time… especially not this one. I should have thought before I volunteered, I'm sorry.’ 

She felt immediately embarrassed for blurting it out, and she had no idea if Neville would even grasp what she was getting at. He had been in the class, yes, but did he even remember that day? What had been the worst day of her life had been a perfectly ordinary school day for the rest of her classmates, and so many terrible things had happened since then. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I can’t leave you out here.’ 

She thought he was telling her off, or saying that they had to go back, but before she had the time to feel hurt or ashamed, he was holding out his hand towards her. 

She swallowed, and then placed her trembling hand in his. She was not unaccustomed to physical touch with him, or many others. Over the past year, she had tended wounds and comforted people as they cried, she had grasped hands and arms and knees under desks to soothe people or tell them to control themselves, she had passed secret notes and morsels of food and whatever else needed smuggling, slipping it nimbly from her fingers into their palms as they passed in the corridors.  

But now his fingers pressed firm and reassuring against hers, and there was something very different about them holding hands. 

She let him lead her into the greenhouse; the humid, warm air surrounded them at once, like an odd sort of hug that sat heavy on their lungs. Tall, leafy plants towered above them, brushing the domed glass high above their heads, which magically reflected the brilliant stars above them and lit the place in glorious silver. 

Now that she was in here, she felt a little better. The dread that had stopped her ever returning here, that had caused her to drop herbology and pretend that this part of the castle no longer existed, had not come to pass. It was, after all, simply a greenhouse, and Mum could not die again. 

‘Are you all right?’ he said gently. 

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Thank you.’ 

He nodded, and reached for some gloves on a nearby bench. She missed his hand around hers. ‘Let’s move quickly, and get you out of here,’ he said, donning some goggles and a thick leather apron.  

She went to the potting tables where Professor Sprout always stood, and seized a large seedling tray. As she took handfuls of compost and perlite, she could see Neville wrestling with the venomous tentacular, saying, ‘I’ll bring you doxy granules tomorrow - I’ll move you to a sunnier spot - I already checked with Professor Sprout - come on, you knew this was part of the deal, we agreed-’

Eventually, when he had tied enough of the writhing vines together with garden twine and stroked the shoots into calmness, he gave a nod to Hannah, and started to remove his protective gear as she hurried over and they squeezed behind the plant

There, on a table surrounded by blue lanterns to make up for the blocked light caused by the tentacula, were long, deep pots, stuffed with dittany. Their slender, arching stems were clustered with pleasant green leaves, with a dusty sort of whiteness, and they were dotted with pink flowers. She had never seen the plant as it was before; she had only ever remembered the little vials of dittany kept in their first aid kit, good for scraped knees and cuts from any broken glass in the pub. Mum had always said it was good to be prepared in an emergency, it had been one of her funny little things like that, along with being a bit of a hypochondriac, and so Hannah had had a vial in the bottom of her trunk when she returned to school. That, combined with her good potions knowledge, had helped her stumble into a kind of mothering role that she found had rather suited her. 

‘I just need the flowers, the book says,’ she said, as Neville started gently pulling some up by the roots. 

‘Yes, but I think it’d be good if I can grow another set somewhere, as a back up so we don’t have to keep sneaking out here. It’s just me and Seamus in the dorm, I don’t think he’d mind if I put them in the window between Harry and Ron’s beds. Here, take these, cut the flowers where the stem splits off - yeah, there - so it’ll grow back.’ 

‘It’s really pretty,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting it to be so pretty. It’s usually that the most useful plants are the ugliest.’ 

‘It is,’ said Neville absent-mindedly. ‘It’s from Crete. The healing properties were only discovered in the 17th century - people used to think it was an aphrodisiac, and it’s still used in some love potions.’ 

She looked at him, and though the light in the greenhouse was white starlight only, she could still see his cheeks burn red. 

‘It’s… it’s not, though,’ he mumbled. ‘Well… a little bit, but I… I don’t know why I said that.’

‘Because it’s interesting,’ she said quickly, as he busied himself repotting the seedlings. He nodded rapidly, and cleared his throat a little, and she cast around for something to say. ‘You… you should be careful, growing these in the dorm. If you’re caught-’

‘There’s no rule against growing plants,’ he said. ‘I’ve had plants up there loads of times. Especially my mimbulus mimbletonia, that’s had pride of place for a while.’

‘You know they don’t need an explicit rule,’ she said quietly. ‘They do what they want. If they think you’re… doing anything good, anything kind. That’s enough.’ 

He nodded, looking down at the delicate, thin roots of the dittany. There was a reason that he and Professor Sprout were growing such an innocent plant in such secrecy. ‘I know… but… it’s worth the risk.’ 

‘That’s very brave.’ 

‘Is it? Just growing a plant? Is that what passes for bravery these days?’ 

‘Yes,’ she said honestly. ‘Anything good does now. And it’s not just that.’ She paused, still cradling one of the delicate, rose pink flowers in her hand. ‘I mean… what were you thinking in muggle studies the other day? I hated seeing you screaming like that.’ 

‘Well I had to say something. It was repulsive, what she was saying about muggle children.’ 

‘No one believes her, no one really thinks-’

‘We don’t know that. Maybe some people might start believing her, because it’s easier. And anyway, it’s not just about that. Remember Umbridge?’ 

‘I try not to,’ she said dryly, and in the pale, washed out starlight she saw him grin. 

‘I know it’s stupid, but as Ginny and Luna haven’t come back, and Harry and Ron aren’t here, or Dean, or loads of other people… I’ve been-’ he sighed, as though frustrated he couldn’t find the words, ‘I’ve been trying to think about what they would do. I can’t afford to be Neville Longbottom, I’ve got to be someone braver. And Harry used to just completely go off on her, used to tell her straight in lessons that You-Know-Who was back, and, yeah, it got him more trouble than it felt like it was worth at the time, but you know what? I always found it really inspiring.’ 

‘I did too,’ she said quietly. ‘I remember thinking… well… why would he stick to a lie through all that?’ 

‘Exactly. He had principles, and if he was here he wouldn’t stand for any of that rot. There’s a lot of times over the past few months where I’ve just tried to…’ he shrugged helplessly, ‘pretend that I’m Harry. That I’m brave.’ 

‘I don’t think you’re pretending at all,’ she said. ‘You are brave. You always have been. You’re a Gryffindor, aren’t you?’ 

‘Somehow.’ 

‘No somehow about it. You’re the bravest man I know, and that includes Harry.’ 

‘How on earth does it include Harry?’ he asked, and he sounded like he was on the verge of laughter. 

‘Because he’s had to be,’ she said. ‘I’ve grown up in Godric’s Hollow, you know, I’ve seen the ruined house that he lived in. He’s had to be brave all the way from when he was a baby. But I didn’t. You didn’t. You’ve chosen to be brave, you’ve chosen to channel him. You're a pureblood, you could choose, every day, to keep your head down and get on with things, but you don't. You stand up and call her a bigoted liar in class and get tortured and you never back down. I find that more inspiring than anything.’ 

‘That’s very kind of you,’ he said quietly.  

‘And you were brave lots of times even before. Don’t you remember winning those points all the way back in first year?’ 

He beamed, and looked at her directly, for the first time since he had blurted out that dittany was an aphrodisiac. ‘You remember that?’ 

‘Of course I do. Dumbledore pointing out about standing up to your friends - he was so right, that does take a lot of bravery. I tried to do it next year, when Ernie was telling me that Harry was the heir of Slytherin. I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t as brave as you, but at least I tried, I suppose.’ 

‘I think you’re very brave too,’ he said. ‘Looking after everyone like this, handing out essence of dittany, running out here with me to get more… I’m sorry that you’ve had to come back in here. I didn’t think.’ 

‘I didn’t either,’ she said, and she started cutting more flowers. ‘I was just so focused on the idea of more, I didn’t really think about where I’d be getting it from… But, you know, I’m OK, actually. The thought of it was worse than the reality. It’s just a greenhouse.’ She looked around. The white starlight bleached the dark greenery into shades of silver, bounced off the watering cans, sparkled in the droplets of water from the sprinklers. ‘A very beautiful one.’ 

‘I like to think so,’ he said, a little hoarsely. ‘I always found this whole place beautiful, but now it… sometimes feels like only the greenhouses still are. They’re the only place I haven’t seen people being tortured.’ 

She paused. ‘I’m secretly thankful my mum isn’t alive to see this. Is that awful? I’m just glad she never had to worry about me being here. I feel bad enough for Dad.’ 

‘It’s not awful,’ said Neville. ‘I know what you mean.’ 

‘Do you?’ 

‘My parents don’t know anything about what’s going on, and for the first time in my life, I’m glad,’ he said, and for some reason his words seemed to surprise him. 

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, and without thinking she put down the little secateurs and touched his arm. He breathed deeply, not quite meeting her eyes, pressing down one of the seedlings quite firmly into the tray, before finally turning to her.

‘I live with my gran, because… my…’ He took another deep breath, and suddenly there was a clanging from outside. 

They froze, and heard a low voice swearing. 'Bloody wheelbarrow…' 

Hearts thudding, they ducked down and stayed silent, Neville silently mouthing for Hannah to get onto the large empty shelf under the potting table, where bags of compost were usually kept. He reached up, fumbling for the secateurs, and then started crawling along on his belly. 

'What are you doing?' she whispered, horrified. Alecto Carrow was opening the door to the greenhouse, still muttering and swearing about the wheelbarrow he had tripped over. 

He put a finger to his lips, and then pointed at the venomous tentacula, which had begun to writhe against the twine. The snip snip snip of the secateurs seemed unreasonably loud, but from the other side of the greenhouse Carrow did not appear to hear them, rifling noisily through the plants and shrubs, sending terracotta pots crashing to the floor. 

'Anyone in here?' he demanded. 'I saw your footprints in the gravel. Hello?' 

The vines of the tentacula waved threateningly, and Hannah watched with trembling fear as one of them reached out to Neville, still prone on the ground, and started to wrap itself around his throat. 

'Don't be cheeky,' she heard him mutter to it, and he calmly prodded it with the secateurs until it released him. 

It kept one tendril around his ankle, but Neville seemed to allow it as a compromise, and instead watched through the vines as Carrow upturned a table, still shouting and swearing. 

After several, agonisingly long minutes, Carrow came close to them. The venomous tentacula silently released Neville’s ankle, and raised it's spiked tendrils. 

'OW! Son of a bludger-' 

A long line of expletives followed, and the venomous tentacular shook noisily, whip-like noises echoing through the greenhouse as it reached after Carrow, now bolting from the room. 

'Grab the tray,' Neville told Hannah. 'He'll be heading straight to the hospital wing, we should have a clear path back. Quickly, before the tentacula gets over-excited and turns on us-' 

She did so at once and he held back the spiked vines as she squeezed past the plant, and hurried safely out of range. 

She stood there, holding her tray of little dittany plants and the heads of the flowers. She watched as Neville easily unentangled himself from the tentacula, patted it, said, 'thanks mate,' and grabbed a clear cover for the tray. He came close to her as he fitted it over the dittany, protecting them from the cold night air they would have to hurry back through.  

His face was inches from her own, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat a little as she looked up at him. There was a slight clunk as the lid of the tray found its place. For a moment, they were perfectly still, just their breathing in that humid place, and his eyes, shining light blue in the pale light, lifted from the tray of dittany to meet her own. 

'Do you really think I'm brave?' he whispered. 

She nodded, and he seemed to be steeling himself for something. Please, she thought, please make this place good for me again. Her hands gripped the edges of the tray.

Very gently, very slowly, he leaned closer over the tray. His hand moved as though to softly move her face to meet his, but he didn't need to, for she was already naturally tilting her head, and her heels were lifting a little off the ground without her bidding them to. 

Their lips met, soft like the petals of the dittany between them, sweet like the fragrance. His fingertips were trembling slightly as they caressed against her cheek, but then they calmed as the kiss deepened. 

The tray pressed into them as he tried to move closer, and it reminded them where they were. They broke apart, panting and gasping as though they had just finished the run down from the castle. 

She had never kissed anyone before. She was glad, unbelievably, overwhelmingly, joyfully glad, that her first kiss had been with Neville, in this place where the warm air was scented with damp soil and sweet flowers. 

'We… we should take these back,' he said, his voice slightly hoarse. ‘Let - let me take them.’ 

He took the tray from her, and in her happy daze she allowed it, and let him lead the way out of the greenhouse. Joy had returned to her again, beneath the fogged glass, amongst the green plants, bursting with life. 

[make-me-imagine]

Mystery Prompts: Category 1: 23, M. Category 2: D, 98. Fandom: X-men. Character: Wolverine. Prompt List D. Sensory Prompt: ‘Warm water rushing over your body’. (Did not use genre pick for this one). 

Premise: After a rather intense and exhausting day, the reader opens up to Logan a little bit, before breaking down when alone. The next day, he finally admits why he cares so much.

Requested by: @destynelseclipsa​​​ (this was the first option you sent in)

Pairing: Logan/Wolverine x Gen!Neutral Reader

Triggers: Very brief mentions of fighting, as well as mentions of emotional exhaustion, and hatred (towards mutants in this case), and crying. (I swear it has a happy ending) 

Words: 2.5k

Marvel Taglist: @aquariuslavenderhoney​​​, @thebookbakery​​, @groovyfluxie​​, @marvelouslyme96​​, @supersourlemon13​​​

Note: This started out as a simple short oneshot and then it just kept going lmao

You sighed as you finally walked back into the mansion, slightly slumped over in exhaustion as you dragged your feet underneath you. Professor X, Scott, and Jean in front of you, Storm and Logan on either side of you. They all got off pretty easily, being able to fight at a distance, besides Logan, who just healed quickly no matter what happened, but you could tell he was pretty tired as well.

Your mutations were rather simple, heightened senses, strength and agility and you could emit a form of energetic pulse from your hands when in contact with something or someone. You had to fight in close combat, so you got a lot of the brunt force of the enemies you had fought. A group of anti-mutant terrorists who would hunt your kind down. There was a higher power behind them, and none of you knew who it was.

Entering into the main room of the mansion, the others all followed Professor X into his office, you turned to do the same, but stopped when you heard his voice in your head.

“Go relax Y/n, I know you are quite exhausted after what happened, there is no need for you to stay up any longer.”

You must be exhausted if you had let down your guard, your strong mental wall collapsed enough for him to so easily connect with you. Giving him a silent thank you, you turned and headed for the stairs, feeling a presence behind you, you looked back to see Logan following close. 

“Did he send you to bed like a child as well?” you asked. There was no malicious intention in your voice, but the Professor had a knack at treating you like one of his students, not that you minded in most cases.

He smiled “Not in so many words.” 

You continued up the stairs, highly aware of his eyes burning into the back of your head. As you made it to your floor, you continued toward your room before you stopped and turned around. Seeing Logan still behind you. 

“Is there a reason you’re following me to my room?” you asked with a questionable gaze at him. 

“The professor didn’t send me to bed so much as he sent me to check on you.”

You let out a soft laugh before turning back to your room and going inside, Logan entering after you. 

During the fight, there was a particularly hostile man, who seemed to be in charge. He cornered you in a room and used some fairly violent anti-mutant weapons they had apparently developed. It took a lot of your strength but you were able to fight him off. But more than that, it was also exhausting on your emotions. You were also an empath. You could feel his pure rage and hatred for you, it was too strong to ignore. Once you got away from him, the Professor must have sensed the stress on you. It was rare that you felt someone with so strong of emotions, especially such violent ones. 

“Why did he send you?” you asked as you sat on the edge of your bed, slipping off your shoes before peering up at him, as he leaned against the wall, watching you closely.

He stared at you for a second, as if he was debating something before he shrugged “Who knows?” you couldn’t ignore the pang of disappointment as he said this “So, tell me, why’s the professor so concerned?” 

You sighed as you stared down at the floor, your emotions returning as you thought of what happened, the mans taunting words and harsh emotions flowing through you again. 

“You don’t deserve to exist in this world. You’re a monster, and monsters needs to be destroyed.” 

Logan straightened up slightly “What?”

“That’s what the man said” you said as you stood up “And, I’ve....never, felt that sort of intense hatred from one single person before. With other people, non-mutants, I’ve felt fear, confusion, pity, excitement, and hate, but not that...pure. And as an empath, it’s exhausting” you finished simply before adding “I’m sure the professor could feel it, that’s why he wanted you to check on me.” you began to walk past him “You can tell him I’ll be fine, I’m going to take a shower. Goodnight Logan.” you said before walking into your bathroom and closing the door. 

You leaned against the bathroom door, a few moments passed and your heart was pounding as you felt Logan’s presence on the other side of the door, before you heard him step away and leave your room. You let out a sigh as you undressed and got into the shower. As the warm water rushed over your body, you felt your body relax under the heat as you stood still, drenching yourself. You stared down at the shower drain as you saw dirt and grime wash off your body. Your mind played back on the man again. 

Why does he hate us so much? Did a mutant hurt him in the past? Something had to happened to make him feel such pure hatred. Or is it just natural? Can someone be born with that much hate in them? 

In some sense you wanted to understand, but, at the same time you didn’t. If you understood, then you might be able to feel that kind of hatred. And you never want to hate someone that much. But it wasn’t just hatred. It was disgust. 

Your mind wandered to Logan. Why would the Professor send him? Did he know how you felt toward Logan? Did he think you would open up to him, more than the others. 

Logan had been at the school for a few years now, and you got along well enough, but hardly spent a lot of time alone. But you couldn’t help but admire his strength, his instincts, and though he tries to hide it, his kindness. But he loves Jean. There was a time, when you could no longer handle not knowing, so you used your power on him, and felt a strong emotion of love. And when you felt it emanating off of him, it was when he was looking at her. That should have been enough to stop you from feeling something, but it didn’t. But you did stop using your powers around him. You didn’t want to feel that sort of overwhelming disappointment again. 

Being reminded of that pain, and that love he felt for someone else, and then the hatred and disgust you felt today aimed at you and your kind. You thoughts going back to the hatred of others you’ve endured for years. You couldn’t help the sob that suddenly escaped your mouth as you brought your hand to your mouth. You tried to shut off the emotions, turn them off, but you were so exhausted, losing control of your powers. So as the tears came, you let the warm water wash them away. 

- - -

The next morning as you walked down the stairs, kids running around the mansion to get to their first classes, you felt slightly sore, but otherwise alright. Approaching the Professors office, you knocked as you walked in, the door already open.

The Professor looked up at you with a smile “Good morning Y/n, how are you feeling today?” 

You closed the door behind you before approaching his desk “Better.” you said with a soft smile “But I had a question.” 

“What would that be?” 

“Why did you send Logan to check on me?” 

The Professor stared at your for a moment, and you could tell he was repressing a smile “I did not send Logan.” 

You stared at him for a moment “Then why did he follow me to my room last night, and say that you did?” 

“Well. I would suppose, to save himself from the embarrassment he might feel if you knew he wanted to check on you of his own will.” 

“Why would he be embarrassed, we’re friends, he could have just asked.” you said, still not understanding.

The Professor shrugged his shoulders before he smiled “Perhaps that is a question you should ask him.” 

After leaving his office, you continued on with your day, not seeing Logan at all except in passing. You weren’t sure why, but you had avoided him throughout the day. Maybe because you wanted to avoid a conversation that would include “You’re my friend and I wanted to see if you were alright”, because, though you were happy being friends with him, you couldn’t help but want more. 

You sat on a bench in the garden, the kids all inside for the evening. You stared at the leaves blowing the trees, lost in thought. 

“Hey.” a voice said suddenly, as a hand was placed on your shoulder. 

You gasped and jumped at the sudden intrusion before looking back at who it was, seeing Logan looking at your with a look of confusion and amusement. “Logan” you breathed out before shaking your head at your own reaction. 

“I was calling your name but you didn’t hear me” he said as he rounded the bench and sat next to you.

“Sorry, just distracted.” you said plainly, ignoring the heavy beating of your heart as you wondered why he was sitting so close. 

“How are you feeling today?” 

You eyed him “Did the Professor send you again?” you asked, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. 

He met your eyes for a moment before turning away “No. And-” he cleared his throat “He didn’t send me last night either. “ 

“I know.” you said simply as his head snapped back in your direction. 

“You know?”

You nodded “I talked to the professor this morning.”

“Ah” he said simply “So? Are you going to answer my question?” he asked, changing the subject. 

You smiles softly “I’m alright Logan.”

He stared at you, you were smiling, and your voice was so soft, but, there was hardly any emotion in your eyes. The familiar brightness that usually shone in your eyes was faded. You were always full of so much emotion. 

“Why don’t I believe you?” 

You realized how serious he looked. Was he worried? You opened your mouth to speak, but closed it shortly after, looking straight ahead again “I’m okay.” you said, as if trying to convince yourself “Just tired. Sometimes feeling everything all the time is exhausting to the point where, there is a short time where I don’t feel much of anything at all.” you admitted, you turned to look at him again and smiled “It’ll pass, it always does.” 

He stared at your for a moment “I hope so. I hate seeing you suffering more than others. You don’t deserve it.” 

“Are you saying that others deserve it?” you countered. 

He smiled “No. I would just prefer if it wasn’t you. You take on more than others without trying.” 

“You’re kind Logan” you said, “Even if you pretend you’re not.”

He let out a soft laugh as he shook his head “Only to you.” 

“And to Jean” you hesitated for a second “And Storm” you quickly added on, hoping he wouldn’t notice. 

“Well, I like them. But, I’m nice to them, not kind. You’re the one who insists there is a difference between them.” 

“You’re kind to Jean” you finally said, tired of him refusing to admit his feelings, you looked at him “I know how you feel about her.”

Logan stared at you, his brow furrowed as you continued “I don’t feel anything for her.”

You scoffed “Of please Logan, I felt it. I get why you deny it, I mean she’s with Scott, but, you...can tell me, I don’t mind. It’s hard to keep that kind of thing to yourself.” 

“What exactly did you feel?” 

You met his eyes, your heart beating quickly, as the reminder of the pain and disappointment you felt showed itself again “Love. When you looked at her.” 

He sat forward with a sight “When did you feel it?” 

“It was a while ago, maybe a year or so I guess.”

He laughed “Do it again.” 

“What?”

“Use your power. Feel what I’m feeling now.” 

“That- that, won’t work, she’s not here, so if you’re trying to prove something-.”

“Just do it.” 

You stared at him for a moment, seeing how seriously he looked. You let out a breath as you relaxed and expanded your power encasing him as you felt his emotion. He was feeling, nervous, but calm at the same time, a hint of what you recognize as fondness, but there was something deeper, something he was repressing, it was strong. 

“You feel that?” 

“I don’t feel anything, not really, not on the surface at least..” 

“Exactly. I’m thinking about Jean right now.” He leaned forward a bit as he stared into your eyes “Now what do you feel.”

As he stared at you, you felt his emotions change rapidly, as that deep emotion became obvious. He was more nervous, almost scared, a bit excited, but the main emotion you could feel pulsing from him was familiar, the same emotion you felt before, when he was looking at her. But it seemed stronger this time. More prominent. 

“Love.” you said quietly.

A small smile formed on his face “That’s because I’m thinking of you.” 

Your heart seemed to stop for a moment in your chest as you looked at him “I came to check on you last night because I could tell you were hurting. I wanted to stay, to, help you, but you didn’t want me too. And now I get that it’s because you thought I loved Jean. And I did. But not for a long time. Not since I got to know you. You are the one person I care most about in this place, and the last person I want to see hurting. “

As you stared at him, still feeling the heavy emotions coming from him, now pairing with your own, you felt a tear escape the side of your eye. Logan, seeing it, smiled lightly. He knew what using your powers could do, it made you feel everything so strongly, and he had known that you felt something for him for a while. 

Reaching out, he wiped the tear away with his thumb, then placed his hand across your cheek “You can turn it off now.”

You stared at him for a second, taking in the gentleness of his touch, and the way he was staring at you “I don’t want to.” you said quietly, almost in a whisper.

He smiled at you “Alright” he said before he leaned forward, bringing you into a deep kiss. For a second, you felt a strong burst of emotion from the both of you, before it was silenced, your power turned off as you relaxed and melted into the kiss. 

As the strong emotions faded away, Logan pulled away from you as he looked into your eyes “That feeling won’t go away if you stop searching for it, it won’t fade, I promise.”

Unsure of what to say, you simply smiled at him, and his heart seemed to swell as he could once again see the bright emotion in your eyes again, no longer hidden behind a vale of exhaustion and pain as he leaned in for another kiss. The second of many more. 

xx

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[slightlymore]

fragment

part of the ‘almost’ collaboration hosted by @hyucksie

final part of the 'soulmates collection' 

doyoung x fem reader | 10k

genre: greek mythology retelling (selene and endymion), abstract historical setting, astrology, astronomy, magic/fantasy, romance, !angst!, smut, fluffy notes 

warnings: swearing, alcohol, explicit sexual content +18 (no hardcore raunchy stuff because it didn’t fit the vibe but highly erotic scenes), bad ending, major character sad situation (not death but similar, idk how to explain without spoiling lol), overall mature themes 

other characters: ten as doyoung’s brother, kun only mentioned 

playlist:  - Moon | Jonghyun - Sun&Moon | NCT 127  - Mystery lover | Taemin  - End to start | NCT 127 

__________ A sigh. 

It was a little and delicate sound, almost inaudible. But Doyoung could hear it so well. 

It was the only thing his mind could focus on besides the soft feeling under his fingers. 

He exhaled too but he couldn’t make sense of his own voice and he didn’t want to when there was this other one he so dearly wanted to hear instead. 

He wanted it to become louder and louder. He wanted to bathe in the smoothness of that voice forever. 

“I just think you need to get laid, that’s all,” Ten smirked before his tongue could make an appearance through his plush lips. It licked one of the grapes he was holding to his mouth and chuckled at Doyoung’s disgusted expression. 

“You’re always on that bullshit. I don’t even know why I keep telling you stuff.” The man commented. 

Ten, previously lying down on the single wooden bench inside the observatory, sat up with a roll of the eyes. His fluffy hair bounced around his forehead at his movements and his smile was wicked.

“If you keep having wet dreams, it means that you’re in need for some, so you should go and get it, brother.” 

Doyoung sighed and placed his papers down, unable to understand what he was trying to do with moving them around in the first place. 

“The thing is-,”

“Yeah I know,” Ten interrupted him, “you only have sexy dreams in the observatory like a freak. Kun said it’s because you’re exhausted and your mind is more prone to let your deepest desires-”

“Wait. You told Kun about my dreams?” 

If Ten got jumpy because of Doyoung's sudden loud voice, he concealed it well. 

“We talk about unconsciousness all the time,” the boy explained relaxedly. “I think you should come too sometimes. You can let out some of your, uhm, frustration,” he wiggled his eyebrows as he took a few steps separating himself from Doyoung’s desk. 

Doyoung shrugged to make Ten take off the hand from his shoulder. “I am a scientist, not a philosopher or whatever you guys like to call yourselves.” 

“Well I am sorry that scientists don’t fuck and we do.” 

Ten ran out of the observatory with a giggle before he could be hit in the head by Doyoung’s telescope. 

______

Doyoung has always imagined meeting his soulmate in a very romantic environment. 

He was not an extremely romantic person, but since it was still a soulmate talk, he imagined at least a few shy smiles and a kiss on the hand, not a scream and his cock in his fist instead.

He was the first to scream as he turned around at the sound of rustling leaves.

You screamed too but only because he screamed so loudly in the silence of the night that the dormant birds flew away from the trees. 

Then you yelped again when your eyes fell to the man’s crotch.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!” you hid your face with your palms and it felt boiling under your fingertips. 

The young man felt paralyzed and his first thought was that he wouldn’t have been able to touch himself anymore because of the shame. 

He breathed out once after finally putting away everything that had no business to be seen and cleared his throat. 

You had turned around in the process and Doyoung looked at your back for a moment before finally speaking. 

“Hey. Why are you wandering at night like this?” 

“Uh-” you put away your hands but didn’t dare to face him. “I couldn’t sleep and decided to come out for a bath,” you explained. “My lord,” you quickly added. 

“How did you get here? This property is owned by my astrology professor.” 

“That would be my father, sir. I live-” you lifted one arm and indicated the tower behind the garden, “-there.” 

Doyoung followed your finger with his eyes then took in your figure yet again. 

“You can turn around. I have no intention of hurting you.” 

You did as he told you and you were pleasantly surprised to see him as flustered as you were. “I’m sorry I startled you, sir.” 

The young man shook his head. “I have to apologize. It was highly inappropriate of me to do that in public.” 

“Well, no one was here to see, sir.” 

“You were here. And don’t call me sir, just call me Doyoung.” 

You smiled timidly and took a few steps towards the lake, nodding. “Then it’s nice to finally meet you Doyoung.” 

The man opened his lips for a second but you spoke on top of him. 

“Oh, my father speaks so highly of you every day,” you dipped one foot inside the calm water and Doyoung noticed for the first time what you had no shoes on. “He laughs at you for wanting to call yourself an astronomer instead of an astrologer but he also praises you a lot. My dad is an open-minded man. Sometimes I feel like he loves you more than he loves me.” 

Doyoung stared at your ankles then calves as you gently moved your toes inside the water. 

Your tone was light and nonchalant but he could sense the light layer of bitterness on it. 

“I’m sure that’s not the case.” 

You tilted your head to the side at his words and smiled again, the white and thin nightgown you were wearing almost touching the water too. Then you gathered the material around your waist and taking it off, you threw it on the shore near Doyoung’s feet. 

He gasped. 

“What are you doing?” he asked with a trembling voice, shocked to see your suddenly naked back getting swallowed by the shining darkness of the lake. 

“I told you, I came here for a bath,” you chirped back as if it was an appropriate answer. 

Turning around towards him you noticed that he caught a glimpse of your chest before he looked away in the distance. 

His adam apple travelled up and down distressed and even in the darkness you could see his neck and face redden up. 

You smiled again and crouched down, letting the water get to your chin and hide your curves from his eyes. 

“What would my father say if he knew I’m here naked in front of you now?” 

“Hm, he would probably kill me,” he replied sincerely. 

You let out a bright laugh. “Don’t worry. He won’t do it. If he doesn’t know.” 

He closed his mouth and you noticed the little smile trying to bloom on his lips as you exchanged a longer look than intended. 

Then he looked away and cleared his throat. 

“Then I’ll leave for now and I’ll come back when you’re done bathing,” he suddenly got up and patted his ass trying to clean his slacks of any dirt. 

“Aren’t you here to stare at the moon?” your voice stopped him from walking away. 

You were looking at him, gently swimming backwards. “Stay. I won’t bother you.” 

Doyoung sighed and after a moment of uncertainty, he moved back slowly and sat down again. 

You closed your eyes, letting the water lull you slowly. 

For the first time in weeks, the young man didn’t look at the moon once. 

__________

“What are the results for tonight?” you leaned in to read Doyoung’s notes, your gown collecting the drops of water falling on your body and making it difficult for the man to look away. 

You started to come out every night, the sound of your footsteps arriving to Doyoung’s senses first then your scent.

The results for that night were that Doyoung absolutely loved breasts and that he absolutely needed to touch himself or he might go insane. 

“The moon got smaller as predicted and it had the same course on the sky as usual.” 

You chuckled. 

“Well, of course. What would Selene do otherwise? Wander around?” 

Doyoung bit his lower lip as he would do when listening to your father teach him about astrology and deities. It was obvious that you would have his beliefs about the moon too.

“Well, she could, couldn’t she? Since she’s a goddess,” he played along. 

You sat near him and patted your neck with one end of your gown fabric. “She can technically walk away. But only to places where her presence is needed. And she goes away once every cycle to sleep.” 

Doyoung put away his papers and leaned back on his elbows, suddenly very amused. 

“Selene needs to sleep?” 

You noticed the almost mocking tone in his voice and smiled. “Of course she does. She obviously sleeps during the day just like Helios sleeps during the night but she also needs a full recharge once every cycle.” 

“You know a lot about her. Do you also know why she shrinks every night? Is that to show that she’s getting tired?” 

You chuckled at his theory but nodded. “Exactly. And after sleeping she grows bigger and bigger.” 

Doyoung hummed pensively and his eyes fell on your spine. “Wouldn’t it make sense if she came back full after recharging? Instead, she comes back small. The process makes no sense.” 

He raised his eyes to meet your gaze and you noticed the way his fingers twitched as if he forced himself to still his hand and not touch your skin. 

“There are so many things that make no sense,” you whispered.  

The man tilted his head to the side at your words and you let yourself down on your back, your eyes drinking in the stars above you. 

“Like what?” 

“Love?” 

Doyoung imitated your position and you had to prevent yourself from jolting when his shoulder touched yours. 

“Do you believe in love, astronomer?” you turned your head to see his face. 

“I don’t know. I have to see and touch things to believe in them.” 

“So you need to see and touch Selene to believe in her?” 

“Yeah.” 

“And would you believe it if she suddenly appeared and told you that it was her?” 

Doyoung turned his head to look at you as well and his gaze made your guts twist on themselves. He was so close that you both kept on whispering. 

“She should prove it somehow.” 

“What would you want her to do?” 

“Something goddess-like?” 

“What would that be?” you turned on your stomach interested and lifted your bust on your elbows. Doyoung’s eyes wandered on your chest for a little moment and it made you burn. 

“I don’t know. She’s the goddess. She should know. What can Selene do?” 

“Make people fall in love with her until they descend into madness."

Doyoung hummed with a smile. 

“Human girls can do that too. How is that special?” 

“So you do believe in love," you smiled teasingly, one finger to poke his bicep. 

“Well, it never happened to me, but if so many people talk about it, I guess it could be true.”

“A lot of people talk about Selene and yet, you don’t believe in her.”  

His eyes were barely visible in the night but the little lights in them were dancing just like the stars around the Moon. 

You opened your lips and breathed out.

Then he got up and collected his stuff before you could slip and ask him to just touch you right there under the black sky until he believed in you. 

__________

The first time you saw him you didn't think much of it. 

Another night, another person longing for something while looking up at the moon. 

You let yourself down to watch him better and you smiled surprised upon seeing his features. Apollo would wither away with shame in comparison so you chuckled excitedly. 

Finally. What a nice match. 

What a nice subject to driving into insanity for you. 

So you kept staring at his dark eyes, illuminated by your light, then at the curve of his forehead, his jaw, his neck. You imagined it strained as he begged for your love and you chuckled again. 

"Sleep," you whispered to him, eager to enter his dreams just like you did with so many people before him. 

But he didn't move and his eyes remained wide and awake. 

You tilted your head to the side, studying him well. 

"I said, Sleep," your voice travelled inside his head again but it got blocked by such a thick wall to make you almost fall backwards. 

You scoffed, one foot stomping on the ground and your arms crossed on the chest. 

He was not thinking about you?

He was staring at the moon, yes, but he wasn't staring at you?

_________

It was not until he fell asleep in his observatory that you managed to get closer. 

Night after night you were staring at each other without him realizing and night after night his head was completely closed off. Drifting away in the morning, angry and tired, your only thoughts were made of plans around how to enter that man's dreams.

You were feeling weak, so little time until Helios would push you to the side with his light. But your pride was hurt and you were desperate to get into his head. 

It was so easy this one time. Completely at your mercy. So easy that you basically tripped forward not expecting it. 

His mind was like soft butter and you giggled triumphant, stepping around his dreams. 

Finally. 

It was completely silent inside of him and you inhaled deeply. 

What a nice head, you thought. So calm and peaceful. No chaos and no darkness. 

You opened your eyes and focused around his imagination. 

It was a deep refreshing forest with a faraway waterfall. The sound of it accompanying the sound of your nude feet on the grass. 

Then you saw him. 

The man was lying down on a patch of soft moss, eyes closed and relaxed features. Like some sort of spirit. Like a god. 

You walked to him silently and touched his knee. His eyes slowly opened at the sensation and his lips got brushed by a sigh. You leaned down on top of him, catching it with your lips, sighing into him as well. 

Finally, you smiled, as his hands pressed into your soft flesh. 

But before he could touch your bare skin, you were already drifting away to sleep yourself and the dusk vaporized you from his arms. 

So you tried again. 

And again. 

Always near the time, you'd touch gowns with Helios as you passed the baton. Always touching the mortal man just for a second in his mind and his dreams.

Until you became obsessed.

His hands on your stomach and sliding lightly on your bust. You holding onto his wrist with both your hands and delicately kissing his thumb before gently starting to suck on it. His muscles contracting at the sight and you feeling him harden underneath you. His lips slightly parted as if breathing for him was suddenly harder and his gaze was dark and lustful. Jerking up with no warming and, pressing you hard against himself, kissing you hungrily. Wet, messy, and rough. His fingers digging into your thighs and yours into his shoulders. His skin rubbing against your and you desperately wanting more.

Until you got too impatient. 

__________

“It’s called a telescope. It’s a machine that makes things appear closer. I want to see every detail of the moon and I’ll soon be able to.” 

Doyoung was scribbling away into his papers and you shifted your head from resting on your knees to resting it on your hand instead. 

“Can I see it?” 

He didn’t reply for a few moments, eyebrows furrowed and clenched jaw, so you thought he didn’t hear you. 

“It’s not done yet,” he then mumbled right when you opened the mouth to speak again. 

“Well-” you started but he suddenly got up and extended his hand to you. 

You looked at his delicate palm and fought the urge to kiss his fingertips. 

You lifted your hand to touch it. It was soft and warm as you held it. And you hoped he wouldn’t let yours go after helping you up. 

Unfortunately, he did and started to walk up the little hill towards the tower by himself. 

You smiled a little and followed him after gathering your gown in your fists, eyes on his back instead of paying attention where you should put your feet instead.

“So tell me. Why do you like the moon so much?” 

Humans were so used to walking around that it was nothing for him to arrive at the top of the hill in a few steps. You haven’t been walking as much as you did while with Doyoung in aeons so you had to rest, palms on your knees and panting hard as he spoke. 

“It’s fascinating, don’t you think?” 

“Well,” you shrugged, “she’s a goddess.” You replied, the sweat on your forehead and messy hair very ungoddess-like. 

Doyoung looked at his side, staring at your lips as they moved then looked away at the tower in front of him. His visible cheek trembled a little under the moonlight and you smiled. 

“So you still don’t believe the moon is a goddess. My job here is useless.” 

He sighed at your affirmation. “I just- I’m sure there’s more to that. The moon is made of soil just like the earth. I think it’s a piece of earth that didn’t manage to merge with us.” 

He started to walk away as you caught up with his pace. 

“Merge with us? Like when the earth was made someone just left a piece of it out for no reason?” 

The boy looked at you after arriving at the wooden door and resting one hand on it. “You think I’m insane, right? No one believes me.” 

You imitated his expression and lightly hit his shoulder with yours. “I don’t think you’re insane. Your mind is just fascinating like the moon herself.” 

“You think there’s a possibility that the goddess is mad at me for not believing in her existence? Maybe this is why I’m not making any progress with my studies,” Doyoung mumbled to himself amused as unlocked the tower. 

You stared at his profile for a while. The silence made it possible for the soft breeze on the lake water to be heard as well as the young man’s yearning sigh. 

“I think she’s flattered. You’re like a challenge.” 

Doyoung turned his head around to face you again and his dark eyes under the strands of black hair were hypnotizing as he made a few steps backwards into the round room. 

“Flattered by me? There are so many people staring at her.” 

You tightened the hold on your gown as you followed him into the darkness of the observatory. 

“Not like you. I watched you from my own tower and you’ve been here every night for so many cycles.” 

“I am flattered that you’ve been watching me,” Doyoung lowered his voice.  

You smiled again and felt a lump grow in your throat under his gaze, forcing you to swallow before talking again. 

“Also, you don’t just mindlessly admire her. You want to understand. And that’s fresh.” 

You looked up at the high ceiling and admired the weird wooden construction. It was a little dusty but cosy.

Doyoung let one corner of his lips rise. “So the moon is bored with all the suitors and finds me amusing. Will she kill me after playing with me like this or you think she will grant me forgiveness?” 

You looked down again and stared at each other until Doyoung’s eyes widened a little upon seeing your troubled expression. 

“Hey, it was a joke,” he touched your arm delicately. “The moon is not going to kill me.” 

You gulped and lowered your gaze upon feeling his touch. 

“No, she can’t. But what if she has to put you to sleep?” you asked with a feeble voice. 

His pupils shook quickly as if he was waiting for you to finally laugh out loud at the joke. 

But you didn’t. 

“Why would Selene do that?” 

You walked away from him, hands behind your back, neck strained as you looked up at the structure. 

“Have you ever heard of Selene being in love?” 

“I haven’t heard much of her at all, to be honest.” 

He leaned his hips on the desk and crossed his arms on the chest. 

“What have you been doing during my father’s lessons?” you suddenly turned your head towards him and he finally could see a hit of amusement on your features. 

“Hm,” he considered. “Thinking about the moon but not like that.” 

You rolled your eyes and touched the telescope in front of you with one finger. It was sturdy and cold. Then you started to walk around the room, the fingertip gently caressing everything you could touch. 

“Selene is cruel. She makes people fall in love with her. With no promises. Just for fun. And when they all learn that she can’t possibly love them back, they all leave.”  

“Why?” 

You stopped near a wall adorned with a simple mirror. The reflection was something you didn’t want to look at so you placed your gaze on Doyoung. He exchanged the look. 

“It’s her fate.” 

“Her fate to be cruel?” 

“Her fate to be alone.” You started to walk again. 

His clothes neatly hanging near his bed smelled like incense and they were soft under your finger. 

“That sounds like someone that wants to protect themselves,” he considered. 

You didn’t reply for a moment so Doyoung kept talking. 

“Selene sounds like a sad individual. She keeps making people fall in love with her but no one is trying to make her fall in love with them. And then they run away like cowards.”

You chuckled a little. “You think? But that’s Fate. If you fall in love with Selene, you either run away or lose your life.” 

“And how many people lost their life?” 

You hummed. “No one really.”

“If you love someone truly, no Fate is going to make you tremble in your slacks like a little boy.” 

You chuckled again. 

Your room tour was almost over as you walked over him, your finger gently touching the table until reaching his thigh. 

He looked down at your hand and followed it’s movements as you drew a line up on it until getting to his hip, then on his wrist and forearm. 

His skin shivered in goosebumps under your touch and you heard him swallow. 

“If you’re going to keep being so obsessed with the moon, you might lose your life too,” you whispered. “Run away now, before it’s too late.” 

His hand twitched as he loosened up his arms on his sides and grabbed your fingers before you could get to his chest. 

“Selene might choose to put me to sleep?” 

“She might have to. For pity. To not let you die on the hands of the Fates instead since it’s gruesome.” 

Doyoung wrapped your shoulders with his arm and pulled you towards his body.

 You heard the buzzing of his voice near his heart when he talked. “I will not let the moon do that. Don’t worry.”

His scent was inebriating and you closed your eyes, palms shyly placed on the linen of his tunic, his breath tickling your forehead before he placed a kiss on it. 

The touch felt so dizzying that you had to inhale twice. 

“Promise?” you lifted your head and asked quietly, the words travelling on the little sigh you emitted and placing themselves on his plump ones. 

“I promise-,” he tried to say but he was so close that you didn’t let him finish, the kiss he gave you after you leaned in was better than any words. 

Then he kissed your cheek and jaw, then you felt his tongue gently outlining your ear until you whimpered and tightened your fingers into his clothes. He chuckled lightly and kissed the spot under the ear, down down on the neck, biting gently into your flesh as you started to pant. His hands palmed the bare skin on your back before meeting the fabric of your nightgown again. 

It was your turn to get goosebumps all over your skin as you melted in his hold. 

Then you noticed the lights of the dusk gently illuminating the small windows of the observatory and you had to lightly push his chest back. 

“I have to go,” you whispered quickly. 

“Just a minute,” he replied on your lips, his arms not wanting to let you go yet. You kissed him back in short pecks until he chuckled. 

“Okay okay. Go,” he pressed his lips into yours for the last time and you turned around fast, yelping once as he lightly slapped your ass. 

__________

“There’s something I need to confess,” you announced. 

Doyoung’s eyes weren't on the moon that night either and you smiled at the small victory. Then you felt a sting inside your chest that prompted you to finally be honest with him. 

Getting out of the water slowly you hoped he'd let his obsidian eyes shamelessly caress your skin but sensing your approach he lifted his eyes on the sky instead with a secret gulp. 

“What is it?” His voice was low and a little pasty. 

"Are you drinking?" you chuckled once surprised as your feet walked the short sand shore before you could feel the cool grass under your toes instead. 

Doyoung smiled. "It's starting to get a little bit cold these nights. I have to keep myself warm."

You kneeled in front of him, sitting on your legs and extending your hand towards the bottle. "I'm also a little chilly," you explained. 

The young man handed you the wine and watched your lips as you tasted it. 

"Perhaps if you didn’t wander around naked you won't be feeling this cold." 

"Perhaps if you finally let me under your cloak, you won't be feeling this cold either." 

Doyoung's pupils trembled and his lips tightened. His lashes fanned his cheeks a few times and he looked away as you collected a single drop of wine from your lower lip with the tip of the tongue. 

He was so stubborn to fully give in that it made you euphoric. 

After the little exchange in the observatory, you expected him to jump on you as soon as he saw you. Instead, he slyly sat down on his usual spot in front of the lake, eyes high on the sky and hands busy taking his notes. 

So you undressed as usual and entered the water until you could physically feel his gaze burning your skin.

You were actually relieved he felt like that. 

Nights after nights you wondered if you should just stop bothering him. 

You felt selfish and cruel. Cruel with yourself, because you already knew how it would end. He’d run away from you and if perhaps he would not, if he prefered to actually die, then- 

You drank again and enjoyed his awkward silence for a bit. 

“I’ve been watching you that first night," you confessed. Doyoung's breath halted for a second and you smiled.

I’m Selene. I’m actually Selene. 

“I told you that I’ve been watching you for many nights, actually. From my tower.”

You locked eyes and you felt his hand wrap yours making you shiver. He retrieved the bottle and sipped talking.

"Why?" 

I’m Selene. 

"For the same reason, you've been staring at the moon. To understand. And because you're beautiful." 

Doyoung gulped the liquid and his eyes finally locked with yours. 

"What do you want to understand about me?" 

"Everything."

The crickets kept you company in the moment of silence and for the first time Doyoung didn't shy away from openly looking at your curves and you felt your skin get goosebumps. 

His fingers then unbuttoned his cloak and lifting himself on his knees, he wrapped your naked body with it. The warmth and his scent almost made you whine in pleasure. You desperately wanted him to pull you down on top of him.

"So you choose that exact moment to come and talk to me." 

The little smile that crept on Doyoung's lips made you smile as well. He sat down again and relaxed back on one elbow.

“I had no idea that looking at the moon would get you horny if that's what you're saying."

He looked at you with the corner of his eyes. The amusement in them made you bite your lower lip. 

"You got horny by looking at me though." 

In your whole long life, you've never experienced that type of teasing. 

He was there, hands not on you, doing everything with his eyes instead of his touch and it was driving you insane. 

It was not the first time you'd come down and talk to admirers that loved to stare at you, yet not a single one has made it so difficult for you to sleep with them. 

Were you losing your charm? Was it their belief in Selene that made you look fascinating to their eyes? Was this the reason Doyoung kept it all together all of these nights? You were just a normal girl in his eyes, weren't you? 

It made you so frustrated. 

And relieved at the same time.

“So why were you horny that night?” 

“I’ve been dreaming about this girl I have never met before,” he admitted." I don't know who she is or what she looks like-"

"But she managed to get you horny like that?" 

He had another sip from the bottle as if regretting telling you that. 

"Maybe it was Selene? She's known for meeting people in their dreams," you suggested. 

I am Selene. It was me. Keep me close but please run away too. 

"Selene doesn’t-” he tried to reply but stopped, aware of your deep beliefs. 

"And a girl from your dreams does?" 

"I've never-” 

"Is this why you're here? You hope to dream about her again?" 

"I am here because I am studying the moon." 

“What was the girl doing in your dreams? Can you show me?” you lowered your voice and you could have sworn that Doyoung was ready to finally push you under his weight. 

“Don’t do this to me,” he whispered instead. 

I am sorry. I am so sorry. 

“Why not?” you touched his knee. 

“I haven’t been myself since you’re around.” 

“Is that a bad thing?”

It is. It’s such a bad thing.  

“I just… I want to concentrate on the moon-” 

“She’s not going anywhere.” 

If there were men that refused a naked girl as she explicitly asked them to touch her skin, Doyoung realized with great difficulty that he was not one of them. 

Fuck, when you straddled his lap and leaned down, not even Zeus and all of his squad would have been able to stop Doyoung from sliding his hands up your thighs and grab your waist.

"Will you leave me alone after this?" he whispered on your lips. 

"Only if you leave me alone first." 

"You came to me first."

"I don't think that's correct."

Doyoung's eyebrows furrowed at your words but he had no time to think about it at your command. 

“Kiss me,” you managed to tell him before he pulled you down on his chest and promptly bit your lower lip. You whined once and cupped his face as his hands pressed you on himself.

It was weird. It was so weird. 

His tongue playing with yours and his fingers caressing your naked body, you felt powerless. You were so small. 

A weird sensation was engulfing your chest just like his scent and warmth tickled your senses. 

It tasted like danger and it made your nerves shake. 

The desire was so high that it made you dizzy but the terror was just as big as you felt his grip tighten on you. 

You felt like any other man you bewitched before. Insane. At his mercy. 

And you desperately didn’t want him to die. 

"Wait!" 

Doyoung stopped kissing your neck and looked up at your face. 

"Is everything alright? Sorry if I-," 

"No, no, it's fine," you gulped, gently moving back until standing. 

You tugged at his cloak, even more, covering yourself up to the chin. 

"I'll borrow this if it's not an issue for you," you tried to smile a little. "I just remembered I need to go home. I’ll let you concentrate on your studies for now.” 

"Wait- it’s not morning yet-," he blinked at you and stood up as well, but you were already running away on the little dirt path towards the tower. 

__________

"Your game is so weak that you make girls run away now?" 

"I didn't tell you this to get teased by you," Doyoung replied sternly but when Ten looked over he smiled seeing the other's amused expression. 

"Perhaps she just wanted to seduce you and when you finally got seduced she got bored."

"Valid. But we could have at least finished." Doyoung sighed. "I'm afraid I scared her somehow." 

The lake sounded calm in the colours of the dawn and Doyoung raised his gaze to look at the sky. 

"I mean, I'd be scared to sleep with you too." Ten joked but Doyoung wasn't listening. 

"There's something else,” the latter mumbled, almost to himself. 

Ten went quiet and looked at the other's glowing profile. 

"She felt so familiar as I held into her. Her scent and voice and her breathing. She was exactly like the girl I've been dreaming about."

Ten whistled. "You're projecting now?"

"Maybe she didn't want to be used as I thought about that dreamy girl," Doyoung murmured on his own. “I swear they felt the same though.” 

Ten waved his palm in front of his brother's face but the other didn't flinch, eyes lifeless as he was lost in thoughts. 

Then Ten shrugged. 

"Go and find her. Ask to talk to her."

Doyoung finally came to his senses. "You want her father to kill me?" 

“Go to sleep then.” 

“What?” 

Ten shrugged again. “Go to sleep and see if they’re the same person.” 

“Don’t make fun of me.” 

“I told you that you should come over our weird mystical meetings sometime.” He signed the words with air quotes. “You’d understand that dreams can be something more than mere night hallucinations.” 

__________

Doyoung didn't look at the moon that night. 

Instead, he went to sleep when it came out adorning the sky and he fell into the slumber with its image burned on his eyelids. 

He felt an idiot but he hoped to see you.

Doyoung didn't believe in fate or higher forces but if his mind could somehow predict your arrival he wanted to find out how it worked. Theory, observation and conclusion. 

It was a soft dream. 

He was walking a flowery hill. The spectrally white blossoms were high to his hips and he gently let his hands caress their petals at his passage. The moon made them bright as if they were faes and all of them were directing him somewhere.

He knew you were there waiting for him before he could see you. 

Timidly sat on the top of the hill, your white gown was looking even brighter than the moon itself. Your thighs were full-on display and for a moment Doyoung felt like he'd lived a moment like this in the past already.

He stopped and looked down around his feet where a small rabbit tilted its head to the side, staring at him with its big and glossy eyes. It was light brown and fluffy. 

Doyoung chuckled once and crouched down. The little rabbit hopped into his arms and he carried it up until reaching your smiling face. 

“I missed you,” he said as a greeting. 

A small breeze made the flowers lean gently on the side and your gown inflated as you stood.

You took a little step towards him and placed one finger on his lower lip. 

He let his gaze fall on it and kissed your fingertip. His skin was warm and soft.

Then he kissed the round sweet you made appear in your hand.

He chuckled feeling the honey already melting on his lips. He bit into it and you ate the half of it that was leftover.

“Why are you running away from me?” he whispered as the rabbit hopped off.

You were unsure if he spoke to it or you.

“I’m afraid.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“The unknown.”

Doyoung lifted one hand and cupped your face. You exhaled and closed your eyes.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” he asked.

“Falling in love with you.” 

_________

“I’m glad you took some time off to see me, son.” 

“Thank you for accepting the invitation, sir.” 

The two men were slowly walking through the Tower’s gardens, full of roses bushes and soft grass. 

“How are the studies going? Got some new information about the Moon?” 

Doyoung inhaled, hands clasped together behind his back and tilted head. 

“I do. And that’s why I’m here. I have some questions for you, sir.” 

The Professor halted his movements and smiled under the thick eyebrows. 

“What’s all that about?” 

Doyoung started to walk again and the man followed him. 

“I think I might be slightly insane but what if our theories both coexist? What if the moon is just a celestial object for some and a goddess for others, based on their beliefs?” 

The man laughed. “Have you been to the meetings of that philosopher brother of yours lately?” 

Doyoung smiled a bit at the teasing. 

“I think you can be right,” the Professor then added with a different tone. 

They both stopped again and Doyoung tried to read the expression in his eyes. 

“We’re incredible beings. We’re creators. The divine in us wants to create things so badly. Art, science, food, babies.” 

They both smiled again. 

“Reality shifts according to what you believe in and you can create things out of nowhere.” 

“But is that true if I created it? Isn’t it just fantasy?” 

“And what exactly is reality in the first place?” 

“Something you can see and touch. Something you can feel with all of your senses.” 

“Air is reality. Can you see and touch it? Can you feel it with your tongue? No. But it’s here. We all agree on it.”

The astronomer smiled again. “It’s because we need different eyes to see it.” 

“Just like you need different eyes to see Selene instead of a round disk in the sky,” the man replied. 

Doyoung turned around and walked again in silence. 

“Would Selene start to exist like flesh and bone in front of me if I started to believe in her?” he asked after a moment. 

“Yes. And the moon would look like a piece of dirt to me if I had your beliefs instead.” 

Doyoung sighed, shaking his head to the side as if trying to apologize. 

“I don’t know why I started to think about all of these things.” 

“You’re not the first man to get heartache for her, Doyoung.” 

“I am not-” Doyoung blinked a few times, unable to go on. 

“It’s actually,” he finally faced the old man, “it’s actually all about your daughter, sir,” his voice was feeble and his cheeks lightly dusted with the colour of roses. 

The Professor opened his mouth for a moment but he was quick to close it as a little smile adorned his mouth instead. 

His arm moved and Doyoung fought the urge to not run away. But the man had no ill intentions. Instead he fatherly cupped the other’s nape and laughed once. 

“I do not have a daughter, my boy.” 

__________

She’s cruel.

Doyoung could understand that. He was not stupid nor blind. 

Swaying your hips around him, visiting him all nights, eyes full of him and basically begging him to touch you: only a fool would not take a hint. 

Yet, you didn’t come to him anymore. You ran away instead of fully seducing him, breaking him, leaving him desperate. 

Or was it the whole plan? Making him long for more until no other thought could have space in his mind? 

Well, it was working. 

But Doyoung was also the sole creator of his reality and his heart was still not acquainted with the truth of the moon being a goddess. And if he didn’t believe in you, you were not real. Just a fragment of his imagination, of his dreams.

Although your touch and your breath on his skin was something he could actually feel. And the thing blooming inside his heart was also something he could feel. 

Slow feet to drag to his observatory he barely noticed the white gown abandoned on the lake’s shore. He had no intentions to look for you yet there you were again when he least tried hard to reach you. 

The night was dark and the moon was but a mere semicircle in the middle of infinite stars. 

And you were barely visible in the slow movement of the lake too, eyes closed and face up to bathe into the myriad of lights. 

“I’ve never asked your name.” 

His voice was low but it startled you. He was standing on the strand of sand, nude feet gently touched by the water at a slow rhythm. 

Hands in his slacks pockets and head ever so slightly tilted to the side, he looked so confident to make your blood boil. 

Your eyes ran over his thighs then up to his small waist. You imagined yourself wrapping it with your arms, pressing your face into the clean scent of his white flowy shirt, fingers drawing the most prominent veins on his forearms made bare by his hands that slowly unbuttoned the sleeves.

“You didn’t.” 

You swam backwards, water hitting the swell of your breasts at each fluid movement as you put on a brave face.  

He smiled and your breath vibrated but then you couldn’t see his face anymore, hidden by the fabric he took off. 

His shirt fell near your gown and you looked at its trajectory before realizing what you had in front of you. 

“What are you doing?” your voice was not brave anymore as you spoke and you gulped once. 

“Taking a bath. I had a very long day,” he explained, amused eyes under his messy hair, hands already unbuttoning his pants. 

You watched those too as they fell to his ankles before he could step out of them and when you raised your eyes again you inhaled sharply. 

Doyoung didn’t comment on your inability to look at him but you could almost feel his smile burn the side of your face as you turned around, laying down on your back again and trying to calm your buzzing nerves. 

The water did nothing to lull you as your guts physically felt each meter Doyoung swam towards you. 

“I dreamt you a few nights ago,” he talked and his voice was nearer than you expected. 

“Oh really. Was that nice?” 

“You were there too, Selene."

You floundered with a gasp at that name on his lips but he was quick to wrap your body with his arms and keep you afloat. Your chest was expanding quickly and it stopped when you realized that it was pressed on Doyoung’s naked body. 

"What are you talking about?" you tried to chuckle, palms on his chest as if trying to push him away but not actually wanting to do it. 

“Look at me,” his voice was a whisper. 

You breathed out and kept staring at his collarbones instead. 

“A goddess would certainly have enough guts to look at a mere man’s eyes, wouldn’t she?” 

His fingers delicately drew your jaw until lifting your chin up. 

The look you exchanged was electrifying and your hands got buried in his shoulders’ muscles on their own. 

“You certainly have a lot of guts for a mere man.” 

“Is this why you’re running away from me? You’re not used to it? For your little pets to have guts?"

You scoffed once. 

“I could- I could set you on fire if I wanted to.” 

“You already do without trying,” he smiled. 

“I could physically turn you on fire, you know?”

Doyoung hummed at your threats and tightened his hold on your hips even more until there was no more possible space between your bodies anymore. 

“You’re physically turning me on fire,” he whispered near your ear. “Do you not feel it?” 

"Doyoung," you whined, his skin rubbing on yours as you shifted. 

"Selene," he replied. 

"We should not do this."

"Do what?" 

You exhaled frustrated and finally looked at his eyes. 

"You should not try to sleep with the goddess of the moon if you want to be alive."

"And who's going to kill me?" 

"The Fates." His lips curved up. 

"I'm serious! It's going to kill you."

"But I can’t step back. I'm just a weak mortal bewitched by you."

"We both know that's not true. You don't care about me at all. Not--,” you gulped. “Not like I do."

He smiled a little. 

"And that drives you insane, doesn’t it?" his breath caressed your earlobe as he whispered near it. "You hate being weak."

You closed your eyes with fluttering eyes as you felt his fingers caress your spine, from the base of your neck, down to your waist until reaching the softness of your ass.

"Why are you resisting me, let me in."

"You're just everything I was afraid of."

"Maybe it's time to stop and face your fears."

"There's no going back after this. You should run away now.”

"I don’t want to go back." 

"You said it yourself. You’re but a mere man. A human!” you argued. 

"And yet here you are, Selene herself melting in my arms."

You sighed in frustration. "Don’t get so cocky."

"You said that the worst thing that could happen is you falling in love with me. Is that really that bad?" 

“The Fates will get to you, Doyoung? Do you not understand? You’ll be gone.” 

“You said that you can put me to sleep more gently. Do that.”

���You’ll be gone!”

"I’ll find a way back to you."

"You’re so reckless for a scientist."

"Your influence on me is really bad.”

“You’re not taking this seriously at all.” 

“Can’t be rational when all I can think about is how much I want to fuck you dizzy.” 

You opened your mouth to reply something witty but you couldn't because with quick hands he took your arms and wrapped them around his neck. It was so quick that you were still in the middle of processing what just happened when with gentle fingers he directed your head closer to his face and pressed a sweet kiss on your lips. 

You let yourself be cuddled by his homely scents as you slid your fingers through his soft hair. His hands were drawing light lines on your back and between his arms, you felt warm and safe. All your worries were suddenly gone and you couldn't feel any tiredness or anxiety in your muscles as Doyoung smoothed it all for you.

He eventually broke up the kiss and you were both slightly breathless as you looked at each other in the eyes. His gaze was intense and rough and you couldn't stop thinking about the way your body was pressing against his.

Your thoughts might have been written on your face because he smiled slightly and got his hands busy to slowly slide his fingers across your ass and thighs. 

"I can stop if you want me to," he said, almost whispering. 

"No, don’t stop,” you whispered back. 

__________

“So, what are you? Like, immortal?” 

His voice was a low buzz. Head resting on your stomach and arms wrapped around your body, you let your hand gently play with his hair. 

The night was cold on the lake’s shore. His cloak felt soft under your naked bodies though and his mere presence made it impossible for you to feel any breeze. 

You exhaled and shifted in his hold to be able to look at him. “Yes, but I can die too.” 

“Well, you do have hot blood inside of your veins,” he smirked, lifting his head too, palming your body up until reaching your warm cheeks. You closed your eyes for a moment, gently rubbing your side of the face on his hand before opening them up and taking in the view of him between your legs. 

“I told you how this is a curse, right?” 

He hummed, going back to his previous position, hands wrapped around your thighs and slowly drawing diagrams on your skin. 

“And it’s bullshit.” 

“How is that-”  

“Who the hell are the Fates and why do they have a say in your destiny?” He sounded angry. 

“Also why are you even cursed?” he lifted his head to look at you and his furrowed eyebrows made you giggle. 

“The Goddess of the Moon is not the same forever. We change every other aeon. I have been chosen this time and with it came the curse.” 

Doyoung rolled his eyes so incredulously that you giggled again. 

“My heart is flowing with jealousy. Of all I’ve ever wanted, my hands got only smoke,” you whispered and Doyoung blinked at your sudden change in tone. 

“Hey,” he slithered upwards until placing his arms around your head. 

You wrapped his body with yours and hid your face into the crook of his neck.

“It’s going to be so soon,” you whined. 

“What?” he rolled over and pulled you towards his chest. 

“The Judgement.” 

Like a spell that summons darkness, the night sky suddenly got hidden. 

You inhaled sharply and got up, away from his hold.

Doyoung’s eyes were wide, looking at your face then at the sky where no stars and moon were shining anymore. 

“You have to run away,” your voice trembled. 

“I will not do that,” he stood as well, hands trying to pull you closer again. 

You took a few steps back, shaking your head as if afraid of him to touch you. 

“Doyoung, are you perhaps a fool?” you almost screamed. 

“Yeah, maybe I am.” 

"You said that you wouldn't let me do this!" you cried out, face wet with tears, unable to get closer to him any further. “I thought you didn’t love me and you’d run away like the others!”

Doyoung was pale and with shaky hands trying hard to reach you. But you were the Moon, high up in the sky and so far away for him to touch. 

“How can I not love you?” he whispered. 

You brought a hand to your mouth, feet slowly leaving the shore, rising in your goddess glory. But there was nothing glorious at that moment as your body jolted with hiccups. 

"It's alright, " he whispered. "Everything is fine. We can deal with this.”

"It's my fault. I've been a fool." 

"No. No. Listen to me."

"I don't want to lose you…" your voice was tiny as he slowly descended on his knees, arms resting in his lap, eyes taking in the beauty of your light. 

"Do it quickly. It's okay," Doyoung added.  

You looked away. 

"It's okay," he repeated. "I'll find a way to get to you. I promise."

"Stop, please, just stop. Why don’t you just go away?” 

"If not in this life, in another one. This is but a mere fragment of our existence. My soul's eternal and it will always long for you. I'll come and find you. I can't let you go.” 

"Doyoung-," 

"My love. Put me to sleep. It's not death.” 

"It's worse than death!” 

"I'll find a way. Trust me. We’re ending this to start again. I do not intend to run away like some coward in front of these Fates.” 

"Doyoung," you whined again, the sight of the Fates darkening the hills beyond him making your eyes fill to the brim until you were unable to see. 

He didn't look back. His eyes were on you all of the time. 

His eyes have always been on you all of the time. 

Your feet touched ground again and he smiled, his own eyes being two little night skies filled with little shiny stars. 

His hair floated in the killing wind of the Fates approaching each step closer, yelling, screaming, shaking the ground. 

Your trembling hands didn't look like your own as you cupped his face and kissed his lips desperately, the whispers of your love filling up his mouth. Until he inhaled deeply.

Until the darkness of the Fates passed above you with a deafening yell of a thousand birds. You wrapped his head with your arms, protecting him and he wrapped your torso with his. 

"Go away!" you screamed towards the halo dancing around in the sky. It let out a frustrated cry and before you could realize it, it went away in a minute, leaving behind but buzzing silence. 

You gulped feeling your throat raw, a little sparkle of hope still lingering in your chest. 

But then you looked down at his face and a loud hiccup knocked all of your body. 

Your kiss worked. 

You held him in your arms and watched his peaceful expression dotted by your warm tears. 

He was beautiful and eternally asleep. 

__________

From “I will not vanish” with Haechan coming up in March

“How bizarre. Not dead yet not alive either.” 

The voice startled Doyoung in the silence of the prison. It was warm and pleasant. Almost childish. 

“Who talked?” 

Doyoung walked the dark corridor slowly, eyebrows furrowed and eyes scanning every cell. 

“I did.” 

The voice sounded clearer with each step he took until he was sure it came from the farthest away room. It was darker and bigger than the others.

“Don’t be afraid. Come closer.” The voice was amused. 

Doyoung stopped in front of it and blinked hard to see inside. 

The creature inside of it giggled once and leaned forwards into the feeble light of Doyoung’s torch. 

The latter flinched and took a step backwards. 

Two round eyes looked at Doyoung from underneath fluffy hair. His lips were plush just like his cheeks. Yet Doyoung could tell he was not a child. The eyebrow scratch and sharp jawline that flinched as he smirked communicated infinite amounts of years. 

“Donghyuck the demon?” 

The young man rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

“I’ve been terrorizing whole villages in their dreams, asking them to call me Haechan and no one is passing the message around? Donghyuck is such an old fashioned name now.” 

Doyoung blinked at him, unable to crack a single word. 

The demon snickered. “What did you expect to see, human? A wobbly indistinguishable mass with four voices talking all at once?” 

“Yes,” Doyoung replied honestly. 

“Those are the angels. Have you seen an angel? They have like seven arms and twelve eyes. Like, you’re an angel, right? With all those great powers. And what do you do? You appear to people with disgusting eyes around the belly button?” 

Haechan leaned to the side on one elbow and imitated puking sounds.

“I had an unpleasant encounter with an Archangel.” 

Haechan smiled at the other’s words and got up from the floor. Doyoung expected chains around his limbs but nothing was holding the demon back. 

He walked slowly towards the edge of the cell and Doyoung noticed his bare feet and ankles. They looked like the ones of a prince not having worked one single day in his life.

“Archangels are smarter. They don’t look as good as me but they at least don’t scare away young girls. Who did you discuss with to leave you so desperate to come here? Also what the hell happened to you? An eternal sleepwalker?"

Haechan was mere centimetres away from Doyoung but the latter didn’t step back. 

“Mark.” 

The other hummed. “Archangel Mark. He’s still on that bullshit? Fate and all?” 

“You’re a demon. You know everything.” 

Haechan laughed. “Yeah.” He walked along the edge with hands behind his back before turning his face towards Doyoung again. “So he’s the reason why you chose me?” 

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"You think we're going to be friends?" 

"Business partners."

Haechan licked his lower lip amused. 

"What do you want?" 

"Love."

Haechan snorted. "Okay, loser. And what are you offering me?" He lifted one eyebrow. 

"Freedom." 

__________

Haechan stared at the contract Doyoung handed him. It was a big heavy book and Haechan touched its cover. 

And if she’s not my soulmate, I’d rather wander alone than touching someone else’s skin, I’d rather walk this earth with no hand to hold and lift me from the ground. And if I have to heal from it and accept the universe’s imposed call, I’d rather suffer from my eternally open wounds. I’ll fight the stars and let them burn me, I’ll let them laugh at my weakest state and I’d gladly make them erase my memory of ever existing in all of the infinite lives if I have to follow Fate.

Turning it over he read the words that appeared on the back after meeting you.

I’m walking through dark times But please come to me just once If I see you again, will I be able to hug you? With this body that’s frozen and about to break? Your eyes and your warm voice I long for it like crazy One day, give me your hand too, turn around and look at me Find me, just once I’ll wait so please come back*

Haechan let out a dry scoff and sighed, looking over the empty hills. 

“Losers.”

*”Who waits for love” by SHINee   

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

All your fault [Sirius Black x Reader] - Requested

Title: All your fault Pairing: Sirius Black x Gryffindor!Reader Word count: 1.9k Published: 16 February, 2021 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Summary: Sirius’ boredom causes you to end up in detention. Or so you think, but he has a different perspective on the events and you clearly can’t find the golden middle. Request: [x] I have combined two requests. One from Tumblr and one from Wattpad. I took the liberty to change some things, but overall it’s the same. 

“Hey Talented! Could you write a Sirius x Gryffindor!reader where the reader is jock with intense emotions and a chaser in Quidditch team? Also Is exceptionally talented at DADA and that make sirius jealous and turned-on too? please?” - @marauders-hogwarts​​ 

“Hey, I was just reading your marauders x reader one shots and I had an idea for one. Could you pls make one where Sirius gets into an argument with you and at the end grabs your hand to turn you around and abruptly smashes his lips against yours and asks you to be his girl. And the next day he comes up to you and tell you that ther is something wrong with your hand untill he picks it up and puts his own hand in yours and says that's better. Please? Thanks so much. I am a huge fan of your work.” - @Tamarakyra [Wattpad]

Harry Potter Characters Masterlist | Masterlists

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Sirius Black had never been one to question things. He was very stubborn much to his professors’ dismay. Doing what he wanted regardless of consequences has become his personal motto. Swaying him seemed impossible, he always knew what he wanted, how he wanted it and when he wanted it.

However, on a rainy dull Saturday afternoon as he was watching you up in the air, flying across the quidditch pitch on your broomstick, your hair flat against your face, your uniform drenched in water, your eyes covered with a pair of goggles, something has changed within him. For a mere moment he felt as if time had stopped as you screamed at James for not being able to catch the snitch and win against Ravenclaw. His eyes focused only on you, even forgetting about the ongoing match.

The way you sat on your broomstick leaning forward to speed up, the way you tucked the quaffle under your arm and secured it, the sheer amount of energy you projected and the bold tone you used against his best friend all hit him right in the chest, forcing him to fall back onto the bench of the bleachers. He didn’t know where his sudden feelings came from, but the unexpected warmness filling him up from the inside made him smile at the simple sight of you. From then on, he knew the friendship you had has become more on his side.

You sat right beside Sirius at Defence Against the Dark Arts, doodling on the parchment in front of you as he kept nudging you, trying to get your attention.

“What now?” you asked for the 10th time in the past 10 minutes. “Perhaps you could focus more on the lesson. You need it more than I do,” you hissed angrily, feeling fed up with his childish behaviour.

“I’m bored,” he whined in a silent whisper.

“I can see that,” you scoffed as you drew another random pattern on your paper. Closing out the lesson, you focused completely on your drawing, finding it more interesting than whatever your professor was talking about. That was until Sirius started nudging you again.

“What now?” you hissed in anger, slightly raising your voice, but you quickly silenced yourself as you looked around, every pair of eyes focusing on you, including your professor’s. “I’m so sorry,” you apologised, hunching your back, trying to hide away from embarrassment.

“Since you have already graced us with your attention, why don’t you answer the question?” he asked in a pompous tone, clearly trying to make you feel even more awkward. However, as the new teacher, he couldn’t have known about your exceptional knowledge and talent on the subject. It took you a good second to recall the memory from the darkest and deepest part of your mind, before you were ready to answer.

“The Tongue-tying curse prevents people from being able to form a coherent sentence, therefore stopping them from being able to incantate further spells. Although Langlock its sibling curse also prevents people from being able to speak, in this spell’s case the tongue sticks to the roof of the mouth, whilst when using Silencio it causes the victim to be temporarily muted,” you explained proudly. The professor didn’t compliment you, nor did he scold you. He offered you a deadpan expression and cleared his throat.

Sirius snickered beside you with a proud grin across his face, knowing the professor didn’t expect your reply. Years ago, he would have told you off for being a know it all, but now he found it comical. He didn’t know if it was because his feelings had changed or because it was you who did it, but in the end it didn’t matter. You could have done anything and he would have supported you like a loyal puppy. At times he couldn’t even believe how easily affected he was by you.

“Khm- smartass,” you heard a cough from the side as Evan Rosier was trying to cover his words in an obvious manner. You were not one to let others walk over you nor did you plan to be one in that moment. You felt anger bubbling up inside you, the boy’s mere presence irritating you.

“Let me show the spell in practice, professor,” you grinned proudly as he turned around with a shocked expression across his face, ready to stop you in mid-spell. However, he was slower than he wished to be and before he could have said anything, the word left your lips. “Silencio,” you lifted your hand and pointed your wand at the boy, watching as he grabbed his throat, desperately trying to speak, gaping like a fish, but no words leaving his mouth.

Sirius watched as the scenario unfolded in front of him. His initial surprise quickly disappeared as he saw a smirk appear across your face, pure pride taking over your stance. He always admired your can-do attitude and bold personality, possibly one of the reasons you have been such good friends. He wasn’t lacking any of those personality traits, but when he saw you standing up for yourself, being strong and independent, it just drove him crazy. It made him feel like there was an invisible string between the two of you, pulling him closer and closer to you.

Since he realised his own feelings for you, he was watching every little move of yours, trying to protect you from everything and anything that could possibly hurt you. But before he could ever intervene and show you how much he cared for you, you took care of it, proving once again how independent you were. He didn’t mind though, he loved the strength you harboured, he just wished to be able to show you that you could rely on him.

You watched as the professor rushed up to Rosier, pulling his wand out of the inner pocket of his robe and quickly using the counter spell on him, before rushing up to your table, his index finger pointing right between your eyes. “Detention! How dare you? Detention after classes!” he shouted at you, veins popping on the side of his neck and temple, his face turning red in anger. If he had time, he would have probably embarrassed you in front of the whole class, but as the bell rang, indicating the end of your class, he had no choice, but to let you go.

Quickly collecting your belongings, you hurried out of the classroom with Sirius right behind you, calling your name relentlessly as you were about to cross the Courtyard.

“What do you want?” you asked angrily as you halted. You didn’t want to sound rude, being around Sirius was the highlight of your day, but at that moment he was a pain in your backside.

“Woah, calm down,” he gestured with his hands, but if anything, it made you angrier.

“Calm down? Calm down? It was all your fault to begin with. If you didn’t nag me about being bored, I would have kept drawing and kept my mouth shut. But you just couldn’t find anything better to do so you decided to get on my nerves and now of course it’s me who has to go to detention,” you rambled, annoyed, trying to take deep breaths to calm yourself.

“Okay, I accept that I was nagging you, but I didn’t curse my classmate,” he scoffed with a hidden smile in the corner of his lips.

“It’s not funny! If you didn’t nag me, the professor wouldn’t have questioned me, which means Rosier would have never insulted me, hence the reason you are at fault,” you groaned as you turned around and started walking away.

“Hey, stop already,” he whined, but you didn’t halt your steps, if anything, you sped up. “I’m sorry,” he tried to break the ice, but it seemed to just fire you up even more. You turned on your heel, stopping right in front of the boy.

“Sorry? That’s it? You just have to say sorry and I’m supposed to forget about it?” you scoffed in disbelief. “You must be joking,” you looked up at him in clear astonishment, but after seemingly waiting for an eternity Sirius still didn’t reply.

He wanted to, he was about to defend himself, but as he watched you getting worked up about such a minor issue, at least minor for him, he could only think about how adorable you looked when you were upset. Not that he ever wanted to see you angry or sad, but for some reason it just caught his eyes that instead of being threatening, you seemed as if you were slightly pouting.

You groaned, annoyed as the silence grew between the two of you and a small smile started appearing on Sirius’ face. “I hate you!” you shouted at him as you left him behind, stomping across the Courtyard, heavy and loud steps following you.

“Do you?” he shouted after you, silently chuckling, finding your behaviour quite funny and somewhat cute.

“I do!” you replied sulking, your steps becoming quicker.

Sirius couldn’t just let you walk away, he jogged after you and grabbed your wrist, halting your steps, pulling you back against his chest. For a second even the air stuck in your lungs as you realised how close you were to him, his breath fanning your face, his pink lips almost touching yours. You were completely engulfed by his aura, his warm hold on your wrist sending shivers through your body as his other arm sneaked around your waist.

You could swear he felt your dangerously racing heart against his chest, your lips quivering in anticipation, wanting nothing but to feel his mouth on yours. As if he could read your mind, he leaned closer and closed the gap between the two of you, kissing you slowly, sensually. You expected him to be slightly aggressive, maybe dominating, but his kiss was more passionate, gentle instead, causing you a delightful surprise.

“Why?” you breathed against his lips as you parted, your eyes still closed, completely lost in the moment.

“Because I wanted to do it for a long time,” he whispered.

“Why would you?” you chuckled awkwardly. He was always your closest friend and now that you kissed, knowing the friendship you have had was gone, you didn’t know what to do.

“Do I really need to say it?” he scratched the back of his neck, pulling a face, feeling embarrassed about the words you waited for so impatiently.

“If you don’t say it out loud, how do you expect me to understand?” you questioned, and Sirius knew how right you were.

“I- khm,” he cleared his throat awkwardly. “I- I have liked you for a while,” his words were silent and unsure, making you question it.

“Are you sure?” you asked, making him feel even more awkward.

“Of course, I’m,” he groaned, slightly sulking. “It’s just not easy to say.”

“Is it easier if I say I like you too?” you giggled happily, watching as his embarrassed expression slowly changed into a proud grin.

“I knew it, I felt it,” he chuckled happily, earning a deadpan look from you as you slapped his chest gently, before your lips curved into a small smile.

“Right, you did,” you scoffed as you peeled his hands off you and started walking to your next class with a hidden smile in the corner of your lips.

“Wait, wait,” he called after you as he tried to catch up to you.

“What now?” you asked, rolling your eyes as Sirius joined beside you.

“There’s something wrong with your hand,” he stated with a deep frown. You looked down at your hand, lifting it up, looking at it curiously, turning it up and down, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“What do you mean? It seems alright to me,” you replied in confusion, but you couldn’t take a closer look at it as Sirius took it in his hand, interlocking your fingers.

“Now, it’s better,” he grinned playfully, making you giggle.

“Sirius Orion Black, you have a horrible sense of humour,” you scoffed, but you couldn’t fool him. He knew his little joke made you happy and even if it didn’t, the warm feeling of each other's touch, your small hands engulfed by his big palm made up for his silly joke.

Notes: If you enjoyed reading this little piece, please don’t forget to leave a like, comment and/or reblog. Your opinion matters and gives us motivation. Thank you ^^

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[vnderoos]

in your place ✷ draco malfoy

(gif is not mine, credit to the owner) warnings / language, steamy scene, slight choking(?) word count / 3.1k

masterlist in bio ↴

Y/N'S HEAD SLUMPED further into her hand, her cheek smushing against it, as Snape rambled on, in his usual monotone manner, about the highly poisonous nature of the Weedosoros potion. She was far from a model student, seeing as Granger had raised most of the professors' expectations impossibly higher, but she was usually more alert, especially in Potions. She felt bad at first, when she'd started to doze off in the middle of class, but when she'd reminded herself of how badly she'd slept the night before and how nice it felt to close her eyes for a few seconds, her guilt ebbed away. It disappeared altogether when she slipped out of consciousness completely, falling asleep against her hand. In her unconscious state, she began to slide forward slowly, until she let out a loud snore and her head smacked against the desk.

The impact was enough to wake her up in an instant and she gasped instinctively, her eyes shooting open. A stinging feeling spread across her forehead and there was a string of saliva that connected her mouth to her hand when she sat up. "Had a nice nap, did you, Y/L/N?" someone asked in a mocking tone and everyone erupted into laughter. Her eyes flickered over to Draco Malfoy, who was laughing along with everyone else at his own joke, puckering his lips, and brushing his thumb quickly over the corner of his mouth.

Following his movements, she touched her fingers to her face, as all of the giggling seemed to intensify, and her eyes widened when her fingertips came in contact with her own drool. She was quick to wipe it away with the sleeve of her robe. "Oh, screw off, Malfoy," she grumbled and folded her arms over the top of her desk, looking down in embarrassment as the snickers continued.

Thankfully, the commotion was short lived after that and Professor Snap came to her rescue—unintentionally, of course. The man, with his dark and flowing robes swishing with movement, lifted his arms up and slammed a book down onto his desk. "That's enough," he all-but-yelled and it was almost frightening how easily he could calm down a room. The laughter ceased without another word and her peers tore their eyes off of her, so they could turn back around in their seats. When Snape was satisfied with the atmosphere again, his dark eyes flickered over to Y/N. She swallowed thickly under his gaze. "Miss Y/L/N," he started and she tried to drown out her nervous heartbeat. "Fifteen points from Slytherin. I suggest you keep yourself awake unless you want to make it thirty," he enunciated.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, professor." She nodded once and she managed a sheepish smile, grateful that he'd chosen to deduct points instead of embarrassing her with a question about Weedosoros that she definitely wouldn't have known the answer to. Snape only scowled at her in return, before resuming his lecture about the poison, going on to explain how it's effects weren't entirely unlike that of the Drink of Despair.

When Snape had immersed himself back into his teaching and Y/N's incident seemed miles behind them, she glanced over at Tracey Davis—her closest friend since their first year, and fortunately, her potions partner for the semester. "Can you believe he did that?" she asked in a quiet voice, a look of disbelief forming on her face, and the brunette turned towards her.

"Well," Tracey countered, spinning her quill in her fingertips. A little blob of ink splattered onto her parchment and she grimaced, deciding to set it back in her ink pot before she could do any further damage. "You did fall asleep during his lecture," she said, looking at Y/N with her striking blue eyes.

Y/N shook her head. "No, not Snape," she said, her eyes flickering past Tracey's shoulder to glare daggers at Draco. He was leaning into his hand on his desk with his eyes fixated on the front of the room. She would rather suffer the Cruciatus curse than admit it, but when he wasn't running his mouth, he was kinda handsome. It was the fact that he made everyone miserable that made him so horribly unattractive to her. "That twit—Malfoy," she practically growled his name, considering how throaty it sounded when it rumbled up her throat. She must've spoken a bit too loud as his head whipped towards her. His eyes narrowed as soon as they met hers and her lip curled up at him. She flashed him a subtle middle finger and he pinched his face up in disgust, rolling his eyes at her and turning back around. "What a smug bastard," she muttered.

Tracey let out a quiet laugh from beside her, having watched the exchange. "Merlin, you are grumpy this morning," she teased, sending her a lighthearted look from the side.

"Grumpy?" Y/N furrowed her eyebrows at that. "I'm not grumpy," she protested, nodding in Draco's direction. "He's just bloody annoying. I'm going to get back at him for embarrassing me like that," she promised.

"Really? And how are you going to do that?" Tracey asked. "Wait for him to fall asleep, and then, hope he's the one drooling?" she said playfully and Y/N rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she sputtered out in a quiet laugh and she leaned back in her chair. The gears were already turning in her head as her back hit the wooden chair. "In the courtyard later. You'll see."

—

Draco walked beneath the arches of the castle and into the courtyard, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him as he did. He didn't miss the way a group of older Slytherin boys watched him walk by, before snickering amongst themselves when he passed. He received a few odd looks from the other house members, too. Even the Hufflepuffs were shooting him sideways glances as he made his way to his favorite spot in the courtyard.

Confusion bubbled up inside of him as two girls, dressed in yellow and black robes, walked by him, hiding their faces as they giggled. His eyebrows furrowed and he spared them a glance over his shoulder as they left. He couldn't remember doing anything worthy of talk that day, as all he'd done was sit through his classes and eat, so he turned his attention to the two boys at his sides. "Have I gone mad or does something seem off with everyone today?" he questioned, nodding in the direction of the girls that he'd just seen.

Crabbe and Goyle were about to respond with a shrug of their shoulders, but before they could offer their useless input, someone in the courtyard let out a loud wail. All three of them turned, heads spinning to find the source, and somehow, Draco wasn't surprised to see Y/N Y/L/N standing on top of one of the stone benches. She had the back of her hand draped against her forehead, her face twisted in mock despair, and she jumped off of the bench. "Oh, it's killed me," she whined, throwing her head back and pretending to clutch one of her arms in pain, and the whole thing seemed all too familiar to him. "It's killed me," she continued, and the crowd of students that had gathered around her started to laugh.

Draco could feel the anger bubble up inside of him as Crabbe pointed his finger. He swatted the heavyset boy's finger out of his vision. "I see it," he snapped, narrowing his eyes at the girl as she continued to act out an incident from his third year, when Hagrid's hippogriff attacked him. "I'll take care of this," he sneered and he started towards the girl with purpose in his stride.

Before Y/N noticed the blonde making his way over to her, she let herself fall backwards onto Tracey Davis, who giggled as she held her up. "You're gonna regret this," she cried in a high-pitched voice, "you and your bloody chicken," she finished and she pushed herself off of the girl. She, Tracey, and the rest of the students around them were laughing at her reenactment. "I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I—" she cut herself off when she turned her head and her eyes fell on none other than the subject of all of her joking.

His face was screwed up in annoyance as he walked up to the group, and though the laughter died in his presence, Y/N let her crooked smile stay sitting on her lips. "Think it's funny, Y/L/N?" he hissed, his eyes snapping up and down the length of her body, and she scoffed.

"Oh, extremely, Malfoy," she hummed, taking a challenging step towards him. "Not as funny when Mad-Eye turned you into a ferret, though," she added with a tilt of her head and a couple Ravenclaws laughed from behind her.

Draco's eyes flitted behind her, shooting off a menacing glare at them, and the laughter stopped. He looked back at Y/N, his face harboring the same dirty expression. "Yeah?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows, as if he was baiting her, and she nodded. "We'll see how you get on as a ferret, then," he snapped and his hand disappeared into his robe, fishing for his wand.

Unfortunately for him, Y/N was quicker.

She watched as his hand plunged into the pocket inside of his cloak and she, always ready for confrontation, slid her wand out through the end of her sleeve. It slotted itself into her fingertips like it'd been buttered, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent a blue flash flying in his direction. Her Knockback Jinx hit him directly in the shoulder just as soon as he'd pulled his own wand out and he was sent flying a few feet backwards into a patch of grass. His wand clattered out of his grasp upon the impact and he clambered to his feet.

As Y/N made her way over to him, she watched as his eyes darted in the direction of wherever his wand had flown. He looked almost bewildered for a moment, but he was quick to replace it with the scowl he'd near-perfected. She countered his look with a cold expression and he stepped closer to her, meeting her halfway. "You're gonna be sorry, you git," he practically snarled. She cursed the way hat her heart stuttered when her eyes locked with his, but she didn't let it faze her, looking up at him through dead eyes as he stared down at her.

"Doubtful, honey." She let herself scoff at his words, her eyes scanning the length of his body. "You might be the 'Slytherin Prince', but I'm the fucking queen," she growled, pressing the tip of her wand to the center of his chest and sliding it up to his chin. She let a small smirk tug at her lips as she tilted his head up, watching his jaw clench as he squinted down at her. "Bow down, bitch," she uttered in triumph, glowing with pride as someone whistled behind her.

Of course, Y/N hadn't planned on hexing him further, as she knew the severity of the consequences she'd face if she did, but before she could embarrass Draco anymore, Professor McGonagall cut everything short. "What in Merlin's name is going on here, you two?" she questioned, her voice dripping with distraught as she trotted right up to the group, Draco's wand clutched in her grasp. The students around them, including Tracey, scattered and Y/N sucked in a breath. She brought her wand away from Draco's chin slowly. "Explain yourselves," she said, her eyes landing on Y/N's wand, and she held out her hand.

Y/N frowned and placed it in McGonagall's palm. "Professor, I was just defending myself, he tried to hex me," she started, pointing at the blonde beside her and then herself.

Draco, on the other hand, looked at Y/N with his eyes brown wide. "You attacked me," he hissed.

"I attacked you? You were taking your wand out of your robe, was I to sit there and let you—"

"I was not, I was simply—"

"Enough!" McGonagall shouted and Y/N's shoulders shook at the sudden noise. She shot Malfoy a glare, before she turned to look at the woman once more. "I don't care who started it. Fifty points from Slytherin and detention, for both of you. Effective immediately," she said. She slipped both of their wands into the sleeve of her emerald gown and she reached outwards, grabbing one of each of their ears and dragging them to meet their fate.

—

After McGonagall had hauled them off to the greenhouses and abandoned them with Professor Sprout—a stout, old woman with a surprisingly fitting name, they were left rubbing their ears and told to scrub out the clay pots. Without magic. Supposedly, Professor Sprout was planning on using them to let the first years grow something, but Y/N didn't know why flower pots needed scrubbing, anyways.

You were supposed to fill them with dirt, for Merlin's sake.

As she violently scrubbed the bottom of a pot, she cursed McGonagall for catching them at just the right moment and Draco, too, for getting them into that mess in the first place. If he hadn't reached for his wand like the gigantic arse that he was, she never would've needed to hit him with that jinx, no matter how badly she wanted to. Now, they were stuck in the hot, sticky air of the greenhouse, wandless, and scrubbing pots until their hands their hands were raw.

Draco let out a huff of annoyance from beside her, grumbling angry nothings to himself as he furiously scraped the inside of a pot. Y/N looked up from her own work to shoot him a dirty glare. "Quit being a shit," she spat at him and he stopped all he was doing. He dropped his sponge in the pot and turned to look at her, gripping the rim of the large bowl with both of his hands. "It's your fault we're here, so suck. It. Up," she added, continuing to scrub her own pot because she was determined to prove her superiority over him, even in the subtlest regards.

"My fault?" He asked, leaning forward on his elbows, so that he was bracing himself against the thick pot. "If it weren't for you thinking you were a bloody show-woman—" he began to snap, but he laughed bitterly to himself. Draco lifted one of his hands from the pot and wagged his finger at her. "You know? I'm gonna make you wish you never did that," he threatened lowly, and her eyebrows quirked up.

"You gonna go run and tell daddy later, then, Malfoy? Is that what's gonna happen?" she questioned, watching as his arrogance seemed to melt at her belittlements. She didn't even feel bad about it, considering how much shit he gave everyone on a daily basis. Someone needed to knock him down a peg or two, before his ego grew to be the size of the castle. "And what's he gonna do?" she continued to tease, but her voice had grown lower—softer. She dropped her sponge into her pot and stepped away from it, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a couple of steps towards the platinum blonde. "Spank me?" she taunted, puffing out her lip as if she was actually worried.

Y/N felt a certain satisfaction as he clenched his jaw, grinning to herself as she watched it pulse. "Oh, piss off," he growled, spinning away from the pot to face her. Their noses were only inches apart at that point and she could feel his labored breaths fanning over her skin. His eyes, swimming with anger, were locked with her own and his jaw was set. She had gotten under his skin and she loved it.

There were, of course, some things about Draco that she couldn't help but notice in such close proximity, such as the dark blue flecks in his icy eyes or the soft creases in his forehead that came from glaring so often. He was nothing short of handsome and this only proved it. "Make me," she whispered darkly, her words weighed down with her undeniable attraction, and she didn't miss the way that his eyes flickered to her lips.

Hardly a second passed by before she was pulled in by the back of her neck. Draco's other hand snaked around her waist as he crashed his lips onto hers. She'd almost stumbled into him, steadying herself with her hands pressed against his chest as she kissed him back. To say that this came as a surprise would've been lying, taking the tension that had been building between them into account, and for that reason, she let him walk her back towards a stone pillar in the greenhouse. He pinned her up against it forcefully, the wind in her lungs exiting against his lips along with a small whine, and he smirked against her mouth. He moved the hand that rested on her waist, pressing the palm of it next to her head as he slanted his lips against hers, and the hand that held the back of her neck slipped forward, pressing ever so lightly around her throat to hold her in place.

Y/N made another quiet noise, feeling his long fingers start to apply a little more pressure, and she scrunched her fingers up in the fabric of his sweater vest. Not too roughly, though, because she didn't want to ruin the cashmere, of course, but just enough to rub her fingertips against his chest. His mouth began to stray from her own, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth and peppering them along her jawline. She swallowed thickly, tilting her head as much as she could for him with his hand around her throat, and she bit her lip when he nipped at her earlobe.

"This changes nothing," he muttered against the shell of her ear and he pulled back so his eyes could meet her own, taking his hand off of her neck and pressing it on the wall on the other side of her head.

She smirked up at him and lifted her her hands, draping them over his shoulders. "Of course not," she hummed, her tongue darting out between her puffy lips, "you're still a prat, aren't you?" she teased.

Draco didn't laugh, though. Instead, his eyes, cloudy with lust, stole a glance at her collarbone, and his upper twitched. "Do I need to put you in your place, Y/L/N?" he rasped, leaning forwards slightly.

With her eyes never straying from his own, she winked. "I'd like to see you try, Malfoy."

↴

author's note / sorry to everyone on the taglist! i know i posted this before but it got shadowbanned so i had to figure out why it wasn't showing up in the tags and repost it! thanks for bearing with me x

[ijustwant2write]

What’s Wrong With Being Confident?-Fred Weasley x Reader

(GIF credit to @hermoinejeans​)

Tags: @wand3ringr0s3​​ @amirahiddleston​ @bloodorangemoonlight​ 

Requested by anonymous: ‘Fred Weasley x Chubby!Reader?? 🥺💖😭’

Characters: Fred Weasley x Reader

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Negative talk about weight/shape/bodies, insecurities, bullying, swearing, fluff, body positivity

(A/N: Chloe is a made up character)

                                         *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Found your dress for the Yule Ball yet?” my friend asked as we made our way to the Great Hall for dinner.

“Yes! My mum got it delivered to me. I’ll try it on later and show you, it’s actually stunning!” I beamed.

“Yay! Shall we try out hairstyles too?”

“Oh yes! That’s such a good idea!”

We sat on the benches, starting to talk to our other friends about the same topic. We were all giddy about it, I had been the only one asked out so far, but that’s because it was inevitable that I was going to go with my boyfriend. It was still early, we had a while before the ball was here, the girls had time (even though they were stressing). We started other conversations as we ate, but soon came back to the topic of dates for the Yule Ball.

“(Y/N), you’re so lucky that you have Fred.”

“Yeah, I am.” I blushed.“He’s been secretly cute about the whole thing. He’s even going to try and get a bow tie the same colour as my dress!”

“A dress that you won’t be able to fit into.” someone mumbled loud enough behind me.

I rolled my eyes, turning around to see who it was. Oh, of course it was Chloe. A fellow student in the same year as me, a Ravenclaw, who tormented me since our first class together. She was very offended by my appearance, always wanting to make a comment. Like any other teenager, I used to be very conscious about how I looked, and that I was slightly...bigger than the other girls. But when I realised that how I looked didn’t effect finding friends or doing well in school, I forgot about it. I liked how I looked, my friends always hyped me up, and I had a gorgeous, caring (if not cheeky) boyfriend; Fred had admitted that my confidence was very attractive to him. And that pissed off Chloe to no end, especially after she had pined after him for so long. 

“As usual Chloe, if have something to say about me, say it to my face.”

She flipped her hair as she faced me, her upper lip curled up.“I’m just stating the truth.”

“No, you’re being a bully for no reason.”

“A bully? What are we, five?”

“Your mentality would say so, yes.”

She scoffed.“Stop living in your fantasy world (Y/N). I saw you open that dress when it got delivered, you’re delusional if you think that would fit you.”

“Funnily enough Chloe, it was made to measure.”

“Might want to measure again, especially if you keep eating like that everyday.”

I glanced at my plate. It really didn’t have that much on it.“What do you gain from this? I’m sorry if this somehow makes you feel better about yourself.”

“What? Don’t be sorry! I...I do it because...because-”

“That’s what I thought, have a nice dinner Chloe.”

Swiveling back round, my friends stifled their giggles. They had always stood up for me, but also knew that I was able to fight my own battles. It didn’t hurt so much anymore, it was more annoying. I just knew every time someone had something nice to say to me, or even if I looked like I had a stride in my step, Chloe would somehow appear and try to bring me down. Wasn’t it exhausting being mean to people day in and out? Just let people be and get on with your life. 

“Heard you talking about a certain dress?” Fred suddenly said behind me as I left the Great Hall after dinner.

I jumped, giggling as he grabbed my hand to walk with me.“Eavesdropping on me now?”

“Nah, you’ve all got big gobs.”

I gasped, but laughed along with him.

“When can I see it?”

“On the day of the ball.”

He whined.“Why?”

“Because I want it to be a surprise.”

“But you’ll still look just as beautiful in it on the day, so you could still show me!”

“Fred Weasley, you may be a smooth talker and an outrageous flirt, but it won’t work on me.”

“Oh really?” he smirked, pulling me into him by my robes, before hiding us behind a column from anyone who could walk by. Luckily, the corridors were empty this way, everyone was headed in opposite directions.

Giggling together, he pushed his body close to mine, leaning down to kiss me. His hands slipped under my robe and around my waist, my hands cupping his face. Although we were in a lot of classes together, and we studied together as much as possible, we hadn’t had a lot of quality time together. If a professor saw, of course we would get a slight telling off, but we didn’t care in that moment. Nothing could interrupt the passion...until she came along again.

Chloe scoffed.“We get it, he’s not made up.”

We broke apart, both of our faces showing frustration. Fred whispered to me,“Don’t retaliate, just ignore her.”

He kissed me again, but if didn’t seem that she was leaving. Two of her friends had began walking away, obviously feeling awkward that we were continuing with our make-out. Gently pushing Fred away, I checked over his shoulder, sensing that she was still there.

“You get off on this sort of thing?” I snapped. 

“(Y/N)...” Fred tried to stop a fight breaking out.

“Just think it’s funny that you show off all this PDA to ensure everyone knows about your boyfriend.” Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Come on Chlo, let’s just leave them.” a friend of hers tried to convince her.

“Maybe we’re doing this because we love each other? That’s what couples do, Chloe, not that I’d expect you to understand.”

Fred sighed.“OK (Y/N), let’s not-”

“No, don’t tell me to stop! She’s been doing this to me since we started at Hogwarts, I’m allowed to jab back at her!”

“Alright!” he defended himself.

“Chloe, I don’t want to deal with you right now. I’m trying to spend time with Fred.”

She was furious, nostrils flaring, eyebrows furrowed together, lips slightly parted as she thought of her next quip. Nothing came out, and her friends called her one last time, tugging on her sleeve to get her to move. Chloe snatched away her arm, storming away, her friends scurrying after. 

“I’m sorry.” I said to Fred.“I just...I ignore her all the time, you know that. She’s so weird!”

“I know.” he pecked me on the lips.“But you’ve always been able to brush it off, what happened then?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because we’re coming to our last years and it’s never stopped. It doesn’t upset me, but it’s almost like she’s nagging now. Like, just move on with your life, we probably won’t ever see each other again once we finish school.”

“Well, just focus on that then. You stand above it, like you always do, keep doing amazing in classes, and we’ll be out of here in no time.”

I grinned, squeezing his hands.“And we’ll do all the things we said we’d do when we leave?” 

He chuckled.“Of course.”

It was the night of the ball, and so much had happened since my confrontation with Chloe. The first task had passed (whoever thought about sending school children into the fiery trap of a dragon, whilst trying to retrieve a dragon egg was a psycho), meaning everyone was now focused on the Yule Ball, and not their friends potentially dying. 

In our dorms, us girls all got ready together, constantly laughing and asking each other for opinions on hair, makeup and jewellery. Everyone ‘awed’ at each other once we were all dressed and ready, heading to the ball to meet our dates. As we laughed over hoe the boys had looked at the dance rehearsal, we realised we were almost there. I suddenly became nervous. Fred had never seen me dressed up like this. I loved how I looked, but I hoped that it wasn’t too much, like I had tried too hard, or that I didn’t look like myself.

There he was, stood in his suit, a stupid grin on his face. I smiled widely, heart melting at how handsome he looked. George tapped him on the shoulder, making him turn around to properly face me, where his mouth dropped open. I ducked my head in embarrassment, becoming all shy until I realised he was making his way towards me. His mouth stayed open as he slowly walked around me.

“Fred!” I nervously laughed.

“You look...you look stunning (Y/N). I...I don’t know what else to say, you look amazing!” he seemed genuinely shocked. 

“Thank you babe. You look so handsome, you should wear suits more often!” I exclaimed.

“I will not stop complimenting you all night.”

“You’re going to make me blush, I’ll look like a tomato.”

“A cute tomato. Come on, let’s show this lot how this stupid dance is done.”

As suspected, I had a phenomenal time at the ball. Fred kept on waltzing around with me, twirling me at any possible moment, and I was able to dance with my friends (and by dance, I mean jump up and down to the music whilst screaming the words). I received compliments from my boyfriend, friends and classmates, of course, giving them back. It was a great way to let off some steam, to escape school life for a night. Until I spotted Chloe sitting by herself.

I sighed to myself, wondering whether to approach her. A cruel part of me enjoyed seeing her like that, perhaps she was being put in her place. However, I knew I shouldn’t be thinking like that, it would only make me sink down to her level. Excusing myself from the group, I could feel them watching as I walked towards her. Chloe glanced up at me, angling her body away from me as she realised what was about to happen.

“Having your chance of jabbing me again?” she huffed as I stopped in front of her. 

I shook my head.“No, I had my moment before. I was just...I was just wondering what you’re doing over here by yourself.”

“Like you care. You’re just going to get the gossip and make fun of me to everyone else.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.“Not nice, is it?”

She rolled her eyes.“No, I guess not.”

“So...what happened?”

“I have a date. But he’s too busy head banging with his friends. Before that, he was still with them talking non-stop about their next quidditch match. I had one dance with him. That’s it.”

“What about your friends?”

“They’re with their dates. I felt like I was third wheeling without my date being there.”

“Well,” I glanced back to my friends,“I know we’ve never seen eye to eye, but do you want to hang with us?”

“Is this a prank that you and Fred came up with?”

“No. I’m just being nice. i don’t know why.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“I just....I just want us to stop this. I want you to stop commenting on my appearance or what I’m doing. One, it’s a form of bullying, and two, it’s just annoying at this point.”

“Hey, (Y/N), you OK?” Fred asked as he stood beside me.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I smiled at him.“I was just about to ask Chloe here why she’s tormented me all these years.”

“You know why.” she huffed.

“I’ve only been dating Fred for the last two years. It can’t just be that because you’ve been like this since our first year.”

“I was a bitch, alright? I am a bitch, I know. I dunno, you were an easy target, and then when you became confident, it pissed me off. Everyone still liked you despite how you looked. Then you got a boyfriend before I did and I found it embarrassing.”

Fred walked away, and I found that confusing, but didn’t question it; I was too busy with Chloe.“I think you’ve wasted all these years putting too much energy into being negative and mean. I’m happy how I am. It’s great being this confident. I have a group of amazing friends, the best boyfriend in the whole world and I’m doing good at school. The fact that I love myself is an added bonus, because we shouldn’t be so focused on how we look. Wow, that felt good to say.”

And just like that, Fred was back, along with Chloe’s date.“What have you got to say mate?”

He nudged him forward.“I’m sorry that I left you Chloe. You want to dance?”

A small smile appeared on her face (couldn’t say the same for her date). She took his hand and they quickly left, leaving Fred and I alone again.

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t want her hanging with us.” Fred explained.

“That’s OK. I said what I wanted to say.”

He slipped an arm round my waist, kissing me on the forehead.“So? Did she apologise?”

“Of course not. But I let her know that I was extremely happy with my life and she couldn’t do anything to bring me down.”

“That’s my girl. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“Let’s go dance again. I want to see you spinning around in that dress all through the night.”

[herstroywritten]

Darn Pigtails

Hello! I genuinely have no excuse for this monstrosity of a piece that I agonized over for the past few days instead of focusing on my uni work. I’ve spent the last month obsessing over Fate and Rivusa (the latter has been a life long obsession and Fate has only added fuel to the fire, with just one scene...). Yes, I am a part of that clown circus and honestly, I’m proud. I’ve always been a writer, but never posted anything but I figure here goes nothing. I was very inspired by some very talented writers in this tiny little club that’s been created on here for this ship (you all know them by now...). I couldn’t resist adding my own (not so) little addition to the collection. I don’t currently have an account on ao3 or anything, so this is just what’s happening. Be warned, it’s long and maybe excessive (8k words, oops). Other than that, enjoy and feel free to let me know your thoughts!

It started with pigtails.

He'd seen Dowling parading her around the square as students fought tooth and nail to kill the fake dummies that seemed to embody their realistic counterparts more than they should have. She's had a raincoat on at the time, not that he would have cared what she was wearing because… how could he notice anything but the pigtails? Fucking pigtails! Long enough to reach her waist, dark enough to have him thinking that the darkest of night skies must have been modeled after that same color, and pin-straight from root to tip. She walked by, lavender sweater and loose jeans, and that's the first thing he noticed. Her pigtails. He felt his tongue move, the tip pressed against the top of his mouth, ready to make a crude comment about how he'd love to tug on those pigtails in more than one scenario because honestly, was he not supposed to with the way that they swung about perfectly matching the sway of her hips? His eyes lit up as he just about let the words tumble out, and then she let her eyes lift to meet his as she made her way through the specialists' training grounds. Brown eyes lingered over his green ones for longer than any normal interaction accounts for, before dropping downward to the rest of his form. His mouth quirked into a smirk.

 "Oh," he thought. "So this is how we're going to play this game."

 Never let it be said that Riven ever backed down from a game or a challenge. And it just so happened that this particular game, the cat and mouse chase, was one of his favorites. So he figured, if she could stare at him like that, it would only be rude not to return the favor. He turned around, let his eyes fully graze over her whole figure the way he'd been too distracted to do before, and that's when he noted the stick she held. Whatever dumb comment he'd been so eager to make about her pigtails was quickly replaced by, "You like holding that big stick?"

 He'd hoped for a reaction. And boy did he get one, a swift and lithe little trick she'd been hiding, seemingly waiting for the chance to pull it out. And even though he'd been training his whole life to defend himself, he just about let her jab his left eye out because he was so very much intrigued by the way her hair swayed to meet her movements and her brown eyes that bore into him with rage. Yeah, this was going to be all kinds of fun.

 "I think I just threw up," she said, her face twisting into clear disdain. But her eyes sparkled and he thought maybe her hair is not the only thing the night sky was modeled after. He'd seen her before, somewhere in the background perhaps. Class? No. If she were a specialist and in his classes, there was no way in hell he wouldn't remember her. The cafeteria? Probably, there was only one place to get food in this godforsaken place and he doubted she hadn't made her way down there at least once. The Alfea hallways? Again, not unlikely. And that's when it clicked into place. She was one of the too many to remember (in his opinion) roommates of Sky's new obsession- Bloom. The four, sometimes five, of them were always together, huddled up beside one another in the cafeteria benches or on the way to classes. Honestly, now that he thought about it, was there ever a time when he'd seen those girls- besides Stella- alone? He definitely had never seen her alone. "Well, better take advantage of the chance," he thought. So, he dug into her, asked about her little run around the training grounds with the headmistress. He wanted to see how far he could push her rage, how willing she was to give him a good show. Between comments about dancing and fairies versus specialists, her eyes flashed purple and he soon realized that he'd bit off more than he could chew. As if her natural brown irises weren't alluring enough, the way they looked when he powers took over held a whole other sense of siren's lure within them. It took him a second to realize what was happening, that she was reading him. And he would have let her continue too, if it meant that he could hold her attention just a little while longer and feel whatever kind of electricity was rippling between the two of them for a few more minutes. Too bad she chose that moment to let him know exactly what she was doing, and exactly how he felt.

 "You really hate being here, don't you?"

 In this school, yes. Here, right now, with her eyes all over him and his hands twitching to edge upwards and brush his hands against those darn pigtails? No. No, he would have loved to stay right here just a little longer. But he was more scared of whatever hell she'd dig up from within him, so instead he told her to stay the fuck out of his head. He caught a glimpse of her prideful smirk, taunting him about this lost battle and her evident win, right before he whirled around and walked his way back to wherever his legs would lead him.

 Passing by the guy he'd seen constantly following her around like a lost puppy dog, the one he assumed was her boyfriend, he murmured under his breath something along the lines of "Good luck with that one."

 And then he was gone. But not before he remembered that he hadn't caught her name. No matter. As previously mentioned, never let it be said that Riven ever backed down from a challenge. She'd won this battle, but he was going to win the war.

_______________________________________________________________

The next time he found himself in her company only, the world had flipped on its axis.

Dowling and Silva were gone and Harvey had turned into a muted professor, almost never seen anywhere except in the greenhouse when he had classes to run. The new headmistress, Rosalind, ruled with a grip tougher than steel. Andreas was  the male version of her, so not any better. Fairies were being forced into combat positions, whether they liked it or not, and upperclassmen specialists were forced into being their mentors, whether they liked it or not. Classes were stricter. You miss one lesson, you make up two class times in personal training with either Andreas or Rosalind herself. At first, everyone'd thought that was a stupid rule. Who doesn’t want a one-on-one with the professors? It took just one dumb third-year specialist missing his first lesson on the first day of the second term for everyone to realize that these training sessions were practically abuse covered with a prettier name.

But the thing that had changed the most, the thing that he couldn't even begin to name, was whatever the hell was happening to his mind. He no longer knew where his day started and where it ended. He knew he must have gotten up every morning and  gone to classes and eaten to sustain his body for the brutal training session that followed and delt with whatever else needed dealing with. And yet, he remembered none of it. None of it except the moments spent chasing Sky around (which inevitably meant chasing the Winx suite around), the moments spent training his new fairy mentee- Musa, and the nightly runs to Dowling's- no, Rosalind's- office where he involuntarily spilled every little detail about his day. His mind had become an utter blur, his thoughts were no longer his own. He knew somewhere in his mind that he needed to stop, had tried endlessly to stop, but the more he held back from Rosalind's spell, the faster his words seem to come out. So, he'd stopped trying to fight it.

It was to his horror when he had been assigned Musa for training. He wasn't sure what he had expected. Of course they were going to pair him with a Winx suitemate, he just had expected it to be Bloom. Bloom was who they wanted details on after all. Even Stella would have made more sense, what with her mother being so very controlling. But no. Bloom went to Sky, Stella to some third year specialist, and he got Musa. If guilt wasn't already shredding him to pieces, it would be now.

He tried to console himself with the fact that he was better prepared to handle her this time. He'd spent enough time with Sky and the girls to have picked up the little details about her. She constantly listened to music to block out the world, she liked wearing shorts and miniskirts (a fact he quite enjoyed), she had an unhealthy obsession with bomber jackets (a fact he could do without when she was also wearing lacy silks under those same jackets), she liked pancakes for breakfast (but only when they were drenched with maple syrup), and the list goes on. His personal favorite fact, however, was that her hair was always immaculate and never the same two days in a row.

The point was, he could do this. All he had to do was train her. No talking necessary. She sure as hell was not about to strike up conversation with him if he didn't bother her. So, he'd keep his mouth shut and just teach her what he needed to teach her. Then he'd leave. That way, when his legs would inevitably carry him to Rosalind at midnight on the dot, he'd have nothing to give her but a good rundown of what moves they had practiced.

How wrong he had been.

He had clearly overestimated his ability to not falter in front of her, because the second she walked into the mat, he knew he'd have to say something.

This time, her hair was in tightly wound braids. Two of them, wrapping vertically down her scalp like fine rope. This time, he wants to undo her hair, to tug the black elastic ties out of place and run his fingers through each threaded piece until the strands lay about her shoulders in waves. He'd like to know what she looks like with her hair down, like fully down.

As if the hair wasn’t enough, she was also dressed in the tight female version of the specialist gear. It's all green woven material that crosses her chest, black mesh that lines her sides, and tight leggings that bring an ungodly amount of attention to her ass.

So, he slips up. "If I knew this is what you'd look like in a uniform-" he starts, but never finishes.

"Don't you dare finish that thought," she warns, voice dripping with a no-nonsense attitude.

"What's gotten into you?"

"It has not been my day. Hell, it has not been my week."

"It hasn't been anyone's week," he feels the need to remind her. And when she looks at him with those eyes, he wonders if she can read right through him without having to use her magic.

"Yeah, well. Let's just say I'm having a particularly more-so-than-average-shit day. So I'd appreciate it if you kept the comments to yourself." She's frustrated, he can see it. She's giving him the perfect out of a bad situation. She's begging him not to talk to her and that's exactly what he needs but goddamn it, he can't back away from a challenge even when his mind is in literal hell.

"What, can't handle me?" She scoffs at that.

"I can handle you just fine. I've been handling other's comments and thoughts since my powers started showing up. That's not the problem.

"What is the problem then?" He's digging, searching for something. For what, he's not sure. She's just finished lacing up her boots. She looks at him then, stares him down.

"The problem is I don’t want to handle you right now, Riven." And with that, she shoves past him to the center of the mat. But he's not done yet.

"You sure about that? I've never met a girl who doesn’t want to handle me before…" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she chuckles a little at his antics.

"Yeah, no. But even if I did want to, you'd really have to do better than that.

"What, the line wasn't up to your standards?"

"Was it up to yours?"

"Not my best, I'll admit. But I make do. And you can't tell me Harvey Jr. has done any better." Rage flushes through her features at that particular comment. He watches as her cheeks flush bright red and as the flush slowly spreads to her neck and below the rounded collar of her uniform, slowly cursing whoever created the damn thing for not making it a V-neck. 

"Ooh, a reaction! Go on, then. Tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours."

"None of your fucking business."

"It never is, and yet I'd love to know."

"Seriously, Riven. Let's just not talk." She wound up, ready to burst. Her hands are balled into fists by her side and her back is arched towards him in anger. She's a spring ready to jump, and he wants to see how high she can reach.

He goes for the typical line, "Trouble in paradise, then?"

Turns out she can jump pretty damn high, something he expected. What he didn't expect was for her to jump him. She pushes him with so much force that he barely catches himself before he falls. Tears stream down her face as she punches at his chest (hopelessly, he notes… he's got a lot to teach her). He lets her continue the onslaught on his chest, is impressed by her force and strength and persistence even if the form is all wrong. When she finally stops, the tears do too. All that's left are her hiccups and his eyes following her every movement. He watches her dry her eyes vigorously, hears her curse him and the school and herself… and Sam? He's not sure what's happening right now, not sure why his arms suddenly want to wind around her frame and pull her in, or why his heart clenches at the sight of her tears. He chooses to ignore it all.

They continue the rest of the training session in silence, with him only speaking to direct her movements and point out a thing or two about her form. Later that night, after running through his nightly routine with Rosalind, he finds out from Sky that Bloom was especially distressed today because Musa was especially distressed today because Musa and Sam had decided to call it quits. Riven feels light-headed at that news,  and he's still not exactly sure why his body is so adamant about reacting to news involving her.

He rolls into bed, thinking bitterly to himself that he won today. He won this battle. So why does it feel like he lost it?

______________________________________________________________

They continue their training sessions in silence for a while, until eventually a banter sparks between the two of them. He's not quite sure how it happens, just as he's not quite sure how anything happens anymore. He assumes he probably made some joke about how good her legs looked in those damn tights or about how she desperately needed help with her fighting stance. Maybe he just wore her down with his constant questions. He doesn't really care, to be honest. He knows he should care, in the same way that he knows he should actually avoid talking to her instead of showing up every day eager to see her. He just can’t bring himself to do it, not when she shows up in that uniform every day or when she looks at him with so much pride when she finally nails a move they've been working on for so long, and definitely not when she starts to initiate the playful conversations with the same smirk that he would maybe like to kiss off her face. There's so many things he should do at the end of the day, but he does none of them. He just lets whatever happens happen, and it kind of works out for a bit. They tease each other, teeter-tottering somewhere between playful and full on flirting. They fight in close combat corners, sometimes ending up on top of each other. Those days are a personal favorite of Riven's, especially when she's on top of him and he can feel her thighs straining against his waist as she pins his arms above his head. (He may have taught her that one move just for this moment. He felt it was a shame to not put those dance-trained legs of hers to use.)

The perfectly odd tightrope they walk snaps on a Wednesday afternoon, after they've finished training and are walking toward the benches that hold their water bottles. He takes a swing of his water, and then looks up from his seat to see her standing up and chugging her own bottle. A loose droplet slips past her lips and down her uniform's tank top. He follows it with his eyes, not even bothering to hide the very obvious motion even as she finishes her drink, looks at him with a raised eyebrow, and then chuckles at him while rolling her eyes.

"You could be a little less obvious, you know." She calls him out casually. He smirks at the comment before dragging his eyes back up to her brown orbs.

" Subtle isn't really my forte. Besides what fun would it be if you didn't know I was staring at you?"

She rolls her eyes, but her smile gives her away. "You're gonna give some poor girl a heart attack one day if you look at her like that." It's a teasing remark, but he feels his adrenaline hike up at her comment. The game is back on.

"Some poor girl, huh?" He leans into her on the bench, invades her personal space. She blushes, looks directly ahead, and he thinks he's winning another one of the many secret battles they seem to find themselves fighting. Then, she turns to him and looks him dead in the eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" He didn't expect that. Again, he knows he should just leave or say no. Anything to avoid a conversation that could lead to more than just a flirting banter, anything to avoid something that Rosalind may actually be interested in. But she's looking up at him with wide eyes and he's convinced he's become weak and that she's won this battle because he can't bring himself to say no.

"Uh… sure?"

She looks around nervously, as if deciding whether to ask what's on her mind or not. Finally, she leans close to him and asks in a slow and quiet voice, "Where do you sneak off to every night at midnight?" He pulls back from her faster than he thought he would ever be able to pull away from her, blinking down at her now shocked face.

"How-"

"How do I know? You have a roommate, Riven. He hears you leave every night and says nothing about it, but he's been worried about you. He says you've been acting different… For what it's worth, I think he's right. Especially when we're not in training sessions, you're completely out of it. I know this has been a rough mon-"

This is it. She's dug deep enough that she has hit rock bottom, she's found the dead-end at the bottom of his soul. He has to let this banter go now. He can't have her asking questions he'll then have to report back to Rosalind.

"You know nothing." He words are curt and sharp. She flinches at their edge, but doesn’t back down. It's one of his favorite things about her, her persistence.

"You can talk to me if something is wrong, you know? Or to Sky or the girls… you can talk to any of us…" He watches as her eyebrows furrow, traces the line they form down her nose to her lips and then back to her eyes. And that's when he notices that her eyes have changed color to purple. He grabbed her hand quickly and firmly, enough to break her concentration but not enough to hurt her (God, even in his rage, it would never be enough to hurt her).

"I've told you not to do that. Not to use your damn mind powers on me." His voice is strained, laced with anger and something resembling fear. 

"I'm trying-"

"I don't care what you're trying. You shouldn’t be in there. You shouldn't be in my brain. There's nothing in there worth your time or energy and there never will be."

And with that he spins on his heel and marches into the forest behind the training grounds. He doesn’t turn around, but if he did, he would have seen Sky moving out of the shadows and heading toward Musa.

"Did you do it?"

It takes her a second to interpret his question. She still staring into the distance as Riven's figure fades out of view, her eyes finally returning to their normal brown color. She continues to stare at the dot in the distance, unwilling to look away as if she's daring him to turn around and spare her one last glance. He doesn't.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." She finally turns to Sky. "He's completely blocked from my powers. Dowling was right, he's under some sort of mind control."

______________________________________________________________

It’s 2AM by the time Riven finally makes his way to the room he shares with Sky. He's once again not really sure where his day went or what he did after he flipped on Musa and marched his way into the woods after their little spat. He remembers anger, a lot of anger. He's angry at her for trying to dig into his brain when they had already established that he hated it. He was angry at Dowling for dying (at least, he assumes she's dead because where else would she be?) and leaving the school to the psychopath that is Rosalind. He's angry at Rosalind for manipulating him, controlling his mind. He's angry at Beatrix for getting him into this stupid mess. But mostly, he's angry with himself for letting it all happened, for somehow always making the wrong move at the wrong time, for managing to screw up his own life in such a grand manner that it constitutes an award (truly, he's outdone himself this time). He's mad at himself for not being able to control his own mind, for letting Rosalind take up residence in his brain and being able to do nothing about it. He's even angry at himself for not just standing there and letting Musa read his emotions, because maybe if she did then she'd know the hell he was in. His brain was constantly pulling in all different directions, trying desperately to get away from the constraints of Rosalind's spell. Headaches are nonending and thoughts leave as soon as they come. It's like there's two people waging war within him, but one of them brought swords to a gunfight and is losing horribly. But it’s a war he feels he should fight on his own, and maybe that's why he didn't let her read him. As much as he hates to admit it, the mind control and guilt was breaking him but he could handle that. What he couldn't handle, however, was getting her involved in this stupid mess by mistake, which would inevitably lead to Rosalind getting ahold of her as well. God knows there's only so much room left in hell or sins, and he'd be damned if he hadn't already filled all the available spots.

He was glad for the day to finally be over, glad to be heading to bed (not sleep though, sleep did not exist when his mind was in so much pain all the fucking time). It seemed the world had other plans for him, however, because upon opening the door to his dorm, he was met with a sight that he both dreaded and wanted to burn into his memory for the rest of however long he had to live before Rosalind finally took pity on him and bent his brain to death. 

Perched on his bed, leaning forward ever so slightly, elbows meeting her knees, and head bend toward the floor was Musa. From his angle, he could only see her side profile, but apparently that's all his body needed to be automatically sent into a frenzy. The first thing he notices was, not to his surprise, the hair. She'd replaced her training braids with buns, big ones that hang precariously form her head as tendrils of her dark hair fell in loose waves and framed her face. He again found himself wondering what she would look like with all of her hair fully down. His fingers itched to burrow into those carefully constructed space buns and pull their pins out of place, just to see if she'd look half as beautiful with her hair down as she did with her hair up.

He stood like that for a while, taking her in and letting her continue to stare at the dark wooden floors with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He's not sure when, but eventually she turned toward the door, eyebrows first shooting up when she noticed him staring at her, and then falling back into place as she shot him a shy mile from across the room.

"Hey," came her greeting in a small voice.

"What the hell are you doing here?" His question was harsh, but he knew himself well to know that if he even let just one layer of himself down with her, he may as well just lay down all his defenses. She had a way of getting him to speak and break down and he wasn't about to let himself get her mixed up in whatever evil plan he'd been helping construct against his will.

Too bad for him, because it seemed Musa had been expecting a fight and was ready to fire back his quips with some of her own. She simply rolled her eyes and casually stated, "Well, then, straight to it, are we?"

"If you're looking for Sky or Bloom, they're probably in a dark hallway somewhere snogging each other half to death," he answered. She grimaced at the image.

"Yeah, no. I'm not here for Bloom or Sky."

"Then you're not here for anyone." She gave him a pointed look at that phrase. He wisely chose to ignore it and instead made his way to the couch in the middle of the room, throwing his jacket somewhere on it.

"What, that's all you have today? I'm standing on your bed, we're alone in your bedroom, I'm in a miniskirt… and you're not going to make a comment about showing me a good time? You're losing your touch, Riv." She was teasing him, he could tell by the light tone of her voice. Maybe she liked to see his reactions the way he so enjoyed watching her react to his own snarky comments. Maybe she saw enough into his brain earlier to have dug up some of his fantasies. Damn her, he'd been avoiding looking anywhere but her face since he walked in, and now here she was basically challenging him to do more. Damn him and his inability to back down from a game he was so clearly not apt to win at the moment. He turned around and finally got a good look at her. She was indeed in a miniskirt, under which she had tucked a lacy white top that was very clearly meant to showcase the black bra she wore underneath the pitiful excuse of a shirt. Her signature red bomber jacket hung from her shoulders and the black boots she had on were laced all the way up to her kneecaps.

This must be it, he thought. This must be his punishment for spilling his guts to Rosalind every night. Or maybe, his guilt and the pain throbbing through his veins had finally won out and he was finally cracking under all that pressure. That's fine. He wasn't even surprised this is what his brain chose to tease him with at the brink of destruction. He figured she'd be the one to shatter him, it was only a matter of time.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" Her voice broke him out of his trance. Ok, maybe he wasn't imagining her.

He sighed, defeated and broken and just tired. "Why are you here, Musa?"

It’s a staring match now. He watches as her eyes soften and the sarcasm leaves her features.

"I couldn’t read you earlier today. In the training grounds-" No. Anything but this conversation.

"Maybe you should consider working on those powers of yours then. Seems to me like you're the one losing your touch."

"I'm serious, Riven-"

"I am too."

"Jesus, Riven, let me just finish!" Anger sparked in her features. "You're loud, Riven." He scoffed at that. "Your emotions, I mean. They're usually loud… but they're also lively and harmonious, in a weird way that I can't seem to figure out. Lately, however, they've been quiet… as if they don't exist at all. And at first I thought it was me, I thought I was getting better at controlling my powers. But when I tried to read you today, I felt nothing…" There is was, she had figured it out, and now she looked at him as if he was a science experiment she couldn’t quite figure out.

"… Maybe my hearts just finally turned to stone." He tried for a joke. She did not find it amusing.

"I know, Riven." He's not sure what that was supposed to mean. What did she know? That he was a horrible person? That he'd snitched on her and all their friends (were they his friends?) to the queen of evil? Or worse, that his body lit up whenever she was around?

"Cryptic, but ok. I guess between that line and the fact that you somehow snuck into my room, you could make the whole 'good girl turned bad, mysterious girl' vibe work. Honored I'm the first you're trying it out on. If you'd like to take it a step further, the bed's right behind you." She may have the upper hand in this game, but he's still a stubborn ass.

"Seriously, Riven. I'm not kidding." She took a step toward him. Wrong move, angel.

"I know you're not. That shirt doesn't exactly scream 'kidding'. Tell me, did you just choose the first thing you found in your closet to put on?" He took a step forward this time, one long stride before they stood chest to chest and he hooked his finger under her chin. "Or is that shirt part of this whole 'mystery girl' scheme? Because, I won't lie, it's working." He sees her shiver at his words and doesn't bother to hide the smirk that graces his face. Finally, things were getting interesting. "Wonder if it looks half as good on my bedroom floor…" He noticed her eyes flicker downward, to is lips, but they moved back up just as quickly. He stared right back at her, watching as she struggled to make up her mind about where to slap him for that last comment. He didn't have to wait too long for a response.

"I'm sure you do." Her words came as a whisper, and the smirk that followed was just as alluring. He barely had time to process the meaning behind it all, before she crashed her body onto him and her lips found his. Her hands gripped into the sides of his t-shirt, keeping him to her with such force that he vaguely wondered why in the world she felt the need to do that when he wouldn't dream of walking away from this, from her. It's frantic and it's rushed. One of his hands find her waist, pulls her impossibly closer to him. His other hand delves into the hair at the back of her head before sliding to the side and pulling at the pins that hold her right bun in place. It takes him pulling out just one pin and the structure falls apart, her hair tumbling around them and cocooning them in place. He hears her gasp, her hands finally unlatching from his shirt as she splays them apart over his muscles, moves them up to his shoulders. 

He's moving backward, whether to ask her if this okay or make a comment about that noise she just made, he's not sure. He never gets the chance. She pulls his to her again, kisses him like she's been starved in a thirsting in wasteland for days and he's the first sign of water she's stumbled upon, bites his lip- fucking bites his lip and sucks on it and pulls it with her teeth… and he thinks that her being here could not have been his punishment. This, right here, her kissing him like this, this is his punishment. This is his pain finally taking over and shattering his soul.

Maybe Rosalind somehow found out about his little crush and is getting payback for the fact that he didn't show up for their nightly midnight story time. Maybe, he's already dead and in hell and some devil out there is playing a cruel, cruel trick on his brain. Maybe that's why his body is shaking, literally shaking, and his mind feels like its tearing apart. He feels Musa's hands on his scalp, her palms splayed out at his temples and fingers tightly wound into his hair. Again, he is surprised at the sheer force she seems to pour into her touch, anchoring him to her as though he could ever want to leave her embrace.

He's so wrapped up in his thoughts and in her touch that he barely hears the whimpers of pain coming from her or feels the tears streaming down her face as she hold him to her. When he finally feels the tears trickle between their lips, be pulls back (genuinely, pulls back because her fingers are still forcing him to her), opens his eyes to find her already looking back at him. But instead of the brown irises she wore when this rough little make out session started, her eyes are now purple. And her face is red. She looks exhausted. He feels exhausted. 

He's about to ask her what's wrong, if she's ok, if her powers are going haywire. But he's so dizzy and so tired and suddenly he's leaning on her and she's pulling him onto the bed. She looks down at him, whispers "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over in his ear and he finds himself wondering what she's sorry about and where the pain that haunted him for weeks has gone before he slowly sinks into oblivion.

________________________________________________________________

He wakes up and she's gone.

It's Sky who sits next to him the next day, Sky and Headmistress Dowling of all people. He mumbles something about being dead and hallucinating, but Sky just laughs and tells him he's happy to have him back.

It takes a good few hours to catch him up on all the shit he's missed while he was being controlled by Rosalind. Apparently, Dowling was stuck under a bunch of plants? The girls somehow managed to free her with some potion from a cousin of Terra's. Turns out they've been sneaking out every night, pretending to go to parties and instead heading outside the barrier trying to find clues on what the hell Rosalind is up to. That would explain Musa's choice of clothing the other night. 

Sky tells him it was the girls' idea to keep him out of the loop at the beginning, worried that his weird obsession with Beatrix and her even weirder obsession with him would lead to Andreas and Rosalind finding out. Sky swears they were going to tell him eventually, and Riven has to tell him that he's glad they didn't. That's when Sky tells him what he'd already guessed. It was Musa who refused to tell him even after time has passed, sensing that something was wrong in his mind. Her being in their room the other night had been no mistake, but an orchestrated move. She'd practiced with Dowling for weeks, training to unlock his brain, pull it apart so that she could mentally remove Rosalind's control from his brain by sheer willpower and might, and then put it all back together as best she could. 

He's instinctively proud of her, she did it. But, he also wishes she'd done it with less kissing and in some less distracting attire, but he probably deserves the type of torture that will surely follow as a result of last night. After they fill him in, Sky throws his gear at him and tells him to get dressed and ready.

"We leave tonight."

"What? Where are we going?"

"That's a bit complicated." It's Dowling who answers this time. "Silva and Professor Harvey will meet us in the woods beyond the barrier. We will lead you the rest of the way. We're going to collect forces. There will be a war, and Rosalind will know that something is wrong when you miss your nightly meeting with her for the second time in a row. The Winx suite is already with Silva and Ben. They're waiting for us."

They leave the dorms using Stella's ring, which she has given to Dowling as a backup to her magic, which Rosalind is be able to track within school grounds. When they arrive to the location in the woods, Riven is only slightly surprised to find Sam among the girls. He's leaning on a tree, talking to Silva and his father, both of which look like they haven't slept for days. The girls are gathered together by a fallen tree. Musa is in the middle of them, huddled into herself, as Terra and a new girl with brown skin and long honey-brown hair rub her back. Stella, Bloom, and Aisha stand back, watching Musa with worry evident in their eyes. 

It's Stella who notices them first. She wipes the worry off her face with mastered ease that only comes with practice, straightens up her back, shoots Musa a look and calls loudly, "There you are! Took you guys long enough!"

From then on, it’s a quick fill-in on what the plan is, an awkward introduction to the Harvey cousin whose name he can't remember because his mind was too stuck on the girl whose hair is back in those buns he managed to loosen yesterday, and a small little "welcome back to the good side" before they're trekking their way through the woods.

He stands behind her the whole time. Watches as she follows the professors, but stands at the tail end of the line the girls have formed. She looks tired, the bags under her eyes tell him that the girls have probably been out here all night. He wonders how much of her energy it took to tear and mend his brain, if anyone bothered to let her rest after she did it. He wishes he was braver, wishes he could walk up to her and… what, thank her? Ask her why she did it? Why kiss him and then cure him? She could have just as easily done it while he was asleep. He bides his time, observes as one by one the girls take turns standing next to her, linking their arms with hers, smiling down at her, whispering who knows what in her ear and earning a laugh form her every now and then. He likes her laugh, it's cute.

He's currently watching as Bloom pull Musa to her and makes some joke about chickens, when he feels a punch land on his right arm.

"Are you as stupid as you look?" He turns to find that Stella has somehow walked backwards and is now next to him.

"Missed you too, princess," he mutters back.

"Oh, cut the bullcrap, Riven. You've been staring at her for the last two hours and I told her I wouldn't say anything but honestly, you two are hopeless. I've never met two people so oblivious in my life."

"I don’t know what you're talking about." he starts.

"Like shit you don't. If you don't know it yet, figure it out." And just like that she's running ahead and linking her right arm with Musa's as Bloom tries for another joke, this one about pigs that fly.

He tries to ignore Stella's stupid comment. Honestly, he figures it's probably safer to stare at her and look like a total creep than try to talk to her and make sense of his feeling about who the fuck knows what anymore. But Stella's words ring through his mind and he lets himself believe that maybe, just maybe…

In the end, he convinces himself that the reason he walks up to her once Bloom goes to hold Sky's hand and Stella moves in on the new girl to make conversation is because Stella offered him a challenge, and he likes to win at those. (He's heading straight for a loss, he's fully aware of that, but whatever.) 

"Long time no see," he jokes when he reaches her side. She cranes her neck up at him, not surprised to see him.

"Thought I heard your loud-ass emotions coming closer."

"Yeah, I've been told they can be quite the riot." He shoots her a smirk and she smiles up at him.

"Who told you that?"

"Oh, you know. Just some girl."

"Some girl, huh?"

"Yeah. Then she gave me a good snogging before tearing my brain to pieces without my knowing it."

"Mmm. She seems like a handful."

"Tell me about it." Her eyes fall downward and he doesn't need to be an empath to see the gears turning in her head.

"I'm sorry," she starts, "About that. I didn't want to do it, I know you have me reading your emotions."

"Yeah, but I hated having them controlled by someone else even more…" There's a pause and he quickly moves to fill it, scared that whatever courage juice that's coursing through his veins will run out soon. "Thank you, by the way." And he means it. He hopes she can sense the sincerity coming from him because he only has so many words in his vocabulary when it comes to her and fears he's already run out of them when she turns to look at him once more.

They've fallen behind the group at this point. He figures he won't get the chance to do this again for a while, so he asks her the question that been running rampant through his mind. It's pathetic, really. They're headed to god knows where to do god knows what and instead of worrying about the fact that war is coming or even being slightly concerned that he's just had his mind abused and prodded around by an evil mastermind, his biggest worry is if this girl really wanted to kiss him or if she just did it for show.

"So, umm, just so we're clear… did you mean it?" If he felt dumb thinking it, he feels like a world-class idiot saying it out loud.

"Mean what?" She stares back at him intensely, and he thinks to himself in an amused manner that they seem to be making a habit of staring at each other for longer than average periods of time. "The part about you being loud? Cuz, yeah, I meant every word. You're a walking catastrophe." She's smirking at him. He rolls his eyes her words.

"Couldn't care less about that. In fact, I'm glad my emotions are as obnoxious as I am- means they've been driving you crazy for a while now." Her smile falters a bit at that line. "What I want to know," he continues. "Is if you kiss everyone whose mind you go digging into like that." He still has not taken his eyes off her, and he's not going to start now, when she blushes and ducks her head under the collar of her red bomber jacket.

"That was a… last minute choice."

"What for?"

"I had to get close enough to you to make contact. I've only been practicing with Dowling for a few weeks and I didn’t want to screw it up. I can't really do the whole mind thing without some sort of contact just yet…" Her words drift off.

"Hand holding didn't cut it? Had to go for a full make-out session, complete with lip biting and everything?" He watches as she shivers into her coat, arms wrapped around herself.

"You would've pushed me away."

"How did you know I wouldn't push you away while kissing me?" She mutters something under her breath. He doesn’t catch it, not between that stupid jacket that she's using to shield her face. He gently takes a step forward, catches her chin between his fingers just as he had done the night before, makes her meet his eyes. "Come again?"

She sucks in a breath, her eyes waver to something behind him when she finally lets it out, "We both know you weren't going to say no to me throwing myself at you."

"And if I did?" He doesn't know who he's kidding, but it’s still a game and he's still playing to… lose?

She's still staring behind him when she frowns and says, "Then we would have seen just how great this shirt would have looked on your bedroom floor, after all."

And goddamn it, her words send his blood boiling. He's about to kiss her senseless, but he refuses to do it if she's not staring at him when he asks one last question.

With his finger still hooked under her chin and them standing mere inches away, he whispered into the air between them, "Look at me, Musa."

Her eyes slowly move to meet his. He gives up his last question, which just so happens to be his first, "Did you mean it?" And when her small "Yes" makes its way through her lips as her steady brown eyes catch his green ones, that's all the confirmation he needs.

His finger leaves her chin and moves to her head and then he's pulling her in, closer and closer and closer until she's all he can feel and smell and see and breathe. And she responds with the same vigor she used last night, wasting no time to wrap her arms around his neck and lock him to her. It's a new kind of game, one where they battle for dominance until they both run out of breath and need to break free. It makes him stronger, it breaks him down, it makes him wonder why the hell he ever wanted to win against her when he could instead let her win and lose himself to her as he is right now. And when his hands pull the pins from both buns from her hair as he kisses down her neck, she groans in half pleasure and half annoyance.

"I'll have to fix them again now," she whines, pouting her bottom lip out, which he takes as an invitation to bite and pull on it.

"You'll manage. Let me just have this now. I've been waiting a while to see you with your hair fully down." She scoffs but lets him stare at her in awe once he finds it in him to pull back from her lips in order to get a view his handiwork.

And to think, it all started with some fucking pigtails.

[cursestothemoon]

A Bench And Piece of Parchment’s Length Away

requested: yess

Cedric Diggory x Ravenclaw!Fem!reader (i just noticed you hadn't specified fem! or not in your request so you’d like me to change it please let me know ill be more than happy to do it!!)

Summary: Cedric likes Y/n, a lot. But every time he tries to talk to her the universe just seems to have other plans, maybe this time he's found a loophole...

Warnings: mentions of vomiting 

Word count: 2571 (i got a tad carried away)

This one is sO cute I really love this one, thank you for requesting

✧✧✧

The first time Cedric tried asking you out didn’t go over so smoothly. It had been a month or so before the Yule Ball and he needed a date, naturally you were first to come to mind. The Hufflepuff had harbored an intense, often even painful, crush on you ever since McGonagall pulled you up in front of the transfiguration class as a ‘model student’. That was third year, now halfway into his sixth, he had to do something about his feelings.

You were sitting with Cho Chang, a housemate of yours, and he couldn’t help but think obviously the universe wanted this to happen because why else would you be sitting, practically alone, just waiting for him to come sweep you off your feet.

He had gotten a bit too cocky.

It was on his way to you, stepping with the utmost swagger, that he noticed Lee Jordan also seemed to be sauntering in your direction and he was significantly closer than Cedric was. Suddenly his walk seemed to lose all of its swagger and he picked up his pace, glaring at the Gryffindor.

Cedric still had hope when Lee reached you first, maybe he wasn’t going to ask you to the ba-

Why were you smiling?

You were being polite right? That’s it you were just polite, he still had his chance.

Not nodding, why have you started to nod your head?

Cedric knew he should’ve turned around but he just couldn’t, his feet wouldn’t let him. His was within earshot now and people had noticed him, he couldn't just turn around now.

“-love to go with you Lee.”

Oh how he wished he’d just disappear, transfigure into a leaf or something and get carried away by the wind.

And Merlin, now you're turning to look at him

Think Cedric

Thin-

“Cho!” He all but shouted, gaining the attention of not only you and Lee, but also anyone else within a five foot radius.

“Cedric, you alright?” Cho smiled up at him kindly.

That was how he ended up asking Cho Chang to the Yule Ball. He felt terrible about it, really, Cho was beautiful, and she was smart, and kind, but she just wasn’t you. Cedric had rushed away from the scene so fast, rather embarrassed, he failed to notice the way your mood had dropped and the look Cho gave you after Lee had left.

--

From that point on he was sure talking to you just wasn’t meant to be, now preferring to watch you from the sidelines. It was a rough week for him following the Yule Ball when Lee seemed to always be just right beside you, luckily Cedric hadn’t had to endure it long.

It was a sunny Wednesday, rather warm, when he got his bright idea. He and his group of friends had been lounging, quite ungracefully, at a bench in the courtyard. It was only when you walked over to them that he popped looking a bit disheveled, his robes a tad askew.

“Hey Y/n.” He put on his most charming smile.

You met his eyes and Cedric swore you grew more beautiful by the day.

“Hi Cedric, sorry to bother but I left my book under the bench yesterday. I just wanted to grab it and I’ll be out of your hair.”

Cedric realized what had happened immediately. They had sat on your bench, well not yours, but there was an unspoken agreement between you and your friends that this bench was the bench you’d all meet at and now he had parked his own behind on it.

“Oh, oh, right.” He was quick to reach down and grab your book scolding himself in the process. He should’ve known it was your book, let alone your bench, he had only watched you sit on it and keep your book under for picking it up on your way to class the next day (lightens the load he presumes) for months now.

He handed you the book and it seemed as if a lightbulb went off. You left your book here, in the courtyard, it was perfect.

Cedric was up, probably most of the night, writing his letter to you. His dorm mates having retired with grunted goodnights, not really caring who he was sending what seemed like a novel of a letter to.

Three broken quills, five pieces of parchment thrown in the rubbish bin, and one ink bottle spill later...he was done. He sealed it carefully and placed it under his pillow hoping he’d catch at least a few hours of sleep before lessons in the morning.

--

It was like clockwork really. He made sure his friends avoided the bench, watched as you strutted your way to the bench, met with your friends before your next lesson, and just before leaving, you hid your book behind one of the thick legs of the bench.

Perfect

He told his friends to go on without him, he’d dropped something and he’d be just a moment. His look around your bench with a feigned expression of curiosity and frustration was enough for his friends to believe what he was saying, or they didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t that great of an actor. Either way, they let him be.

Cedric worked quickly, he pulled out the book from its hiding spot with a small smile, he’d make sure to hold your books for you when (he was certain it was destined) you fell in love with him. He tucked his letter behind the front cover and placed it back into its spot, waiting for you to come grab it in the morning on your way to History of Magic.

--

This morning had been rough for you, your tie did not want to cooperate and now sat crooked enough to drive you mad, and to make matters worse you were late to your History of Magic class. You had grabbed your textbook from under the bench, it was thick and you always hated carrying it hence, the bench, and grumbled your way to class. Upon arrival you were regretfully informed of your five minutes of absence, luckily Professor Binns was feeling generous and let you off with a warning.

You plopped down into your seat and threw open the cover of your book with some dramatics, but you weren’t expecting the book to retaliate and spit an envelope into your lap.  Professor Binns assigned reading from the textbook and you were quick to get it done before you examined the letter further.

The front of the envelope was bare, not a scratch of ink present which only ignited your curiosity. Fumbling, you finally got it open without drawing any attention to yourself and unfolded the letter. The handwriting was neat, uniform, and without a doubt, belonging to a boy.

Dear Y/n,

I hope this letter finds you well, and Merlin I hope it doesn’t rain or else this would be a mess. If everything has worked in my favor, and I pray it does, and you are reading this then I would like you to know how incredibly captivating I find you. You’re quite the sight, I must say, but more than that you are kind and witty. You are smart and confident, in the best, most attractive way possible.

I’ve watched you a lot, wait, no that sounds awfully creepy. I swear I’m not some old prat, or one of the professors. What I was meaning to say was that I’ve admired your beauty from afar for quite some time and it seems as though anytime I try to talk to you face to face things never seem to go as I’ve planned them, so I’m hoping this letter is a bit like a loophole.

Regardless, beauty, grace, and brains like yours deserve to be not only noticed, but complimented. And with the barrier of this parchment, I am not as nervous to tell you, but I’ve fallen in love with you, all of you. I do hope one day I’d be able to hear the same confession fall from your lips in my direction.

All my love,

Badger

Suddenly, your morning wasn’t so bad. Your stomach felt very airy and your face hot, you looked around to make sure no one had noticed just how flustered you became. Luckily, no one did and you were able to put the note into your bag discreetly, just before class was over.

On your way to your next class you thought about who it could be, Badger, what an awfully unique name to go by. The gears in your brain start to turn, it had to be a clue, but what did badger have anything to do-

Hufflepuff.

Your secret admirer was obviously a Hufflepuff and your heart leaped at the idea of it possibly being Cedric Diggory. You had strategically picked the bench where your friends meet you to be the one closest to where he and his friends would usually hang out. Of course you two had talked on a few occasions but he always seemed a bit reserved around you, a flirty remark or two (if you were lucky) and that was it so clearly it couldn’t be him. But oh how a girl could hope.

The next few weeks went on the same way, every Wednesday you’d get your book in the morning and you’d find a letter in it. Each one having a small clue as to who it was, the first one being the pen name Badger, next it was ‘...my family is quite small, just me and my parents…’ , then you got ‘...you’re my lucky charm, you know? If I see you in the stands during a quidditch game, I just know we’ll win…” , the last letter, however, was the reason you were so quick to get to your book today.

“...I’ve decided to just go for it Y/n, I can’t stand not being able to talk to you face to face any longer. In the next letter find my name...”

He had put his name in this letter and you were more than excited to see who it was. You had tried to pay attention, really you had, but the person was just far too sneaky.

And Cedric was proud of it. He had watched you open each letter at the bench, every Wednesday, for the last few weeks. He had gotten very good at hiding the letter in your textbook, some days he’d levitate it into the book, other times he’d bribe some first year to slip in his letter while he watched from afar.  

He was tired of being so far, finally deciding to just go for it, but his stomach couldn’t handle watching you rush to today’s letter and open it far quicker than he's ever seen you open one. Cedric was nauseous with nerves as he quickly rushed to his next class, mumbling out an excuse of having to ask his professor about something.

You tore open the envelope, no time for sentiments now when the name of your secret admirer was just beneath your fingertips.

Dear y/n,

neRve wracking, isn’t It? if You happen to miraCulously harbour an ounce of the feelings i dO for you, meet me at this benCh tonight duRing dinner. if you fail to show, I complEtely understand and will hold nothinG against you, please don’t feel obliGated to do anything for me.

all my love,

baDger

Of course he wouldn’t make it easy, now forcing you to wait until you could get a piece of parchment out to write out all the letters, undoubtedly they also happen to be in the wrong order.

Professor Binns was as monotone as always, his lecture droning on so you found it an opportune time to find out who this mystery man was.

D R I Y C O C R I E G G D

You huffed, quill ready to decipher the letters that just had to be out of order.

GREG YIRDCOCD

Your hand was quick to scratch that one out.

EGGY CODDIRRC

Well that can’t be right

A quiet groan passed through your lips as you set you quill down, eyes going over the letters again. You looked around subtly before you decided to try your luck, it seemed like it would fit.

CEDRIC

You paused, there was no way it would work.

DIGGORY

It fit stupidly well, Hufflepuff, quidditch, only child, stupidly charming and boyish handwriting. The only part not making sense was that they were to you. Of all people he was writing to you. The gasp left your lips and it was far too loud to go unnoticed by the class.

“Sorry, sorry. I just… get really… into the lesson.” You said awkwardly, Professor Binns not buying it but he couldn’t find it in him to really care all that much.

You shrunk back into your seat, hands getting sweaty. You were meeting him… tonight.

--

The air was brisk as you made your way to the courtyard, you chewed at your bottom lip as you thought about Cedric Diggory sitting there waiting for you. The negative thoughts were being pushed away, he just wasn’t the type to play a prank this mean...was he? Or maybe it wasn’t him at all, those twins have been rather quiet lately.

The thoughts seemed to dissipate as you saw him, you were still a few pillars away and he was sitting on the bench looking at the grass so he hadn’t seen you yet. He was wringing his hands together as his knee bounced, he was nervous. The notion made your heart flutter and a small smile appear on your lips, but fueling you with confidence as you walked closer to him.

Cedric was beyond nervous, and if you didn’t show up within the next ten minutes he was sure that he was going to puke into the bushed to his right. Fortunately for him, he lifted his head to see you walking toward him, a beaming smile on your face and just like that, maybe he didn’t need to be so nervous after all.

“Y/n, you cam-” He was cut off, really glad he hadn’t gotten sick.

Once you reached him, overcome with the feeling of not wanting to be so far anymore, you pulled his head down low enough for you to kiss him. Cedric was quick to act, having been waiting for this moment for a while now, and wrapped his arms around your waist tightly. With no room left between the two of you, Cedric deepened the kiss as he felt your hands run through his hair and tug at the ends. And he for sure thought he was dreaming when he pulled away, reluctantly himself, and watched as your lips trailed after his. He couldn’t help but lean back in, capturing your lips again in another kiss before pulling away.

“I love you, Ced.” Your words were whispered with a smile and his brain went fuzzy.

He smiled big, eyes crinkling as he looked at you, lips swollen, and breathing just a tad quicker than normal.

“Well, thank Merlin for that or else you would’ve been sending very mixed signals, darling.”

His hand came up to brush some hair away from your face as you laughed.

“I am completely, irrevocably, in love with you, Y/n.”

[strayinvelvet]

tight-lipped

There’s a long list of stupid things one could do when in love and that includes hiding the stupid emotion even after five years.

↳ pairing: han jisung x reader

↳ genre: mostly fluff with teeny tiny sprinkle of angst

↳ wc: 3.1k

↳ warning: swearing

“Making it to the president’s list really does have its perks, huh? I mean come on, it’s only our first day of but the professor already knows you.”

You could only laugh at your friend’s remarks. Your friend, Hyunjin, continued rambling on how the university favors that damn list so much and how you should share its perks – all while walking and not looking at a single thing in the hallway. 

“You should probably look at where you are walking, Hyunjin,” you said without looking at him. 

Your eyes lit up upon the sight of the vending machine in the corner of the hallway just before the stairs. You took it as a sign for you to take your daily coffee. You stopped in front of it, with Hyunjin following you, and fed it coins then pressed the button for your favorite can of coffee. “Coffee again? We don’t even have that much work yet?” You claimed your coffee, opening it before turning to Hyunjin. “You know I can’t function without it.” You said before smelling the strong scent of coffee, feeling like it was the perfect blend of coffee beans to wake up your sleepy soul. You took a sip and instantly, you were more alert than before. 

“Whatever you say.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes at your actions. Truly, he has never seen anyone act like that once they get their hands on coffee. The two of you continued walking through the hallway with Hyunjin greeting some people on the way. Social butterfly, that is what he is. You snorted at him once he was done waving to the latest. “Are you running for a seat or something?” you asked him as you took the last sip of your coffee. “That’s called being friendly, y/n. Try it sometimes, you know. Without that scary looking face.” You almost threw the empty can to his face but you just rolled your eyes and nudged his arm with your elbow which he quickly dodged. He has memorized your actions throughout the two years he has known you. 

The both of you were out of the building when Hyunjin suddenly remembered his new schedule. “Oh I have another class in a bit,” grunting at the fact that his classes are basically one after another this semester. “I don’t. Bye.” You stuck your tongue out at him then ran off to the opposite side of where his building is. Hyunjin only laughed at your back before turning around and walking to his building. 

You have been walking for a long time when you realized that you don’t know where you are going. You stopped on your tracks and looked around. When you spotted a bench across where you are standing, you decided to approach it and sat down. You dropped your bag beside you and took a good look at your surroundings. 

The day was good. Too good for your liking. The sun is shining perfectly, it was neither too bright nor too dull, yet it was blinding your eye. The leaves were colored auburn with streaks of yellow and faint accents of green. They were dancing to the slow yet smooth rhythms of the wind. It was so smooth that it almost demanded to be felt. You tightened your coat, rejecting the wind’s request of touch. It was when an orange leaf fell on your lap did you release a sad smile.

It was autumn. The season you hated the most. The season which makes your heart melancholic like it was being brought back to the time you wanted so hard to burn in your memories. You touched the leaf, feeling its rough surface. You didn’t want to but as the leaf made crisp sounds as a response to your touch, you suddenly found yourself reminiscing the memory of a man you wish to forget. 

“Han Jisung!”

Your rowdy classmate shouted across the room, trying to gain the boy’s attention. His eyes, however, are busy staring at your figure. That same classmate ran out of patience, approached Jisung and slapped his hand on Jisung’s desk. “Come on, man. We’re going to play some games.” Jisung looked up in annoyance and shoved the man away, “Go by yourselves Felix. I’m busy.” He tried to return his gaze to you but it wasn’t too long when Felix interrupted him again.

“Busy what? Daydreaming about y/n?” Series of teasing cheers can soon be heard all over the room and Jisung couldn’t help but smile shyly. “Am I that obvious?” Jisung asked curiously. “Obvious my ass. Everyone practically knows,” Felix slapped the other boy’s shoulder. The moment his gaze landed back to your seat, you were gone. Jisung hurriedly packed his stuff and went towards the door, trying to catch up with you.

Han Jisung was a transferee in ninth grade but he was able to make friends almost immediately. He was this aloof, outgoing guy who always makes jokes and gets along with everyone. Heck, he was able to befriend the whole classroom two days after his transfer, and the whole batch a month in his stay. So you really didn’t know why, out of all people he managed to be friends with, it is you who he decided to annoy every single day. 

It was lunch time, a week after his transfer, when he approached you the first time. He waved and did not say anything at all. You thought he was weird but you ended up smiling slightly before exiting the room for lunch. It was that same lunch time when he approached your table then asked you and your friends if he can sit beside you. You were questioning his whole personality at that point. 

What is wrong with this guy? You didn’t want to say yes but that would surely make you look rude. But then again, you didn’t care. Before you were able to say no, he was pulled by your other classmate Felix. Your eyes followed their backs but Jisung’s eyes were still looking your way. You decided to just shrug it off, thinking the weird interaction would end there. Boy, you were wrong.

Jisung wasn’t sitting beside you in class but one morning, you found him sitting at the seat to your right. You took your seat and placed your bag under your desk when he spoke, “Hi y/n.” you looked at him and he was smiling so widely. His head was propped on his palms. You furrowed your brows, confused as to why this new guy is trying to make a conversation with you. “Uhm... hi? You ate something weird this morning?” 

You thought Jisung’s smile couldn’t go any wider but it just did. “No. No, I didn’t. Uhm… Did you… Do you… How do you like your eggs cooked?” All you could do was mentally say hah? with your mouth opened as if you said it vocally. 

Meanwhile, Jisung mentally slapped himself for coming up with a stupid question. That was all he could get from his brain which went rambles just because you asked him if he had eaten anything for breakfast. Maybe that is not the exact question but it’s getting there. He was about to clear himself up from the embarrassment when the teacher entered the room. “Talk to you later.” He stood up and went to his original seat, motioning for the guy who was originally seated to your right to go back. All you could think of was please don’t.

The next morning, you found the same scene. Jisung seating at the seat to your right. Then, he will flood you questions of how was your sleep, did you eat breakfast yet, and many more.

The next morning, it was still like that.

And the next.

And the next.

Soon, you found yourself being greeted every morning with a smiley Jisung. Your replies were never long enough for a long conversation but he somehow managed to find topics to ask you more questions. Often times you were subtly hinting that you want to brush him off but he doesn’t seem to notice. The attempts to push him off always dissolve in thin air so finally, you just let him be. Maybe it was his way of making friends. 

You didn’t notice yourself expecting a Han Jisung by your seat until one morning, he wasn’t there. You scanned the room and saw him writing furiously in his seat, frequently looking at Felix’s paper who was also writing before copying what he saw onto his paper. 

“Felix I can’t understand your handwriting.”

“You’re not in the position to complain.”

“Just move your tiny hands.”

Ah, he was doing his homework that the three forgot to do the night before. Jisung was trying his best to finish his damn homework as fast as possible. He still has something important to do. Good thing it was just five items. Five minutes before the first class, he was finally done. He shoved his paper to Felix and Seungmin who still weren’t, slammed his pen on the table then rushed to your seat. You looked up from your phone and saw him grinning, breathing slightly faster than normal. “I’m done with my homework. How was your sleep?” 

That’s it. The moment he was waiting for. He had managed to make you crack a smile while saying, “Stupid.” His smile only growing wider in response.

Annoying you in the mornings apparently wasn’t enough for him. You decided to kill time after class in the library before you go home because you are 100% sure you’ll accept your bed’s tempting invitation. Your book was sprawled in front of you. Your headphones separating you from the rest of the world. Your feet was resting on top of the seat across you. You were focused on your assignment when the seat across you were pulled making you curse out loud. You removed your earphones and said sorry multiple times to the people around you. You looked hardly at Jisung: the boy behind the act. He was grinning, as always. “Sorry.” He said holding up a peace sign. He sat down and asked you “Why are you still here?” to which you only replied, “What do you want?”

He only blinked at you. You blinked back. “You’re not going home?”

“Later,” you replied shortly before going back to your work.

“Later? It’s eight?” You shot your head up at him. He was showing his phone which says it’s almost eight in the evening. You looked outside and realized it has already gotten dark. You immediately fixed your stuff and muttered a soft thank you before bolting through the door. Jisung quickly got up from his seat and caught up to you. “What’s wrong?” the both of you were walking-running out of the school grounds. “My next bus is at eight.” You said while huffing. You felt your hands being covered in warmth and then suddenly, you were running with Jisung leading you. 

Both of you were panting when you reached the bus stop. Unfortunately, it was fifteen minutes past eight. Jisung sat down while huffing, you following him not soon after. Once you have regained your breath, you faced Jisung. “Sorry for making you run for nothing.” Jisung looked at you, smiled, before sitting up straight. “When’s the next one?” 

“8:45”

“Oh. That’s only about 30 minutes,” he said after looking at his phone.

“You’re going to wait?”

“Yes.” He said giddily.

“Do you ride the same bus?”

“No.”

“When’s your bus?”

“9:00” 

You silently said oh, realizing you assumed wrongly. 

Silence fell soon as the both of you were too tired to talk until a question popped up in your head. “What were you doing in school at this hour?” He looked at you. “I was… uhm… I fell asleep.” He grinned widely. “Are you trying to befriend me?” You asked the question you were meaning to ask him for a while now. Jisung only looked at you for a while before answering, “can I?” It was now your turn to stare at him. “Who asks people for friendship permission these days?” You mumbled before looking away. However, Jisung heard it and laughed lightly. 

The whole course of waiting, you realized Jisung is the type of man who never runs out of something to say. His brain must be working fast, you concluded. He would tell a story. You would laugh and then tell your own version. You didn’t notice the time fly so when your bus arrived, you were partly sad now that you will be alone again in silence. You stood up and only waved him a goodbye before running up to your bus. Jisung watched you with a smile on his face, watching as the bus drove out of his sight before he waited for a couple of minutes for his bus.

Days passed and you found yourself spending more time with Jisung or more like Jisung annoying the heck out of you. Apart from the morning talks and library rendezvous, Jisung started walking you to the bus stop. Sometimes he would say he saw on the way or he forgot to return something but most of the time, he just “hi” his way to walking you. He had also started joining you at lunch whenever your other friends were busy due to your schedule difference. Sometimes he would take something from your food then stuck his tongue out before devouring it. Sometimes you just want the soil to devour his whole existence. Most of the time you just want to slap him. When he failed to get your attention, he would throw a piece of paper at you. And you, in return, would throw him a much bigger piece of paper and he would end up laughing and getting his ass beaten by the teacher. It was your turn to stick your tongue at him. 

It wasn’t really annoying if you think about it. It is just that you are easily annoyed and Jisung knew that better. So he continued annoying you in every little things until he was able to finally make you lose your cool.

It was the last day of ninth grade. Some were goofing around while some were decorating the room including Jisung, celebrating the end of the year. You were just in the corner waiting for your diploma, watching at how stupid your classmates look like. Boredom got into you so you decided to visit Luna, your other friend, in the other classroom. You stood up, about to exit the door when a snap of a scissor made you stop. You turned around and saw Jisung holding one with Felix and Seungmin at his back, the three of them frozen. You followed jisung’s gaze and noticed one side of your hair was shorter than the rest. He had accidentally cut a part of your hair to shoulder length.

You didn’t know if you were going to be furious or mad. It froze you as well, of course. Felix expected you to scream. Seungmin expected you to storm out. While Jisung -

“What the fuck?” 

- expected you to say just that. The only thing he could mutter was “So-sorry.” You did storm out, Jisung following you after. You were walking fast when he grabbed your arm and made you face him. “Look, I am really really sorry. We were playing around and I saw you coming and I was about to use you as my shield from them but then…” He touched the hair he accidentally cut but you slapped his hand away. “I can accompany you to the salon.” He tried to offer as an act of apology. “I don’t want to be with you, though,” you turned around and continued walking to your friend’s classroom.

The day ended and you were walking to your bus stop alone this time. Your hair was tied behind your back by Luna who lend you her hairtie. Your head was hung low the whole time until you reached the bus stop and heard a familiar voice. 

“Y/N I am really sorry.” Jisung said the moment he saw your figure.

“Stop it now.” You said without looking at him, sitting at the far end of the bench under the stop. 

“I really have time today and I hope you do as well so I can accompany you to the salon. I’ll even pay-”

“Can I just ask why do you like bothering me so much?” you finally looked at him and cut him off his words. “It’s not just about the hair. You are literally sticking to my side ever since you moved here. You aren’t even like this to Felix or Seungmin. You appear everywhere I go like a mushroom. Seriously? Is it because of my so-called reputation?”

Taken aback, he looked at you with softness in his eyes. You couldn’t read what he was thinking and you were thankful that you couldn’t because the next words he said stunned you.

“I just.. I just like you.”

A leaf which fell exactly a centimeter away from your face snapped you out of your thoughts. How funny. You managed to memorize every single detail even if it was years ago. Years. All those years that passed since you left, you thought you have moved on. You thought wrong. You have tried different ways for your mind to not drift off to that man. But you couldn’t deny the butterflies it gave you whenever his annoying ass would appear in your thoughts. You could only laugh at how pathetic your situation looks like. You thought you were desperate to forget about him but maybe you weren’t desperate enough to burn the effects he had on you. 

Out of nowhere, you felt the same butterfly that made you nervous. You stopped in your tracks when you realized what made them fly again. A laugh. You can hear steps approaching you accompanied by a laugh that was too familiar. A laugh that sounded so melodic and made you smile even if there was nothing to smile at. A laugh that you weren’t sure if you were ready to hear yet. 

Fear and panic enveloped your body. You immediately dropped the leaf you were holding and grabbed your bag ready to leave until a familiar face was directly in front of you. 

The butterflies intensified; your heart skipped a few beats.

 The wind brushed past the both of you, sending you shivers.

But the only thing you felt was warmth.

The warmth that was Han Jisung.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Secrets ~ 1

Warnings: noncon sexual acts later in series

This is dark!Bucky and dark!Steve and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: A buried family secret comes to light thrusting you to the forefront of an old alliance.

Note: Bruh, other series are still going. At least one update a week for existing series in future, I promise! Probably more. 

This was semi-inspired by The Princess Diaries but obviously we’re not going highschool. 

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

You found it hard to focus on the lecture. You copied the slides without processing the words. You couldn’t tear your mind from the unusual stranger. The one who had slipped from the room not ten minutes earlier. The one no one else seemed to notice; even the professor as she outlined the fall of the Roman Empire.

You did because you were early every week. You sat in the same seat, pulled out your notebook and pen, and put your phone on silent. You’d worked too long to screw this up. Years of saving and scrounging just to pay the application fee, bursaries awarded for your volunteer work and nearly forgotten extracurriculars from high school.

So, you noticed. The man sat in the back row with not a possession before him. Silent, discerning, and to be frank, a bit too old for the student body. Even you, after several years away from academics, thought so. You used the reflection in your phone screen to watch him and when he stood and left without cause, you angled it after his departure.

Perhaps he had come to the wrong room. Or maybe he had got the wrong time. He could be an older student or a guest speaker. Whatever he was, he was gone and you needed to focus. You didn’t have much time outside of class to revise your notes. Between your job at the campus bookstore and your intern position at the museum, you didn’t have time for anything beyond a few hours sleep.

You packed up as the lecture came to an end. Tuesdays, Professor Halren went over the week’s material and Thursdays you had a class discussion on the assigned articles. Basic, simple, but at least eighty pages of reading a week. You climbed the steps between the rows of tables and passed through the upper doors. The east entrance down the rear stairwell was the quickest exit.

You tossed your bag in the passenger seat of your crummy used Honda, parked in front of the burger joint several blocks away from campus parking. It cost you more to park on-site than it did for the beat-up contraption itself.

You drove to the museum and got out, your lanyard around your neck denoting you as a volunteer. You usually worked the help desk or handed out pamphlets for upcoming tours. Most of the time it was quiet enough for you to study in between visitors.

Sheila was the curator on duty that night. She kept to her office, saying she trusted you to direct the rare patrons who arrived on a Tuesday night. As expected, it was dead. You wandered around with textbook in hand, occasionally looking up to check that you were alone.

There was a man by the chart of Greek gods and their relations. A spiderweb with no end. You closed your book and quietly set it down on the nearest bench as you kept an eye on the man. It was him, the one from the lecture hall. A frightening coincidence. He leaned closer to the diagram then turned away, walking, no marching along the wall and rounding the corner into the next section.

Your heart was beating; in confusion and fear. You followed, carefully not to let your shoes click as you did. As you reached the next corridor, he was nowhere to be seen. You continued on, around corner and corner, on and on, looking up and down the walkways. He was gone.

You came back to the bench where you left your textbook. You glanced around one last time and opened it. Behind the cover was a ribbon, a tricade of red, white, and blue, a star emblazoned three-quarters of the way up embroidered in gold and silver. You’d seen it before but none so new as this.

You held it up and felt it between your fingers. You closed the book again and tucked it under your arm. You went to the next wing; medieval history. You walked along the timeline of European kingdoms, below each was a display of royal families of each. 

The same ribbon, aged and frayed, laid beneath the kingdom of Astrania, marked by the house of Rogers. A long storied bloodline thrust in and out of power by civil wars and politics well into the twentieth century. A country that stood still, one of the few who still lauded a monarch, as famous as the Windsors in England and beyond. The last vestiges of long lost era.

You shoved the ribbon in your pocket. It was likely a souvenir from some commodified tour of the country. A forgotten novelty sold for pennies and shoved into a used textbook. You shrugged and headed back to your usual spot among the ancient civilizations. Strange things happened. That was life.

👑

You spent your few hours before midnight writing up your rough draft for Life and Death in Ancient Greece then finally crashed. You slept on your back, uncomfortably; a heavy, exhausted sleep. You woke to voices. Your mother’s and another. One you didn’t know.

You checked the time, it was barely seven in the morning. You grumbled as you sat up. Your mother’s tone set you on edge as her voice rose. You stood and crossed to the door. You turned the handle slowly, listening through the crack of the door as you eased it open.

“You get out of my house.” She snarled. You’d never heard her sound so vicious. “I am not that person anymore. I never was.”

“You can hide behind a name,” The deep voice replied evenly. “It doesn’t change your real one.”

“My father is dead, his name died with him.” She hissed. “I won’t tell you again to leave.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll call the police, asshole.”

“I’ve been sent here under the banner of diplomacy, what are they gonna do?”

You stepped out as the argument continued, your mother growing angrier as you tiptoed down the hallway to the kitchen. She grabbed a frying pan from the dish rack as you stopped in the doorway and she waved it at the man standing on the other side of the table.

“I’ll just have to make you,” She warned. “Now go--”

“Mum,” You rubbed your eyes. “What’s going on?” You looked to the man as he turned to look at you. It was the same man from the day before. You recoiled and pressed yourself to the wall. “Who is that?”

“No one. He’s leaving.” She edged around the table and drew back the frying pan.

He didn’t move. She swung and he caught the pan as his palm deflected it away from his head. He wrenched it away from her and tossed it away.

“Sit down, your highness,” He glared at your mother as he clanked the pan against the table.

You frowned and looked at your mother. Her eyes glinted at you and she shook her head.

“You will not tell my daughter what to do,” She scowled. “Not in my house.”

“You can send me away now, but I’ll be back.” He looked around the kitchen. “Looks like you can afford a fine lawyer, indeed.”

“Lawyer?” Your mother spat.

“There’s a contract, Princess,” He sneered. 

“There is no kingdom left. No crown, no throne.” Your mother neared and grabbed your wrist, drawing you to her. “My daughter does not belong to anyone.”

“Your own father signed the accord. We paid our dues, even after his fall, we expect you to fulfill your end of the contract.”

“My father is dead,” She pushed in front of you, shielding you from the man. His square jaw twitched and his blue eyes glimmered defiantly.

“As his heir, you would acquire his responsibility. She is his first born granddaughter.” The man asserted. 

“She has no title.” Your mother insisted. “You can see we have no wealth, no holdings. We are displaced; we are common.”

“Princess Karissa of Ecklun,” The man addressed your mother, “Her daughter, Duchess of Brey. You needn’t land to uphold your titles… and your obligations.”

“The contract is old. Outdated.” Your mother countered. “There are other duchesses. Real ones.”

“The contract is legal still, it has been upheld to this point and there is no clause for annulment. Unless of course you have the funds to buy out the agreement.” He challenged. “Fifteen million, with interest.”

Your mother was silent. He hand squeezed your wrist. 

“I never received any of these payments you claim to have made,” She said.

“In a trust, as stated in the contract, to be accessible upon the day of marriage.” He declared. “If you insist, however, I can return with my legal council… and a military escort.”

Your mother let out a long breath. She released you and shakily pulled out a chair from the table. “Sit,” She gestured you forward and drew another chair out. “I’ll entertain your… discussion.”

You stepped forward and sat and she did too. The man across from you lowered himself into another chair and set down his briefcase on the floor. He reached inside and drew out a bundle of papers. He slid them across to your mother.

“If you’d like to look over the terms,” He smirked. “You’ll see all is as I said.”

“He couldn’t find another bride?” She spat as she ignored the contract.

“Not legally.” He insisted and looked at you. “Forgive me. I didn’t introduce myself, your highness. James Barnes, I am a representative of the Astranian court.”

“I don’t--” You blinked. “I don’t understand what’s--”

“Yes, apparently your mother has created a convincing ruse here in this… slum,” He sighed. “What do you know of your grandfather?”

“Don’t talk to her.” Your mother snipped. “Talk to me.”

“She must know--”

“I will explain. That is my responsibility. My right.” She sneered and grabbed the papers. 

She flipped the first page, then the second, she continued as she hastily read through it. You peeked over her shoulder but she kept turning away to block you. When she finished, she turned it face down.

“You signed it, Princess,” The man said.

“I was sixteen.” She said. “I was still a child.”

“You were a married woman.” He returned.

“A girl forced into a ring.” She slapped the paper. “And you would have me do the same to my daughter?”

“You already did,” He said plainly. “And she is older. Quite a few years, in fact.”

“It took you years to find us,” She grinned. “You think you’ll be as lucky again?”

“You are being watched. You have been watched.” He pushed his shoulders back. “We have waited long enough.”

“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” You said.

The man, Barnes, looked at you. Appalled.

“I will,” Your mother squeezed your arm. “Mr. Barnes.” She turned back to him, her head held high. “Might you allow me some time to prepare?”

“To run?” He challenged.

“If we are being watched as you say, that should not be an issue,” She sniffed. “You must understand the circumstance.”

“I do understand your negligence,” He raised a brow. “One day. That is all I can allow you.”

He left the contract and stood. He took his briefcase and nodded to the table. “A copy for your records.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card and flicked it onto the document. “My information should you require it.”

He bowed his head and turned to leave you. The door opened and closed loudly as he strode out the back door. You sat, perplexed, and reached for the contract. Your mother caught your hand. She turned to you and drew your hand back with her.

“Honey,” She said softly. “I need you to listen to me. Just-- don’t talk, just listen.”

“Mum, I--”

“You’re going to hate me. I know that hate, I felt the same for my own father. I would not blame you for hating me even more than that.” She said grimly. “But please, there is much I need to tell you. That I should’ve told you before.”

“I don’t-- I don’t understand.” You sputtered.

“So just listen,” She pleaded. You nodded and your stomach bubbled nervously. “You’ve heard of Ecklun? You were always so fond of history.” You confirmed and she continued on. “And Astrania. Occasional allies until the dissolution of the former… but that all doesn’t matter.” 

Your mother hung her head. 

“My father knew the tide was against him. He tried to rally his reinforcements, he made promises to those he thought could help. He was the king, you see? He was dethroned, we were all thrown out of the country. I tried to… stay with him. Tried to make him move on but he wouldn’t. So after I had you, I left. Your father didn’t want to let go either and he refused to come with me.”

She touched her cheek and shuddered.

“It was all gone so I thought that meant it was over. Everything. The promises, the debts.” She shook her head. “I tried so hard to start over. For you. But… Your grandfather promised you to the heir of Astrania to fund his personal guard. The same that ejected us from our home.”

She twined her fingers together then pulled them apart. She gulped before she found her voice again.

“That heir is now in power,” She could barely look at you. “And you… you are to be his wife.”

“I-- no, they can’t-- it--”

“I thought I could stop it. I didn’t think they’d want it still but-- I always hated how backwards it all was. Bloodlines, lineage, privilege… It was all so ridiculous.” She huffed. “I-- tried. I failed.”

“You ran once, we can--”

“That man found me. I am not foolish to think he did not come with back-up. I have seen what happens when you undermine others. I have seen the ugliness of it. I can’t say what’s worse; to let them have you or to refuse and suffer further. You don’t know how-- I was stupid enough to think I could ever outpace them.”

You gaped at her. Shocked, angry, sickened.

“And now I can’t stop them.” She uttered.

“You didn’t tell me,” You breathed. “You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry--”

“I have school, work...I… No, they can’t. I have a life!” You stood and the chair wobbled.

“Honey, please,” She got to her feet. “I know how it feels. Trust me. My father, he did the same--”

“So what? Family tradition?” You scoffed. “They can’t make me. I’m staying. I’m going to school, I’m working. I’m not--”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“I won’t go!” You shouted.

“They’ll make you.”

“How?”

She looked at you. Her face was grim, her wrinkles more apparent than ever before. She didn’t need to say.

“They can’t--”

“They’ll find a way.” She muttered. “They always do. I’m so so sor--”

“So I’ll make them drag me,” You said. “I’ll fight it.”

“It’s treason--”

“It’s the twenty-first century!”

“Not there. It’s not the same as here. There’s no one to stop them.” 

You didn’t know what to say. You hit the table and swore. You stormed from the room and slammed your door before you fell onto the bed and screamed into your pillows. 

It was a dream. It had to be a dream!

[saigonharrington]

nervous // g.w

Hi babes!

I’m finally posting the George fic that I was talking about and I am so excited for you to read it!

please, reblog if you like it, it helps me grow

disclaimer: my knowledge of werewolves is based only on a little internet research and the tv series named teen wolf, the episode named Anchors inspired me to write this

pairing: george weasley x werewolf!fem!reader

word count: 6k

Y/N - your name; L/N - last name; Y/F/N - your friend’s name

warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, (kind of) panicking

summary: y/n is afraid of who she became, thinking that now she’s unlikable, but her new abilities prove her wrong, making her hear the boy’s talking and... the beating of his heart

“Hey, he’s staring again.” Your friend noticed the boy, who was standing across the hall with his brother and their friends.

Who was she talking about? George Weasley, of course, the person whose heart you could hear from miles away.

You met him a while ago, wandering through the halls at night, trying to sort some things out while he and his brother were bringing their another prank to life. Of all people attending Hogwarts, you bumped into them. 

You never thought that someone, besides Prefects, would be seen in the corridors so you didn’t pay attention, focusing only on your thoughts.  No wonder you got quite overwhelmed when you hit your head with something, and it definitely wasn’t a wall.

“Are you okay?” The redheaded boy asked you, worried about your well-being. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t take my eyes off that Zonko’s new item. Are you sure you are fine? I can walk you to madam Pomfrey.” 

“Oh, don’t worry about me.” You said, looking at the moon. “I’m heading to my dormitory, don’t want to bother you and your brother.” You nodded at him, so he told you his name.

“I’m Fred. The more handsome one. Also, the funnier one, because I’ve just made out an amazing plan. Care to join us? I swear you will not regret it. ” He encouraged you, and you didn’t want to be rude, finally agreeing to go with them. A couple of minutes more outside the dorm can’t hurt you, right?

The thing is, you spent almost the whole night preparing pranks with them and idly talking, joking about Snape and Filch. 

The problem is, you haven't talked with them since that accident. Sometimes you exchanged a few words in classes you had together but nothing more.

So then why did George have a crush on you?

You asked yourself that question many times since you first heard him confessing his feelings to Fred. Every time this boy got closer to you or touched you accidentally, his heart was beating so fast like a drum. Your heart has been just as fast as his, but he couldn’t know that. You didn’t even know if it was because you shared his feelings, or did just knowing what he feels towards you, made you that anxious. 

“I know. I’m still not able to control these new super senses. I saw him a while ago. Not to mention that his heart makes my ears hurt. ” You admitted, holding your head because all these sounds were giving you a headache.

“Well, maybe if you’d finally talk to him, your senses wouldn’t be a big problem. Perhaps if you can’t manage to control them, you should ask someone who might help you. Go to professor Lupin.”

“But he doesn’t know that I’m a werewolf. I’m still not comfortable when someone mentions that. ” You said, scared of what you’d become. You knew that sooner or later you were supposed to reach for help, but you felt insecure and didn’t want to recall that night when you were bitten.

“He’s coming over here.” Your friend interrupted your thought, reminding you of George. 

“No way, we have to run.” You started packing your bag, standing up from sitting on the bench. 

“Too late.” She added, making you turn around.

“Hello girls, how’s your day?” He asked nicely, staring at you constantly. 

“Bad.” You whispered.

“Getting better.” Your friend interrupted you, because she knew how much you wanted to walk away, and she couldn’t let you, knowing that you have to confront him anyway. 

“Great, I wanted to ask you a question.” He pointed at you, smiling widely. “Would you go on a date with me?” He scratched his back, getting stressed. You heard his heart pounding, which made you even angrier. The sound was so loud that you weren’t able to hear anything other than that, feeling like you could pass out at any moment. 

“She would love to.” Your friend took the lead, which made the boy wonder why you weren’t responding. “She’s just as stressed as you are. Sorry for speaking in her name, but she talked about you for so long. I hope you understand.”

“Oh, no worries. Meet me after the lessons on Friday. I’ll be waiting near to the great hall. ” He explained, addressing it to you, adding a short “see you later” after his brother called after him.

“You should thank me.” Your friend addressed you, asking you to sit down.

“Gosh, his heart was beating so fast. I couldn’t focus.” You told her, relaxing a bit. “And no, I will not thank you. Can’t you understand why I’m avoiding him? I thought I told you.”

“No, I can. I just think that you’re wrong. ” She told you, winking at you.

“Think about it. If he’ll find out who I am, he won’t talk to me again. I’d rather stare at him, being miles away and aware that he likes me too than admitting who I am and getting rejected, him not being able to look at me again.” You admitted, hearing your voice cracking slowly. 

“You idiot. You really think that werewolves are some type of creature that cannot function normally? You’re here for centuries, managing everything somehow, I bet that there were werewolves married to Muggles, to wizards, and many more. Don’t think of yourself as a beast, some kind of unlovable creature. That’s not what you are. You’re perfectly normal. By the way, bold of you to assume that he’s the first one to judge and won’t accept you.” She gave you a speech, trying to cheer you up.

“That’s exactly what I think. Can you blame me? I’m still not used to this, I never really talked with any other werewolves.”

“Then stop! See, you’re also prejudging him. There’s only one way to find out what he’s thinking about you. You’ll tell him the truth. But for now, we have to find Lupin.”

—

You were not ready yesterday, so after your friend spotted Lupin, you decided to hide. You wanted to be prepared for every topic that he will discuss with you, deciding that you’ll ask him to stay for a little talk when the DADA lesson finishes. 

“Can I speak with you for a moment, professor?” You asked, trying to sound quiet. 

“Yes, you may. What’s the problem, miss L/N?” 

“If you’re going to ask questions, then I might stay here for a little longer than ‘ a moment ’.” You joked, secretly being scared of admitting the truth.

“Anyway. As you may know, I am a werewolf. Before you ask, I prefer not to tell you how it happened. I’m still learning, and you’re the only one that came to mind. I thought that you might help me.”

“You should’ve come earlier. Weren’t you curious earlier about your abilities and how to control them?”

“I was. But I was also too afraid to say something. Werewolves aren’t considered as the nicest creatures, I wanted to avoid gossip. I still want to. ” You started a monologue, watching closely if Lupin is paying attention to you. “The main reason for me coming to have a little chat with you is not only to ask about my abilities. I’m invested in hearing. Because I cannot understand why some sounds are clearer and come to my mind often? What makes them so?”

“Do you have something specific in your mind?” He asked, being eager to help you.

“Someone’s heart beating. I mean, I hear a lot of sounds, but this one is haunting me, even if that person is completely in a different place. Am I losing my mind? Or did this happen to you as well?”

“This person is your anchor, then. The one who can calm you down, who can help you control all of your new skills. But it might change through the years, you don’t have one anchor for eternity. Everything is based on your feelings. ” Remus explained calmly.

“Who was your anchor? You don’t have to tell me if you’re not feeling comfortable with it, after all, I’m just another Hogwarts student. ” You asked out of curiosity, wishing that he will open up to you.

“It used to be someone who was my friend. I don’t think I have an anchor anymore. ” He answered, being rather peaceful and not bothered by it, however, you wanted to comfort him, asking for permission to hug him.

“You’ll find another anchor. You said that we can have it more than once, right? I bet that somewhere there is someone special, whose ability is to calm you down. ” You smiled shyly.

“Um, eh, we’re not here to be upset. Let’s focus on your issue.” He said, wanting to change the topic. “What you need to control your abilities is physical contact with that special someone. I can’t assure you that it will work after the first attempt, but it certainly might help.

 “But that takes time, I think I was able to control most parts of it after months. Still, some things are not under my control. Anyway, don’t worry about that, everything has its flaws. If you’ll excuse me, I have an important meeting soon, I don't want to be late. If you want, we can meet again after one of my lessons.” Lupin bid you goodbye, making you leave his classroom.

As you were left alone, you started thinking about the conversation that happened seconds ago. It did not make sense to you.

How could George be your anchor? 

Sure, you had a crush on him for a while, but nothing ever happened between you two. That one night, which you spent preparing pranks with twins was fun, nothing else. You decided to not make any more friends, because you remembered how Y/F/N reacted when you said that you’re a werewolf. So you drifted away not only for your own good, but also for his. 

Why him? Why isn’t it your friend, or even someone from your family who is  your anchor? And how are you going to explain it to him? “Hey, I’m a werewolf, and you’re the only one that keeps me sane? You have to stay with me forever, otherwise I might go crazy?” 

No way. You couldn’t  see it.

At the same time, George was calmly waiting for you next to the Defence Against the Dark Arts  classroom. He noticed that you stayed for a little talk with Remus, but he also was eager to talk to you. 

Your date was supposed to happen tomorrow, and he wanted to make sure that you’re comfortable with him, and that you have something to talk about. He was afraid that maybe somehow tomorrow you guys will be stressed, so chatting the day before, no strings attached and just getting to know each other might lighten the mood. 

“Hey.” He started the conversation without thinking about it. ‘Hey’? Couldn’t you think about anything better? Something more creative? Now she will think that you were stalking her, you dumbass, he thought, standing in front of you.

Never was he that close to you, or maybe just didn’t pay attention when you were around, but now he noticed the height difference between the both of you. He found it really hard not to kneel down, so he could see your eyes gleaming. Although he considered it cute and funny, he decided not to mock it. Well, not right now, since he had other reasons to talk to you and was so fixated about it.

“Hello George, what could have  brought you here?” You asked, not bothering to look at him, because you would have to keep your head up.

“We just had the same lesson.  I sit in front of you. ” He explained, thinking that you didn’t notice that detail. If the tall, ginger boy can be considered as a detail.

“Oh, I know. But the lesson ended 20 minutes ago. ” You said, wondering if he will say what he has in mind or will just play pretend.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you. Nothing deep, only to diffuse the tension before our meeting tomorrow. ” He scratched his head, walking slowly by your side.

“Meeting you say, and what’s that?” You teased him a little, finding it funny and adorable that he was afraid to use the word ‘date’.

“You know, when a group of people, two and above, meets somewhere. God, I was scared that I’m going to be the dumb one. Now I can relax. But I have to admit, I expected more from you. ” He joked, coping with his fear.

“Okay, so what’s the pre-meeting topic that made you come to me?”

“Actually…” He began, but you interfered.

“Shit. My friend is there.” You pointed at the end of the corridor, where she was talking with a Ravenclaw from your year. “We have to hide, I’ll explain.” You pushed him to the next door that appeared in front of you, finding yourself in Filch’s office. Great.

“Can you explain now? I thought that you like her. ” He asked out of curiosity.

“I do, but I don’t want her to interject in our conversation. Shh, I think someone’s coming. We should hide. ” You advised, being pretty sure that it’s Filch. Who else would  come to his office? You made George hide behind the huge bookshelf, noticing how little space there was.

“You know, we could also say a spell to make us invisible.” He laughed at you, trying to find a comfortable position.

“Too late. Shut your mouth. ” You both tried to stay silent, hearing the sound of someone opening the door. George was almost sitting, because if he would stand normally, his head could be seen above the bookshelf. 

His eyes were focused on you and your face in general, which made you hold your laughs way harder than you thought it would. If either  of you made a sound, you’d end up in detention, and Filch would make sure that you get the worst punishment. 

Fortunately, he only came to get one thing from his desk, so as soon as you heard the door shut, George suddenly moved, hitting his head on the shelf. 

“Shh.” You said, listening closely to the steps that were getting closer.

“Ah, Mr. Norris, I forgot about you! But you didn’t have to hit the door so hard. I hope you forgive me. ” He said to the cat that stayed in his office, but this time he took it with him.

While they were going out of the office, you had to silence the boy, who was struggling because of pain. It was not your intention to show your werewolf abilities, however, he looked as it really hurt him, wanting to scream. 

“Show me the back of your head.” You demanded, when the two of you went out of the hideaway. You slowly took his head with one hand, the other one intertwining with his fingers. He had no idea what you were doing. It was clever of you to take his hand, making it look like you were comforting him, while you took some of his pain away. Fortunately, you were wearing your long robes, so your veins were not visible. Otherwise, the boy would’ve seen how you were taking the sore, making the veins look blackish.

If it weren’t for your location and the cause of his headache, both of you would be on the way to the hospital wing. But how could you explain that George hit the bookshelf in Filch’s office? Well, you couldn’t. Good for you that the boy did not question your methods, he probably didn’t even notice the thing that you had done. 

“That was weird. But also hilarious.” George admitted, laughing way too loud, when you carefully opened the door to check what’s going on outside the office. After you made sure that no one was staring, you took his hand again, making him go after you.

While wandering through corridors, you noticed it is almost empty.

“Why is no one here?” You asked, not expecting the ginger boy to answer.

“You know, I think everyone is having classes. We’re going to be late.” 

“Oh no, we’re not going at all.” You replied quickly. “Not in the mood to get all the attention today, apparently the world is against me. We gotta be smarter, let’s play truant.” You tried to encourage George, but he already seemed to be in.

“That sounds great! Now I really do feel like we’re soulmates.”

“You doubted it? Wait, you never even mentioned that to me. ” You craved for an explanation, while George wasn’t so fond of telling you more.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a silly word. I intended to ask you something. Why didn’t you say anything when I asked for a date? Is it because you didn’t want to, or find me too intimidating?”

“Do you want the answer that will make you look bad, or do I have to take all the blame?”

“Depends which is the correct one.” He replied teasingly.

“I mean, I did think it was a little weird that you asked me, because after the pranks that night we talked only occasionally… how could I possibly be your soulmate? How could you grow to like me when you don’t know me at all? ” Yeah, you might regret that later, but you had to be honest.

“Merlin, I’m going to sound like a weirdo, but I do know you. At least I think so. You showed the real yourself that night, being careless and funny, besides in most of my classes I’m focusing on you, not the topic. I’m definitely sounding like a psycho, but you always sit in front of me or behind me, joking with your friend and I cannot help but hear more than a little and laugh quietly. I’ve liked you since that damn night and got to know you, in an unusual way, but still felt like we’re similar. That’s why I had to shoot my shot. Please don’t leave. ” He said, grabbing my hand, afraid of the vision that I might freak out.

“Can you shut up?” You replied in a harsh way, later realizing what you had done. “Shit, I didn’t mean… I just… you can speak. I’m just… Can you calm down? It sounds like your heart is going to run away from your body.” 

“Am I sweating or what?” He asked, curious how did you notice that his heart was fluttering.

“Oh no I actually… I can hear your heart beating. Very, very fast. And that you’re swallowing now the gulp of saliva, because you’re scared. I even hear professor Flitwick explaining the cheering charm to the 3rd years. And that Hagrid is coming, I think he’ll appear in this corridor in two minutes.”

“Your eyes have just changed from their natural  color. What is going on? Is something wrong? I am worried, I want to help you darling. ” He tried to comfort you, so you didn’t even notice the nickname. “Are you an Animagus? Metamorphmagus?”

“I’m a werewolf. I’m a werewolf, George. I’m so sorry, I know, I should’ve told you earlier. ” You admitted the truth, now being the one who’s afraid.

“No way! That’s so cool! I’m glad that I know! How many people know? Is this why you talked with Lupin? Can you show me your claws? And your transformation? ” The ginger got way too excited, so your job was to tone him down. 

“Shh, remember that we’re in corridors, when  we should be in classes. No one can know that we’re here. I’m so sorry for saying this, but I can’t show you. Not only is it irresponsible, but.. I can’t control anything since I was bitten. It might be because I’m that creature for the short term. I haven’t  learned to control it yet, no one was kind enough to show me. Oh wait, the only werewolf that I know and trust is Remus and I told him the news just today.”

“But you told me that you hear my heart beating...  It’s one of your abilities, right? ” He asked curiously.

“Yeah, it is. See, I either don’t know how to do things or they’re out of my control. I can smell like everything in this corridor right now, and trust me, when it’s mixed, it’s awful. I told you, I hear not only you, but even what’s happening in the charms classroom that is in front of us,” you took a deep breath, trying to gather your wits,

 “I also see the flying lessons from that window and I can recall every face of the students that are now attending that lesson. The problem is, that I don’t want to. This information is totally not needed by me, but I can’t control it.”

 “I can’t decide yet what I want to smell or hear… it’s really hard. That’s why I couldn’t answer you when you asked me on a date. I heard your heart, and it caused my headache, that’s why my friend took the lead and talked with you that day.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Now that I know what was happening, I can relax. Should I say sorry for the sound of my heart? I didn’t want to…”

“It’s okay.” You interjected, comforting him, while it’s you who needed the comfort. “It’s not that bad, since you consider us soulmates, me, remembering how your heart beat sounds, it’s quite romantic.” You smiled shyly, avoiding eye contact.

“Can I?” George started, but took a break, wishing that you know what he has in his mind. You didn’t, so you stared at him with interest. “Can I listen to your heart? I wish I could remember yours too.”

You nodded at him, but the boy was too awkward to start this. You took his hand, leading it slowly to your chest, getting out of your comfort zone. 

“You know, maybe you should rest your head on me. It won’t look as weird as you're almost touching my breasts. ” You started laughing, wondering if you’re  taking this too far.

“Alright then.” He got a little more confident, doing as you told him so. “And I was hoping that we were going to have sex.”

“And you’re my soulmate?? Man, I would never do it in public. In front of the charms' classroom? What if Flitwick or students… I can’t even say it. You’re something else, Weasley.” You patted him on his head, which was still resting on your arm.

“I was going to tell you something really important. But since you got too cocky, you’re gonna have to wait ‘til  our date. ” You started, feeling ready to explain to him about  the anchor. You didn’t change your mind, because you will tell him anyway. Since the two of you got way too comfortable around each other, you decided to tease him a little. 

“Oh please, don’t leave me hanging on. I can give you… something. ” He tried to convince you, taking some sweets from his pocket.

“No way, I know what you’re giving me. It’s Zonko’s hiccough sweet. Won’t happen. ” You replied, declining his offer. The bell ringing made you realize that the lesson has ended and the two of you should hide or at least make an excuse why didn’t you show up to your classes. Not only for the teachers, but for the friends' curiosity. What were you going to say? It seemed easier to just disappear than explain everything. 

“I’m sorry, but Fred is watching us and I think we have something to talk about.” George got up, waving to his brother. “See you tomorrow then? Please, don’t be late” He added, lending you a hand in case you wanted to stand up, but you kindly declined it, deciding to sit for a little longer.

“Where were you? I was freaking out until I noticed that George was also absent. Good for you that it’s the transfiguration you had missed, not potions. Snape would kill you, or make you clean his class. Now, tell me what happened. In detail, please. ” She begged you, making you sigh at that statement, knowing that you two will probably miss another lesson, talking about your new friend, or, more like, soulmate?

—

The date was about to begin in 30 minutes, you were sitting calmly in your dorm, listening to your friend’s rambling.

“What do you mean by saying that you have ‘a lot of time’? Is thirty minutes a lot? You aren’t ready at all! At least change your shirt.”

“Well, I wanted to dress up. Then I started thinking if I should wear something casual, since it’s just Friday night, and we’re staying in school, or should I wear something elegant, to make this date more serious. Next I had a little panic attack for the same reason. Finally, I decided that I’m not gonna dress up. Too much pressure.”

“So you’re going in the same clothes that you were wearing for the whole day?” She asked you, wishing you’ll decide to change.

“Yeah, I don’t want to make it official. We’ll see what is going to happen.”

“At least brush your teeth for Merlin’s sake! I bet this boy is ready for something more than listening to your heart. ” She joked, making you terrified.

“Damn, what if he really does? What If I won’t be able to control myself and change into a werewolf? That would be so humiliating.”

“No! I’m sorry, don’t panic. I think he’ll be excited to see you in that way. You mentioned that he was very cool about that. ” She tried to calm you.

“No, you don’t understand. I can’t control myself. What If I harm him? I don’t want to... If something like that happens, then for sure he won’t keep in touch with me. ” You said, pacing  around the dorm to not freak out.

“Oh trust me, this boy is weird. And he likes taking risks. I bet that he will laugh about it and get excited. ” She summed it up, wishing that it might cheer me up.

Because of her, you  finally decided to get up and change clothes. You still wanted to be comfortable, hoping that casual clothes would fit in that situation, whatever it may be that George has planned. 

After saying goodbye to your  friend, you found yourself in the corridors, walking slowly, focusing on breathing slowly. There’s no need to worry, right?

A couple of minutes later you noticed George, standing in front of the Great Hall, just as he said to you  earlier, leaning against the wall. He was looking down at the floor, bouncing his head, probably to the song that he couldn’t get rid of. You did not want to interrupt, enjoying the view from afar, but you knew you had no choice.

“Stressed?” You asked him, watching as his eyes slowly looked  upon you. “Not any longer. You came. ” He smirked, asking for permission to take my hand. “Why wouldn’t I? Yesterday was fun. ” You admitted, being curious where the two of you are heading to. 

Before you realized you were outside of  Hogwarts, George led you to the location where everything was prepared. You couldn’t help but wonder what he has in his mind. Is he worried that you may not like that? Is he excited to show you? Is it still a date or just a friendly meeting? 

Seconds later the view was starting to get familiar  the Black Lake was for sure mesmerizing, but what amazed you more was a huge, colorful blanket  with so much food on it. 

“Did you make it?” You asked, noticing that a flower crown was also laying on the blanket. “Which charm did you use?” The boy flushed at this question, feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, I didn’t use any charm. I got anxious after everything was prepared, so I had to get my hands busy. We were making flower crowns when Ginny was little, so I was worried that I might not do it properly, because it was long ago, but I’m actually proud of that one. ” George explained everything to you, starting to gain his confidence back, seeing that you liked what he had done. He helped you put it on your head, and then you sat down, looking at swans swimming in the lake.

“Do you think that we will eat everything? It looks like a feast for the whole school, or at least for one of the houses. ” The food in front of you was disappearing very, very slowly. Although George was eating all the time, the blanket was still full of all kinds of food. At first, you weren’t eager to try this food, knowing that George might have done something with it, but when he reached for the snacks, you followed his actions. 

Talking with him was really pleasant, you felt weirdly comfortable around him, but still the anchor thing was haunting you. Sometimes you couldn’t focus, thinking how are you going to explain it to him. It wasn’t that hard to make words come out of your mouth. What worried you was the commitment. Do you have to be his girlfriend immediately after that confession? Does that strengthen the bond between you two? Or will it mean nothing to him?

You could admit that you liked him. A lot. But those words sounded like you expected him to be more than your friend, and you did not want to rush things. Maybe you’ll consider telling it to him after the date? Depends on if it’s going to be good or end awkwardly? 

You decided to brush it off, asking out of nowhere.

“George, what’s like to prank people? Do you feel excited or embarrassed while making them?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve never pranked someone.” He said seriously, but seeing your face made him realize that you weren’t joking as well.

 “No way. We have to prank someone together. Get up. Plans are changed.” He ordered, making sure that you do what he told you to, and then throwing the spell that made the blanket disappear.

“Did someone get under your skin lately?” Weasley said, probably having the plan already made in his head.

“Filch is yelling at me every day. Apparently Mr. Norris is not fond of my Kneazle.”

“And you’re letting him treat you like that? We gotta do something.” 

Going back to Hogwarts was quick and exciting. You never pranked anyone but you heard a lot of stories about the twins doing it, and having a chance to make it with one of them next to you, made you hope that it’s going to be fun. George decided that you’re gonna make a potion that will make Filch speak nonsense, it is Babbling Beverage. 

To do this, you had to sneak into the potions classroom, which wasn’t the easiest task, but definitely the interesting one. 

Joking with Weasley was really easy, this boy was a comedian. Spending time with him opened your eyes, that not everything has to be taken seriously in life. He could make fun of anything, yet you felt comfortable with him, because he knew when he should stop. 

Collecting all the things needed to brew this potion  created a silence between you two,  because you focused on the responsibility to make it perfect. Considering the fact that neither of you were good in potions, doing all of this was a challenge. But you knew it was worth it. For all the things Filch said to you, offending you every day, you waited for the sweet, sweet revenge. 

Finally, feeling ready, you broke the silence. 

“George, I have to say something. Please don’t make fun of me.”

 “No worries darling. I literally came to you and asked you out even though we didn’t talk much. If you didn’t make fun of me, then I won’t do it to you.” He admitted, taking the ladle out of your hands.

“How much do you know about werewolves?” You started slowly, not wanting to get to the point so quickly.

“Not much. Just that you and Remus are the ones. And that something happens when there’s a full moon. Do you want to say that I should learn more? Because I could do that for you. ” He replied, like it wasn’t a big thing, but it made you smile wide.

“Oh, you don’t have to.” You said, not wanting to put the pressure on him. “You know, there’s a thing called  an Anchor.” You started, taking a deep breath to think what you should say.

“And what’s that?” He asked out of curiosity, wishing that you could explain everything now, because he hated living with the unawareness. “You can trust me.” He added, taking your palm in his and rubbing it slowly with his thumb.

“I don’t know how to say this. I’m nervous. It... it’s a thing, or a person... actually, it is a person, who can calm the werewolf. They don’t have to be next to the creature, just the thought of them makes the werewolf control everything, making them able to not transform into the beast... you know. ” You started messing up the words, feeling incredibly stressed, and the fact that George was staring deep in your eyes, didn’t help you at all.

“Sorry to bother you, but we have to wait one hour for this ingredient to get warmer. We can sit in the storeroom then.”   He took off his jacket, putting it on the floor to make the place a bit more cozy.

You sat next to him, staying silent, knowing that when he interrupted you, it could mean that he’s not interested in the werewolf things. “What you said about the anchor... I think it’s pretty romantic. But why did you mention it to me?” 

“Don’t make me say it Weasley. I really don’t want to. I don’t even think I can. ” You tried to make it obvious that it’s him, but he clearly wanted you to admit it out loud.

“No way, is it Snape? That’s why we’re sitting here? Or is it Filch? And you want to show him the affection through the pranks? You're a weirdo, Y/N.” He laughed.

 “And you clearly don’t know what I have in mind.” You said, getting the confidence you gained lately.

“Do you mean you’re going to change tonight? Should I run? Or try to keep you calm? ” He was asking.

“If someone’s going to be that dumb, I might harm him. Just in case. ” You tried to tease him back, not wanting to say those words.

“Can I kiss you? These threats sound so hot when it comes out of your mouth. ” He asked, so you nodded quietly, watching as he was leaning closer. “Just don’t bite me, or do it. I would be the best werewolf, and the most handsome one. ” He whispered between the kisses.

“Your heart is so freaking loud. Maybe we should stop, we don’t want you to die or have a heart attack. ” You replied, showing that you care.

“We don’t? I didn’t know that. Also, I thought that you can’t hear it anymore. Since I am your anchor, and all you do right now is think of me...” he said confidently, admitting the things you were scared to say.

“Glad you finally understood. But it doesn’t work like that...” You were eager to explain everything once more, yet George had the courage to interrupt you again.

“Shh, we will have the time for talking. I’m now stuck with you forever, to be your Prince Charming and hero when you won’t be able to control yourself. But you are able now, and the night is long…”

“Don’t be so sure.” You interjected, moving closer and deciding to sit on him.

As George said, the night was long. The two of you forgot about the potion you were making, focusing on something else.

 The worst thing was how easy the two of you fell asleep.

 Snape seeing you that morning, sleeping, covered with your robes, was quite surprised. And furious. He yelled at you, making you wake up, not knowing where you are and what you were doing last night.

 It was obvious that he’s going to serve detention for you.

 But what could possibly go wrong, now that you have your anchor beside you?

tagging some people: @weasleysandwheezes @nerdyblogger06 @georgeweasley-whore @georgeweasleysbabe @asimpfortheweasleys

join my 100 followers sleepover

[curiosi-tea-writes]

Ice Cream

Pairing: Din Djarin / Cobb Vanth

Modern AU

Summary: The very beginning of Din and Cobb’s relationship. It all started with an astronomy class, ice cream, and hockey.

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

"Look, its not my fault you don't pay attention in class, Cowboy," Din laughed as he flipped the page of his notebook.

'Actually, it is,' Cobb thought with a light scoff.

And it really was as far as Cobb was concerned. It was entirely his fault for wearing that dorky NASA hoodie to every astronomy class every day. It was his fault for the way he pushed up his glasses every time he asked a question even if they weren't falling down. It was entirely his fault for deciding to be his partner that first week of class when he could have gone with any other person. It was most definitely his fault for making Cobb enjoy a class he was only taking for science credits.

 All the little things he caught out of the corner of his eye - little smiles, quick glances he couldn’t help give in response. All the times he realized that Din’s chair was slightly closer than it was the class before. All the times he caught himself double checking the mirror before he left his apartment. That was all Din’s fault.

The professor’s voice drew him out of his thoughts. He was always almost upset when someone interrupted his thoughts, especially when his thoughts were about Din. If he were being honest, most of his thoughts these days were about Din. 

“Hey, Cowboy,” Din whispered with a nudge, still looking at the professor. Anybody else wouldn’t have even realized he had said anything at all. Cobb glanced at him quickly with a soft hum. “Did you want to get ice cream after?”

Cobb wished he could claim he didn’t stutter out his answer, but he did. All he could do after was lower his head to hide the red of his face. Din was glad for that - it meant Cobb couldn’t see the small smirk he couldn’t help at getting the answer he had wanted. 

After class, Din and Cobb sat on a bench, eating their strawberry and peach ice cream. Din happily jumped right into his explanations of what they had learned in class that day. Cobb listened as intently as he could, trying hard to not allow his mind to wander. He wondered if Din knew how soothing his voice was or if he was completely oblivious to the way his voice made Cobb feel. He was so focused on Din’s voice that it took Cobb a good twenty minutes to realize that this ice cream date was a study session. 

“Din?” he cut him off in the middle of a sentence he hadn’t really heard the words of. “Why are you helping me?”

Din ran a hand through his already messy dark hair and chuckled. “Well, you need help, right? I mean, I know you’ve been struggling with the class.”

“So, you feel sorry for me?” Cobb scoffed. He slouched a bit in his seat and huffed out a sigh, surprising himself at how he went from drastically happy to be with Din to being drastically upset.

“No,” Din said a little too quickly. He shifted on the bench, tucking one of his legs under his other, tossing his arm over the back of the bench so he could fully face Cobb. He sighed, realizing he had actually offended him. “Look, you’re a hockey player, right?”

Cobb nodded, still not really wanting to look at him.

“So, you’ve already made it clear you’re taking the class just for credits. But I actually really enjoy astronomy. Why not let me help you actually try to pass it?”

With a sigh Cobb turned and mirrored Din’s position. “Alright,” he sighed with a nod. “Yeah, fine. You’re right.”

With a smile, Din continued. And surprisingly to himself, Cobb actually began to retain the information.

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

As the semester passed, the ice cream dates continued. As Cobb’s grade in the class slowly became acceptable, they stopped being about studying and instead became just about each other. Cobb learned about Din’s son and Din listened to Cobb’s recounts of hockey games. 

“I’ve never actually been to a hockey game before,” Din laughed, taking another bite of his ice cream.

Cobb perked up with a smile. “You should come to the next one. We’re having a party afterwards since it’s the last one of the semester, you could come to that too.”

“I thought you didn’t like your teammates,” Din questioned.

“I don’t, but I’m expected to go to these parties.” 

“I’ll think about it,” Din reasoned. 

And think about it he did. The entire week leading up to the game. He sent far too many texts to his friends asking for their opinions, each of whom sent him messages back which stated something along the lines of “just do it.” So on Saturday evening he threw on his hoodie, grabbed his messenger bag, and headed out the door, calling out a “thank you” to Peli for babysitting on his way out.

He sat at the top of the bleachers, bundled up in his hoodie, wishing he had brought another jacket. He couldn’t help his smile when Cobb came out on the ice and he continued smiling the entire time, his eyes following Cobb closely. He understood nothing about the game, only really half understanding the terms Cobb had dropped when they would get ice cream. 

At the first break he watched as Cobb glanced around the seats before skating over towards him, waving his hand for Din to come down. Din chuckled and did as he asked and joined him at one of the doors leading onto the ice as Cobb took off his helmet.

“Enjoying the game?” 

“It’s cold,” Din remarked, forcing a chuckle from Cobb which in turn caused one from himself.

“Well yeah, it’s ice!” Cobb gave him a small look of pity before holding up a finger and skating away, leaving Din standing alone awkwardly. He was glancing around and hardly noticed when Cobb had returned, a black leather jacket and scarf in hand. “Here, now you won’t freeze to death.” He opened the door and handed the jacket to Din who took it thankfully.

He quickly put it on over his hoodie, pushing his hands deep into the pockets with a huff.

“Better?” Cobb asked with a laugh.

“Much, thank you.” Din attempted to ignore the new warmth on his face. 

“Here,” Cobb said quickly as he unfolded the red scarf and wrapped it around Din’s neck. “Now you’ll really be warm.”

They stood there for a long moment, both just basking in the moment. Din opened his mouth to say something else, not really knowing himself what he wanted to say. Well, he knew what he wanted to say, but he didn’t think that it was something Cobb wanted to hear. He was saved, however, when one of Cobb’s teammates called for him to rejoin the team. Cobb just gave a bright smile and a small wave as he turned and skated back.

The rest of the game passed much more comfortably. Din really tried to ignore the amount of Cobb’s cologne he could smell in the scarf. He more than once caught himself with his nose deep in the scarf before telling himself that it wasn’t right and he straightened his back and tried to focus on the game. He smiled brightly when there was down time in the game and Cobb would catch his eye and gave a small wave. 

When the game had ended Din waited outside as everyone cleared out of the rink, jacket and scarf in hand, leaning against a light pole near the curb. Cobb came outside, turned around talking to two of his teammates. He was in the middle of a laugh when he turned and saw Din. His loud laugh quickly turned soft along with his eyes and he gave the darker haired man a large grin. He excused himself from his group and made his way over to him.

“How was the game?”

“You just played it,” Din pointed out with a laugh. At Cobb’s glare he nodded, “I enjoyed it. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Thank you for coming,” Cobb returned easily. 

There was another moment of silence much like inside the rink. Neither really cared about the chill of the air or the late hour. They just wanted to stay there, staring into each other’s eyes.

At the sound of a car honking, Cobb jumped and turned towards the source to see his teammates in the car waiting for him. “I should-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Din said. “You go. You have a party to go to.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Cobb asked as Din handed him back his scarf and jacket.

“I’m sure. Parties aren’t really my scene. Plus Grogu is at home, I should get back to him.”

Cobb nodded and they said their goodbyes. “I’ll call you later,” Cobb shouted back to him as he got in the car. Din just nodded with a grin and waved him off before heading back to his apartment.

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

Din was woken up by his phone ringing loudly. He had fallen asleep on the sofa after having fought to get Grogu to bed. He was still in his jeans and hoodie, and still just as exhausted as when he had sat down. He shushed his phone in a panic, knowing it would do nothing to actually help, just not wanting Grogu to wake up. He glanced at Cobb’s name across his screen.

“When people say ‘I’ll call you later,’ they typically mean at least the next day,” he grumbled when he picked.

He heard Cobb’s chuckle on the other end. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. And technically it is the next day.” He sounded almost as exhausted as Din felt.

Din hummed. “What time is it?” He glanced at the clock in the kitchen but his eyes were too blurry from sleep to read it. 

“It’s 1 am. I’m really sorry.” And he sounded really sorry too, which broke Din’s heart.

“It’s alright. Are you alright?” he asked in a hurry, finally awake enough to realize Cobb wouldn’t be calling so late unless he needed to.

“I’m alright.” Din sighed in relief. “But I do have a big favor to ask.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Is there any way you could come get me? Or call somebody to come get me?”

“What happened?” Din was back on edge. He could hear the frustration in Cobb’s voice.

“I just,” he sighed again, “I’ve had too much to drink to walk home, I don’t like the idea of asking someone here for a ride, and if I stay here any longer than I have to somebody is getting punched.”

Din was already up putting on his shoes. “What’s the address?”

The next few minutes passed in a blur. He quickly woke Grogu up enough to get his jacket and shoes on and get him into the car. The kid was out again seconds after his father buckled him in. Din drove as steadily as he could, trying not to panic or speed and failing at both. When he finally got to the house, he pulled up front and checked on Grogu before getting out and locking the doors, deciding he couldn’t and shouldn’t take him with him to the door. 

He rang the door bell and the door was quickly answered by a disheveled looking college student. “I’m here to get Cobb.”

The man looked him up and down and chuckled. He turned his head over his shoulder and called out, “Vanth, your boyfriend is here!” 

“Oh, no,” Din said quickly. “I’m just here to pick him up.”

“Hey, Darlin’,” Cobb slurred as he came to the door, wrapping his scarf around his neck. 

There were whistles from the other hockey players inside the house and Cobb just rolled his eyes and he pushed past the player at the door and throwing he arm over Din’s shoulders and he pulls him towards the car. 

Once they were inside and Din was pulling away, Cobb cleared his throat. “Thank you for getting me,” he whispered. He turned and glanced at Grogu still asleep in his car seat behind his dad. “I’m sorry, sometimes I forget you’ve got a little one.”

“It’s alright, he’s sleeping through it. He won’t even remember this in the morning,” Din answered honestly. They were silent for a moment before he pulled over and parked the car at a random curb. He turned and looked at Cobb who was looking extremely confused. “Did you tell your team we were dating?” 

“No, why?”

“Because they think we are,” Din spoke pointedly.

Cobb stuttered for a moment. “Aren’t we?” Din froze. When he received no answer, Cobb continued, “Weren’t all those ice cream study sessions dates?” 

“I-,” he paused and took a breath. “I didn’t think they were dates, did you think they were dates?”

“Well, yeah.” 

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for the first time ever. Neither knew what to say. Grogu made a frustrated sound behind them and they both turned towards him, concern on both their faces. Realizing he was still asleep, Din relaxed. He locked eyes with Cobb and chuckled. 

“So,” Cobb spoke softly, officially breaking the tension. “Since those apparently weren’t dates, would you like to get ice cream on Tuesday? 2:00?”

“As a date?”

“Yes, Din,” Cobb laughed, “as a date.”

Din hummed and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

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

Tuesday afternoon he spent hours pacing his apartment. Peli had taken Grogu around 1:00 to allow Din time to get ready. He had traded his NASA hoodie, which he realized Cobb had never not seen him in before, for a simple button down and a jacket. He kept going back to his hair, trying to make it perfect but the fluff wouldn’t settle down the way he wanted. 

Really what filled his mind was thoughts of Cobb. They hadn’t talked much since the night of the party. Din couldn’t help the thought that kept racing around his head, “Cobb was drunk when he asked him out.” 

He didn’t believe that Cobb, even drunk, would say something like that to him and not mean it. But he couldn’t help the doubt.

He sat on the sofa, his elbows on his knees, watching the time tick by. 

At 2:10, he felt his heart drop. He was seconds away from picking up his phone to call Peli when he heard a knock.

He opened the door to see a very out of breath Cobb standing in front of him. 

“Sorry, I know I’m late, I had to deal with something.” And by ‘something’ he meant he was also attempting to get his hair perfect. He looked Din over and smiled sadly. “You’re not wearing your hoodie.”

Din looked down at himself. “It’s a date. Aren’t you supposed to look nice for dates?”

“Well yeah, but,” Cobb paused and chuckled, “you just look so cute in your hoodie.”

“I can go put it on if you really want me to,” Din said with a laugh and a nod towards his room. 

“Nah,” Cobb shook his head, “you look really nice, just making me feel underdressed, is all.”

Din laughed and stepped out into the hallway, pulling his door shut and locking it. “Come on, Cowboy. Let’s go get ice cream.” 

He let Cobb toss his arm over his shoulders as they walked and all Din could think was how glad he was that the school required everyone to take a science class.

[delos-mio]

Out of the Woods - College!AU - PART 2

A/N: Part 2! I hope you enjoy this chapter. No major warnings apply! Thoughts, feelings, predictions always welcome <3

***

After dropping you off that evening, Nikolai found his mind to be running a mile a minute. It was 1am, relatively early by college standards, but he had no desire to go back to the party and no desire to go home. Instead, he walked around campus until his feet throbbed. He thought about your smile and your laugh, the way you bit your lip and the way you toyed with the ends of your hair. He thought about how you could very well be in the arms of another man right now.

He could have lived without that mental image.

It seemed wild to him that you could make so many feelings flood back to him in such a short amount of time. It hit him like a ton of bricks the moment you locked eyes, and it was instantly like the last 5 years of silence never even happened. God, he wished they never happened. How could he have been so cruel? Who just up and left the person they were very clearly falling in love without a trace? Nikolai, that’s who. And under the penetrating glow of the moon, for the next six or so hours, Nikolai hated himself for it.

Nikolai quietly tried to sneak back into the apartment he shared with Aleks around 7am. Generally, he was a pretty heavy sleeper, so he figured it’d be no problem. As the front door clicked shut behind him, another door clicked open inside the apartment. Alina, clad in only one of Aleks’s shirts, exited his room and immediately jumped upon seeing Nikolai. He quickly averted his eyes and turned his attention to the ceiling, trying to look anywhere but at the half-naked girl before him.

“So, I take it he wasn’t too upset I left the party early?” he asked before she blushed and quickly padded down the hall to the bathroom.

Nikolai pushed his hair back from his face and shook his head. Of course Aleks had company. He made his way to his room and let the back of his knees hit the mattress, flopping onto his back. His eyes fluttered shut as he mulled over the events of the evening. He knew he needed to turn his brain off and actually try to get some sleep, but that was still proving to be rather difficult. As he was getting lost in his own thoughts, he was interrupted by his door being flung open and Aleks leaning in his door frame.

“Do you mind? I’m really tired,” Nikolai grumbled, still not opening his eyes.

“You dog! You got home later than me,” he said with a smile evident in his voice.

“It’s not like that. You’ll notice I didn’t bring anyone home with me, now did I?” Nikolai was starting to get irritated by his roommate’s presence and hoped he’d leave him in peace and quiet sooner rather than later.

“Maybe not. But you could have. Seemed like you and Genya’s new roommate had something going on,” he pried.

“Can you fuck off? Respectfully?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll let you sleep. But you’re gonna tell me about her when you wake up.” With that, Nikolai heard his door shut again, leaving him in the stillness of his room. He fell asleep half hanging off the bed where he landed with the girl who got away on his mind.

----

When you woke up the next morning, Nikolai was still fresh on your mind. The way he smiled, the way he smelled…everything about him haunted your dreams. It didn’t even take a full minute before the guilt settled in. Jesus Christ, what were you thinking? Did Matt cease to exist because your first love cropped up out of nowhere? You just started flirting with Nikolai again like it was as easy as breathing. But you couldn’t help yourself—Nikolai had worked his way into your head instantly just like he had when you were 17. Like the first time you saw him take off his helmet, shake out his perfect, golden hair, and skate to the bench. It had been a wrap since that moment. You groaned into your pillow, feeling a little nauseous and a lot guilty. After freshening up and pulling a sweatshirt on, you wandered out into the living room of your apartment with Genya where she was eagerly chatting with Zoya over a cup of coffee.

“Fancy seeing you here, ditcher,” Genya teased as you grabbed a mug for yourself.

“I didn’t ditch,” you said. “Nik told you guys we were leaving.”

“Where’d you end up anyways?” Genya asked with a tiny smirk. This line of questioning amused Zoya and she gladly joined in on the antagonizing.

“I can only assume, knowing him, that you ended up somewhere more...private,” Zoya interjected.

“It wasn’t like that. I um, we ended up just going to get some food. Catch up or whatever,” you said while you shot daggers at Genya. You paused to take a sip of the too-hot drink before continuing. “Where have you been hiding Nikolai anyways?”

“He ain’t hiding- have you met the dude? I met him during Freshman orientation. Zoya and I lived in the dorm room next to him and Aleks,” she said as a matter of fact. “We’ve been hanging out ever since. Real good guy.”

“I know,” you sighed, pushing around a pen that was left on the coffee table.

“You like him! Oh man, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about him being totally your type. You and your pretty boys. Mhmm, I bet he liked you too,” Genya teased and smiled again.

“No, he’s just an old friend,” you lied. “I have a boyfriend.”

“Could have fooled me,” Zoya mumbled, but you caught it. The comment did nothing to ease the growing knot in your stomach.

“Seriously. He’s my friend. I kinda got carried away with the flirting last night, but I was so excited to see him, you know?” You looked at them both, silently pleading with them to let it drop. “We’re just friends. Nothing else.”

“That may be true now, but the dude has it bad for you. I saw the way he looked at you, dude,” Genya said softly, finally sympathetic to your anguish. “Can I ask how you know each other? Besides ‘high school or something’?”

“We didn’t even go to school together.” You leaned back into the cushions, letting your focus drift away from the girls across from you. “My parents own an ice rink in my hometown and I’d work the concession stand when I got out of school- do my homework and pour hot chocolate or whatever. Nik played hockey with his high school team there.” You smiled to yourself. “I saw him come off the ice one day and thought he was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. And one night, he walked right up to me after practice and started talking to me like we’d known each other forever. I didn’t have a ton of friends in school and hadn’t really been noticed by boys like...ever. So to have this super hot dude flirting with me was wild.”

“Oh my god, was Nik your first crush?” Genya squealed.

“I’d had a couple guys that caught my eye before him, but he was the first guy I really liked. First guy I kissed. First guy I…” you trailed off, letting the pause speak for itself.

“No wonder he was so happy to see you,” Zoya said.

“He kinda ghosted me when he left for college and I hadn’t talked to him since the last night we were together. I was too scared to try and find him on Facebook or anything. I didn’t want to see him with other girls hanging all over him and hurt my own feelings, you know?” Genya and Zoya exchanged a sympathetic look. “Anyways, that’s about it. Pretty boring stuff.”

“Babe…”

“I gotta start getting ready for work,” you said, abruptly standing and putting your mug in the sink. “I’ll see you guys later.” With that, you shuffled out of the room, hoping neither of them caught the hitch in your voice. So, maybe you weren’t as over that ghosting as you thought you were.

----

The weekend passed with a lot of idle time thinking about when you could possibly see Nikolai again. You were really regretting not scrawling your number somewhere for him. It was torture not knowing how to find him again outside of groveling to Genya, or hoping dumb luck would make you run into him.

You made it to Monday morning and somehow managed to make it to your 8:30 am class on time; a rare feat for you. Thankfully, the class was all engaged in a lively discussion of what constituted a modern classic novel, so it was easy to stay alert and engaged. Before you knew it, your professor was dismissing you and reminding you all about the paper that was due on Thursday. You shuffled down the stairs of the academic building and paused once you got to the quad. Normally, you’d head home for a few hours before your afternoon class, but you had a little time to spare today before your study group. But you also had Nikolai’s face burned in your mind. Would it be totally weird to try to find him?

The building that housed Science and History was only a quarter mile from your classroom, so you made quick work of the walk and tried to hype yourself up, telling yourself that it was normal to want to see him this bad- you’d missed out on a few years there! Of course you wanted to see your friend. When you got inside, you realized you had no idea where you were going. You had yet to take any sort of History class while at school and had absolutely no idea if he was even in class at this time. God, this was seeming like a dumber and dumber idea the more you walked around. After wandering aimlessly for a minute, you saw a familiar head of effortlessly messy golden hair slink out of a classroom.

Immediately, your eye was drawn to him. You were thankful he didn’t notice your presence because you were definitely staring. All weekend, you were sure you had a picture-perfect vision of him in your head, but you were abruptly reminded that he was much more handsome than you could dream up. He had traded in his button down shirt from the other night for a cozy looking grey sweater. You allowed yourself one more moment to admire him from afar before you approached. But Nikolai had turned to face you straight on, face lighting up the moment he saw you.

“I was wondering when you’d come around.” You could hear the smile in his voice.

“So, you don’t think I’m crazy for wandering around a building I’ve literally never set foot in, hoping by cosmic timing you’d be here?” you smirked.

“I promise you, I don’t think you’re crazy. I mean, I was considering doing something quite similar myself,” You couldn’t stop the heat that started to rise in your cheeks.

“So, where are you headed now?” you asked, rocking on your heels.

“Well,” he pondered, “I was going to meet Aleks at The Moose if you’re walking that way.”

“I’m not, but I have a couple minutes before I have to be at my study group if you want to sit outside,” you offered.

“Of course, darling,” he grinned, hazel eyes playful as you found a bench next to the bike rack. “How was your weekend?”

“Not bad,” you shrugged. “I had to work both days, but it was pretty slow, so no complaints. I only got grilled by Genya and Zoya a little. It could have been a lot worse,” you smiled.

“They do love any information they can get their little hands on,” Nikolai said, leaning back into the bench. “You...didn’t see Matt at all?” he probed, trying with all his might to look and sound nonchalant, but failing.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Can I not take an interest in you?” he asked with gentle eyes, but you just glowered.

“No. I didn’t see Matt this weekend. We haven’t even talked since Friday, honestly,” you said. Nikolai didn’t interject at all, just looked at you to go on, if you felt like sharing. “We haven’t really been getting along lately. He’s a nice guy and all, but I don’t know how much we have in common. And he never seems to have time for me unless it’s on his terms. Like, he expects me to be available whenever it works for him, but he’s always conveniently busy if I ask him to do anything with me.” You kicked at a rock near your toe, eyes fixed on the ground, totally unsure why you just told Nikolai all that.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said sincerely. “I’m saying this as your friend,” he started, making you look in his eyes again. “You deserve someone who understands what a gift it is to spend time with you.” It was so simple, but it made tears instantly spring in your eyes. “Hey. Hey, now. None of that,” he smiled, thumbing a tear away. “Would you maybe want to come over Friday? Get pizza and watch a movie or something?”

“That sounds really nice, Nik,” you nodded. It was then he broke into a blinding smile and you were unable to stop the swirling in your belly.

“Could I—would I be able to get your number? So I can send you my address or whatever,” he added quickly; you were really starting to love seeing him get flustered.

“I think that’s a good idea, yeah.” You reached for some scrap paper and pencil from your bag and scribbled down your number, placing it in the palm of his large hands before standing up. His fingers just barely brushed yours as he took the paper before stowing it away in the front pocket of his jeans. “You can always use that number before Friday too, if you want,” you said with a sly smile and patted Nikolai’s cheek gently. His laugh carried a bit as you walked opposite directions out of the quad, your feet feeling like they were being carried by tiny, pink fluffy clouds.

Fuck. Did you just set up a date with Nikolai? No. No, not a date. Just two friends eating pizza and watching movies. Friends did that all the time.

But as you walked to the cafe where your study group met, there was a crashing wave of guilt that washed over you. What the fuck were thinking? All you were doing was playing with fire, practically begging fate to burn you. You were mentally beating yourself up, feeling like a total shit bag as you pushed open the door to the small cafe, seeing your group already gathered and breaking off into pairs, Matt beaming at you when you came into view.

“Hi, baby,” he said, kissing your cheek as you sat down next to him.

“Hey,” you smiled back with tight lips, hardly able to look at him.

You started going through notes for an upcoming Logic and Reasoning exam, but you found yourself unable to process anything you were reading. Your mind was elsewhere and you only managed half-hearted affirmations and hardly contributed any correct answers. Here Matt was, sweet and excited to see you. He was good, he was nice. Maybe you just needed to make more of an effort with him. Should he really want to do the things you wanted to do, or were you being selfish? You weren’t sure.

“Something wrong?” he asked suddenly, snapping you from your thoughts.

“Just don’t feel good, that’s all,” you shrugged, looking back at your notebook and computer. He accepted that answer and didn’t probe any further.

“So, you should come over Friday. I don’t have anyone else to hang out with and thought we could hang out,” he said into your ear, hand gripping your thigh.

“Can’t,” you said with a shake of your head. “I already have plans.”

“Oh there’s a surprise,” he said, half under his breath. And that...that was it. You immediately slammed your pen onto the table and looked at him with hard eyes.

“Would you just say whatever you’re trying to fucking say?” you seethed.

“Just seems awfully convenient that every time we’re supposed to do anything, suddenly you have plans with I don’t even know who” he said, clearly annoyed. “All I’ve done is try to accommodate you and do what you want, but that doesn’t seem to be enough,” he added with a melodramatic sigh, which was more than enough to set you off.

“Oh, that’s a fucking joke, right?” you laughed. “Maybe you’d know more about my schedule if you ever bothered to talk to me more than once a week. And you literally just said I should come over because no one else can! Like, I’m your girlfriend- I shouldn’t be your last ditch option,” you scoffed. “You know what? I can’t be here right now. Call me when you’re ready to rejoin all of us in reality.” With that, you grabbed your bag and stormed out the door, letting your feet take you quickly in any direction that was simply away. No, you were right about what you said to Nikolai- Matt only saw you as convenient.

Friday couldn’t come soon enough.