#greetings fellow pansies

[cozypunkprints]

pansy patches on repurposed quilting fabric.

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[ruth-odyssey]

༺✩༻ D is for Delightful (part 2)

mattheo riddle x fem!reader

wc. 1.9k words

summary: after pairing up with a slytherin for a potion project, you somehow find yourself unable to tear away from him  

tw. fem!reader, reader is implied to be a gryffindor, party, mention of minors drinking. Set in sixth year but everyone is 17

a/n. This is part 2 of D is for Dangerous. Mattheo is actually so hot I had to physically stop myself from turning this into smut 😔

Quidditch season has its way of bringing students of the same house together. No matter your opinion on your fellow housemates, quidditch is quidditch. Heading down to the great Hall for breakfast, you can feel the excitement of the first match of the season; Ravenclaw against Slytherin. You sit down at the Gryffindor table, serving yourself some porridge, fruits and a cup of coffee. As you start eating, you feel a light tap on your shoulder. You turn around, meet with Mattheo, smirking at you. “We’re hosting a party tonight after the match, wanna come?” You knit your brows. “Already planning a party? You didn't even win yet!??” Mattheo flashes you a confident smile. “Winning is guaranteed, Ravenclaw’s team isn't winning anytime soon.” You snort, teasing him. “Nah yall gonna lose.”

Mattheo gasps dramatically at your response, clutching his heart, pretending to be under some sort of great physical pain. “How dare you. Do you have no faith in me???” you laugh at his dramatic antics. “Are they even gonna let you play? You skipped detention the whole week.” Mattheo grins slyly at you, as if you had asked an absurd question. “Of course they’ll let me play, I'm the best chaser we’ve got” He says cockily, earning himself a glare from Blaise. “Besides, I’ve already got out of those detentions with a little help from Theo, no need to worry.” You roll your eyes, serving yourself another cup of coffee. “Please don't bring Theo into your shit…” You look around, trying to catch a glimpse of the boy. “Theo isn't even here, is he still asleep???” Draco pipes up. “He's up, probably still under the shower.” You nod. “Well you better catch the snitch quickly, it's cold as shit outside.” Draco rolls his eyes at your comment and scoffs. “Don't tell me what to do, I'll catch it at my own pace.” You sigh, already regretting not bringing something hotter against the cold November weather. Before anyone can add anything, Theodore arrives, greeting everyone with a nod. “Well well well, look who decided to join us…” At Theo’s arrival, you decide to take your plate and cup, sitting down at the Slytherin table. Blaise smiles, knocking your shoulder with his. “Finally decided to join us huh?” You salute him. “Yes sir.” He lets out a soft chuckle, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. You glance to your right, Theo still standing up, still half asleep. You pat the spot next to you. “Sit down and eat. You have 10 minutes before you guys have to leave.” Theo’s eyes meet yours, he nods and takes the stop next to you, you serve him a cup of coffee and Lorenzo starts piling up food on his plate. Theo blinks a couple of times, trying to chase the fatigue. “How are you so… hyper this morning?” His voice is still laced with sleep, deeper than usual. You smile, hoping he can't tell how his voice alone is affecting you. “This is actually my fourth cup of coffee.” Theo shakes his head, mumbling Oh dio under his breath. He takes a bite of food. “If we win, will you come to the party?” Mattheo sends him a look “You mean WHEN we win.” You smile and glance at Mattheo who's already looking at you.

The next few minutes are spent by Draco, Mattheo and Blaise discussing the best way to beat ravenclaw – in the most humiliating way possible – Theo nodding along, playing with the food on his plate. They leave in a hurry to get changed in their quidditch robes. Lorenzo gets up and starts heading to the quidditch area, you and Pansy following. The three of you head out of the school, the freezing November breeze making you shiver. Tucking your face into your scarf you decide now is the perfect time to talk. “I am NOT lasting ‘til the end of the year, Riddle is gonna be the death of me.” Pansy laughs, as if she was expecting you to bring up Mattheo, Lorenzo on the other hand looks concerned considering how much you ramble about him. “May I ask why Riddle out of all people is gonna be the death of you?” He inquired, his voice tinged with playful judgment. You flash him an apologetic smile and start gushing about Mattheo. “Did you see how he looked at me earlier??? I thought I was gonna have a heart attack.” Pansy grabs your arm, a delighted laugh escaping her lips, as Lorenzo gives you a weirded out look – he's not quite sure what you mean by that. 

—————————————

The match finally came to an end, Slytherin completely obliterating Ravenclaw with a whooping 250 to 50. You meet up with the rest of the group in the Great Hall for lunch. “Mattheo that goal was something else, I mean throwing the quaffle all the way from the Slytherin goalpost and scoring? It was amazing.” Blaise nods in agreement, headlocking Mattheo, ruffling his hair. “You were insane out there mate, I didn't expect you to score like that.” Mattheo finally getting out of Blaise’s tight grip, he smirks at you. “Told ya we were gonna win. Now you better come to the party angel” You roll your eyes trying to ignore how your stomach seems to be doing cartwheels because of a simple pet name. Pansy smiles. “Bring your dress so you can get ready in my room.” “Okay!”

—————————————

“You look great.” You make eye contact with Pansy through the bathroom mirror, adding some mascara to your lower lashes. You’re wearing a black slip dress, with black high knee boots and your hair is down. You smile. “Thanks Pans, I love your dress by the way. It's so cute!” Pansy smiles, crouching down to put on her heels. You let out a yawn, feeling the lack of sleep of last night – as well as the caffeine crash – getting to you. You set the mascara tube down, giving yourself one last once over, before heading into the Slytherin common room with Pansy. As you both get down to the common room, pansy whispers “Go get your man.” in your ear. The party is in full swing, music blaring and people drinking and dancing everywhere. The room is dimly lit with Slytherin color, the atmosphere lively and electric. In the sea of partying students, you spot Mattheo, cigarette in one hand, drink in the other. He spots you too, greeting you with a hug. “Hey, nice dress” He speaks loudly, trying to make himself heard over the loud music. He hands you a drink. “Thanks! Pansy kinda left me. Do you know where she went?” Mattheo looks around, trying to find her. He taps your shoulder, giving you a shrug. “I can't see her sorry angel.” He pauses, taking a hit of his cigarette, blowing the smoke into rings. He smirks, eyes roaming around your body. “Seems like you’re stuck with me sweetheart.” You roll your eyes, unable to meet his – suddenly finding the content of the drink he had handed you interesting. You glance at him

You take a sip of your drink, face scrunching at the taste of alcohol burning your throat. You turn back to look at Mattheo, only to find him already looking at you. It's not the way he usually looks at you, with mischief because saying or doing something that would get him in trouble, there’s something different in those eyes and it seems whatever changed somehow makes you even more drawn to him. You can already feel your body loosening up, the alcohol making its way in your system. You grab the half burned cigarette from his grasp, taking a hit. There's a hint of surprise in Mattheo’s expression, that's quickly replaced by delight and something else you can't quite place your finger on. 

—————————————

You are not God's strongest soldier. Three drinks in and you somehow found yourself resting your head on Mattheo’s chest, arms around his waist, one of his hands on the small of your back, the other holding onto his – technically yours since he stole it – drink. The scent of his cologne – a citrus and musky scent– filling your nostrils. The party is still raging, people everywhere and it doesn't seem to stop anything soon. Mattheo gently whispers in your ear. “Hey sweetheart can't have you falling asleep on me, why don't you call it a night huh?” – you can practically see the small smirk that must be forming on his face – You distance yourself from him, just enough to see his face. His eyes find yours and he smiles. It's a smile you could get used to seeing – it's sweet and it makes you believe you might actually have a change with the boy – you nod, silently agreeing to call if for today. “Mkay… I'll go to sleep.” Maybe it was because of the smile he’d flashed or maybe it had only to do with the alcohol you had, but you get on your tiptoes, kissing him goodnight. “I think you missed darling, you must be very drunk if you don't know where my lips are” Its harmless teasing really, usually a simple eye roll to brush it off would have done the trick. But today, you decide that yes, maybe you should kiss him if it means he’ll finally realize you’d like to be the only one he flirts with, the only one he kisses. And so you roll your eyes, “You’re so demanding Riddle, you’re lucky I love you.” and kiss him. It’s sweet, you can taste the lingering taste of the alcohol on his lips. He pulls you closer, deepening the kiss, his lips moving against yours and you're suddenly aware of what you're doing. You break the kiss and mumble a quick “good night” before heading upstairs, crashing in Pansy’s room

—————————————

Drinking was not a good idea. At all. Whatever was in the drinks, it was strong, strong enough that you find yourself waking up the next morning having absolutely no recollection of why you were not in your bed. You can tell Pansy is in bed with you by the steady sound of breathing behind you. You try getting up an arm wrapping around your waist, someone snuggling into you. You freeze, turning your head slightly – to your surprise Mattheo is behind you, seemingly still asleep. “Hm Mattheo? Wake up.” You try shaking him awake. He makes a noise between a groan and moan but he opens his eyes, taking you in. “what?” You look at him bewildered, wondering how he could be so calm. “What??? What do you mean ‘what’??? The hell are you doing in Pansy’s room and why are you sleeping next to me???” Now it’s Mattheo’s turn to look confused. “Hey hey hey, calm down princess, I'll have you know last night you crashed in MY room, and i need my beauty sleep so I slept on my bed. I was sure you wouldn't mind… you know since you love me.” he adds teasingly. Oh the bastard. You can already feel your cheeks flustered and unfortunately for you, the memories of last night are finally becoming clearer. And you can clearly remember not only telling him you loved him but the feel of his lips against yours. You blink trying to chase the memory from your mind. “I- ok maybe I do. But so what?” He smiles as if he knew you would say something like that. “I was thinking about asking you out so that we could share our first kiss more… romantic setting but looks like you beat me to it angel.” “Oh shut up Riddle.” He smirks. “So, can I be your boyfriend?” “Yes”

[pottersfia]

omg since you said you were in the mood for theo fluff… can i please request some mutual pining, grumpy x sunshine, hufflepuff reader fluff? 🤭 where his friends are teasing him for being all happy around her since they started talking more and it ends with a confession or something?

a/n: AHHH i loved this so much thank you for the request, hopefully you enjoy it i’m always iffy about my fics but… anyway!

word count: 1,159

potions class was arguably one of the most interesting classes you had, but that didn't mean it wasn't challenging. you were assigned to brew felix felicis and you were finding it hard to simply start.

you looked around at the students next to you. your fellow hufflepuff friends seemed to be struggling a bit as well. on the other side of you were a few slytherins, draco, blaise, and theodore who you had only talked to a handful of times.

"doing alright, y/n?" your friend hannah asked. you turned to her and looked down at the "potion infront of you as you replied with, "umm.. not so much?" you laughed with hannah as she told you about how confused she was herself.

you looked back over at theodore who was right next to you. you saw how he skillfully accomplished each step with ease. as if he could feel your gaze he looked up at you.

"do you need something?" he asked, causing you to look up at him.

"oh! sorry i just," you pointed to his potion, "i'm completely confused, how did you do that?" you asked.

without a word he helped you with the first step. he laid out everything you needed and mixed your first ingredients.

"just follow my lead." he smirked slightly at you. you nodded and followed all his movements.

•••

"thanks for the help, theodore." you said as class ended. he couldn't help but smile slightly at your words. no one really called him theodore. it was always nott or theo. he liked it coming from you.

"anytime." he said and left to catch up with his friends.

the next few days you and theodore talked more and more in potions class. well, you did most of the talking, eagerly ranting about a book you read or complaining about an assignment you did bad on, whatever it was theodore was all ears. draco and blaise were completely shocked by this. normally their friend didn't bother talking you anyone besides them in their classes. he kept to himself often dozing off or whispering to draco and blaise instead of paying attention.

but now his energy switched as he'd walk into potions. once he saw you sat at your seat talking to hannah his face lit up with a small smile. a smile draco and blaise never missed. he greeted you cheerfully and encouraged you to converse with him about any and everything.

•••

"what did you get on the essay, theo?" pansy asked the boy who clearly wasn't paying attention to the conversation his friends were having. the group was out in the courtyard killing sometime during their free afternoon.

"theo? hello?" pansy waved her hand infront of his face after he didn't respond. he looked away from what was distracting him and looked back at pansy.

"what?" he asked. draco and blaise laughed knowing exactly what was happening.

"why are you two laughing?" he asked.

"a little distracted by someone, theo?" draco teased.

"a little more than a little bit." pansy grumbled.

"someone? who?" daphne asked. theodore rolled his eyes.

"drop it draco." he said.

"it's y/n. that hufflepuff in our potions class." blaise pointed to you, sitting under a tree talking to a few of your friends. how cold he not stare at you, he thought you looked perfect all of the time. you turned and saw the group of slytherins staring at you and as intimidating as it was, you smiled and waved at theodore quickly turning away. he smiled.

"oh you're whipped." draco laughed.

"i knew something was different about you." daphne smiled. theodore gave her a questioning look. "you've been so happy lately."

"i don't know what you mean." theodore shrugged.

"you should see him in potions class, he sits right next to her." blaise commented.

"all he does is smile and stare at her." draco and blaise laugh some more, pansy and daphne joining in at the image of theodore nott being smitten.

"it's not that funny." he replied. 

"it kind of is, mate." blaise said. "why don't you just ask her out."

"she doesn't like me like that."

"are you dumb." draco shoved his shoulder.

"no, she doesn't! she's just a nice person. she talks to everyone."

meanwhile, you and your friends, hannah and susan, were talking about none other than theodore.

"he's pretty hot, you have good taste y/n." hannah said.

"but does he actually talk?" susan asked

"of course he does. i mean, i talk more but he has a voice." you reply.

"and he's actually nice?"

"he is! and he's funny too."

"he hasn't asked to shag you?"

you squinted your eyes at susan. "no. he hasn't."

you had a feeling he might like you too, but you weren't sure. he'd sometimes give you little compliments or make flirty comments but everyone said he was basically an f boy. you found that a little hard to believe after getting to know him more, though.

"you should ask him out." hannah said.

"what?" you raised your eyebrows.

"y/n, i see the way he looks at you during potions class, there's no way he'd say no!" she said.

"do it now!" susan smiled.

“now?!” you exclaimed.

“now!” they both practically yelled at you, which caught the attention of theodore and his other slytherin friends.

“guys shut up! ok. i’ll go.” you stood up and nervously walked over to theodore with a smile.

theodore couldn’t keep his eyes off you. he smiled once he caught your eyes and saw you were approaching him.

“guys, shut up, she’s coming.” he whisper shouted to the group.

you gave a small wave once you stood infront of theodore.

“hi theodore.” you said.

“theodore?” pansy questioned but blaise shoved her to keep her quiet.

“hi y/n.” theodore replied.

“i wanted to tell you something.”

theodore stood up.

“you can tell me away from these losers.” he placed his hand on your arm and led you away from his friends who were making teasing and making comments.

“i actually wanted to ask you something too.” he said.

“really? what is it?” you asked. he shook his head.

“you first.” he put his hand in his pockets and tilted his head with a small smirk. you sighed and fidgeted with your fingers.

“i just wanted to saw that i like you. like a lot, and i wanted to know if you maybe wanted to go out sometime? with me?” you asked. theodore was, for lack of better words, flabbergasted. he sort of froze partially because he couldn’t believe you were asking him out and partially because he wanted to ask first.

“i was going to ask the same thing.” he smiled. a wide smile, bigger than the small smirks he usually gave you. it was beautiful. “of course i do, y/n. i like you too.”

you smiled back at him and gave him a hug which he instantly reciprocated.

[hjparisian]

you're losing me pt. II- theodore nott x reader

p: theodore nott x gn! reader w: angst (sorry not sorry), slight cussing summary: (Y/N) is coping with their fight with Theodore, but an unwanted conversation reveals more than (Y/N) expected. a/n: the long awaited part two, thank you all for being patient and for all the love you gave to part one. can't believe it took me this long to get part two out and im so sorry but i had trouble writing and coming up with ideas

Winter break had felt like the longest and worst couple weeks to (Y/N) ever. All they really did was sat in their room, read, attempt to study, and occasionally write to Pansy.

The Malfoy's had thrown a party on New Year's Eve. All pureblooded families were invited, which meant (Y/N)'s family and the Nott family. They were not ready to see Theodore. Unfortunately, no matter how hard (Y/N) tried, they couldn't escape it.

The day of the party, (Y/N) sat and stared at the outfit laid out for them to wear. Maybe it'll spontaneously combust and they would have no outfit to wear and can't go. Yeah, right. As if that'll actually happen. Their mother probably has a bunch of backup outfits for them to wear anyways.

At least Pansy said she would try to stay by their side the whole time. Keyword, try. Because Blaise would probably try to steal Pansy to go snog somewhere.

The second (Y/N) and their parents entered the Malfoy Manor, they felt like running away and throwing up. Why? Oh, because of course the first person they'd find was Theodore Nott.

"(Y/N)!"

Oh bless Pansy for catching their attention. But also curse her because apparently the sound of their name caught Theodore's ears and made him turn his head towards them.

(Y/N) looked away from him.

(Y/N) hugged Pansy. "Pansy! How has your break been?"

"It's been nice. Got to hang out with Blaise a lot," she said. "What about you (Y/N)? How have you been feeling?"

Now, (Y/N) could lie and say they've been great and having a lovely break. But of course Pansy would see straight through their little lie.

"If I have to be honest Pans, I still feel like shit."

Pansy looked at them with concern. The fact that the reason (Y/N) felt terrible was in the room didn't help them.

"Well, I know Millicent and Tracey are here and I know they wanna catch up with us. Plus there's drinks. There's nothing better than drinks at these boring parties, right?" Pansy said in attempt to make (Y/N) feel better.

The two had gone and found their fellow schoolmates at the side of the room. Unfortunately for (Y/N), Daphne Greengrass and her sister Astoria were also there.

Pansy and (Y/N) greeted their schoolmates, with (Y/N) avoiding eye contact with Daphne. They listened as Pansy was telling the other girls about what she's been doing.

"What about you, (Y/N)?" Tracey asked them. "Done anything fun during break?"

"I've just been home reading," They told Tracey. "My parents decided not to go to France this year so I've been cooped up in my room."

"What about Theodore?" piped Millicent. Pansy's eyes slightly widened at her friend's question. "You didn't go see him?"

(Y/N) wanted the ground to open up and swallow them whole. Of course their other friends would ask about their relationship with Theodore. No one seems to know what's going on other than Pansy and maybe Blaise.

"No I didn't," (Y/N) said. "He's been busy." They looked at Daphne to see any reaction from her but surprisingly it was pretty neutral.

"I think I'm going to get a glass of champagne or something." (Y/N) said. "Anyone want one?"

"Oh, one for me please!" Tracey told them. (Y/N) nodded before leaving to find one of the waiters walking around with trays full of champagne.

After grabbing two drinks for themselves and Tracey, (Y/N) turned around to find themselves face to face with the one person they did not want to see.

Theodore fucking Nott.

The boy also grabbed a glass from the waiter's tray and took a sip on it.

"So, you're here," He said to (Y/N).

"I am."

Theodore looked them up and down. "You look nice."

(Y/N) gave him a curt 'thanks', wanting to get away from here.

"(Y/N)," Theodore called out.

"What do you want?" (Y/N) asked him impatiently. "I've got friends waiting for me."

"Just wanted to say hope you're having a nice break," he said hesitantly, almost as if he wanted to say something else.

(Y/N) gave him an odd look before shaking their head and walking away, not wanting to look at him a second more.

Once (Y/N) returned to their group and handed Tracey her drink, they find Pansy staring at them.

"You alright?" She whispered. "I saw you had a run in with Theodore."

(Y/N) nods their head. "I just want to get this party over with."

The rest of the party had gone alright thanks to Pansy, who managed to stay with them the whole time. They went the rest of the break without seeing Theodore, but unfortunately, the holidays ended and (Y/N) had to return to school and see him.

They'd did everything they can to avoid being around Theodore for longer than they have to, whether that was finding a different route to classes, sitting besides Pansy a few tables away from him (though this one wasn't really a change), or studying in their dorm rather than the library.

The only thing (Y/N) couldn't avoid was sitting away from him during lunch and dinner. Sure, they could beg Pansy to sit farther down the table, but the others would find it odd that the two were not sitting with them since they always ate together.

So (Y/N) just had to suck it up and remain civil. The good thing was that even when Theodore and (Y/N) were in good standing, they would always sit with Pansy so no one would find it weird. This whole thing was a struggle because even though (Y/N) was upset at Theodore and trying to avoid him, they could help but seek glances at Theodore. So did he.

(Y/N) had enough of being cooped up in their room, so they decided to study in the common room one night. There were a couple people scattered in the room, but most of the Slytherins were either in their dorms or snuck out to merlin knows where.

(Y/N) was looking at their Transfiguration book until a voice disrupts their focus.

"Hey. Do you mind if I sit here?"

It was Theodore Nott.

"There's plenty of space in the common room Nott," (Y/N) pointed out. "You can sit somewhere else."

"Well actually, I wanted to talk to you."

(Y/N) rolled their eyes before looking towards Theodore. "What's there to talk about?"

Theodore huffed before responding. "We need to talk about what happened before break. We didn't exactly left off on the right foot."

"Obviously."

(Y/N) felt a multitude of emotions hit them. They felt angry, upset, frustrated. They weren't even sure they wanted Theodore to address what happened. It would either end in two ways, they would move past it and stay together, or it would lead to the end of them.

But (Y/N) knew they couldn't avoid this any longer. They nodded towards the seat next to them.

"Sit." Theodore sat down.

"So," (Y/N) began. "Talk."

"Right. Well, I think you should know why I was talking to Daphne." Theodore starts. "Her parents and my father were talking about joining forces with the Dark Lord. And my father decided I was old enough to join them."

(Y/N) saw Theodore rub his left forearm, where the dark mark was usually placed. This news shocked them. (Y/N) knew that his father supported Voldemort and preached his ideals, but they never thought he would make Theodore become a death eater.

"Daphne found out what happened when she overheard my father and her father talking with each other. She confronted me about it so I admitted it. Wasn't worth trying to hide if she pretty much already knew about it. She's been trying to calm me down and help me not think about what happened."

There were a million different things going through (Y/N)'s head, yet the only thing that settled was why didn't he tell them? They could've help him too.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" (Y/N) asked.

The boy sighed, not daring to meet their eyes. "I didn't want you to get involved in this."

"Theodore, I don't care," they exclaimed. "I want to help you. I would've listened to you and help you!"

"(Y/N) this is not your place-"

"I'm not a child anymore Theodore!" (Y/N) screamed. "I know what's going on, I'm not an idiot!"

"(Y/N), you have to listen to me! Your parents aren't involved with the Dark Lord this time around. If I told you and someone finds out, you could put you and your parents in danger."

(Y/N) huffed. "Oh, but Daphne gets to know?"

"Daphne is protected because of her parents and she found out herself. I did not tell her."

"Oh, but you continued to talk to her about it!"

Theodore was starting to get frustrated. "Who else was I supposed to talk to?"

"Me! Your partner? Or even Draco, his dad supports Voldemort, he'd probably understand how you felt."

Theodore's eyes widen a bit at the mention of Draco's name, but (Y/N) didn't notice.

"Look (Y/N)," Theodore slowly said. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about this. But you have to understand why I didn't tell you. I still care about you and this is something I didn't want you to get mixed in with, alright?"

(Y/N) sat there, calming themselves down. There was still one question that's been haunting them since the party.

"(Y/N)?"

"I just have one question for you." (Y/N) said, looking towards Theodore. The boy motioned for them to continue. "Did you ever feel anything for Daphne?"

There was a bit of hesitation in Theodore before he responded. "No."

(Y/N) looked at him oddly, noticing his hesitation.

"Theodore? Tell me the truth."

Theodore sighed before speaking. "I never lost feelings for you, but when I was talking Daphne, I felt different around her."

"W-what?" (Y/N) stuttered out. "Did you do anything?"

"No! I promise you I would never do anything with her." Theodore told them. "She's talking with Pucey anyways."

(Y/N) could feel the whirlpool of emotions coming back. Theodore confirmed one of the things they were hoping wasn't true. But he still liked them. But he's been hiding about him joining the Dark Lord. It was all too much to take in.

They leaned back against the chair with their arms crossed, staring into the dimly lit fire. "So, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Theodore questioned them.

"About our relationship. What happens now?

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence penetrating the now empty room. The two of them not saying anything.

Another sigh emitted from Theodore before he stated his answer. "I think it's best if we take a break."

(Y/N) could feel their heart break at his answer. Their nightmare came true. They were losing him.

"There's a lot going on lately. With the war and Dark Lord rising it's going to be difficult to handle it all, especially with where I stand with him," Theodore said, motioning towards his left arm. "And I don't want to get you or your family involved in it."

"Yeah, y-you're right," (Y/N) choked out. "But we can still talk and be friends, right?"

"We can try."

(Y/N) nodded at his answer, trying not to let the tears welling up in their eyes escape. It seemed that Theodore had noticed it though, as he wrapped his arms in one last embrace.

"I love you, Theo."

There was a moment of silence before Theodore responded.

"I love you too."

The two sat there, (Y/N) quietly sobbing into Theodore's shoulder, not wanting to let go because that would be the last time they would be with him and would confirm their nightmare.

They lost Theodore.

[simonsomeriley]

🐺remus lupin x slytherin!reader

remus is off limits for you. yet you always make your way back to him

you felt the heavy rain pour down and trickle down the hood of your rain coat, hurrying your way through the slippery grass and through the corridors

trying to make your way to the slytherin common room as efficiently as possible, walking through a group of girls giggling about what you could only assume was boy talk, a guy-gang loudly discussing about a shitty frat party, & lastly, a group of three boys walking alongside each other, tightly pressed into one another as if seeking warmth, like a puppy litter

the boy to the right side, with a chiseled jaw, neck-length hair & dark eyes, a visual of what you assumed people were talking about when using the term "tall dark and handsome," seems to be the one iniciating whatever the conversation was about

pressed in the middle, was a tan-skinned, brown-haired, charming boy with circular glasses and a glint in his eye, a clear smug expression on his face

but to the left side of the beaming boy, stood a brown-eyed boy with thick eyebrows, a straight nose with a light cut across it and his hair in all directions

you stood still. beaming boys all in their gryffindor uniforms paid you no mind, strutting aside you and straight to wherever they were going

snapping back to reality, realizing you've stood still for quite a while, you turn around, eyes seeking after the wet foot prints in the grass, only to see a path of footprints leading into the forest, with no boys in sight

.

you don't think about them again until the next day. walking down the staircase, heading straight to the dining hall for dinner, having freshly showered

you weren't the only one freshly showered, it seems

after taking your seat at the slytherin table, in between two girls snickering about something youd already tuned out, strutting into the hall comes yet the same group of boys you saw yesterday, in all their wet hair and glistening skin glory

you watch them maneuver over to the gryffindor table, attempting to focus your listening onto their voices

you hear a little about some owl crashing into a window, my girlfriend got me a love letter yesterday, have any of you done your potions homework yet, did any of you find a spell to cheat on our potions homework yet,

you also hear about finding crystal clear waters in the middle of the forbidden forest.

.

after dinner, you were planning on taking a stroll around the castle before curfew, for photography homework, learning to take a photograph without a psychical camera, pansy having taught you how to snap photos with nothing but a wand

your homework required one of all of the listed:

one picture of an animal

one picture of an exotic plant

one picture of the moon or the sun

and lastly, one picture of you and a friend together

packing your stuff up from dinner, you stand up from the table, straightening your skirt and adjusting your ponytail, one of the girls from beside you says, "hey, if we actually figure this photograph thing out, we could use it to take pictures of whoever we want, right?"

strutting through the corridors, greeting some fellow slytherins on the way to the common room as to not be caught outside right before curfew,

you can see the stars in the sky outside, and if you look close enough, the moon shimmers enough for you to see its reflection in the water

once again, you step out onto the wet grass, although this time, you start hearing footsteps

paranoid, you reach for your wand out your pocket, casting, "lumos," quietly and continuing your path

however the footstops dont stop, they continue, and they come closer

you reach your wand out, "hello? if youre trying to be funny and scare me, its not working!" yet, theres no answer

the grass splatters and sploshes with the wet sounds of the school uniform shoes

the footsteps follow up to a tree, and they stop there

hm?

you walk up to the tree, holding your wand out in front of it, theres nobody there

but it seems like the air is shifting..

rapidly in the moment, you reach your hand out tugging on the shift..

the footsteps have been revealed,

and its the scar-faced boy youd held eye contact with in the corridors yesterday..

.

you wake up the next day in your dorm room, having been able to sneak back in behind Filchs back before curfew, yet with a sore pain in your back after the little amount of sleep youve gotten

you follow your usual routine.

you brush out your hair, you dress yourself, turn off the other girls´ alarm clocks & youre on your way out

but isnt there something youre forgetting?

where are my shoes?

in the place on your doormat where you usually put your shoes, (the "´sup, witches?" doormat pansy had gotten you as a friendsgiving gift during her muggle humour phase), was a letter, not your bow-flat uniform shoes

you pick it up, its not addressed from or to anyone, the outside is blank. yet it looks like its been sealed with red candle wax

so you open it, and inside, it reads:

If you are missing items And need to find where they are lost They may be sentimental Or bought at a high cost

You need to sit down on your own And picture the item you want to find Inhale deeply then exhale slowly And clear your mind

oh, thats great. so this fucker youve never even spoken to, first of all, creepily follows you around on campus in the dark while invisible, holds eye contact with you in the corridors & now he steals your shoes and wants you to play his little game to find them?

its 7:25 AM. you have better things to do.

but then again. seeing his chiseled and scarred face, his red lips and his smug expression...

you think about the poem, "You need to sit down on your own and picture the item you want to find,"

picture. picture the item you want to find.

was this some test for your camera-less photography skills?

after putting your green tie and jacket on, down the stairs you borderline flew. without shoes, into the dining hall, ready to get breakfast over with so you could play this promiscuous strangers game.

.

its 3:35 PM. youre walking along the school grounds, poem in hand, trying to think about any hidden meaning behind it

youre overthinking it. what does he want to do with me? was this his way of revenge after i accidentally uncovered his invisible disguise yesterday? he ran off and into the castles right after...

what if he wants more than just my shoes? what if hes really mad and wants to make sure i regret it if i find them and hes there as well..

you shake away the thoughts, trying to retrace your steps from yesterday. you hum quietly to yourself, what was i doing again? photography homework, through the corridors, onto the grass, right by the trees...

youve pieced it together now. your shoes.. this stranger you dont even know the name of has taken your shoes into the forbidden forest.

thats how him and his buddies have been going there the entire time, wasnt it? throwing the cloak over their shoulders, making a run for the forest and just hoping they wont cross the path of some angry troll or evil creature..

thats what you needed to do. you needed to find a way to the forest, needed to secure that youd be able to get in and get back out

.

you set on sneaking ut in the dead of the night. its cold silent. not a single sound. every student is asleep, in their common rooms by curfew as common practice, you were never really a fan of rules

you made it to the tree you uncovered him by. theres nothing there. but, you spy with your little eye, wet footprints in the grass leading deeper.

it feels like youve been running forever. too scared of what could be hiding in the forest, too scared to meet it eye to eye, you set about making a run for it instead. you have no idea what youre even running for

one second, the wind is cold. your hair is all blown away from your face, your feet carrying you at a pace you knew youd be sore from after

the next second, an excruciating pain. your head hits the ground. hard.

you feel like you just died and came back, mustve lost your consciousness for a second

you come back to your senses eventually, you feel your hand up your forehead and your scalp, checking for cuts or deep dents. you find none

when you finally lift your head from the ground, right in front of you, by the root youve tripped on, is your old trusty pair of uniform-flat shoes.

.

you dont know how you ended up here. you just followed the foot prints, to get your shoes, of course. nothing else. just getting your shoes.

until it was something else.

you dont know how you ended up here, floating in bottomless crystal clear waters that looks like it shimmers in the moonlight.

across from you, none other than the good looking boy youd uncovered the day before.

you dont know how you ended up here, talking to him, having conversations with him, introducing yourself to him

you get closer. he seems like he trusts you.

for some odd reason, you feel the same way.

he inches closer and closer to you. you do nothing to resist his advances

he breaks the invisible stranger-ship.

his lips meet yours and you dont resist him at all

his warmth seeps into you

you dont even know his name.

.

and lastly, you dont know how you ended up here, currently being twirled around like a princess by none other than that same handsome, scar-skinned, dark haired boy you held eye contact with in that corridor

hes in a suit. you mightve fainted when you saw him in it for the first time if it wasnt for the dizzying amount of kisses he had been giving you the night before

your dress is silver. it shines and it sparkles, "pretty," he says, "you shimmer when the rays of moonlight hit you. youre beautiful like the sparkling place i loved you for the first time, sweetness,"

youve never been treated with this kindness before. you didnt know it was possible for someone like you to be treated with gentleness. care, kindness and gentle hands.

"you look handsome in anything you wear. handsome like the beaming boy i fell in love with at first glance in the corridors,"

sorry if it sucks i am sleep deprived 🥲

[training4theapocalypse]

A Nest of Vipers Ch5. (Cormac McLaggen x Original Female Character - Slytherin)

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 4.6K

Warnings / Tags: ANGST, Tragic romance

Summary: If her brother is brave enough to ask one of the Gryffindors to Slughorn's Christmas party, surely Una can work up the courage to do the same? Or has Sabine been right all along?

A/N: No smut in this chapter just some angst and everyone being cagey with their feelings lol. Also this diverges from the canon timeline just a little - Katie Bell isn’t cursed by the necklace until after Christmas.

Join my tag list: @countlambula, @ratsys, @aweidlich, @navs-bhat, @stainedpomegranatelips, @chiaraanatra, @xxvelvetxxxx, @ohnoitsrosie, @dracosisteer, @daisydark, @intense-sneezing, @lipstickandloveletters, @ichorai, @marmie-noir (let me know if you want removed at any point - if you're only interested in specific stories or even if you are finding this tag annoying 🖤)

Chapter 5: Suffocate

A winter chill was in the air as Una and Graham Montague walked up the steps to the owlery, their shoes crunching on frosty fallen leaves on the stone staircase. Una wrinkled her nose when Graham opened the door at the top of the tower and they were greeted with the stench of owl droppings and hay.

“I’ve been laying the groundwork and dropping some serious hints that I need a new broom for Christmas,” said Graham as he tied their letters to one of the school tawny owls who was sticking its leg out in a serious, professional sort of way.

“I can’t believe this is the first time you’ve written to them all term,” said Una. This was typical of Graham. He was their golden boy - what did it matter to their parents if he didn’t write for months? Their beloved Quidditch Captain son who could do no wrong. Una, on the other hand, had to constantly fight for their approval. 

She knew she should probably resent him for it, and yet…

“What am I going to write about? I’m not brilliant like you. I’ve not done anything worth writing about.”

There it was. Even if her parents didn’t give a damn, her little brother was always so proud of her. And he let her know it. She loved him more than anything. Although Sabine and Meredith were a close second. And, if she was being honest, third respectively.

“They’d love to hear from you, Graham. They’d want to know that your panic attacks have gotten much better lately.” Graham frowned and pretended to busy himself with the fastenings on the letters. “And Father would be really pleased that Slughorn invited you to his Christmas party after doing so well in Potions.”

“Oh, so you just send them a list of achievements every other week? Sure - that’s nothing to do with trying to get a good Christmas present.”

“Well,” smirked Una leaning against the window sill. “I’m not saying it doesn’t help.”

“Right, off you go then,” Graham told the owl who ruffled its feathers against the icy breeze, spread its wings and took flight across the Hogwarts grounds, carrying the siblings’ letters. They stood for a moment watching the silhouette of the owl disappearing into the sky across the lake.

“So, who are you going to the party with?” asked Una, looking up at him and thinking of his fellow Slytherin sixth years. As much as she didn’t like to think about her brother’s dating life, she would rather he wasn’t going out with someone who was a simpering pushover like Pansy Parkinson or a knucklehead like Millicent Bullstrode.

“Eh, I dunno…” He said, pushing a gloved hand back through his auburn hair. “I was thinking maybe Katie Bell?”

“What?” She knew that name from her lessons.

“She’s in the year above me.” He cleared his throat. 

Una blinked a few times as his hazel eyes, so similar to her own, refused to meet hers.

“Yeah, I know she is because that’s my year, you dolt. But she’s in Gryffindor.”

“Oh, don’t you start too. It’s a different house, not another planet.”

“Your friends giving you a hard time then?”

He snorted. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“And it doesn’t… bother you?”

“What? That she’s a Gryffindor?”

“No, that Draco and the others are giving you a hard time.”

“Yeah, well, what are they gonna do about it?” He drew himself up to his full height. He was tall - even taller than his friends Crabbe and Goyle - she supposed they were probably too intimidated by him to try and put a stop to it.

“Well… good for you,” said Una. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I like that you don’t care what they think.”

“What about you?” he asked, pulling his scarf tighter against the cold air coming through the giant open windows.

“It’s fine by me, I don’t care who you go out with.” That wasn’t strictly true but it was better than him dating one of the Slytherin sixth years who were always sucking up to her, Sabine and Meredith.

“I meant who are you going with?”

“Oh.” Una and Blaise had already arranged to go with each other as friends. That way she could sneak off with McLaggen and he could attempt to get to know Ginny Weasley better, despite Una’s contempt for the latter. “Blaise.”

“What?!” His exclamation startled her slightly. “Una, you can’t go with Blaise.”

“Who are you to tell me who I can’t -”

“Not like that. Una, please. I’m begging you. Don’t go with Blaise.”

She was taken aback by this. Blaise was in Slytherin. By all accounts, he was a perfectly suitable match for her. “Why not?”

“Because he’s my mate. I mean, I can put up with them slagging me off for who I go out with but I don’t want to hear about Blaise with his hands all over my -” He pretended to retch. “I can’t have my sister going out with -” He retched again. “one of my friends.”

She frowned.

“Don’t give me that look. I mean…” He looked out the window again with a pained expression. “I suppose if you really like him, I could make peace with it. As long as y’know, you don’t start snogging each other in front of me.”

“It’s not that we like each other. It’s just that neither of us had anyone else to go with,” said Una carefully.

“Come off it.” Graham rolled his eyes and walked over to the owlery door. “I mean - they reign it in in front of me because they know I’d kill them - but I know from my mates that you’re not that ugly. I’m sure you’d have your choice of poor, unwitting souls. Like a dementor.”

“Oh ha-ha. It’s more of a quality problem than a quantity one - have you seen the trolls in our common room?”

“Well, maybe you should broaden your horizons. I’m not saying you have to go out with a Gryffindor but people in other houses exist, you know.”

Una sighed heavily as the owlery door shut behind her. She couldn’t believe she was taking dating advice from her brother - and what’s more, he was right. 

“What’s that sigh for?”

“I wish I could be like you. Sabine and Meredith would kill me if I went with someone from Gryffindor. The three of us have a reputation to protect.”

“What does a reputation mean, really? What other people think of you? Maybe they’re not good friends if they care more about what other people think than being happy.” They paused at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m serious, Una. Fuck them. Go out with who you like… As long as it’s not Blaise or Draco.” He paused for a moment and (as if to make sure he was covering all his bases) added. “Or Crabbe, Goyle or Theo.”

Una laughed but as they walked back to the castle she couldn’t help but think about how complicated this was becoming. Why couldn’t things just be simple? Surely she could just be honest with her friends and go with who she really liked.

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

Una, Sabine and Meredith sat in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room. The atmosphere was stiff like they were the only three mourners at a very poorly attended funeral. Una had to remind herself that they weren’t actually grieving, that she had simply broken the news she was going to Slughorn’s party with Cormac McLaggen. 

“I can’t believe you’d do this to my brother either,” Sabine sniped, breaking the silence. “Who’s he supposed to go with now?”

“The party is almost two weeks away. Blaise has plenty of time to find another date. Besides, Graham doesn’t want me to go with one of his friends.” 

“I think,” Sabine said coolly. “I think you should find somewhere else to sit.”

Una snorted in disbelief. “Sab, come on-” 

“Don’t ‘Sab’ me. I’m not having you cosying up with the Gryffindors all day and then coming crawling back to us. We stick together. The three of us. And only us.”

“You can’t be serious.” Sabine only raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow in response and continued to look into the fire, the light bouncing off her high, dark cheekbones as she stared stonily. “Doesn’t Meredith get a say?” Una scoffed and looked at Meredith who was attempting to make herself as small as she could in her leather armchair. “Well?”

“I agree with Sabine,” Meredith said quietly.

“Unbelievable.” Una stood up and her temper rose with it. “Are you really going to be that spineless, Meredith?” Meredith simply looked at her shoes. “And you,” she turned her glare to Sabine. “You only want me to go out with someone you can keep a close eye on.”

“I know what’s good for you.”

“What’s good for you, you mean. You’d rather the three of us were single than Meredith or I had a boyfriend before you.”

“You bitch,” hissed Sabine and Una knew she had touched a nerve. Sabine might have experience but Una knew her inside out. Sabine had never had a boyfriend for more than a few weeks. 

Cormac’s earlier teasing of Una swam to the forefront of her mind: ‘It was easy to pretend you didn’t exist since you have such a terrible personality’

If Una had a terrible personality, Sabine’s was diabolical.

Sabine pressed on. “It’s nothing to do with who I am or aren’t dating. You know for a fact that you going out with a Gryffindor ruins the whole dynamic.”

“The dynamic?” Una laughed so shrilly that Pansy Parkinson and her friends looked over from their seats at the window alcove. “What dynamic is that? The one where you’re in charge and Meredith and I go along with whatever you say?”

“No, the dynamic where we don’t have the same kind of power when one of us splits off from the group to chum up with those blundering idiots in Gryffindor.”

“Then don’t split us up. It’s you who’s making a big deal about me asking Cormac to some party!”

It was Sabine’s turn to laugh. “Wait, hold on a second. He hasn’t even asked you yet?”

“So? What does it matter if he hasn’t?”

“I saw him scowling at you in Snape’s lesson the other day when you asked about the Cruciatus Curse. He doesn’t even like you. Sure, maybe he’s trying to fuck you but there’s no way he actually wants to date you.”

It was a knife in Una’s stomach. Sabine knew Una just as well as Una knew her. She had an intimate knowledge of Una’s deepest insecurities and her attempt to wound her was working.

“Well, maybe I don’t care if that’s what he wants.”

Sabine laughed again and it stung like venom in the wound. “As if. You’re going to catch feelings.”

“You really think I’m that easily manipulated?”

“Actually I do, Una. Because without us, what are you? A goody-two-shoes virgin and a loser.”

Una knew arguing back was only giving Sabine more ammunition but she couldn’t help it. The smug smirk on Sabine’s face told her that Sabine knew just how deeply she’d cut her. “He doesn’t care who my friends are. He likes me.”

“He likes the idea of fucking you. Wait until he finds out you’ve got as much experience as a twelve-year-old.”

Una could feel tears welling in her eyes and she was furious with her own emotions for betraying her. She wanted to tell them that actually, she did have experience. And that Cormac didn’t even mind when she didn’t. “He’s not like that.”

“They’re all like that,” Sabine said seriously. She held out her pinky finger. Their special signal. “Last chance, Una.” When she looked at Una her expression softened. “I just worry about you.”

Una looked at the pinky finger extended in front of her but didn’t link it. “You’re wrong.”

“I don’t want you to prove me right. Don’t ask him.”

“Why not?”

Una gave Meredith one last pleading look but Meredith just shook her head.

“If you make a fool of yourself it looks bad for all of us.”

Sabine pressed her pinky right into Una’s breastbone. 

“I’m not a fool. And you’re a bad friend if you don’t want me to be happy.”

“You’d be happier without getting involved with him,” said Sabine. “I swear, Una. You’re setting yourself up to get hurt.”

Una thought hard. Thought about when Cormac told her he wanted to bend her over and fuck her like the mean little bully she was. Thought about the way he was as keen as she was to keep it a secret.

She barely knew him. He barely knew her. And maybe Sabine was right - what he did know he didn’t seem to like. Even if he did want to fuck her.

And asking him to Slughorn’s Christmas party would probably end in rejection and hurt.

She looked down at the pinky pressed into her sternum and locked her own around it. Sabine squeezed it with satisfaction.

“You’re right. I - I don’t know what I was thinking.”

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

As the Gryffindor Quidditch Team made their way back to the common room, Cormac McLaggen and Katie Bell lingered at the back of the group with their brooms slung over their shoulders.

“What a waste of time,” he groaned. 

“Cheer up. You’re still technically on the team,” said Katie.

“Technically, yes. But in actuality that means spending a perfectly good Saturday afternoon sitting on the sidelines watching Weasley make an arse of himself.” Cormac grumbled as he adjusted his broom. He was in a bad mood and what was worse was that he still hadn’t found a date for Slughorn’s Party.

He knew why he was putting it off and resented himself for it. He had sort of hoped that after spending the evening in the Prefects’ bathroom with Una a few weeks ago that maybe - just maybe - she’d have a change of heart about not wanting to be seen with him anywhere.

But that wasn’t looking likely.

For the past couple of weeks, their only contact had consisted of sitting too closely in Transfiguration when they could get away with it and discreet brushes of their fingers when they passed in the corridor. Just last week he had dared to squeeze a handful of her backside as he walked by her in the Great Hall which she had met with a scathing look and the tiniest jerk of her head towards Sabine and Meredith. 

Then, he hadn’t expected his heart to sink the way it did when she’d told him casually in Transfiguration that she was going to Slughorn’s with Blaise Zabini. Cormac thought they were well suited - both Slytherins, slight and statuesque. He felt like a lumbering giant when he walked past Blaise the next day.

He needed a date. And fast.

“Katie, you don’t fancy going to Slughorn’s Party with me, do you?”

Katie stopped in her tracks. “What?”

“Just as friends, I mean.”

“Thank God,” she laughed and they resumed their ascent of the moving staircase.

“Alright, don’t sound too relieved or anything.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I do. I just thought that since you’re not going you might -“

“I am too going,” said Katie defensively.

“What? You’re going to Slughorn’s?” asked Cormac. “You never told me that.”

“I don’t tell you everything,” Katie said. “But yeah, I’m going with the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. Graham.”

Cormac furrowed his brow. “Wait -”

“Una Montague’s brother,” she reminded him.

“What? Why’d you say it like that? I barely know her.”

It was easy to forget Graham and Una were siblings. They were different, that was for sure. Graham was taller, broader and with much hairier arms than Una - not that Cormac was complaining that they didn’t share those traits. 

Katie looked at him blankly. “Because you mentioned you sit next to her Transfiguration?”

“Oh. Yeah. Right.” 

“He’s kind of sweet, actually,” said Katie quickly. “Not as bad as the rest.”

His memory was jogged by this. “Hold on, didn’t he grab your head instead of the quaffle during a match once?”

To Cormac’s surprise, Katie gave him a girlish smile that he’d never seen before. “That’s what he said when he asked me to Slughorn’s Party. He said he wanted to make it up to me. ‘Baubles’,” she added, pushing through the portrait of the Fat Lady and stepping over the threshold of the common room.

“I dunno, Katie. Carmichael warned me about him,” he said.

“What’s going on?” said Katie. “First you’re getting defensive when I mentioned Una and now you’re telling me Carmichael is warning you about her brother. Why?”

“Nothing’s going on,” Cormac insisted, thinking about Una’s scalding look when he tried to touch her when she was near the other Vipers. She’d be furious if he told anyone about them. So furious, she probably wouldn’t want to have sex with him - and he was determined to at least do that again, even if they weren’t going to the party together.

“Are you into her?”

“No, Katie. I just sit next to her in one class.” He did trust Katie but he was becoming extremely conscious of the fact they were having this conversation in the busy common room where anyone could overhear.

“Is this why you haven’t asked anyone to Slughorn’s? Are you trying to work up the courage to ask her or something?”

“No. And she’s going with Zabini anyway.”

“Sabine?”

“Blaise.”

“Hmm… you seem to know an awful lot about who she’s going with for someone who isn’t interested.”

“It just came up in Transfiguration.”

“How did it come up?”

He dragged his hand down his face in exasperation. Katie could be so infuriatingly tenacious. “It just did. Let it go.”

“So you’re not going alone in the hopes she ditches Blaise for you?”

“No! I just asked you didn’t I?”

“As a friend.”

“Yeah, because Slughorn’s Christmas party is only two days away and I still don’t have anyone to go with.”

“Cormac?” said a voice from behind them. Katie and Cormac whipped around to see Hermione Granger standing with a book under her arm. “Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing. Did you say you were looking for a date for Slughorn’s party?”

Now, this was interesting. Hermione was pretty, he supposed, even if she did look slightly stressed out and frazzled right now. But she had never shown the slightest interest in him before, in fact, it was quite the opposite when he had made eyes at her during Slug Club.

“Yes,” said Cormac with relief. He was proving Katie wrong before her eyes. “Are you? Do you want to go together?”

Hermione nodded. He wondered if this would make Una jealous. Hermione was, after all, a shoo-in to be Una’s successor as Head Girl. And she had gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum - that had to mean something, right?

“You mean like, as a date though, right? Not as friends?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I would love to go with you as a date, Cormac,” she replied very loudly, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the Quidditch team heading to their dormitories and tucking her bushy hair behind her ear.

“Excellent,” said Cormac, clapping Hermione on the shoulder and walking backwards towards the boys’ dormitory. “You’ll wear something hot though, right?”

“Cormac!” said Katie, aghast.

“What?” asked Cormac. He was thinking about how Una would mock him if he turned up with a date who clearly didn’t look like she’d made any effort to be there with him. But judging from Katie’s horrified expression, he’d said the wrong thing. “I just meant, y’know, at the Yule Ball - you looked great. I’m looking forward to seeing you dressed up again.”

“Ignore him,” said Katie, rolling her eyes as Hermione looked offended. Cormac shrugged and turned to go upstairs.

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

In the last Transfiguration lesson before the end of term, Professor McGonagall seemed to have let her hair down slightly and had allowed the seventh-years to spend their lesson practising whatever they wanted. And so, Cormac continued his attempts to silently master the Avis spell while Una sat in front of a mirror, transfiguring her eyebrows into different colours.

“You know, I might keep them like this for Slughorn’s party tomorrow night,” said Una, admiring her emerald green eyebrows in the mirror. “They match my dress.” 

Cormac turned in his seat to face her as she smirked at him expectantly.

“Blaise would love that, I’m sure.” 

“He won’t care.”

“Nice to know he’s not superficial. That’s a good quality to have in a boyfriend.”

Una snorted. “What are you on about?”

“Well… you’ve barely spoken to me since you told me you were going to Slughorn’s with Blaise.”

“That’s not -” Una hesitated before continuing. “That’s not why I haven’t been speaking to you. Sabine and Meredith are sort of… on my case.”

“They’ve always been on your case.”

“More than usual.” Una held up her mirror to her face and pointed her wand at her eyebrows. Cormac had a feeling she was hiding her face so she wouldn’t need to look at him. “I told them I was thinking about asking you.”

“You - you did? What did they say?”

“Oh they were really supportive,” said Una sarcastically, as they both watched her eyebrows resume their usual colour. “Asked if you had any friends for them too - do you think Carmichael would be interested?”

Cormac put down his wand. “What did they really say?”

“It didn’t go down well. But -” Una pursed her lips thoughtfully. “- does it matter what they think?”

“To me? No.”

“Should we, then? Go together, I mean? I know it’s only tomorrow but Blaise won’t care. We’re just going as friends.”

Friends? Shit. 

“Una, I can’t. I’ve said I’d go with someone else - I can’t ditch her the day before.”

“Who?”

“Hermione Granger,” he said and Una scoffed. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, you were trying to hit on her at the dinner party a couple of weeks ago, so, what, you’re dating her?”

“How was I supposed to know you were going with Blaise as friends?”

She looked at him incredulously. “I thought that was the plan? We’d find someone else to go with and we’d sneak off somewhere together later?”

“We can still do that,” he said, feeling a little desperate now his plan was backfiring.

“Cormac, I’m not…” She sighed. “I’m not gonna be some bit on the side for you while you’re actively dating. You can’t have it both ways.”

That was exceptionally unfair. “Me? Una, I’m doing this at your request. You want to keep it a secret. You want to go to the party with someone else. It’s you who can’t have it both ways.”

He was expecting a venomous argument but she just looked disappointed. Which was worse.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

He certainly hadn’t expected her to apologise. He felt his defences drop.

“Come on, Unes. I’m not dating her. I was scrambling for a last-second date and she overheard. That’s all it is.”

“And what’s this?” asked Una. “Like… between us?”

“What do you want it to be?” He tilted his head. “Una, I like you a lot but if you’re that worried about Sabine and Meredith, we can keep it a secret. I don’t care.”

“You like me? You never told me that.”

“Didn’t I?”

“No. You said you didn’t dislike me.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“Even though Carmichael says I’m evil?”

Cormac grinned. “Well, you are evil. I’m just into it.” He didn't really think Una was evil. A little mean with a twisted sense of humour, sure, but she had a soft side that most people didn't realise existed. He couldn't ever imagine her purposefully harming someone.

She laughed at this for a second then her expression shifted slightly. “And you don’t care that I’ve got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old?”

“Well, that’s not true anymore, is it?” He shrugged his shoulders. “And it’s great, actually. It’s the one thing I’m better at than you.”

“Shut up,” she said, although she looked relieved. It was oddly adorable. Usually so quick-witted and sneering, it was nice when she let him peer behind the curtain and see that she had real, human emotions.

“You’re gonna need a lot of practice to catch up,” he said with a cocky grin, and he was glad when she hit his shoulder because he knew it meant she wasn’t upset with him anymore.

The bell rang and Cormac and Una filed out of the class behind the others. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” he asked and she nodded. Then Una did something she’d never done before. She stood on her tiptoes in the busy corridor and kissed his cheek.

“See you later,” Una said and off she went, giving him a quick smile over her shoulder before disappearing through a hidden passageway behind a tapestry.

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

After Arithmancy, Una went along the second-floor corridor to the nearest bathroom. It was cold and dank in here - she knew why Filch avoided cleaning this one. She looked at her reflection in the streaky mirror as she dried her hands. She too usually steered clear of this bathroom if she could because - 

“I know something you don’t know,” sang Moaning Myrtle, rising from the air above the stall behind her. Una glanced her out of the corner of her eye in the mirror as she pulled out her lipgloss.

“Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of things I don’t know, Myrtle. How to scare away every boy in school, for instance?”

“Funny you should say that… Did you know that boy you’re seeing is taking someone else to the Christmas party?”

“Oh, no,” said Una mockingly applying her lipgloss. “What a terrible shock.”

“I heard Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley talking all about it in here.”

“Did you now?” said Una, feigning disinterest as she pouted at herself and fixed her hair.

“Yes, although she’s not looking forward to it. He sounds awful. I can see why you’re both interested in each other.”

Una smirked at her own reflection. Good. She was glad Hermione wasn’t particularly keen on their date.

Myrtle continued. “I overheard them talking about what a chauvinist he is. Apparently, he told her to wear something sexy to the party. Can you believe it?”

Una’s smirk faltered as the pit of her stomach dropped. She tried to recover quickly by pressing her lips together but from the gleeful expression on Myrtle’s face, she’d seen it. Myrtle floated over to sit on the sink next to her but Una kept her eyes firmly on her own reflection.

“Said he was really looking forward to seeing her all dressed up. Gosh, he must really like her.”

Una carefully put her lipgloss back in her bag. So much for ‘only asking Hermione because she overheard’. So Cormac McLaggen was a liar - plain and simple. And Sabine was right. By putting herself out there and telling him how she felt, she had only set herself up to get hurt.

“Is that why you told me not to tell anyone? Are you sleeping with someone else’s boyfriend?” asked Myrtle in a would-be innocent voice.

Una pulled out her wand and pointed it at Myrtle’s throat. “Langlock!” she spat and watched Myrle’s eyes bulge as her tongue rolled back down her throat. “Engorgio!”

Myrtle clutched her throat as her tongue swelled up.

“Now, if you were alive, you’d suffocate,” whispered Una, watching Myrtle’s ghostly face turn less and less opaque. Her neck bulged as her tongue continued to grow. “But what happens if a dead person chokes on their own tongue, I wonder?”

Una didn’t bother to find out. She turned around and strode out of the bathroom, her heels clicking across the wet stone floor as Myrle gagged behind her. 

Chapter 6: Slughorn's Party

[alectocarrowx]

where: their home in Scotland who: @r-lestrcnge

A shiver rippled down her spine, a disturbance felt within their wards had her attention drift from glancing around the nursery, making a mental note of what items they still needed, turning from the room. No visitors were expected, a sudden annoyance starting at the tip of her fingers, in desperate need of a quiet weekend.

Silent steps stretch down the hall, descending the master staircase, reaching the bottom in time for Pansy to open the door to greet a fellow death eater. "Rabastan is in the study, I shall fetch him." Her duties had been modified due to the pregnancy.

"This is for you." A roll of parchment held out for her, along with an envelope.

Brows knit together in confusion, collecting the items offered. "For me?" The wizard nods at her. Alecto rolls over the parchment, hues scanning the contents and she can feel the annoyance travel up her arms. She dared not to refuse the Dark Lords wishes, yet felt no desire to stand in front of the werewolf leader Angus. "I will make sure this is taken care of."

The wizard exits the same way he came. The witch takes a moment to read the letter one more time, letting a sigh slip from her parted lips, rolling the parchment up. Alecto can sense him before letting her eyes fall on his figure. "It appears I am required to visit Angus, for he will only sign the alliance with the Dark Lord if I bring them."

[just-a-draco-girly]

The Secret - Chapter Eight

Nervously, I adjust the dark green chiffon material of my dress as I look at myself in the mirror. I let Charlotte do my makeup again which consists of dark smoky eye shadow and eyeliner with the pinky-nude coloured matte lipstick that I've come to grow fond of since Draco complimented me on it in Hogsmeade at the start of the year. My hair is held back in a plaited bun with a few curly tendrils falling lazily at the side of my face. I drop my eyes to my feet which are adorned with a silver pair of ballet flats. I somehow managed to avoid Charlie making me wear heels... again. A shaky sigh leaves my mouth when I turn to face Charlie, who is wearing a long, grey gown that is covered in sparkly gems and is sifting through her trunk to find her shoes.

"Charlie?" I call over, causing her to turn to me and nod in response. "I'm scared, I don't think I can do this..." I trail off, looking at my hands that are still playing with the soft skirt of my floor length dress. She sighs and moves over to my side, gently taking hold of my shoulders. I'm spun around and made to look in the mirror once more.

"Victoria, you are the most beautiful, smart, and witty girl I've ever met. I don't get what you see in an asshole like Malfoy..." She speaks, pausing when I glare at her in the mirror. "But he'd be lucky to have you. Any guy would for that matter" She adds, smiling sweetly at me as I continue to give her the stink eye.

If I am honest, despite her not liking Draco she has supported me completely through this whole ordeal. She understands that Draco has been my closest friend for a long while, and she knows who I'd pick if she tried to come between us. Draco. It's always been Draco since he accidentally kissed me when we were five years old. A small smile etches itself upon my face as I remember his little pale face turning the shade of a tomato.

"You're right. I shouldn't be nervous, I've known him my whole life" I speak, resolutely. Charlie pats my shoulder and grabs her clutch, passing me my own. Happily, we link arms and walk out of the dorm, heading down the stairs to the common room. We find her date, Thomas Witten, a fellow Ravenclaw from the year above us, waiting in a brown armchair by the portrait hole. He stands, straightening his jacket as we unlink our arms. Greeting us both, he gently takes Charlie's hand and I can see her dying inside. Thomas is quite the catch. Tall, dark haired and he's the captain of the house's Quidditch team. Youngest Quidditch captain in almost 200 years.  Most of the girls in Ravenclaw are obsessed with him.

But he's not my type.

Our trio leaves the common room and walk down the corridor. I awkwardly follow, feeling overwhelmingly like a third wheel. The feeling soon dissipates when we reach the top of the staircase that descends into the entrance hall. My eyes immediately land on Draco, who is wearing a black shirt and tie with black trousers and dress robes. His usually messy blonde hair is slicked back, but parted slightly. In short, he looks perfect. I smile widely and slowly descend the stairs. I can feel his eyes watching me the entire time.

"Hi" I say, nervously smiling, as I come to a halt in front of him. His eyes that were staring at me blink rapidly and he slowly shakes his head.

"Um, hey" Draco mumbles, scratching the back of his neck. "You look... st-stunning" He speaks, amazement evident in his voice. My cheeks burn brightly, hopefully being hidden by the makeup Charlie put on earlier. I nervously respond with a curt thank you, before hearing a loud shriek of anger that sounded like it could only have came from one Pansy Parkinson.

"Drakey-poo!" She shouts, marching across the hall with tears streaming down her overly done makeup. She looks like a mess (well more than usual). Draco groans, rolling his ice blue eyes as she nears us. She shoves me out of the way when she stands in front of Draco, almost standing on the hem of my dress. I stumble slightly. Draco gently places his arm around my waist to steady me, instinctively pulling me into his side.

"Yes, Parkinson?" He asks, sneering almost. Pansy's pug face drops at the use of her surname. She hopefully has realised that Draco doesn't like her and sadly saunters towards the stairs that lead down to the Dungeons. I feel a slight pang of guilt as I watch her go.

"Don't you think that was a bit mean, Draco?" I question, gazing up at his tall frame.

"I've tried everything else and she still didn't leave me alone" He sighs, resignation taking over him. I softly pat his shoulder in some form of comfort. His arm still clings to my waist, restricting my movement. But I don't care.

"Malfoy!" Potter's voice booms from the stairs, causing both Draco and I to groan in disgust and turn to the source of his voice.

"What do you want, Potter?" He demands, sounding exhausted already due to Pansy and now Potter confronting him. Potter saunters down the stairs with the sense of entitled arrogance that only he, the chosen one, has. I thought Draco was entitled and arrogant until I met Potter in first year.

"So you've actually got yourself a date apart from Parkinson?" He speaks, snidely. Draco grinds his teeth together, only calming down when I place a hand on his chest to stop him from attacking the boy who lived.

"Yeah, he does and at least he didn't get his last minute unlike you, Potter" I reply, snapping at Potter's smug face. He does a double take before retreating to Weaselbee on the other side of the now crowded entrance hall, muttering nonsense angrily under his breath. A quiet chuckle escapes Draco's pink lips. I turn to him with a look of confusion on my face. "What?" Bemused, he continues to laugh at whatever joke is funny inside his head.

"I really don't get how you weren't put in Slytherin" He responds, still chortling slightly. I roll my eyes at him, pulling away from him. His other arm finds my waist and tugs me closer to him. He pulls me into a sort of embrace, leaning his chin on my shoulder. "But I wouldn't have you any other way" He whispers softly. His lips brushing against my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine and goosebumps to appear on my skin.

Suddenly, he removes his arms from me and steps back. I frown in confusion until I see Blaise in fancy dress robes approaching us with Millicent Bulstrode clinging onto his arm happily. I wave nervously at the two, as I hardly know Blaise let alone Millicent. They come to a halt in front of us. We all greet each other and soon everyone is allowed to enter the Great Hall, which has been transformed into a winter wonderland.

The ball starts officially with the champions dancing with their partners to that stupid dance Professor Flitwick made us learn last week. I roll my eyes in disgust at Potter flouncing around with Pavarti Patil from the table that Draco and I are sat at. Noticing Draco's eyes fixed on my face, I turn my gaze to him and earn a smirk from the blonde

"Please, don't make me dance to this stupid song" I plead, locking eyes with his blue orbs. His eyes soften slightly as he stares at me with his chin perched on his hand carelessly.

"Alright" Draco chuckles. "But only if you promise to dance with me later" He adds, winking slyly. I nod in agreement, causing a goofy grin to spread across his lips. He shuffles his chair closer to mine and I instinctively rest my head on his shoulder, as his arm wraps around my torso and we watch the dancers frolicking around the Great Hall. 

.................................

"So where's my dance?" Draco asks, cheekily nudging my arm with his. I had promised him a dance two hours ago after the feast had finished, but nonetheless I roll my eyes. A light blush covers my cheeks.

"I guess I could dance with you" I sigh dramatically. "If I really have to" I add, taking hold of his hand that was held out to me and allowing him to lead me to the dance floor as a slow song starts. His right arm slinks around my waist, pulling me gently into him. Tentatively, I place my left hand on his shoulder, whilst he takes hold of my other hand and we begin to sway slowly to the music. I lazily rest my head in his shoulder, letting out a content sigh.

We sway like this until the rest of the song, contained in our own little bubble, until Professor Dumbledore announces that it is the end of the festivities and that students should return to their dormitories. A low groan leaves Draco as we reluctantly pull away from each other. I giggle helplessly at his disgruntlement. This causes Draco to stick his tongue out at me and I lightly punch him in the arm. We make our way out of the Great Hall slowly among the crowds of students, Draco's hand gripping mine. Keeping me close to him. 

"Draco!" A shout from the other side of the entrance hall causes Draco to stop abruptly and I stumble into his back clumsily. I look around in a bid to find the source of the voice, as Blaise and Millicent emerge from the throng of dithering students.

"Hey" Draco greets them, casually. Millicent timidly waves at the pair of us. 

"So, looks like you won the bet" Blaise speaks, pulls out some galleons and drops them in Draco's outstretched palm, causing me to stare at them in confusion. Draco smiles smugly before pocketing the gold coins. 

"What bet?" I ask, curiosity killed the cat but I don't care. Blaise raises an eyebrow at Draco, before turning to me.

"Oh, I bet Draco that he wouldn't be able to get you to go to the Yule Ball with him" He says, earning a hard glare from Draco's cold blue eyes. What? This was a dare? I glance up at Draco, as I feel tears threaten to spill over my lower lashes. He opens his mouth to speak, but he is suddenly cut short when my hand makes contact with the side of his pale face. The sound of my hand making contact with his skin causes eyes from the surrounding crowd of students to fall on the pair of us. 

"Don't Draco. I thought you actually cared about me!" I push him away as he makes an attempt to reason with me. Tears now flow freely down my cheeks, leaving black mascara trails.

Hurriedly, I turn away from him and sprint up the grand staircase with a tear stained face and a broken heart. 

Other Chapters

[fidelixcorde]

It took Neville too proper tries before he managed to finally Disarm her, and while it wasn't a perfect attempt, her wand at least left her hand, and he was so happy that he did it that Taylor could only smile back. Harry's added praise made Neville draw himself up taller, and Taylor gave Harry a slight wink back before retrieving her wand.

The rest of the lesson went fairly well. In between Neville's fluctuating confidence, Taylor kept an eye out on everyone, and so she saw Harry and Cho talking, except... She tilted her head, realizing that they were acting as if they were close than originally written. There was no awkward shy flirtation; if anything, they looked like they were flirting comfortably well.

Huh... Taylor wondered what happened between them for the blush on their cheeks to clearly mean something more than budding feelings.

When the lesson came to an end, Taylor obediently handed the Map over to Harry when asked, and she was once again in one of the first groups to leave the Room of Requirement, heading back to Gryffindor Tower without any trouble. Climbing into bed, she lay there staring up at the canopy as she tried to think things through.

(*)

The weeks slowly passed. Thanks to the Quidditch practices happening, the DA meetings looked random, so no pattern could be recognized, and Taylor was greatly enjoying herself, watching how everyone was improving. Colin Creevey became exceptional at the Impediment Jinx, Parvati mastered the Reductor Curse so well that she reduced one of the tables into fine dust, and Ginny excelled with the Bat Bogey Hex, which was expected.

Hermione also came up with the coins, as expected. She brought them to the fourth meeting, explaining how they worked with the numeral codes on the edge changing to a date to give the next meeting, as well as how they turned hot when any DA member used it, and how it turned cold as an SOS signal.

"You can do a Protean Charm?" Terry Boot asked, awed. "That's N.E.W.T level magic, that is! With brains like yours, why aren't you in Ravenclaw?"

"Well, the Sorting Hat very nearly placed me in Ravenclaw," Hermione explained, her cheeks darkening with some amount of embarrassed pride. "But it decided to put me in Gryffindor instead."

The only other exciting thing that was happening now, beyond Umbridge sniffing around for troublemakers, was the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. McGonagall even decided not to assign any homework for a couple of weeks so that Harry and Ron could work their hardest at their practices in order to win, because the woman got used to seeing the Quidditch Cup in her office, and she didn't want to give it back to Snape.

Taylor did take notice of one thing: with Draco being on the right side, while there were still hostility between the teams, there was no need for Draco to write a whole song to mock Ron for being the weakest player on the team. The actual game was exciting in a pure, not totally malicious way, and Harry was able to win them a victory with only inches to spare.

It was the Tuesday following that Hagrid had returned. Of course, Taylor knew Hagrid had come back the night of the match, but it was Tuesday that they were finally having their Care of Magical Creatures lesson and so she followed her fellow Gryffindors and the Slytherins down to Hagrid's hut, where he cheerfully greeted them and brought them into the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where he dropped a massive hunk of meat and gave a warbling cry to summon the thestrals, which not everyone could see.

Judging how Harry's eyes zeroed in one one of them as soon as they appeared, Taylor knew he had seen Cassius die. Just one more thing to feel guilty for.

"Now," Hagrid called as soon as some of the herd came closer, "pet yer hands up if ye can see 'em!"

Neville, Theo, and Harry raised their hands. Taylor raised hers as well.

"What exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" Pansy asked warily, almost hiding behind Draco, who's own eyes were following the swishing tail of one of the thestrals, and Taylor blinked in surprise. He hadn't raised his hand, however, and it made her wonder why.

"Thestrals," Hagrid said, and Hermione inhaled with recognition. "Hogwarts has a whole herd of 'em."

Parvati gasped. "But they're really, really unlucky!" she declared, clinging to Lavender's hand in distress. “They’re supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once —”

"They're not unlucky." Taylor spoke without thinking, and heads swiveled to look at her. The one she named Mulaney last year came closer to her, and she reached to gently pat his beak, earning a smile from Hagrid. "They're just creatures, it's not their fault that they seem a little unnerving. The only reason some people consider them an omen of bad luck is because you can only see thestrals if you've seen someone die."

When Hermione noted Taylor as also being a valid option to lead, Harry was grateful to her. He doubted the quiet brunette wanted the part, but it did take another layer of pressure off of him to have it pointed out how many capable people were actually on their side.

He also spotted Luna wave at Taylor with the surety of real friendship, even getting a small wave back, and that warmed him further to the Gryffindor girl. Taylor might not make herself stand out, but she had the right kinds of friends.

Maybe it was because he was feeling distinctly aware of her, but Harry's eyes went to her once more when Ginny proposed making the group name a snub at Umbridge. Taylor wasn't overly-expressive, but the furrow to her brow was unmistakable.

She didn't like Dumbledore. Harry didn't know how he interpreted that correctly, or why it could be the case, but he knew that he was right. Interesting.

The first moment he actually felt like a leader was putting down Zacharias' snide attitude. When Harry flatly informed the snobby Hufflepuff that Expelliarmus had saved his life dueling Voldemort the year before, you could have heard a pin drop in the brief quiet after. Their six Slytherin companions had all stilled, and Harry knew that they were hyper-aware of his story--not for his survival, or Voldemort's return, but for the death he'd been forced to witness.

It was still shocking to Harry that Cassius' death had been so powerful. But they had come to him, without malice, asking him the truth about how their Housemate died. Draco had apologized to him for four years of rivalry, and when Harry had conceded and described trying and failing to save Cassius, Pansy had hugged him.

They got into it properly, pairing up to practice, and Harry felt a weird sense of accomplishment as the room filled with cries of the Disarming Charm, and wands began flying in all directions. Harry circled the room, observing, pausing to make note when he could advise on how to improve a cast.

He heard Taylor guiding Neville, and when the other boy tried again, Taylor's wand jerked in an attempt to leave her hand. She encouraged him to go again, and this time, it broke her grip, though it certainly did not fly to Neville. Still, he was beaming. "I did it! I did it, I've never Disarmed anyone before!"

"Good, Neville!" Harry praised him, giving Taylor a quick grin and a wink. "Keep it up!"

Ginny was teamed with Michael; she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her. Ernie was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under his guard; the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but erratic and mainly responsible for all the books leaping off the shelves around them. Luna was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin's wand spinning out of his hand, at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end.

“Okay, stop!” Harry shouted. “Stop!” I need a whistle, he thought, and immediately spotted one lying on top of the nearest row of books. He caught it up and blew hard. Everyone lowered their wands. “That wasn’t bad,” he said, “but there’s definite room for improvement.” Zacharias glared at him. “Let’s try again....”

He moved off around the room again, stopping here and there to make suggestions. Slowly the general performance improved. When he reached Cho, she waved her wand just a touch too hard. "Expelliarmious! I mean, Expellimellius! I—oh, sorry, Marietta!”

Her curly-haired friend’s sleeve had caught fire; Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and glared at Harry as though it was his fault. “I was doing all right before then,” Cho told Harry wryly, "you coming over made me nervous."

“I was watching from around the room, you're doing fine,” Harry promised. "We both know you're skilled, Cho, keep it up." She beamed at him, while Marietta looked at them rather sourly and turned away.

“Don’t mind her,” Cho sighed. “She doesn’t really want to be here but I made her come with me. Her parents have forbidden her to do anything that might upset Umbridge—her mum works for the Ministry.”

“Don't yours as well?” Harry asked.

“Yes....and, well, they’ve forbidden me to get on the wrong side of Umbridge too,” Cho admitted, then drew herself up proudly. “But if they think I’m not going to fight You-Know-Who after what you went through, they don't know me. Ced agrees," she added, softer, and grinned when Harry couldn't help blushing. "I wrote him last weekend--I was careful in my wording, don't worry, but I said you're being your usual self, and he said he's proud of us."

"Still going strong, then?" he asked, and she smirked.

"Yes, and maybe we can all meet up again, someday when things are better," she replied, nudging him as Harry blushed deeper. "Go on, leader-man, Granger is waving for you."

"Just saw the time," Hermione explained, as Harry turned to her. Harry

looked down at his watch and received a shock—it was already ten past nine, which meant they needed to get back to their common rooms immediately or risk being caught and punished by Filch for being out-of-bounds. He blew his whistle; everybody stopped, and the last couple of wands clattered to the floor.

“Well, that was pretty good,” Harry said, “but we’ve overrun, we’d better leave it here. Same place.... Let’s say next Wednesday night, I know Quidditch season's starting. We can decide on additional meetings then.... Come on, we’d better get going.... Taylor, hand me that parchment on my jacket? I need to check the Map."

[nyctophicbtch]

Smitten - Theodore Nott

[ Theodore Nott x ravenclaw!reader ]

Author's note: this idea has been stuck in my head for a while and since I don't have enough scenes for a whole fanfic, I made a little drabble

Many students were bustling around in the great hall, some arriving, some already sitting down in their house table, and some chatting in front of the doors.

Your entrance quickly caught Theo's eyes after he diverted himself from the conversation the rest of his friends were having.

Theo first met you in the train in first year, quickly getting along, and when you were sorted into different houses, you rarely hung out, but would always bump into each other in the library or between classes.

It was obvious, to your friends at least. The longing looks when you weren't looking, and the constant touching of your hair, arm, or any part of you really, yet somehow you managed to shrug it off and convince yourself that it was just how Theo was.

Much to your friends' dismay, Theo's slytherin friends, apart from Blaise hadn't really took notice, since he would only look at you and talk to you whenever his friends weren't around, though this time he was surrounded by the mass amount of students when you caught his attention.

He watched as a smile played on your lips at something your friend said before mouthing something he couldn't quite decipher, and when you gave him a smile after catching his eye, he felt his pulse quicken.

"Look who's smitten." Blaise nudged him with an elbow, and Theo turned to him only to be greeted by the teasing smirk on his fellow slytherins' faces, causing heat to creep up his face at the attention.

"Amusing as this is, it's getting pathetic. Go talk to her," Blaise encouraged, giving the boy a little pat on the back.

"We're only friends," Theo mumbled almost inaudibly.

"That's the whole point of talking to her," Pansy, who was sitting in front of him, threw her hands up in exasperation, and a few seconds later her lips curved up into a smirk as she you walking towards their table. "-which might be a lot sooner than you expected."

"Hey Theo." You tapped his shoulder which spooked him a little, earning his attention. "I have your potions notebook back in my table. I copied some of it, but most of the signs I couldn't really... well, I couldn't really tell what they are."

"Oh that's alright, we can discuss it late-" It was subtle and hidden, but you could see the jab Blaise landed on Theo's side, causing him to wince. "...Or I can go show you now."

"Are you su-"

"Of course. We're basically boring him right now. You can have him." Draco smiled sweetly and it looked all too real which freaked you out.

You looked at Theo who merely shrugged and stood from his seat, waiting for you to lead the way. As you turned your back to the slytherin table, Theo looked back, and much to his annoyance, the group silently hollered and Blaise made kissing gestures, while Pansy gave him a wink.

He could only hope that you wouldn't notice the blush that arose from their suggestive comments, but unfortunately for him, his friends were nowhere near subtle.

[panandinpain0]

Please do a 2nd part to Letter Exchange

Quidditch Field Confessions

Part One

Yes, of course!!! I can't promise it'll be as good as the first one though, sorry. I'll try my best.

Requested by: Anon

Neville Longbottom x Male!Ravenclaw!Reader

Again: Hermione x Pansy

Warnings: None that I know of

Enjoy, enjoyyyyy

--

Neville and (Y/N) have been doing this whole tutoring/dating thing for a while, and both of them were getting a little distressed at the fact that nothing had been made official. Neville was feeling insecure, wondering if (Y/N) just didn't want that with him- but if he didn't want that then why would he keep encouraging Neville? Maybe for friendship? But Neville was positive (Y/N) flirted with him on multiple occasions... And then there was the chaos with (Y/N). (Y/N) didn't want to rush things, but he wanted to take the next step and wasn't sure Neville was ready.

(Y/N) sat on the edge of his bed thinking exactly this, running his hands through his hair and letting out an exasperated sigh. What was he going to do? He needed to find out how Neville was feeling before anything- he didn't want to jump the gun and he didn't want to keep him waiting either. But how was he supposed to bring it up? "Oh, hey Neville, do you want to be my boyfriend or have you just been being nice to me and playing along this whole time?" No. Thinking of no other way, he figured he could just wing it. What could go wrong?

He stood up quickly and walked over to the chair that accompanied the desk in his dorm, pulling his robe he had draped over it off and tugging it up his arms, tucking something quickly into the pocket.. On his way to the door he grabbed his scarf that was wrapped around his bed post and beanie he had lying on his blanket, putting both on as he left Ravenclaw tower.

It was the weekend so he wasn't worried about finding Neville, he knew where he'd be. (Y/N) walked down the halls, passing fellow students and greeting them with a wave or nod, towards the Gryffindor portrait.

Once (Y/N) reached his destination he put his hands in his pocket and looked up at the Fat Lady.

"Excuse me, miss," he asked with confidence. This wasn't his first time talking with the Fat Lady.

"Oh, hello, dear! What can I do for you?" Her rosy face smiled down at the Ravenclaw boy.

"Is there any chance Neville Longbottom is in the Gryffindor common room at the moment?" he asked as politely as possible. He didn't want to be on the Fat Lady's bad side.

"I'm sorry dear, he isn't!"

"Hmm..." (Y/N) tried to think of where else Neville would be at noon on a Saturday. "Is Hermione Granger in there?"

"Yes, she is. Would you like me to fetch her?"

"Would you? That would be wonderful. Thank you so much."

"Of course! Anything for a polite young man such as yourself." She left and after a minute appeared again, just to have her portrait swung open by Hermione.

"(Y/N)? What is it?" Hermione asked, stepping out of the portrait and standing in front of (Y/N).

"I was wondering, do you know where Neville is?"

"Oh, that's right! He said he was looking for you and left," Hermione explained, sticking her hands in her pockets as a gust of wind breezed past. "I still don't understand why they can't put a heating charm inside the castle, or at least close the windows!" she complained. "Why, if you don't mind my asking, are you looking for Neville?"

"I, uhm... I would like to ask him to, make it official, I suppose," (Y/N) said hesitantly, trying to find the words.

Hermione's face lit up. "Really?!"

"Yes," (Y/N) chuckled out breathily. "I need to ask him how he's feeling. I don't want to push him into it, you know? He's too kind for his own good sometimes. But how about you and Pansy? Have you talked to her since the, you know...?"

"The accident where I made a complete fool out of myself? Yes, actually. She came by to see if I was alright. It was a surprise but it was so sweet." Hermione's face pinked at the thought of their interaction.

"That's amazing Hermione, I hope you guys make each other happy. Oh, and please keep me updated, you know how much I love hearing about relationships," (Y/N) gushed, leaning forward with a teasing smile.

"Thank you. I was considering going out and finding her after I finished this paper. I'm nearly done."

"If I see her, would you like me to send her this way?" (Y/N) asked with a kind smile.

"...Yes, please." Hermione's cheeks were pink with slight embarrassment.

"Alright, I'll be on my way. Good luck, Hermione." He patted her on the arm and walked away as she waved and walked back into the common room.

(Y/N) walked down to the library, knowing that's where Neville usually found me. Neville wasn't to be seen, but Pansy was.

"Oh, Parkinson?" (Y/N) whispered over, remembering what he had said to Hermione.

"(L/N)?" She raised an eyebrow and put her finger in the book she was reading to hold her place.

"Hermione was looking for you. She said to meet at the Gryffindor common room." (Y/N) smiled at her and motioned out the door.

"Oh!" Pansy looked surprised, looking away from (Y/N) to be sure he didn't catch the excitement in her eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course." (Y/N) nodded and exited the library, going to the Quidditch field next.

He walked down to field with his hands in his pockets, the wind blowing his hair back and making him squint his eyes.

"Neville?" he shouted out into the air, seeing him in the distance.

Neville turned around and waved, smiling at (Y/N) as he walked the rest of the way. Even the blades of grass beneath their feet bent in the wind, the trees swaying with the force of it.

"(Y/N)," Neville greeted, the two joining hands when they got lose enough.

"Neville. I think we need to talk," (Y/N) admitted with a gentle smile, trying to not cause a panic in Neville.

"I think I have a better idea," Neville admitted, taking back his hand to pull something out of his pocket. He held up a letter with (Y/N)'s name written across the front. (Y/N) let out a surprised laugh before doing the same action. His cursive font spelled Neville's name across it.

"Great minds think alike!" (Y/N) laughed as they exchanged letters.

"Open mine first," Neville prompted, wanting to watch (Y/N) read it.

(Y/N) looked up at Neville from under his lashes before opening the letter.

"ᴰᵉᵃʳ ⁽ʸ/ᴺ⁾,

ʸᵒᵘ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᴵ'ᵛᵉ ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ᵛᵉʳʸ ᵍᵒᵒᵈ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʷᵒʳᵈˢ ᵇᵘᵗ ˢᵖᵉᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉᵐ ⁱˢ ʰᵃʳᵈᵉʳ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ʷʳⁱᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉᵐ, ˢᵒ ʰᵉʳᵉ ʷᵉ ᵃʳᵉ. ᴵ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ᵇᵉⁱⁿᵍ ᵃʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ. ᴵ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ᵈᵒⁱⁿᵍ ʰᵒᵐᵉʷᵒʳᵏ ᵗᵒᵍᵉᵗʰᵉʳ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉᵃᵗⁱⁿᵍ ˡᵘⁿᶜʰ, ᵗᵃˡᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵉᵉᵏᵉⁿᵈˢ, ᵃˡˡ ᵒᶠ ⁱᵗ. ᴬⁿᵈ ᴵ ʷᵃˢ ʷᵒⁿᵈᵉʳⁱⁿᵍ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᶠᵉˡᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵃᵐᵉ ʷᵃʸ ᴵ ᵈⁱᵈ.

ᴸᵒᵛᵉ,

ᴺᵉᵛⁱˡˡᵉ ᴸᵒⁿᵍᵇᵒᵗᵗᵒᵐ"

Neville bit his lip and fiddled with the paper in his hands, looking at (Y/N)'s expression for a reaction. When he got none his heart started racing.

"Open mine," was all (Y/N) said in return.

Neville gulped and looked down at the letter, opening it.

"Dear Neville,

Will you be my boyfriend?

Love,

(Y/N) (L/N)"

With wide eyes Neville looked back up at a beaming (Y/N). He started nodding vigorously and smiling and (Y/N) laughed loudly, taking Neville into his arms and spinning him around in the air.

When (Y/N) put him down Neville looked nervously up at him before hesitantly leaning in. (Y/N) quickly reciprocated and they locked lips, (Y/N) holding Neville's waist while Neville's hands went to cup his jaw.

"We're boyfriends," Neville giggled as they pulled apart. He couldn't believe it.

End

--

I like this one too, I know it's shorter than the first part but still.

-Author Max <3

[snapemalfoy]

Seeing Things

Part One: Visiting Hagrid

I decided since I have a 15 minute gap between classes today, that I’ll visit Hagrid. I haven’t been able to pop in to say hello since the start of term.

I tell my friends, Draco, Blaise, Pansy and Goyle where I’ll be and that I’ll meet them in potions before the bell. They tell me to pass on their greetings to Hagrid as well. I promised to do so.

As I make my way down the path, I notice Hagrid outside, working with his pumpkins. His patch has grown significantly since last term. It always amazes me how large his pumpkins get. One stands taller than me if you can believe that.

“Y/n!”

He shouts when he sees me walking up to the gate.

“Hi ya Hagrid. How are you?”

I ask. I consider him a father figure.

“Good. I see yeh got some extra time between classes?”

He questions.

“Yup. I wanted to come say hi since I haven’t gotten an opportunity until now.”

I continue. Trying to make the most of it before having to leave again.

“I’m honored. Professor Dumbledore told me yer pretty busy this year. With quidditch coming up and tons of homework.”

Says Hagrid.

“That’s right. Even though we’re only a month into this term, I’m already pretty exhausted.”

I say.

The clouds above us are moving in quickly. The sky went from bright blue to almost black within minutes. A rumble of thunder cracks loudly over the two of us. Hagrid shoots a look into the sky.

“Yer better get back y/n. The storm that’s brewin’ looks awfully mean.”

Points out Hagrid.

He pulls off his dragon hide gloves and grabs his tools before joining me up to his cabin door. We jump slightly at another crack of thunder.

“I’ll see you around Hagrid!”

I say after making sure he’s inside.

“Better hurry y/n. I’ll see yer later!”

He shouts over the wind. That’s now picking up.

He shuts his cabin door and I take off towards the castle. I’ve taken no more than seven steps when the rain started. It’s so thick I can barely see a foot in front of me. I can’t see the lights on the castle walls either. I become disoriented quickly.

After what feels like hours, I finally see the front steps. I’ve pulled my robe over my front tightly, in hopes my school books aren’t totally ruined. My hood flew off back down the path and there’s no point in putting it back up. My face and hair are soaked.

As I pass one of the last pine trees that sits close to the stone building, out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure. I shake my head, telling myself it’s nothing.

“Y/n”

I stop in my tracks. Turning in the direction my name was called. I realize it came from the figure I was so sure wasn’t there.

“What the hell?”

I whisper to myself, confused as to why someone would be out here. The voice wasn’t Hagrid, but someone more familiar. Someone I speak to everyday..it can’t be.

“Y/n.”

Says the figure again. This time taking steps to close the gap between myself and them. They come to a stop about 6 inches away from me. I look up, wanting to be sure I’m not hallucinating.

“Professor Snape?”

I question.

The corner of his lips turn up into what seems to be a smile. He doesn’t say another word. He stands there for another second before apparating. Leaving me alone yet again.

At this, I’m a bit spooked. I bolt inside the building. Heading directly to my potions class. Unaware of how late I am at this point.

Inside I can hear my fellow classmates turning pages and scribbling on their parchment.

I grip the knob, turning is hesitantly. Pushing the door open.

“Y/l/n. Are you aware your class started ten minutes ago? What was the hold up? And why are you wet?”

He asks, one of his eyebrows going up.

I stand there somewhat stunned. Not processing everything too well.

“Never mind that. Just take your seat.”

Speaks Professor Snape. He pulls out his wand and performs an instant dry spell. My robe, my hair, my skin, shoes and socks are dry. Feeling like they just came out from being hung in the sun.

I hurry to my seat. All of my friends look at me worriedly. Wondering what took me that long. They know I’m never one to be late.

“Y/n. What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Questions Draco in a whisper.

“Has Professor Snape left at all before I came in?”

I ask back in a whisper. Opening my book to chapter 7.

“No. He was in here when all of us arrived. Been in here since. Why?”

Replies Draco.

“Because I saw him. Two minutes ago. Outside, I spoke to him.”

I answer back. Remembering him calling my name clear as day. Just the way he spoke to me when I entered.

“How- is that possible?”

Draco questions.

“I don’t know…”

I answer my friend. I try to engulf myself in to todays reading assignment.

***

I perk my head up ever so slightly when I hear y/n and Mr. Malfoy whispering. Wondering if they’ll admit to their friend why they were late. Y/n isn’t one to be late. Without good excuse that is.

“Has Professor Snape left at all, before I came in?”

Y/n asks her friend.

My curiosity peaked. I decide to start a round to see if any of my students need help, hoping to get a better listen to y/n’s conversation. Luckily for me, Mr. Potter caught my attention, asking me about something in the chapter. Lucky for me, he sits right in front of y/n.

“No. He was in here when all of us arrived. Been in here since. Why?”

Asks Mr. Malfoy.

“Because I saw him. Two minutes ago. Outside, I spoke to him.”

Replies y/n.

My heart stops. How is that possible? I haven’t been outside at all today. I never step foot outside unless I have too. Which isn’t common.

I must ask them about it…

[tnott]

thcbriightcst​:

        Hermione wasn’t certain on what she was expecting as she re-entered the school years later. The last time she was here, it was for her Eighth Year, as she missed her seventh for the war, and due to being on the run. Professor McGonagall—Minerva, as she’d started to call her, had offered Hermione a place as the Arithmancy teacher, replacing Professor Septima Vector. It was more-so a ❛part-time❜ position, as Hermione was also taking over for Madam Pince in the library, the place where Hermione spent most of her time when she wasn’t assisting Harry and Ron on their wild escapades.

        After all, it wouldn’t be Hermione Granger if her nose wasn’t stuck in some book in one way or another. And she got to teach her favourite subject and run a library; a busy job for a witch who liked to keep herself occupied.

        Minerva hadn’t told her much on who else would be teaching at the school from now on, either. It was all up in the air, a surprise, really, and that made Hermione rather uncomfortable. As much as she enjoyed the mystery of it, she’d rather know if she’d get along with her fellow staff. For all she knew, she could be working with Draco Malfoy. It wouldn’t be a bad thing, really, she hadn’t seen that man in a spell, so perhaps he had changed some. Not that SHE was holding out any sort of hope for that, that’d be absurd. Though, that didn’t mean she had no hope at all. New beginnings and all that—she had no time for feeling resentment, and the time for fighting was long passed now. For her, it was. Perhaps she’d be faced to faced with some fellow Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, even some Ravenclaws. Those ones were smart, the ravens. Though, it wouldn’t necessarily be bad to see some Slytherins, either. Unless a certain word would be flung around, the one etched and marred into her arm, but she wouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, she knew that all too well.

        Pushing open the staff room door, trying to keep her confidence high, Hermione walked in, her heels clicking lightly beneath her with every step. They weren’t very high, thank Merlin for that. Though, upon entry, her eyes landed on a particular… snake. A Slytherin girl from her year group—though she shouldn’t really be house sorting her staff members, should she?

        ❝…Nott.❞ She greets with a bit of a uncertain tone, though trying her best to be polite, as she walked over, her hands fidgeting. Don’t make this awkward, her thoughts rang. She wanted to get along with her fellow staff members, after all.

Theo had heard that Hermione Granger would be joining the staff this year alongside her. Minerva had mentioned it in passing, and even if she hadn’t, the Daily Prophet never missed the chance to report on the public doings of Gryffindor’s three most famous graduates. Rita Skeeter might not write for them anymore, but they still had a tendency to traffic in useless gossip. Too bad they still had a near monopoly on Wizarding Britain’s news media.

Setting her quill back into her inkwell, she turned to face Hermione. “Hello,” she said, a little cautiously.

They had never been friends in their years at school. Their respective Houses would have seen to that in any case, let alone their families’ differing beliefs and actions during both wars. But they hadn’t been open enemies, either. Theo had never gone out of her way to antagonize Hermione – or any of the Gryffindors, really – nor had she joined in when Draco and Pansy had picked on her.

Still, when things in the Wizarding world had seemed to reach their darkest, Hermione had shown up to help Potter kill the Dark Lord. Theo would never deny that that had needed to be done, despite the cost to her family, but even years later, she was still feeling the consequences of her father’s decision to trod the family name utterly into the mud.

Leontius Nott had tried, personally, to kill Hermione, Harry, and their other friends. Theo could well imagine that Hermione had not forgotten that.

“Minerva told me you’re taking over Arithmancy,” she said, figuring that that was a safe enough conversational gambit. “I’m just starting this year as well. History of Magic. They finally succeeded in getting rid of Binns. Should have happened ages ago, really.” She set down her quill, rolling the cramp out of her wrist, and said, “Apparently Minerva had to appeal to the Spirit Division at the Ministry, but he’s now haunting the Wizarding Historical Society’s library in London. It’s long overdue, if you ask me. I’m amazed he was allowed to stay as long as he did. Minerva told me that he had a twenty-two percent pass rate for the O.W.L.s. That’s abysmal. And I know for a fact that you and I were the only students in our year to pass his N.E.W.T.” She shook her head. “Really, he had to go.”

For her part, Theo had no intention of replicating Binns’ mistakes. She had a detailed plan for revamping the curriculum to make it more engaging and informative. Perhaps some of her ideas were a little unorthodox, but if Minerva had wanted someone to teach the class in a conventional manner, surely she wouldn’t have hired Theo. After all, her status as an academic maverick wasn’t exactly a secret.

[avnkin]

Shake On It [ d. malfoy ]

Author’s Note: I originally planned on posting this as just one long fic buuut instead i’m going to do a mini series, ya know torture you guys just just a lil bit (gif is not mine) also I got all the information about the potions and the ingredients from harry potter wiki and of course I do not own harry potter or the storyline/characters.

Word Count: 8k

Summary: There’s little to nothing Draco values more than his reputation so when he sees it slipping, he’ll do anything in his power to catch it.

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, foul language, some bullying and asshole!draco.

This is an AU so all the information doesn’t exactly line up with the hp storyline for example it takes place in sixth year but there’s no Voldemort so Dumbledore doesn’t die etc.

You’d never been much for the ‘social scene’ you just didn’t find enjoyment in the same things your classmates did, so you never really had a big friend group, your only acquaintance having been Irma Prince… The librarian.

That was until your second year when Hermione Granger came into your life like a ray of sunshine brightening up the dark loneliness that had consumed you your first year.

She introduced you to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, although you were never as close with them as you were with Hermione you still couldn’t be more grateful for your newfound friend group, especially since you now didn’t have to endure Draco’s and his fellow Slytherin classmates torment alone.

You were and had always been an easy target for Draco and his entourage since you never really stood up for yourself, instead choosing to ignore how he continuously called you ‘a blood traitor’ for hanging out with ‘the likes of Hermione’ which you never understood, how was someone different from him just because they didn’t have magical parents?

It was a well-known fact that Draco’s father Lucius Malfoy was the cause of his attitude towards muggle-borns, you truly believed that man didn’t have a kind bone in his body.

You remembered once when you’d arrived at platform 9¾ after your third year Draco went to greet his parents and whilst Narcissa (his mother) gave him a big welcoming hug, embracing her son after not having seen him for many months Lucius simply stared down at him with a glare that could only be described as disgust and disappointment before turning and walking away without as much as a greeting to the platinum blond.

Still, that didn’t excuse Draco’s foul behaviour, he was old enough now to have his own opinions and morals and he didn’t seem to be planning on changing them anytime soon.

You were now in your sixth year and unsurprisingly nothing had changed, Draco was still the same arse he’d always been, but as the years went on it was getting progressively easier to ignore him since you’d gotten so used to it.

It almost felt like it had become a part of your daily routine for him to yell something degrading in the hallways, mostly directed at you or Hermione or whatever Gryffindor he felt like bullying that day.

Intently focusing on the potions book that laid opened before you, you carefully followed the detailed instructions, not wanting to get a single thing wrong since you needed at least an outstanding in this class to keep up your average.

The last part was to add: ‘One drop of Unicorn blood’

You grabbed the flask that contained the silver liquid and as steadily as possible you leaned the bottle over your cauldron, letting a small drop slip past the edge and into the black water, but as you began leaning back Pansy Parkinson ‘accidentally’ bumped into you causing the entirety of the bottle to spill into your potion.

You glared up at her as you watched the black liquid turn sickly green instead of sparkly blue as it should. She shrugged her shoulders innocently, before walking back to the station she shared with Draco who greeted her with an amused smirk before turning back to his work.

“Try not to think too much about it” Hermione’s comforting voice sounded from beside you. “I’m so sick of those two” you argued pouring the remaining containments of the cauldron into a sink, now having to start the entire potion all over again.

“I know, I am too” Hermione frowned glaring at the two Slytherins who didn’t even bother to look over at her.

“Miss Y/L/N weren’t you nearly finished a couple of minutes ago?” Professor Slughorn’s voice could be heard from behind you as he looked over your shoulder, an unimpressed look on his face.

“Uh- yes sir it’s just I accidentally put too much Unicorns blood and had to start over again” you lied looking into the now-empty cauldron before you, glaring at Pansy once you heard her quiet laughter from the other side of the classroom.

“Well alright, but I’d hurry if I were you, I’m afraid you’re running a bit short on time” he smiled before moving on to the students sat in front of you.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hermione frowned once Slughorn was out of earshot, you gave her a knowing look having had this conversation with her on more than one occasion.

Tattling on them wouldn’t change anything it would simply make their torments increase and you didn’t need that, especially with the N.E.W.T.S coming up you didn’t want anything distracting your studies.

Despite having been interrupted by Pansy you managed to be the only one who brewed the potion right and the displeased scowl placed on Pansy’s face as she watched you get praised by the teacher and the rest of the class was nothing but amusing.

Once you were finally dismissed, you were walking alongside Hermione down the long corridors leading to the Great Hall when someone again bumped into you causing all the books you’d been clutching between your arms to go flying towards the ground and you along with them.

“What a klutz” you heard the familiar squeaky voice of Pansy Parkinson, you hurriedly got back up onto your feet whilst Hermione picked up the remaining books that had sprawled all across the stone floor.

“You did that on purpose” you growled charging at Pansy who cowered away from you as you neared her but once she noticed Draco was watching she stopped dead in her tracks, a side smirk resting on her lips before she tilted her head to the side.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” she innocently smiled before walking around you and back to Draco who held an emotionless expression on his face as he walked with her down the hall.

“Bitch” you mumbled underneath your breath just before Hermione came running up to you. “Are you okay?” she faintly smiled before handing you your things.

“Fine” you deadpanned before the two of you began walking back down the hallway again.

Once you’d made it into the Great Hall you immediately spotted Harry and Ron a smile on your face as you took a seat next to Harry, and Hermione the one next to Ron the previous events being long forgotten as you distracted yourself with the comforting company of your friends.  

“Since when did Y/L/N and Potter become so close?” Draco’s face held a scowl as he watched the two of you interact from afar, he truly didn’t know why it bothered him, but for some reason it did.

“Why do you care?” Pansy replied as she began shifting in her seat to move closer to Draco who almost instinctively moved away causing a bright red tint to appear on her cheeks as she hurriedly moved back to her original seat.

“I don’t” he simply replied tearing his eyes away from you and Harry as he began playing with his food.

“You know what I think” Blaise raised an eyebrow as he daringly stared Draco down, “I think Malfoy’s gone soft” Blaise finished, the words earning loud snickers from the students sat next to them.

Draco’s stomach churned in anger at the words of his best friend throwing the boy a nasty glare before turning back to his food, but Blaise didn’t intend to stop there.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you never pick on her anymore and you always get really defensive whenever- “

“Shut the hell up Blaise” Draco commanded and even though Blaise knew he was skating on thin ice, Draco’s fury only seemed to egg him on further as his eyes wandered towards the Gryffindor table to look at you.

"You know what Malfoy since you claim you have no feelings for her at all I dare you to break her heart"

"What?" Draco questioned genuinely confused at his friends' statement. "Make her fall in love with you and then dump her" Draco looked over at Pansy who seemed almost giddy at the suggestion, of course she'd be happy about this.

Draco thought about it for a moment, he knew that if he didn't do this he'd never hear the end of it, and keeping up his 'I don't care about anyone but myself' attitude had served him well over the years so as he weighed out the pros and the cons it seemed the cons were outnumbered and without a second thought he reached his hand out to Blaise.

"You've got yourself a deal" Draco spoke as they shook hands "and when I win, you'll be my personal servant for the rest of the year" Draco finished as he pulled his hand back causing Blaise's cocky facial expression to quickly drop.

"Fine but when I win, you have to do my homework for Defence Against the Dark Arts till we graduate" Draco rolled his eyes but nodded as he let his hand fall back into his lap.

He stared at you watching as you laughed at something Harry said and couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt knowing what he was about to do, but he shook the feeling away engaging back in the conversation of his friends, pushing all thoughts of you into the back of his mind.

The following week Draco still had yet to make his move on you. He was brainstorming ideas as he made his way to Potions, none of them good enough to follow through with but when he’d finally made his way into the classroom, he went to walk over to Blaise like he usually would but instead he found himself staring at the empty seat next to you.

He looked over at Blaise who was already quizzically staring at him. Draco mouthed a ‘watch this’ in return before he made his way towards you, grabbing a hold of the chair next to yours he stared down at you before asking.

"Is this seat taken?"

You looked up from your book turning to greet who you thought would have been Harry or Ron but instead, you were met with a pair of grey eyes you were not expecting to see, your mouth slightly parting as you stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yes actually-" you began but he had already sat down before you'd been able to reply, placing his backpack on the floor below him.

You raised an eyebrow at the blond, to which he replied by smiling over at you acting as if him sitting there was the most normal thing in the world.

"Do you mind?" you finally managed to choke out as he turned to face you.

"No, not at all" your eyes went wide at his words as you frantically began looking around the classroom for Hermione.

Once you made eye contact with her, you gave her a pleading look silently begging for her to help you, but she only took a hesitant seat next to Neville shrugging her shoulders indicating that there wasn't much she could do.

You grabbed the handle of your backpack beginning to stand up when you felt a hand wrap around your wrist preventing you from moving any further.

"Seems like all the other seats are taken Y/L/N" you frowned at his words turning your head to look around the classroom and sure enough there wasn't a single seat available.

You glared at him before ripping your hand out of his grasp and reluctantly sitting back down.

"Good morning" Slughorn's voice could be heard as he made his way towards the front of the classroom.

"Today we'll be working in pairs so whoever you're sitting next to is your partner for this assignment" your eyes widened in horror at his words as you glanced over at the Slytherin clad boy next to you.

"You're going to be writing an essay on the properties of Moonstone and its uses in Potion making" why did he have to announce this assignment today of all days?

You again looked over at Draco who seemed to be smiling, why was he happy about this? You placed your head in your hands as your mind began to wander, this was probably some stupid plan he and his friends had made to get you to fail the class.

"Professor" you eagerly raised your hand "is it too late to change partners?" you asked, silently begging for him to say no so you could work with Hermione or anyone else for that matter.

"Well I'm afraid everyone else seems to be taken Miss Y/L/N, I'm sure you and Mister Malfoy will be just fine together" you felt a flash off anger as you turned to look at the boy sat next to you.

"I swear if this is your idea of some sort of sick joke Malfoy, I'll hex you into oblivion" you threatened not daring to break eye contact with him, smirking once you noticed his taken aback expression.

"Y/L/N calm down, It's not a joke? You're the best at Potions in our year so I wanted to see if you'd be willing to work together but doesn't look like you have much of a choice now" he shrugged his shoulders; something was definitely off about this.

"So, you couldn't just ask me before we got to class?" his eyes seemed to widen a bit as he thought of a response but you continued before he had the chance to say anything "because I would have said no" and with that, you turned away from him pulling a piece of parchment out of your backpack along with your quill so you could start planning the next few weeks.

As it was nearing the end of the class you and Draco hadn't spoken a word to each other since you'd shut down all his attempts of starting a conversation, not having been interested in anything he had to say.

When class was over you handed Draco the piece of parchment that had a very detailed description of what his part in the project would be, so you'd be able to spend as little time together as possible, although he seemed to be quite displeased at this beginning to protest that you should work together so you'd get a better grade.

"I'm not spending any more time with you than I have to Malfoy so if you'll excuse me" you stood up pushing him out of the way before making your way to Neville's station where Hermione stood shoving her books into her bag.

Once you finally reached her you grabbed her by the arm, quickly pulling her after you out of the classroom. Ignoring her protests until you finally reached an empty corridor, void of any students and teachers.

"Please tell me you saw all that" you pleaded as you let go of her arm.

“You mean Malfoy?” Hermione replied, “yes Malfoy! He’s acting like we’re all of a sudden, the best of friends? Like he didn’t just call me a ‘blood traitor’ last week” you exasperated a scowl on your face.

“I think that was Zabini” Hermione acknowledged making you furrow your brows your mind wandering back to the encounter and sure enough she was right, Zabini had been the one to hurl the insult.

“What does it matter who said it, he’s one of them!” you protested, angrily turning to look at Hermione once you heard her stifled laughter from beside you.

“This isn’t funny! I’m stuck with him for the next- who knows how many weeks on this stupid project” you complained letting your head fall back as you let out a groan.

“Its okay Y/N don’t worry… I reckon he just fancies you” Hermione teased wiggling her eyebrows as she lightly nudged you in the shoulder.

“Have you gone mad?” you practically gasped although you couldn’t help the unfamiliar heat that began rushing to your cheeks at her words.

“Merlin Y/N you’re blushing! You like him?” you frantically covered her mouth as you noticed students beginning to fill the previously empty hallways.

“Would you hush! And no! I do not like Draco Malfoy, I could never like someone like him” you hissed your anger only growing once you noticed the same smile still linger on her lips.

“Whatever you say” Hermione jokingly sing sang, and in response you lightly hit her across the head with a piece of parchment you’d been holding unfortunately not getting the results you wanted since it only seemed to be egging her laughter on more.

“Alright calm down you lunatic I’m only joking” Hermione frowned rubbing the spot on her head you’d begun repeatedly hitting her, “you better be” you hummed, again pulling her after you as you two began walking down the hallways blending into the crowd of students.

“You know I can walk by myself” Hermione frowned once you’d found yourself standing out in the courtyard, your eyes searching for your two other friends since when you had Potions they had a free period which they spent most of their time here.

You finally spotted them sitting on a bench below a large brown oak tree, Seamus and Dean stood in front of them.

It was now Hermione’s turn to pull you away and in mere seconds you were standing next to the four Gryffindor clad boys who all turned their heads towards the two of you.

“Hello” you smiled before looking over at Harry who had already begun scooting over gesturing for you to come and sit down next to him, to which you happily obliged.

They all greeted you and Hermione before continuing their conversation about the upcoming Quidditch game they had against Slytherin next week.

“Yeah well Malfoy hasn’t caught the snitch when competing against Harry once, so I think we’re going to be okay” Ron assured Seamus who didn’t seem to be all that convinced but still began to make his way back into school Dean following behind him shortly after.

“Speaking of Malfoy” Hermione knowingly smirked at you before turning towards the two boys.

“Hermione no-“ you began but it was already too late, “seems he as a little crush” and there it was, you inwardly face palmed feeling the now-familiar heat in your face as you turned away from the confused glances of your two friends.

“Malfoy fancies Y/N?” Ron seemed to be more disgusted rather than confused as he scrunched up his nose.

“Hermione first of all I’m going to kill you! And second of all, he doesn’t like me! He just wanted to be partners on some stupid assignment in Potions” you assured them.

“And you said yes?” Harry perplexed.

“No! Of course not, he- he didn’t give me much of a choice” you rambled scratching the back of your head before glaring over at Hermione.

“What? He forced you to work with him?” Harry again furrowed his brows, “No- or well he sat next to me in class and I couldn’t move anywhere else since all of the other seats were taken and when Professor Slughorn arrived he immediately announced that we’d be working on our essays with whoever sat next to us” you began rambling, causing your three friends to share amused glances, unbeknownst to you.

Harry seemed to understand slowly nodding before claiming him and Ron had quidditch practice pulling the ginger boy along with him out of the courtyard, leaving just you and Hermione.

After a few minutes of silence, you turned to face her, “I think I’m going to go to the library, care to join me?” Hermione shook her head at your words pointing at the book she had just opened already beginning to make herself comfortable on the little bench you’d been sitting on.

You rolled your eyes “suit yourself” you breathed out offering her a small wave as you stood up, which she returned before you began walking back into the crowded hallways.

As you neared the library you began to hear footsteps behind you, smirking since you thought Hermione had changed her mind about joining you.

You turned around expecting to see your best friend but instead, you were met with Draco who now stood still a few feet away from you.

“Are you following me?” you crossed your arms raising an eyebrow at the boy.

He shook his head now walking towards you “just wanted to see if you’d like some company and since you’re heading towards the library we can work on our essay”

“So, you were following me” you accused but before he could answer you continued, “I thought I already told you I’m not spending any more time with you than I have too so if you’ll excuse me” you turned your back to him continuing your way to the library.

“Your loss Y/L/N” you heard him teasingly call after you making a smile appear on your lips which you tried to the best of your ability to contain.

-

Your next Potions class was one you’d been dreading, knowing that the people who were paired together on the essay had also been assigned to sit next to each other, very much to your dismay.

Professor Slughorn had asked all of you to join him at the front of the classroom so he could show you a couple of the potions you’d be brewing for the next couple of weeks and of course the one you’d be working on today.

“And this one right here is-” Slughorn was abruptly cut off by the sound of the classroom door swinging open. You quizzically looked past Slughorn’s shoulder and furrowed your brows at the two boys who had entered.

“Harry?” you asked a bit louder than you intended to causing the attention of the class to turn to Harry and Ron rather than Professor Slughorn.

“Ah! Harry my boy I was beginning to worry, and you’ve brought someone with you I see, what’s your name then?” Slughorn asked, brightly smiling at the two Gryffindors.

“Ron Weasley sir, but I’m dead awful at potions- a menace actually so I’m probably just gonna-“  Ron’s voice wavered as he began to turn around but Harry quickly put his arm out in front of him pushing him back into the classroom.

“Oh, don’t be silly, we’ll sort you out! There are some books in the cupboard over there if you need them” Slughorn pointed towards the end of the classroom where Ron and Harry quickly began fighting over the last book in there.

You and Hermione both gave each other confused glances before your attention was back on the Professor stood in front of you.

“As I was saying I’ve prepared some concoctions this morning. Any ideas what these may be?” you quickly raised your hand Hermione copying your actions as Slughorn’s eyes wandered between the two of you before he eventually pointed at you.

“Yes, miss Y/L/N” Slughorn stepped out of the way as you took a step forward towards the two pots that rested on the table.

“This one is Veritaserum a truth-telling serum and that one over there is Amortentia the most powerful love potion in the world. It’s rumoured to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them” you smiled proudly at yourself before taking a step back towards the other students.

You heard Pansy scoff causing you to quickly turn around to glare at her and just as you did you saw Draco elbow her in the side whispering something in her ear before shaking his head at her actions.

You quickly looked away before Draco’s eyes could catch yours since you felt the annoying feeling of warmth rush up into your cheeks and a smile replace the frown you’d indented to direct at Pansy.

“Very good Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled before beginning to tell the students that whoever managed to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death would be walking out of the classroom with one vile of Liquid Luck.

You quickly walked over to your station Draco following in suit behind you as you both turned to page 10 on your ‘advanced potion making’ books.

Your eyes wandered over the page before you spotted the instructions.

1. Cut up one Sopophorus bean.

You frowned down at the text as you glanced between it and the bean, it didn’t look like it was meant to be cut, and your suspicions were right as you began noticing your fellow classmates struggle around you.

Your eyes widened as Draco’s bean came hurling at your face at an ungodly speed, you practically had to throw yourself to the floor so it wouldn’t hit you in the face.

“Bloody hell Y/N are you okay!?” Draco panicked as he rushed to your side offering his hand to help you up which you ignored to distracted by the fact he’d called you by your first name.

You quickly got up onto your feet still ignoring his outstretched hand. You’d never in all your years at Hogwarts heard him call anyone by their first name, let alone you, a Gryffindor he’d hated since the first year.

“What did you just call me?” you asked although it came out a bit harsher then you intended it too. You didn’t mind that he was using your first name you just found it incredibly odd especially for someone like him.

“What, Y/L/N? that’s your name isn’t it” he was acting clueless as he walked back around the table to attend to his potion.

“No, you said Y/N” you raised an eyebrow as you watched him grab another bean now simply resorting to ignoring you, whatever you thought, brewing this potion was more important than what name Draco decided to call you.

As you continued to observe the students around you, you noticed Harry grab a silver knife and slowly press it onto the bean. You mirrored his actions and to your delight, it worked.

“How did you do that?” Draco could be heard from opposite you as he furiously looked between the instructions in his book and the crushed bean in your hand.

“Crush it don’t cut it” you shrugged, your finger traveling further down the page and stopping at the second step.

2. Pour in 250 fl.oz. of Standard potioning water and add 5 oz. of African Sea Salt to the beaker. Set the beaker aside after all the water has been added. Be very careful not to shake or move the beaker now.

The rest of the lesson had gone by in a flash and even though you felt like you’d be the one rewarded with the Liquid Luck, it ended up being Harry and you couldn’t help but wonder how the hell he managed to brew something better than you.

You remembered Harry continuously failing all his Potions classes never getting more than a poor or an acceptable on any of his assignments or tests.

After class you immediately cornered him, and it didn’t take long for him to confess to the book he’d found. Property of the half-blood prince it read and as you flipped through the many pages it had all the ‘correct’ recipes to every single potion you’d be brewing throughout the term.

“I knew it! You’ve always been dreadful at potions” you finally felt at ease knowing that Harry had only won you by cheating, shaking your head as you placed the book back into his arms.

“Hey! I am not ‘dreadful’ at potions” he imitated you his hands making air quotes at the word dreadful, a laugh slipping past your lips as you remembered a certain incident from when you were younger.

“Oh really? Don’t you remember third year when Snape told us to make a shrinking solution and you poured it all over Hermione-“ you began but Harry quickly cut you off.

“Alright! Alright! You’ve made your point now shove off I don’t feel like listening to this story right now” you threw your head back in laughter as you thought back to a tiny Hermione who hadn’t spoken to Harry a whole week after the incident.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re doing a great job with Y/L/N, I reckon Potter’s in there more than you” Blaise sounded amused as he came up behind Draco who was watching yours and Harry’s exchange from afar.

“Don’t worry Blaise, I’m only getting started”

Later in the day you, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all decided to take a little trip down to Hogsmeade for a much needed break from your studies.

“No sit beside me” Harry insisted as the four of you made your way into the Three Broomsticks, you gave him a confused glance but nevertheless dragged the chair out from underneath the table and sat down next to him.

You went to ask why but quickly managed to put two and two together once you noticed professor Slughorn sat at the bar, a beer in his hand as he talked with one of the other professors.

“What’s your deal with Slughorn?” you questioned as Harry began waving the professor over. “I need to get into the slug club” you furrowed your brows but before you could question it any further Slughorn had arrived at your table.

“Ah! Mister Potter lovely to see you, you as well Miss Y/L/N” Slughorn smiled completely disregarding Hermione and Ron who sat opposite you.

“Likewise, Professor” you smiled as he and Harry began talking about something you couldn’t be less interested in, instead your eyes began to wander around the small tavern until they finally landed on Draco who was already staring intently at you.

“You’d be welcomed to Y/L/N” your gaze diverted from the platinum blond towards Slughorn who was smiling brightly down at you. “I’d love too!” you agreed having faintly heard him mention a christmas dinner.

“Wonderful! Look for my owl” you couldn’t help but let out a laugh at Hermione’s face who seemed to be more than distraught that she hadn’t received an invitation of her own.

“Oh, how silly of me Granger, I hope I’ll also be seeing you there” Hermione’s face lit up at his words as she repeatedly nodded, Slughorn awkwardly looking over at Ron before speaking, “good to see you Wallenby”.

You were finally able to let out the laugh you’d been holding in as Slughorn exited the tavern. “Oh, shut up Y/N” Ron frowned crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into his chair.

When your laughter had finally died down you offered to go and order your drinks since the waiter had yet to make an appearance at your table.

“Four butter beers please” you smiled at the worker as you leaned onto the bar going to turn around but instead you were met with a black suit your eyes wandering upwards to see Draco towering over you.

You cleared your throat causing him to take a step back, “anything I can help you with?” you questioned as Draco stood motionless in front of you.

“Yes, would you like to join me?” Draco asked gesturing to an empty table at the far end of the tavern. You looked over to where he was pointing causing you to quickly spot his friends who were all sat at another table, their eyes set on you.

“Uhm- I think they’d loved to join you” you pointed towards them causing Draco to quickly snap his head in their direction, making them all quickly turn to each other acting as nonchalant as they could.

“But I’d much rather spend time with you” you felt a weird tingly feeling at his words but nonetheless you didn’t dare act on it your eyes going to your friend’s who were all staring quizzically at you.

“Sorry I- Uhm I can’t I came here with them” you gestured towards your table Draco’s eyes following in the direction you pointed before they were back on you.

“Well alright, but you owe me a date then” he winked before turning around and going back to join his Slytherin friends.

Your mouth hung open as you watched him walk away, did he just say date?

You power walked back towards your friends hastily taking a seat next to Harry who already had his eyes glued on you.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Ron asked as soon as you’d fully sat down.

“Oh- Uhm, he just wanted to ask me about our assignment” they all looked skeptical at your reply but didn’t question it any further another topic quickly consuming your table.

“Do any of you have a date to the Jingle Ball?” Hermione’s question rang throughout the table, causing both boys shook their heads and you along with them, in all honesty, you didn’t expect to get asked so you’d probably just end up going with Harry like last year.

“Guess we know who Ginny’s going with” you giggled gesturing towards her and Dean who were currently taking a seat at a table not so far from yours, their fingers wrapped around each other’s.

“I’d like to leave” Ron shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he stared at his sister and who he had once considered a close friend. “Honestly Ron they’re only holding hands” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“And snogging” you added on as Ginny connected her lips with Dean’s. “Yep that’s it we’re leaving” Ron stood up grabbing the coat that hung on the chair beside him.

“Oh come on we haven’t even gotten our orders yet!” you protested as all your friends began to stand up, maybe you should have joined Draco before.

“Fine” you huffed once you noticed they had no intention of staying any longer. “Why don’t you just ask Malfoy to come join you, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind” Ron teased causing you to quickly hit him in the arm.

“Shut up Ron!”

Once you’d all made it back to Hogwarts you and Hermione separated from Ron and Harry since they claimed to have yet another quidditch practice although you figured it was code for going to scout possible dates for the Jingle Ball.

“So, what did Draco really want earlier?” Hermione gave you a knowing look as she lightly bumped you in the shoulder.

“It was so weird he-he said that I owe him a date” your voice was hesitant as you turned your head to look at Hermione who didn’t seem at all surprised.

“Well, now you know who you can go to the Jingle Ball with” she stated matter of factly causing your eyes to widen as you gaped at her.

“Hermione, I love you but have you gone mad? Me and Draco? I don’t think so” you denied but there was still the lingering feeling of hope deep down in your stomach that you tried with all your might to suppress.

“Well he obviously has a thing for you, and I mean he’s not too bad to look at”

“Shove off”

-

You had been actively avoiding Draco ever since the Hogsmeade trip, something about the entire ordeal just felt weird to you, why was he all of a sudden so bold about his apparent feelings towards you when a couple of weeks ago he wouldn’t even look your way.

But it seemed your luck had run out since he now stood in front of you, hand outstretched as he leaned it against the stone wall preventing you from continuing your way to your Transfigurations class.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Draco breathed out. He was getting desperate, it was unbearable, the teasing he’d been receiving from his friends once they’d noticed he wasn’t making any progress with you, and he knew if he didn’t do something soon he was going to lose the bet.

“Well can it wait? I need to get to class” you huffed watching as he pushed himself off the wall to come and stand in front of you, causing your body to turn with him, your back eventually colliding with the wall behind you.

“I was wondering” Draco smirked placing a hand next to your head as he leaned in closer towards you, you now only realizing how much taller he was then you as you found yourself craning your neck upwards to meet his eyes.

“Would you like to be my date for the Jingle Ball” the words made your stomach flip and you felt the sudden urge to let out a squeal, but you somehow managed to keep yourself together, taking in a deep breath before you took a step forward his hand slipping from the wall your faces mere centimeters from each other.

“No” you stated watching as his eyes went wide, clearly, he wasn’t anticipating that answer.

“If you want me to even consider going out with you after all the shit you’ve done over the years, you’re going to have to work for it.”

He watched your ascending figure before you fully left his sight and when you did he angrily kicked the wall cursing underneath his breath, he was used to getting everything and anything he ever wanted without as much as a snap of his finger so this was something he wasn’t used too.

The stakes were high, his entire reputation was on the line and he did not intend to give Blaise the satisfaction of being right or his housemates a reason to tease him for what would probably be the rest of his life.

All the girls at this school would practically fall at his feet, why couldn’t you be like those girls? Make this easy for him, not once in his life had Draco Malfoy had a real challenge when it came to girls but now it seemed the tables had turned, he was going to play your game and he was going to win.

-

It was now the day of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch game. You, Harry and Hermione, were all sat in the Great Hall watching as Ron entered in his Quidditch gear, helmet, and everything.

You had yet to tell Hermione about Draco asking you to the ball since you didn’t really know how you felt about it yourself and also because he probably wouldn’t be asking you out again, you having let him down quite harshly.

You glared over at the Slytherin table once you heard them beginning to yell things along the lines of ‘Ron you’re a loser’, ‘he doesn’t stand a chance’ and ‘nice hat Weasley’.

“Ignore them, Ron, I know you’ll do great” you reassuringly smiled up at your friend as he took a seat opposite you, his face contorted in worry as he looked over at the Slytherin table who continued to laugh at him.

“Yeah, thanks” he gulped once he turned back to face you, this had to have been the first time you’d ever seen Ron leave his food untouched.

“You look dreadful Ron” Luna’s voice could be heard from the other end of the table, your eyes widening as you looked over at her, “Is that why you put something in his drink” she finished, the last part of her sentence directed at Harry.

You looked over at the boy sat next to you and faintly managed to see a glimmer of light before it disappeared fully into his pocket.

“Liquid Luck?” Hermione sounded from opposite you and you finally managed to put two and two together.

“Are you mental Harry? You’ll get in so much trouble if you’re caught” your eyes widened as you watched him pass Ron the cup of pumpkin juice he’d poured his one vile of Liquid Luck into moments ago, well according to Luna at least.

“Don’t drink it Ron” Hermione scolded, before you both gasped as you watched Ron without a moment’s thought chug the remaining juice in his cup.

You watched intently as his frown was turned upside down and he slammed the cup back onto the table, a sly smirk now playing on his lips.

“You could be expelled for that” Hermione pointed out glaring at Harry who innocently smiled at her before shrugging and stating that he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Come on Harry we’ve got a game to win” Ron’s sudden aura of confidence was radiating off of him as he quickly pushed himself away from the table and began exiting the Great Hall.

“We’ll see you guys there?” Harry questioned as he looked between the two of you also beginning to stand up.

“We wouldn’t miss it” Hermione assured him as you both watched him awkwardly wave before he turned to follow Ron.

“This is going to be interesting”

-

Loud screams and chants began filling your ears as you watched the two teams make their way out onto the Quidditch pitch, you and Hermione quickly joined in beginning to clap and cheer as you made eye contact with Ron who looked as ready as ever.

A particular blond seemed to have caught your eye since before you knew it Madame Hooch was announcing the start of the game causing you to snap out of your trance, when you looked back at Draco he was already smirking up at you making you quickly look away as your cheeks turned bright red, pulling your Gryffindor patterned scarf up over your face in hopes that he wouldn’t notice the crimson colour.

“Seekers shake hands!” you watched as Harry and Draco walked up to each other clasping each other’s arms before Draco retorted something in Harry’s direction causing him to quickly pull his hand away from his the game now officially beginning.

It had been almost an hour now and so far Gryffindor was in the lead the score being 23-45. You were beginning to think you’d lost your voice but nevertheless you still raised your hands high in the air and cheered Harry on as he dove towards the snitch with Draco hot on his heels.

You anxiously began biting your nails as the two continuously bumped into each other both their arms outstretched as they neared the golden object.

“Come on Harry” you whispered the anticipation was killing you, but you didn’t have to wait much longer since the two boys suddenly crashed into each other sending them both flying off of their brooms and hurling towards the grass below.

You gasped as you stood up beginning to lean over the railing to get a better look at the two seekers who now both laid on the grass clutching their stomachs, but you widely smiled once you noticed a familiar shimmer coming from Harry’s hand.

“Yes!” you screamed as he carefully sat himself up raising the golden object up into the air for the rest of the stadium to see. Your happiness was quickly replaced with worry once you noticed the Slytherin boy laid next to Harry wasn’t moving.

“Is Malfoy okay?” you frantically shook Hermione as you pointed down at him but Hermione paid you no mind her eyes trained on Ron who was proudly raising his hands in the air as it was announced that Harry had caught the snitch.

Since everybody seemed to be too caught up with themselves you again leaned over the railing before screaming Draco’s name hoping it would at least capture the attention of someone from his team so they could help him.

You felt a wave of relieve wash over you as you watched his previously limp body turn over before he placed his hands on the grass pushing himself to sit up, the hand that wasn’t holding him up immediately going to rub his forehead.

He sent a glare Harry’s way before he grabbed his broom and began storming off the field his teammates following shortly after, for some odd reason you began to feel bad for him as you watched the disapproved glances from his fellow Slytherin’s being thrown his way but you decided to push the feeling away joining in on the celebration of your house.

Once you arrived at the Gryffindor common room a celebration had quickly ensued the hollering of Ron’s last name began sounding all around the room as you began clapping in rhythm to all of their chants, you and Hermione watching as Ron got pushed in the middle of the crowd.

Before you knew it a girl you didn’t know the name of had wrapped her arms around his neck, harshly pulling him down to meet her lips, you gasped as you faintly remembered a conversation between you and Hermione where she’d admitted to harboring a crush on the ginger boy.

You quickly turned to see Hermione pushing her way through the crowd and out of the common room. You began following her but quickly lost sight of her as you tried your best to squeeze through the teenagers who had now begun lifting Ron into the air.

“Hermione!” you called out but it was impossible to hear anything over the celebrations so you gave up on calling out to her simply resorting to pushing the students that stood in your way.

Once you finally managed to reach the door that led out into the hallway you frantically pushed it open beginning to search the corridors for your best friend.

When you rounded a particular corner, you came crashing into a much taller figure then yourself sending you flying towards the ground at the impact.

“Watch where you’re goin-“ the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy sounded from above you but stopped once he made eye contact with you. “Y/L/N?” he questioned before reaching his hand out to you which you accepted letting him pull you back up onto your feet.

“What are you doing out here, shouldn’t you be celebrating?” there was a defiant malice to his tone as he scowled in the direction of your common room where chants could still be faintly heard.

“I could ask you the same thing Malfoy” you raised an eyebrow since you weren’t anywhere near the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was.

“Just needed some air, some people aren’t exactly thrilled with the outcome of today’s game” Draco shrugged causing your stomach to drop slightly at his obvious disappointment. He sat himself down on a bench a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he let his head fall back onto the wall.

You slowly sat down next to him carefully contemplating your next words. “Not that it would mean anything to you but I thought you were really good” you tried to comfort him as you watched a faint smile appear on his lips before he turned his head towards you.

You didn’t realize just how close you were to each other until his eyes quickly looked down to your lips and back into your eyes. You suddenly remembered why you were out here in the first place, your thoughts traveling back to Hermione who had disappeared only moments ago.

“I’m sorry but I really need to go, uh- I’ll uh see you in class” you excused yourself before standing up and continuing your search for your best friend, but a hand wrapping around your wrist stopped you dead in your tracks as you were turned back around.

Your eyes slowly travelled up from Draco’s tight grip on you and back into his icy grey eyes. You carried a confused glance on your face which Draco seemed to notice since he quickly let go of your wrist.

“Thank you” is all he said before he swiftly turned back around and began walking down the corridor, disappearing out of sight.

next part

[sirisuorionblack]

Greetings dear human! How have you been? I'm curious if I may request a Draco Malfoy x Female!Reader where she has an older brother that's really intimitading and stuff?

Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!Fem!Lupin!Reader

Summary - Draco, of all other students in his life, he had to fall for the Lupin girl, daughter of the blood traitor, younger sister of someone he was always afraid of.

Warnings - mild, very very mild cursing.

A/N Greetings fellow human! Oh, gods! The moment this reached my inbox my fingers were itching for me to write and just made my day. I love you, whoever you are! Also, the ask was vague but really inspiring so I went a little overboard. And! I never mentioned the brother's name. I really hope you like it! 

Draco Malfoy sauntered into the Slytherin common room casually and unusually alone. The only occupant of the vast common room was you, seated on the corner of the couch, a knitted blanket covering your lower half and eyes scanning the words on your favourite novel.

Draco felt the air knocked out of his lungs as he saw you. It was nothing new, nothing different yet at that moment he could freely admire your beauty without anyone looking at him weirdly. He couldn’t take his eyes off you, your fingertips elegantly flipping the pages, your eyes moving along the ink forming the words on the book, your chest rising and falling gently, a small smile tugging on the corner of your lips.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” You asked, your eyes not even moving from your book but rather remaining at their accurate pace. Draco’s eyes widened, she is such a miracle indeed.

He coughed awkwardly and regained his composure, “You know, Lupin, I would be bewildered by the number of brothers you have, I mean how much do you have?”

You looked up from your book and cocked your head to a side, “Why about my brother all of sudden?”

“I mean, I gotta keep a tab on the outcasts, shouldn’t I?” Draco asked, cursing himself for his answer.

You blinked twice. Sure, your father - Sirius Black, now, Sirius Lupin - was considered to be a blood traitor after getting sorted into Gryffindor and your brother getting sorted into Hufflepuff and you in Slytherin. Neither you nor your brother was raised with the pureblood mania most possessed and were said to embrace the house you were sorted into, that wouldn’t determine who you are.

“Well, in that case, Malfoy,” You closed the book after placing your bookmark, “Research it yourself.”

You shook your head, shooting him a disappointed look and leaving Draco alone to bask in his stupidity. He watched as you left for the girls’ dormitory and groaned. Punching the air in frustration, he threw himself on the couch, staring at the ceiling and letting out a deep breath.

Draco knew you were out of reach, you were Sirius Black’s daughter. His father would raise hell if he knew Draco had managed to gather...feelings for the Lupin girl. Overall, Draco was beyond terrified by your brother and Harry, the chosen one, both of them jumping into action when you were in need of protection.

At times, when Draco hiding behind pillars watched Harry “defend” you, he would chuckle. You don't need protection. You were fierce yet calm. No matter what, no matter how far, if Draco could get a glance of your smile he felt as though his day was brightened. Draco groaned at the cliche.

“Aha! Look who it is!” Pansy giggled, and pointed to the tall Hufflepuff strutting down the corridor, his tie loosely hung around his neck, his nimble fingers playing with his wand, “It’s the Lupin boy!”

Draco gulped, “Yeah, who cares,”

“Oh, Draco, do you think we can have some fun with the poor fellow now?” She said smirking.

“No, not today,” He said, trying to walk away.

“Come on now! We never even spoke to him! I mean, he is no harm, he is just a Hufflepuff,” she held his arm tightly.

Draco gritted his teeth, “He still has the Black blood running in him,”

“He has the werewolf’s too,” some kid that Draco didn’t even bother to learn the name of said. He gritted his teeth, this was wrong in every way he could think of.

“No,” He stood his point.

Pansy huffed, “Well, then, I will do it on my own.” Draco rolled his eyes, “Fine, I’m leaving then,”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Pansy took hold of his arm once again, “Your gonna stay here and watch what it really means to have fun,”

Draco closed his eyes, trying to control himself before he heard Pansy yell, “Hey Lupin!”

His eyes widened as the Hufflepuff boy looked at their little gang, cocking his eyebrows.

“How is your father!?” Pansy yelled, “I hope the werewolf isn’t bothering him!” almost all of them laughed and Draco mentally groaned at the pathetic insult and he certainly knew your brother could reply sarcastically.

“Parkinson, however, I am happy that you are concerned about my father, I would kindly request you to keep your nose out of other’s business,” He said, flashing her his “polite“ smile that made girls watching the show swoon, a trait both you and your brother inherited from Sirius.

The Hufflepuff shot Draco the look and turned around and walked the opposite way. Pansy with her cheeks coated bright red, spoke in a high pitched voice, “That was stupid! I could have hexed him that moment!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “You couldn’t have done a thing, Pansy. He is older than you anyways,”

“I don’t understand,” She said, turning to glare at him, “What sort of new affliction you seemed to have with the Lupin kids now!”

"I have no reason to explain things to you, Pansy,” Draco blurted, “Now if you mind, we are getting late to our Potions class,”

Pansy scoffed, “Of course, of course. But I just hope you don’t have any for the Lupin girl, Draco, Mr Malfoy won’t be pleased to hear it.” Draco gritted his teeth and said nothing.

“Hello, little one!” You groaned as your brother used that obnoxious “nickname“ that he was extremely fond of. You were walking to the black lake to have a peaceful moment in the evening near to the curfew but you were almost certain that won’t happen anymore once your brother slung his arm around your shoulder.

"Stop calling me that, you twat,” You hissed.

“Now, now,” He cleared his throat and spoke in a nasty drawl that sounded so similar to that of Professor Snape’s, “Your father will not be proud of that,”

You scoffed, “Bold of you to assume he would say that,”

“Ah, correct,” he did the throat-clearing once more, now speaking in a high pitch voice with a Scottish accent, “Your father will not be proud of that!” ”Again, bold of you to assume Minnie would say that,” you pointed out.

“Oh come on! I’m trying to do various impressions, don’t discourage me,” he complained, throwing his free hand in the air.

“Sorry, your highness, please continue,” you said, mocking a small bow.

Before he could, his eyes caught the black lake and you were certain about what he was going to say, “Do you think the lake is named after dad?”

“Please not today!” You groaned.

Draco watched the two of you chatting, laughing and goofing around. The two of you were the example of perfect siblings. He wanted to speak to you, perhaps, have a polite conversation but here he was cowering away after seeing your brother. He never knew why but your older brother always made him feel timid, an intimidating aura surrounding your brother although the charming smile on his face said otherwise.

Draco sighed, leaving his spot behind the thick tree that covered him from your vision and to the comfort of the Astronomy tower.

“What do you think about the Malfoy boy?” your brother asked as the two of you took a seat on the grass.

You coughed, “Why him all of sudden?”

“Just say!” he insisted.

“Um, alright, I guess,” you shrugged, lying through your teeth. Draco had spike some sort of weird interest in you, something that very much revolved around the concept you hailed forbidden - Relationship, love, etc.

You could hear your brother sigh, “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

“Yes,” you said, smirking.

“Oh, shut up,” he rolled his eyes, “Now tell me the truth what do you think about Malfoy?”

“As I said, he is, you know, OK” you shrugged.

“He is, you know, OK,“ Your brother did a weird impression of you, “I have been through the same stages, Little one,”

“You either tell me or I am asking papa to,” he blackmailed.

“Oh, hell no!” you exclaimed. It was known that Sirius Black was rather too keen on having to keep up with his kids’ life, and the love life of his daughter is the last thing he needed to know before he would lose his cool. His daughter has always been precious to him.

“Then tell me,” Your brother insisted.

“No, idiot, I am not telling you either!” you yelled, pushing your brother away, and rushing back into Castle, ignoring his calls.

Once you knew were out of your brother's sight, you checked your watch. Still having 20 minutes left for curfew you left to the Astronomy tower.

“Oh, hey,” you said, startled to find someone else in your same spot, “What are you doing here, Malfoy?”

“Uh, I am just-” Draco coughed, “I was just sitting here, simply. I will leave now.” He scrambled to his feet.

“No!” You said, rather too quickly, “I mean, uh, it’s OK, you can stay here, that is if you don’t mind. I mean, you can leave-”

“I will stay,” Draco cut off your ramblings.

“Oh, OK,” You felt yourself blush as he sat on the bench from where the starry sky was clearly visible. He patted the seat next to him beckoning you to take a seat.

“You know, my papa taught me about the constellations,” you chuckled at the memory of a 4-year old yourself and your father sitting on the rooftop pointing to constellations and explaining about them while your dad was in the living room, lecturing your brother.

“Oh?” Draco mumbled, looking at you intently. It was something so beautiful looking at you when you were reminiscing with the bright smile that rivalled the stars-

“Your staring,” You stated with bright red cheeks and in turn making Draco’s pale skin receive some colour.

He took a deep breath, “I, um, can I ask you something?” You looked at him, leaning your head to a side, interested in what he might say.

“Well, I just,” Draco stood up and walked to the railing, “I wanted to ask, if- if you would, you know-”

“Draco, are you alright?” He whipped his head to look at you. This was the first time you had called him by his name rather than his surname and Draco felt it as an encouragement.

“I wanted to ask if you would, um, you know, like to go-” he groaned, hating himself for the way he stuttered, “Nevermind. I’m going to bed,”

“Wait, wait,” You rushed to him before he could even take a step, “Tell me what you wanted to. You can’t just leave me hanging here,”

Draco sighed and looked into your eyes, allowing the wave of calmness to wash over him. Your bright eyes should have been something that fueled his anxiety but it was different, it calmed him, made him feel a new sort of tingling in his stomach that he felt only when he was with his mother, “Go on a date with me?” he blurted.

Your lips parted in surprise and you froze. Go on a date with him? Date. Oh, man, your body urged you to run down the corridor and into the safety of your common room, never look at him, never date but when you looked into his sparkling grey eyes you knew you were stupid. They weren’t filled with just anxiety as you had seen many students’ fill when they were asking someone out rather it was just some raw emotion. Perhaps, in your wildest dream, you would describe them as…love.

“Alright, I knew it,” Draco said, turning around to leave.

In a moment of a hurry, you grabbed Draco’s wrist pulling him back to you, grabbing his collar and smashing your lips to his.

Draco’s eyes widened in surprise before slowly closing as the two of your lips moved in rhythm, his arms finally wrapping around your waist after the initial shock wore off. To him, it felt as though the time stopped, it was just you and a rush of adrenaline. You were kissing him. (Y/N) Lupin was kissing him.

Pulling away breathless, you managed to get, “Yes, I will go on a date with you,”

“Wow,” Draco breathed, “I am not imagining, right?”

You chuckled, leaning to rest your forehead against his, “No, you aren't,”

After the wave of joy, crippling fear broke down on him, “Your brother is gonna kill me,”

[sodamnradd]

The Body Count

chapter 4/6 now posted, mind the content warnings!

In which Hermione learns to play guitar to heal from trauma:

“We’re not celebrating your birthday,” Draco says, though he’s arrived at her flat with a massive gift-wrapped box.

They’ve been spending all of their time here. The small space makes her feel comfortable. And she knows Draco doesn’t care about its meagre size because there are a million other reasons to have left her, yet he’s adamantly here to stay.

“Oh, no?” She hides a grin.

“Not at all. I won’t even say happy birthday.” There’s a devilish smirk on his face. He leans the box against the wall to greet her with a gentle kiss on the cheek. He smells like his casual cologne, the newer one of citrus and sycamore woods.

“Then what is that?” She stares at it, her fingers itching to rip it open even if she insisted on no celebrations.

“I shop when I’m bored and went a little overboard.” He’s so full of it.

“Okay, Pansy.”

He chuckles. “Can’t I buy my girlfriend a gift on her birthday?”

She smiles at the term, liking it in his mouth, liking it even better because it’s her, his girlfriend. “I’ll let it slide,” she says generously, already pulling the wrapping paper apart.

Her breath catches in her throat.

“I went to a Muggle store to get it. It’s the exact one that Cobain fellow plays on the album you love. Martin D-18E.”

“Draco.” She cradles the acoustic guitar in her arms. It’s heavy and hollow and beautiful. “It’s perfect.”

His eyes are bright. “So you like it?”

After carefully putting the guitar down, she prowls towards him and curls her arms around his neck, surprising them both by kissing him on the mouth. It feels natural, like slipping into an old routine after a sick leave.

His smile is contagious. “And you’re not angry?”

“Does this seem angry to you?”

“Good, because I hired an instructor to teach you lessons once a week at my place. Hope you’re free every Thursday at six.”