#if i ever write the au idea ive got floating around in my head

[davestaresatthesun]

Ok last doodle post of today i swear ajxbsixhsjd

Frerin is based on fishfingersandscarves (im too scared to @ dies a million deaths) design of him fir sansûhk bc i needed a visual ref and i really really like the way they draw frerin *splat*

[corysmiles]

Does Wilbur ever start giving Tommy puzzles to do? I've seen videos of marine biologists putting tiny octopus in jars and watching them unscrew them from the inside.

After a while he realizes just how smart Tommy is and starts bringing him more 'puzzles' to escape, but he's actually teaching him to escape live traps other scientists are trying to use.

-Zeetle

A New Puzzle

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Octotommy au

Notes: hey first writing for the new AU!! I love the idea of Wilbur getting puzzles for Tommy and the mer getting so excited every time he solves one. (And I also love the angstier idea of Wilbur teaching Tommy to escape traps) Thank you so much for the ask zeetle my beloved :] 💙

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“Tommy come out, Ive got a new puzzle for you.”

Wilbur waited impatiently, the plastic fins on his feet getting pulled back and forth by the icy current as he floated- a reminder that he couldn’t stay long. Meanwhile, his eyes stared intently at the giant rock formation poking up from the sand below- The same rock formation he’d visited every day for months since finding Tommy.

It was a couple months ago that he had found the tiny octopus mer. He’d been setting out traps for crabs, and when he came back that same day one trap was missing. He’d searched around the reef for almost an hour before he spotted the shiny metal bars peeking out of a pile of worn rocks. He’d reached his hand in without second though, but what he grabbed onto wasn’t the hard metal he was anticipating, instead it was soft and squishy.

It was the first time he’d ever met Tommy, and although the octopus mer was nervous he seemed to love being in Wilbur’s hands. Day by day Wilbur came back to take notes on the fascinating creature. He’d never seen anything like Tommy, and although he loved learning more about him he couldn’t he’ll but become fond of his heart laughs and wild personality.

Only a month in the visits started to feel more like visiting a friend then doing research.

“Come on Tom,” Wilbur called out again impatiently, “It’s just me.”

The water was freezing already even though it was only early August, and even with a full wetsuit he felt his skin crawling with goose bumps.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait much longer before a flash of red peaked out from a behind a nearby rock.

Wilbur watched with amusement as small tentacles flicked towards him. They curled around the water a bit, and Wilbur couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest when he realizes the tentacles were searching for his hand.

Slowly he nudged his fingers forward and as soon as one of the tentacles brushed against it they all wrapped around his hand like a glove.

The small mer’s face beamed with joy as he smiled up at the researcher, “New puzzle?”

“Yep, a couple of them actually” Wilbur chuckled, “Took you long enough.”

Tommy huffed and tightened his tentacles around Wilbur’s arms, “I was sleeping dickhead. You came so early today.”

“Its noon,” Wilbur cocked his eyebrow in amusement.

The mer’s tentacles flashed bright red for a moment before settling back to their natural maroon state.

“You stupid humans and your stupid time,” Tommy grumbled, “I was still sleeping, so it was early.”

Wilbur laughed and brushed the tips of his fingers over Tommy’s head in the way he knew the mer adored. Immediately, the tentacles around his wrist turned pale pink as the mer’s head pushed its way into his hand.

“You’re so clingy,” Wilbur smirked earning another groan from the tiny octopus, “Now come on, let go. Gotta do the puzzles before I freeze to death.”

Reluctantly, Tommy wriggled against his hand before forcing his tentacles off one by one. The sudden lack of warmth shocked the researcher a bit, but he knew this had to be done… Even if Wilbur couldn’t help the smile that reached his face every time Tommy instinctively tried to curl back around his hand.

“Alright Tommy I’ve brought you one new one, and it’s important that you figure it out okay?”

The mer just shrugged and lazily floated around Wilbur’s head, his tentacles pulsing under him to keep him up, “Yeah yeah, hand it over.”

Wilbur smiled at the young mer’s enthusiasm and dug through his bag until his hands met a sharp piece of metal. Even the feeling of it against his skin made him feel queasy.

“Alright just- I need you to go inside of it okay,” Wilbur stuttered nervously, “I just need to see if you can get out.”

Slowly he pulled out the “puzzle” from his bag and carefully watched the mer’s expression. Tommy looked curious and a little unsure, but not afraid. And his tentacles stayed at their natural shade of maroon.

Wilbur wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

The “puzzle” was actually a trap: one of the newest models the lab was using to catch more elusive specimens. And with all the talk about Tommy going around, he worried theyd start using it to hunt after the little mer. He new he’d get fired if they ever found out what he was doing, but he’d already failed his job by not bringing in the new creature he’d discovered.

What more harm could be done by teaching Tommy how to escape from his colleagues.

Tommy swam circles around the cage before letting his torso drift inside. Even though Wilbur knew what would happen, he still flinched when the sharp metal bars contracted around the mer.

“Woah shit,” Tommy laughed nervously as he tried to push the tight bars off of him, “Seems kinda dangerous for a puzzle yeah?”

Wilbur hummed, only paying attention to whether or not Tommy was hurt. The bars dug into his skin but it didn’t seem to draw any blood which was good.

Tommy stuck his tongue out in concentration as he slowly guided his tentacles through the metal bars. Each one prodded around against the container until they landed on a small metal latch.

“Too easy Wilbur,” Tommy grinned, and within seconds he’d broken the latch open.

Relief flooded through Wilbur’s body as he felt the mer wrap around his hand again, and this time Wilbur didn’t hesitate in giving him the head rubs he desired.

“Good job,” Wilbur hummed, “Fantastic.”

Tommy almost purred at the touch as Wilbur’s fingers scratched right above his ears. He swore the researcher’s hands were magic because he’d do anything to make him stay there in the water. But sadly, the human looked like he was half-frozen, and by the feeling of his icy skin Tommy didn’t think he could stay much longer.

“Alright,” Wilbur whispered after a few minutes, “I’m going to freeze to death if I stay any longer. I’ll see you again soon though. Maybe tomorrow. Be careful.”

Tommy deflated and wrapped himself tighter around Wilbur’s hand earning a small laugh form the researcher, “I’m always careful, who do you think I am?”

Wilbur stared fondly at the mer and gently pried him off of his hand, “I think you’re you Tommy. And I know you think you’re invincible. So be careful.”

The mer just pouted at the human’s scolding. He’d gone years without ever being caught (except for by Wilbur), so he didn’t understand why Wilbur was so paranoid. There was no way he’d be discovered again.

It was only when the same “puzzles” from that night started to pop up all over the reef that Tommy realized maybe Wilbur had a point…

[rose-of-tori]

final line tag game

Thanks to @rose-nebulijia for tagging me! For anyone who doesn't know I'm fuzzball457 on Ao3. You can read all my stuff here :D

Rules: List the LAST lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any. Then tag some friends.

tagging w/ no pressure: @alxina @pissmeoffanddie @bloodyleavesgoldentrees @daydreamorama Sorry if anyone was tagged more than once!

(Copying rose-nebulijia's cut inclusion b/c that was just a smart idea)

I. Congruency - DMBJ, ~7.5k Pingxie h/c ft. telepathy

Xiaoge?

We’re on our way.

II. A Question of Time - BZ Boys, ~4.5k kpop h/c

“You’ll have to get used to it,” Hamin said, throwing an arm around Donghwan and Seunghyun. “Because we’re not going anywhere any time soon.”

(tbh this one still makes me cringe but sometimes you just gotta let the cringe be cringe)

III. Carry You Through - DMBJ, ~3.5k platonic/poly Iron Triange, giving Xiaoge a bath.

Wu Xie hums, not even opening his eyes. “No thanks needed.”

Not between the three of them, not ever.

IV. The Floating World - SVT, angsty poly college au

He swallows. “So, we’re doing this?”

Jeonghan sniffs, turning his nose up at them both.

“Only if we can get dessert to celebrate,” he says solemnly.

They get dessert.

(*Not including Baby, hold on in this list b/c it's basically a diferent version of the same story)

V. Waiting in a Field of Dandelions, DMBJ ~1.3k just softness

“Just a little while longer.”

Pangzi shifted so his forehead rested in Wu Xie's hair. His warmth pressed down on Wu Xie in the best way. When he spoke, Wu Xie could feel his breath brushing along his scalp. “Alright, Tian Zhen. A little longer.”

VI. Who you are, and want to become, DMBJ ~37k, Detroit Become Human AU

Wu Xie scooted forward until he could press his forehead against Xiaoge’s chest. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the glow of the LED, a steady baby blue.

VII. My Last Song is You, DMBJ ~2k, Xiaoge thinking about his relationships

He lays down in their bed and rests, eager for the morning to arrive.

VIII. Can't Get No Relief, DMBJ ~3k usual tomb shenanigans ft. near death experiences

Wu Xie hums and presses closer to Zhang Qiling. He checks the bandage on Wu Xie’s head and finds it still satisfactory. They’ll make quite a sight when they arrive at the hospital. Under the guise of holding Wu Xie more securely, he wraps his fingers around the other’s wrist and lets the steady beat there relax him as they fly down the road.

IX. Monologue, NCT ~11k idol AU with lots of angst and h/c

“When I come back for you, you’ll be here?”

He inhaled the words and let his promise flow back out between them. “I’ll be here.”

X. I'm a Goner, NCT ~5k idol-verse poly

Sleep is just starting to wash over Jaehyun when he hears Johnny speak.

“Do you think he’d be upset if we got him a bell to wear?”

Patterns:

Looking at just the ending lines have given me such cringe >.<. I often write really sappy/sweet/hopeful ending lines, which is kind of hilarious since I pretty much exclusively write h/c and angst. But I guess I'm a sucker for a happy ending? I seem to like ending on dialogue, which makes sense because I like starting with dialogue.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading :D Hopefully more writing to come soon!

[storiesofsvu]

Random from the fanfic ask game: 4, 8, 17, 26, 43, 67, 78, 85, 90

4. What is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying around the longest? Bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written iy yet and experience deep existential dread?

LOL. Okay, so the STORY that’s been floating around longest is Unexpected Circumstances (sonny x reader) which i put on hiatus like a year ago. I was going to pick it up then realized it was going in a similar direction of another fic, which ended up going a different way anyways lol.

Otherwise i think it’s probably the parent trap au! With barba & Nevada….i have basically nothing for it but it’s there, lingering, making me try to figure it out lol.

8. What’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? Do you seek it out? How well do you take it?

Without feedback, there would be no fics in this world. (I believe). Feedback is what motivates us writers, comments are what’s keeps us going, it shows us people are actually reading it, and enjoying the content we’re putting out. I don’t think I’ve ever received *constructive* criticism? Like, i’ve gotten anon hate that was all “oh boo, your stories suck. You write the girls so ooc.” Shit, and during classified affairs i got one that was all “oh, great, you’re writing toxic relationships now” and my reply was “uh…yeah…thats kinda the POINT, keep reading, you’ll understand” lol. So i think i handle it well? But i havent really gotten any at this point.

17. What’s the fave line you’ve ever written?

Either the “i put a fucking bow on it, didn’t i?”

Or the line where Gallagher’s bragging about assaulting Rita and yn (Rita’s wife) comes in hot all “i know for a fact my dick is bigger than yours, and unlike you, i know how to use it.”

26. Do you like to wwrite one shots or series? And why?

I prefer series. It gives more time to establish dynamics, explore relationships and helps me keep the writing motivation going, knowing people are waiting for the next ch. i like to tell full stories. One shots i always end up either doing straight pwp, or they end up WAY too long with backgrounds of the characters, how they’re involved and the like. BUT, i do like little fluffy drabble one shots. And i like to keep them going to keep my writing skills up to par, like, i can easily jump around from fandom to fandom and genre to genre, it’s also how i break in a new character.

43. How did writing change you?

It helped me harness all the creativity and fantasy daydream i kept coming up with into something actually tangible. It helps focus me when there’s nothing else to do, keeps my brain active. It’s also brought me a very large circle of good friends all over the world, and introduced me to my girlfriend.

67. When have you felt the least confident in your writing?

Going back and reading the super old stuff, like, i just cringe at some of the shit i wrote. ESP some of the longer stories that i know i could do a WORLD of better on, but don’t want to rewrite them lolol. Also those times when you have a REALLY good idea fleshed out in your head and it just wont transfer to paper very well, then you say fuck it and post it anyways? And then just….always regret…esp when it’s part of a mini series or collection.

78. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Good god. Ending things is almost as hard as titling them for me. Ch’s at least i can cut off a little bit more abruptly cause there’s a continuation of the story, each individual ch doesn’t need a beg, mid and end, i can just cut to black. One shots you always need to wrap up all the lose ends and UGH, ive had 1500 word stories end up 3000 just because i can’t end it lolol

85. What would be on a moodboard for your current wips?

Lol. I made moodboards for both of them! The Nanny, is obvi, cute, adorably dressed kids, manhattan, rita & raf.

90.do you notice your own voice in your writing style?

Yes. Unless y/n is a lawyer or politician, she very much has my vernacular. And obviously i put a lot of cursing into my fics, whether the narration or from the other characters, but like…some of them do canonologically swear, and other ones would if the show had a higher rating.

I think as long as i have a good wrap on the characters from shows, that i do a good job making their voices/vernacular heard in my fics.

Thanks for asking!! 😊

[the-artist-rae]

Trolls 4 au idea

Edit: i just realised theres already a thistle (who apparently s real name is Dennis??) so i gotta rename my character 😭

So basically im writing a mock script for a trolls 4. I want to write one for trolls 3 but .... I WANT BROBBY CHILDREN, so here we are. Basically in my au, poppy and branch have a set of twins. A girl named Aster who is bright blue with pinkish purple undertones and a boy named Thistle. But, theyre shocked and suprized to find out thistle comes out of his bright purple egg, grey!

A time skip happens and a argument between him and his father causes branch to loose some of his colors.

The argument is set up like:

Branch finds his son in his pod sitting in darkness.

Branch- so ya like it dark, huh?

Thistle- yeah, so what of it.

Branch-Nothing i just was wondering if u wanted to-

Thistle- I dont.

Branch- look i just want you to be happy and find your true colors...

Thistle- sounds like you just want me to be like Aster!

Branch- Now hey now, i didnt say that! Ive been in your place before and i know how you feel, and i dont want someone i care and love to feel that way!

Thistle- You dont know what i feel! All you want me to be is the same happy annoying and insane troll... Just like everyone else!

Branch- Hey, No-

Thistle- I HATE YOU!

Thistle stops for a moment and looks at his father to see his skin darken, widening his eyes. He gets angry at himself and runs away.

Thistle runs to his friend Fern in hope of him knowing a way to get his true colors in hope itll reverse the color loss on branch. Fern tells thistle of a guardian troll of purity who live in a mountain who can give him his colors. Thistle tells his parents that hes going to travel and see aunt Barb, and they go on their adventure!

On the first day they run into a rock/classical troll who lives in the Forrest by herself because her parents are deceased and she had no idea there was other people (basically a tarzan situation but she knows how to talk and has basic understanding of most things) ... The situation is, Thistle and Fern stop to make camp, roasting marshmallows. And out of nowhere a arrow zings right in front of Thistle's face! Him and Fern crowd together to see a dark figure come out of a bush and she says "Who are you?" In a somewhat demanding tone. And they shiver in fear " We're just travelers!! Please dont hurt us!!". She sighs and and chuckles," Oh, i thought you were here to hurt ME!".... This all comes to a conversation that Fern leads and that she'll join them cuz she knows her way around the Forrest.

In the background through out the story, villain trolls are introduced into the story who gave Fern the map and everything about the purity troll who can grant only one trolls wish. And throughout the movie they follow the gang and get caught into their hijinks.

Having Button (the female troll) in the mix has gotten Thistle to come out of his shell and he slowly starts getting happier and sings throughout the movie.

When they finally reach the mountain they come to a cave with paintings and rural architecture. At the end of the cave is a clearing with a waterfall. The waterfall spreads to find a troll pure of white and glowing in a deep sleep in a coven.

The villain characters seep out of the darkness with evil laughter. " Nice job Fern you got us where we need to"

The rest of the gang gasps and gets tied up.

"Well take it from here". Turns out, the purity trolls was sleeping on a gem. And the gem was the wish granting miracle not the troll. They grab the gem and head to troll village where they plan using the gem to destroy it.

Thistle and button get into an argument over whether they should try to save the village. He believes its too late to save anyone. Button unties herself with and arrow tip that was seeping out of her back pack. And says," Well , i do!". She unties Thistle and makes her way out of the cave.

Thistle sits there and sings a song thinking about his family and Button which gives him the courage to start running also.

He makes it to the village before the fern and his crew. And runs straight to his mom and warns her of whats happening. Before he can explain she starts off saying how he looks so different and brighter and why hes back early. After he explains, she tells branch of whats happening and puts everyone in the bunker. The villains make it to the village and one says, " well isnt this a nice beaut, its about to get a whole lot MESSIER!".

Fern is shocked to hear their plans of wrecking the village, he just wanted to be the new ruler in a world where trolls respected him. They tie him up. And the villain crowd together to think of the exact words on how to word out the wish. The leader gets up and points the gem outward "alright get ready for my wish to destroy the village" and at this second and arrow hits the gem and falls down the hill they were standing on and lands into the village. She and the villains start running to gem. Alas, branch grabs it. Poppy stands beside him. "Not today!". The villains look at him and scoff. "You think we were the only ones?". They gasp and turn around to find villainous trolls surrounding them. They fidget before the leader says " dont even think about saying no" and two trolls come out holding button. Thistle, who had been sitting on the side lines murmurs to himself," no this cant happen! No, no,no..!!" And starts running and startles the villains grabbing the gem. Suprizing everyone. Branch says," Son.... Dont..!".

Thistle looks at him with scrunched eyebrows,"i have to." The leader says with a slight panicked voice,"i wouldnt do that boy...!"

Thistle whispers to the gem ," i wish for this gem to be destroyed" . the gem floats into the air, shining brighter than anything they've ever seen and deteriorates into glitter falling to the ground. The light from the gem had flushed through the crowd causing them to have a slight amnesia and questioning "hey,why are we here?".

The trolls in the bunker come out celebrating. Buttons runs to Thistle and hugs him and he hugs back. Poppy and branch run to him. Saying things things like ,"what were u thinking you couldve got hurt?!". Thistle looks into his fathers eyes and replies," Because, i love you.". His parents both look back at him shocked. And slowly but surely from top to bottom his true colors fill in. A bright purple pink. His parents exclaim in happiness and branchs colors get brighter as well. They get excited,hugging and laughing and crying. Thistle points out Button who had wondered a little father to give him space with his parents and brings her into the hug. In which poppy winces," ughhh whats that smell???" And button moves to the side chuckling nervously. "Uhhh... Shes been homeless for awhile give her a break." And chuckles.

The purity troll comes out flowing from the sky to everyone saying how she thanks Thistle for awakening her from her slumber by destroying the gem and continues ,"Ive been asleep for sometime, now lets paRTY!!".

Then theirs the end song where everyone sings. The purity comes up to Thistle and aster and gives them crowns of flowers and robes. Everyone cheers. And we fade to black with a circle transition popping up of fern tide up, " Uhhh hey guys anyone here??? Can someone please tell me whats going on??!!!" And the screen goes black showing the rest of the credits.

These are just the main points. Of course Aster is more involved in the story. I just didnt wanna type all that down cuz i have a big phone and small hands haha.

But as for my trolls 3 au ... Its basically the generic set up of branch trying to propose to poppy throughout the film...and id like to add a backstory of his parents and them not actually being dead and survived escaping the bergins.

But anyways here are some of my character designs!!

Soundtrack ideas-

Aster design i havent yet finalised so yeahhhh but i plan on her having two ponytails!

[polandspringz]

Fanfic/Writing Updates!

I know I just put this in a mess of tags on my last post, but just an update for my readers:

Sorry for the delay in updating fics/writing stories! I was dying towards the second half of my semester so I didn’t have time to much other than some one-shots. Right now though, I’ve kicked it into high gear, lol. So here is what I can currently promise you to look forward to.

Obey Me

You Don’t Really Wanna Stay (Sequel to “Cause You Don’t Really Wanna Go”, now known as the Hot n’ Cold series): Chapter 2 has been finished since mid-April. I haven’t published it because I sort of screwed myself going off script and publishing chapter 1 before I wrote the entire fic (unlike how with CYDRWG, I wrote the entire thing in one week and then published it over a few days/like a week). I’ve had the entire story outlined in this case, but it was just a matter of writing it. Chapter 3 is also finished now, so I will be working over the next few days to finish Chapters 4 and 5 before I start publishing the rest of the work on a schedule. This was a story that was originally only meant to be 2 chapters, but as you can see, things have expanded. An epilogue may or may not be written later on (similar to the Mammon fic as well). I may or may not have plans for a third fic in this series.

Siberia: This story has had the entire plot and every detail outlined since I started writing it last fall. Again, it’s just a matter of writing it all together into a long chapter with scenes instead of plot points and summaries of events on a notebook page. Once the above fic is finished being written, I will immediately resume work on Chapter 8 of Siberia, and similarly, will try and get through 2-3 chapters before I start publishing again. At the earliest, I can guarantee an update by the end of May or June. I’m hoping to get ahead in my writing to help me out later on.

Designing in the Devildom (Series): There are SO many one-shots planned for this series still. I originally planned on having a loose chronological order for them, but as some of you may have seen, we’ve kind of deviated a bit. I have several documents with drafts for various stories that have been in the works for months, but am putting this series as less of a priority compared to the above works. I received an ask suggesting I continue the “M’Lady” fic with a follow-up of the actual fashion show the demons would participate in, and have drafted sketches of each outfit the characters would model, which I would like to publish alongside the work, so that is one of the projects that is taking some time.

gen:LOCK

I have so many stories still planned for gen:LOCK, and as I work on my other fandoms, I find myself itching to get back to this fandom that I love so much. I don’t want to give a lot away, but I have at least 3 ideas revolving around Yaz and 1 idea focused on the gen:LOCK team as a whole. They aren’t short one-shots or drabbles, so I ask you to be patient and promise by the end of the summer you will see something from me soon.

Cars gL AU: Believe it or not, I did plan a sequel to that joke fic. The idea came about after I wrote the ending to the story, and the response from the actual Cars fandom was so nice, it really made me want to write a follow up. It will be significantly shorter, but I hope everyone will enjoy it as well.

Miscellaneous

Omori: I have plans for a multi-chapter AU that if I nail it the way I want to, well it might not do anything but be self-indulgent for me, but I think it might obliterare the fandom (as I joke to my friend often). I won’t be working on this story until I finish Siberia, as there is a similarity between them and I wish to give each their proper attention.

SK8: I hate Adam but I love writing for Adam and Tadashi. I had another story idea floating around in my head but no concrete notes on it, so I can’t guarantee when this will be written, but know there are plans for it.

FF9: I’ve been promising my sister an FF9 fic for about 2 years now. I had an idea after beating the game but forgot half the location names in the game, and that’s what’s been holding me back. I planned for it to be more long winded and descriptive, but might go a more straight to the point approach. I’m hoping to try and finally sit down and write it before May 31st.

Genshin Impact: I have notes in my fanfic writing journal for a Xiao fic and a Dainsleif fic. Writing for Genshin Impact feels very volatile though and as much as I appreciated the response on my Albedo fic months ago, I cannot guarantee I’ll ever get around to these, lol.

Yu Yu Hakusho: ON GOD IVE GOT NO IDEAS FOR THIS YET BUT I DO HAVE THE DESIRE TO MAKE SOMETHING GOOD BECAUSE I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. SO SOMETHING WILL COME OUT OF THIS BRAIN OF MINE

Demon Slayer: SAME THING I AM DETERMINED TO DO SOMETHING, DONT KNOW WHAT YET

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Curse Control:  Chapter 1

A flower of bright gold unfolded from what most people in Fernsworth thought wasn't anything more than an abandoned ramshackle hut. Sometimes travelers stayed there for the night or during bad weather.  Rumors ran rampant about fae involvement at times, since strange lights were seen dancing around there at odd times.  Once in a while people were hired to check it out and they always returned with the same judgment - an abandoned ramshackle hut, with nothing to recommend it beyond having been built well enough to withstand the elements without much in the way of upkeep. 

Thomas Arclight strolled out of what had been the hut, dusting himself off.  He didn't cast as much as a single glance behind himself as he weighed the bag of silver he held.

Good enough for a few drinks, he determined, and turned his paces towards the road that led to a town of far more significance than the closest one.  He'd been in the area too long; if he stayed here for his celebration drink, then it was quite likely that someone from the gang he'd just mostly incinerated would recognize him.  Not that he couldn't deal with it if they did, but it would be so annoying, and he had so many better things to do with his time.

Besides, he was scheduled to meet Chris in the larger town of Westwend in a few days, and he didn't want to be late for that.  His elder brother could be so annoying when Thomas didn't show up on time or didn't show up at all or blew up all manner of things before he got there. 

At least this time he'd done a more or less good deed.  No one would miss the low-lifes he'd taken care of, and given the strength of the spell that he'd used, he didn't think it likely that there had been any survivors.  Even if there had been, he doubted they would be able to follow him.  So he headed on towards Westwend, trying to remember which tavern he'd promised to meet Chris in and thinking about what sort of ale he wanted when he got there.

Behind him, out of the raging inferno left behind, a plank of charred wood shifted, and a single hand twitched underneath, before clenching into a fist, and a hiss of rage floated on the wind.

Thomas settled himself into a comfortable chair in the Melting Dagger, sipping at a pint of a very fine ale.  It wasn't the best ever; this wasn't' a good enough windfall for that.  But it was good enough that he could drink it and he didn't have to worry about anything else.  Except, of course, the one thing he always worried about. 

Not right now, he reassured himself.  He'd cast his magic for the week.  It wouldn't build up now.  Everything would be fine - unless some fool pushed him beyond his ability to reign in the flames that seethed under his skin.  It had been known to happen.

For now, though, everything was fine.  Everything would continue to be fine.  He just had to wait for Chris to show up.  It would be nice if they could have Michael as well, but that wasn't likely. Perhaps they'd go check on him once they were together.  Not that he'd know who they were.  He never did.

Thomas's hand clutched harder around the metal drinking cup.  He wanted to scream and burn something, and hauled back on his internal flames before they had the chance to scorch anything around him.  It wasn't Michael's fault.  It wasn't his fault.  It was all the fault of that damnable bastard!

Anyone looking at him might have caught a glimpse of flames burning in his eyes for a few seconds.  Thankfully no one was.  Only the very strongest of fire mages could have that happen and not every place welcomed a fire mage.  So far he hadn't been told to get out.  Best that he keep himself under control. The door swung open.  Thomas glanced up, more from vague curiosity than anything else, and hissed under his breath when he saw who stalked in.  What was he doing here?  Why was he not dead?

Ice-blue eyes rested directly on him as his last employer stalked over.  No one said anything.  More than one person quietly slipped out of the tavern.  When a man clearly having survived a terrible fire, face now seamed with fresh burn scars, stalked in, very few had the nerve to stick around.

Thomas mentally sighed, though he didn't make an outward move.  Who else had gotten away from the fire?  Was he going to have to deal with - oh. Of course.  He'd stopped for help.

Six of the burliest, most muscular thugs that Thomas had seen in a while stumped in after the surviving leader. Most of them didn't look as if they'd made much use of soap and water in the last month or two.  But they all looked quite capable of tearing a normal person limb from limb and would probably enjoy doing so.  Thomas had seen quite a few people like them in his life.  He'd never liked one of them.

The leader - Venom, or so he was popularly known - threw himself down into the chair opposite Thomas and glared at him. "Thought you were pretty cute with that trick, didn't you?"  His voice had once been soft and gentle, even when giving out the most horrible of orders.  It was part of how he'd gotten his name, other than knowing a great deal about poisons and drugs.  "Well, you're not gonna get away with it."

Thomas sipped at his drink.  "I have no idea of what you're talking about."  Under his skin, the flames flickered, twisted, darted, and he fought to lock them down.  Now wasn't the time or the place.

"You know exactly what you did, IV!"  Venom spat his code name back at him.  In the circles Thomas often found himself since the days of his curse, it was far better for his true name not to be known. So that sufficed. "You nearly killed me and you did kill the other!"

"Did I?"  Thomas shrugged.  "I seem to remember mentioning that I don't always have full control of my power."  He always made sure they knew that, that whenever he worked a spell of flame, something blew up.  Usually everything in his immediate vicinity.  Most of the time he could keep the blast from harming himself but that had taken practice.  The scar on his face was evidence of that. 

What he had neglected to tell them was that he needed to use his fire magic at least once a week, or it blew up without warning and without control of any kind.  He always neglected that part when he made a new contract with someone.  Sometimes he managed to channel the explosion into something useful.  As far as he was concerned, this was something useful - ridding the area of scum like that.  The fact he'd picked up a hefty sack of silver was only a bonus.

I think you're lying,"  Venom growled.  The sweet voice that had been before was now replaced by the tones of someone who'd smoked for thirty years or more.  "I think you tried to murder all of us and I want to know who paid you to do it."

An assassin?  He was being accused of being an assassin?  Well, it wasn't as if he hadn't killed people before, and been paid very handsomely for it.  But there was a powerful difference between an assassin and a fire mage, and Thomas refused to let that pass.

"No one."  Slowly, cruelly, IV smirked one of his best smirks, tossing down the rest of his ale and lounging back in his chair as if it were a king's throne.  "I did it because I wanted to.  Because you and yours are nothing but the worst kind of scum who don't deserve to live.  And if you are still alive, then I'm going to have to do something about it."

Venom growled, a sharp blade visible in one hand now.  "Kind of hard to do that when you're the one dead!"  A jerk of his head and two of the burly musclemen grabbed onto him, hardened fingers sinking into him.  "Hold him while I cut his throat.  Nice and slow, too."

IV didn't even twitch an eyebrow.  The volcano that seethed under his skin at all times seethed and surged but he continued to hold it back.  "What makes you think I'd let you do that?"

"I don't see that you're going to be able to stop me,"  Venom hissed, leaning forward to trace the blade over the scar.  "Wonder who gave you this.  Maybe I should let you live and give you a matching one on the other side, just so people know that no one messes with me."

To Be Continued

Notes: I am quite looking forward to finishing this! I had fun designing Thomas & Michael’s curses too.

[hanjisungz-remade]

penny for your thoughts? ☽ changbin

✦ genre: harry potter au, fluff, slow burn ✦ description: perhaps staying behind for christmas break would be good. you could get a lot of studying in for OWLs and since you were alone, you wouldn’t get distracted... except you weren’t alone ✦ pairings: seo changbin x reader ✦ word count: 28.2k ✦ warnings: mild language, tooth rotting fluff (seriously.... its a lot) ✦ a/n: ive had this idea for so long (nearly 4 years) and im so excited to finally write it! merry christmas and happy holidays in general to you all that celebrate, i hope you eat well and rest well and enjoy 💓 

i.

“Did you hear about the accident in Potions class today?” Jisung spoke quickly, elbow locked with your own as you tried to avoid being separated in the large crowd of students. Somehow he was always able to get the most gossip out of students and continue to stay at the top of your class. 

“No, I’ve been busy focusing on OWLs. I would tell you that you should study too but I know you’ll ace them all.” You nudged him, almost pushing him into a very annoyed looking Slytherin. 

“Hey! I’ve done my fair share of studying as well.” Jisung pouted but shook his head, focusing on shuffling his feet and recounting his story. “Okay so the accident. It was fucking hilarious, first of all. Secondly, I heard this first-year couldn’t tell the difference between fluxweed and knotgrass when they tried to make Polyjuice and they blew up the whole cauldron, like boom!” He made an explosion motion with his hands.

“To be fair you’re quite the handful in Potions as well, and that's coming from your partner.” You thought back to Jisung burning his eyebrows off in third-year after incorrectly mixing ingredients among the many other things you’ve had to endure the past years.

“I will have you know, I am the best partner ever. You get better marks because you fix my mistakes!” Jisung was about to go on but he suddenly lifted his head, a soft, “woah” coming out as you both entered the Great Hall.

Lights were just being hung up as everyone walked into the Great Hall. Professors flicked their wands and spun the strings together to turn the admittedly boring beige walls into a disco-like party of reds and greens.

The tables, which had normally been decorated quite plainly, were now filled with anything and everything Christmas-like. Small trees sat at the head of each table and at the front table where the teachers sat. The goblets shined with a dark red glow, and the cloths protecting the wood from careless students were dyed a light green and shined with sparkles of glitter. Every year they seemed to do something different, whether it be the color of lights on the tree, the decorations around the house banners hung on the walls or the jeweled arrangement on the cups.

You made your way to the Ravenclaw table quietly, smiling at your other friend Luna as you sat down next to her. Before you could say anything, everyone cheered at the sight of the food being served. To be fair, you were very hungry, and you almost joined in on the loud hollers and claps, mostly coming from the Gryffindor table.

As plates of food floated down the long tables you listened to everyone talking. At the table next yours the Hufflepuffs quietly munched on their food, no words being exchanged except for the occasional student squealing and cursing from another playing a trick on them. From that table you made eye contact with your friend Seungmin, raising your eyebrows and laughing when he held up a Potions book and mouthed “kill me” to you. 

Behind you the Slytherins sat quietly, some of them laughing at one of the other houses while others had their heads in their books. You never fully understood the motivations of Slytherins. They loved to be top of the class yet they always felt as if there was something else higher to achieve. Though you couldn’t find them too weird, you were the top of the class and you still wanted to go higher, still wanted to prove yourself. 

You always wondered if you should have been placed in Slytherin, but no one ever dared question the Sorting Hat. That, and you heard a rumor that the Hat took your own feelings into account, and you knew you were always more drawn to Ravenclaw.

On the opposite wall there was a loud murmuring, the Gryffindor���s heads clacking together and you could only assume they were talking about something interesting with your they all seemed to push together into the middle of the long table. How they could relay a message down the whole table made no sense to you, it all sounded like an impossible game of ‘Telephone’, yet with the nodding of heads it looked as if they got their message across.

“Think they’re having another dick measuring contest?” Jisung whispered in your ear as you both began filling up your plates. Of course he had to overload his, but you knew he would end up eating it all.

“I think they wait to go back to the Common Room to do that.” You stated simply, shoveling as much turkey as you thought you could eat onto your large plate. It always turned out that your eyes were bigger than your stomach, but much like Jisung, you were determined to finish.

To your other side Luna leaned towards you, one hand on a fork and the other holding a book open. “Have you guys finished the Herbology study book yet?” Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper.

OWLs started two weeks after Christmas break and to say you were completely not ready was an understatement. You had studied day and night since the beginning of the year, getting as many books from the library that you could. Learning was fun and while you were quite good at it, the thought of failing was always a fear of yours. With the deadline rapidly approaching, so was your heart rate. 

“I skimmed through it but I feel like it would be better to have more hands-on experience.” Jisung shrugged, stuffing his cheeks with turkey and vegetables from the floating plates passing by even though he had a near full plate sitting in front of him.

“Smarty pants.” You looked at Jisung, sticking your tongue out at him. “I’ve been really busy with Potions so I haven’t started yet. How about you?” 

“I haven’t even started either. I’ve been trying to memorize these spells for Charms but I can never find the time to practice them.” Luna launched forward, nose fitting perfectly in the middle of the textbook, a loud sigh escaping her.

“Well, we can study together more often if you want?” You offered, watching Luna lift her head up quickly. You feared for her neck when she did that. 

The three of you would study together in a small group, sometimes recruiting other people and friends from other houses, but with the ‘big tests’ coming up, maybe studying together more often could help more than hurt. Although you did like studying alone more, it was definitely more beneficial to study in a group. It also offered as an occasional distraction when the stress got to be too high.

“Oh my god really? That sounds awesome. You’re the best.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes while her hands rested in her lap. Through the years of knowing her and being her roommate for one of them, you knew Luna would occasionally meditate to ground herself. She was quite the quirky person, as most Ravenclaws were, but Luna took it to the next level. It wasn’t a bad thing, in fact it made her infinitely more interesting to talk to. 

Her hair was what first drew you to her, it was a coral blue, but when she turned around for the first time you saw glimpses of reds and purples. When you asked her, she said it was an invention her father came up with, color changing hair dye. At that point you knew you had to be her friend.

A comfortable silence fell over the three of you as you continued to eat. Luckily you had friends that felt like silence was as good of communication as talking was. Well, Jisung was quite the jabberjaw, but he always knew when to stop and when to let the room descend into quiet.

If only the rest of the room could have stayed quiet.

Two tables down a loud crash caught everyone's attention. The silence you had wished for just a second ago granted to you. Your eyes fell on a wide eyed boy, his pink hair weighed down from liquid that had been poured on him. By whom? Like everyone else you looked next to him to see another wide eyed boy, this one with dark hair and seemingly older yet you weren’t quite sure.

“Oh shit.” The black haired one said, his wand quickly being tucked back into his red and black robe but it was definitely too late for trying to conceal anything with hundreds of eyes locked onto them. 

Behind the boys came Professor McGonagall, the Head of the Gryffindors, although it was less of a walking over and more of an appearance from thin air. Her glasses rested on the tip of her nose as she looked down at the two cowering boys in front of her.

“Mr. Bang, what is it do you think you’re doing?” Neither of the two turned around, their eyes closed and noses scrunched. Eventually the older looking one turned around, his hands lightly trembling. If Gryffindors had anything to be afraid of, it was Potions class and McGonagall.

“I’m so sorry Professor. I was just practicing my Wingardium Leviosa spell for OWLs.” He reached next to him and patted the pink boy’s head, shooting him an apologetic look when the younger scowled at him. “I tried to levitate my goblet but I must have gotten distracted and it fell.”

You felt Jisung lean towards you, “I call bullshit, the water would have flown everywhere, why just on that poor boy’s head?” Of course Jisung would be the one to use the logical part of his brain to call someone out. 

“You’re definitely a Ravenclaw, aren't you?” You chuckled, nodding at his statement. “As much as I hate to say it, you're right. It was obviously a prank or something.”

“And Mr. Yang,” McGonagall directed her attention to the pink haired boy. One of her hands rested on her hip, “you’re obviously not studying for OWLs, how did you get into this predicament?”

The two boys looked between each other then back at McGonagall. The older one, Mr. Bang, nudged the other with his elbow. At this point they both looked around and noticed the silence in the room, only causing their already pink faces to go full on cherry red.

“Uhh.” The younger one hesitated with his answer. Small droplets of water dripped from the tips of his pink hair. It wasn’t a bright pink, more of a faded bubblegum pink. Whether it was the aftermath of a spell or he chose to do that you weren’t sure but he looked cute. “I was just sitting next to Chan while he was practicing. I’m sorry.”

She nodded before pulling out her wand. With a flick of her wrist and an inaudible mumble of what could only be assumed as a spell, his pink hair flew up, strands flying everywhere before eventually settling back down. Everyone in the Great Hall gasped as they saw his hair was completely dry now. Even the recipient of the spell was surprised, his eyes crossed as he tried to take a look at the hair covering his forehead, mouth gaping open.

“Woah.” The other one, Chan, you could assume, inhaled and lifted his hand up to touch the other’s hair. “How did you do that?” He looked towards McGonagall, all fear and embarrassment gone in favor of wanting to know the spell.

“Maybe I’ll let you know when you pass your OWLs. For now, minus 20 points to Gryffindor.” Her voice conveyed disappointment as she turned around and seemed to glide back up to the big table at the front of the room. 

Once she finished talking a murmur fell among the students. Each table went back to their own devices, studying, eating and gossiping as usual. You continued to eat, your plate slowly dissipating into empty as you listened to the noise around you. Although you couldn’t hear any specific conversation you were content in the atmosphere around you. Noise wasn't always the worst, but more often than not it felt like a million bee buzzing in your head so you tended to lean towards the silent route.

“Oh my god.” As if snapping you out of your thoughts, Jisung nudged you accidentally, pushing his plate away and patting his stomach through his robe. “That was so good I can feel my brain waves flowing.”

“You know sometimes I just have no idea what the fuck you’re saying.” You eyed him, pushing your plate away as well and shaking your head. If you were given a dollar for every time Jisung said something weird you would have been a billionaire in first-year. 

“You don't know how many people have said that to me.” Jisung laughed, the same loud laugh that he always does. A lot of people would make fun of him for having such an animated laugh, yet you never found it annoying. It was like sneezing, when Jisung would laugh you would start to laugh as well. Once he finished laughing, he leaned his head on one of his hands, “anyways, do you have any plans for break?”

“I think I’m gonna stay here, I already told my parents I wanted to study for OWLs and not be distracted.” You paused when you saw students start to get up, signaling it was time for class. “Besides, our family wasn’t one for holidays so I would rather stay here and do something productive instead of just lay around for three weeks.”

Both of you stood up, following the students as they started meandering and finding their way towards their classes. Luckily you shared the first class with Jisung so you just followed him through the crowd, hand clutching a bundle of his robe so you didn't lose him.

The walk to class wasn’t long, and as you two sat down you both took out your books and quills, getting ready for another grueling day of mixing and hoping you don't blow that part of the castle off. Class hadn’t started yet but Jisung looked around at the other students, checking to make sure no one was listening in before leaning closer to you.

“I heard another student is also staying for break, some Hufflepuff.” Jisung said quietly, messing with the vials of liquids out in front of him.

“First of all,” You smacked his hand away from the ingredients for the day’s potion, “don’t fuck with the ingredients, you don't want to end up like that first-year.” Jisung pouted but let you continue, his hands now resting on his book. “Second of all, I’m focusing on my studying, hopefully they stay away and in their own space.”

You knew you sounded harsh, but you also knew that OWLs were the most important exams and you needed to pass them, though preferably not just pass but get high marks. Obviously if you ran into this Hufflepuff you would be polite, but ultimately that was your time to study. Besides, you didn't even know who this other person was. Maybe they were an asshole, then it would be infinitely easier to ignore them.

“I heard he was also a fifth-year. He.” Jisung emphasized it again, elbowing you into the side. “You guys could study together.” When he raised his eyebrows and wiggled in his seat you resorted to pushing Jisung over, laughing but also shooting him an evil eye. “You know when you do that look you just look like a puppy. Totally not intimidated at all.”

“I could push you over again.” You threatened, watching as more people started to file in before class started. “And I definitely do not want you to be my wingman again, I still have nightmares of last time.” Shuddering, you pushed the memory of the Yule Ball to the back of your head.

Jisung looked like he was going to combat your blow to his ability to wingman but before he could, Professor Slughorn strode through the door. All the students fell silent at his entrance, hands folded in front of their books, eyes scanning the liquids and cauldron in front of them.

As you listened to Slughorn drone on, picking up vials and mixing them into the cauldron, you felt a finger poke your elbow. Looking down you saw a piece of paper sitting between you and Jisung. When you looked up at him he was focusing on the front of the room but his mouth was quirked into a smirk that you knew meant that was a note from him. You grabbed it, opening it quickly and trying to read the messy scribbles from Jisung’s quill. When you finally did read it you shook your head, elbowing your best friend, crumbling the paper and putting it in your robe pocket.

“You never know what might happen ;)” - Your favorite wingman.

ii.

“I can’t believe we leave tomorrow.” Jisung’s cheek was pressed against the Herbology book, the page sticking to his skin. The steam from his hot chocolate floated into the air of the library. The pages beneath his face had some important text on whatever plant you were just learning about (if you're honest, you barely remember the name of the damn flower).

“You’ll be okay, Sung.” You reached across the table and patted his head. His hair was soft as always. When you first met him you were sure he used some sort of magic shampoo and conditioner or found a spell to make his hair that smooth but after being friends for 5 years you learned it was just ‘great genes’ as he had put it.

“It’s only for three weeks. Besides we can send each other letters.” Luna rested her hand over yours.

The three of you had been studying for nearly four hours. Having the day off was both a blessing and a curse, no classes but more time to cram studying in. The library was packed with students, all of the seats and window sills filled with bodies and books. Despite having so many students in one space it was quiet, no one wanting to upset the librarian fairies that flew through the bookcases and sought out anyone not following the rules.

“But it’s not the same.” Jisung drew out the last syllable. “I want to annoy you guys in real life not just letters.”

“Trust me you’ll find a way.” A chuckle escaped you when Jisung rolled his eyes, lifting his head and a pout prominent on his face. 

“I guess it’ll be okay.” He looked down at the textbook, fingers quickly skimming over the page before he looked up, an alarming smile on his face. “Oh! Speaking of break,” He leaned closer to you. “I know who is staying here with you.” Jisung winked at you and if you didn’t know that the fairies would kick you out of the library you would have reached around and smacked him in the back of the head.

There was a moment of silence as Jisung waited for you to ask him who it was, and you desperately tried to hold back. You set your mouth in a thin line and shook your head. Yet, your curiosity dug through your brain and got caught in your throat. You knew if you opened your mouth those words would slip through. 

So you did.

“Who is it?” You sighed, waiting for the answer. Truthfully, there wasn't anyone that you didn't want it to be but the answer still shocked you.

“Seo Changbin! The Herbology nerd.” Jisung nearly shouted, and it took you and Luna to tell him to quiet down.

You had known about Seo Changbin, seen him around the castle and in the library and although you didn’t know anything about him besides the fact that he was a Hufflepuff and really good with plants, you did know that he was damn cute.

“Ooh! He’s cute!” Luna squealed, mirroring your thoughts. She bounced in her seat and patted you on the arm. “You guys should study together!”

As much as you would like to entertain that idea, you knew you would have to focus on studying alone. Sure, you could study with Luna and Jisung but that was different, they knew what methods worked and what didn’t. Their humor fit yours and having someone else come in, someone incredibly attractive and cute, would be infinitely more distracting than Jisung’s dick jokes and Luna’s tangents.

“I would rather stay in the solitude of our Common Room.” You noticed the frowns on their faces, so you decided to entertain them and hopefully get them off your back. “But, you never know what could happen, maybe he could help me with my Herbology troubles.”

“You can’t study Herbology without us!” Jisung pouted again, looking down at the book and looking back up at you. You found his pouting funny so you nodded, chuckling when he firmly nodded his head back. “Good. Now let’s please get at least this chapter done before my brain melts.”

iii.

It wasn’t long until you were sitting with Jisung and Luna for the last breakfast before everyone left for break. It was eerily quiet in the whole room, but you didn’t mind it, instead you just ate in silence, enjoying the presence of your friends around you before you couldn’t see them for three weeks.

You smiled when students from other houses were allowed to sit together and you found Seungmin walking over from the Hufflepuff table. He took the empty seat next to Luna, but not before nearly tripping and spilling all his food over the dark blue tablecloths that represented your house.

“Careful dude, I am not sitting next to you if you reek like eggs.” Jisung said with a full mouth, a laugh nearly sending his breakfast flying.

“You’re telling me to be careful yet you're the one talking with a mouth full of food.” Seungmin’s eyebrows raised. Jisung looked like he was going to argue back but decided against it. As soft as Seungmin looked, he was not afraid to stand up for himself (or anyone else, for that matter.) 

“Both of you should be careful. If one of you spills on me and I have to take another shower I’m sending you a howler for Christmas.” You threatened, looking up at them through your lashes as you ate all you could.

Jisung stood up, arms raised in surrender and it took you yanking on his robe sleeve for him to sit down. “Okay,” He said a little too loudly, causing a few Slytherins to shoot you looks. “I surrender to you, your majesty.” You smacked his arm but laughed along with everyone else.

You stopped laughing before the rest of your friends did so you looked around at them, letting out a breath you didn’t know you had held onto. It was nice to laugh as loud as you wanted to and feel just that little bit of relief from stress before you were left alone to study until your brain turned to mush. 

For the past few weeks you had convinced yourself you would be okay alone and that was definitely true to some extent, you loved to be alone and be left to study or read or learn new spells that might come in handy. You had even taken to learning the hair drying spell McGonagall used and that cut getting ready in half. As much as you loved to be alone you knew that you would have to distract yourself somewhat to not think about your friends and how much you would be missing them.

If anything, you knew you could sneak into Hogsmeade or take a stroll up to the Astronomy Tower or the Owlery and send a letter to your friends but you knew that a part of you would still miss them.

Your thoughts were cut off by Jisung tapping you on the head, his face coming into view as you spaced out looking at one of the illuminated lanterns on the wall above the Gryffindor table.

“Hello? Earth to Y/N? Anyone in there?” When you looked down you realized your friends were all staring at you. Jisung’s finger was still tapping on your head and you shook him off.

“Of course I’m here, just thinking about my schedule of studying.” It wasn’t a lie, you had made a calendar of subjects you would study every day with breaks to spend in the Astronomy Tower to calm you down.

“You’re gonna miss us aren’t you?” Luna asked, chewing on the rest of her food before snapping and watching as it disappeared to the dishwasher. She was always the straightforward one of the group, and that was saying something because mister honesty sat directly next to you.

“I’m definitely going to miss you Luna.” You nodded then gestured towards Seungmin and Jisung. “These two, though, I’m glad I’m gonna get some peace and quiet.”

“Hey!” They both said simultaneously.

“You know I’m kidding. Of course I'll miss you all like fucking crazy but like you said, we can send letters and I am happy I get extra time to study for OWLs.” You knew it was stupid to lie to them so you told the truth.

Everyone nodded before they went back to eating. It didn’t take long before everyone was finished, your plates gone and bellies full. After a long speech by the Headmaster students started getting up, some saying bye to friends and leaving and others just sitting and waiting for their ride to arrive.

“So,” Seungmin leaned forward on his elbows. “I heard that Changbin was also staying behind. He’s a sweet guy, always studying as well. He’s a few doors down from mine in the dorm and I hear him singing all the time. He’s damn good.” Jisung and Luna chuckled, wiggling their eyebrows at you.

“He sounds like a cool dude, maybe we could be friends after OWLs.” You held up your book. There was a moment of silence and you spoke up again. Before you could stop yourself your curiosity got the better of you. “Do you know why he’s staying back?” 

“No idea, sorry.” Seungmin said. He looked up front before jumping up and grabbing his suitcase in a haste. “Oh shit my ride is here, I gotta go. Bye guys, have fun!”

You three said your goodbyes to the back of Seungmin’s head, watching his yellow scarf fly in the wind as he squeezed past everyone, muttering “excuse me”s and “sorry”s to anyone he bumped into. As soon as he was gone you turned back to Luna and Jisung, eyeing them as they skimmed through their books. Everyone was cramming before leaving for home, having three weeks at home without the pressure of studying was a godsend to most but some preferred taking their books with them to study while at home.

Although they were Ravenclaws, Jisung and Luna definitely did not share that sentiment. They much preferred to abandon all notion of studying in favor of taking a break. “Studying is important but there was only so much you can do before your brain explodes.” Professor Flitwick had said one day when he met with all of your house.

“So,” Jisung started and you held your breath, knowing something was coming. “Just friends?” He smirked and before you could shoot him down he continued. “All I’m saying is learning and studying is important, I wouldn’t be a Ravenclaw if I didn’t think so, but it’s also important to have a little fun here and there. You’ll have a lot of time and I know you’re not just going to spend it studying or in the Astronomy Tower.”

Shooting him a look you shrugged, he was right and you knew it but you would be dipped in Hell before admitting it to the boy in front of you. There would definitely be a lot of down time considering it was just you in the whole castle (and Changbin but you chose to ignore that thought). 

“Chill out horndog.” Jisung chuckled at your attempt at an insult, patting you on the head. “If I did hang out with Changbin it definitely would be as just friends, no matter how cute he is.”

Jisung’s face moved and his mouth twisted, him mouthing a ‘I can't hear you’ which you knew wasn't true, Jisung acted like he wasn’t listening but his ears were as good as an owl’s. He heard anything and everything in a mile radius and could repeat it back to anyone in a heartbeat. So you were sure he heard you.

“Oh look!” Jisung jumped up, picking up his suitcase and cage with his owl Albert before looking back. “My ride’s here, hope you have fun with Mr. Dreamy Puff, you better spill all the juice when I get back.” 

“There will be no juice to spill but sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Have fun!” You yelled after Jisung. He waved behind him, body weaving through everyone and you swore you saw him almost take out a group of first-years on his way to the front of the castle.

“He’s gonna bowl someone over one day.” Luna shook her head, looking back to you. There was a quick silence before she spoke again “I’m not gonna pester you about Changbin, just remember to have fun as well as study. You have the castle pretty much all to yourself, enjoy it.” 

You nodded, thankful you had Luna to not drive you completely insane like the two boys. After her statement you two sat in silence, occasionally chatting about Herbology or the latest Potions mishap. Around you students hurried to the front, the occasional pile up happening when a student tripped or knocked someone over.

Eventually you looked up from your book, foregoing studying for the moment and instead enjoying the noise and presence of everyone in the room. As time went on students filed out, the big suitcases and cages full of animals that lined the walls slowly dissipating until only a handful were left.

“My ride is here.” Luna quickly packed her book in her suitcase, zipping everything up and standing.

You pulled her into a hug, smelling the peppermint shampoo that changed scents based on the season (it was her favorite buy from Hogsmeade). The smell was pungent, like drinking butterbeer after chewing gum, but it was a smell that you knew you would miss. 

“Relax a little, okay? Don’t stress about OWLs until after you get back.” You joked with her, knowing she would have fun with her unconventional family.

“I could say the same for you.” Luna tightened her scarf around her neck, the tip of her nose already red from the cold air bellowing in from the doors. “I’ll send letters, Scarlett has no problem flying to the castle.” Her owl stirred in its cage, the white feathers standing out against the bronze bars.

“Of course, I’ll send letters too, though it’ll probably just be me ranting about how many potions we have to memorize and me worrying I'll burn my eyebrows off doing it wrong.” You both laughed. “Now go! I don’t want you to miss the ride to the train.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going!” Luna darted away, screaming a final, “goodbye!” before disappearing into the white snow.

“Bye!” You shouted even though you knew she couldn’t hear you.

There were only three other students in the Great Hall waiting for the last train home. The high windows cast a shadow on your side of the room, the sun going down and the light bending. You weren’t sure if Changbin was there, there were two boys sitting at the Hufflepuff table yet having not seen the Changbin’s face, you had no indication that he was anywhere to be seen.

It wasn’t like you were looking for him or anything.

After looking up and down the table you noticed you were the only Ravenclaw left, even the seventh-year prefect Woojin was gone, having been one of the last ones to leave and help the first-years to the train. It all looked so empty sitting there, so you decided to call it a night and start the three week break in the morning.

You didn’t bother looking at anyone as you walked past, fingers playing with the pages in your Charms book as you made your way to the Ravenclaw Common Room. 

Once you were inside, having solved the riddle lock many times before and answering immediately, you looked around and sighed. You decided not to think about how empty it was, instead focusing on walking up the stairs to your room. Although your bed was soft, you looked over and saw Luna’s empty one, a small pang echoing in your chest.

“I just need some sleep.” You muttered to no one but yourself. “I’ll feel better in the morning.” Turning over, you faced the window. The snow cascaded down so hard it almost looked like rain. It was calming, along with the mix of cold and warm from the fireplace in the Common Room.

You knew the first night alone would be hard but the particular lack of a human presence anywhere near you was the most difficult thing. At night if you couldn't sleep you would find yourself talking out loud and eventually Luna would respond to you. That time, however, she wasn’t there to respond.

The first night is the worst, you thought to yourself, twisting under the comforter and trying to find a comfortable position. Just get through the first night and you’ll be okay.

Taking a deep breath you closed your eyes, reviewing different charms and spells that you had learned through the week. It was a nice distraction, and you felt yourself drift off with the sound of the wind in the background.

iv.

The start of the third day you woke up with a massive headache.

The previous two days had been spent in the Common Room, a big blue and bronze quilt draped over your figure as you stayed curled up on one of the large couches. The fireplace remained warm and inviting and you found yourself content in reading about Transfiguration and the history of magic for the first two days.

Starting the third day with a pain almost as bad as hearing the screaming of a Mandrake was definitely not how you wanted it to start, but there you were.

“Oh, fuck.” Your hand stayed on your head as you sat up, temples thumping with a rush of blood. The light from your lamp burned as you opened your eyes, forcing you to squint. 

It’s not like you hadn’t gotten enough sleep, in fact, one could argue you got too much. There were often times you sat in the large chair, book in your lap, that you found yourself dozing off, time disappearing into dust in an hourglass. You were only focused on the words in front of you and the sense of dusk outside that forced you to trudge up the stairs and finally sleep in your bed.

The rumbling of your stomach made you stand up, slipping into your robe and fixing your bed head. The time on the clock indicating it was breakfast time so you slowly trudged down towards the Great Hall, the paintings whispering as you walked by. 

As soon as you walked through the large open doors you stopped in your tracks. The Great Hall had transformed. In the middle of the room was the giant Christmas tree, lights twinkling like stars and bulbs filled with full snow scenes glittering across the branches. At the very top stood a fairy, twirling on her toe like a ballerina.

On the edge of the room right next to the fireplaces were small tables, sets of chairs set up for anyone to rest in. All of the chairs were empty except one.

Seo Changbin. 

His back was to the door, not noticing you walked in. Wanting to stay out of his eyesight, you quickly shuffled to a table as far away as possible, wincing when you pulled the chair out and a loud noise echoed through the large room. When Changbin didn’t look back you let out a breath of relief.

Your plate appeared in front of you, with all the food the castle had to offer for breakfast. Again your stomach reminded you of exactly what you came there for. You ate in silence, the past two days of living on a small dinner you would sneak down to the Great Hall to get and the few snacks you hadn’t eaten from your last outing at Hogsmeade.

As you ate your eyes wandered, settling on the only other person in the room, and you were surprised to find his eyes staring back at you. Immediately you lowered your head, playing with the egg on your plate. All the food was nearly gone and after not eating much you found your stomach was definitely full.

You were about to wave your wand to send your plate to the dishwashers when the feeling you were being watched washed over you. Pausing, you assessed your options. You took the easy way out, looking up and coming face to face with none other than Seo Changbin.

You never had enough time to actually look at him, only recognizing his name from first-year when you were sorted into your houses and being called in some classes. Now that he was standing in front of you, you noticed how handsome he was.

He had two yellow and black scarves wrapped tightly around his neck, his robe held close to his body. His cheeks and nose were a soft rosy color, as if he had fallen asleep face first on a pillow. Dark hair framed his face, red highlights reflecting in the light of the candles. His eyes were bright despite their dark color, lips curled into a slight smile and you felt a warmth different from the warmth of the candles in the room.

“Hi.” His voice was light, barely leaving his lips in a wisp of condensation from his hot breath.

“Hi.” You responded, a smile making its way onto your face.

There was a moment of silence and you realized that Changbin’s hands were resting on the back of the chair in front of you, the sound of his nails tapping onto the wood the only noise. It echoed through the room loudly. Or you just thought it was loud, the silence heightening everything around you.

“Can I sit here?” Changbin asked, pointing to the chair across from you. When you nodded Changbin smiled wider, slowly pulling out his chair and sitting down. As opposed to almost all other Hufflepuffs you’ve known, he stayed silent upon looking back up at you. Normally you would feel uncomfortable under someone’s stare, but you found yourself entranced with the way his eyes shone in the candlelight.

“So,” you broke the silence, “I see you’re also staying here for break.” Great, just the state the obvious. You thought to yourself. Looking down you noticed your plate still there, quickly taking out your wand from your robe and mumbling the spell, watching as it disappeared from in front of you.

“Yea, yea I am.” Changbin paused for a moment, softly hitting his temple with his fist. “Oh shit, I forgot to introduce myself, you probably think I’m weird. My name’s Seo Changbin, Hufflepuff, fifth-year.” He stuck out his hand and you chuckled at his adorable expression, like he was mentally hitting himself.

“I’m Y/N, Ravenclaw, fifth-year as well.” You reached out, his hand was warm and fit well in your own. The handshake was done way too fast, you noticed, trying not to let a pout show itself. 

It was then that you realize you had quite literally rolled out of bed earlier, rubbing a hand over your face and smoothing down your hair with your other. “I just woke up, I probably look so bad right now.” You laughed.

“I think you look cute.” Changbin mumbled, shrugging his head and looking down at his hands. Before you could reply - quite possibly with a you too - he looked back up at you. “I just woke up as well, I was up all last night studying for OWLs and I was so hungry I figured I should probably have breakfast.” 

“Are you nervous for the exams?” You were intrigued about whether or not everyone else was as scared about OWLs as you and your friends were. Just from the tidbits Jisung heard around the castle, Gryffindors were leisurely studying, Slytherins were nowhere to be seen in the library, probably studying in their Common Room, and most Hufflepuffs were in their own little study groups, determined on studying almost as much as Ravenclaws were.

“I definitely am. I think most of us are, we all have one or two subjects we are the most scared for.” You nodded along to his words, watching the way his fingers tapped on the table. 

“What subjects are the hardest for you?” You asked.

“Charms for sure. This dumb thing,” he pulled out his wand from his robe, “refuses to listen to me sometimes.”

His wand was very pretty, you noted. Dark wood with specs of gold glittered throughout it. A lighter brown wood flashed from beneath his fingers and you saw a soft glow from the tip as he waved it around. When he put it back in his robe you trailed your eyes back up to his face, a lopsided grin stuck on it.

“How about you? Surely you don’t have anything you’re too worried about, you’re top of our class.” Changbin leaned forward, shoulders no longer slouched in an uncomfortable position. It surprised you that he knew who you were, yet a smile involuntary made its way onto your face. 

You shrugged, not wanting to admit that your worst subject was one that his house should be the best at. “I’m not top of the class.” When Changbin raised his eyebrows you chuckled. “Okay, okay, top five, but I’m not first!”  He raised his hands up in defeat, a louder laugh echoing from the both of you. From the top of the Christmas tree the fairy chuckled as well.

“You’re avoiding my question.” Changbin smirked, crossing his arms in a playful manner.

“You’re really observant.” At this point you weren’t avoiding his question because of embarrassment, it was actually quite fun to mess around with someone other than Jisung. 

“You do know I’m a Hufflepuff? There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you off the hook.” 

You sighed dramatically, throwing yourself onto the table and smiling at the table upon hearing Changbin’s laugh. Actually, it was more of a giggle than a laugh. But either way it was really cute and you were sure you wanted to hear it more often.

“Herbology.” You mumbled into the table. When a sound of confusion came from the boy across from you, you spoke up. “Herbology!”

There was silence, and when you looked up you almost had the wind knocked out of you. Changbin was smiling, an extremely big smile that made his eyes disappear and his nose scrunch up. You’re friends had told you he was cute but he blew past that statement. He was more than just cute, he was like ultra cute with a big side of extremely handsome.

You were too busy admiring Changbin that you missed what he said, your face heating up when you had to ask. “What?”

“I said,” He chuckled again, arms unfolding and resting back onto the table. “I’m quite good at Herbology, one of the top in the class, in fact.” Although he said that, it wasn’t in a bragging tone, more of a proud hint to his voice. “I can help you if you want?”

The reminder of the loneliness you would be going back to if you said no creeped into your mind. Paired with a small warmth that spread through you when Changbin smiled prompted you to nod. 

“Sure. I definitely need it.” You chuckled, completely forgetting about the deal you made with Jisung. 

Above you the fairy on the Christmas tree squealed. “Ah, young love!” She screamed, her shrill voice echoing through the large room and piercing your ears. As she said that you're whole body felt warm, but not the warmth that previously came and went. Looking at Changbin you found his face turned towards the floor, his cheeks dusted once again with pink and the corners of his lips pulled into a small smile.

“So what were you planning on doing today?” Changbin asked, the tint in his cheeks slowly fading. Perhaps you were letting your loneliness guide you, but you found yourself drawn into Changbin and his soft smile and pretty laugh. That or you had been slipped a love potion in your breakfast. Or Changbin was just that alluring. 

It was probably the last one.

“Just studying.” You shrugged, not having anything special except digging your face in a book. “That’s why I stayed here for break. That and the fact that all my relatives in one house together isn’t the best thing to go home to.” 

“I get it, family is complicated.” Changbin nodded. “Do you wanna maybe study together? You know that saying, two heads are better than one.”

“Yea, I think that would be leagues better than staying cooped up in my Common Room. I can only take so many taunts from the paintings outside for not coming out all day.” You rolled your eyes, reminded of the annoying voices that were seemingly like a loudspeaker in the Common Room. How their voices carried through the walls like that, you had no clue, but you wished that they had built the castle more soundproof.

“Oh don’t remind me.” Changbin groaned. “I get a lot of shit from our paintings as well. So annoying.”

“So do you want to go to the library?” You asked, getting up from your spot at the table. “Oh wait, I need to stop by my Common Room to get my scarf, it’s only going to get colder as the day goes on.” There were plenty of books in the library to study from, not needing your assigned textbooks just yet. You definitely didn’t, however, want to die from hypothermia. 

Changbin stood up as well, hand tousling the messy hair at the back of his head. “Do you wanna use my extra scarf?” His other hand played with the edges of the extra fabric around his neck. “I mean, as long as you don’t mind wearing another house’s colors.”

“Oh,” You said, surprised. “I don’t mind, but won’t you be cold?”

“I’ll be fine, it’s actually kinda hot in here so I was going to take it off anyways.” Changbin’s face was flushed, teeth pulling at his bottom lip. 

“Okay then, thank you.” You smiled, watching him quickly unravel the yellow fabric and hold it out for you. When you grabbed it you noticed how warm it was, like it had been sitting in front of a heater for an hour. You didn’t mind though, wrapping it around your neck and nearly nuzzling into it. There was a delicate smell to it, like laundry soap that had just started to fade and you wondered if this is how Changbin smelled in general.

Stop it, you thought to yourself, just friends. Focus on OWLs. Your fingers played with the edge of the scarf. It was then that you noticed Changbin staring at you, waiting for you to do something, and you realized you had just been standing there playing with the loose strings of the accessory. 

“So,” You flipped the scarf over your shoulder, striking an overdramatic pose. “How do I look?” The warmth came back when Changbin laughed, and you fought to smother it into ashes.

“Hm, I think you look fabulous, a natural Hufflepuff.” You smacked his shoulder. “Hey! That was the highest compliment I could have given you.” Loud laughter echoed through the Great Hall again, and you were sure the unicorns and other animals in the Forbidden Forest could have heard it from over there.

“Okay let’s go before you think up any other ‘compliments’ for me.” You gestured towards the library. It was only two floors up so luckily it wasn’t that far of a walk, but you still wanted to get it over with so you could relax in the soft chairs up above.

“You say that like I don’t already have a whole catalogue loaded into my brain.” Changbin turned towards the big doors, looking up in the general direction of the library. “I’ll race you?”

Upon hearing that you got into what you could only assume was a good enough stance for getting ready to run. “Okay.” You said, crouching down even more and looking towards your right at Changbin. “1, 2, 3, go!”

With that, you took off, laughing at the faded yelling of Changbin following behind you. Everything turned into a blur, yellow streaks from your (Changbin’s) scarf and the words being screamed at you from the paintings quickly passing by faded until you didn’t care about anything. It was freeing, being able to run through the halls and not worry about losing points (though you did think about the paintings ratting you out to the professors when they came back).

As soon as you had passed through the door to the library you stopped in your tracks, hands resting on your knees and breath coming out in small gasps. It wasn’t everyday you ran as fast as you did, in fact, the last time you did run that fast you were being chased by a small troll through the Forbidden Forest.

You took your time walking to one of the plush chairs surrounding a huge table, plopping down on it unceremoniously. Yeah, you had won the race, but had you really won the race? 

Within a few seconds of sitting down Changbin came bounding through the door frame, chest pumping with every labored breath he took. He followed the same path as you, starting with his hands on his knees and then slowly shuffling towards a chair. Unlike you, he nearly collapsed before reaching the chair, fortunately he barely made it, a loud thud echoing through the library when he fell into it.

“Holy,” He took a breath and let it out, “shit.” Changbin laid back in the chair, hands clasped in front of his stomach. “You’re so,” Another breath, “fucking fast.”

“I knew a shortcut.” You tried to laugh but all that came out was a puff of air, lungs still working overtime to provide you oxygen.

“Damn Ravenclaws.” Changbin mumbled, his breath still escaping in short puffs.

You both took a few minutes to calm down, your backs resting comfortably on the plush cushions. You felt your breath even out, a small bead of sweat falling from your hairline. The smell of old books filled your nostrils, small fibers from the scarf coming up to tickle your nose. Although you had just run until you felt like your lungs would pop, you felt relaxed.

Snow fell softly outside, cascading past the windows of the library and making everything feel like a winter wonderland even from the comfort of the heat filled castle. There was a sense of urgency to study, what with so little time until OWLs, yet as you sat there, you also felt comfort wash over you. You still had a month and a half, there was time.

“We should start studying now.” Changbin said, his voice still holding an airiness to it. Despite him saying that, neither of you moved, feet staying planted on the plush carpet. Neither of you bothered to even sit up, backs being scrunched up slightly from slouching.

A few more minutes passed by, your fingers stroking the soft chair and head turned to watch the snow falling outside. You desperately wanted to grab a thick coat and just lie in the snow for a few hours. Or a few days. Or a few weeks. However long it took for your mind to stop worrying about OWLs.

“Penny for your thoughts?” His soft voice pierced the silence, and you tore your eyes away from the winter wonderland outside to look at Changbin. His hair was cut perfectly, some strands wavy and messy while others completely straight. His eyes were completely calm, just observing you and you felt more exposed than if you were just given a truth serum.

“Just thinking about the snow and OWLs.” You rested your cheek on your shoulder (well, the thick yellow scarf covering your shoulder) eyes closing for a moment of peace before opening them to Changbin’s gaze again. “You know, stressing about exams is my secret talent.” You continued, a near silent chuckle escaping you.

“You don’t have anything to worry about, you’re one of the smartest people in the castle, but a little extra studying won’t hurt.” Changbin sat up, a loud huff accompanied by a puff of air following his statement.

“Fine, fine.” You sat up as well, tightening Changbin’s scarf around your neck. There was a slight scent of pine needles and cinnamon, an unlikely combination but it made you immediately relax. “But don’t blame me if I start dozing off, your scarf is way more comfortable than any of mine.”

“If you want, you can keep it, I have Hufflepuff friends that took up knitting and can make me however many I want.” Changbin smiled and you declined to retort with, well they won’t smell like you. 

“I’ll think about it.” You looked around at the rows of books, debating silently what subject to start first. Of course, the logical thing would be to start on what you were the worst at, but sometimes you decided to ignore those thoughts in favor of working up to the worst. “So where should we start? History of magic?”

With Changbin’s nod you both set out a plan of gathering books, spreading them on the table and skimming through each one. Occasionally you would quiz one another, loud laughter erupting in the normally quiet space when one of you would mumble a funny answer to one of the questions. 

That continued until the sky started turning orange outside the windows, a deeper sense of fatigue settling over the both of you and reminding you both that sleep was an important part of studying. It was then that you both rose from your seats, uttering a soft goodbye with a warm handshake as you both went your separate ways to your Common Rooms.

It was also that night that you realized you hadn’t taken his scarf off.

v.

This pattern of eating breakfast in peace at the same table and racing to the library to study all day went on for a few more days until one morning you approached your normal table, plates of food already laid out. Changbin was already sat down, stuffing his cheeks with everything he could fit in there. 

“Are you okay?” You asked, sitting down in front of him and starting to eat. You noticed it was everything you always put on your plate, and your face heated up at the thought of Changbin paying that close of attention on you. Luckily you could hide any hint of the heat rising with the scarf - Changbin’s scarf - wrapped around your neck.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His cheeks were still stuffed with food, words coming out slightly jumbled. “I figured today could be the day we get some good old hands-on practice!”

“Okay, I’m both confused and worried at the same time.” You started eating, the warmth from the food spreading through your body and instantly brightening you up from the bone chilling cold night before. 

You both ate in silence, Changbin finishing before you and spending his extra time looking at the Christmas tree. He had a small smile on his face, the lights from the ornaments dancing across his features. With the soft light from the tree illuminating you both, you sat staring at Changbin, who was quite literally glowing.

“Okay so what are we doing today?” You asked, sending your plate away once you had finished eating.

A sly grin made its way onto Changbin’s face and he leaned forward, hand resting underneath his chin. “It’s a surprise.”

“Oh, great. I love surprises.” You said sarcastically, yet a smile still popped up. As much as you tried to act upset or annoyed at not knowing, you couldn’t stop the warmth that filled you at having Changbin’s smile, albeit mischievous, directed at you.

Changbin stood up, extending his hand towards you. Confused, you stood up as well, putting your hand into his and feeling the warmth heat up when he interlaced your fingers. “Close your eyes.” The last thing you saw before darkness washed over you was the slight tint of pink on Changbin’s cheeks and the tilt of his lips up in a now genuine smile.

You inched forward slowly, Changbin’s hand firmly secured in your own so you didn’t accidentally walk into a wall or something. “Just trust me.” Changbin’s voice came from directly next to you and he squeezed your hand softly. You chose not to reply, just squeezing his hand back and waiting as he started picking up the pace.

When you finally started walking normally you focused your other senses, listening to the pictures mumble things about people in the castle over break, to which Changbin firmly shushed them. His hand was warm, palm moist with a thin layer of sweat. Whether it was from your hand in his or the warmth of the fireplaces providing heat you didn’t know. 

From what you knew of the placement of the paintings, you were headed in the opposite direction of the library. As you already guessed, you knew that you weren’t going there, yet the curiosity still ate you up inside. 

All of a sudden Changbin stopped and you almost ran into him, a sound of surprise coming from your lips. The feeling of his eyes on you even though you couldn’t see him made you impatient. You tapped your shoe on the ground, trying to fill the silence with some sort of noise. 

“Okay you can open your eyes.” Changbin said, slowly disconnecting your hands and you had to fight to keep the frown off your face.

Opening your eyes you found you were stood in front of the door to the Herbology room, the full glass wall showing the rows and rows of plants all laid out. The thought of actually handling them while the professor wasn’t there was worrying, and you looked towards a smiling Changbin with raised eyebrows.

“So we’re going to be messing with the plants? Without the professor?” Your voice raised slightly in worry.

“Well, yeah. Why else would I bring you here?” The smile on Changbin’s face comforted you, yet you still had the thought of not being allowed in there. “I know what you’re thinking,” Changbin continued on when he noticed you not answering, “Professor Longbottom asked me to stay behind during break to tend to the plants. You could say I have a green thumb.” He gave a thumbs up and you chuckled.

“So I’m not gonna die of a mandrake’s scream or anything?” Changbin chuckled at your question. 

“Just trust me.” He said, opening up the door and gesturing for you to walk in. “I wouldn’t let you die, there’s no one else to pin it on if you do.” 

“Ha ha,” you faked a laugh, walking into the Herbology room. It was a completely glass room, and you could see the thick snow blanket on the ground outside. You had to admit it was a very beautiful sight, and you stood in awe. The rainbow of plants contrasting with the pitch white outside was picture perfect.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Changbin came up behind you, walking down to the opposite end of the room. From there, he picked up two pots, each with similar looking leaves and shapes. You were still mesmerized by the picturesque background to focus on anything that was happening in the warm room. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Changbin asked, much closer. He was still holding the two pots of plants.

“It’s just, so beautiful.” You had seen snow plenty of times before, being at Hogwarts for five years and being there for the slow building cold months, but nothing compared to the sight you saw. The inches of snow coating the ground made everything look bright, even the dark leaves on the trees at the edge of the forest were stark white. It was like a winter wonderland you would only see on TV.

“Yea it is.” Changbin sat the pots down, turning around and leaning on the table. He faced the outside, a soft smile on his face as he watched the slow cascading of the snow. “I’ve been staying here for the past two years to take care of the plants and I’ll never get tired of how gorgeous this view is.” 

When you tore your eyes away from the outside you looked towards Changbin, your face becoming hot upon noticing he was staring at you. You smiled at him, turning around towards the plants on the table. “So what are these?” You asked. You recognized the colors and leaf shapes but you doubted you could dig deep in your brain to remember what their names and purposes were.

“Well,” Changbin turned around, gesturing to the plant on the left. “This one is wormwood. We’ve used it before in Potions class. It’s most commonly used for healing potions, but putting too much could result in extreme effects including death. Kinda ironic.”

You nodded along, watching the way Changbin softly petted the plant. It was almost as if he was communicating with them. His touch was gentle, the same sort of gentle as when he held your hand while leading you to the classroom.

“This one is very similar, both in looks and use. This is dittany.” He pointed to the other plant to his right. “It’s used for healing but doesn’t need to be mixed into a potion, just one leaf could heal a skin wound.” 

You again nodded at what he was saying, trying to distinguish between the two. It became easier as you observed them up close, closer than the professor would let anyone in class. Everything started clicking together and as you listened to Changbin go on and on about each and every plant in the room (besides the mandrakes, you already knew plenty from the extensive lesson in second-year) you started understanding just how to tell the difference between each and every plant. For so long you despised walking into Herbology class but the way Changbin described it made it seem so simple and even a little bit fun.

As he went on you helped him tend to the plants, listening to him naming and describing each one along the way. The way his eyes would light up upon looking at each different pot as he walked along made a smile appear on your face. He was so engulfed in talking that he didn’t notice you stop at the end of a row, watching as he was oblivious to everything happening around him.

When he finally noticed you weren't behind him he had reached the opposite end of the row, turning around and seeing you standing so far away at the other end of the room. He had stopped talking, fingers tapping on the wood table in front of him. His lip was pulled between his teeth, a hint of rose on his cheeks.

“Sorry, I get carried away with talking about the plants.” He shrugged, looking back up at you. 

“No it’s okay.” It was your turn to get embarrassed, even though moments ago you had kind of, not really, been staring at him unabashedly. “I’m learning so much better than if I was stuck in front of a textbook all day. Besides,” You started walking up the row slowly, recalling all the plant’s names in your head. You could remember some of them, and you thought that even a little progress was progress nonetheless. “I love listening to people talk about what they’re passionate about.”

“What are you passionate about?” Changbin asked.

You thought for a moment, your feet stopping in front of a lily flower. “Learning.” You started, “I’ve also really loved astronomy since I was a kid. It’s one of my best subjects.” 

“I’m not that great with astronomy. They’re so far away that I just end up not caring too much but the stars are pretty to look at.”

“I can help you with it one day if you want?” You asked as you started to walk forward again. Outside a strong wind whistled through the trees but you paid no mind, focusing instead on the pricks of the leaves of each plant you passed by. You made sure not to touch the poisonous ones, Changbin was a plant expert but he couldn’t stop the effects of any of the deadly plants.

There was silence as Changbin nodded, turning around to load the mister with water for the plants. By the time you made your way up to him he had finished, facing you again with the same pink cheeks and smile on his face. You pushed down the thought of leaning forward just a bit more, and instead pulled back, one of your hands going to stroke the leaves of a dittany plant. The room was a mix of scents, though the unmistaken rush of cinnamon from the scarf around your neck flushed everything else out. 

“I, uh, I think that's enough for the day.” Changbin was the first to break the silence, one hand playing with his sleeve while the other tapped on the table in front of him. “Those are all the ones Professor Longbottom said would be on the test, but don’t tell him I told you.”

“There’s no paintings in here to eavesdrop and rat us out so your secret’s safe with me.” You made a lock gesture over your mouth, lightly tossing the imaginary key over your shoulder. 

“Hm.” He put his hand on his chin, stroking an imaginary beard. “Okay, I guess I can trust you.”

“Well you've already told me so you’ve got no choice.” You laughed, noticing the sun starting to set outside. Long shadows made the glass room you were in seem much more eerie. “So, should we get going back to our rooms? It’s getting dark.”

Changbin leaned forward, the same damned smirk on his face and you didn’t know whether you wanted to slap it off or kiss it off. “Are you scared? I can protect you.” He raised his right arm, flexing it but with his thick robe in the way you couldn’t see any hint of muscle.

“If anyone is gonna need protecting it’s you,” You jabbed at his arm, laughing when he feigned hurt. “I’m the stronger one here.” You mimicked Changbin, holding up your right arm and flexing.

“Remind me never to meet you in an alley, I’m afraid I’ll get my ass beat.” Changbin held up his hands in defeat, eyebrows raised and a loud laugh coming from his mouth. When he lowered his arms his smile lowered as well. “It’s getting really dark though, do you want me to walk you back to your Common Room?” 

You were going to decline, but then you remembered what you said only moments ago. Perhaps tonight was the best night to help him in return. “Actually, I have a surprise for you.”

Another strong wind from outside rustled the branches of the trees. The sun had almost completely set, and you knew that was the perfect opportunity to go somewhere you had been missing out on since everyone left for break. 

“Oh? Okay, where are we going?” Changbin asked.

“It’s a surprise.” You smirked, leaning forward and grabbing his hand as he did to you earlier in the day. “Close your eyes.” 

You waited for Changbin to close his eyes, not before giving you a very suspicious look to which you raised your eyebrows. Once he did, you interlaced your fingers with his, taking notice on how sweaty they were. Deciding not to torture him too much, you started walking, taking special care not to bump him into any walls or anything. 

“You better not be leading me to the pools to push me in.” Changbin threatened from behind you, the hand that wasn’t grasped in yours covering his eyes. 

“I’m not that cruel.” You chuckled, almost wincing at how tight he was holding your hand. On the surface you could see no nervousness, but with the way his fingers twitched and the small scrunch of his nose you knew he was hesitant. “Just trust me, I trusted you right?” When Changbin made a small noise of agreement you continued. “Exactly, you’ll be fine.” 

A silence filled the castle as you continued walking, knowing it was only a few more minutes before you made it to your destination. A deep rumble came from behind you and before you could ask any questions the familiar notes of a Christmas song came flowing around you. You decided not to say anything, enjoying the soft sound of Changbin’s voice behind you drowning out the murmurs of the paintings you passed. 

By the time you got to the tower Changbin was humming the end of the Christmas song, his thumb tapping the rhythm into your hand. It was quite comforting to have his voice fill the silence, bouncing off the walls and seemingly echoing through the whole castle.

“Okay.” You stopped in front of the doors, giggling at how Changbin almost ran into you. “You can open your eyes now.” 

Changbin took his hand off his face, eyes opening and immediately finding yours before searching around. His mouth dropped open when he saw the intricate carvings on the door in front of you.

“As payment for you helping me with Herbology I decided to help you with Astronomy.” You released his hand, a cold air rushing in and reminding you how empty it was.

“Aren’t we gonna get in trouble if we’re in there?” Changbin asked, the hand that was previously in yours fall to his side, palm slowly rubbing on his robe.

“Professor Sinistra lets me up here all the time.” You proceeded forward, holding open the door and waiting for him to follow. “I go up here at least twice a week, you’ll be fine, I promise.” 

Changbin didn’t say anything as he followed, the only sounds being your feet on the steps going up to the top of the tower. You had climbed these steps hundreds of times before but it never really got easier, you found. It was extremely tall, the tallest thing in the castle, and your legs always felt like jelly by the time you made it to the top. 

That time, as well, your legs wobbled when you finally reached the top, but a hand rested lightly on your back, steadying you and preventing you from falling. “Careful.” Changbin’s voice was very close behind you, his fingertips just barely pressing into your spine. “I thought you said you had been up here many times before.” 

“I guarantee your legs would never get used to walking up these stairs either.” You shot him a side eye, walking over to the far end of the room and sitting down. “Come on.” You patted the spot next to you. You didn’t see Changbin come to sit next to you but you felt his presence move and eventually settle beside you. 

“It’s so beautiful.” Changbin followed your eyes to the ceiling. Night had settled in and with the darkness of the forest around the castle it only amplified the bright show above your heads. You made a noise of agreement, your shoulder brushing up against Changbin’s. 

“So, test time.” Changbin groaned at your statement and you rolled your eyes, resting back on your hands as you continued to search the sky for the perfect question. “Where is Capella?”

Once you found it yourself, you looked over at Changbin, chuckling at the absolutely clueless look on his face. The light from the stars lit up his features, his pouted lips, scrunched up nose and quick flickering eyes all shone with a glittering shimmer. 

“Don’t laugh at me!” Changbin’s pout extended further when he heard your laugh, “How do you find them? They all look the same.” 

You tried to not laugh anymore, but the way his lip jutted out and the loud sigh that escaped him was too cute, so you chuckled again. “You have to put it in perspective of Polaris, the North Star.”

“There,” You pointed up towards the bright star directly above you both, “is Polaris. So Capella is due east of Polaris and it’s also one of the brightest stars. We learned about this in second year. There it is.” You found the constellation it was in and pointed, looking over at Changbin and finding him squinting in the general direction of where your finger was. 

“Which one?” Changbin asked, still squinting towards the stars. 

You sat up, leaning over and grabbing one of Changbin’s arms. Time seemed to slow down as your fingers danced up his arm, pushing his fingers down until only his index finger was up. You guided his hand until he was pointing at the star in question, but you didn’t let go of him.

“There it is.” You didn’t feel the need to raise your voice so you softly spoke into the air around you. “There’s Capella.” 

When you finally let go of his hand you turned to him, a near silent gasp escaping you when you realized just how close you were. Your noses were almost touching and you felt both the warmth from his breath and from his body heat. There was also a familiar warmth that started at your face and spread through your whole body. You were almost tempted to take off your - Changbin’s - scarf but you decided against it, knowing the cold would creep in quickly.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Changbin had lowered his hand and it was resting in his lap. The fog from his breath lingered in the air before floating up towards the stars.

You tried to think of something to tell him other than the overwhelming warmth that undoubtedly came from being under his gaze, or the fact that you were only mere inches away from kissing him. It was something you never really entertained the idea of, dating. Sure, there were cute guys and girls at the school but you knew studying was way more important. 

But spending the past few days with Changbin, laughing and studying and having quite possibly the best time in a while with him, all you thought about was spending whatever time you could with him. Perhaps it was the loneliness or perhaps it was actually Changbin, you weren’t sure but you were more than happy to spend the rest of the break with him. 

“Uh,” You stuttered, moving away from him and looking down at your hands. Your face burned and when you looked back up at Changbin you saw his cheeks were a bright crimson. “Just really happy that I have someone to spend the break with. I can imagine how lonely it must be to be the only person in the castle.”

“Yeah,” Changbin looked down at his hands in his lap. “I love taking care of the plants but the past two years have been kinda lonely.” He shrugged, looking back up at you. By the time his eyes met your his cheeks had slowly lost their red color. “But you’re here now so it’s much better now.”

You nodded, and through the silence you felt the tendrils of sleep clawing at your brain. You fought back a yawn and looked back up at the stars. Ever since first year you had been coming up there at night to watch the stars. There was something so peaceful and serene about sitting in the tower and just sitting underneath the stars.

“Tired?” Changbin smiled softly. When you nodded he stood up, extending his hand to you. “I’ll walk you back to your Common Room.”

You reached forward and let yourself get helped up, smiling back at him. As soon as you were upright he let go of your hand and you fought not to get disappointed at the lack of his hand in yours. 

“My brain is melted from talking about Herbology.” You laughed as you started walking down the steps of the tower. “So many plants and uses and effects.”

“I feel the same about Astronomy and Charms, an infinite amount of stars and hundreds of thousands of spells to memorize. It’s fucking impossible.” Changbin said, his feet making a loud echo through the stone walls. 

“Nothing is impossible.” You countered, focusing your eyes on your feet and trying not to miss a step. “Things get hard but not impossible.” 

You walked in silence, the only sound you heard was the soft footsteps and the whispers of the paintings. 

“You shouldn’t be out at night.” A woman spoke loudly from one of the paintings. The pictures around her seemed to get the message in a chain reaction, they all looked around at each other and repeated the same phrase. 

In your head you knew the paintings couldn’t do anything at that moment to get you in trouble, but you also knew they could relay messages to professors when everyone got back. You looked back at Changbin, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“Can’t we just have some fun?” Changbin shot back at the paintings, and you watched with amusement as they all were silenced. “You’ll probably forget by the time everyone comes back anyways.” 

You both laughed as the paintings disappeared behind their borders. As your laugher dissipated a low hum came from behind you and you smiled at the sound of whatever song Changbin was humming along to. 

The walk to your Common Room wasn’t too long, so you got there before Changbin could finish the first song. There wasn’t much else to say, but you also found that you didn’t really need words to convey whatever you were feeling.

You nodded towards Changbin, the small hint of a smile being somewhat hidden by the yellow scarf around your neck. Heat creeped up your face when Changbin mirrored your expression, his eyes never leaving yours.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” It came out as more of a statement than a question but you still nodded to confirm. “Great.” Changbin stood still, not moving. “I’ll, uh, I’ll go now.”

When you nodded again you turned to the door to your Common Room, watching out of the corner of your eye to see Changbin turning around, fingers playing with the sleeves of his robe and head ducked low. You read the riddle on the picture above the door, getting distracted when you heard a voice from the hallway.

It was singing.

It was Changbin. 

You stood there in front of the door and listened to him singing. Although you couldn’t really distinguish any words other than ‘love’ and ‘snow’, you were still in awe at how pretty he sounded. His singing was much different than his speaking voice. Where his voice was deep and rough, his singing was light and airy. Never in a million years would you expect him to sing like that but you loved it.

His voice slowly dissipated as he walked away, and you stayed standing there until the last note could be heard following him towards the Hufflepuff Common Room. You wondered if he would still be singing in his dorm room, and you thought of him pacing his room, a serious look on his face as he continued to sing. 

You were disappointed when you could no longer hear him, so you quickly solved the riddle to get into your Common Room. By the time you had finally settled into your bed, changing from your robe into something far more comfortable, you realized something. If it was possible for you to fall deeper into your feelings for Seo Changbin, you were Alice falling down the rabbit hole.

“Fuck.” You said to yourself, hands going to rub at your eyes in an attempt to scrub all the thoughts from your brain. That, unfortunately, did not work, and you continued to think about Changbin’s beautiful singing and bright smile and everything else about him until you eventually fell asleep. 

vi.

After days of the same routine, going to the Herbology room for the day to learn about the next batch of plants and then to the Astronomy Tower to try and teach Changbin about another cluster of stars, you were quite literally burnt out. 

Yeah, it was endearing to see how passionate Changbin got about the plants, and helping him tend to them really boosted your knowledge, but it got to the point where you felt as though your brain was going to burst from how full it felt. You were also sure Changbin felt the same way because the last night you went to the tower he had fallen asleep, cheek squished on your shoulder and soft breaths escaping into fog around you.

“I’m so done with studying.” Changbin groaned as he hung his head over his plate of food. It was almost empty and you laughed at him almost dipping his nose in his syrupy pancakes.

“We can do something else if you want.” You suggested, finishing up your breakfast and sending your plate away. 

Changbin lifted his head up, mouth tilted and nose scrunched in thought. You waited for a few moments, observing the way his teeth teased his bottom lip and his eyes flickering between the lights hanging above.  

All of a sudden it was like a lightbulb had been lit up above his head, his whole body stiffening up and his eyes quickly snapping to meet yours. “I know what we should do!” You shushed him when his voice came out just tad bit louder than you would have liked, even though there was no one else in the room to be annoyed.

“Please tell me it’s not a surprise.” Not that you would have hated if it was a surprise as that meant you would have gotten to hold his hand again which you definitely weren’t opposed to, but you weren’t too keen on not knowing where you were going. 

“Well it would be pretty hard to hide this surprise so I’ll say no.” He chuckled, finishing his food at a very alarming rate. “Come on, let’s go!” The excitement in his voice only served to make your heart pump faster as well, a big smile curling past the edge of your scarf.

You followed him as he stood up, eyebrows raising as he stuck out his hand again. If this wasn’t a surprise, why did he want to hold your hand? You thought as you looked at him.

And he seemed to read your mind, because a pink hue spread across his face, the hand that wasn’t held out to you coming up to the back of his neck. “Oh, just so I don’t lose you.” Changbin smiled but it was more of a nervous one than the excited smile he had shown only moments before. “You know, the castle is really big. One wrong turn and we’re miles away from each other!”

His logic was sound, and you definitely weren’t opposed to holding his hand again so you made no protest, reaching forward and feeling warmth envelop you as your fingers intertwined again. While you weren’t sure exactly what the warm feeling was, you knew that it felt nice and it spread through your whole body. It wasn’t a hot warmth, but a comforting one, and you wanted to feel it all the time.

But if it only happened when you were near Changbin then, fuck. Perhaps you liked Changbin more than thought, or wanted to think, but you knew that at the end of the break you would go back to being strangers and you didn’t want to face that heartbreak. 

“Where are we going?” You asked, noticing that instead of turning right or left at the Great Hall doors, Changbin started walking forward, toward the front of the castle.

Changbin didn’t answer you until you were skirting the edge of the forest, the cold breeze nipping at your nose and cheeks. “It’s boring in the castle so I figured we could go to Hogsmeade.” When he turned back to you his nose was red, cheeks still pink and eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Is that allowed?” Your hand gripped Changbin’s tightly, the freezing temperatures making you cling to any warmth you could get and obviously it was all coming from him.

“There are no professors here to get us in trouble, and the people at Hogsmeade aren’t going to give a shit about our robes or anything.” Changbin shrugged, and you noticed you weren’t headed in the normal direction of village, but through a small path in the middle of the woods.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a Hufflepuff? You know, always following rules.” Your questions kept coming, and you looked sideways. Changbin’s nose was red, his cheeks almost matching. His scarf nearly covered his mouth, but you could still see the fog from his breath escaping through the fibers. As the snow fell around you, you noticed small snowflakes sticking to Changbin’s eyelashes. 

Before you could catch yourself staring, he turned to you, the snowflakes on his eyelashes slowly melting every time he blinked. “Even a Hufflepuff has to have some fun.” He winked at you, the tip of his lips curling above the scarf in a sly smile. 

The walk to Hogsmeade was much quicker than the normal way, and you wondered how many people knew of the shortcut. By the time Changbin had turned back to look down the path, a large brick wall was coming into view. Paired with the mix of talking, laughing and music growing louder as you approached, you were surprised at how quick you had made it there.

“Wow, that was quick.” You noted, looking up and down the wall and seeing you were right outside the village. There was no door, however, just the dark bricks that were jutting out in a distinct pattern.

Instead of responding, Changbin released your hand and you hoped he didn’t spot the way your bottom lip mimicked the bricks, jutting out slightly. He took out his wand, tapping a seemingly random array of bricks and you watched in awe as a small portion of the wall began swinging open. 

Behind the door you could see a steady stream of people walking up and down the streets and you realized you were right in the middle of Hogsmeade, without having to go through the front gates and deal with security. Changbin motioned for you to follow him, and without any thought behind your decision, you reached out and grabbed his hand. His eyes were cast downward and cheeks significantly redder than previously. 

“So I don’t lose you.” You mumbled out, feeling your face heat up and lip being teased by your teeth. The boy connected to you nodded, his fingers gripping yours tightly, but not tight enough that it got uncomfortable. If anything, you noticed the familiar warmth spread through you but this time it started at your hand in his.

“Come on, let’s go.” Changbin quickly started walking, and you looked behind to see the secret door slowly closing, the lines where it was opened now smooth again. You followed quietly behind, the people walking around you paying no attention to two students coming out of a dark alley together. It was understandable, with the holidays closely approaching, people would surely be more occupied with finding presents than busting students.

“Where do you wanna go first?” Changbin turned around to ask you, turning into a space away from the constant wave of people walking, not wanting to get swept away in the crowd. The constant talking and music around you made it hard for you to hear him, and you leaned closer, a sound of confusion coming from your throat. Changbin leaned forward, and you felt his nose almost touch the shell of your ear. “I said, where do you wanna go first?”

You looked around, taking in the shops around you and deciding to start there and just keep walking. Immediately to your right was the bookshop, Tomes and Scrolls, and you thought about seeing if there were any new astronomy books you could read. 

You turned to Changbin, a small gasp escaping you when you realized just how close you were. The tip of your nose just brushed his before he pulled away slightly, the tips of his ears burning red.

“Uh,” You stuttered, eyes trailing down to his lips and the way his teeth teased the bottom one. “Can we go to Tomes and Scrolls? I want to see if there are any new astronomy books.” When you looked back up at his eyes, you were surprised to see him staring at your lips. 

“Sure.” Changbin looked away, towards the bookstore only a few steps away. He seemed to be thinking to himself before he nodded. “Yea, let’s go.” He tugged your hand, weaving through the current of people, but not without catching a few dirty gazes for occasionally bumping into someone. 

As soon as you entered the building you were hit by the smell of old parchment. It was a very familiar smell, having been there more times than you could count when you would walk through Hogsmeade during weekends. You noticed there weren’t many people in the large shop, and knowing exactly where you needed to go, you started walking there.

Once you reached the row of books you had been looking for, the science section, you turned towards the one still connected by your hands. Changbin was looking around, the old antiques lining windowsills and shelves intriguing him.

“If you want, you can go look at whatever you want.” You let go of his hand, loosening your scarf as you had just walked into a room with heating. “You don’t have to stay by my side if you don’t want to.” 

“I don’t mind.” Changbin countered but made no move to grab for your hand again. “I don’t have any books I want to look for anyway.” He smiled, gesturing towards the shelf of books. “Go ahead, nerd.”

You lightly smacked his arm, sticking your tongue out at him and beginning to walk down the aisle, but not before throwing a, “You’re the nerd here, plant boy.”

Soft footsteps followed behind you, and you began to forget about your surroundings as you immersed yourself in the books. Most of them you had read before, some of them being presents from friends or your parents and others being given to you by Professor Sinistra had gifted you for being the top of the class. 

After you had picked out a few books you were interested in, you turned to Changbin, finding him looking very confused at a book of the history of the planets. You chuckled at him, walking the few steps until you found yourself next to him.

“Having fun?” You asked, laughing when said boy looked up at you with an incredibly clueless face. 

“This all feels like another language.” Changbin snapped the book shut, putting it where he found it and fully facing you. “Are you done?” The sentence would sound impatient if it weren’t for the smile on his face. When you nodded, Changbin motioned for you to go checkout, and you walked in silence with him behind you.

As you put your books down on the counter, you smiled towards George, the store owner. “Hi Mister George!” Everyone always called him by his first name and he always had a bright smile on his face despite the slight shake in his hand and the need for a cane to walk.

“Hello Y/N, it’s been a while! Found some books you haven't read yet?” His smile made him look so much younger. George started ringing up your two books, looking between you and Changbin yet he didn’t say anything.

“Yea, studying for OWLs set me back a little bit but I’m sure I’ll catch up with your supply soon.” You chuckled, trying to think back to the last time you had came by this store and not remembering.

“I’m sure you’ll do amazing, sweetie.” George finished ringing up your books, sliding them back to you. 

After you paid you reached forward to grab the books, only to be cut off by Changbin getting there first. When you turned to him, he simply shrugged saying, “I’ll carry them for you.”

You pouted, crossing your arms over your chest and sighing. “I can do it.”

“I know, I want to carry them for you.” He countered, bringing them closer to his body.

A chuckle came from next to you, and you both looked towards the noise, finding George looking at you two with another large smile. “You two are cute together. Remind me of my wife and I, both stubborn as hell but still in love.”

You wanted to say something but your face was aflame, ears burning and head tilted toward the ground. Instead of responding, you changed the subject, “I’ll see you later, Mister George, happy holidays.” You didn’t look at Changbin as you walked away, only knowing he was following behind you when you heard his footsteps and then eventually felt his hand envelop yours. 

Neither of you said anything about what George said, but with one look at Changbin you were sure your ears probably matched his own, bright red. You would have liked to say something about what happened, apologize for not correcting him, apologizing for not confirming what he said, but to be honest you weren’t too sure of your feelings. 

“Do you mind if we go to Dervish and Banges, the magic store?” Changbin asked, nodding towards the building only a few shops down, his hands preoccupied. “I want to get a few gifts.” 

“Of course, let’s go.” You agreed, quickly making your way down the road and running into the shop.

There were more people than the bookstore, loud chatter echoing through the whole shop and you felt Changbin loosen his grip on your hand. You let go immediately, looking over at him and seeing him searching for something.

“Should we split up?” You knew you could find a few gifts for your friends, and you wanted to give Changbin some privacy. “You’re probably sick of always being stuck with me.”

Changbin chuckled, shaking his head. “Not yet.” He paused for a second. “I’m just kidding, by the way. I don’t mind being with you. I mean, stuck with you.” He corrected himself, adjusting the books that had settled on his hip. “But yea, let’s split up and find our gifts. Then we can head back to the castle.” 

“Sure, sounds good.” You held your hands out. “Let me carry the books,” when Changbin didn’t hand them over you continued, “at least until we are done in here.”

“Okay.” Changbin drew out the last syllable, slowly giving them back to you. “But only until we are headed back to the castle, and then I’ll carry them. Let’s meet back at the front of the store in an hour.”

You nodded, turning on your heels and heading straight for the sweets section. If there was one thing you knew about Luna it was that she loved sweets. Looking through the different assortment of delicious looking things you settled on chocolate frogs, recalling once she had tried to keep one of the frogs in their dorm room and for the next month it smelled like stale milk. For a moment you debated getting her the chocolate frogs, but figured that she had learned her lesson the first time. 

For a while you were strolling up the aisles, looking at different gadgets and things. For Seungmin you had gotten a journal that had a whiteboard on the front, allowing him to doodle anything he wanted on it, it also came with a paper with a spell on it to animate the drawing.

You had also gotten something for Changbin, and you hoped it wouldn't be weird getting a present for someone you had only known for two weeks. It was a small snow globe, but instead of it being full of water or small flecks of artificial snow, it was an ecosystem full of plants. They were all alive, still growing from sprouts in the bottom of the globe. You thought that he could have his own greenhouse in his dorm room for when he couldn’t walk down to the large Herbology room. 

But, Han Jisung was an enigma. He was arguably your best friend at Hogwarts, ever since you walked into the Ravenclaw Common Room and saw a very hyper Jisung playing tag with some of the other students. He had ran into you, helping you up and introducing himself. Now five years later you told him all your secrets and he told you all of his and you wanted to get him something really special for when he came back from break. 

Finally you had settled on the quills, knowing how much he wrote, especially music, on anything he could. Sometimes you would go back to bed with ink marks on your arms from where Jisung just started drawing musical notes. 

There was a huge assortment of quills, and you were quite taken aback by it. Anything from quills that told jokes to quills that wrote in invisible ink that were only visible with a spell, they all were laid out in front of you and you were extremely indecisive.

That was, until you saw it. It was a medium sized quill with a very dark feather. At first glance it looked like any normal, non magic quill, but once you picked it up you read the tag.

“Turn any song into actual music with the flick of your wrist! Just draw a music note and listen as the quill plays it for you!” 

You smiled, clutching onto it as if it was the last one. It was perfect, you thought as you made your way up to the front, handing over the things you got to the cashier. Everything you had gotten seemed to perfectly encapsulate the ones you got them for, and you were excited to be able to hand them over and see their reactions. 

However there was still a nagging feeling at the back of your mind that Changbin would find it weird that you got him a present. Maybe I shouldn’t give it to him. You thought as you retrieved the bag of items from the cashier, walking toward the front with the bag in one hand and your books in the other. 

At the front of the store you already spotted Changbin, a small bag in his hand and the other shoved into the pocket of his robe. When he spotted you he smiled before reaching out. Rolling your eyes, you handed over your books, watching as he maneuvered them to one arm, that same hand holding onto his bag.

“Ready to go?” Changbin asked, his scarf already tucked into his robe and nearly covering his mouth. 

You nodded, doing the same to your scarf (which was still Changbin’s, but at this point you really didn’t want to give it back). “Yep! I can’t wait to get back for dinner and then sleep.” If you knew anything, it was that you had no expectations of going back to the castle and studying. One day breaks can be beneficial. Besides, you already felt as if there was nothing else new to learn, and you still had a month to review. 

“I never thought I would hear a Ravenclaw complain about studying.” A soft chuckle escaped into the air as Changbin once again grabbed your hand with his free one. It went without saying anything and you accepted his fingers gripping onto yours as you walked side by side. 

“Just because we like learning doesn’t mean we like studying.” You weren’t wrong, what with the amount of groans and complaints you heard in the Common Room when studying for OWLs started you were sure that if anything, most Ravenclaws despised studying.

There was a comfortable silence that washed over you as you walked, your connected hands swinging slightly as you made your way to the secret door back to the castle. Changbin mumbled something under his breath, his hand disconnecting briefly from ours, wand tapping seemingly the same pattern as when you had entered, and you set off on the short walk back to the castle, his hand subconsciously finding his way back to yours.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked from beside you, eyes still focused on the white covered path. It was like a winter wonderland, but you also knew the monsters that could be hiding in any nook or behind any tree so you wanted to get back as quick as possible.

“Why do you always ask that?” It was definitely what was on your mind, and you had hoped you didn’t come across as rude. “I didn’t mean it like that, I am just curious.”

“No, it’s okay.” Changbin started swinging your hands, the cold breeze it created making you shiver slightly. “I guess it’s just an easy way to start a conversation, and it lets others talk about what they want to talk about instead of just talking about something random.”

“I never thought about it that way.” You continued walking, your hand stopped swinging in favor of Changbin’s thumb softly rubbing the top of your hand. You assumed it was on accident, a subconscious thing that he does, but he had never done it before. Not that you minded in the slightest, which was why you didn’t say anything, letting him continue on, a shy smile slipping onto your face. 

As soon as you made it to the castle you both raced into the Great Hall, the smell of dinner wafting through the walls and making your stomach growl. There was only a week and a half until break was over and five days until Christmas, so each meal leading up to the holiday seemed even more delicious than the last.

You ate quickly, the hunger in your stomach almost unbearable now that you sat down and relaxed. Besides the loud noises of you eating, there was silence, not even the fairy at the top of the tree singing. Once you were done you pushed your plate away, watching Changbin do the same. 

“I’m officially done with today.” You leaned back in your chain, your scarf hanging behind the back. “I mean, I had a great time but I’m so tired.” Sleep crawled at your eyelids and you fought not to succumb to it, especially not sitting up in a chair where there was a high possibility your body hits the floor.

“We should head to bed, we exerted a lot of energy.” Changbin mumbled, his eyes also almost closing, his bottom lip poked out in a pout and you had to convince yourself to not kiss him in your sleepy haze.

You made a noise of agreement, too tired to even form words. Your plates still sat there and with a groan you sent them away. Each second you were awake was another second that you felt sleep pulling you under.

“Come on, we should get to bed before we both fall asleep at the table.” Changbin stood up and you saw he was much more coherent than you were. Albeit, he was still swaying on his feet, eyes drooping every couple of seconds. 

Standing up, you shook your head, forcing yourself to wake up just enough to get to your bed. You grabbed your bag and books and fixed the scarf back onto your neck. With a tired smile you reached towards Changbin’s hand, interlocking fingers like you had been doing over and over the past two weeks.

Your feet dragged as you walked and at some point Changbin let go of your hand in favor of wrapping a hand around your waist. Although you were somewhere between sleep and awake, you registered his soft breath on your ear and his voice saying, “You didn’t sleep much last night, did you?”

Thinking back to it, you really hadn’t. You decided to get in some study time by yourself, talking out loud into the room and trying not to think about Changbin’s handsome face. By the time you had deemed yourself done with studying for the night, it was well past midnight, so with some quick, sleepy calculating you held up four fingers to signal how many hours you figured you got. 

Changbin nodded, keeping silent as the walk to your Common Room felt like hours but was only a few minutes. You were coherent enough to eventually pick your feet up fully, but you leaned to the side, resting your head on Changbin’s shoulder. If he didn’t like it, you could just blame it on the fatigue when you saw him in the morning. He didn’t seem to mind though, just walking along as his fingers pressed even more on your waist to keep you upright.

The riddle at the doorknob blinked, indicating you hadn’t solved it yet. Changbin looked over at you and you shook your head, rubbing off sleep just enough to be able to solve the riddle with ease. (They tended to reuse riddles a lot and within the five years of you being there you had seen a few many times before.)

“Get some sleep, Y/N.” Changbin whispered in your ear, thumb softly stroking your waist and you felt a shiver race through you. Whether that was because of the cold or because of Changbin’s extremely close proximity, you weren’t sure. Although sleep was relentlessly trying to pull you under, you were coherent enough to register just how much you liked him saying your name. 

You nodded, not wanting to take your head off his shoulder and definitely not wanting to leave his very warm presence. “Okay.” You finally mumbled after a few seconds. “You too, get some sleep Changbin.”

“I will. I promise.” Changbin laughed, and guided you towards the door. 

As you stepped through the threshold the door closed behind you, and you stumbled towards your bedroom, a smile on your face when you remembered everything that happened. The bag of your gifts hung from your hand and you set it on Luna’s bed, it’s not like she was using it at that moment anyways. 

When you collapsed in bed, pulling the blanket up to your chin and eyes closing almost instantly, you thought back to how secure you felt with Changbin’s arm around you and how warm you felt when he was around. Sure, you had had crushes before, and that atrocious date at the Yule Ball thanks to Jisung, but what you felt was something unknown and as a Ravenclaw you definitely did not appreciate not knowing what you were feeling.

“Damn you, Seo Changbin.” Your voice trailed off, sleep finally taking over.

vii.

The next four days were filled with relentless studying. You would stay in the library way past curfew with Changbin, scouring the aisles for any types of books that could help you that you hadn’t yet read. At one point you even fell asleep sitting in one of the rows of books, one minute you were searching for a book of potions and the next you were being shaken awake by Changbin.

But the morning of Christmas you woke up early, finding Changbin’s present still sitting on Luna’s bed. You decided to give it to him when you both went to tend to the plants, finding it perfect that his present fit the scenario.

You put his present in a small box, trying slowly to wrap it and make it look somewhat presentable. Unfortunately there wasn’t a spell for it to wrap itself, so you begrudgingly fought with your own fingers in an attempt to cover every inch of the box.

You weren’t sure exactly how long it took you to finally be satisfied with the present, but you did know that the sun was shining in your window, as opposed to the dark pre-sunrise glow from when you started. 

“It’s not that bad.” You said to yourself, holding out the present, observing every angle and deciding that although it did look pieced together, because it was pieced together with a lot of patches of wrapping paper, that it looked good enough to give to Changbin.

Walking down to the Great Hall, the paintings around you sang Christmas carols and you laughed when you realized that none of them matched each other, the lyrics and notes mixing together into a very noisy and unpleasant sound. 

“Can you guys at least sing the same song?” You told them as you walked past, chuckling when that only caused them to have an argument over which Christmas song was superior.

When you finally made it to the Great Hall you were stopped in your tracks, the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the room was lit up even more than it was before. Vibrant blues, greens and purples sparkled on every inch of the tree, and when you looked closer you noticed that the lights were actually moving.

“Merry Christmas!” One of the lights screamed, the high pitched voice causing you to cringe. The lights were actually fairies, flying from branch to branch. Their wings emulated multiple colors, changing every couple of seconds. 

Your eyes then travelled to another sparkling object, but as you approached your regular table you laughed, sitting down across from a very glittery Changbin.

“What happened?” You asked, leaning forward and picking a piece of tinsel out of his hair. His regularly black hair with red streaks instead looked silver under the light, an immense amount of glitter and tinsel stuck in it.

“I tried to ask the fairies to wrap my presents and they bombarded me with this.” Changbin gestured to his hair, shaking his head and laughing when glitter spewed in every direction. “At least they agreed to wrap them. I’m not that coordinated to do it myself.”

“I never thought of that. I would let them drown me in glitter if I didn’t have to wrap mine myself.” You thought back to your horrifically wrapped presents, but decided your friends would rather it be pieced together by you than perfectly wrapped by someone else.

Before you could say anything else two full plates of food flew and quite literally landed on the table. There was almost every type of breakfast you could think of sitting right in front of you and you looked up at Changbin, eyes wider than the plates. Changbin, however, was just smiling excitedly, his eyes scrunched up and cheeks shining with the remnants of glitter that had floated from his hair.

“Holy shit.” You whispered, eyes still trying to take in all the food in front of you.

“Yeah. They always serve this on Christmas. I swear I gain 5 pounds each year because I can’t stop eating.” Changbin laughed, licking his lips in anticipation. He looked like he would dive in immediately but instead he looked up at you, a lopsided grin on his face. “By the way, Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Changbin.” You smiled back before staring down at your plate and debating where to start. 

A long groan escaped your lips when you finished eating, the last of the food having been cleared from the plate. It was quite possibly the tastiest meal you had ever had, and you considered staying there for break every year just so you could eat it on Christmas Day. Looking over at Changbin you saw the same expression you harbored, a very exhausted and overwhelmed smile on both of your faces. 

“Oh. My. God.” You shook your head, “I don’t think I can eat anything else ever again.” 

“We still have dinner tonight.” Changbin reminded you, chuckling when you groaned even louder. 

You sat in silence while you waited for the immensely full feeling to pass enough for you to be able to get up. The plates still sat on the table in front of you and neither of you had the energy to send it away this time. 

Before you could gather the energy to lift your wand, a flash of glitter appearing in front of you. “Merry Christmas!” The fairy squeaked. “I’ll take care of your plates. In the meantime,” another flash and she looked above the table. When you looked up your eyes widened, seeing a small mistletoe floating above you. “Why don’t the lovely couple share a Christmas kiss?”

“Oh.” You stuttered, ���we aren’t dating, actually.” Daring not to look at Changbin, you locked eyes with the fairy, watching her face drop into a very dissatisfied frown.

“Too bad, you guys look cute together.” She pouted, glitter cascading slowly down her wings as she looked at Changbin and back at you. Her eyebrows raised, like she knew something and your face heated up. “Okay, I get it.” She winked at you, “Have a fun rest of your Christmas.” 

As soon as she had appeared she was gone, the plates and mistletoe following after her. You tried to stall looking back at Changbin, in fear of your face giving your new feelings away, but you figured prolonging anything would only make you look more suspicious.

Changbin’s cheeks were red, eyes downcasted and foot tapping softly on the floor. It wasn’t enough to cause an echo, but enough that the sound travelled the short distance between you. He looked adorable, and if you had enough confidence you would have leant over the table and kissed him right there. But unfortunately you didn’t, so you settled with clearing your throat, that sound echoing through the room.

“So, don’t you need to go tend to the plants?” You had the time table memorized at that point, knowing that after breakfast you would walk with him to the Herbology room, doing the same routine over and over. It would normally have gotten boring, but just being with Changbin made everything interesting. 

“Yeah.” Changbin looked up at you for the first time since the fairy came and took your plates. His hair was splayed across his forehead, nearly covering his eyes, and you almost commented on the fact that he should get a haircut soon but you also noticed just how good his longer hair looked.

“Okay, let’s go.” You tried brushing off the heat sizzling up in you, and the cold air from the cracks in the doors did well at cooling off your burning face. When you stood up you extended your hand, waiting just an extra beat longer than normal for Changbin to slip his hand in yours. 

Rather than awkward, the walk towards the Herbology was filled with tension. Changbin’s hand was sweaty, and neither of you chose to acknowledge it as you weaved through the moving stairs and winding hallways. It wasn’t a long walk to the Herbology room, but when you finally reached the door you disconnected your hands, watching as he unlocked the room. 

His shoulders were slumped as he made his way to the water sprayer, filling it up and then checking each plant carefully. You observed him, his present weighing heavily in your pocket. What if he thought it was weird? There were doubts in the back of your head, but you had already gotten it and seeing the way Changbin looked at each plant, like they were his children, with such care and love, you knew he would like it no matter if thought it was weird.

“Hey Changbin?” You called out to him, the present being held by your two hands behind your back. 

“Yeah?” He said, turning around after setting down a potted plant. His eyes moved to your arms behind your back, eyebrows raised in confusion and a small hint of alarm. “What’s behind your back?”

Instead of answering his question, you giggled, fingers drumming on the small box holding his present. As soon as you were standing directly in front of him, you took the box out from behind your back. Under the lights you got a better look, your lips quirking up into an apologetic smile.

“I tried to wrap it myself but it didn’t go as well as I planned, I definitely fucked it up just a little bit.” Despite it looking as pieced together as a jigsaw puzzle, you were quite proud of yourself for covering each inch of the box. You watched as Changbin took the box out of your hand gently, looking at each and every angle.

“It doesn’t look that bad. It means a lot more that you did it yourself.” Changbin smiled, fingers playing along the edges of the wrapping paper taped on nearly every side. A breathy laugh escaped him as he tried to pull the wrapping paper. “I think you did too good, I can’t get the damn thing off.” 

After a few seconds of struggling with the paper he ripped the top off enough to find the box underneath. A surprised look crossed his face as he slowly removed the top. There was a moment of observing what was inside before he took it out, holding it up to the light. His mouth was slightly hanging open, eyes wide and scouring every little plant that greeted him from inside for snowglobe.

“It’s a snowglobe, except it doesn’t have snow, it has plants.” You explained, pointing to the small sprouts in the soil of the snowglobe. “I figured you could have something to look at when you can’t come here.”

Before you could say anything else, a weight was pressed against you, hands immediately coming around you and resting on your back. Changbin was hugging you, and you quickly relaxed into his arms. He was much warmer than you expected, like a portable heater. The hand that wasn’t holding his present pressed flat on your back, slowly rubbing in circles.

“Thank you.” Changbin repeated over and over. His face was squished into your neck and you felt his breath on your collarbone, a shiver running through you even though you were far from cold. Your own arms wrapped around him, palms holding onto his shoulders and you could feel his muscles moving underneath your hand when you ran it up his spine. 

You didn’t want to let go, but Changbin pulled away first, holding up his plant globe once again to the light. His eyes shone as he scanned each little plant that had shown itself in the couple of days it had been in your room. It was like he didn’t believe it, and you smiled at how happy he looked. 

“So you like it?” Your voice was hopeful, and Changbin’s eyes immediately snapped to yours.

“Of course! I love it.” His smile was everything you could have ever hoped, all the previous worry and nervousness melting off of you. “Why wouldn’t I like it?”

“Well,” when you thought back to your worries, you realized that this was Changbin you were talking about, the sweetest Hufflepuff you had ever seen, even if he liked to break rules sometimes. Hell, he was softer than Seungmin. “I was scared you would think I was weird or something. I mean, we’ve only known each other for two weeks.” Your face heated up voicing your worries to him, but you knew he wouldn't make fun of you for it.

“You’re not weird at all. We’re friends, right?” You nodded, fighting the frown at the word friends. “Then you shouldn’t feel weird. I love it! I’ve been wanting to get a plant for my room but it’s not allowed, this is the perfect substitute.” Changbin’s smile widened again, eyes going back to scanning each and every inch of the plant globe. 

“Good, I’m glad you like it.” The light from outside was slowly dimming, midday already passed and evening creeping up behind it. A bright ray of sun shone directly through the clouds, aiming directly for Changbin’s plant globe. It seemed to feed all the plants in it, and you almost gasped when you saw some of them start to grow taller right before your eyes.

The next hour was spent helping Changbin check on the plants, and within the past week and a half you had learned almost everything you could about all of the ones in the room. How to care for them, how to clean them (at least, the ones you could touch without getting harmed or killed), how to tell if they were in need of more soil or water and how to handle them without setting them off, specifically the mandrakes. 

As soon as you were done checking on them all, you looked towards Changbin, who was still admiring his plant globe every minute. The last remaining light from outside illuminated his features, and you were in awe at just how handsome he looked. 

“Can we go to the Astronomy Tower?” Suddenly Changbin looked at you, asking the question with a nervous hint to his voice. When you nodded, he smiled, and he slowly set his globe in the box you had put it in originally.

Leading him to the tower, you walked in silence, the paintings around you finally on the same page as they all sang the same Christmas song, albeit in varying volumes and pitches. At least it was the same lyrics, you thought as you walked beside Changbin.

Your feet quickly struck the floor, a sense of excitement washing over you because you knew certain stars would be better visible tonight and you couldn’t want to tell Changbin about them. Whenever you would talk about the stars to him, you found his eyes always following your finger as you pointed in the sky. Sometimes he would get it and sometimes he wouldn’t, but just seeing the stars reflected back into his eyes made your feelings for him just dig itself a little bit deeper.

After the tantalus walk up the stairs, you settled for a different spot than before to look at the stars, picking one just a little bit closer to the stairs. Sitting down, you let go of Changbin’s hand, opting instead to start pointing up at all the stars you recognized that you hadn’t yet talked about with him. 

However before you could go very far into your explanation about Pleiades and it’s mythology, you noticed Changbin looking over to the side. “Are you okay?” You asked, your hand moving to rest on his shoulder.

Instead of answering you, Changbin turned back around, his hands clasped around something and before you could ask him anything he interrupted. “Close your eyes.” When your face morphed into one of slight fear and worry, he elaborated. “Just trust me, I have a surprise for you.”

You had trusted him that whole time, so you listened, closing your eyes and relying on your other senses to try and tell what was going on around you. To your right, where Changbin was, you heard a slight rustling and then the sound of fabric on wood. You felt a familiar warmth envelop you and then the feeling of two hands in front of your face.

Trusting him, you didn’t freak out, letting it all happen and suddenly you felt something very cold hit your chest right between your collarbones. Curiosity filled your senses but you waited for Changbin to give you a noise of confirmation to open your eyes. When a small “okay” came from your right you squinted at him, nose scrunched and you were nervous to look down. 

You couldn’t see much of it, but what you did was beautiful. It was a small charm, almost like Saturn itself. There was one dark orb in the middle surrounded by two rings and the one on the inside spun slightly when you moved. It was breathtaking, and you felt your jaw quite literally drop, eyes widening and face burning. 

“Wow.” Was all you could say as you watched Changbin grow more and more visibly nervous. “I love it.” You said, slipping your hand underneath it and admiring the way the night sky seemed to make it shine even brighter.

“That’s not all it does.” Changbin’s hand ruffled his hair, eyes still not leaving the necklace resting almost perfectly directly underneath your collarbones. “Stand up.” His hand was extended towards you and you took it, letting him pull you up before taking out his wand.

One of his hands stayed clasped in yours, the other holding his wand and you stayed staring into his eyes before he was the first one to break it. The tip of his wand tapped your necklace, “astra lumora” he whispered softly and you gasped when immediately you were surrounded by stars. 

Above, below, all around you were bright sparks of stars, and you found yourself looking everywhere you could to find you were quite literally standing among the stars. It was almost as if you were floating in space with nothing around you but the gas balls. 

“This,” your eyes continued to wander before finally settling on Changbin’s bright ones. “Is beautiful. I love it so much.” You couldn’t tear your eyes away from Changbin’s. Despite being in what felt like a dream, sitting among the stars, you were grounded by his eyes on yours. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” A smile flickered on Changbin’s face, and your gaze swapped from his eyes to his lips. There wasn’t really anything else you were thinking about except kissing him, and you decided, fuck it, what better time to confess your rapidly escalating feelings for the Hufflepuff in front of you than while you were surrounded by stars?

“I’m thinking about how much I really want to kiss you.” You were so close that you only needed to whisper it, watching your cold breath escaping as a small cloud in the air. It was going to be heartbreaking if he didn’t feel the same, but it was okay, because at the end of the break you would go back to being just a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, not interacting or talking. 

“Ask me the same thing.” Changbin’s thumb rubbed your hand softly, eyes locked on your lips.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Your voice was barely audible, the hand that wasn’t clasped in his moving up his arm to eventually rest on the back of his neck. The hairs there were sticking up and whether that was because of the cold or your proximity, you weren’t sure.

Changbin took another step closer to you, your nose brushing his. His wand was gone, tucked away into his robe as his hand wrapped around you, resting on the small of your back. “I’ve been thinking the same thing for a while.”

Instead of saying anything else, you lean forward, eyes closing. The feeling of Changbin’s lips on yours could only be described as soft. He wasn’t too hard, perhaps afraid you would break into a thousand specs, blending in with the stars surrounding you. While you did feel like you could do that, Changbin’s hand on your back and the prickly feeling of the hair on the back of his neck grounded you into reality.

Yeah, you were kissing Seo Changbin, the same guy that you didn’t want to associate with at all after learning he would also be staying behind for break. The same guy that got too excited talking about plants and had always kept his hand clasped in yours. The same guy that gave you his scarf when you forgot yours and never once asked for it back.

You definitely had no intention of giving it back now. 

Changbin tilted his head, his hand leaving yours and joining his other one on your back. Your free hand also coming up to settle on his neck, thumb tracing a vein that told you his heartbeat was pounding.

It was effortless, kissing Changbin, and you found yourself thinking that it could definitely become a habit. He was like a drug, pulling you into a sense of euphoria and relaxation that had your knees buckling. All of your senses molded into one and you weren’t sure where you started and Changbin ended, or whether you two had just slowly combined to create one bright star to join the infinite others out there.

All you knew was that Seo Changbin was there, he was kissing you, and you could spend the rest of your life stuck in his embrace and you would be the happiest person in the universe.

When you finally pulled back from the kiss, you were met with Changbin’s sparkling eyes, smile stretching from ear to ear. His cheeks were slowly gaining color, his eyes never leaving yours and you were entranced. Leaning forward you left another soft peck on his lips, a small giggle directed at the ground when you rested your forehead on his shoulder. 

“Wow.” You said for the second time.

“I know.” Changbin’s thumbs pressed a little harder into your back, palms smoothing out over your muscles and pulling you closer to him if that was even possible at that point. “So,” He started, hands now moved to your waist and the warmth you had always felt when you were around him surrounded and filled every inch of you. “Where do we go from here?”

Where do you go from there? Surely you wanted to be with him, even if you had sworn off dating in favor of studying. You could have both, right? You would force yourself to have both if it meant having Changbin with you.

“Well,” Your hands moved to Changbin’s hair, softly pulling and stroking any inch of skin you could reach. “I like you, a lot.”

“Duh.” Changbin countered, laughing when you smacked his shoulder lightly. “Okay, okay. I like you a lot too.” Although his laugh had dissipated, the gentle smile still remained.

“Do you think we could make this, like, official?” Your voice stuttered a bit, and you weren’t sure how to ask, you had only been asked out once and that was to the Yule Ball.

“You want me to be your boyfriend?” A smirk played on Changbin’s face, his shoulder ready to take another hit but you just nodded, the yellow fabric of his scarf brushing against your hand as you played with a loose string.

“As long as you want to be my boyfriend.”

“Of course I do.” Instead of saying anything else, Changbin sealed his statement with a kiss, his lips cold after being separated from yours for so long. 

After you pulled away a long yawn ripped through you, the darkness of the night pulling at your eyelids and wanting you to join so many other people in dream land. It all felt like a dream, though, and you were convinced that when you laid down to go to sleep that you would just wake up. 

“We should get some sleep.” Changbin said, pulling out his wand and tapping your necklace twice, watching as the stars all got sucked back into the dark orb. “There’s only a week left until break ends.”

You let a pout fall onto your face, not wanting to go back to classes and the bombardment of students. You just wanted to spend all the time you could with Changbin before you were forced to sit at different tables and only see each other at certain times. 

“Okay. I guess we should.” You agreed, however, knowing that although you were the Ravenclaw, Changbin sounded much more logical at that moment.

Your head stayed on Changbin’s shoulder as you walked back to your Common Room, your hand still grasped tightly in his. Occasionally you leaned just a little bit closer, pecking the corner of his mouth or his cheek or his neck, whatever you could reach. When you did that, Changbin would turn his head towards you, letting you land a kiss on where you wanted to land one the most, his lips.

“Oh look at them!” One of the pictures whispered as you walked by, and you watched as they all followed your movements, soft whispers being exchanged. You ignored them, just wanting to stay with your hand in Changbin’s and his warmth surrounding you.

As soon as you arrived at your Common Room you pulled apart, though Changbin’s hands just wandered to your waist as you solved the riddle, listening to the click of the lock opening for you. When you turned around Changbin’s lips were on yours, a soft hum coming from his throat. You were content with just staying like that, but paintings eventually gossiped, and you definitely didn’t want the professors finding out what you were up to during break.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” The hands on your waist were distracting, but you kept thinking that the faster you went to sleep the quicker you could see him in the morning again.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Changbin confirmed, not making any move to leave. His hands stayed in place, fingers tapping lightly. “Hey, Y/N?” After a few moments of silence he called your name, stepping a little bit closer to you and the warmth started to intensify. When you made a noise in response, you saw his eyes flick to your lips. “Can I kiss you again?”

“Of course, Binnie. You don’t have to ask.” Chucking you walked up in front of him, waiting for him to lean in and give you what you knew you both wanted, but he didn’t. You opened your eyes, shooting him a confused look, eyebrows raised when you saw his mouth gaped open. “Are you okay?”

His cheeks lit up almost red and you found it cute that he was still shy. “You, uh, you called me Binnie.” A small smile appeared on his face, nose scrunched up slightly and before you could ask any other questions, like if it was okay that you called him that, he continued. “I mean, I like it, that nickname. It’s cute.” He elaborated, quickly leaning forward and landing a kiss on your awaiting lips. It was quick, quicker than you had wanted it to be but it was already dark and you knew how bad you got when you didn’t get enough sleep, so you relented.

“Well, you’re cute.” You laughed when Changbin rolled his eyes, turning around and proceeding to start to walk away.

He didn’t get far though before he turned back to you, “Good night, baby.”

Then it was your turn for your face to heat up, a soft, “good night” following him as he walked away. You waited until he was fully gone to shut the door, a small squeal leaving you. Jumping up and down you ran to your room, launching yourself onto the bed and burying yourself beneath the covers.

“Oh my god that actually happened.” You whispered to yourself after getting comfortable in bed. The comforter was enough to keep you warm from the winter outside, but you noticed nothing could compare to the warmth that covered you from head to toe when you were near Changbin.

As sleep took over, a smile fell on your face when you thought about Changbin and his messy hair and soft lips and dorky demeanor and how you couldn’t believe that he actually felt the same.

viii.

The next few days were filled with what you normally did: studying. Unlike the other times, however, you were much more cuddly with Changbin. Laying on one of the couches in the library, you would curl into a ball on his lap, the book open as you lazily read aloud. Changbin’s hand never left your back, fingers massaging your muscles, the occasional kiss being pressed to your forehead or cheek.

It was the last day of break. Tomorrow everyone would file in, the noise overwhelmingly different to the silence as you walked through the halls. It was bittersweet, you wanted your friends to come back and classes to start again, but after having been by Changbin’s side for almost the whole break, you didn’t want to go back.

You met Changbin in the Great Hall, smiling when you saw your chair moved again to be right next to his. The Christmas tree was still up, though you knew it would start to get taken down later that day. The fairies looked down at you two with a glint in their eyes. 

“Good morning, Binnie.” Sliding into the chair, you looked over at Changbin. His hair was still messy from sleep, cheeks just the slightest bit pink from where it had been pressed into the pillow. He gave you a sleepy grin, puckering his lips and waiting for you to catch on. You leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. A loud squeal came from the tree, the fairies whispering in an annoyingly shrill almost silent voice.

“Morning, baby.” Changbin responded, fingers playing with the edge of your scarf, noticing that it was still the yellow one that he had given you the first day you met. “Have I told you how much I like seeing you wear this?”

“No, but at least I know now.” Although the scarf covered the chain of your necklace, you could still see the glint of the dark orb resting right underneath the yellow fabric. You could still smell his distinct odor of cinnamon and pine needles, a scent that you had come to associate with the warmth that spread through you, but it was fading. “You’re going to have to take it back soon.” You said as your plate of breakfast waited in front of you.

Changbin was already eating, his cheeks full of pancakes and he turned to you, mouth almost dropped open and food almost spilling out. He took a moment to chew and swallow before frowning. “Why?”

“It’s starting to not smell like you anymore.” You said nonchalantly, picking apart your pancake and beginning to eat. A soft chuckle came from next to you, and before you could turn your head to question why he laughed, his lips connected with your cheek.

“You’re cute, baby.” Was all he said, going back to eating and you eventually followed, a smile and shake of your head preceding it.

After you had finished eating, you found yourself in the same place as the previous few days, strolling back into the library, one of your hands gripped tightly in Changbin’s and the other holding onto a History book that you found stuffed in one of your drawers. How it got there, you would never know, but you knew when you were done skimming it and eventually snapping it shut when you got tired of the boring history terms that it would go right back to where you found it. 

You set the book on the table, letting go of Changbin’s hand and walking down the aisles in search of another book, one that had been recommended by the Divination teacher to help with her class. Having been in the library almost every day for the last three weeks, you knew where more things were, but this one you couldn’t get your hands on. Surely it was there, your teacher wouldn’t recommend it if she knew it wasn’t.

Your search was interrupted by a pair of arms wrapping around you, warm breath making you shiver. “Hey.” Changbin said simply, pulling you back into him. “It’s cold without you.” You could feel the pout through his voice, and you turned around in his embrace.

“I was just looking for this Divination book, but I can’t find it. I think it disappeared.” You looked up the aisle, trying to remember where it could be but coming up blank.

“The OWL for Divination is easy, all you have to do is look in the bottom of a cup and tell her what you see.” Changbin explained, and he wasn’t wrong, your teacher did say there was no wrong answers, so surely everyone would pass, but you couldn’t help to feel like somehow you would see something wrong or that by some sort of cruel stroke of misfortune she would fail you. 

“Besides, you’re too smart to worry about failing, you’ll probably get the top score in everything.” Changbin closed the small distance between you, his lips connecting with your forehead. In turn, you closed your eyes, smiling at the feeling of his thumbs pressing small circles into your back and cool breath fanning over your face. “If anything,” he started as he pulled away, “I need you to tutor me.” 

“I guess I can do that.” You wriggled out of Changbin’s grasp, walking back to the couch and grabbing the book you had set there earlier. Changbin closely followed, sitting on the couch and holding out his arms for you to fit into. 

You sat with your back resting on the arm of the couch, Changbin’s legs comfortably underneath you and his arms snaked around you. The book sat on your legs, one of his hands coming to play with the pages when he saw fit. Instead of exchanging any other words, you started reading a chapter, trying not to let your face heat up when you looked up to see Changbin’s eyes trained on you. 

It wasn’t like he had much else to look at, it was just snow and trees outside and the endless rows of books inside, but it was more of the look he had rather than the fact that he was looking at you. A soft grin stretched his lips, tilting up at one side. His eyes shifted from your eyes to your necklace - that you had yet to take off - and eventually settling on your lips. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” You asked quietly, watching as his cheeks began to gain a bit more color to them. 

“You’re just really pretty.” He shrugged, eyes falling down to the book in your lap. Instead of trying to read sideways, he resorted to tracing the lines of the map at the top of the page.

“I think you’re pretty too, Binnie.” Your lips found his nose, chuckling when his face turned into a deeper red. “But we really should try and get some studying in, there’s only one more day left of break.”

His face morphed into a deep frown, eyebrows tugging into the center of his face. You knew what he was thinking, and you mirrored the same sentiment. After everyone came back you would be forced to sit at your house tables, looking at each other across the Great Hall and wishing you were able to slide in the seat next to him. Reading his mind, you raised your hand up to his cheek, your thumb tracing his cheekbone. His skin was still warm underneath your fingers.

“I don’t want break to end.” Changbin’s frown turned into a pout, head tilting forward to rest on your shoulder.

“I don’t either but it’s not like we won’t ever see each other again.” Your hand moved from his cheek to his hair, smoothing down strands that had stuck up into the air. 

“I know.” He sat back up, the pout still deeply etched onto his face. “I’m gonna miss just us being here, though. We’ve only had a week alone to be cute and coupley.” You laughed at that, and his pout only stuck out more. “It’s not funny.” He dragged out the last syllable.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re just cute.” You countered, looking back down at the book in your lap. “We’ll still be able to be ‘cute’ and ‘coupley’, don’t worry. I think we should get back to studying though, how about we have a quiz?” You suggested, flicking through the book until you got to a section you had read to him before. 

So you read a section out loud again, watching out of the corner of your eye as Changbin looked up at the air, mouthing what you could only assume was dates and names to try and remember them. As soon as you finished the passage you turned your attention to Changbin, finding him still peering into the ceiling.

“What happened to the classes at Hogwarts in 1965?” You asked, knowing that you just went through it.

Changbin thought for a moment, his fingers drumming on your waist in an attempt to come up with an answer. “Oh!” His eyes lit up, a smile on his face as he turned to you. “The roof fell through from the heavy snowfall and so classes were canceled for a while to fix it.” 

You nodded, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to his lips, his reward for getting the question right. You continued on with your questioning, rewarding him with a kiss every time he got one right. 

Eventually he began to drift off, his head bobbing up and down as he tried to think of an answer but instead was met with a soft tap to the forehead and you telling him to “wake up”. It wasn’t until the fourth time of falling asleep and being woken up by you that he gave up.

“Fuck it.” He said, tapping your back in a signal for you to get off his lap for just a moment. Changbin turned so his head was resting against the arm of the couch, grabbing a pillow and pulling it so it cushioned his head. Falling back, he nestled into the couch with a sigh. Before his eyes closed fully, however, his arms raised, hands making a grabby motion and you knew you weren’t going to convince him to study anymore so you relented.

Setting the book on the table, you walked forward and squeaked when Changbin’s hands immediately grabbed your waist, pulling you down quickly. A grunt was released when your head hit his chest, the sound of his heartbeat the only thing you could hear besides your breath. He was comfortable, just the right amount of hard muscle and plush skin and you melted into his embrace. 

“Let’s just take a nap.” Changbin suggested from above you, his chin resting on the top of your head, although it was more of a statement than a suggestion. His voice vibrated through his body and you could feel instead of hear his voice.

You didn’t reply, instead opting for snuggling closer into him, the edges of your robe draping over you and creating a makeshift blanket. Though you didn’t need much else to warm you, as Changbin’s body heat was enough to make you feel warmth from your head to feet. His hands settled on your back, thumbs massaging your tense muscles gently. The pressure seemed to let off eventually, and you looked up to see he was fast asleep, mouth slightly open and eyes closed. You weren’t sure how long you had laid there, but it wasn’t long until you were following Changbin into dreamland.

“Baby.” You were awoken by Changbin’s voice in your ear, his hands going back to their normal place of tracing shapes on your back. His heartbeat beneath your ear was soniferous, causing your eyes to stay closed and for you to almost fall back into slumber. That was, until he said your name a little louder, his hands shaking your body that was lying fully on top of his. “Y/N, it’s time to get up, baby.”

“Don’t wanna.” Your voice was distorted due to your cheek being pressed into the junction between his neck and shoulder. During your sleep you nuzzled even closer to Changbin, your nose pressed against his neck and lips close to his collarbone. You pressed a quick kiss there, a lazy smile floating up when the boy below you squirmed. “You’re comfy.” Going back to your previous position, you tried to ignore all other tries to get you to wake up, only wanting to be cuddled closer and to fall back asleep.

“It’s nighttime and although there isn’t anybody here, I’m sure some of the ghosts will do patrols.” Changbin spoke softly, “And I don’t want us to get in trouble the first day after break.”

Although you really couldn’t have cared less about the ghosts, they rarely walked through the library anyways, some citing memories from their deaths in the history books and others just not bothering because who would be in the library this late, you lifted your head. You were met with pink cheeks, hooded eyelids and a seemingly drunken smile.

“Did you just wake up too?” Your voice came out more stable that time, yet you still felt the small hands of the sandman trying to tempt you again. When Changbin nodded you stayed silent, just admiring the boy laid out in front of you. One of your hands rested on his chest to keep you upright and you pushed yourself forward to kiss both of his cheeks. 

“We should head back to our dorms, I don’t wanna get caught, especially not by the Fat Friar or the Grey Lady.” Changbin moved his hands from your back to your waist, helping you in sitting up on the couch. He, in turn, tucked his legs under you and stood up. “I’ll help you back if you want?”

Sleep sounded nice, but sleeping while also cuddled into Changbin sounded even better. So you shook your head, hand sliding down Changbin’s arm to find his hand, not needing vision to fit your fingers together perfectly. “No,” You stood up, squeezing his hand slightly. “I want to stay with you.”

Changbin’s cheeks bloomed red again, a shy smile and quick ruffle of his hair coming and going before he looked back up to you. “Okay, okay. Do you want to sleep in my Common Room or yours?” The fact that he was willing to risk getting in trouble for you had your heart clenching.

“I’ve always wanted to see what the Hufflepuff Common Room looked like.” You said with a smile, almost jumping for joy when he began walking in the direction of his Common Room.

You swung your connected hands between you, an excited skip in your step knowing that you wouldn’t have to cocoon yourself in your blanket to keep warm. The thought came though, that you wouldn’t be able to do that when break ended, and a frown etched itself into your face. The frown stayed there until you got to the door to the Common Room, when your lips straightened into a line.

Changbin looked over at you, hand immediately finding some switch behind a barrel that sat next to the door. You knew there was some sort of code or button or something to get into the room, Seungmin had told you a story of his first time trying to find it, but you didn’t know it was there. A smile was quickly flashed to him as you tried to not let him know what you were thinking.

As soon as the door opened, however, you forgot everything you had been thinking about, a loud gasp leaving your lips. 

You hadn’t ever seen the Hufflepuff Common Room, just getting a picture in your head from what Seungmin had described it as, but wow, did it look way better than anything Seungmin could have said. 

It had a low ceiling made of what looked like oak wood, with a simple chandelier hanging directly in the middle. The light from said chandelier reached every nook and cranny in the room, making everything bright and giving you a rush of energy. You understood why Hufflepuffs always seemed to be smiling. Scattered throughout the room were comfy looking chairs and couches, though there was a small circle of furniture around the fireplace, which was always slowly burning. 

The whole room was shrouded in a light yellow color, from the rounded walls to the fabric of the furniture. A soft orange spilled from the fireplace area, and you were immediately drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. 

“Woah.” You were still observing everything around you as Changbin led you to one of the couches by the fire. Small potted plants sat on tables along with small stacks of books. It was unusual that they had plants in the Common Room but weren’t allowed any in their private rooms, and you were glad you got Changbin the plant globe so he could have them by his bedside.

“It’s not much, but it’s comfy.” Changbin shrugged, sitting down in the middle of the muted yellow couch, pulling you down so you sat on his lap.

“What do you mean?” You continued looking around, seeing the thick layer of snow outside the windows. “It’s so relaxing to sit in here, I could fall asleep right away.”

“Well let’s do that then.” The hand that was clasped in yours let go, moving you so you laid in the same position as in the library. The couch you were laying on was much larger than the previous one, with much softer looking pillows. Not that you needed a pillow, you had Changbin who was like your own personal firm but soft pillow.

After a little bit of moving you settled with your nose pressed back into the column of Changbin’s neck, one of your hands sitting on his chest. As you laid there, you traced small shapes into his skin, chuckling when he started to shake. “I’m ticklish.” He had stated as an excuse, but you continued the small touches, only scaling back slightly because the feeling of his muscles under his shirt was comforting, more so than the color of the room or the lighting hitting the walls.

“Goodnight, baby.” was the last thing you heard before you let yourself fall into sleep once again.

viiii.

You woke up to the sounds of furniture being moved. It was extremely loud, echoing through the soon to be full hallways and traveling out into the snow. Instead of jumping up and exploring the noise, you settled in Changbin’s arms, not wanting to get up and face the reality of the day.

His hands were loosely resting on your hips, no longer adding pressure or drawing invisible pictures. You could feel his chest raising and lowering with each deep breath he took. When you lifted your head up you noticed the same pink tint to his cheeks and you kissed each of them, trying hard not to wake him up just yet. 

The noise continued on, and you decided to get up, your eyes already ridding themselves of the Sandman’s dust and your mind already ready to start the day that you had been dreading since the beginning of break: the end of break. 

You slowly lifted yourself off of Changbin, putting your hands on either side of his waist and swinging your feet to the floor. Luckily the carpet swallowed most of the noise of your footsteps as you walked out of the room. You thought about what would happen when Changbin woke up and you weren’t there, but you also knew that he would know where to find you.

The walk to the Great Hall seemed longer than any other time you’ve had to do it, and you looked on at the paintings, some of them not in their frames and others posed perfectly in anticipation for everyone coming back to the castle. Once you got to the hard stone of the hallway floors, your footsteps echoed underneath the ongoing noise. It came to a crescendo when you reached the doors to the Great Hall, finding what you expected.

The giant Christmas tree that once stood in the middle of the room was gone, the fairies that once danced on its branches stood on the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. They held their hands up like puppet masters, and you realized they were the ones moving the long tables back into the Hall. Everything was being turned back into normal, and while you were happy to go back to the routine, you also knew you would miss being one of the only people in the castle. 

“You scared me.” A voice came from beside you, but you weren’t shocked, only a nod coming as a response. Changbin stood beside you, his arm snaking around your waist and pulling you into him. “It seems like just yesterday I saw you eating with your friends and now here we are.” His eyes never left the moving tables, but yours trailed to his face. Had he known of you for that long?

Before you could ask, however, Changbin smiled. “I’ve had a crush on you for a while.” He shrugged, looking at you. The noise had calmed down, but he still leaned closer as if he was trying to talk over it. “I just never thought you would know who I was, so I kinda gave up.”

The scraping of the tables on the wood floor stopped, and you looked to see everything settled into place, just as it was before. You walked towards the Ravenclaw table, feeling Changbin’s presence next to you as you sat down.

“Well here we are now.” You said simply, leaning your head on your hand and peering sideways at Changbin. 

“Yep, here we are now.” Changbin stared at the Hufflepuff table in front of him. “So,” he started, not switching his focus from the table. “Are you okay if my friends know about us? You don’t have to meet them right away, they tend to come pretty late back from break anyways.”

The statement was kind of obvious, you noted. There was no reason for you to hide your relationship, if anything, your friends would be ecstatic to see you had met, and gotten very acquainted with, Changbin. Especially Jisung. Okay, maybe Jisung could be in the dark for a little bit. You weren’t ready to say he was right.

“Of course, I don’t think there’s any reason to hide it, do you?” The hand on your waist squeezed softly, almost in reassurance. “As long as you’re okay with my friends knowing? I mean, one of them is a Hufflepuff, you might know him, and the other two are very,” You paused, trying to find the right word to describe Luna and Jisung, “interesting.” 

“Of course, I want them to know about us. My friends are all Gryffindors, three of them. One was my lab partner in Potions, he’s two years younger than me, and then another one is a year younger and the other is a year older.” Changbin counted off his friends, not giving much detail except what year they were in.

“That’s an interesting combination.” You chuckled, trying to think of any Gryffindors you knew of. Having nothing come to mind, you gave up, knowing you would see them soon. “There’s not much more time left until everyone arrives.” There was a sad note to your voice.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Changbin smiled as he asked it, his full face now on display as he turned his body to face yours. Instead of responding, you just leaned forward, connecting your lips and letting them rest there for a moment. Changbin was taken aback, a soft, “okay” mumbled against your lips before he kissed back. The hand that wasn’t on your waist was cupping your cheek, while your two hands rested on his shoulders, thumbs pressing into his collarbones. 

Your lips moved together in sync for who knows how long. Time didn’t matter when you were near Changbin, all that mattered was that he was there and that hopefully he would be there for a long time. You lost yourself in him, only focusing on the soft cotton of his robe underneath your fingers, the smooth glide of his lips on yours, and the way your skin heated up where he was touching you. 

The sound of a train horn made you pull away, your face hot and you were sure you mimicked Changbin’s red cheeks. You smiled at him, letting your fingers trail to the back of his neck and play with the short hairs at the nape. Landing one last kiss on the tip of his nose, you turned to the door, watching as some students already started piling in and sitting at their house table. 

You heard Jisung before you even saw him, his loud voice talking about something you couldn’t quite distinguish, but you knew it was him. Then you saw his hair, now a light blond, walking along with blue hair, Luna. Standing up, you grabbed Changbin’s hand, giving it a light squeeze and preparing yourself for the bombardment of hugs and questions you would get.

“Y/N!” The loud scream came from Jisung, startling the still small amount of students in the Hall. He came running up to you, causing you to let go of Changbin’s hand and use both of yours to brace yourself for the body crashing into you. 

It doesn’t mean you were ready for the body crashing into you, though. Almost falling over, you wrapped your arms around Jisung, a large smile making your cheeks hurt. There weren’t any words being exchanged, except for nearly silent “hello”s as Luna also came up behind Jisung and joined in on the hug. 

When Jisung pulled away, his eyes trailed from your face to Changbin standing next to you, his hand hovering over the small of your back. You said nothing, letting Jisung put the pieces together. You knew he figured it out when his mouth hung open.

“So now I know what you were doing instead of reading my owl messages and replying to me!” Jisung held your shoulders, shaking you slightly. “And I told you so!” He said the last part a bit louder, and you felt your face heat up. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure. You said something.” You rolled your eyes.

“I said a lot of stuff, all of which seemed to be correct by the looks of things.” Jisung stared down at Changbin’s hand on your back before following the hand to find it’s owner staring at him, a small smile on his face. “Oh, sorry I’m rude. I know you but you probably don’t know me, I’m Jisung, Y/N’s best friend and I was right about you two.”

“I’m Luna!” Luna said from behind Jisung, her hands holding her cage with her pet owl. 

“Nice to meet you guys. And you were right about what?” Changbin asked Jisung, and you whipped around to him, trying to tell him to not ask about anything Jisung said, but it was already too late.

“I found out you were staying behind along with our lovely friend here, and me, being the amazing lovebird I am, said she should have some fun instead of just spending it all studying.” Jisung explained, clapping at himself and you shook your head laughing. Luna came up behind Jisung, nodding along to everything he said.

“I think the only reason why we’re dating is because you weren’t here to be my wingman anymore.” You jabbed his side with your elbow. “Can we sit down? You guys look tired from the train ride.”

Jisung and Luna nodded, turning around to walk to the other side of the table. While they did that you turned to Changbin, face heating up when you saw he was smiling at you. “You talked about me before we met?”

“Don’t get so flattered, Jisung was exaggerating just a little bit.” You pouted, sitting down and leaning into his side.

“Even if he was exaggerating, I think it’s cute.” Changbin commented, kissing your temple and watching Jisung and Luna weave through students, now followed by Seungmin with very messy hair and an annoyed look on his face. “We can meet my friends later if you want.”

“Sure, that sounds good.” Your head stayed on Changbin’s shoulder as your friends finally sat in front of you. No one said anything at first, but the expressions on their faces told all. Jisung, of course, had a very I told you so face on, one eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on his lips. Luna was looking between you and Changbin and smiling, while Seungmin’s mouth hung open at the sight of the boy sitting next to you. “What happened to you?” You questioned Seungmin, watching as his face turned from one of surprise to one of annoyance.

“My sister’s cat decided to fall asleep on my head and then my alarm didn’t go off so I didn’t have time to fix my messed up hair before I had to catch the train.” Seungmin shook his head, trying desperately with his hands to smooth down his hair before giving up with a huff.

“Just use a spell.” Luna shrugged, running a hand through her blue hair. As she did so, the colors seemed to change slightly, and you realized she must have used a new magic dye to turn her hair even more colors under different lights. 

“It’s okay, we don’t go back to classes until tomorrow so I can just take a shower when I get back to the Common Room.” Seungmin shrugged, waiting a moment before directing his attention to Changbin. “So, I’m assuming you two are a thing?”

Changbin just nodded, the arm around your waist tightening while you just scooted closer to him. “Yeah, she couldn’t resist my Hufflepuff charms.” Your arm came around to lightly smack his stomach, all of your friends laughing as you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah I couldn’t resist the plant nerd.” You patted his stomach where you hit him just seconds earlier. All your friends laughed again, and you felt a soft vibration of Changbin chuckling as well. You were so glad your friends liked him and got along with him, and you were glad that you had decided to give him a chance.

You looked up at Changbin, finding his nose scrunched up in a fake pout and you gave him a quick peck on the cheek to try and satiate him. When you pulled away you saw Jisung push his palms into his cheeks, a loud “awe” sounding throughout the room as he looked between you. Although your cheeks lit up, you stuck your tongue out at Jisung. “You’re just mad I didn’t need you as my wingman.”

“If I was your wingman you two would have been together for a year by now.” Jisung dodged your hand coming across the table, holding his hands up in fake defeat. “Well you are very cute together, like I said before break but of course some people just don’t appreciate genius.” He shook his head, looking down at his hands and then leaning back to pet his owl in its cage. 

You decided not to argue anymore, instead just listening to your friends tell their stories of Christmas spent with family. Changbin’s hand stayed firmly on your waist, his cheek resting on your shoulder. Sometimes he would interject with a statement or a joke and you smiled at how perfect he fit into the group. 

The warmth that you noticed at the beginning of the break when you first saw Changbin was still there, but instead of a burning heat it was a comforting warmth that filled your whole body to the tips of your fingers and toes. It was like you didn’t have to worry about being cold ever again when Changbin was around, even if you weren’t touching him, just him looking at you made you begin to heat up. 

You could have almost fallen asleep there at the table with your head resting on your hand, but you fought against it, trying to stay active in the conversation while also enjoying just being close to him until you had to eventually separate and go to your own Common Rooms.

You knew when you got back to your Common Room that Jisung and Luna would bombard you with questions, and you were happy to answer them. Through the break you had the best time ever, and you were going to have to thank Jisung for telling you that you should have fun, because that’s exactly what you did, and in the process you found someone that made you feel a comfortable warmth that you couldn’t describe but you loved. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Changbin whispered in your ear while Jisung and Seungmin argued over some sort of history fact.

Looking up at him, you smiled, fighting the urge to press your lips to his again and again. Instead, a simple answer came to mind, and you spoke just as softly as he did, not wanting anyone else to hear. It was what you were thinking about since you met Changbin, and every day since then. It was what you thought in the morning and at night and every second in between. It was a simple answer, but you knew it would get the message across.

“You.”

[satoruvt]

fanfic writer tag game <3

helloooo <3 thank u for tagging me @hannie-dul-set this is so cute lol

ummmm! i think i will tag. @leejuyeeon and @seokmingiggles !! and as always anyone else who wants to <33

peum ~

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

omg lets see if i can do this in order. i think the first fandom i ever wrote fanfic for was creepypasta LMAOO and then... fairy tail? then 5 seconds of summer, then maybe it 2017?? voltron legendary defender, detroit become human, monster prom and mystic messenger kind of overlapped, the arcana !!! then my hero academia, haikyuu, a Little bit of demon slayer... i think thats it lol

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

seventeen is all for rn, but i’m thinking of also writing for mha again and adding jjk!!

3. how long have you been writing?

oh wow for like... probably around 6 years? maybe 6 and a half

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?

rn just tumblr, i used to post more actively on ao3 but i havent since i started writing for kpop

5. what is your favourite genre to write?

ahhh like !!! comfort fics!!! i think theres something really sweet in those unspoken feelings during moments you think you’ll never forget... the idea of being with someone and you’re just so sure they’re your favorite person, and then warmth that comes with that realization... wahh

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

oh it depends i think. for longer fics i like to plan them out, but i really wing it with like timestamps or shorter ones

7. one shot or multi-chapter?

ONE SHOTS. my god i fucking suck at multi-chapter shit LMAOO ive only done 1 series like that and it was so rough for me lol

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

hm how do i explain this... anything that makes sense? however long it takes for it to feel like the chapter/fic is summed up or completed. i used to worry about word counts a lot but now i rarely pay attention to them, both in reading and writing

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?

if we’re talking about multi-chaptered, then the color of you wins at 17k !! in terms of one shots, it’s for now; forever at 9k!

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

oh boy. i think... anything from the last like. 8 months? my svt stuff for sure!! i went a while without writing in between like january-late november 2020, and i was worried that my writing would suffer a lot... it took a sec for me to get back into the groove of things but i’m feeling happier than ever with the stuff i write now. i feel like ive matured about the way i approach my own writing and ideas, and how i do everything, and my fics make me really proud. ive started writing within different aus that i hadnt touched before, or talking about different feelings or ideas, etc... i really feel like ive grown with this most recent burst lol, and i love working on them! i get so hyped up when im in the middle of writing or even planning, im just so excited to share all of it hehe

11. favorite request you've have written and why (if any?)

ah its been so long since ive worked with requests that i cant remember anything LOL

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories?

yes. it is comfort and content. it is the feeling of love. it is holding hands on a walk in the middle of spring and smelling flowers. it is the sound of leaves when a gust of wind blows past. it is looking into ur lovers eyes and feeling nothing but pure fondness

13. current number of wips?

fuck like somewhere around 20 probably

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing?

i really like repetition (specifically in sentences if that makes sense??), LOTS of unspoken things (even if i picture a fic with an established relationship, i dont say it within the fic; and especially concerning romantic feelings, i love when things go unsaid and are FELT full force), i think a lot of detailed rambling... i really like to try and describe emotions and stuff in the most abstract and obscure ways lol i feel like it makes things a little more palpable and honest

15. a quote you like from a published story

im gonna do a few. Lol. firstly this long one from pretend people can unlearn:

“Are you…” Jeonghan starts, and when you look at him, his eyes are still on the city in front of you. “Are you ever afraid that we’ll fall out of love?”

It never occurred to you that this was love. It’s not like the love you’ve experienced in the past, not even close. But maybe… maybe that’s why you never leave, why you hold yourself back from certain arguments like it might fix everything. Maybe love is the reason why Jeonghan still seems to believe in you. Why he promises he’ll be the best thing for you despite always breaking that promise.

(Is it love, a voice in your head questions, or is it longing?)

It takes you a while to respond. “I don’t know,” you end up saying, because you really don’t. Jeonghan turns his head and looks at you, and you half expect him to start an argument in the middle of night, out on the street like this. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Would that… be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Jeonghan answers, just like you. His voice is soft. You want to reach for his hand just to hold it. “You’re still…”

He pauses, like he’s trying to find the right word. You let him take his time, for once, instead of accusing him of the worst. “I’m still?”

“Everything,” he tells you. He looks so sad and you reach out for him because it’s the only thing you can offer. You think the worst thing about your relationship with Jeonghan is that you will always believe him when he gets like this, just like you’ll believe him when he takes it back in the heat of a fight.

next is from like there isn’t something missing <3

But you’re crying into his chest because it’s not you, and it’s not him. Seungcheol wonders if it was always meant to be like this, if the two of you were always meant to part or if something… if something just went wrong, somewhere. A bump that did a bit more damage than either of you thought.

He tries not to think about it now. Tears fill his own eyes as he presses a kiss to your hair because he loved you. He truly did.

“I was so lucky to love you,” he murmurs, voice a cracked whisper. “I’m so happy I got the chance.”

When Seungcheol wakes up the next morning in an empty bed, he’s not surprised. But the Post-It note that’s dressed in your handwriting…

Well. It’s over.

and this last one from only for you, i will dance !!

“This will always be our own time,” he says. “We’ll meet here.”

You know. He says it every time. It never fails to make your heart soar.

“Our thirteenth month,” you say, just like every time. Chan smiles.

He kisses you so strong you feel yourself falling.

16. a quote from an unpublished story

ahh ok ill do a few here too!!! one is something ive begun writing, the other is one that i’ve just been working on planning out <3

Smoke blows past somebody else’s lips and partially obstructs Wonwoo’s view of you.

He hasn’t been to a party like this in a long time. It’s elegant, more of a gala than anything. He can’t remember who threw it or for what reason. It doesn’t really matter, he supposes, watching you make conversation with the partygoers. They all have old money to throw around, the symbolism stitched into their suit jackets and red-rimmed heels; remnants of it left on tables and in the contents of expensive cigars.

You play them like you are one of them, tell them the right things with a silver tongue. Wonwoo always watches, plays the part of an observer. It’s impressive, the way you float around the room like it’s nothing.

Wonwoo observes; Wonwoo knows things.

and the second one...

"you don't know me," you respond. your voice carries no bite, just a fact, and joshua knows this

"i want to," he says after a second. "if you'll let me."

and he's asking permission to be your friend, to be close to you, something so tender and strangely polite

it makes you feel almost sad

"don't expect too much," you say, a little teasing. joshua only smiles

17. space for you to say something to your readers

wahhh thank you all so much!!! when i first got into writing for kpop it was a lot different mostly because i think... i was writing stuff for different anime before, and i had built up a big following because of that and my works always did like, really exceptional in terms of notes and feedback and such, and getting into kpop... has been rough on that end 💀 but i appreciate your support thus far, even if it’s small... i’m still working towards a standard that i have for myself!!! so please be patient with me, thank you for the support !!

also please find it in yourself to leave lil comments or any sort of feedback... please..... PLEASE... any creator ever understands this struggle please always try to do this!!! for me and for any other creator you follow and enjoy content from <333

[mytardisisparked]

Into the Bright Unknown

Obi-Wan Kenobi enjoyed being Duke Consort, he really did. He loved being married to Satine, teaching Korkie how to function at political events, and assisting in affairs whenever Satine needed him. But, the truth of the matter was, Satine really didn’t need his help that often. She would ask him to help regulate debates and be a voice of reason during sessions with her cabinet, but there truly wasn’t enough work to keep Obi-Wan busy every day. 

Besides that fact, leaders of other systems sometimes expected Obi-Wan, as the man in the royal family, to be the political leader, ignoring the word “Consort” pegged at the end of his title. Satine knew it wasn’t Obi-Wan’s fault and certainly didn’t blame him, but he knew it still bothered her. He quickly realized that he would need to stay out of the political spotlight unless absolutely necessary in order for Satine to be a functioning leader in the eyes of the more patriarchal systems around the galaxy.

So, he began looking for a worthwhile hobby.

Which is how he found himself holding a very angry, underfed tooka as the vet wrapped the catheter she had just stuck in its arm.

“All right, let’s put him back in the cage and get the IV hooked up,” the young woman said. Obi-Wan smiled and slid the tooka in the cage on top of a soft blanket, petting it gently on the head. 

“There you go, boy. Sorry, I know that wasn’t fun, but you are going to feel a lot better once we get some fluids in you.”

He carefully attached the drip to the catheter and shut the cage door. The tooka was still giving off intense waves of displeasure in the Force, but at least he had calmed down from the furious state he had been in when he had first arrived at the clinic.

Obi-Wan stood, brushing the fur off of his scrubs.

“Nice work with the drip.” The doctor smiled at him. “You’re really getting the hang of this.”

He smiled back. “I have a very good teacher.”

Obi-Wan had met Dr. Della Mendegro about three months ago. He had found a small bird outside with a broken wing and rushed it into her veterinary rescue clinic. She had been shorthanded that day, so she had asked if he could assist with preparing the bird for surgery. Obi-Wan had always had a way with animals, so he did, successfully calming the small creature and earning himself a mark of respect in Dr. Mendegro’s mind. He had been volunteering at the clinic ever since, finding his ability to connect with living creatures through the Force incredibly helpful.

“Have you thought any more about my suggestion?” Mendegro asked as they washed their hands.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “I have.”

“And?”

“I haven’t decided.”

The young woman scoffed. “Better think faster. Applications are due next week.”

Obi-Wan merely nodded and promised to make a decision soon. They finished cleaning the clinic, checked on the malnourished tooka one last time, and closed up, heading off in different directions.

As Obi-Wan walked back towards the palace, he looked up at the bright spire of Sundari Academy rising over the city. Seeing the school and the possibilities that lay there filled Obi-Wan with both excitement and dread.

Could I really be a veterinarian and Duke Consort?

He forced himself to look away from the Academy and watched the sidewalk move beneath his feet instead. It would be hard, balancing his education and his royal responsibilities, but it would also be a way for him to stay out of the political limelight. He was certain that the time it would take in a day to do his schoolwork would be no more than the time he spent at the clinic. And, of course, if he got his license, Dr. Mendegro had offered to hire him and allow him to set his own working hours.

Then, of course, there’s the matter of potentially starting a family.

He and Satine hadn’t spoken about it much, but they had both been hinting lately that they might be ready to try for a baby.  They hadn’t said it explicitly, but if they were to become serious about trying to conceive, that might interfere with Obi-Wan earning his degree and getting his license. Should they succeed in having a child, Obi-Wan wasn’t sure he would want to be a vet anyway; he would want to spend as much time with their child as possible.

Then again, kids do like small creatures... An image floated into his mind of a little girl standing next to him as he ran scans on a vhe’viin, excitedly watching him work and learning alongside him.

He ran a hand through his hair. He needed to talk to his wife.

Surprisingly, she was sitting on the couch in their apartment when he returned home. Her guest for the day, a dignitary from some other Mandalorian planet, had left early because of a family emergency.

“How was your day?” she asked, rising to peck a kiss on his cheek.

“It was good.” He licked his lips. “Satine, I- I need to talk to you about something.”

Her gaze grew concerned. “Is something wrong?”

Obi-Wan offered her a small smile, running a hand down her arm. “No, not really. I just have an idea I want to run by you.”

She nodded, pulling him over to the couch. “I’m all ears.”

“I- um.” He swallowed. “I was thinking about going to school.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “School? Didn’t you learn enough at the Jedi temple?”

Obi-Wan huffed out a laugh. “Well, yes, but I was thinking of studying something a little less Force-based and a little more... veterinary.”

“Ah,” Satine folded her hands in her lap. “You want to be a veterinarian?”

He nodded. “I think so, but I’m not quite sure. It’s just that I have been enjoying working with the animals at the rescue and- I don’t know, I thought I might like to get a license so I can help more. There are a lot of animals to be taken care of, and I would be a great deal more useful if I had a better education and a degree.”

Satine smiled. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Obi-Wan tilted his head. “You do?”

She laughed. “Of course! It would be good for you to have a job you truly enjoy outside of your work here at the palace. I know how much you like being around animals; it seems like a perfect fit.”

Obi-Wan smiled for a second, but his expression grew a tad nervous again. “What about starting a family?”

“You being off at school would certainly complicate things, but I see no reason we wouldn’t be able to balance our responsibilities together.”

“But what about Korkie?”

“What about him?”

“Will he be okay without me at all his political dinners?”

Satine laughed again. “He can survive a few dinners on his own. You have taught him well.”

“I suppose, but what about-”

Satine stopped him by placing a gentle hand to his chest. “Ben,” she said knowingly, “what is this really about?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“You’re just coming up with excuses now.” She ran a hand over his cheek. “What’s really holding you back?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m just trying to be logical.”

She studied his face. “No, I don’t think that’s quite it.”

“Well then, what is it?” he scoffed.

She gave him a soft smile. “I think you never had a chance to plan out your life because you were always going to be a Jedi. Now that you have an opportunity to choose your path, you’re afraid to move forward.”

Obi-Wan frowned. “I thought I chose my path when I decided to leave the Order and marry you.”

“You chose a path, yes, but this is the first time you are truly being faced with the question the rest of the galaxy faces at a younger age.”

“And what question might that be?” he asked.

Satine grabbed his hand and ran a thumb over his knuckles. “‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’”

He didn’t want to admit it, but Satine was right. This was the first time he was really taking advantage of the fact that his future was now a choice. His next step was up to no one but himself, and, frankly, it was a little terrifying. No one was there anymore to give him orders, to tell him how to train, to tell him what decision to make.

His future was up to him and, he realized with a smile, he wanted this. He wanted to be a vet.

“So,” his wife squeezed his hand, “would you like help filling out your application to Sundari Academy?”

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and smiled, squeezing her hand back. “Yes. Yes I would.”

---------

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this strange AU that came to my brain this morning. I really love how Obi-Wan connects to animals in basically every form of Star Wars media, so I thought that, if he weren’t a Jedi, he might have become a vet. Anyway, I might write a continuation of this later on because it is a fun AU. 

Also, please understand that it took every bit of my self-control not to name this fic Obi-Wan Kenobi: Space Vet.

Peace out.

[caandlelit]

anon this is actually the best thing ive ever seen,,, the league are literally those assholes at the snuggly duckling!! holy shit

and all they need for them to get out of their slumps and mid twenties washed up criminal angst period is an overexcited preppy blonde to hype them the fucK uP about anything and everything

hawks doesnt have magical hair that glows when he sings im sorry anon i refuse to allow that 

but??? he can have wings?? white angel wings that turn red when someone pulls a feather out 

but he can absolutely still do the feather telekinesis bullshit and the feathers are the real useful thing, they like shed or something and they’re all soft and still knife sharp so thats why his captor hides him 

‘his captor’ dont ask me who idfk

and when dabi eventually cuts them off like the hair in the movie, theyll grow back, except red, and hawks can shrink them super small but he cant move the feathers

whats hawks' dream tho???? he wouldnt care about no floating lantern bullshit

oh i got it his dream is to fly, free and uncaged. kinda terrible that he has wings but cant fly because hes stuck in a tower press f for respects

okay but,,,our man dabi is literally flynn rider im losing my shit

great youve actually got me writing a tangled au fucking woW anon i hope ur proud of urself

he goes to the bar a lot and they werent really mad about him having a wanted poster they were just worried and the fighting before the singing scene was their way of showing that they care

his real name is something else and he goes by a name he thinks is cool and hes a criminal and he falls in love with a beautiful blonde theyre literally the same person who r we kidding

but the bar scene!!!

dabi, who at this point wants to get hawks off his back and hasnt yet realized he actually wants him on his dick: hey lets go to this bar full of the most murderous people i know

hawks: okay!

hawks walks obliviously inside the bar

and then screams

because within a seconds the door around dabi is suddenly full of knives thudding into the wood one by one and he doesnt even look phased

and hes,,what the fucK hes beaming????

"aw hi toga its good to see you, too"

'fucking kill yourself you fucking asshole'

dabi strolls up to the bar with his hands in the pockets of the trenchcoat that shigaraki is severely regretting buying for him for christmas and hawks follows with wide eyes while everyone stares at the audacity of this asshole who just left the league and now he shows up again like who tf does he think he is?? and who is that absolute babe behind him what the hell how come dabi always gets the hot ones

he leans his elbow on the bartop and grins and goes, in the fake rich (except actually rich but no one really knows his sob story) voice that everyone curses the use of because it always makes them laugh and theyre mad at him right now goddammit: "kurogiri, your finest lager please"

shigaraki loses it and yells "fuCK YOU", bodily throws himself at him, ready to fucking beat his ass all the way to australia even though it hasnt been discovered yet in this universe

and then spinner tries to tug him back but twice pushes him forward because, bar fight, hell yeah, and then everyones fucking going at it and bodies are grappeling and punches are being thrown and shins are being kicked and honors are being defended

and hawks is like whaT the fUCK is hAPPEniNG!!

hawks tries to pull dabi out and gets a fist in the side for his troubles and he backs off, wincing and clutching at his ribs, but hes talking all the while, trying to reason over the din, babbling about how, hey, maybe we should think this through, but no ones listening

he finally loses his cool and screams, "stOP!!"

they stop and everyone is looking at him

hawks, passionately: hes trying to heLP me! yeah, hes an asshole, (*muffled dabi in the background, held in a chokehold courtesy of magne* 'heY') but he saved me and helped me escape from my prison and he's taking me to fullfil my dreaM! what, you think you can beat the bitch out of him? have some humanity! havent any of you ever had a dream before??

shigaraki squints at him, the sheer brightness of this holy being confusing him into actually wondering what his dream is, magne leans back thoughtfully, absently tightening her arm around dabi's throat making him let out a strangled noise, twice scratches his head and toga stares at hawks with heart eyes bc hes an angel

kurogiri: huh. yes actually i had,, a dream.. once..

*everyone turns around to gape at him, including hawks bc he didnt really think that would work*

“-ive always fancied myself a bit of a bartender you know, not like at this scraggly place, no offense, but at a high-end establishment, some place classy and aesthetic. its always been my dream to own a nice bar or a club, respected and in the city”

 queue more gaping and everyone absorbing this information about kurogiri and then ,,,,,everyone starts talking about dreams they once had about a better life and hawks is beaming and dabi is staring at the floor wondering why he ever thought hawks wouldnt be adored by these assholes on sight

anyone can like. take this base and run with it i have ??no?? idea?? what to do next rip

[clown-bait]

Paranormal Journeys (Monster Roommate AU) Pt 9

WOW IM SORRY that took way too long to get out mostly because of work and trips and costume making Ive been so busy I've had barely any time to write. But anyway here it is the big reveal. Hope you enjoy all the violence.

Ch 16 Reunion

Leech continued to sing her song despite the look of annoyance from her captors and the run of her black syrupy blood falling from her nose into her mouth. The taste of it was revolting but she wanted them to know what was to come. They wont even get a chance to float now because there wasn't going to be anything left.

“Will someone please shut her up she's been singing ever since we cut off her finger.” Chris groaned and nosferatu flashed her moonlike eyes in his direction.

“Why don't you step a little closer and try yourself Chris!”

The group turned at Leech’s sudden mood change she seemed less playful and suddenly way more dangerous than her captors originally thought. Chris glared at Danielle who was rubbing Zander’s back as if she had done nothing wrong. The ghost hunter turned away from the scene. He hated this woman more than he disliked the fang filled chatter box bleeding on the wood floor. Leech flashed her teeth at him again and a too wide for comfort grin slowly grew on her face

“Psst let me go and I’ll promise I’ll leave you alive for awhile. Its her I want.”

“Is it me or did she suddenly get way more creepy?” the ghost hunter squinted.

“Well you did cut off her finger dude.” Zander grumbled.

“How long do you think it'll take before that thing shows up?” Rick asked wearily

“Is that a hint of fear I smell Ricky? Don't want that he likes fear.” Leech lolled her head to the side the loss of the ichor from her finger stump starting to make her delirious. Or maybe it was the hunger slowly rising from her belly. Either way her calm antagonistic composure was melting away into something much more dangerous.

“Shut up seriously!” Chris hissed at her as Ricks’ face turned to that of worry.

“But its not Penny you have to worry about, the only way he’ll be tasting you on my tongue after I get out of these chains.” the vampire flicked the long muscle out of her fang filled mouth like a snake dragging it over her lips in mock seduction.

“She’s got a point you cant show any fear.” Danielle said from her seat on a barrel.

“Rick bro you really got to get a hold of yourself that thing is dangerous and we can only stop it if we work together.” Zander placed his hand on his team mates shoulder while Chris glared at the woman behind him.

“He cant help it dude he's only human. Hell even I’ve been freaked out ever since I had that weird dream! And since when are we taking orders from her anyway”

“Oh! I smell a soap opera looks like I'm getting dinner and a show tonight!” Leech smirked and sat up criss-crossed with mock interest.

“Don’t you talk about Danni like that bro!”

“Oh we have nicknames for our one night stands now?”

“Chris what the fuck is your problem with the women I date? Why can’t you just back off dude?”

“Well well you found someones leg to hump Daneille? How interesting!” the vampire mused.

“Shut up Leech”

The nosferatu winked and continued to lazily smile at the group that was quickly coming apart. She could honestly care less about her food’s love triangle unfolding before her. Just as things were starting to heat up a knock came at the door of the barn the group went silent and the vampires long ears twitched upward.

Zander cautiously opened the door while rick picked up an old rifle taking aim just in case. A man stood alone in the snow in the dark winter night. He reeked of the sewer.

————————-

“So you found her what do you plan on doing now”

“Do you really want to ask that Mikey?”

“You-no you can’t!”

“Are you forgetting who I am human?”

“Please let me reason with them at least they’re innocent in this!”

“I’m already allowing you to live sheep boy, they took something from me, they will pay.”

“Just one chance clown please.”

The clowns frowned for a moment then its scowl began to soften into concentration. Mike stared at it as it eerily drooled and clicked low in its throat. Pennywise suddenly smiled and his eyes began to glow. Mike knew it couldn't be trusted it looked too excited, too hungry. it was planning something.

“I will allow you to try.” Penny’s nefarious grin grew. “Yes no harm will come to your fellow humans!” he let out a sickening chuckle towards the end.

“Why do I not believe you”

“Aww whats the matter Mikey? Don't trust your old friend Pennywise? We've been through so much together!”

“Its because of what we've been through I don't trust you.”

The clown let out a musical laugh.

“Try try try sheep boy all I want is to free my mate! Cross my heart and hope to die! Hahahahahahaha!”

“If only you would…” Mike grumbled “Im going to warn them, collect the girl and go.” he said turning his back to the creature for the first time. He could feel its hungry glowing eyes staring him down with pure hate as he walked away from his mortal enemy. Mike could at least try to get everyone out of this alive… even Pennywise much to his own self hatred at the thought. He needed the clown awake and happy and that wasn't going to happen unless they got the girl back. He had little choice but to try to reason with her captors for their own sake maybe if he was fast enough he could save everyone. Even with IT’s reassurance he knew the clown was up to something and mike had a feeling he only had minutes to stop it.

————————-

Leech shifted in her restraints as her captors went to answer the door. If it was penny he was walking into a trap and it was all because of her. She took the opportunity to try to pick the lock on the shackles around her wrists with her claws but gave up when she realized she had no idea what she was doing.

The man at the door continued to beg and plead with the group to leave saying they were all in terrible danger. Leech twisted in her shackles again. Penny was here. She could feel her own skin rubbing raw from the pathetic attempt to escape. The nosferatu shut her eyes and let out a long exhale. Instead choosing to try to determine who the lone stranger was. His voice was quite familiar and his scent was of dust old paper and a faint hint of smoke. The librarian? What was he doing here?

The vampire’s question went unanswered when she heard a click and felt a release of pressure from the taught chain attaching her to the wall and the shackles on her wrists. Her eyes flew open wide and feral and she began to chuckle. her laughter grew louder and louder as she got to her feet and metal crashed to the wood floor. A pair of yellow eyes faded into darkness behind her. Leech’s laughter started to grow manic as she cackled into the ceiling and her claws and fangs grew long and sharp. Mike stepped back in surprise at the sight before him taking note of the faint yellow glow of the two orbs in the darkness next to her. Leech began to full on scream laugh before snapping her head forward and lunging full speed straight at Danielle who was scrambling back behind the barrel she had only moments ago been sitting on.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT SHES LOOSE?! WHO THE FUCK WAS WATCHING HER?” the she-wolf screamed as leech leaped into the rafters above slashing out lanterns and blanketing the room in darkness save for a few flash lights held by Rick and Zander.

“wWhatever you do, DO NOT lose sight of her!”

Rick’s flashlight began to shake as he shined it on Zander who shot him and a terrified looking Chris a puzzled look. Two white gloves came out of the darkness and came to rest on the ghost hunters shoulders.

“Little Zander Mcpherson. My my my its been a looooonngg time hasn't it? Why I remember last we met you were but a little insignificant snack! Had to find something much bigger and much tastier than you.” a sing song voice rang out in the darkness Zander twisted around in the clowns grip to stare at it in both rage and horror.  

“N-no no way bro don't you dare talk about my sister.”

“Tasty tasty little girl she was, you should have seen her face when I took it off.”

The clown chuckled to himself and backed away into the dark his voice becoming more distant

“Why don't I show you! How about a little family reunion!”

A young girl maybe 12 or 13 years old walked out of the dark her face horribly disfigured as if she had been mauled by a mad dog. Bits of flesh hung off her skull and a chunk of her cheek flapped free just below her missing eyes. Zander began to sob.

As the clown created a beautiful distraction a pale grey spindly form dropped from the barn rafters in front of Danielle. Who shined a lantern in the direction of the creature she could just barely make out the claws and long sharp teeth but her eerie reflective eyes lit up in the dim lamplight like a  wild fox in the dark.

Leech began a horrific cackle as she approached her captor stalking towards her theatrically  twitching her claws here and there in restraint.

“Ya wanna know what real torture is like Danielle? Ya wanna know how the professionals do it?”

The werewolf scrambled back with as much strength as she could muster but a taloned foot stabbed into her calf and yanked her back as the nosferatu slammed her claws into the wood floor by her face caging the she wolf in.

“Down below they don't just tear out your guts like savage beasts. Down there they do it my way dog. They go for what hurts. You ever have your nerves severed just so? Your tendons plucked at like guitar strings?” leech cooed at the girl trying to get away but each time she moved the talon in her leg pushed in deeper causing the alpha werewolf to howl in agony. “You know they played stairway to heaven on my right arm while I was down there? I gotta give those boys props they do good work, and after a few days being torn apart and stitched back together I got to try a little myself.” the vampire seemed to be swallowing something back as if teetering on the line of control. A little too far one direction and she’d be sure to fall into total beastial insanity. The other inhabitants in the room seemed to pause their scuffle and listen in on the exchange, even Pennywise cocked an eyebrow in her direction when he heard the cry of pain from the she-wolfs lips. Leech dug her foot talons in once more wiggling them a bit to add extra insult to injury. She caught the she-wolf’s arm and began to gently stretch it out positioning the razor tips her claws over Danielle’s writs pin pricking the skin just so. “First you slice open the skin and peel it back.” the vampire ghosted the long pointed talon of her hand down the werewolf’s forearm. “Then I’d get to play a little tune.” she placed her claws back into position lightly fingering out guitar chords over the sensitive soft under-skin of the girls wrist. Danielle struggled and squirmed earning her a dissatisfied hiss from the creature holding her down. Leech grabbed the wolf’s face and dragged her fangs across the skin of her ear.  “Don't you dare move now unless you want me to do it for real. Oh, and don't. Fucking. Scream.”

As Danielle let out a terrified shriek, Leech screamed back in her face just before something cold and metal pushed against the side of her head and fired. Rick stood shaking holding the old smoking rifle as the vampire dropped limp to the floor with a horrible thud that made Pennywise quickly shift back to his preferred form and roar in agony. His charge ended as soon as it began when his mate began to float up the ichor leaking from her face reversed its direction and a bullet was caught in her fangs. As she drifted upright her head snapped to the side at Rick eyes abnormally wide glowing sickly yellow while her face remained horrible and skeletal. Too many teeth began to split at the wound in her cheek. When she shrieked it was unlike anything anyone had heard before. Her voice sounded like fifty beings at once all screaming over each other and it was very clear that the creature known as Leech was no longer present in the room. She lunged at rick with horrible unpredictable speed latching her long sharp fangs into the man’s neck and began to suck with an unrivaled hunger, the wound in her head slowly closing its self with each greedy gulp.

Pennywise watched with almost amazement as if he had just made a life changing discovery and his mind had been completely blown. mike called out to him from a nearby window breaking the creature from its awestruck state.

“WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING CLOWN?” the librarian shouted.

“I-I created something. For the first time.” he stuttered a bit still wide eyed and slightly quiet.

“Her? You created her?!” Mike asked frantically as he turned away from the horrifying scene of people he had just spoken to being ran through a living paper shredder.

“No.” Pennywise replied quietly “Not her…..them.”

“What the hell does that mean?!”

When the clown didn't answer Mike tried another question. “I thought you said no harm will come to them!” he shouted finally getting the clown’s attention.

“No harm will come from me Mikey, Leechie on the other hand isn't part of our little deal.” he grinned as a woman’s horrified screaming was being mixed with the sound of wet tearing and crunching bones.

“You sick bastard both of you!” the librarian turned his back to the window “Is she like you are there more of you?”

“Why are you still here?” the clown growled refusing to answer Mike’s question. Pennywise pushed off the wall and made his way into the bloody massacre picking up the loose chain still attached to the shackle on Leech’s neck. He gave it a harsh yank back as she began to descend upon a mortified sobbing Chris and Leech clattered to the floor backwards in a mess of razor tipped limbs. The vampires claws came up to her neck and scratched frantically at the shackle earning her another hard pull backwards till she was on her knees near the clowns feet. Penny quickly pushed her to the ground roaring so loud his face began to split and the walls creaked from the vibrations. The two began a screaming match of terrifying proportions until the struggling possessed creature below the clown calmed in the shining light now emerging from Pennywise’s throat. His grip on her chain grew slack moving to caress her shoulders and hold her in his arms as the yellow lights in her eyes began to dim. He gently placed a hand on her abdomen while creating a trill like churr in his throat until finally the lights in his mate’s eyes sunk down till nothing was left but dazed glossy blues. Leech mumbled something about kidneys as she slowly came back to reality, a theatrical voice she knew well brought her back to full consciousness.

“Its time to wake up little hunter.” he said as he pushed his nose and lips onto her temples.

“Snuggle muffin?” Leech shut her weary eyes tight and purred as Penny’s own eyes flew open dropping his mate immediately.

“PEACHY! Not in font of the food!” he snarled gesturing to Mike who had braced himself against the window pane both in nausea and laughter.

The vampire grinned wide and raised her eyebrows at him. Penny looked furious.

“Once again I get you out of trouble and this is the thanks I get?” he snarled pulling the chain and bringing the exhausted Leech up to his fangs.

“I got shot in the face and lost a finger for you I think were even.” she grinned at him unable to turn the relentless taunting off.

“Only because you never listen.” the clown grumbled

“Looks like someones a little tense hmmm Ruffle Wuffles?” Leech teased him boop-ing the eldritch horror right on the nose as Penny winced at the pet name.

“I shouldn't have saved you.”

“Like you would have lasted more than a week without me.” the vampire wheezed. Pennywise pulled on her chain again holding her inches away from his face.

“Little brat!” he snarled hot puffs of air washed over Leech’s face.

“Your little brat.” she whispered into his lips as her claws tangled into her clowns hair. Their lips reunited with fresh heated tension the clown letting out a soft groan into her mouth half in annoyance half in secret relief.

“well thats a sound ill never be able to un-hear”

Penny and Leech’s lips separated abruptly and leech glared at the librarian now standing in the doorway trying to light a hanging lantern to survey the damage. He knew the others were dead what he didn't not know was they offending team of ghost hunters were just piles of uneaten shredded flesh laying all around him.

“I wouldn't if I were you Mikey.”

“Unless you can stomach leftover hamburger.” Leech added with a chuckle and turned to her mate “Hey by the way I have like no memory of half that fight what the hells been going on?

“I also demand answers!” Mike yelled as he regained his composure the door slammed behind him locking from the outside. Pennywise placed his confused mate on the ground and a menacing grin grew across his face. “What are you doing let me out we had a deal!” Mike shouted tugging at the door.

“Hush Mikey I’ve changed my mind. Besides the other one got away and its rude to take someones meal before they're finished.” the clown was right Chris was nowhere to be seen even in the darkness of the barn.

“You bastard!” Mike hissed

“Just providing for my family Mikey. What kind of father would I be if I didn't bring my mate fresh meat for our growing brood?” Pennywise grinned beginning to step out of the light when a voice broke his assault. His favorite voice. Only this time he was in deep deep trouble.

“EXCUSE ME WHAT?!”

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

I think someones sleeping on the couch again tonight.

[timeisacephalopod]

Regarding ideas for after Inimitable, perhaps WinterIron Space Au? Setting it on another/multiple planets would leave plenty of room for worldbuilding. If Space is too open of a prompt, mermay is going on right now, so perhaps something with mermaids? No matter what you end up doing, I look forward to reading it! I always enjoy your writing.

I kept this around because I wanted to write a mermaid AU for you (and because I don’t typically write creatures like that so its a challenge). After seeing The Shape of Water I told myself I ain’t no monster fucker here I am writing a fuckin Shape of Water AU featuring Tony/ Rhodey. I have no clue if you even like that pairing but Ive had the idea floating around for some time so here goes. Sidenote: This got ridiculously long.

***

Rhodey is probably lucky that Sam has his back otherwise he’d be late to work every day. He has no idea how he manages given that he gets up on time every day, leaves with plenty of time to get to work every day, and yet he still only manages to punch in barely on time. “Rhodey, you seriously need to get your shit together,” Sam mumbles at him, handing him his punch in card. 

He sighs, punching in, and sticking his card in the right slot. “I told you, I always leave with time to spare but this always happens,” he says. “Thanks though.”

Sam gives him a look but allows Rhodey his excuses before they set off with their daily tasks. Its the same shit every day and Rhodey has to deal with the fact that he’s smarter than everyone else in this fucking building. Sam too- while all the white guys were trying to figure out the math he and Sam usually have all their problems solved and then they’ve solved unanticipated problems with the new math before anyone even figures out the initial problem. But being smart and black isn’t exactly easy and even when Rhodey did manage to convince someone to listen to his solutions they resented him for having a solution to begin with.

So he and Sam clean things even though they’re way more qualified to do the jobs around them than the people currently working literally any other position. But Sam makes the work fun at least so when they’re outside of the prying eyes of those around them they talk about everything and anything under the sun. They’re talking about which color is the beset color when they’re interrupted rudely.

They get their orders to go clean a usually classified space and Sam exchanges a look with him before they shrug and move off to do their jobs. “You ever wonder if they send us to do these jobs because they think we’re too stupid to understand what we’re looking at?” Sam asks in a low voice as they move down the hall with their cleaning cart.

“I know for a fact that’s why we get these jobs,” Rhodey says.

“Too bad no one else likes black people either- it’d be kind of nice to sell these assholes out to prove a point,” Sam says.

“Probably not worth the results though,” Rhodey points out. “Better to just deal.”

Sam lets out a long sigh and they let themselves into the room they’re sent to clean. Rhodey’s eyebrows shoot up and he doesn’t have to look at Sam to know he’s had the same reaction. “What the hell happened here?” Sam asks softly.

Rhodey looks over the large amount of blood and water in the room and shakes his head. “I have no idea,” he says softly. They slowly set to work, cautious in case whatever it was that resulted in all the blood was still around. It takes awhile before Sam lets out a yell and jumps back, catching Rhodey’s attention. He looks over and raises an eyebrow. “Is that…?”

“A finger? Yeah. That’s… nasty,” he says. Rhodey wrinkles his nose and grabs a bag from the cart and carefully holds it open for Sam. He looks at the finger, than the bag, and back at the finger again before he raises an eyebrow. “You expect me to pick that thing up?” Sam asks and Rhodey shrugs.

“You found it, you deal with it,” he says.

“Yeah, I found it, you deal with it. I did my dues almost stepping on that thing,” he says.

“I am not touching that thing. You found it, your problem.” Rhodey rustles the bag a little and Sam gives him a dirty look, gingerly leaning forward so he can pick the finger up. He all but throws it at Rhodey, who lets out a loud yell and fumbling a little but ultimately catches the severed digit in the bag. “You are nasty. You can take this thing to its owner now, I want nothing to do with it,” he says, wrinkling his whole face in disgust.

Sam rolls his eyes, “fine, but you get stuck dealing with the mess,” he says and Rhodey sighs. 

“Fine,” he mumbles. A quick glance around tells him its not that much work, but its enough work that its time consuming. Sam runs off and Rhodey sets to work on the floor, mumbling to himself as he sets to work mopping. 

He’s almost done the floor when he notices movement out of the corner of his eye. At first he thinks Sam might have taken pity on him but he realizes the movement is from the wrong part of the room. When he looks over he doesn’t find anything so he goes back to work. It takes a few more moments but the movement happens again and this time when Rhodey looks over he catches what caused the movement.

Its… shocking to look at. Some kind of fish… man… thing. The red and gold scales are quite striking though, and so are the long, gossamer fins fluttering around his body. Its the gash in his side that catches Rhodey’s attention though because its darkening the water around it as blood leaves the body of the man in the tank.

The fish looks down, covering the wound with his hand before he swims off. Rhodey frowns, unsure what to do.

***

Its a whim to cook more eggs than he usually eats in the morning and its more of a whim to eat lunch in a room he isn’t supposed to be in but he also knows no one will look there for him. Its rare that people paid much attention to the help around them. He sits at the edge of the pond like space in the middle of the room, curious to see if its connected to the tank he last saw the fish guy in. He settles in, eyes on the tank as he eats his eggs.

That’s probably why he doesn’t notice the fish man sneak up on him, swimming quietly enough that Rhodey jumps when a scaly hand reaches out of the water and snatches one of his eggs off the side of the pond before swimming off, far less quiet about his retreat. Rhodey settles himself back in after a moment of watching the water before he turns his back to the pond again. Its on a whim that he looks over at the tank and he’s surprised to find his companion there, watching him with the egg in his hand. 

Rhodey shakes his head, smiling a little before he turns back to his food. He notices that the mermaid doesn’t eat the egg until Rhodey does. It’s an obvious test to see whether or not the food is poisoned and its smart. It doesn’t occur to him until he’s on his way home that the fish had also intentionally watched his reaction to his stolen food. He wonders if he passed the test.

***

Tony really hates that Rumlow guy. He seems to think Tony has some secrets to unlock and even if he could communicate with these people in a language they’d immediately understand he wouldn’t give them information on principal. He doesn’t like being treated like shit for no reason. He does, however, rather like his lunch dates with the dark skinned man that feeds him… well, something. Whatever the oval object is it tastes much better than whatever the hell Rumlow tries to feed him. Plus he’s sure that the food is drugged because he always feels groggy after eating. Rhodey’s eggs- he had eventually learned his name thanks to that friend of his calling after him- at least help him avoid eating Rumlow’s food. Not much, but enough that it gives him more strength to figure out how the hell to get out of here.

Rhodey is feeding him eggs and chattering about his day- he’s figured out quickly that Tony understands even if he can’t respond- when the door opens. Rhodey lets out a soft string of curse words before he grabs his bag and runs off around a corner and Rumlow marches in. Tony sinks into the water a little, glaring at the man. He bit one finger off, he’ll go for his hand next. Fucking prick.

“What are you doing near the edge of the water?” he asks. Tony growls at him for lack of a better response. 

Rumlow rolls his eyes, “get him out,” he says to his goons. They exchange a look with each other because they aren’t too stupid to miss the fact that the water is Tony’s territory. No one really fared well with him in here even with the fucking collar around his neck. He’s working on picking the lock on that.

They do eventually manage though because Tony still has whatever drug he’s being fed in his system and by now they’re used to this. If he were faster it wouldn’t be a problem, but he’s not so here he is, on the ground outside of the water gasping a little for breath. He can breathe outside of water but not much and not for long so he tends to save that for the real emergencies. When Rumlow asks him a question he knows Tony can’t answer and proceeds to electrocute him with that stick thing it quickly escalates to that emergency status. If not for his superior hearing he would have missed Rhodey’s small gasp but his hearing is built for water- he hears better than humans. Its a good thing now because Rhodey would have just given himself away if that weren’t true.

When Tony get prodded with that thing for the third damn time he notices the egg. He’s lucky Rumlow hasn’t noticed yet, or his goons, but he does notice a third human hanging back a little, examining the situation a little. His skin is a little darker than those around him and Tony has come to recognize that this gives him a lower status. He’s not sure why exactly- in his experience the darker skinned ones tended to be nicer. In his own home the pale parts of his skin are mostly irrelevant. They live too deep to see it most of the time and really only rise up high enough to see the colors of their skin during mating seasons. Tony happens to know he’s quite pretty- his striking colors are rare, but its fin color that matters, not the rest. But he supposes humans don’t have fins so they have no choice but to care about the rest.

“You need to stop, he has to go back in the water,” the man tells Rumlow but he’s shaken off.

“Shut up. You’re only here because you’re supposed to be an expert on sea life,” he snaps. “And when this one is dead you can be an expert on him too.”

Tony lets out an annoyed squeak and gets electrocuted for his efforts but the slightly tan man pulls Rumlow back. Bad idea considering he nearly gets prodded too. “You can’t kill him! He’s a rare species, you need to put him back in the sea!” he yells.

“You better stay in line or-” Rumlow starts but the other man rolls his eyes.

“Or what, Rumlow. You pulled me out of a war zone- you think you can do better than me watching my family die?” he asks. The room grows uncomfortably silent for a few moments before Rumlow, to Tony’s surprise, backs down.

“Put it back in the water. I’ll put in the order to euthanize it,” he says, looking at the other man as he says it. The other man offers a protest that’s quickly shot down and Tony is tossed unceremoniously back into the water.

When the brown man looks over to him Tony looks pointedly at the egg. Rumlow and his men are leaving, but he’s hoping he can communicate with this one. He follows Tony’s gaze and his eyes widen a little before he turns back to Tony, who looks pointedly to where Rhodey is hiding. Thankfully for him Rhodey is half leaning around the corner and jumps back behind it right as the other man looks over. He considers this for a moment before he nods to Tony, “I wil be back for you,” he says softly before bending and tossing him the egg. Tony catches it and disappears back into the water.

***

Rhodey is skulking the area around the classified room out when he feels a tap on his shoulder. He jumps, spinning around and relaxing when he recognizes the man. “Uh, hey?” he asks more than states.

“My name is Yinsen and I’m going to make the assumption that you care about the fish in that tank. You feed him.” Rhodey nods because he doesn’t know what else to say really. “We need to get him out and you would know this building much better than I would. And we have two days to do this.”

Rhodey swears under his breath, “I… might have some help we can use,” he says, hoping to hell Sam will go along with this.

***

Sam frowns at him, “why the hell do you care about the fish guy?” he asks as the man takes an egg gingerly from the side of the pond.

“Because he’s nice. He doesn’t seem to care much that I’m black,” he says. He listens to Rhodey, he knows this because he once gave a suggestion for getting that collar off and he followed Rhodey’s suggestions immediately. There was no hesitation, no condescending looks, nothing. He just listened and followed Rhodey’s advice.

“I don’t care if you’re black either,” Sam points out and Rhodey rolls his eyes.

“You’re also black, that doesn’t count. He listens though, and he’s intelligent. Plus they’re torturing him in here, you can’t tell me you’re alright with that,” he says. Sam is a better man than that, Rhodey knows. Off to the side Yinsen lets them work it out while he unpacks some things from a bag. 

He goes to hand the mermaid a sandwich before he pulls it back fast, “wait, this has fish in it, is that cannibalism?” he asks more to himself than their current companion but his musing are interrupted by a hand sticking out of the water. Apparently not. Yinsen hands the sandwich over and turns back to Rhodey and Sam. “Are we all in agreement?” he asks and Rhodey turns to Sam, raising an eyebrow. 

Sam lets out a soft sigh. “I’m going to regret this,” he mumbles.

*

Rhodey is in too deep with his fish stick but Sam doesn’t want to tell him that. He brings the damn thing lunch every day and its clear that this is an expected activity that, in the fish’s defense, it clearly enjoys. They plan based on Rhodey and Sam’s knowledge of the building and Yinsen’s knowledge of their fishy friend which is, admittedly, not much.

They’re prepared to move the mermaid when it reaches out to Rhodey, gently, holding its hand out. Rhodey frowns at it for a moment before it shakes its head and makes a ‘come here’ gesture that has Sam prepared to launch this thing off a building. Rhodey, damn idiot, goes over though and the fish reaches up and carefully presses its hand to Rhodey’s cheek. Sam lets out a yell when the fucking thing lights up and Rhodey gasps softly. He steps forward to help a guy out but Yinsen holds him back. It takes a few moments but Rhodey pulls back. 

“He used to live in the Mediterranean Sea. In our language his name translates roughly to ‘Tony’,” he says. Yinsen gasps softly and Rhodey grins. “I knew you were smarter than Rumlow gave you credit for,” he says.

“Yeah, fuck Rumlow. And honestly fuck this psychic fish, lets just get this thing the hell out of here so we can go back to our regularly scheduled lives,” Sam says, waving a hand around.

“Can you-” Yinsen starts, walking towards Tony but he quickly pulls back, giving Yinsen a suspicious look. Yinsen looks hurt about it but Sam rolls his eyes.

“Dude has been tormented and tortured by scientists, he probably isn’t too keen to let you test out his… powers,” he says. The fish- Tony he guesses- gives him an appraising look then before seemingly approving and swimming away from Yinsen a little and towards Rhodey. Well isn’t that just freaking sweet. He shakes his head and moves the laundry basket closer to the pond.

“Alright fishy, get in the basket,” Sam tells him.

Rhodey gives him an offended look, “you could at least use his name,” he says.

“I don’t care about this fish’s name, I just want to get him out so I can go back to not worrying about being killed by Rumlow or something equally awful,” he says. “So in the basket,” he tells Tony.

Rhodey nods to him and Tony dives back into the water, prompting Sam to make an irritated noise. He resurfaces a few moments later lacking his metal collar though so Sam guesses that disappearance was necessary. They have to help him into the basket, which is only made more difficult by Tony’s clear preference for Rhodey but when Sam spies a few gnarly scars on his body he can see why that trust extends only to one person. They achieve their goal though and that’s when the move onto the second phase of the plan. Getting him through the building.

Thankfully Rhodey pushes the damn cart because Sam is too nervous to do much more than focus on being normal as they move through the halls. They’ve prepared for this of course, but preparation doesn’t do much to actually prepare you for the real thing. They make their way around the final corner when the alarm starts going off and Sam swears along with Rhodey and they start running. Sam all but throws himself in the back of the van, yanking the basket in as Rhodey tries to shove it into place. A gun goes off close to them and Rhodey yells, giving the basket one last shove before they’ve successfully got it in and he slams the doors shut.

Tony sticks his head out of the wet towels he’s currently housed in and Sam shoves his head back into the towels, “don’t stick your head out to be seen! Jesus Christ,” he mumbles just as the lights go out and Rhodey throws himself into the passenger seat.

“A little late,” Yinsen tells Rhodey as he steps on the gas.

“Just on time, we were a little early. I know my way around these systems, I could probably do a better job building them,” he says. Probably is giving the idiots who ran this place way too much credit. Both he and Sam were much smarter than any of the morons hired to work here. It had been easy to rig the system to go black for a solid half an hour while they made their escape. That and if they didn’t black things out they wouldn’t make it past the electronic gate.

*

Releasing Tony had been difficult, especially when they nearly got found twice but they managed. Tony hadn’t wanted to go, lingering way too long looking at Rhodey before he finally takes off into the sea.

*

It takes a long time for him to find Rhodey again and when he does he’s older. He lives by the sea now though so Tony works on getting as close as possible. The first thing he leaves for Rhodey sits there for almost a month before he finally finds it. Its a fluke that his second gift is found within a week, and after the third gift is found Rhodey knows to stick around for awhile.

When Tony finally catches him there he swims over enthusiastically, probably scaring the hell out of the kid he got stuck bringing with him but Peter will stay far enough behind to be safe. He’s heard the stories, seen Tony’s scars, he knows better than to be seen by humans. Rhodey grins when he sees him though and Tony reaches out immediately, pleased when Rhodey leans forward to offer his hand. He pulls Rhodey closer, laughing mostly to himself when Rhodey looks briefly alarmed.

He presses as close as he can, carefully pulling Rhodey’s head towards his own until their foreheads touched. Its a lot easier to do this that way. I’ve been looking for you he thinks at Rhodey.

[eversall]

ive gone off abt this idea on twitter before but: imagine like simon, clary, jace, izzy and alec have to go on some roadtrip (portaling isnt an option somehow?) so they all pile into simon's van and simon has all these playlists saved for the drive and they're like top hits from the 80's-00's and guilty pleasure songs and stuff. clary and simon screaming the lyrics for teenage dirtbag and mr brightside while alec izzy and jace are concerned/v confused by how intense the two are

honestly simon and clary would be the perfect people to plan road trips. here are snippets from a road trip au i’ll never write: 

.

“There’s a problem,” Simon announces authoritatively, “with the car.” 

“Mm.” Clary nods, like this clears things up. They two of them are standing over the hood of Simon’s van, peering with interest at the smoking engine, while the Lightwood siblings are clustered near the van door, looking on in horror. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Alec explodes. “You don’t - you took us out here - in the middle of nowhere - without knowing how to service your own van?”

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out.” Simon says enthusiastically, his eyes already alight with determination. 

“I’m going to die.” Jace says flatly. “This is how I go. Hell is going to be wonderful.” 

“Better here than there.” Izzy mutters nonsensically, before she rolls the sleeves of her sweater up and starts tying her hair into a messy bun. “Move over, Lewis, I got this.” 

“If you insist - “ Simon begins. 

Alec lunges forward and grips Simon by the arm, dragging him backwards. “Oh no, I insist.” He says firmly. “Why don’t you just - rest with us.” Simon snorts, and then full out laughs when he leans against the car and catches sight of Jace’s surly glare.

“It’s not that bad.” Simon insists, and Jace rolls his eyes. 

“How much worse can it be?” He asks, his voice lower as Izzy starts muttering about engines and Clary mm-hmms at all the right moments. 

Simon catches Jace’s gaze, his smile turning softer at the edges, intensely private and warm. Something unfurls in Jace’s heart, quiet and certain. 

“I know how to fix my own car, but this is...you know.” Simon says softly, shrugging as he nods towards Izzy leaning over the hood, her eyes focused as she unscrews something, and Clary staring at Izzy adoringly, biting her lip and looking like she’s discovering something she’s never seen before in Izzy’s eyes. Izzy’s flushed, her cheeks pink and her eyes crinkled at the corners. 

“Don’t tell me this entire trip was to set my sister up with Clary.” Alec complains quietly, but he’s smiling, and Jace huffs out a laugh as he looks back at Simon; protective, caring Simon, loving enough to always think of everyone else. Jace wants to drown in Simon’s optimism, wants Simon to tie Jace to himself so Jace can sink when he sinks, swim when he swims. 

.

The motel is shitty, the sheets uncomfortable, and Jace is pretty sure his back is being permanently disfigured. Still, when Simon whispers “Jace” and beckons him outside Jace goes willingly, slipping his feet into his shoes and grabbing a sweatshirt before slipping out the door of their motel room. 

Outside, the night is quiet in a way that New York never is. Even the crickets feel soft and muted, like a sheet pulled over the earth. Jace’s breath huffs out in front of him, the cold seeping into his fingers and through his thin sleep pants. 

“C’mon.” Simon says, his eyes alight, even in the darkness. His hair is sticking up on one side and he’s clutching a blanket around his shoulders. “Here.” 

Simon throws the blanket onto the roof of his van and then boosts himself up too, surprisingly graceful. Jace follows, judging the jump. 

“No runes!” Simon insists, peering over the roof and holding out his hand to Jace. 

“You just used your vampire strength to jump!” Jace grumbles, but he braces his foot against the car door and grabs Simon’s hand, their finger sliding together perfectly as Simon pulls Jace up. Jace braces his other hand on the car roof and pushes himself over the edge, landing gently on his knees and shuffling to Simon’s side. Simon squeezes Jace’s hand and lets go, and Jace tries not to feel disappointed. 

“Look.” Simon says softly, crossing his legs and leaning back on his hands. He tilts his head up, and Jace follows, his breath catching as the stars spread out over him, sprinkled across the sky. The Milky Way is a tear down the middle, bright lights spilling out of either side and swirling together. Jace settles back, lying down and crossing his arms behind his head as he keeps looking at the stars, unable to tear himself away. There’s just so many, glittering from millions of miles away, and he feels small in that moment, like everything he does is okay. He’s a cosmic microsecond, and he’s going to be okay. 

“Thanks for coming out here with me.” Simon says softly from beside him, lying down next to Jace, and Jace shivers as Simon throws an edge of the blanket over him. 

“It feels right.” Jace murmurs, turning to look at Simon, and in the darkness he can still see the profile of Simon’s face, the curve of his cheek and the way Simon’s gaze burns a path straight through him, lighting him up from inside out until he feels like he’s floating right along that tear in the sky. 

.

Somewhere halfway across the country Jace buys an expensive camera, and learns how to fuss with the zoom and focus to his liking. He takes pictures when he gets bored in the car - Izzy slumped against the window, an arm thrown around Clary; Alec with his arms crossed and his head tilted back, his jaw slack as he sleeps; Simon grinning at the steering wheel, the sunlight tracing a slanted path across his face; a shot of the road curving away from them as they drive across the plains, a path to forever. 

.

They stop midway up a mountain near Yosemite early in the morning, spilling out of the van as grey morning light creeps across the sky. Jace yawns as he turns his camera on, stumbling towards the low-set stone wall marking off the viewpoint and sitting cross-legged on it. He pauses for a second, looking out at the vast space in front of him, reveling in the jagged peaks and smooth cliff faces. 

He feels someone looking at him, and he turns in time to see Simon with his own camera out, pointed straight at Jace, his finger clicking the shutter. Jace squints, and then hops off the wall, making his way to Simon as Simon looks at the picture he just took. 

“I know I’m good-looking, but better than the mountains?” Jace asks, smirking, and Simon rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning as he holds his camera out to Jace. In the picture, Jace is framed by the mountains, his eyes dancing and his lips quirked slightly as he looks at the camera. He’s in sharp focus, the light filtering through his hair, and he looks like a man who’s found a happy ending. 

Jace’s breath catches in his throat, and he looks at Simon. 

“It’s good.” He says, and Simon nods, his eyes flicking to Jace’s lips. 

“Yeah?” Simon asks, and Jace feels his heart overflow at the edges. 

“Yeah.” He says, and then he leans down, his hand coming up to cradle Simon’s cheek as their lips find each other, the kiss warm and slow, something coming back to life in Jace’s chest as Simon grasps Jace’s hip and presses closer.

The kiss is everything Jace has ever wanted from Simon, anchoring him down and soothing some of the ever present hurts deep inside him, the ones he quietly bears. Simon is pliant and soft underneath him, the same way Jace is, and it’s unhurried and slow, Simon slowly pulling Jace into his orbit. 

They break apart reluctantly, resting their foreheads together, and Simon laughs softly. 

“Okay, I didn’t see this happening on a road trip.” He admits. “I, uh, - “

“It’s okay.” Jace says, rubbing circles into Simon’s skin with his thumbs. “Really. We’ll take it a day at a time.” 

“It’s only fair to warn you I plan on being here for a lot of days?” 

“Nicely put.” Jace laughs as Simon scowls. “Me too, Simon.” He kisses Simon again, unable to help himself. “Me too.” 

[kaiwrites]

The Fics...

Everything I’ve posted on AO3 so far, in case you feel like a little bit of reading...

A Little Closer to Okay 

When the Fun Vee hit a IED, Tony wasn’t the only one to end up captured in the cave.  The other passengers, Steve, Sam, Bucky, Natasha and Clint, are held prisoner and tortured along with him. 

This is the story of how they moved on after being rescued from Bucky’s POV.

T, warnings for PTSD and mentions of torture

Out of Place and Lost in Time (Part 1 of 4 in the With You I’m whole Series)

Steve is lost in the supermarket, talking to himself as he makes his way through the aisles. James thinks its adorable, and not so stealthily stalks him. And then Steve is in James' house, brought by a mutual friend, carrying pie.

A tale of rediscovery, reinvention, and transformations. Of an author and an artist. Of train rides to the beach in winter and pie like Ma used to make. And of course, a tale of idiots in love.

Transgender FtM Steve with reclusive paranoid Bucky, Background Nat/ Sam

Riding on Trains with Queers (Part 2 of With You I’m Whole)

With Clint's help, Steve comes up with a theme for his gallery showing, and remembers the people and events in his past that helped him through his coming out and transition. It seems that a lot of his memories involve riding on trains.

Transgender Steve, mostly his story in this fic.  Warnings for deadnaming in flashbacks, dysphoria, anxiety and past Steve/ Peggy and Steve/ Dum Dum Dugan relationships. 

(I have plans for parts 3 and 4, and I’ve even started writing the Bucky centric part 3, but I have no idea when I might get the inspiration to pudate on this one.)

The Robot Dick Olympics (Bopeep wrote chapter 1, I wrote chapter 2, it will probably be a WIP forever...)

 This is some straight up crack that revolves around dick jokes, brought to you be the enablers in the Captain America RBB Slack Chat. 

Bucky Has a Metal Dick to match his arm, Tony feels the need to compete and builds a robot dick for the Iron Man Suit, and Clint suggests his normal human dick as the controll.   Natasha wants nothing to do with any of it. 

First Kiss

Another one brought to you be the enablers in the Captain America RBB Slack Chat, exept its more of the sad and Angstly variety, and not Crack at all. 

So, tell me Steve.” Natasha demanded, glancing over at him briefly, “If I wasn’t your first kiss since 1945, who was it?”

“Huh?” Steve asked, looking confused “First kiss?”

“Yeah, remember a couple of years ago when I kissed you to hide from Rumlow? You said I wasn’t your first.” Natasha reminded him.

“Oh yeah.” Steve answered, with a slight groan. He had been hoping Nat would have forgotten about that by now. “It’s a stupid story, you really don’t want to hear it.”

Warnings for unprotected anonymous sex, depression and possibly making you cry a little. 

Taraksvasana  My piece for the 2017 Captain America Reverse Big Bang with art by @starlingzinc.  

It's been a year since the events of Civil War, and six months since Bucky was awoken from cryo-freeze in Wakanda and came back home to Steve and their house in the mountains. They were finally living their own lives, together and not having to hide.

They still had their demons to battle, but they couldn't control their futures. They had a quiet life now, with friends nearby, plans for a vegetable garden, and yoga. No one would have guessed the former winter soldier would end up obsessed with yoga.

A Life Near By

Bucky may have snuck away after saving Captain America from the Potomac, but he didn't go far. He needed answers, and this Steve guy seemed to have them, so he did the last thing anyone would have expected, hiding out in the middle of Washington, DC while working on answering the most important question.

Who the hell was Bucky, and why was he so important to this Captain America guy anyway?

Broken Soul Seeking Same  (WIP, currently working on what will probably be the final chapter)

Roommates to Lovers after meeting through craigslist AU. Bucky lost his arm in an accident and works as a restraunt manager.  Steve suffers from chronic pain due to physical disability.  Thor is a Chef and Community service hero.  

Everyone is stronger with help and support from others, and for those living with disabilty, it’s practically essential.  The right partner through it all can make a world of difference.

Warnings for M/M sex, marijuana use and refereces to traumatic events. 

Other things in the works.... (the comming soon/ preview section perhaps?) 

Autistic Bucky- Bucky was sent away to the Hydra Acadamy to be ‘fixed’ after being diagnosed with autism at age 10.  He comes out a different person, suffering from PTSD and Anxiety as a result of behaviorial therapy, and only Steve can put him back together.   The daily life  and routines of Bucky and his boyfriend Steve, and his job at the animal shelter he runs with Sam. 

Ive got about 5K written, with ideas to make this one close to 20K.  I think theres a Big Bang comming up .....

Bike messenger Steve- Fluffy AU ideas that have been floating around my head for a while.  Steve is a bike messenger who is always getting hit by cars.  Bucky is the security guard who always notices the new scrapes and bandages.  Standard mutual pining between idiots.  Probably 5k or so if I ever manage to write the thing.

“Meh,” Steve said with  a shrug, “just a bit of roadrash.”

A Wreck among Kings (working title)

Character study on Jack from the Kings TV series. How do you mourn a lover you were unable to aknowledge? 

Started for the Sebastian Stan Birthday that never actually happend.  No idea if anything will actually happen with this, but i have lots of notes.