#im enamoured with the idea of them just walking in absolutely smashing it and then no one bothers them about it again

[byunnct]

cute cat, cute boyfriend [jeno nct]

pairing: lee jeno x reader

summary: jeno is a big fan of your cat and secretly a big fan of you. college!au

a/n: since i don’t have time to write a full fic but have been in the mood to write i thought i’d have a go at bullet point scenarios :D this was inspired by that viral tweet ‘whenever im sad i text this girl to show me her cat’!! hope it isn’t too bad <3

so you have a cat, a beautiful ragdoll cat, lovingly named cracker

and you have no idea why or how but certain places on your college campus allow residents to have pets

you’re not complaining because it means you were able to bring your lil friend from back home with you to college

and she has the brightest blue eyes that your best friend renjun swears hypnotises people into giving her treats

the top of her head, around her ears and just under her jaw, is an ashy grey with some parts a slightly darker grey

the rest of her is white

she’s the most elegant feline ever and her tail has a sassy sway to it whenever she walks around your dorm

at the beginning of the year someone created an instagram page dedicated to the campus’s pets and it was instantly popular

even endorsed by the college itself because it’s a pure expression of admiration and love for students’ pets and really what’s better than that

so your roommate submitted pictures she took of your cat to go onto the page after you offhandedly mentioned that cracker would be the most popular pet on the page

you were not wrong

cracker instantly captured everyone’s attention and became the most liked picture on the account to the point where the owner of the page messaged ur roommate to ask for more pictures (“i told you! it’s the eyes, i swear! she’s like a witch!” –renjun)

people on campus even started approaching your roommate to ask about the cat and she had to direct them all to you, each person asking you to start your own instagram page for your little popular queen

you said no every time because you’re a struggling college student who spends all her time in college or working to earn money which is then spent on ur damn cat you don’t have time to run an instagram account for her

and she’s already spoiled enough you don’t want to boost cracker’s ego too much

unbeknownst to you, jeno fell completely in love with cracker the second he saw her on the Instagram page (jeno, an avid visitor of the campus pet instagram page) and would always whine to his friends about how cute the cat is

since he’s allergic he can’t own them himself and his roommate, jaemin, uses this excuse every time jeno even BEGINS thinking about owning a pet

every time a new picture of cracker was posted on the campus instagram page he’d get so excited and be the first to comment and like

he’d get teased by his friends too because essentially jeno was a really big fan of cat, an animal, compared to donghyuck who would be freaking out over the new red velvet selfie – they’re in different worlds

BUT jeno can’t get over how enchanting cracker’s large eyes are, how fluffy her tail is, how photogenic a CAT is and he’s completely enamoured by your little feline

so one night there’s a big party to celebrate the end of the first term but you sadly can’t go since you don’t feel too good and don’t want to make yourself worse

it’s also cracker’s birthday and the SECOND you coughed and your throat felt scratchy you knew it was a sign from the gods to stay home and celebrate w your cat

your roommate goes tho, after feeding cracker one too many treats as a birthday gift, and since you offered to pick her up if need be she said she’ll text you later

at midnight you get a text from an unknown number

[00:17am, UNKNOWN]: heyyyyyyyyyyy

you think its your roommate texting from someone else’s phone because hers died so you respond instantly with ‘you good?’

[00:20am, UNKNOWN]: im great havea quesiotn

[00:20am, you]: shoot

[00:21am, UNKNOWN]: sned ur cat

[00:22am, you]: what? Call me

your phone rings a minute later and when you answer

it’s not your roommate

it’s a boy you’ve never heard before and he’s mumbling incoherently and it worries you

not only because you were expecting your roommate but because this guy sounds absolutely GONE and you can picture him swaying from side to side due to intoxication

you ask him his name about ten times before you get an actual answer: jeno

you recognise the name as one of renjun’s friends so you know you can at least trust him to some extent

he keeps saying ‘send your cat’ and you don’t quite know what he means so when you ask him he says

“i love your cat”

that’s it. He keeps repeating ‘send your cat’ and ‘i love your cat’ and no matter what else you say to him, ‘go drink some water!’ ‘where are you?’ ‘do you need me to call someone?’, he keeps going on about cracker and you look at the cat lying next to you, lazily cleaning her paws, and hang up on him

you take the party hat you had taken pictures of her in earlier and put it back on her head, telling her you’re sorry you have to put it back on and promise her treats if she sits still, and bring up the camera app on your phone

then you go back to your messages and send two of the best pictures you took of her to this jeno guy, hoping you’re understanding him correctly and that you can convince him to listen to you after he’s seen the picture

the response you get is a bunch of keyboard smashes

you call him back and he’s.. crying? kind of? he sounds choked up but he’s so drunk you wouldn’t be surprised if he actually was crying from happiness

he’s much more willing to listen to you after seeing cracker and keeps telling you how cute she is and it sounds like he’s trying to stand up from wherever he is from the shuffling on the other end of the call

then there’s more shuffling and another voice, much more sober, comes through the receiver

“im so sorry, whoever you are. jeno’s a mess. im taking him home now, im his roommate, he’s ok. bye.”

and the call ends

you go to sleep, still a little worried for jeno, but your worries are quashed when you wake up because jeno has texted you again

much more sober and embarrassed

[11:57am, UNKNOWN]: im so sorry omg

[11:57am, UNKNOWN]: you must hate me haha

[11:57am, UNKNOWN]: i got too drunk sorry you can block my number if you want

[11:57am, UNKNOWN]: thank u for the cat pictures tho im a big fan

your heart warms at the texts because he seems to feel guilty and it’s endearing, and then you smile when you read the text about your cat

you reply telling him it’s ok, you’re not mad at all and you’re glad he got home safe, but how did he get your number? you’ve never spoken before?

he explains that he has memory of drunk jeno asking renjun for your number, to which he was bluntly rejected and told no, and then asked around the party for who has your number until he stumbled upon someone who gave it to him with a wink

[13:10pm, JENO?]: i think people think i was trying to make a move on you haha

jeno apologises about twelve more times throughout the conversation and you tell him it’s ok every time

and ask if a picture of cracker will make him feel better

…to which he responds yes instantly

and from then on even though you and jeno barely know each other, your only connection renjun and now your cat, a bond formed

jeno would text you at random times with random messages asking for a picture of cracker

and if you were able to you were more than happy to oblige

renjun thought it was really weird that you two became almost..friends… just through occasionally texting and sending pictures of an animal to him

jaemin initially thought jeno finally got a significant other since whenever he’d look at him jeno would be smiling at his phone, texting with quick fingers to respond to whoever he was talking to

renjun broke jaemin’s heart when he told him jeno was happy over a cat

but he pieced it back together when he mentioned the owner of the cat was an attractive female

this goes on for several months before one day you receive a text saying there’s a package available to be picked up for you? and you’re like? Who

so you go pick it up and when you get back to your dorm you cautiously open it to find an array of cat treats and cat toys

there’s even a little post-it note with a cute message for cracker

to cracker, the best kitty cat in all the land! im your biggest fan!! –jeno :)

you can’t help but smile at the post-it, your cheeks heating and a small riot of butterflies in your stomach

you chide yourself because you really don’t know this boy, if you think about it, and you shouldn’t be getting feelings over someone you’ve only ever spoken to in person once or twice

and the post-it was written to your cat, not you..so..

you glare slightly at cracker as she sniffs and noses at the treats on the table

but then take pictures of her with her mountain of gifts and send it to jeno with a bunch of heart emojis

jeno, eating lunch with his friends at the time, instantly smiles and blushes at your response, replying with smiley faces

jaemin, nudging jeno: that your gf?

renjun: if it’s the damn cat jeno i swear to god

jeno: uh

jeno doesn’t bother mentioning that although the cat pictures were cute, he was happier about the hearts you sent to him

a week later, you have another package delivery

its jeno again

the week after, another package. Jeno

the week after that, yet another package. who? jeno.

this goes on for at least another two months

you’re stocked on treats for cracker to last you the next several years

enough toys that your dorm is covered constantly, as if you own a toddler instead of a cat

your roommate thinks it’s the cutest thing ever that jeno is doing this and is CONVINCED that jeno is doing it for YOU, not for cracker

you, with red cheeks and looking at the floor to avoid eye contact: shut up u know nothing

until

it’s a dark day, a dark night, looming dark clouds stuck in the sky that threaten to unleash downpours at any second

and you’ve just left the vet that isn’t too far from your dorm

cracker isn’t with you

it was sudden, so abrupt you didn’t have time to process everything and you’re still slightly dazed

when you get back to your dorm your roommate is there, sitting with cups of tea ready for whatever you want to give her

she notices the absence of your best friend and understands instantly, hugging you gently as you lean into her and break down

cracker had fallen ill suddenly, by no fault of your own, and when you reached the vet you were already in tears with a tight stomach, as if you knew what was coming

the vet told you with sad eyes the best option was to leave cracker with her and let her do what she has to, to save cracker a lot of pain

after a teary but warm goodbye, you saw cracker for the last time

the following day, at such bad timing it felt like the world was laughing at you, you receive another package from jeno

you pick the package up but don’t open it

you ask your roommate to inform that stupid pet instagram about cracker, a bitter tone to your voice

even though cracker was your cat and so her death shouldn’t be anyone else’s business, you knew people would start asking questions if cracker no longer appeared on the page

you assume jeno will see the account’s post about the loss of cracker and he does, sending you a short but sweet message saying cracker was the best cat ever, which she was, and that she lived the best life with the best owner, which she did

you don’t reply though, too choked up to look at the message for too long

jeno asks renjun about you every day and a week or two later he’s glad to hear you’re feeling much better and are getting back into routine

one night, a friday, you’re in your dorm typing an essay when you hear a faint meow

you instantly ignore it, putting it down to you still not being quite used to complete silence in your dorm

but then you hear it again, and again, and it doesn’t sound like cracker’s meows

it sounds smaller, weaker almost, and like its coming from right outside your door

even though you’re still slightly convinced that you’re going insane you walk towards your door

you open it tentatively and just enough that you can use one eye to look into the hallway

and there

is a little black kitten

staring up at you

it’s the smallest thing, all black with bright green eyes that look too big for it’s body

and it lets out the same meow you had been hearing that you thought you were imagining

you open your door fully, bending down to gently pet the kitten and look around the hallway to find who left the kitten here

you scan the hallway a couple of times before you notice a head of black hair peeking from the end of the hallway, their eyes wide when you make eye contact with them

slowly, the person steps out from the wall they were hid behind to approach you

it’s jeno

you’re still in shock when he reaches you, and you just stare up at him with an open mouth

“do you like him?”

the words bring you back to earth and you nod before looking at the kitten again, asking, “is he mine?”

jeno nods and smiles widely, “all yours.”

you stand up with the kitten in your arms, the soft creature already snuggling and getting comfortable in your arms, “are you sure?”

jeno giggles at you and you realise he’s much more attractive than you remember, so handsome it makes you flustered

“the second i saw him i thought he’d be perfect for you. there’s something special about him.” jeno shrugs

when you look at the kitten again you repeatedly say thank you to jeno

you’re so surprised by this gift you’re not quite sure what to do with yourself

or what this means

but jeno seems to understand that even though you’re thankful you’re not sure where to go from here

so when he reaches over to very lightly smooth his fingertips over the kitten’s head, he says

“i thought this kitten could be our child. you can have full custody, though. i’ll just stay over on the weekends.”

and you can’t believe what you just heard

your child? stay over at the weekend?

you laugh a little in disbelief

“what does any of that even mean?”

jeno forces out a laugh and jiggles his shoulders slightly as if to compose himself

“this is my, obviously terrible, attempt at asking you on a date.”

oh

you’re in shock all over again, and jeno reaches behind his head to scratch his neck awkwardly

“i mean- you don’t have to. im not forcing you to-though the cat makes it seem like i am, doesn’t it? i don’t mean it like that, i swear. the kitten is yours i promise-“

when jeno sees you smiling at him he stops talking, eyebrows furrowed to show he doesn’t quite understand why you’re looking at him like that

“i’d love to go on a date with you, jeno.”

jeno nods at you several times as he processes the words, then says “great!” with a thumbs up

you smile at each other then, and it’s a warm atmosphere with the sleeping small kitten in your arms

after your first date, and many others, jeno, true to his word, starts staying over on the weekends to look after the kitten

by that i mean he uses the kitten and his ‘custody’ over him to stay over and cuddle with you

even if it means he sneezes aggressively every five minutes

[nevillelongsbottom]

congrate on the milestone!!! im so happy for you :D! i was thinking about draco x viktor in a quidditch setting? whenever u can of course! ily thank you!

okay so this is probably not quite the quidditch setting you were envisioning but i hope you like it anyway!

draco has to retire from quidditch just half a decade in

it’s a sport of innumerable dangers, though mostly these dangers include: accidentally smashing into another player, being pelted by bludgers, falling off one’s broom, being knocked off one’s broom, etc. 

and draco has taken a few too many hits too soon; nobody lasts long in professional quidditch, and all he’s taken from it is a new limp, for which he now walks with an eagle-headed cane in an effort to look as regal and elegant as possible

but the feeling of emptiness that drew him into quidditch in the first place is still there now that he’s holed back up in malfoy manor again, with nothing to do but read through the family’s dusty books and take up further latin tutelage 

“macte virtutesic itur adastra,” says the aeneid 

when the owl comes, draco doesn’t bother replying before packing his things and arriving at hogwarts; it twinkles in the twilight sunshine, and he finds his way with practised ease to the headmistress’s office

“for a year only,” she says, sitting rigidly still whilst draco taps his fingers against the silver of the eagle on his cane, “or possibly longer, if this works out well, we have decided to expand the quidditch program in hogwarts. we would like it to be made accessible to more students, culminating in an exchange program with beauxbatons, and therefore we need more support and tutoring for pupils involved within quidditch”

and this is how, somehow, draco malfoy, ex-quidditch star, returns to hogwarts, finding himself sharing a room with similar ex-quidditch star viktor krum

viktor is quiet, and neat, and keeps himself to himself: his side of the room is neat and his suitcase unpacks itself, his shirts folding out into drawers and his books sorting themselves onto shelves in alphabetical order

“you, too?” draco asks as he sorts his own clothes away - by hand, now, because it takes more time than magic (and passing the time is important to him now that he’s so infernally bored) 

viktor glances up. “i broke bones,” he says, unflinchingly, “too many times”

viktor is that kind of sadistic quidditch coach, draco soon discovers, that makes students run countless laps around the field, which allows draco plenty of time to sit and eat his lunch in front of them, making stoic eye contact with sad-looking hufflepuffs as he eats his intricately-made sandwiches 

(this is, he supposes, better than when he peered out the window earlier to find oliver wood and marcus flint screaming and hurling bludgers at terrified fleeing students) 

(they both take their quidditch training... a little too seriously)

“and what part of this is actually helping the students with quidditch?” draco asks; viktor glances over, and in a rare show of emotion, smirks for a whole half-second

“no part of it helps,” he says. “they should just learn discipline” 

draco laughs

that, he can get behind

viktor is, indeed, disciplined himself: he’s nothing like pansy or blaise or any of draco’s old slytherin friends, and eats quietly, paying no heed to anyone around him, and when he’s stopped by a student for an autograph, simply smiles politely and bends down to sign one

all draco gets, of course, is “are you harry potter’s greatest rival?” 

“people remember you,” viktor says later. “that’s important, isn’t it?”

and draco has to conclude that, after all he’s done, he supposes being remembered is some kind of strange gratitude 

though, as the weeks go past, him and viktor mostly become notorious for working the students hard - but at least, draco hears murmured in the corridor, they don’t try to kill us

he finds half the students after one of the flintwood lessons down at the greenhouses, where neville, taken on as a teaching assistant, is dabbing at their wounds with this and that plant

“i remember wood,” he’s telling a first year as draco peers through the door, “he was crazy about quidditch. he used to stay up all night coming up with strategies, and he kept coming into our dorm to wake harry up at stupid times in the morning...” 

neville glances up, suddenly, sensing draco as he crosses the threshold into the greenhouse; for a brief moment, he looks alarmed before settling back into himself, remembering that he’s twenty-something and chopped off the head of voldemort’s rather threatening snake horcrux and so can most definitely deal with draco malfoy

“hi, malfoy,” he says, sending the first year he was treating off with a pat on the back 

“hello, longbottom,” draco says tentatively, avoiding any of the plants that look even vaguely carnivorous. “practise that bad, was it?”

“apparently so,” neville chuckles. “though your students all come and complain that you make them run too much”

“oh, trust me, it’s all viktor’s idea and i find it rather enjoyable to watch them run around for a while,” draco says, eyeing the listening students, who shrink back in alarm at the thought of further running drills. “i wondered if i could speak to you”

“i’ll finish up here first, and then we can talk,” neville says, still nervously; he’s quick, though, moving through the battered students with surprising ease that his clumsy hands never used to achieve 

they move through to the second greenhouse, where neville feeds a few plants as draco talks

“it’s viktor. i think i’m...” he pauses. “slightly enamoured?” 

neville glances up. “enamoured?” 

“i like him,” draco clarifies

“i got that,” says neville. “but - viktor krum? i thought you’d want to go for someone, you know, more like you”

“he’s like me,” draco scoffs, “just... quieter. possibly not as rich. but i don’t know how to ask him out - or, merlin, if i should.” he sighs. “this is such a mistake”

“not really,” neville says. “if you like him, then i guess, you should.” he crosses his arms for a moment, looking thoughtful. “maybe you should just ask him out. i think he’d like the honesty”

draco looks horrified. “what? just ask would you like to go out with me?” neville nods. “absolutely not! how... common”

“it’s common because it’s the easiest way to do it,” neville points out. “come on. if you like him, you should at least try. maybe butter him up by shouting at the students so that he doesn’t have to?”

draco rolls his eyes, scrunching his hair, but he has to admit-

with all his infatuation-

longbottom has a point

“thank you,” he says. “i think i will try tomorrow”

neville smiles. “good luck,” he says, and draco thinks exactly the same to himself