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minnophee-writes · 8 months ago

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His Judgement

A/N: Been in such a Dead by Daylight fixation that I don't think it can be stopped. Pyramid Daddy can smash, I don't care - don't @ me. It was a great crime that BHVR took his ass away from us! Also, I wrote this fic while listening to 'Insanely Illegal Cage Fight' by Dal Av + Jackson Rose. For some reason it gave Pyramid Head vibes. This isn't beta read so any grammar and/or spelling mistakes are my own.

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Pairings: Pyramid Head x Female Reader

Fic Warnings: Character death, blood, violence, betrayal, slight angst, blade / knife, death, dub-con touching, dub-con, smaller female / taller man, size difference, hair-pulling (brief), dark smut, injuries, mating press, long tongue action / tongue fucking (brief) / tongue deepthroating, claiming, breeding, squirting (brief), creampie, (🔞MDNI this fic is for ADULTS! Begone minors🔞)

Summary: When things go from bad to worse during a trial against the Executioner, Reader finds herself standing face-to-face with the large killer himself, ready to accept whatever judgement he deems fit to bestow upon her. However the situation doesn't seem to go as she suspected.

Word Count: 4,311 words

Taglist: @stygianoir

You grabbed onto the hips of Feng and dragged her off the hook, her groans of pain audiable but she tried to quieten them as you herded her behind a large rock to mend her wound. Blood oozed from the gaping hole in her right shoulder but you worked quickly to bandage the injure to slow, and hopefully, stop the blood. Feng nodded to you in thanks before you guided her toward the generator that you were working on before going to her aid.

The realm the entity chose for this trial just so happened to be the Midwich Elementary School, the home of one of the most terrifying killers in the entity's realm. It didn't help that the entity wanted to rub salt in the wound and have the killer actually be the Executioner, he was known to be ruthless during trials, showing no mercy, and defying the entity's rules by outright slaughtering people in these sick, twisted matches. Feng was able to run the large man but he managed to outplay her, ensnaring her within his trail of barbed wire - also known as his 'Trail of Torment'. You had taken shelter in a locker nearby when the Executioner placed her on the hook.

Rushing footsteps startled you and Feng, the sudden appearance of Yun-Jin Lee panting and breathing heavily should have been the first sign to let you know of the oncoming danger yet you and Feng continued working on the generator, now with the help of an anxious Yun-Jin Lee. Everything was quiet for a moment, the only sounds were the generator pistons powering up when you noticed Yun-Jin Lee glancing behind Feng for a few seconds before pushing Feng and running off in the posite direction. You stared after the suspicious woman in confusion and agitation when the sound of Feng's scream caught your attention. The looming figure of the hulking Executioner had pierced his heavy weapon into Feng's torso, the tip of the knife sunk deep in her stomach while her arms scrambled for purchase, rapid gasps left her lips and her eyes were wide in absolute fear.

Time seemed to operate in slow motion, your brain now just processing that Yun-Jin Lee sacraficed Feng to the killer to save herself and fled, leaving you to fend for yourself once he was done punishing Feng. Your heart lurched in sorrow and disappointment, more so disappointed in yourself for not having seen the large killer coming toward them, maybe you could've saved the poor woman - if only Yun-Jin Lee hadn't just selfishly pushed Feng toward her death.

Feng turned her head toward you as her arms weakened in strength, her eyes pleading for something that was not an option, something you couldn't give her. The Executioner yanked his knife from her body before driving it back in, a dark puddle of blood and barbed wires appeared around Feng and devoured her into the ground, taking her and leaving no evidence that she was ever there. Your heart skipped a beat, seeing someone you viewed as a close friend, due to being in many trials together and forming a bond, hurt you deep down and caused tears to slightly blur your vision. The scraping of metal on metal brought you back to the present and you're terrified eyes stared at the large killer a few feet from you, his triangular helmet looking in your direction - his helmet tilting slightly to the side as he seemed to glare you down.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline your body shot into action, you quickly spun around on your heels and sprinted in the last place you saw Yun-Jin Lee and prayed for the best. Your legs carrying you down a flight of stairs and turning down a long corridor, your lungs struggling to intake oxygen and vision slightly unfocusing from how hard you were pushing your body to work in running away from danger. By the time you had reached the end of the corridor you pressed your back against the steel wall and attempted to collect yourself. You didn't hear any heavy footsteps coming after you, and a timid glance down the direction you had just come from proved that the Executioner wasn't pursuing you. You seemed to be in the clear.

A breath of relief escaped your lips before a faint whistle caught your attention, your head turned to the right to see David waving you over into a classroom he was holed up in. You rushed over to him, glad to see a friendly, familiar face, and agreed to help him on his generator. You were tempted to tell David about what Yun-Jin Lee did to Feng, how she willingly sacraficed a teammate - a friend, to the killer and left you for dead just to save her own skin, but you thought against it. Your main concern and goal was to repair the generators so you could get the hell out. The elementary school chilled you to the bone, the disarray of everything in the school and classrooms - they they all left in a rush, almost as if they were quickly evacuated unerved you to no end. So your main motivation on completing your generator tasks were because some of the realms absolutely creeped you out. As the third piston started to pick up speed the woman that had caused you grief appeared in the doorway, making her way arogantly to the other side of the generator, acting as if she hadn't just betrayed a teammate.

An occasional spark would fly as the three of you worked on the gen, the progress slow but surely going, David giving quick glances at the only doorway in and out of the classroom. Your nerves were on alert for any sign of the Executioner, waiting for his sudden arrival and hoping to be able to distract the killer long enough for David to get out of dodge. Any creak or groan from the steel structure had your head turning behind you and toward the door in search for the large man but was greeted with nothing which only calmed your racing heart slightly. Your eyes took note of the vault window on the other side of the classroom which led into the other, a good escape route in case the killer were to appear and block the doorway. David must have seen you looking at it and gave you a subtle nod, acknowledging your find and piecing together two wires which completed the generator, the engine running smoothly now and the three of you made a slow approach to the window vault in the classroom. You were first in the line, then David, leaving Yun-Jin Lee to carry the back but as you neared the vault the loud, piercing sound of metal scraping across metal brought their attention to the classroom doorway.

The bloodied image of the Executioner almost seemed to freeze the trio, his shadow loomed and seemed to swallow the entire room before he then took thundering steps toward you. Yun-Jin Lee rushed passed you and David, shoving the both of you toward the killer while she vaulted the crumbled opening. David lost his footing and was tumbling right into the path of the Executioner when you quickly reacted, grabbing onto David's wide forearm and pulling him back, adrenaline giving you the strength to drag David over to the vault as the killer closed the distance between you.

"Go, David! Run!" You shouted before turning around to face the large man.

His knife was embedded in the ground leaving a trail of torment, cutting off one of the paths to getting out of the classroom. You didn't want to lead the killer in the direction of David so you chose to try and run around the Executioner's left side - the one unaffected by his torment. Just when he was within arms reach you bolted to his left and rushed passed, jumping over a small section of the unforgiving trail and making a mad dash down the hallway, the killer's heavy footsteps storming after you.

He was a man on a mission, only having eyes for you, and you were hoping he would lose track of you soon because your stamina was rapidly draining, but he seemed to always know where you were going. You've run through the bottom floor before attempting to lose chase upstairs, quickly turning corners before dipping into a random classroom and ducked behind an overturned table while you took the time to catch your breath. David slowly exited one of the many lockers that were lined against the wall and rushed over to you, a relieved expression painted on his face.

"Thank God you're okay! You're not hurt, right?" He then looked over your figure for any injuries.

"I'm fine, lets just focus on getting that last gen done." You got up and started to dust yourself off before looking David in the eyes with concern yet certainty after your second run-in with the untrustworthy woman, "Don't trust Yun-Jin Lee... She's the reason Feng is dead..."

"...Shit."

David looked shocked and opened his mouth to say something but the approaching march of the Executioner caused you two to run back over to the lockers and hide next to each other, hoping the beast of a man would just keep walking but those hopes were dashed away when his large figure stepped into the room. His helmet slowly scanned across the room in search for you, his eyeless gaze fell upon the lockers that you and David were hiding in, your breath hitched in anticipation. His steady stride carried him across the spacious room, your muscles growing more tense the closer he got to your lockers, when you noticed a little too late that the Executioner was looking at a different locker - the wrong locker.

The Executioner's thick arm shot out from beside his lent body and grasped the locker door and ripped it off its hinges, David's surprised shout ringing throughout the room as the larger man pulled him out of the locker, and placing him onto his wide shoulder. You bursted out of your locker and clung onto the killer's arm that seemed to put him off balance and dropping David. You grabbed David's hand and began to run away, a very angry killer hot on your heels. One of the hallways had a pallet in the middle that you knew you could use to block the Executioner and gain some distance so you made sure to head toward it, your feet carrying you faster while David kept pace and followed your every move. When the pallet was in sight a few feet away a smile started to grace your face for the first time that trial, but that all came crashing down when you noticed Yun-Jin Lee standing on the other side of the pallet, staring you dead in the face before tossing the pallet down and bolting around the corridor. Your feet stuttered for a split second before you decided that one of you were gonna have to vault the pallet first. You looked over your shoulder to see that the Executioner was a lot closer than you thought and was reeling his arm back to strike at David and your brain went into a panic.

"David, watch out!" You screamed as you pushed him ahead of you, the edge of the knife sliced into the outside of your bicep.

The flaming sting of the injury caused you to let out a squeal as you held onto your arm and made a run for the pallet, David waving encouragingly to you on the other side. Your staggered gait didn't get you far when a strong hand gripped a decent amount of your hair and pulled you back, dragging you into a warm, soild body, ripping another screamed from your lips. You heard David shout your name from where he stood before rushing back over the pallet to get to you.

"No! Let her go!" David readied up to throw a punch but the Executioner just thrust his knife upward.

The blade kissed David's skin, cutting through his button-up and exposed his chest which now displayed a deep, flowing wound from where the blade cut him. David winced and clutched his chest, a groan left his mouth as he looked back toward you. You were terrified, uncertain if anyone was going to survive, and it didn't help that the merciless killer had you in his hold and was readying up to strike David again - this time a killing blow. In a desperate attempt to save at least one of your friends this trial you decided to try begging and bargining. Right as the Executioner drew his arm back to deliever a deadily strike you clung onto the arm holding your body to his and began pleading.

"Wait, no, please!" You cried while squeezing your eyes shut, "I-I'll do anything, please... You can k-kill me right now if you want but spare him!"

You were rambling but you were hoping that the killer would at least pause long enough for David to make an escape. The Executioner slowly glared down at you through his large helmet, his head tilted in feigned thought before suddening swinging his arm overhead and implanted his knife into David's neck, blood spurted out everywhere, and his eyes bulged out while his gasps were wet and thick. Whimpers and whines left you as you watched the light fade from his eyes, his body steadily sinking to the floor before it slumped down and hit the floor with a thud. Before you could process anything you were then thrown against one of the steel walls and lifted a few feet of the ground by your throat, a large hand encased it and made it a struggle for you to take deep breaths. He stared you down while he watched you struggle to get out of his grip, his suffocating presence suddenly making you have flashes of some of the children drawings scattered around the school - some of the drawings depicted said killer in front of her, a name scribbled on top that made sense for a child; Pyramid Head. 'Seemed fitting for him', you thought brieftly.

Pyramid Head jabbed the knife into the floor next to you both before using his other hand to grope your body, using it to spread your leg to insert his hip between them and opening your legs wider. The position caused you to have to wrap your legs around his waist to try and lessen the pressure on your neck but he just placed his hand on your ass and held tight, hitching you up higher and pressed you between the wall and his solid body. A deep rumble spread from within his chest and a slick, slimy appendage timidly appeared from under the pulsing puss under the helmet before it confidently started to lick your face, covering your face in thick saliva. The tip slid across your lips a few times before forcing its way passed them, exploring your mouth and worming itself down your throat.

You let out a squeal in rejection but that didn't seem to do anything to the Executioner as he continued to thrust his tongue down your neck, sliding it back and forth, as if it got pleasure from it. His hips humped into your crotch which shot small waves of pleasure up your spine, strained moans escaped your lips while you tried to find where to place your hand before settling with clutching onto the arm that's holding you by the neck. He let go of your ass to ruck up his filthy apron to expose his pulsing cock, the tip red and leaking with pre-cum. You choked on his tongue in horror, trying to angle your hips away from him but he took that as some sort of invitation to shred your pants from your legs, your underwear disappearing with it while he rubbed his thumb against your folds in an attempt to get you wet and wanting. He retracted his tongue from your throat to then go down to your pussy, smearing his saliva over your vulva and clit, teasing your hole by probing it in exploration before plunging in deep.

You yipped from the wet intrusion of his tongue, you could feel it wriggling around inside - pushing against your spongy walls until it found your g-spot, your body eliciting a full-body spasm. Your mouth opened and closed from the onslaught of pleasure his tongue was giving you once he discovered your hidden spot deep within you, not even your toys could find it half the time and yet this large, brutal killer found it within seconds. It left you stunned more than anything else, your brain going fuzzy and all logical thought disappeared. His thumb pressed into your clit again which made you clench your pussy around his tongue, a moan left your throat at the pleasure flowing through your in waves, your body warming up from the growing arousal.

Your head flopped to the side as you let out a sigh, your eyes fluttered opened and your vision was then filled with David's cold corpse lying on the floor, his glazed eyes staring in your direction and your stomach squeezed - threatening to make you throw up any sustenence inside. You shut your eyes tightly before righting your head straight, a cool chill creeped up your spine at the mental image of your dead friend only a few inches away. Once you opened your eyes again you stared up at the helmet, hoping you were looking where his eyes may roughly be.

"Pyramind Head, please-" You managed to rasp out, "- I-I wanted you to spare him... why?"

Tears fell from your eyes and down your cheeks as you continued to look at him but you got no response, the only response you got was a deep, rumbling growl and his tongue thrusting in and out of you faster, his thumb rubbing circles on your clit rapidly as well. Your breath hitched and a loud, prolonged whine echoed around you both, your walls spasming before hot, white ecstasy burst through you - the tight knot that had quickly formed in your lower stomach suddenly snapped that caused you to drench Pyramid Head's lower sternum and tongue. A foamy, white ring surrounded the base of his appendage and smeared itself across it with each thrust, it drove him feral and the pulse in his cock couldn't be ignored anymore.

Pyramid Head thrusted his cock against your wet cunt, soaking his dick in your juices before attempting to align the tip with your twitching hole and as he steadily pushed in it stretched you in an impossibly delicious way. The moan you let out rang down the corridor but your attention wasn't on how loud you were being, your thoughts were on how big the Executioner was and how he may have ruined any other man for you and he wasn't even halfway in yet. He thrusted in a few more inches before the base of his cock was snug against your pelvis, his hips grinded on your swollen clit, your cunt clung to him from the stimulation. After giving you a brief moment to get adjusted to his cock he began to back his shaft from you before driving it back in with a deep, powerful thrust, punching noises and air from you. Each strong thrust loosened your legs from his waist and he decided to wrap his thick arms under them, he brought them up so that your ankles rested on his shoulders and the angle made it feel as though he was fucking into you deeper than before. Your nails dug into his biceps as he drilled into you, the wet sound of skin slapping skin and your meek moans were the only sounds that could be heard, his tongue hovered over your clit as a large glob of spit splattered onto it - his hips smeared and grinded it into your clit and your toes curled.

A silent scream left your lips as your pussy splashed the Executioner in your juices, your back arched sharply as the walls of your cunt throbbed intensely as it milked his cock. A rumbling groan vibrated inside his chest and his hips stuttered for a few thrusts before burying it deep within you, the tip of his cock kissing your cervix and thick, heavy ropes of cum coated your walls. His cock pulsed with each shot of cum and he gave a few small thrusts to fuck some of it into your cervix, laying claim over you by hoping to breed your fertile womb.

You let out a drawn out whine as you felt his cock slowly withdraw from your abused pussy, your gaping hole twitched as it tried to suck in the cum that slowly dripped out of it. Pyramid Head carefully set you onto the ground as he readjusted his apron, his hand grasped his weapon's handle before yanking his knife out of the floor. You lazily stared at the looming figure accepting your fate, knowing it was only going to last for so long before he killed you in painful ways only he can imagine. Your eyes closed as you waited for the final blow, hoping that he would be nice for once and show mercy with giving you a swift death yet none of that happened. You opened an eye to see what he was up to prior to opening your other eye to glance up at his still form.

A horrified gasp came from your left and you turned your head to see Yun-Jin Lee peeking around the corner, her hands covered her wide mouth and her eyes were almost popping out of her head, a disgusted and petrified looked was etched onto her features. Her eyes bore into your tired figure on the ground, too drained to even properly cover your exposed bottom when, faster than you had ever seen him move, Pyramid Head clutched a fist into the other woman's hair and threw her across the air, her body colided with the hard with a hard smack. Yun-Jin Lee yelped in distress and attempted to crawl away from him but he drove his knife into her calf, the blade sliced and shredded through her muscle and bone, and she let out a piercing scream that had you flinching away.

Yun-Jin Lee stared up at the Executioner with pleading eyes but they wouldn't reach him for he has already decided her fate. Lifting his blade high in the air he brought it down with fierce strength, swinging his weapon multiple times and created many deep, slash wounds - each one becoming more violent than the last. Pyramid Head slammed his blade across the forearm of Yun-Jin Lee, her right arm became detattched and slumped to the floor, while his foot crushed her mid-spine between him and the ground. Yun-Jin Lee was getting desperate and frantically thrashed around hoping to wiggle her way from under the intense judgement of the Executioner yet it was useless, he only put more of his heavy weight onto her spine and a cry of pain was torn from her. With two hands he raised his knife and, with the swiftest movement you've ever seen, he drove the blade into her back - a loud crack pierced through the air and a wet squelching could be heard when the knife sliced through Yun-Jin Lee.

The last of her breath escaped her dry lips before her body fell limp, her still figure stayed face down as Pyramid Head removes his weapon, from the now dead corpse, and turned his helmet toward you once again. A small feeling of dread shot through you for a split second but your brain was still foggy from the rough fucking he had given you just moments ago, and your limbs felt like they were made of lead - anytime you tried to move your arms or legs you were met with no response from your muscles. You watched as the Executioner walked over to your slumped body, examining your for a minute or two before he leant forward and wrapped an arm around you, lifting you from the ground and over his broad shoulder.

Pyramid Head started a steady gait toward one end of the corridor, his destination unknown, yet you weren't afraid of being hooked and being sacrificed to the Entity. He walked passed many hooks on his journey, your mind growing more and more confused while you watched one of the hooks fade around a corner as Pyramid Head continued on, his steps only speeding up once the howling, whimsical noise of the hatch could be heard. Pyramid Head turned quickly into a classroom, the hatch a few feet away from you both when he gently set you on your feet, his hand clutching onto your hips to steading you - and to grope you one last time. You warily glanced between the hatch and the Executioner, as if waiting for him to then crush your hopes of escape by beating you to the hatch and closing it, but he just stood there.

The Executioner subtly nodded over to the hatch, giving you a slight nudge toward it and you timidly made you way over to it. You looked back at Pyramid Head one last time and muttered a hushed thank you before disappearing into the hatch, the opening then slammed close and a black, smokey abyss surrounded the Executioner, teleporting him back into the killers realm. Somewhere in the back of his mind a faint voice promised him that within due time you'd be his, that you would become his pet and that was going to be his reward for being such a loyal being.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this fic! Make sure to like and reblog this to let me know that you want more <3 Had heaps of fun writing this and hope to write another banger soon 😎

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littlelegend-arts · 12 days ago

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So a friend sent me this picture:

(sorry, I don't have the source for it, DM me if you know the author, so I can tag them)

AND my AU loving ass went WILD with ideas.

So I present to you my thesis on "What if the entire story of Kingdom Hearts was actually a DnD campaign"

Donald was in the same campaign and he was the guy that is supposed to be the healer, but he ended up getting too excited and picking the most powerful spells that take way too much of his strength.

Sora was originally Mickey's DMPC until they found someone to play him.

The plot is so weirdly disjointed because Mickey combined his original game with the game that was being DMed by Yen Sid, who DMed for Roxas and the crew.

Roxas (or Ventus, same person in this case), Aqua and Terra were often too busy to play together, so they would play separately. 365/2 is Roxas inviting his new friendgroup to play with them - Lea (Axel) and Xion.

Xion is also friends with Sora, so they begged Yen Sid to let them do the Sora's Nobody thing. And Yen Sid liked the dramatics and let them do it.

KH 3 has so many keyblade wielders because the two campaigns/groups merged. Yen Sid and Mickey had to quickly make up more enemies for them to fight, hence the Xeanort's timetravelling shenannigans.

Kairi has the luckiest rolls, like insanely. She rolled a nat 20 to recognize Sora in KH1, for example. Her rolls are so good, in fact, that the DMs have to nerf her by constantly making her the damsel in distress because otherwise, she would make the campaign end WAY too early.

Goofy got revived that one time because he rolled nat 1 and died, but looked so sad, Mickey didn't have the heart to permakill him.

Donald's zettaflare was once in a blue moon occurrence of the unlucky Donald rolling a nat 20. The problem was that that spell ended up on his sheet because of Mickey's mistake and Mickey only noticed that after the game. They argued, but Mickey agreed to let Donald keep the spell if Donald allows him to retcon that one moment, because Terra was sad that he was one shot K/Od and he didn't get to have his emotional redemption ark.

Riku was originally the guy who makes those dark brooding types of characters who "sit in the corner of the tavern and doesn't want to talk to anyone". He would often make his character run off from the group to try and join the "dark side" or force a competition with Sora for Kairi in that creepy incel way, which was really annoying, so Mickey kicked him from the first game and made him the BBEG. Riku grew up since then and apologized to everyone for his behavior, so Mickey gave him a trial run with Dream Drop Distance. Riku did well, so he is now back and having fun with everyone.

Aqua likes survival games, death games and dungeon crawls and doesn't care too much for the group play, so Mickey tests on her a lot of the enemies he creates in one on one games, which is what happens during Birth by Sleep.

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crusty-chronicles · 1 year ago

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Hiei Courting Headcannons

In honor of the Live Action series (Even though I don't Have High Hopes For It)

Now, we all know Hiei is a very stubborn demon. Especially when it comes to his feelings. When he realized he liked you and didn't just tolerate your presence, he fought hard to deny it.

So what if he spent most of his time with you? Who cares that the first place he goes to after coming back from the demon world is your house? It didn't matter that his eyes seemed to soften whenever you were around.

No not one bit.

But the second Kurama threatened to court you himself, well Hiei couldn't just sit down and let that happen. Didn't that fox understand he shouldn't touch what wasn't his.

1. Showing off to see if you're interested

Hiei may be a demon, but he has some semblance of manners. His pride wouldn't allow him to claim you until you accepted his advances. Any creature who dared force themselves onto another was the lowest of the lowest.

So, his first step is showing off during fights.

Letting the enemy bloody him up more to show that injury didn't affect him.

Using more spirit energy than was needed to end another demon with just one blow

Stopping you from fighting because he'll "take care of it. You humans are too fragile."

He'll also use his Jagan more frequently.

You lost something?

Well look no further, he can track it down precisely and easily.

Praise him even once or say in passing he's really strong, and he'll take that as you being interested.

Even if you're just trying to be nice.

2. Wearing Richer Colors

I firmly believe Hiei courts more like a crow than the usual beast. He's sleek like one anyways.

Now if you didn't know, most birds attract mates with their bright feathers.

In Hiei's case, he'll start to wear dark, yet rich colors to get your attention.

Strength is one thing. Any low-class demon can demonstrate strength and be happy about it.

What Hiei is looking for is to see if you're attracted to him. If you find him visually appealing.

Though he's not a vain creature, he still yearns for the confirmation that him and him alone captivates you.

He'll start with darker blues. Maybe change up his cloak a little.

And when that doesn't work, he moves onto purples. Getting teased by Kurama for 'changing up his style.' But he stays determined.

Eventually moving onto a burgundy. And the way you were immediately drawn to him then made it worth it.

Relishing in your compliments on how 'the color really suits him' and 'it matches his eyes perfectly.'

Letting you grab at the fabric and inspect it until he asks why you like it so much.

"Well I always thought your eyes were pretty. It's nice to see something that reminds me of them."

He's a prideful smug bastard after that. Not even comments from Yusuke can tick him off that day.

3. Bringing You Shiny Objects

Once again, he courts like a crow.

Now that you've shown interest in him, it's time to properly start showing his affections.

Hiei isn't one for flirting or compliments. He's more prone to showing rather than telling. And in this case the way to do that is to bring you little trinkets that catch his eye.

Usually, it'll be small gems he stumbles across in demon world.

Rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. All things he knows where to find thanks to his prior occupation as a thief.

He's not trying to buy your affection. He knows you're not that vain judging by the pushback you always give when he presents you with a jewel.

No, rather he's trying to show that he can provide for you. That you'd never have to worry about scrounging around to survive as long as he was with you.

A protector and a provider.

He also notices how you treasure the less valuable items with as much fondness and care as the others.

He had asked you why you slept with a chunk of pyrite on your bedside one time. And your response let him know he wouldn't give up on pursuing you anytime soon.

"Because it was one of the first things you gave me. Don't you remember? You said something along the lines of fool's gold for a fool's heart. I think it's sweet you even got me something at all."

You didn't care about what he brought you. All that mattered was that it came from him.

If that didn't mean you accepted his advances, then he didn't know what would.

4. Scenting

Ah, yes. Back to the classics

Once you've accepted the gifts he's continuously given you, Hiei takes it as you liking him back.

He's aware human and demon courting processes are very different from one another.

But he's exactly not human, is he?

When it comes to demons, once you've accepted their advances, your mates.

In a sense, it's like dating. Only except a dissatisfied partner will kill the other in most cases.

With this in mind, Hiei happily accepts the fact you're his and immediately moves onto the final stage of courting.

Scenting you so that other demons know to back off.

Think of it as your last out if you realize what's happening and actually don't have feelings for him.

The scenting process will start with Hiei showing up to your place of residence and staying with you.

Not yet following you around, but making sure to spend time in each room.

If he has to leave somewhere, he'll leave either an article of clothing or his sword.

It confuses you at first and you think maybe he just trusts you.

But you start to think otherwise when he starts getting touchy.

Laying in your lap and ordering you to stay still, only to find out he's fallen asleep on you.

Or letting his face rest against the crook of your neck. Which you didn't mind all that much.

It was quite funny to see someone as tough as Hiei become completely docile around you.

You weren't too worried until he followed you out when you went to buy groceries.

"You don't like being around people. Don't you wanna stay home until I get back?" You asked him.

"I've already shown you that you're a very fragile creature compared to me. It's best I accompany you so you don't hurt yourself."

Usually you would have argued back, but it was clear something was off with him.

These past few months had been strange with him either trying to get your attention or trying to stay directly next to you.

You wouldn't figure out what it was until your other three friends showed up.

Kuwabara wanting to have a movie night and you offering your home to do it.

When the three of them arrived, you noticed Kurama and Yusuke hesitate by the entrance.

"Something wrong?" You questioned.

" I can't put my finger on it, but something's telling me I shouldn't go in." Yusuke responded.

Unawares it was Hiei's scent warding him off.

But Kurama knew. He'd known since you opened the door.

It seems Hiei had staked his claim on you.

Yet judging by your calm demeanor, you didn't know that yet.

"Have you noticed Hiei acting strange lately?" Kurama asked.

"Yes! I thought I was the only one. He's been really clingy. I mean at first it was odd he kept bringing me stuff like gems, but then he started following me around like a house cat. It's endearing, but honestly what's going on with him?" You ranted. Prompting a laugh from the redhead.

"I see. Good luck on your new relationship."

Before you could question him about what he meant, a gentle grip around your waist stopped you.

"What're you doing inviting these fools to our home. You know how long it took me to get rid of their scent the first time? It's like you want me to start the whole courting process all over again."

Courting?

Oh.

You couldn't say you minded now that you knew what was actually going on.

#yu yu hakusho x reader #hiei yu yu hakusho #hiei jaganshi #hiei x reader #x reader #yyh hiei #hiei courting headcannons

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baobaojng · 2 months ago

Text

Celeste (Jeong Jaehyun) - part one

celeste (jeong jaehyun)

jeong jaehyun (king jaehyun) x (afab! princess) reader

themes: slowburn, angst, fluff, (eventual) smut + fantasy au! + pleeeenty world building as we go along

some notes: reader and jaehyun have a bit of an age gap (jaehyun is older), the timeline is all over the place... please bear with me :)

☼ summary: in the land of Celeste, the King of Sol has waged war to bring back his beloved, war only stops when one day you return— but the secrets only begin to unfold.

a/n: i do not permit the use of this fic for anything else. this work is mine and mine alone. these premises and characters are entirely fictional and do not intend to paint anyone in a bad light.

wordcount: 8,527

part one, part two,

author’s masterlist

The Age of Sol was a time of hunger.

Though the land of Celeste had been built on countless wars, none had ravaged all the kingdoms quite like this. When the young King of the Kingdom Sol waged war against the Kingdom of Okeanos, chaos ensued. Each kingdom of the land left to declare their alliance to the King of Sol, or join his declared enemy and defy the strength of the sun.

Many had given into their greed, interests benefitting their own domains fueling their thirst to take the opportunity to rise to greater power. These men were not of the ordinary lot, each line of each kingdom blessing them with their own strengths— despite all that power, nothing was quite as strong as the blood of man that flowed through them.

There was a human hunger to all their cores, wanting to be fed by the glory of their dominance. It was simplistic, and any intelligent lot would have realized the dangers of giving into the contingencies of war, but nothing was quite as tempting than the promise of authority.

But no hunger was quite as strong as that of the young King, for his hunger was not of putrid anger nor that of the lust of power, but a human longing. A hunger his heart wanted to feed.

It seemed after six long years of the war, even as he remained so gloriously victorious, his hunger could not be fed. The war would either be stopped by the saving grace of his mercy, or all kingdoms would cease to know completion - only knowing ruin.

the fifth year of the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom of Luna:

In the small Kingdom of Luna, on the fifth year of the Age of Sol, a still body of a woman that had fallen into a deep slumber had finally awaken.

There’s a strange cold sensation at your feet, it seems to be the first thing you feel when light slowly enters your eyes as you begin to wake.

“Heavens! Oh, heavens!” You see an unfamiliar handmaiden who seems to be cleaning at your feet scream, alerting more unfamiliar faces to go into the chambers of your bright white room.

This was the Kingdom of Luna, no other place could be mistaken for it as its architecture so distinct from the rest. The only Holy kingdom in all of the eleven, said to have been kissed by the moon itself— a kingdom most gently bright. It was the last place you remember journeying to, until you fell into darkness.

“Where am I?” You ask the still shaking handmaiden, her disbelief utterly visible through her shaking hands. It seems as though she had been flooded with relief. Of course you knew which kingdom this was, but you were silently pleading with her to give you more clarity in that moment.

“You are in your bedchambers, Princess. You have been in slumber for five summers now you see. If I recall correctly you arrived in our kingdom during the last days of spring those five year ago.” She gave you an answer that was more than you had asked.

You had been in a sleep-like state for five years, it was something you could not comprehend— after all, you expected to fall into death’s arms to never wake again.

“I… I do not know what to say…” You are able to speak, sitting up. You expect there to be pain, but none of it comes, you do not feel like you have been gone for five years - your body seems to be working just fine.

Before the handmaiden can comfort you, Hendery hurriedly enters your chambers, “Princess!” Your Knight has tears streaming down his face, his face flushed with disbelief.

“Hendery?” You ask, “What is happening?” You see your own reflection on his silver armor, he seems to be donning the seal of the Kingdom of Luna instead of your own Kingdon of Gaia, but that is not what continues to occupy your thoughts.

You see only a fraction of your reflection, it seems your once raven hair had turned silver white.

“Hendery? What has happened?” You look down at the long strands, your voice trembling at the sight.

Hendery sighs, “should we take a walk in the temple grounds, Princess?”

the sixth year of the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom Sol:

“Are you certain that the Prince of Okeanos will follow through with his word?” Prince Mark of the Kingdom Hermes asked, seated on the right side of the King of Sol, their conversation barely understandable from two arm’s length away. The noise of the banquet hall filling the room as people from all the land arrive.

“He did mention that he’d give the King a good reason to end the war, I don’t take you for a fool dear old pal, but I wouldn’t have agreed to those terms.” Prince Johnny of the Kingdom Tyr commented, seated on the King’s left. Prince Johnny wasn’t afraid to hide his suspicions, coming from the kingdom that thrived on perfecting the art of war. “As impatient you may be at Hermes, Prince Mark, it may not be a question of certainty.”

The King of Sol laughs, “you two worry so.” He reassures. “We’ve reduced Okeanos to desolation, all their allies have slowly turned their allegiances to my crown. The state of their oceans as barren as deserts.” His expressions turns dark. “If he says he’ll give me a reason to end this war that only left him with the short end of the stick, I’m inclined to believe him.”

Before any of the two can interject, the King of Sol stands from his seat. He raises his chalice to the room, “we make a toast to the Age of the Sun. To the Age of Sol!"

He is met with the blasting boisterous sounds of laughter and praise, for nine kingdoms have gathered. All but three are not in attendance, and it is their allegiance that remains murky to the crown of Sol.

It takes no longer than a few counts for the trumpets to sound the arrival of a new kingdom in attendance. A herald announces loud and clear, “Prince Muhan of Okeanos has arrived!”

His anticipated guest is here, no air of pride in his stride or the stride of his companions. Though this came to be expected of the prince that ruled the domain of water after his defeat in the war, there was something missing.

“King Jaehyun.” Prince Muhan kneels, much to the shock of everyone in the banquet hall. The war has dragged on for six long years, never did anyone expect that it would end in this way - seemingly peaceful and less climactic.

The formalities do not entertain Jaehyun, he was growing impatient.

“I trust you know I am not much of a patient man, Prince Muhan,” Jaehyun responds.

“Yes, you wiped our domains almost clean in the shortest time any war had ever happened.” Muhan affirms, remaining knelt. It was only out of the respect of war that he recognized defeat. “I am lucky my head is not on a stake as you’d previously preferred.”

“So… Where is this grand reason you hope I’d finish this war? Surely you are not willing to disappoint a room full of royals from all over all kingdoms of Celeste?” The tension in the room rises, as there is a radiant heat permeating the room, Jaehyun’s emotions akin to the sun’s heat.

“Not all kingdoms, your highness.” Prince Taeyong of Ashtaroth says, seated next to Prince Mark. The kingdoms Luna and Gaia are not in attendance.

The trumpets sound once more.

“Delegates from the Kingdom Luna!” The Herald announces once more, filling the room with complete silence.

The people of the Kingdom Luna were left untouched during the war; their holy grounds kept free of any bloodshed through all ages of man. Their land and their people were sacred, kept only to themselves and never elsewhere.

While other kingdoms had harnessed and boasted the powers from which their kingdoms were named: Sol being of the people of the sun, Hermes the people of communication and journey, Ashtaroth of desire and beauty, Gaia of life, Tyr of war and strength, Jove of justice, Kronos of harvest, Aether of the sky, and Okeanos of the water. Luna anchored the land to divinity, never blinded to each version of conceit that corrupted the other kingdoms.

There are whispers, wondering what this had meant. Jaehyun had been smart enough to figure out that this was Muhan’s bargaining chip.

One by one in an organized fashion, more graceful and choreographed than any man lined up on the frontlines of war, the people of Luna enter the room in their whitest silks.

Six years of war come across as a thought that scrambles through the young king’s mind, six years of almost senseless wrath, and he wonders what the kingdom that did not cross his mind once had that could make up for those six long years.

Was this some cruel joke? One he could not deal with using violence or force? The heavens know that his heart was driven to war because there was no other God to turn to in his time of need. His heart beats significantly faster, much to the disdain of everyone in the hall the heat only gets worse as he cannot control the feeling that bubbles inside of him.

It’s only when you walk into the room that the heat fades and a lightness replaces it instead.

It is you, but it appears not, your hair a perfect white glimmering silver— as if now you are the moon herself. So far removed from how he remembers you had looked like.

Were you a ghost? Perhaps an apparition appearing at this very time of intensity. You don’t seem to be a ghost of his own delusion, as it seems that everyone is as presently shocked as he is to see you.

You kneel next to Prince Muhan, “my king.” you say, and that’s what it takes to make him know you’re real.

four years before the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom Ashtaroth:

Balls in the Kingdom Ashtaroth were as frequent as they came.

Beauty was something of an art that they incessantly perfected, but nothing was quite as exciting for them to host grand events to bring out the beauty of other kingdoms. Prince Taeyong and his younger brothers Prince Ten and Price Jaemin had mentioned once that although beauty was something they knew they possessed, nothing was quite so enthralling that marveling at the beauty of others. You do like to believe that they only use that as an excuse to stir up gossip, it seemed those two things worked hand in hand in this kingdom.

No ball was as exciting as this, for this was the first appearance of the Princess of Gaia after coming into her eighteenth year.

“It seems we are promised with not just life this year.” Prince Ten comments, the three princes of the Kingdom looking down at the courtyard full of guests talking and drinking. The music was still subdued, the dancing reserved for later when the hosts would feel like everybody was appropriately intoxicated.

“You speak in poems brother, life— Princess Y/N of Gaia will surely be a spectacle.” Prince Jaemin rolls his eyes.

“Lest we forget she has silently been promised to the Prince of Okeanos.” Ten responds, “perhaps eyes of interest are unwelcome to a woman guarding her virtue when it is something of common knowledge that it is promised to another.”

“Perhaps you have been drinking the wine behind our backs, or maybe the ale you’ve been drinking has come to spoil.” Jaemin shoves his older brother, they both laugh.

Taeyong has been listening to their conversation, “you joke brothers, but no real promises between Muhan and Y/N have been made. Only jokes and pushes about how close the two had seemed when they were younger, being of the same age as well.”

Something catches the eldest prince’s eyes.

“Where the Princess Y/N’s true heart lies, well, that may be cause for much debate…” Prince Taeyong’s gaze leads to the newly crowned King of Sol, arriving just in time to allow his own conjecture to be made in secret, “or maybe it may be the cause of war.” He whispers to himself, gazing upon your arrival coming soon after the king.

Below the view of the three princes of Ashtaroth, the young King of Sol’s thoughts are filled with much dismay.

The noise of chatter cannot contest to the noise present in his own mind— for he does not care so much for the ornaments embellishing Ashtaroth in this moment. Much it may come to the dismay of the gracious hosts. He does not care for the mindless conversation, simply excuses to take control over another and rope them into seduction.

Functions like these serve the more simple-minded, formal gatherings made to feed the desire to gossip, make alliances, and entertain romance. This was not supposed to be his top priority as a newly crowned king, but in the name of alliances - he has come to establish his presence. The propriety of his title meant he had to tolerate the social season.

Though, he cannot say he completely dislikes all these balls, there were a few things that he could tolerate. And there were very few things he was fond of, not that he would say that aloud or tell a soul.

Few of the things he could tolerate, were of course, his friends.

“Old pal!” Prince Johnny makes his way over to Jaehyun, “or should I be calling you your highness the great young King of Sol?” He jokes, and it earns a laugh from Jaehyun.

“My Overlord would be preferable, but I suppose you cannot do much better than that.” Jaehyun is able to joke and it earns some hearty laughter.

“Have you seen Mark or Taeyong anywhere in this mess? I cannot understand what this ball is for.” Johnny asks.

Jaehyun tuts, “as if any of these balls are made with much thought or care. You are not meant to understand them.”

“Spoken truly like a king, so unimpressed by it all.” Johnny teases. “Try to enjoy these moments dear friend, you’ll worry more about more important matters when the glue on the crown hardens. Then suddenly menial balls such as these are a distant memory of rest.”

“Easier to say than to put into action.”

“Please don’t be so sour, be a wonderful young king and indulge in the ale and the allure of Ashtaroth! We are in the kingdom of beauty!” Johnny hands him a cup and nearly forces him to drink it all in one go, the two already in a clause to drink themselves over this whole thing.

“Oh! Oh no Prince Johnny please do not consume it all!” A female voice cuts in.

Of course it’s you, Jaehyun hasn’t had the pleasure to speak with you all that long or all that often but he remembers your voice no matter how it has bloomed into maturity. You were the only princess of all kingdoms, always so endorsed to be proposed to as the best possible prospect of a wife. Only daughters of high lords, dukes, earls, and viscounts were eligible - but none compare to the Princess of Gaia. The kingdom of life offering prosperity like none other.

Prince Johnny of course, was a fool so stubborn so strong so unwavering in all the force of his wrath, but Jaehyun knew that nothing could soften his friend quite like a beautiful woman. And that you were. Jaehyun knew it ever since you were both were very young.

Jaehyun pauses, and Johnny almost positively spits into his cup.

“Princess, what do we owe the pleasure of your concern.” Johnny stops, the tall man losing composure.

“Prince Ten told me that they positively put aphrodisiacs in the ale, apparently it makes you temporarily… physically infatuated with the person you see right after you consume a glassful.” You explain. “I apologize for the interruption.”

“See it was more of a warning, Johnny. I’m sure the princess has better cause for concern than two fools like us.” Jaehyun says, and your timid eyes carefully examine him. He feels a nervousness, but he does not make it obvious.

You however, look shocked that Jaehyun was part of the conversation.

“My king,” she curtseys, “how disrespectful of me.”

“Please.” he feels a flush go straight to his ears— suddenly thankful that his hair was now long enough to cover them, not to give away his obvious feelings. You had called him your king. “Please skip the formalities, Princess.”

Johnny rolls his eyes, too shallow to notice Jaehyun’s flustered state but oh so heavily offended. “Why is it that when I called you king, you demanded be called Overlord at my expense? If it weren’t our beautiful Princess Gaia, anyone would be met by your awful disposition—“ Johnny clutches a hand to his chest, feigning hurt.

“Yes, the awful disposition of my friendship, Johnny. Do not take offense.” Jaehyun cuts him off. “If anyone deserves respect in this room it is the Princess Gaia.” Jaehyun respectfully points and you stand there, now equally as flustered as he. “Princess, I believe a congratulations is due.”

“Whatever for?” You wonder.

“A lady’s eighteenth year is quite important in this society I suppose, and an even bigger deal in the shoes you have to fill. I’m congratulating you for all of the things you have accomplished, and the things I know you will.” It’s a reassurance, one he knew you needed. It surely wasn’t easy being the only princess in the entire land of Celeste.

“I do not know what to say. It is an honor to hear such praise, your highness.” You almost complete another curtsey, stopping yourself halfway because you know he’d try to correct you. Suddenly you laugh to yourself and it’s a pleasant sound for Jaehyun to hear.

“It is a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance after all of these years.” He says, and there is a sudden realization that drawls. You’d seen each other as children, though he was five years older than you, but never had you spoken more than a few words of greeting.

“And it has been a pleasure for me to this rather gawky conversation.” Johnny says, obviously entertained. Johnny does not need to say that he understands what is blossoming.

The night goes by, Jaehyun typically brooding from corner to corner - allowing passive conversation. He cannot help but quietly set his gaze toward you the entire night, noticing the hawks that surround you. Everyone taking turns tempting you into conversation, or trying to impress you in the most loutish ways.

Taeyong appears next to him at some point, catching the king stare at you and how you gracefully turn each man down. Jaehyun’s brows furrowing at the sight of you welcoming Muhan’s company.

“Don’t deceive yourself with jealousy, your highness.” Taeyong says.

“You must dissuade yourself from believing I am, dear friend.” Jaehyun coughs, surprised he was caught. “I’ve only ever spoken to her during this night.”

“Something tells me you’ll speak to her again.”

fourteen days hence, four years before the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom Tyr:

Jousts were nothing of a kind sport. Princes, Knights, and Noblemen alike all had even the tiniest pinch of fear when the Kingdom Tyr would host the sport. Of course, the Prince Johnny always elated to participate in his own kingdom’s form of entertainment.

There was already commotion in the field, everything set in place except for the crowd forming outside to get in. Each horse already in their own stables, splinters painted in each participating kingdom’s colors, and all participating riders mingling in the common tent.

One such topic of conversation is on every one of the participants’ lips, one that quietly catches the attention of one such that is the King of Sol.

“It’s really no question, of course the Princess Gaia will dedicate her kiss to Prince Muhan.”

“Not even her own knights are participating in the joust— is that allowed Prince Johnny?” Prince Doyoung of the Kingdom Jove had asked, turning to get Prince Johnny’s attention.

“Of course it’s allowed, participation is completely voluntary.” Johnny says, and it’s met by a lot of contrary sighs.

“You did almost threaten our lives to participate when you sent our invitations, you know.” Mark says.

“Well, Kingdom Gaia is lucky we exercise favoritism here in Tyr. If it weren’t the only kingdom not harboring a Prince then I would’ve, very softly required a jouster.”

“Softly.” Mark rolls his eyes.

“Oh Prince Mark we have to get back to a much pressing matter— the Princess Gaia’s kiss!” Prince Ten, although not participating in the joust, has made it a mission to socialize but prod gossip. Though it was simply a kiss on the cheek that was at stake, as a kiss on the lips would certainly tarnish the Princess’ virtue, it meant a lot to all these Princes.

As you have now come of age, some traditions have lightly changed.

“You aren’t even in the—“ Mark interjects but stops himself by throwing his hands up in the air.

“Yes, her kiss will obviously be dedicated to Prince Muhan.” Prince Doyoung is so keen to continue this conversation, as Prince Muhan is not at an earshot to overhear this conversation. His own group of knights from Okeanos busy in their own bubble.

“Why is that, my ever so just friend?” Ten asks, curious to know if any of Doyoungs special abilities to give justice are of any use to him.

“Princess Gaia never does anything without good and proper reason, and considering the lineup of participants… She would not be keen to dedicate it to the princes she is not close with, which eliminates a handful of us already. She would not be interested to dedicate her kiss of victory to anyone that is not a firstborn Prince, leaving anyone below without a chance. And of course, we have to consider which of these participants have a likely chance to make it to the final round.” His mind wanders.

“So that leaves us with?” Jaehyun asks, not able to hold his curiosity out any longer. Though he was willing to really keep quiet and only listen, something inside him was rather impatient.

“Leaves us with Prince Johnny, Prince Mark, Prince Taeyong, and of course Prince Muhan because they have been linked together since infancy…” Doyoung says, but he looks at Jaehyun that he didn’t realize was part of the conversation and it seems that an idea has hatched, “I suppose you too, King Jaehyun. I would guess that you’re more than decorated to be participating in the joust, though I am not so sure about your closeness, but a king— Prince Johnny!” Doyoung’s curiosity gets the best of him once more.

“What now?” Johnny sighs, he should’ve known that Doyoung’s thirst for justice meant that he’d be answering more than several questions about the rules.

“Is King Jaehyun allowed to joust? He was recently a prince, he did regularly participate, and I suppose he’s been the most fortunate to win the most jousts of all of us… But he has now since been crowned a King. Should there not be a special box for him to sit instead?” Doyoung looks at Jaehyun and he begins to whisper. “Sorry, old friend, I do not mean to question your capabilities. But I do not believe we have seen a king on the actual field before.”

“The King of Sol is allowed to joust if he decides that he wants to.” Johnny confirms, and shrugs. The rules in the games of Tyr were obviously dependent on the mood of the prince. “And the victory kiss that Princess Y/N will also be of her own choice.”

The first rounds of the joust go by easily. Unfortunately for some of the participating kingdoms, the odds seem to have stayed the same; all remaining participants from the same anticipated kingdoms. Doyoung's predictions correct as always.

“How many splinters have you positively destroyed, dear friend?” Johnny asks with a smile on his face, getting off from the ground after falling from his horse. Jaehyun defeating him during this round.

“Far too many now.” Jaehyun smiles as well, still on his own horse.

“Well, I offer my congratulations. You won this round fair enough. It leaves you and Prince Muhan during the final round.” Johnny shakes his friend’s hand as he walks off gracefully even though he had been covered by the mud and the dust.

Jaehyun cannot say aloud that he had ulterior interests about winning. One could say he was willing to be so motivated as to make it to the final round of the joust to test out a theory— or defy an expectation.

The kiss the most noble lady dedicates is one she gives before the final round, a matter of making her best bet to all kingdoms known. It was a tradition of sorts, typically noble ladies would choose the jouster that they fancied or one that was more strategic for their own kingdom. Jaehyun had been kissed on the cheek by many noble ladies - making it to the final round of the joust many times. Though, none of those dedications meant anything more than a flattery for he never entertained their interest.

This would be the first time you would be dedicating a kiss, coming of age and not having been wed yet.

He is completely aware that if he were to go up against Prince Muhan, who definitely has the most expectations of any soul in this tournament to make it through the final round to save your kiss for his own, then he was clearly not the obvious choice. And it was simply just a kiss on the cheek, it was just a sign of good luck. Besides, he only ever spoke to you during the ball of Ashtaroth not many moons ago. What did he have now that was different from before? Doyoung only confirming his doubts when he had pointed out how barely close you were.

Jaehyun now thought, that maybe if you were to kiss Muhan, his bruised ego would make it even more satisfying to strike the Prince with his splinter and defeat him after.

But now he would simply have to see.

“Champions,” The King of Tyr says from his box in the stands, “Prince Muhan of Okeanos, and King Jaehyun of Sol,” the old man nods to Jaehyun, a courtesy, “though it may not truly affect your joust, it is of tradition that we allow our fairest maiden the blessing of the kiss of victory of her champion of choice. To bless her chosen champion.” In this case, to seal your engagement to Muhan through this declaration of your own volition. This public display of affection revealing more than just an action at the surface.

You come forward from your own box, dressed in the deep greens of your kingdom, your black raven hair loosely put down in curls with some braids holding them in place. If it were a crime to stare, to place one’s eyes upon the figure of another - to create wanting, longing simply by looking— Jaehyun would have positively been a criminal. For no such moment did he realize how much he wanted that kiss.

“Princess Y/N of Gaia, please choose your champion.”

Jaehyun does not expect it. He knows he will be greeted by the slow-moving wind, and even all the people in the crowd expect you to make your way to the man on Jaehyun’s left. Prince Muhan’s foot was lightly tapping in anticipation as well as you are escorted down from your box, it seems the prince is impatient for you to make your way toward him.

The wind does not come to Jaehyun, instead it is a warm scent of jasmine and sandalwood. You made your way straight to Jaehyun, with no hesitation or a moment’s pause.

“King Jaehyun.” You greet him, lightly bowing much to his own dismay, but he is aware that there are plenty eyes watching. Disbelief across the faces of the knights and princes previously taken out of the joust for losing in earlier rounds.

“Princess, I think you’re making the wrong choice.” He says honestly, but he is nervous. His mind goes back to the conversations about this kiss in the tent, what did Doyoung say again? You do not do things without good and proper reason.

“I think I’m making a perfectly good choice, my king.” You say, and there it is again when you call him that, it gets him.

Jaehyun knows his body has stiffened, unsure how he must perform now that he knows that not just everybody is looking— but everyone is now looking with shock or some degree of contempt.

You speak again, this time clearing your throat and placing a dainty hand on his shoulder. How he wishes his armor were not in the way.

“I shall kiss you now.” Your whisper is soft and it grazes his ears, he can feel the hairs on his cheek rise.

“There is still time to change your mind, Princess—“ He says, but it is too late. Your lips are placed so softly on the skin of his face, it feels he is unable to move. Unable to think in this searing heat that rises up at his cheeks, the familiar feeling of redness to his ears.

While the crowd roars, signaling the end of the tradition, you seem to quickly whisper something else. “If you wish to speak to me, my king, I will wait in the kingdom’s gardens after the feast. Best of luck.” Before he can tell you that it would be a risk to see each other in secret, you’ve gone back to your box.

You were on borrowed time.

It was sudden, the secrecy of your coming of age ceremony all parallel to the curse that had plagued you: Gaia had long since had a line of only sons, marrying daughters from other kingdoms, creating more sons— more princes, more kings, more princes.

But you were born, a princess no doubt. Your father was truly your own - a King of Gaia, but your mother a lowly born woman your father had met during a long journey to the far lands. No one had questioned her heritage, for her kindness was unmatched and her beauty had been unthinkable.

It seemed you had not thought to blame your own heritage, but on the eve of your coming of age you had coughed up pools of your own blood. A mix of dark and strange sludges following, flowing out of your body in long painful stages.

The oracle that had been sent to assess you had told you that you were on borrowed time, something about your family’s secrets. Ones you had no answer to, already buried with your mother who could not answer for these untraceable roots.

Of course you had asked for a different solution, one that was answered in riddles.

Away from where the sun sets, your hands tied to another, where your heart lies the sun rises - for the kiss of death shall only be freed by the wrath of his longing. Answers you must only find by the slumber of the moon, but only through the sacrifice of the water.

Though you had sent all scribes, all possible scholars from Jove upon your secret request to the younger Prince Chenle’s agreement, even all elders from your own court - no one could understand what this meant. You did understand to some degree, but you wanted your suspicions to be proven wrong. You did not want your conjectures to be true.

Your hands tied to another. You knew it meant the budding promise of your union to the Prince of Okeanos, a promise long made only because of the close friendships your fathers had. Only because you were of the same age, and were always made to see each other when time had permitted.

Muhan was pleasant, he was simple, he did not expect much but had always expressed his desire for a quiet and subservient wife— he could not be so picky as to choose. He held conversation well, or maybe just until necessary. He had the manners expected of a prince, he was not fussy nor was he expressive. There was nothing truly so wrong or right about Muhan, but you never made sense of picturing ruling his kingdom alongside him. No imaginings or desires of fulfilling what he deemed ‘duties of a woman.’ Muhan was a good friend, sure. But he was never anything more than someone so closely placed beside you.

But it was the sun. The sun. The sun. The sun. In your mind you knew the radiant face, always so adored. You had already pictured Jaehyun when the sun had been mentioned, every inkling in your body knew. In your mind there were clear imaginings of his dark thick hair, the imprints of dimples on his cheeks on the rare occasion you caught him smiling, his often misplaced look of surprise.

He had always grown up to be so… perfect. You remember tiptoeing clumsily around him, always so ashamed to be younger, feeling a blush to your cheek every time you caught a glance - but he was always so perfect to look your way.

The riddle had made only a few inklings of sense, and you had considered that maybe death would be easier than confronting a lifetime-long blooming in your chest for somebody who has never expressed much interest in you.

Your father had prayed countless nights to the Gods, hoping you would change your mind about choosing death. For the certainty of your death was not one that was clear; it could come to you at any time. Through pleading, you convinced him to allow you to live normally through the social season. Once it was over, you promised to quietly carry out your days in the Kingdom Luna, where you know that only the holy embrace of the moon would bring solace as your death would approach.

It was an excuse to savor the last of times you would see the newly crowned King Jaehyun. You anticipated the hurt of knowing he would lead a life where you were a distant stranger, one princess that would disappear into silence. You would never witness to see him grow into a glorious king, though you would know he would be a husband to another - find happiness and satisfaction in those dutiful actions.

You only planned to watch from afar, pretend that nothing changed except that you had come of age.

If not for the warning Prince Ten had given you about the ale in the ball held in Ashtaroth, you did not notice Jaehyun speaking to Prince Johnny in that moment— all you had your focus on was how rowdy Johnny typically got when intoxicated, and a love potion no doubt would be an even larger mess of things.

It’s only when you hear him speak that you realize it is the first words of serious conversation you had been in, and when he spoke about your coming of age and all the good things he expected you to accomplish - you felt an attentiveness you’d never seen in him before.

You decide to brush it off, coming home to your kingdom that night bleeding out of your nose. The same black substance flowing afterward.

Then there was the matter of the joust, an invitation sent by the Kingdom Tyr to ask for your unwavering support to deliver the kiss of victory as the fairest maiden in the land of Celeste. You could not turn it down.

The dreaded matter of the kiss would simply be about Muhan’s pride, and the fortitude of managing the expectations of a promise that everyone in the land knew. The kiss was not just about good luck, it was a sign of meaning. It was the only time in the world where a woman could express her desires without being chastised. That you knew.

You braced yourself for the worst possible outcome, knowing that the final two to make it to the final round of the joust were factors that you could not control. It was a sheer game of strength, where the use of each of the kingdom’s powers was absolutely forbidden. In your own thoughts you carefully deliberated, perhaps if it were Prince Johnny and another prince that was not Muhan to succeed - the kiss would bear no real meaning. Simply a kiss to favor another.

It was with Hendery that you confided a silly thought, your most trusted knight already knew of your little crush upon the King of Sol.

“If he will make it through to the final round no matter his opponent, I will choose to kiss him. Loud and clear.” You told him, your knight only smiling in agreement. Hendery knew of your condition, and always encouraged those choices that made you visibly happier.

And the odds were in your court, after countless rounds of painful watching. The sound of splinters crushing into metal and the neighing of horses making your heart race, the fear of injury still lightly bothering you. Round after round that Jaehyun had been present, you saw his unwavering strength. Once he was put up against Johnny and he had swiftly made Johnny fall off his horse - you knew it was finished.

Despite Muhan standing there, and everybody else expectedly waiting for you to kiss him - you walk toward Jaehyun without hesitation.

His helmet removed, revealing his sweaty hair lightly pressed down - the rising of his chest from the adrenaline running through him - the dirt making its way to lightly stain the parts of his cheeks exposed by the opening in his helmet. His armor obviously worn out from the strenuous activity. Jaehyun was positively rugged, but enough so beautifully a man.

He tells you that you aren’t making the correct choice. His words and his body language both tell you he is pleading, but the stammer in his speech tells you otherwise. He tells you again that there is time to change your mind but you do not listen, you could feel the same heat of the sun from his close chest.

Then you remember how kindly he regarded you in Ashtaroth, how you knew there was an undertone that pleaded for you to speak longer. Heavens forbid that all of this thinking were a product of a mere selfishness in your delusion— but you knew in the growing heat inside you that this was more than that.

You kissed his cheek, sealing the coffin of the façade you had worked hard to preserve.

It takes all the courage left in you to tell him to meet you in the gardens of Tyr.

that very same evening, four years before the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom Tyr:

“These gardens are surprisingly beautiful aren't they?.” Jaehyun says, distracting you from your mindless staring at the tall hedges that surrounded you. There was a marble bench near the tall shaped hedge, facing a slow moving fountain the middle. You were seated there, just observing the still serene quiet nestled in a rough bustling kingdom like Tyr. It took him some time to get away from the celebration; it was difficult for the winner of the joust to simply disappear from everyone's incessant begging to drink one pint of ale to celebrate his victory.

“I don’t recall these gardens ever being here.” You agree, and he notices that you do not meet his gaze.

“That’s because the gardens are new, my lady.” Jaehyun sits next to you as if it was the most natural thing on earth. “Johnny is promised to a daughter of a Duke in Ashtaroth. When he knew his bride would come from the kingdom of beauty he rushed at the opportunity to build her something beautiful. That way when they will wed, she won’t feel so far away from home.” He tells you and your face brightens at the story.

“I did not take Prince Johnny as a romantic.” You almost laugh.

“Neither did I,” he laughs, “but he coerced all of us to aid him in his time of need.” He remembers setting up quite a few large stones in the garden, making practical suggestions about sunlight and how important it was to the plants. This he had told you too in animated storytelling.

You listen, and the laughter comes naturally. As if this weren’t the first time you had shared stories together. It’s only when there’s nothing more to say of other people that your smiles settle into awkward stares.

Jaehyun speaks once more, clears his throat, “why did you wait for me here?” He swears he sees you freeze in that moment, but the stiffness in your shoulders dissipate as they sink into a more comfortable posture.

“I assumed…” You begin. “No, I felt that you had more to say to me earlier. But we both know it couldn’t have been possible with all those prying eyes.” He knows you’re correct.

“If the prying eyes mattered, why did you choose to kiss me instead of the prince you were promised to?” It’s another question, it leaves his throat as soon as he thought of it. Not afraid that it could imply that he felt strongly against your relationship with Muhan.

“I am not promised to Prince Muhan, if that satisfies your curiosity.” You say so lightly, and he hopes you cannot tell that he’s only a little annoyed that it seems you do not take the question seriously.

“It does more than satisfy my curiosity.” He’s overflowing with sudden joy is what he wants to say. He inches closer to you, he is determined to know what he wants to. “Why did you choose to kiss me, Princess?” It’s almost a whisper, and he sees that goosebumps form along the expanse of the parts of your arms exposed by your garments. He sees the hairs on your neck stand.

“Would you have wanted me to kiss him instead?” It frustrates him that you could even suggest that in this moment, faces close to each other and he can feel your hot breath as you whisper to him as well. You are mirroring each other.

“Of course not.” He’s honest. “But if it weren’t Muhan, if I were up against any other Prince, would you still have chosen me?”

You know what his question is leading to, and you also know that he understands the implications of your kiss. It wasn’t just an expression of defiance— going against everything that has been laid down and built for you and Muhan, but it was a declaration of desire.

So there it was, he was asking you if you were now choosing him. Just him.

“Yes.” You swallow dryly, and you can almost feel each other’s breathing. Jaehyun’s bare hands touch you, his thumb just barely grazing your chin.

So, so close now.

But it is Hendery’s calling that cuts the moment short.

“Princess, we have to go now.” He politely bows to recognize the King of Sol, and you almost immediately follow.

“I will write to you, just remember to let the sunlight in when the rays of light are at their peak.” Jaehyun tells you, as you walk off.

“Ask Prince Ten for the flower of life, I will get back to you.” You call off, hearing the sound of your carriage.

two days hence, four years before the Age of Sol, in the Kingdom Gaia:

Word across all the kingdoms travel far and wide and as quickly as the wind blows in the winds of the north during the winter, only when it is trivial of course.

It shouldn’t have surprised you to know that your little kiss on the cheek had already reached Gaia before your own horses could gallop out of Tyr, for all manners of communication were excessively being used to tell all the world of the unexpected choice you made. There were flying questions about your relationship, wondering if at any point you had indicated an interest or shown more than a curt nod and stare over any of the social seasons.

You already anticipated the conversation you would have with your father and the other advisors of Gaia - maybe how disgraceful it was to publicly turn down Prince Muhan, and maybe you should act upon painful consideration of the kingdom’s best image and interest. Except you’re sure that they will leave you plenty mercies, maybe your curse had its advantages.

It surprises you, that instead of a lengthy reprehension, you receive more concern than disappointment.

“I do not want to question your happiness, child. I cannot take that away from you.” Your father says, and you’re sure that he does not mind for the implications of the action. “I can only fear that he is not worthy of you.”

“Oh but you were very rightfully so vigilant to decide that Prince Muhan was worthy of me instead? Just because of the friendship you had with his father?” You say with a little hint of bitterness.

“That is not what I mean,” he says, “you and the prince were simply an idea. But the King of Sol remains to be different, have we any ties to Sol to know the kind of character he is?”

“Why does his character matter?”

“That is because he is a king. I have very little to scare him off now that he holds power over his own dominion. You could have made it easier for me if he were still a prince, but he is now a king… and the youngest one at that.” Your father is stressed. “He is quite unorthodox for a ruler of a kingdom as well, and if he reciprocates this longing for you, then he must be exceptional.”

“That is not necessary, my time is not for long.”

“But that is precisely why he must be.”

“Allow him to prove himself.” He dismisses you. “No more talk about how much you find him to be fit for your liking, he does not need you to defend him should he be as great as you describe.”

It was almost noon when you opened the windows to your bedroom, you understood that much when Jaehyun had instructed you to let the sunlight in.

You weren’t sure how this would work. Although you did know that every kingdom had their own otherworldly manner of communicating and using their respective powers for their own convenience, you’d never corresponded with anyone from Sol before.

Some doubts creep into your mind, what if he hasn’t written you anything at all? Maybe the heat of the moment was lost and he simply was no longer interested. Perhaps your father was right to be doubtful. As the minutes draw closer to noon it seems you have been waiting for much longer than only the few passing seconds.

He’s true to his word, it seems from where a clear ray of sun had entered - an envelope had materialized from the bright light. You

approach it to see that the wax seal of his kingdom was stamped on the front, your name written in the back.

The red wax is not that difficult to pry open, and you are not sure if it’s your excitement that makes it so.

‘Princess, I hope this reaches you. I am not entirely sure when I will see you again; perhaps you may not be fond of the far retreats that the Kingdom Hermes hosts. Much to Mark’s behest, I have not seen you often during those excursions. I’ve come to understand that Gaia will not host for the season, your kingdom elusive to my observation. Maybe you can correct me if I am wrong. I have also come to preempt that your father may not take a liking to accepting an invitation from my own, should I request for your private audience. Should I be thankful that your kiss has allowed me to earn the gift of your attention? Or should we feel a little regretful that it has caused much talks against the idea that we have formed an attachment? Either way, I will be waiting for your response. Prince Ten gave me the flower as if he were expecting it. Very truly anticipating your correspondence, Jaehyun.’

He’s been staring at the little plant for maybe a few hours now, passively going through the things he has to accomplish. Some complaints about the productivity of the kingdom, a few concerns about the armory, and some about having to work together with other kingdoms.

All those things he had dealt with almost immediately, his judgement not clouded at all. Though, it was obvious that he was distracted. Impatient.

He looks at the flower, in all its plenty petals, looking as though it had never once wilted nor changed since Ten had given it to him. The flower of life never requiring any water nor any attention since he acquired it.

It is strange that when a single petal falls, slowly shifting into an envelope, the wax seal of Gaia placed and his name also prettily written behind so as to mimic the same manner he had written to you.

‘My king, or if this is Prince Ten please do not take it upon yourself to invade the privacy of my correspondence - I will have you whipped for it if I had the power. But if this is the King of Sol to whom I write to, I have received your correspondence. If chance permits, perhaps I will see you sooner than later. While it is true that Gaia has not hosted any events as usually expected, it does not seem to be out of the question for us to welcome guests. As for my father, whether our circumstances were different or not, he often is peculiarly critical of the male sex. Especially when it relates to his only child, and daughter at that. Unfortunately he is hard to please, and very much skeptical. On the matter of the kiss, if you do not wish it had ever happened - then we should continue talking about it. If you do find satisfaction in it ever happening, then let us lay it to rest. Then maybe I can kiss you elsewhere than your cheek. Yours, Y/N.’

He rereads the letter thrice over, wondering if he had missed any details - if he had things he needed to decipher. Yours. The kiss. Another kiss.

His.

He was determined to make something of this attachment.

end of part one.

next chapter>

#jaehyun x reader #jaehyun imagine #jung yoonoh #jaehyun angst #jaehyun fluff #svt x reader #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun smut #jaehyun scenario #nct angst #nct fluff #nct smut #nct 127 imagines #nct scenarios #nct 127 smut #jaehyun imagines #jung jaehyun

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lady-charinette · 2 years ago

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The lucid moments of Queen Charlotte & King George:

they sometimes hide from the heavens under the bed and George asks how their kingdom is doing. Charlotte quietly confesses how sometimes, the world seems to close in on her too & she feels like she might just hide from the heavens forever. George cradles her hand whispers lovingly:"You've always been the stronger one of us." Charlotte:"Only because you gave me half of your strength."

George sometimes escapes his confinement and bursts into meetings, but he's lucid. Charlotte is momentarily stunned, but relaxes when George speaks normally with the higher members of the ton. She smiles and watches her husband, the king, attend to his duties. In these little moments, she feels like the paintings didn't have to add George in later, she feels like he was there all along for the still sitting.

George still goes to the fields, he's old now, but he can pick at the weeds and plant some vegetables at least. Brimsely swore he would always attend to Her Majesty the Queen, but whenever her husband is outside, he temporarily serves the King, on orders of Her Majesty. Brimsely knows the Queen trusts him above all to protect her king in Reynold's place

George sometimes draws her, draws her face, his artistic skill curiously weakens when he's of sound mind, but Charlotte doesn't seem too offended when she spies her likeness on their wall. She smiles brighter than the sun

They reminiscent of their youth together, George remarks on the make of Charlotte's dresses, they look just like they had when they were younger. Charlotte is too prideful to admit she still orders these dresses to be made because it's the only thing of George she can have with her everyday to keep her grounde

Amelia's passing wounded everyone deeply, George had still been lucid enough to have learned of it, which ultimately crumbled the pieces of his sanity over time. His lucid moments grew fewer and farther in between and Charlotte felt like she had not only lost a daughter, but her husband as well

George has his observatory in his residence at Kew, and sometimes when he gazes at the stars and searches for a glimpse of Venus, his clarity returns with full force. In those moments, he quickly writes down whatever thoughts flood his clear mind, to not forget them, forget that deep down in his madness, there is still a man. Charlotte occasionally visits his observatory and she always checks his journals for new notes. Little things he intended to remember. The names of all their children and their birthdays. Thoughts of Charlotte and how much he misses her. Most of them speak of Venus, how much he loves and adores her. The Queen learned early on that Venus has quite a few names. The Great Star. Goddess of Love. Charlotte. Lottie. And sometimes, his Queen.

"Tell me, Lottie, how are the gardens?". She smiles, "In full bloom, my dear.". There was an uncharacteristically but not unfamiliar grin on the king's face. "And tell me... how is your garden?" Charlotte laughed, spying the mischievous twinkle in her husband's eye. "It definitely could use some tending. Some watering. Some fierce plowing." Brimsely knew better than anyone to immediately send the guards and attendants away once the Queen hitched up her skirts and moved over to sit on the King's lap.

"I'm sorry, my dear Lottie." George spoke softly into their quiet bedroom. Charlotte tried to discern his expression through the darkness. "Whatever for, George?". George sighed deeply, "For not giving you as much comfort and support as you do for me, once my mind wanders again.". Charlotte can only hold her husband close to her and kiss his forehead, whispering softly into his thinning hair. "You do give me comfort, my dear. So much."

George often has nightmares during the night, whenever he calls for his attendants, more often than not, it's his wife that hurries to his bedside. She always manages to quench his demons. He's heard the whispers in the halls, about how cruel and cold his queen was. But not to him. To him, she was soft and warm. Oh, so warm.

At the birth of their last child, George worries for Charlotte's health and urges her to not have anymore babies. She tries to argue with him, but George snaps:"We have enough heirs! I know what it is that you try to do, I know my...my madness may pass down to any one of our children, but if I were to lose you while you give birth to another child madness shall consume us all! What shall I do mad with fourteen children to care for instead of enjoying the moments I have left with you by my side?"

George sometimes reads manuscripts of the love stories between older kings and their queens, he sometimes forgets them and discovers them anew, but he always remembers what each of these stories lacked to him. None of these love stories could come close to describe the endless well of love he harbors for his wife, in madness and in sanity.

Charlotte finds reading poems to be a waste of her time, but she keeps the small, crumpled pieces of papers very close to her heart. The handwriting is not always neat, not always eligible, but she knew them all by heart anyway. Even though he may not be physically near her, Charlotte knew she was never alone in ruling their kingdom with George's heartfelt poems tucked safely into the sleeves of her dress.

They sometimes run into each-other in the kitchen at night, it's always a fright at first, Charlotte doesn't know if George is in his right mind, but he always quells her fears with a boyish smile. "Fancy meeting you here, my queen. Care for some of the best pudding in all of Britain?" Charlotte smiles, her eyes misty. "Oh, you old fool. You'll upset your stomach if you continue eating pudding every night.". George caressed her cheek. "That never stopped you before, has it?" Charlotte sighed. "Oh, just give me that spoon."

Sometimes, in his calm state of mind, George wonders if his body subconsciously enters into madness on purpose. Not to drive him mad, no, a much simpler reason. Sometimes, George wonders if he falls back into madness because he knows if he does, Charlotte would always come to visit and spend time with him. Somewhere in the deepest corners of his mind, George doesn't mind being called the Mad King if it meant spending time with his dear wife.

Charlotte is Queen during the day, but when she visits George at night, she turns young again, the ache in her bones recedes and she's just a simple maiden with her farmer. Just Charlotte. Just George. Just them.

#bridgerton #bridgerton headcanons #queen charlotte spoilers #queen charlotte a bridgerton story #queen charlotte x king george #queen charlotte #king george iii #king george #charlotte x george #chatty charinette #my fic #my fics

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lovechar · 1 year ago

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Silver Necklace.

pairing; Regulus Black x Potter!Reader

summary; after being paired with regulus black in potions class, you manage to slowly become friends. he steals your heart and it’s only a matter of time till he breaks it.

warnings; overall just angst, bits of fluff, mentions of sex (just asking about it, no smut), making out, enemies to lovers-esque

notes; fem!reader, mean-ish(??) regulus at start, no use of y/n, kinda long fic so not proof read, ps. i know sirius is 1959 but it works out better if he’s 1960 so don’t come at me, also, i read atyd for this .. (so this is kinda influenced by that)

Every passing day, you swore your heart ached more and more. Every glance you cast over to him in the halls, passing by as if strangers when not even a couple months ago you had been laughing and confiding in each other like idiots.

He had become so lifeless in such a short amount of time. You felt as if your grasp on your once joyful life had slipped through your fingers like coarse grains of sand.

Sooner than later, you had found yourself conflicted. Battling between wanting him by your side but having your beliefs clash. Then it was revealed and all was lost. You just wish you had the strength to go on as if he didn’t exist, like you used to.

It had all started during your fifth year at Hogwarts. You normally kept to yourself, only really talking to your friends and of course the boys: James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. In all honesty, you forgot Regulus existed most of the time.

That was till you two were paired for a potions class. He was very intelligent, you must admit. But also quite snarky.

“You will each be assigned a partner and then I would like you to work together to brew a specific potion,” your Potions Master, Professor Slughorn babbled on. “You will be given a maximum time period of three weeks to complete the potion then will be graded on it.”

You sort of tuned out after that. The professor kept talking, listing out names and assigning the pairs a specific potion. Your head snapped back in his direction when he called out your name. “And . . . Regulus Black.” Your eyes met his stoic grey ones. Merlin, he looked so similar to Sirius yet so unique, you thought, holding the same dark hair and high placed cheekbones. You must admit he was very good looking.

“You all will be making a Polyjuice Potion, which you can find in page 57 of your books. The lacewing flies, I have already stewed for each of you to save time. I advise you also check your potions some evenings to make sure they’re going well. ” Walking over to a table as Regulus Black followed, you pulled out your potion making book. The boy beside you watched as you flicked through the pages, looking for the Polyjuice potion, still not uttering a word to you.

Finally, you found it. “Aha!” You mumbled as the corners of your lips quirked up slightly. After sitting in silence, you had decided to spark up conversation.

“Here’s the ingredients list. Could you get the cauldron ready while I gather the other ingredients?” Your eyes once again looked up to meet his as he muttered out a gravelly response and did as you asked.

After twenty minutes, the bell had rung commencing the end of class. You turned to Regulus to say something to him but he had already left. With a sigh, you gathered your things and headed to your next class.

You were now sitting with Lily in the Great Hall, waiting on your brother and his friends. “I’m stuck paired with Sirius’ brother for Potions. He’s barely said a word to me at all, don’t you think that’s a bit strange?” You asked the red-haired girl, while casting a gaze over the Slytherin Table. Lily had replied but her words went through your ears as you studied the black and green robes. Your eyes flickered over to Regulus Black. He sat chatting to Evan Rosier.

“There they are,” a familiar voice came, before the person owning it plunked down beside you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “Hi Sirius,” you gave him a tight-lipped smile. James sat across from him, beside Lily, and Remus had took a spot on the opposite side of you. “Hi Moony,” you had said when the brown haired boy ruffed your hair. “Hello to them but not to your own brother,” James frowned. You rolled your eyes playfully, “Hi James.”

The group made small talk and you (once again) tuned out. You sort of had a habit of that. Glancing around the Great Hall, your eye connected once again to your potions partner. Surprisingly, his were already set in your direction, glaring at the back of James’ head, then across to his brother. Then the grey-toned orbs clicked with your own. Hurriedly looking away, your cheeks burned at being caught staring at him. Weird, he was already watching us, you had thought. Shrugging off your thoughts, you decided to just forget about that embarrassing moment.

Trudging through the halls to potions class, you had arrived with a few minutes till class started. It was when you were gathering your things again and setting it down to the table that Regulus Black stepped over and took a place beside you. You were reminded of catching him watching your group yesterday, but quickly dismissed it.

“Hi,” you said while gathering the Polyjuice ingredients, not bothering to lift your head up to the boy. You glanced up to him with furrowed brows when you were met with no reply. He gazed down at you with a condescending look on his grey, dark eyes. “Right . . well, we should start. There’s 4 parts; we should have this done by the last class till it’s due.”

Regulus stood in front of the cauldron and you held the book in the crevice of your elbow. “It says here: Add 3 measures of fluxweed.” Grabbing the container of fluxweed, he added what was needed into the cauldron. “I don’t need you to read me out everything, I am not illiterate,” the Black brother grumbled, laced with an irritated tone. His voice was smooth and pronounced and you would’ve wished for him to speak a little more, had his words not been so unkind. It reminded you heavily of his elder brother’s; aristocratic and noble.

With a scoff, you threw the book down onto the table to the right of the boy. “Well, what do you suppose I do if you’re going to make the potion?” Regulus ignored you, not having a response to your question.

“Move.” You pushed Regulus out of the way of the cauldron, following the next step in the guide. “What do you think you’re doing?” His brows were angled down and his colourless eyes narrowed into a glare. “Well, if you won’t let me help, I’m not going to let you brew the whole thing. Who says you wont fuck it up?” “I would mess it up? God, you Potters are so obnoxious,” he spat.

“Mister Black, Miss Potter. Do we have a problem?” Slughorn asked the two of you. “No, Professor,” Regulus answered as quick as it was asked. He had reciprocated your actions, shoving you out of the way and taking control of the potion again. He grabbed your wrist in a tight, iron grip that it was almost sore. “Shut up, and do not cause another scene.” He glowered at you before finally letting go of your wrist. There was a red ring in the tracing of where he grasped your arm so roughly. You wouldn’t be surprised if it bruised.

The Marauders and you had sat in the Gryffindor common room along with one of your dorm mates, Marlene McKinnon. “Merlin, Sirius. Your brother is the biggest git I’ve ever met.” Sirius, who sat on the ground beside the fireplace, gave you a puzzled look. “Why? What’s he done?” You had explained the situation that had occurred during potions. Sirius had only replied with an ‘oh’. You rolled your eyes at the dry response but had left it at that.

Marlene spoke up from beside you on the couch. “Did you lot hear, Lucius Malfoy’s planning on joining the Death Eaters?” Her soft voice echoed through the empty common room. “He’s hardly actually going to join,” James spoke up, doubt written all over his face, “He barely left school. Only a couple years ago.”

“He was a Slytherin, them lot are the type. Horrid,” Marlene spoke again. The Death Eaters were starting to gain more members but you hadn’t thought people you knew would start joining.

Rising from your seat on the couch had caught Marlene’s attention. “Where are you going?” The bright blonde questioned you. “Just goin’ to check on Slughorn’s assignment. You want me to check yours? James, I’m borrowing the invisibility cloak.” You didn’t bother waiting for an answer before taking it.

“Yes, please. Thanks mate.” She flashed you a beaming smile and you exited your house’s common room.

It was late now and you were unsure if it was even a good idea leaving the common room at this time. The prefects were probably done their patrol by now, leaving just you and creepy old Filch wandering the halls alone. It was fine though, he wouldn’t be able to see you with the cloak on.

“Lumos,” you whispered, holding your wand out as the cloak draped over your lower arm. The tip of your vine wood wand came alight in a blue-white colour, brightening the hall for you to be able to roam freely with vision.

It wasn’t long till you navigated your way to the Potions class, carefully pushing the door ajar so that it wouldn’t let out it’s usual croaks. Upon stepping inside, your—well, James’ actually—invisibility cloak was thrown off and ditched onto the cold tiles of Slughorn’s classroom.

Stepping further into the classroom, majority of the room was dark, aside from a corner where your cauldron happened to be. An illuminating light, that appeared to be the Lumos charm, lit the crevice of the room. A dark figure stood with it’s back to you. Would it be too late to slip back on the cloak and run back to your dorm?

The answer to that was already decided when the figure spoke as it turned to your direction, “Who’s there?” It appeared to be the younger Black brother. When your eyes had met, his face quickly turned to a scowl.

“Oh, just you, Potter.” His voice seemed to be laced with venom when he had spat your surname. “What are you doing here?” You asked, cautiously stepping up to the cauldron and the angsty boy. Peering into the cauldron, your potion seemed to be doing fine. “What does it look like? Someone has to check on it, seeing as you don’t.” Regulus’ tone was harsh. You scratched the back of your head and walked over to another cauldron; Marlene and her partner’s. The boy just watched you as you checked if hers was going well.

“Sorry, I just forgot. You were the one who was so sure that you didn’t need my help anyway.” He just ignored your comment. “Listen, you can check on it on Thursday and I’ll check on it Saturday. We’ll keep watching it every two nights, taking turns. Alright with you?” He pondered for a minute over your decision before agreeing to it. “Alright.”

You walked into the great hall, venturing over to the Gryffindor table and taking a seat between Peter and James. “Morning,” you greeted, it being followed with repetition. “Big quidditch game this Friday; first of the season. You all coming to watch?” James asked to the group. “Obviously, when have I missed one,” you grinned up to him. You took pride in showing up to support him for his matches. He is your big brother, of course. “Who’re you playing?” Sirius questioned. “Ravenclaw,” James replied with a smirk.

“Pity, Sirius, that you got kicked off the team. You were probably the best beater we had, alongside Marlene,” you recalled. “I know, but I deserved it.,” Sirius groaned. A remorseful grin was evident on his face, recollecting the memory. “Of course, you deserved it after what you tried to do to Sev.” Lily had an angry frown on her face.

“Don’t know why you even hang out with that freak anyway,” Remus taunted. James joined the conversation again, “He’s pure evil.”

As Lily argued with the elder boys to defend her best friends name, you could feel eyes burning into the back of your head. You sat facing the Hufflepuff table, so the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables were behind you. Glancing over your shoulder, you were encased in an uncomfortable sense of eye contact with Regulus Black himself. His eyes widened a little from their previous narrowed glare when yours connected but he glanced away just after.

The day had gone quickly. It was already noon, meaning it was time for Potions, seeing as it was a Wednesday. Marlene and you had headed together to class, arriving and taking your places at your own designated cauldrons. The black haired boy was already there.

“Have you started the next step?” You had asked, standing beside him and opening the textbook onto the right page again. “No, I need you to crush two lacewing flies.”

And, that’s how the rest of your potion classes with Regulus Black went. Just loitering alongside him and aimlessly following any instructions he would give you in silence. To your content, he hadn’t said anything patronising to you. But he hadn’t said anything to you, conversation wise either. That was, till the one today. You had been measuring out the bicorn horn, getting ready to crush it to a powder, when Regulus spoke up. “I’ve noticed how well Sirius and your little gang get along.”

You raised your head to look up at him with a ‘hm?’. “I’ve never saw him smile or laugh as much as he does with your lot in my entire life,” he continued. “Well, he is best friends with James,” you had piped up, slightly bemused on why he was bringing this up. He had refused to look at you, instead staring down into the brewing and bubbling potion. “Ah yes, I forgot about my replacement.” If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he had a tinge of jealousy or resentment in his voice. Why would he be jealous?

“I wouldn’t call him a replacement. Sirius thinks highly of you, even if he doesn’t show it,” you had attempted to reassure him. This resulted in an irked scoff and finally, his eyes had met yours for the first time this whole class. “Thinks highly of me? That’s a proper joke. He doesn’t give a toss about me, seeing as he attempts to abandon me with our overbearing parents each Christmas and Summer. I’m sure he’s told you all about our loving mother.” His voice was edged with so much sarcasm and bitterness you could drown in it. His last words held a sardonic tone and made you feel tense. You didn’t know what to say, so you decided on not uttering a word.

It had been 2 days since your last conversation with Regulus Black. Luckily, it had been a Thursday, so you didn’t have to be in his grudgeful presence till Monday which was the last day anyway for this stupid project.

Once again, you had stolen James’ cloak, heading out after hours when all the prefects had already done their checks. It was your turn to watch over your potion. When Slughorn said that the students should look over their potions in the evenings, he probably didn’t intend to do it this late, but it was more fun like this. A twinge of excitement erupted in your chest thinking about it. You were nearly finished after weeks of begrudgingly stirring, chopping up and grinding ingredients and following orders.

Stepping soundlessly into the room, you crept over to the cauldron belonging to you and Regulus. You stirred the sludgy mixture with a tinge of disrelish, nearly gagging from how repulsive it was. You were unaware of the presence who joined you in the room mere minutes after; inching towards you, feet not making a squeak against the shadowy tiles.

After concluding that your assignment was going fine, you had turned to head back to the Gryffindor dorms. Your heart jumped and you let out a quiet, shocked gasp. A man stood behind you. Upon seeing his face, your shoulders relaxed and eyebrows twisted into a frown—although, not genuinely cross. The corners of his lips pricked up into a grin (which looked like he was attempting to conceal) before falling back to their normal, neutral position.

“Merlin, Black. Nearly gave me a heart attack there,” you lightly scolded. “Why’re you here? It’s my day to check.” He walked past you over to the cauldron, arms brushing and you felt a light rush of breeze. He was now standing to your right and you turned to face him once again as he spoke, “Couldn’t sleep. I decided to check on the potion, there isn’t much else to do in this bloody castle.”

You had replied with a mere ‘oh’. He gazed into the potion for a minute, then his eyes met yours. Embarrassingly, you scrambled to pick up your wand, then walked over to the door to grab the cloak that lay sprawled out on the floor.

“Are you in a rush?” His looming voice echoed through the room. You hesitated before replying, “No.” His next words had sprung some surprise in you, but you tried to not show it on your features; instead, aiming for a calm expression. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

After reluctantly contemplating the scenarios in your head of what he was trying to get at with this—possibly trying to attack you in a more secretive place, no one would catch him. No, that’s silly. If he wanted to attack you he would’ve already done it. Plus, he isn’t pure evil like ‘Snivellus’ Snape; and he would have no reason to ambush you—you agreed: “Alright.” His expression seemed to slightly change to a aplomb manner.

Following Regulus and sauntering through the halls together, some minutes in pure silence, some in light chatter, you both had managed to end up in the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower. The previously harsh wind settled to a leisurely breeze. Regulus had mimicked your actions, leaning against the metal railings of the tower. The whole atmosphere held a sort of serenity you felt that you’ve never experienced before; you were friends with the Marauders, of course, and nothing was ever tranquil with them boys.

Your gaze had flickered over to the boy beside you. His long, black hair was moving delicately in the zephyr. It reminded you of gentle waves moving through the ocean, but you then realised that was a silly comparison. You never really took your time to observe Regulus Black. His face was strongly chiselled—almost as if he was carved by that muggle, Michelangelo—elegant looking, really. He looked similar to Sirius, just younger and with his own distinctive characteristics.

Looking away as to not get caught staring like before, you realised you were both basking in silence for a few minutes. That was until you looked back to him and noticed Regulus’ dubious conscience to break it. Finally, he spoke. “I’m—Sorry for freaking out in potions the last day,” he blurted out in a weak whisper. “Wha-” I replied, confused for a second before speaking again—as so he didn’t feel sheepish. “. . It’s fine.”

‘Serenity.’ You could almost laugh if you were alone right now. How ironic, the thought of the once calm atmosphere being shrivelled up and thrown out like paper, replaced with this unbearably silent tension. “Sirius meant the world to me, growing up. He was like a hero, in my eyes,” Regulus’ voice was more clear now, and he let out an airy laugh in spite of himself. “Merlin, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, you don’t even want to—”

“No. It’s alright.” Your voice was firm, encouraging him to continue; and so he did. “I-We—We did everything. Now, he does it all with James. Wont even spare me a glance in the halls, during breakfast.” His voice trailed off and he went silent again.

His eyes haven’t met yours in a while and you were guessing they might’ve been glossy, and he’d have been embarrassed if they were. “Regulus. Your brother, Sirius. He loves you, so much more than you’d think. He just . . doesn’t express it well. He doesn’t know how to. It’s spiteful. He just feels different from you; always going on about how you’re the golden child and he’s the black sheep.” Black sheep of the Blacks. Ironic, yet again.

You both savoured the silence for a few minutes, settling on cherishing the midnight sky and how the starts shimmered like glitter. Regulus decided to change the topic, “Did you know, my family are all named after astrology, stars, constellations and all? Most, anyway; my ancestors must’ve been interested in sabaism.”

His appealing voice caught my attention and I turned to glance at him. “Really? Is Regulus one?” He adorned a small smile now. It was refreshing after being caught for days in his usual tempers. “Yes. My father’s called Orion. That’s a constellation. Sirius, the dog star. Orion’s dog.”

You listened attentively as he rambled on. “My cousin, Bellatrix, named after a star. Andromeda’s a constellation. I can go on further but we’d be here all night.” His silvery eyes shone in the night sky—it was majestic—and met yours, accompanied with a glowing smile on his sharp traits. You just returned the smile.

“You know, you’re quite alright, Potter.” This took you by surprise. Regulus Black (sort of) complimenting you? You’d have never thought the day would come. With a light laugh and smug but suppressed grin, you replied: “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself, Black.” This persuaded a chuckle to slip past his pink lips. It was a deep, short laugh.

Letting a few more minutes pass up in the astronomy tower, you both had now agreed to head back to your common rooms. Now walking down the halls with the tips of your wands lighting the way, you had been making small talk with the boy.

How unexpected this whole situation was. If you had told yourself a week ago that you’d be wandering the halls past midnight with Regulus Arcturus Black, you would’ve been in disbelief.

James’ invisibility cloak was draped casually around your shoulders. The pale moonlight shone through the windows of the castle, painting streaks across Regulus and your faces’ each time passing one.

“You know,” you paused for a minute before continuing. “You’re welcome to stay with my family and I over Christmas.” You noticed the conflicted look on his face upon hearing your words, but nevertheless, kept talking. “I’m sure my parents won’t mind. James has Remus over each year, and Sirius when he can. You’d be able to spend more time with your brother.”

He let out a mockingly amused snigger. “I think my parents would go mental if they found out both their heirs have gone rebel.” You let out a small giggle with this but then your lips settled to a gentle, closed smile. Regulus seemed to mirror your actions and you had settled into a comfortable silence again.

Till, of course, that was broken once again. But this time, not by you nor Regulus. “Who’s there?” A gruff voice echoed behind you both from past the corner of the long corridor. Shit! You had completely forgotten about Filch. Giving Regulus a panicked look—to which he shot straight back—you quickly whispered: “Nox,” and extinguished the light from your wand. Regulus had done the same so now you were both lost in the dark halls of Hogwarts, only having the blue-toned moonlight as a source to see as it glimmered off your silver bracelet.

Unexpectedly, the cloak was stripped from your shoulders, leaving a slightly cold breeze in its place. “What are you—” You whisper-screamed to Regulus but you were interrupted when his dainty fingers wrapped around your face, his palm covering your mouth.

He gave you a stern look, as if to say, ‘just shut up and trust me,’ and so you did. He threw the cloak across the two of you, backing you up against the wall (nearly knocking a painting down in the process).

Under the cloak, it was darker than before and quite stuffy. You had never shared the cloak with someone else like the Marauders did, so you weren’t used to this. Your hands reached up and removed the hand splayed across your lips. Your position was also uncomfortable, being pressed up against the wall with Regulus towering over you. It seemed like all your senses were heightened.

One arm was just above your head, holding himself up and he brought the other in between you both to hold up his wand. “Lumos,” he said in a sotto voice. The light was dimmer than usual but lit up between both your faces.

Footsteps approached. Filch was drawing nearer and nearer. Your eyes connected to his and in this lighting, you had realised how small the proximity between you really was, causing a small pink to tint your cheeks. It seems as he noticed too, as the sharp corners of his cheekbones were softened by a dull rouge.

It was as if you were inspecting him under a microscope. All his features were so close to your reach; all displayed right in front of your eyes. Eyes. His had a thin lining of artic blue around his pupils which you only discovered by being this close to him. They stared right back at you and you felt the blush crawl all through the back of your neck and hung high on your cheeks. “What are you gawping at?” His tone was soft yet also appeared harsh. Guess he’s still the same Regulus. “Sorry.”

Merlin, time drove so slowly when you were waiting for it to go. You felt hot and self-conscious under Regulus’ gaze, but attempted to shrug it off. I’m sure he’s just as embarrassed of this situation as you felt. Thinking back to what you said earlier, elegant was an understatement; this boy was angelic.

After what felt like forever, Filch finally came creeping down the corridor. Your body made sure you were aware of your heightened rubatosis as Filch drew closer. Regulus and you had waited with baited breath as he passed. Your eyes followed Filch from behind Regulus but it seems his never left you. Luckily, he didn’t suspect nor notice you two at all—well, how could he when you were both under the invisibility cloak.

Once he had turned the corner, both of you had collectively let out a sigh (one you didn’t even know you were holding in). Regulus had waited a small bit longer—probably just incase Filch comes back—and then stepped away from you. The invisibility cloak fell to your feet, and you hesitantly disconnected the eye contact to pick it up. You were sure your cheeks were still rosy as you could feel the heat still burning from them.

The rest of the journey back was glazed over with a tense, suffocating silence. You didn’t know what to say after that and you doubt Regulus did either. Eventually, you had reached the changing staircases. “Goodnight,” you bid him goodbye as you treaded up the stairs to Gryffindor’s common room.

Turning your back away from him and following up the staircase, you had heard a small ‘goodnight’ come from Regulus. That night you had went to bed with ruddy cheeks and a buzzing in your stomach.

It was the day that your potion assignment was due and frankly, you were quite nervous about it. You had desperately hoped you’d get a good grade, seeing as you really had tried with this project, and the amount of time spent on it.

Marlene walked alongside you out of Transfiguration. “Godric, Professor McGonagall really has it out for me,” she complained, her brows furrowed and whiny. “What makes you think that?” Your blonde friend had nearly answered before you even questioned her, “She always gets cross when something goes wrong for me, but she just loves bloody Dirk Cresswell. Never gives out to him,” she sneered. You both made your way to the Potions classroom. “Think it’s because I’m half-blood.”

You let out a defeated sigh, “Marlene, you do realise Professor McGonagall is half-blood too . .” Her annoyed expression fell and Marlene just replied with an ‘oh’.

Slughorn was now going through the room, grading each potion. You heard a couple ‘acceptable’s, two ‘exceeds expectations,’ one ‘outstanding’ and even three ‘poor’s. Once your potion was graded, you were dismissed from the class.

You waited anxiously with Regulus standing beside you. Neither of you had said anything yet; you were far too nervous to, and still a little embarrassed from the other night. You would’ve hated to have spent 3 weeks on this just for it to turn out to be shit.

At long last, Professor Slughorn stood infront of you both, peering into the small cauldron. “Outstanding, Miss Potter and Mister Black. Well done, you’re both dismissed.”

Your lips twisted into a proud grin, but you puffed out a small flow of air, trying to keep the grin in that just grew wider. Following Slughorn’s orders, you had rushed out of the classroom and headed a little down the halls from the class.

“Wait, Potter,” you heard in that oh-so-familiar voice. Turning around, you faced Regulus Black with a wide smirk. “Yes, Black?” He swiftly caught up to you, towering over in front of you again. “I just wanted to say, good job. Wouldn’t mind working with you again, as partners.” He let a smug grin adorn his lips. “Thanks. That wouldn’t be too bad, I suppose.” You flashed him a pearly-white smile, before turning back and continuing to walk down the halls.

It had been a few weeks since you were graded in potions and much to your content, Regulus Black and you had grown closer. You would even dare call yourself friends with the boy. Your brother was a little skeptical about the friendship—as well as Sirius, and the other two Marauders too—but you assured them it was fine.

Speaking of Sirius, his birthday had passed and Lily, James, Remus, Peter and you had arranged a little ‘Sweet-Sixteen’ birthday for him. It was a fun little get together, only consisting of a few friends.

The cool breeze flowed gently through your hair. “You know, I don’t really see why you’re friends with all them horrid boys. Like seriously, Barty Crouch, Evan Rosier, even Snape. Cop on, Black.” You both sat on the course ground of the Astronomy Tower. He let out a breathy laugh, “You think I’m friends with Snape? Not even people in my house like Snape. His only friends are Mulciber and Lily Evans.”

He continued to talk, defending his friends, “and, who do you suppose I be friends with? Xenophilius Lovegood? He’s an odd one.” You let out a strong laugh, tossing your head back before looking to Regulus. Regulus smiled back at you as you laughed. “Poor guy, he’s quite nice actually,” you backed up the Ravenclaw boy.

“Yes! Come on, James!” You screamed, throwing your arms up in celebration as your older brother threw the quaffle into a hoop, marking his third goal for Gryffindor. You didn’t mind all the judging looks you earned.

Gryffindor was currently in the lead against Slytherin thanks to James. The commentators voice boomed through the air as each player whizzed past, doing their part for the team.

“And another ten points for Gryffindor!” The crowed around you roared, cheering proudly for their team. “If we keep this up,” Lily said, “we’ll be in the final in no time.” You just nodded to her, eyes still following the quaffle being passed around.

Twenty minutes passed, Slytherin had scored two goals and Gryffindor, one. “What’s that?” The commentator asked rhetorically, “Regulus Black, Slytherin’s seeker has just secured their win, catching the Golden Snitch!” Once again, the Gryffindor crowd went wild, everyone being shocked seeing as how well we had this in our grasp.

Although you were from Gryffindor, you were still just as happy for Regulus being able to win the match. You would’ve even cheered for him—like you do when he’s not playing your team—but you probably would’ve gotten disowned from your own house.

‘James isn’t going to be happy with this,’ you thought. You made your way down and back to the castle, waiting for James and the rest of the boys in the Gryffindor common room.

After waiting for fifteen minutes, they all trudged in, tired and grumpy. You walked over to your brother. “Well done, James! You played so well, tough luck though,” you smiled to him, hoping he wasn’t in too much of a mood. “Thanks,” he ruffled your hair with his sweaty palm, grumbling the reply. “Merlin, you’re so sweaty. Get off me!” You playfully shoved him away, earning a grin from him.

You headed out from the common room and made your way through the halls. Eventually, you reached the Slytherin common room. Leaning against the wall beside the door, you were waiting for someone to head in or come out so you could ask for Regulus.

It took a couple minutes before you spotted Evan Rosier coming your way. “Rosier! Perfect,” you exclaimed as he walked up to the door. “What are you doing here?” His voice was cold but it didn’t seem intentional, instead genuinely asking why. “Would you do me a favor and get Regulus, please?”

He waited for a minute and contemplated his options. “He’s probably fairly busy with his win. But if I do?” You rolled your eyes. Merlin, are all Slytherins so greedy? “Really?” You puffed out a sigh, “I’ll . . do your Ancient Runes homework.” “Deal,” he replied with a grin, “Thanks Potter.”

The blonde headed into the common room and later returned with the dark headed boy a couple minutes after. Regulus wandered out past the door and you stepped up to greet him, Rosier heading back into the room.

“Reg!” You smiled to him, gaining one back. “Well done. I can’t believe you managed that, we were going so well.” You folded your arms across your chest and stood in front of him. “What can I say? Being a great seeker just runs in my blood.” That bit was quite true; his cousin, Narcissa Black was Slytherin’s best seeker, your generation would say so anyway.

“Oh, shut up, you snob,” you giggled. He just held a content smile on his face. “Also . . I have a proposal,” you started. His eyebrow quirked up suspiciously at this, “I’m not sure I should be scared or not.” You flashed a beaming smile again. “No, no. It’s not anything bad,” you reassured him.

He listened contently as your proposed your idea, “I was wondering . . if you’d be able to convince your parents to let you stay at Hogwarts during Christmas break? We could hang out more and you wouldn’t have to put up with them. ” You bit your lip anxiously as you waited to hear what he had to say. His expression didn’t reveal his reactions at all. It was nerve wracking.

He scratched the back of his head, furrowing his brows a little with an unsure smile, “Uh, I’m not sure if they’d let me.” Your face must’ve fell because his eyes widened a little and he quickly spoke again. “Not that I don’t want to—of course. I’ll still ask,” he smiled at you, trying to reassure you he wanted to stay too. “I’ll tell them there’s going to be extra quidditch practices and I need to stay.”

You smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks, Reg. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know.”“No, I do,” he quickly shot back. “No promises though.” You just chuckled, “Alright.”

And so, you spent Christmas break at Hogwarts with Regulus Black, instead of returning home with James, Remus and Sirius.

This was your first time spending Christmas at Hogwarts; there was barely anyone there. You noticed how empty the halls were compared to normal. It was nice though, calming.

The dull winter light shone through the windows of your dorm. It was extremely quiet. You didn’t think you’d miss how loud the girls would be in the mornings till you woke up alone in your dorm room.

It wasn’t long till you were dressed in your own clothes, happy that you had an occasion for not wearing your robes, and ready to head to the Great Halls. Upon arriving, you had realised that you were one of three students in Gryffindor who stayed at Hogwarts (or atleast, was awake and getting breakfast at the Hall).

You sat down at your house table and placed a slice of toast on your plate. The bench creaked as someone sat beside you. Looking up while taking a bite from your toast, you smiled, seeing Regulus sit beside you. “Morning, Reg.”

He greeted you back, grabbing some food for himself and placing it onto his plate. “This is the Gryffindor table. If one of your Slytherins saw you here, they’d never let this go,” you teased. He just shoved you playfully before stuffing a slice of toast in his mouth. “Not very prim and proper for a Black.” You let out a small giggle as he gave you a sidelong glance.

After making light chat to your Slytherin friend, it was a couple hours later now and you had been granted permission to head to Hogsmeade.

The ground was littered with light snow and it looked like a pristine, white blanket from a bird’s eye view. Your arms were wrapped around Regulus’ waist and your head lay gently on his back shoulder, peering down at the ground as you giggled and marvelled at everything. Regulus wasn’t talking much but, neither were you, instead being too busy gazing at the forests and rivers down below.

You landed down just a few metres away from Hogsmeade, Regulus letting you off the broomstick first before getting off himself. “That was fun,” you smiled. You weren’t used to riding your broomstick much, seeing as you don’t play quidditch so you didn’t have much use of it. “Yeah.”

The snow was crunchy under your boots as you both strolled into the High Street of Hogsmeade. “I need to get some things,” you told the boy, “I’ll catch you later. I’ll meet you at the Three Broomsticks.” He just nodded, carrying his broom by his side. “Alright. Half an hour sound good?”

Regulus went on his way as you trotted down to Honeydukes. You weren’t sure what to get everyone as gifts so you decided upon this. You already bought James a new quidditch set as the one at home was all battered and bruised up. You had bought Sirius some new cologne he had been talking about—that you assumed he only wanted because Remus had complimented it a while back—and you had got Remus a few books about magical creatures. Peter would like a box of chocolate frogs from Honeydukes, seeing as they were his favourite.

You had also got things for Lily, Marlene and the other girls. But you just couldn’t decide what to get Regulus. You decided to leave it and that you’d figure something out.

Honeydukes was a cosy little shop located in the centre of Hogsmeade. You entered the shop, alerting the shopkeeper with a small ring from the bell. Rows and rows of sweets were piled up all the way to the ceiling on teal-turquoise shelves. This really was a sweet tooth’s heaven.

“Ah, Miss Potter, how can I assist you?” The shopkeeper greeted. “Hello!” You sent him a charming smile, “Could I get a box of chocolate frogs, please.” The shopkeeper was lovely, helping you and even wrapping it up for you in a delicate, silver wrapping paper. You thanked him on your way out.

Now, time to find Regulus something. You wandered through Hogsmeade till you approached a shop supplied with quidditch items. Peering through the window, the newly released, Nimbus 1009 laying gleaming in its spot. A new broom, of course! You knew that being a Black meant he could probably afford as many of these as he’d like, but it’s the thought that counts.

It had now been half an hour since you last saw Regulus and you sat alone at a wooden table by the fireplace, sipping away at your butterbeer. A small bell jingled as people entered and your head raised, waiting for Regulus to come. You’d already bought a butterbeer for him, and it sat longingly across from you on the table.

Once again, the bell had rung. In entered your friend, taking a seat across from you. “Finally,” you huffed, “took you long enough. We said half an hour.” He rolled his eyes and grinned, taking a swing from the drink in front of him. A small cream moustache lay across the top of his lips till he licked them, then spoke, “Oh shush. I’m only five minutes past, thanks for this.” He gestured to the butterbeer, drinking some more.

After finishing your beverages, you and Regulus had headed back to Hogwarts. Regulus had flown you both back on his broomstick once again and you were back in no time; flying was much quicker than taking the path over to Hogwarts.

You woke up, rubbing your eyes and yawning—still slightly tired. Then you shot up from your bed. It’s Christmas! You hurriedly ran to get changed and rushed down to the great hall.

Regulus was already seated at the Slytherin table. Once he spotted you, a friendly smile broke out alone his features. You were quick to fire one back, darting over to where he sat. You plunked down across from the boy.

“Merry Christmas, Reg!” You cheered, feeling giggly and excited. “Happy Christmas,” he smirked back. He looked far more posh today than normal. His jet-black hair was swept back with more gel and he held a more presentable, Black family look today—if that makes sense.

You both shared light conversation over breakfast, agreeing to share presents tonight at the astronomy tower. You both had received letters and gifts from family, opening them together at the dining table. The whole day was spent with Regulus, but you didn’t mind, you enjoyed his company. ‘It’s so strange how I once thought he was an absolute prick—not even too long ago as well,’ you thought to yourself.

It was now half-past eight and Regulus was waiting for you on the astronomy tower, leaning on the rails holding a small box in his hands. You reached the top of the tower, finding Regulus standing which his back to you.

You walked up to him, the broom clasped behind your back—trying to conceal it, but that’s a bit hard seeing as it’s a whole broomstick. “Reguluss,” you purred, catching the attention of the boy. He turned around with a grin and you could say you were equally as excited as him. He also held something behind his back with one hand, not letting you see it.

“Open yours first,” you smiled, handing over the present to him. It was quite obvious what you got him. You weren’t the best gift wrapper. “I wonder what it is,” he sardonically chuckled, unwrapping it and seeing that it was the newly released broom.

His eyes met yours and his smile stretched up to the bottom of his cheeks. “Thank you, shit, I didn’t expect this one. This is brand new, Merlin’s beard, not even my parents would buy me something like this.” You smiled at him and he placed the broom to the ground before scurrying forwards, coming towards you.

You weren’t sure what he was doing till his arms wrapped around your waist and he spun you around. You gripped his shoulders, looking into his eyes. “Regulus! Put me down,” you giggled loudly.

After spinning you lightly, he placed you down, keeping one hand still on your waist—which made your cheeks heat up, but it wasn’t noticeable in the dim lighting—but bringing the other between you. On his palm, a small, forest green box. “For you, m’lady.” He held a small grin on his face, and you just let out an airy laugh at him. “Thank you, good sir,” you replied, picking up the box.

Unwrapping the thin golden ribbon around it, inside the box revealed a silver necklace, a charm on it that read your name. “Regulus . .” you marvelled at it, taking it out from the box. “It’s gorgeous.”

He smiled gently at you, taking it from your grasp and walking around you. You eyed him as he passed, feeling his presence right behind you. “Can you move your hair?” He asked, and you pulled it together and held it to the side as he wrapped the necklace around your neck with delicate hands.

“Thank you,” you murmured, a faint blush on your cheeks upon feeling his hand brush the rear of your neck. The stroke of his fingers sent goosebumps tingling down your spine. A strange eruption of tickles could be felt in your stomach, like butterflies.

He stood behind you for a moment before you turned around to face him, showing the necklace sitting high upon your collarbones. Your cheeks were still pink, you knew as you could feel the slight burn of them.

The distance between you both was thin, you could faintly feel his breaths. His icey, storm grey eyes peered down at you, flickering along the plains of your face. You felt small under his brooding stare.

He looked like he was conflicted, eyes switching from your eyes to down your face. You matched his actions unconsciously.

Before you knew it, Regulus leaned in, closing the gap between the both of you. Subconsciously, you closed your eyes and mirrored his actions. You felt his lips graze yours lightly, not fully touching. Oh, them lips. How soft and plump they felt.

And then, he pressed them against yours. It felt magical (which is ironic, considering you were living in the Wizarding World). Your lips moved in sync. Regulus’ other hand moved to hold the opposite side of your waist, pulling you a little closer to him.

Your hands flew up to place themselves on top of his chest. After a few more kisses, you pushed away, gasping for air but trying not to show it. “Reg—” You started but was quickly cut off by him. “Don’t say anything. I’m sorry,” your eyebrows furrowed at the boy but he wasn’t looking, instead looking down at his shoes.

“I shouldn’t done that.” One hand was brought up to his mouth and he slid his fingers across his lips, wiping them off. “Wha—What?” You asked. “No, it’s alright,” you assured him. “I . . . I liked it.” Your fingers fidgeted behind your back and as soon as his stormy eyes, whipped up to meet yours, you sent him a small, closed smile.

It was only now that you had finally realised how you felt about the boy. The way your heart fluttered every time he smiled at you. The delicious ache in your chest you got every time you laughed with him or he laughed because of you. You’d fallen for Regulus Black—and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

The proximity between you two had decreased as you stepped closer to him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, fingers settling to play with the baby hairs at the nape of his neck. You placed a gentle kiss on his lips once again; then one on each side of the corner of his lips. They twisted into a grin. But not a mischievous one, this time, an endearing one that made your stomach flutter.

Everything going on at this moment made your stomach flutter. “Would you . . . want to be my girlfriend?” Hesitation was evident in his voice. You could almost giggle at how cute you thought he was when he was shy. “Of course, Regulus.” You both shared a smile and the corner of his eyes crinkled.

This time, you leaned forward, initiating the kiss. Your mouths slotted together and his hands slid further across your waist till you were completely in his arms. It was obvious, feeling him grin against you with your lips pressed together and next thing you knew, you were being spun around, causing you to erupt into a fit of giggles.

It was now coming towards the end of June. Christmas break was now long past and you and Regulus had been going out for almost six months. You didn’t bother keeping it a secret, and Regulus’ pals didn’t mind so much—only considering you were pure-blooded. Not keeping it hidden doesn’t mean you went prancing around letting everyone know. Also, it doesn’t mean you wanted Sirius to find out on his own . .

You were sitting in the Gryffindor common room one night. The girls had already gone off to bed but you decided to stay up a little bit longer with your brother and his friends.

Of course, Peter had already gone to bed as well as Remus leaving shortly after. They were so preoccupied with their exams and having good sleep for them. But, they were doing their O.W.L.s, so you understand why they were so stressed and pressured to do well. Sirius never bothered with exams, so he didn’t mind staying up. Naturally, he dragged James along with him to stay in the common room.

You lay, sprawled across the couch, legs sitting on top of Sirius’ and James stood by the fireplace. You were getting tired. Your eyelids struggling to keep themselves open in the cosy heat the fire provided.

That was till Sirius blurted out: “Are you shagging my brother?” As if it meant nothing. James’ head whipped over to look at Sirius as fast as yours did. Eyes blown wide and mouth gone dry all of a sudden, you stumbled over a response. “I—What.” Your cheeks were scarlet red and burning with embarrassment.

“You heard what I said,” Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. “Sirius! No, I’m not.” James hadn’t said a word, still staring at Sirius with a gaping expression. “Are you snogging Regulus?” He continued to pry with these personal questions.

You moved your legs off him, sitting up on the sofa and wrapping your arms around your knees, burying your head into your the crevice between them both. “Uhm . . . yeah,” you managed to squeak out.

Unfortunately, Sirius didn’t quite catch that, asking you to repeat yourself. “Yeah. Merlin’s beard, I was gonna tell you.” You ran your hands down your face with a discontent huff. “I’m not mad.” Sirius let out an amused laugh.

You peaked one eye past two fingers, looking at the dark haired boy. He held an entertained grin. Lowering your hands, you looked over to James who happened to have the exact same smirk plastered on his face. “Can’t believe you’ve snogged someone before our Moony,” James sniggered. “Oh, shut it.” Even though there was a slight harsh tone to your words, you sent the two boys a smirk.

“How fascinating!” You beamed at your boyfriend, lying on a slightly-damp, patch of grass as he flew not too high above you, using the broom you had gotten him. “Your birthday also happens to be our 6 month anniversary. That’s half a year!” It was two days before Regulus’ birthday.

He replied with a small chuckle. “Pity, I wont be able to see you for either,” you frowned slightly. Regulus returned to the ground, taking a seat beside you and relaxing back. “I know,” said Regulus, “but there’s nothing we can do.” You sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Regulus’ birthday arrived. You hid a small, navy blue box under your bed so the other girls wouldn’t pry and nosy about. Finally, you were able to give him his present which excited you, hoping he’d like it as much as you anticipated.

And now it was time. You both decided to meet at your usual spot, the Astronomy Tower. You arrived first, waiting not too long for Regulus to show. You scurried over to him, meeting in the middle.

“Happy birthday, Reg!” You greeted him (for the tenth time today). You smiled brightly, the outer area of your eyes crinkling gently. “Thank you, doll.” The nickname made your stomach flutter delectably.

The box in your hands was brought out in front of you for him to see. He smiled to you, taking it from your hands and placing a tender kiss to your lips. “What’s this?” He asked, in which you replied: “Open it.”

He carefully took apart the bow you had done in it, lifting the lid off the box. Inside, a jar of green, shimmery powder was placed. Regulus reached his pale hands into the box, plucking the jar from it. “Floo powder,” grinned Regulus. You weren’t sure what to make of his reaction.

“It’s so—so you can see me during summer. And get away from your family, and do what you want with it, of course.” You stumbled over your words nervously and the black-haired boy placed a peck on your temple. “I know,” he said languidly, “thanks, sweets.” Another pet name he used frequently.

His dainty fingers lifted your chin up, pulling you into him and smirking against your lips. He kissed you gently, backed off after one kiss, then leaned in again, trying to get as close to you as possible. His arms wrapped around your waist, yours pulling at his hair gingerly.

You were both practically devouring each other, not even bothering to separate for air. You accidentally tugged hard, eliciting a guttural groan from Regulus. “‘m sorry,” you mumbled, lips still grazing his. He pushed further into your face, connecting them once again.

Finally, he pulled away again. Your noses were still abrading against each other and lips softly touching as well. “I have something for you,” he whispered against your mouth, breath coming out in small puffs.

You pulled away fully now, holding onto his shoulders. He brought out his wand with one hand, muttering an ‘accio’ but you didn’t hear what he was summoning.

A petite bouquet of blood red roses and pristine white baby breath came to his clutch and he handed them over to you. “It’s . . ehm, red because your Gryffindor, and the leaves—I guess, are green. Like Slytherin.” He chuckled nervously, hand immediately going to scratch the rear of his head once you took the flowers from his grip.

Before smiling at him, you took a whiff of the flowers. They smelled gorgeous and light. “Thank you, Reg.” You leaned onto your tippy toes and gave him a peck on each cheek, then a prolonged kiss to his lips.

Summer days drifted away with the wind. It had already been two weeks into your holidays. Regulus has visited you once so far, you both going on a walk through a muggle park. He sends letters regularly. They always came sealed with a family crest stamp, and written in elegant handwriting with obsidian-coloured ink.

You wrote back as well, sealing the end of each letter with a lipstick mark (partly because you wanted to be romantic, partly because you thought it looked nice). He promised to visit you soon, and soon would be today.

The both of you were now in your bedroom. Regulus was laying down on your bed, and you were atop of him. Your mouths fit like jigsaws and your tongues danced gracefully. Silent moans slipped from each others lips every once in a while. It was bliss, you thought. His hands were placed on your waist, sliding up and down it gently, causing your shirt to ride up slightly in unison.

Three booming knocks came to your door and you heard James scream your name from outside the oak wood. Your eyes shot open and you scrambled off your boyfriend. “Shit.” An alarmed expression lay on his sharp features and you wish you had time to laugh at him. He hurried over to your wardrobe, trying to shove himself into the cramped space. You stifled a giggle at him and shut the door for him.

“What?” You rolled your eyes at James standing at your door, giving him a harsh glare. “Where. Is. My. Invisibility. Cloak?” He interrogated—or more so, demanded. You pushed your palm to greet your forehead, sighing heavily. With an irritated tone, you replied, “I don’t know, James. You used it last, idiot.”

He groaned, storming back over to your door. “Fine. But if you use it without asking, I—you’ll pay,” grumbled James. “You only use it to sneak out to go drinking every once in a while. Don’t blame me again, or I might just snitch on you,” you sneered. James just sent you a look, slamming the door on the way out.

“Merlin, what a cunt.” Your mood was instantly switched when you looked over to the wardrobe. “Regulus, you can come out.” Muffled words were coming from the wardrobe and you burst out laughing upon realising he was trapped in. You let him out, of course, but only after a couple laughs.

That was the peak. After that event, all went down hill. A week following Regulus’ visit, Sirius had burst into your home, looking wrecked and in disarray. He explained to James that he ran away from home. They were pressuring him to follow a path he didn’t want to walk along. Your family (including yourself aswell,) welcomed him in with open arms.

Regulus’ letters slowed and they held a sort of edge to them that you couldn’t explain. He also hadn’t used the floo powder you gifted him to visit you. You speculated his parents might’ve found it and confiscated it, but there was no evidence for that.

But when you returned to school for your sixth year, nothing felt the same. And nothing would feel the same again. The war had caused a split between people. Most older Slytherins had joined the Dark Lord, bearing a mark on their arm to show their loyalties.

The first time you saw Regulus was at King’s Cross. You boarded the train with your brother, Remus, Sirius and Peter. Watching all the new first years bid farewell to their parents, your eyes scanned across the crowds of people.

Eventually, they landed on Regulus and the Blacks walking over to the train. He bared a stoic look with his parents. His face looking paler and sharper than ever. They didn’t say much to each other upon his departure.

Once you arrived at Hogwarts, you were too busy unpacking and greeting the girls to find Regulus yet. It wasn’t long till you were able to, sharing potions class again this year. The time whizzed by, and now you stood outside the classroom, waiting for your boyfriend to exit as well.

You noticed him walk out the doors. He immediately tensed when he noticed you standing there. “Regulus.” You tried to send him a comforting smile, but it was so hard these days with everything going on around you. “Hello, doll.” The name still made your chest squeeze and brought a push of confidence in you.

You were shocked to find out how cold he seemed this year. You hadn’t expected the drastic change in his behaviour, even towards you. But you attempted to ignore it, and the slight pit you felt in your stomach upon noticing it.

Over the months, your relationship with Regulus morphed into . . . a routine. Something that consisted of arguing, making up, then saying goodbye to each other without any other conversation. Your chats weren’t filled with laughter and smiles like they used to, instead replaced with this. He did seem to be trying to return to the old Regulus you had known, just struggling.

Your last straw was one unfortunate, February night. “I’m so sick of this! Regulus. Look at me!” You were screaming out at him on top of the Astronomy Tower, your usual hangout spot.

His grey eyes met yours, furrowed angrily and slightly glazed over. Rivers of tears were already running from yours and the skin around them was red and puffed up. “You’ve changed. And I want to help you, but you’re not letting me.” The distance between you both was slim.

You rubbed your eyes, your mind attempting to tear your hands off to prevent making them even more red and sore. At your disbelief, he took a step forward, wrapping his arms around your waist. Your arms crept around his shoulders, head buried in the crook of his neck and soaking his shirt with tears. This felt faintly familiar.

“I’m sorry, doll,” he whispered in your ear. Not moving from that position, you both stood their, relishing in each other’s presence. Aside from every other argument that happened this year, this one felt different. You felt like he might actually be coming back to you. “I love you, Regulus. But I need you to return to me,” you sniffled through weak sobs. “I love you too.”

In that moment, you felt happy. This was your Regulus. The one you had grown so fond over.

But happiness can only last for so long, right?

He pushed you back slightly, looking into your eyes. Under the dim moonlight, two small remnants of streams from his tears lay down his cheeks. His hand clutched your cheek, rubbing a soft circle with his thumb. “I—I have something to show you.”

All of a sudden, guilt and shame took over his features. He pulled his arm away from your face, using it to uncover his sleeve on the opposite arm. His skin. His pale, soft, smooth, oh lovely skin, was flawed and a Dark Mark was engraved in it. A skull and a snake in black markings.

A choked out sob forced itself from the depths of your throat. A pit formed in your stomach and you shoved him back, away from you. “I—” He started, but you shouted over him. “Don’t. No. I will . . I will not stand to be with a Death Eater.”

He called your name, pleading. The only colour on his face was the burning red of his puffy eyes. “Please . . I didn’t—”

“I’m sorry Regulus.” You were sobbing now, trying to control your shuddering words. “I won’t do it. I never thought you had it in you.” Your words were laced with venom. Each one you spat felt as if you dug a knife further into the pit in your stomach. “Please! You don’t understand,” he strained. “I ha—”

“We’re done.” He didn’t say anything else. Instead, he just stared into your eyes longingly.

That was a month ago. Now, your entire relationship with Regulus, the walls he held up that you took time breaking down, were now rebuilt and more durable than ever. Whenever you saw him in potions class, or in the halls, or even during meals, most time he’d be staring at you with guilt-filled eyes.

You felt aches each time you noticed his glances, but not the aches you used to love; this time they were sore, painful, heart-aches. But you tried to push through them.

Of course, you still loved him. It was hard trying not to. But you managed to slowly distance yourself from your feelings and continue the mundane routine of being a Hogwarts student.

Your brother, Sirius, Remus, and surprisingly, even Peter had all felt the change in your attitude. Not only had Regulus turned into a hollow shell of himself, but your split had also morphed you into a duller, less joyful version of yourself. It wasn’t shocking, that that would happen. Regulus was everything to you. He was what made you enjoy your classes so much, enjoy going doing to Hogsmeade, enjoy sneaking out past curfew. Now all them memories were just . . memories. Memories that you needed to forget.

Eventually, you had managed to overcome this downfall in your life. Stepping over it and being able to return to your old self. Not constantly thinking of the boy. Happy, old you, who hadn’t a notion Regulus even existed; only knowing him as ‘Sirius’ cold, younger brother.’ But oh, how much your heart used to ache everytime Sirius entered the common room with a playful grin on his face. He reminded you so much of when Regulus used to smile at you with twinkling eyes.

The wind was chilled, blowing softly through strands of your hair. You were sitting by the edge of the astronomy tower, leaning on the rail that stood strong in front of you. The floor you sat on was frozen cold under your fingertips.

Often times, you came up here and just sat on the ledge of the rails. You liked to watch the stars when you couldn’t sleep. It calmed you, seeing as there was a war going on around you, as well as just calming any anxieties you had.

To your luck, each time you came up here, you never stumbled across a certain boy you were wanting to avoid. Speaking of . . Regulus, you had noticed he tended to disappear recently. The Slytherins were always acting mysterious, going off places, missing classes. You had a suspicion on what they were doing but, you can’t just accuse people of that.

You sighed, it was getting late and you were already too deep into your thoughts. You really should be focusing more of your time on studying for the end-of-year exams, not wasting it up here, drowning in your thoughts.

Rising from your spot, your hands were gritty from sitting on the stone. You wiped them off on your clothes before turning around and walking over to the stairs. At the top of the stairs stood a figure. Regulus stood two steps ahead of you.

His eyes were red and he made no attempt to hide it. It was silent for a moment. He then broke the silence by calling out your name. “Regulus,” you replied, voice cracking slightly. Fuck. You really did think you were over him, but now here he was in front of you again and you were already about to keel and cry.

“What do you want?” Your voice was harsh, full of bite. It was a pitiful attempt to push back your tears and replace them with anger. But you weren’t crying yet; you were merely teary-eyed.

“I’m so sorry, my love. I know you don’t want to talk to me, and I only did what you wanted. But we must now.” Your eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and resentment towards the boy. ‘What is he talking about?’ You thought. You stayed silent, letting him continue, to which he took the hint. “I—I needed to see you one last time.” One last time? He was starting to worry you. Your expression turned from one of bitterness to one full of anxiety. “Reg, what are you talking about?” Your voice was strained.

He stepped towards you, taking your shoulders between both hands. Instead of being warm and comforting like you last remembered, they were now as cold as tiles. “You need to listen to me,” you nodded your head as he spoke, “I’ve defected the Dark Lord.”

“What?” You felt as if you were out of breath, panting as he towered over you. “I never wanted to join them. My parents, they pressured me into doing it—becoming a Death Eater. That’s why Sirius ran. That’s why he ran. But I’m not strong, like him. I couldn’t abandon them, so I joined. But it’s gone too far. He’s attacking hundreds of families. It’s not right.” His eyes were gloomy and seemed a darker, thundery grey in this lighting. “Regulus-”

He cut you off, “No. No, just listen. The Order would never trust me, so I’ve found a way to help. They wont know but I have to do something.” This time, you cut him off, holding onto his forearms, “I don’t—what are you saying, Regulus.” Merlin, the tears were flowing down your face already.

He sighed sorrowfully. “I’m leaving tomorrow. Voldemort—he,” he looked away from you. “Look, I found out about a scheme he has. I intend to end it. Attempting this will cost me my life, doll. I’m so sorry, for everything I’ve done. I just need to have you one last time.”

You looked deep into his eyes, his into yours. Long floods of tears streamed from your eyes but you didn’t do anything to stop them now. Regulus leaned in and kissed you. You let him, kissing back equally as harsh.

He pulled away, tears falling from his gorgeous grey eyes. “I love you, I always have and I always will.” “I love you too,” you weakly replied. Your foreheads connected, noses touching and lips curling into each other. You kissed him once again. Passionate and desirable; as if you would never see him again, but that seemed to be the truth.

That night when Regulus left, you fell to your knees, creating small cuts in your smooth skin, breaking blood. It was the last time you saw Regulus black.

After that treacherous night, Regulus went missing from school. Whispers around school started. People spreading around that he was ‘murdered by Voldemort’ or ‘killed by one of the Death Eaters for cowardly betraying them’. You constantly had searched for them stormy blue-grey eyes in the corridors, looking desperately for them on the Slytherin table, laughing with Evan Rosier, but to no avail. He was gone—presumed dead, the Order had said—and the pit in your stomach since that night remained as you packed your belongings, ready to return home for summer break. Fiddling with the last thing you had to remember him by, the dainty silver necklace he gave you on the day you two got together.

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lovcrss · 28 days ago

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maybe an x reader with miles morales and a girl with depression? like he notices something’s going on and tries comforting her?

dreaming of miles telling me it’s gonna be okay

swing | miles morales

In a big city such as New York, time flew by, the noise was always present, people were always on the streets, lights were always on and heroes saved the day.

Still, lately you felt empty inside and lonely, feeling like there’s no one to turn to. Except for your boyfriend Miles, of course.

You two met when he first arrived at your school. As a good student, you showed him around the place. Since you were the only person he knew there, he asked you about everything. Surprisingly alike, you two always had something to talk about. The similarities and chemistry were undeniable. He made you laugh a lot, and he liked making you laugh.

However a lot has changed since then and now a laugh from you is heard only now and then. You became more serious than before, more careless and less communicative. Miles was the only person you actually could talk to. You had friends, sure, but none of them could actually understand or try to understand what you were currently going to, and you hadn’t tried talking with them about it.

One night, you hear a knock on your window. You got used to it since Miles told you about his abilities, about how he was the one who saved New York City from crime every day.

His dark hair peeked through the glass, waving to you. You were glad to see him after locking yourself in your room all day, refusing to talk. “Hop in.”

The window gets opened and Miles steps in with a smile on his face. “Thanks. Sooo what’s up?” He wore a jacket over his hoodie and blue jeans with his Jordans, taking off the jacket.

“Oh, nothing much”, you answer with a weak smile. Your energy was low, you sounded tired and beat up.

Miles notices how you talked, your lack of energy and weak smiles you gave him instead of usual enthusiasm.

In the last couple of days you didn’t see each other as much, due to your different classes and studies. It seems as though you changed during that period of time.

He didn’t want to bother you yet. He asked you about school, told you about his day and recent adventures. You listened attentively, reacting to his words here and there, trying your best to listen but you still looked a little blunt and tired.

Miles decides to confront you about your mood. “Hey, what’s going on? You seem sort of off, hm?”

Words didn’t want to come out of your mouth no matter how hard you tried to let it out, you just struggled to express how you felt. He waited, but you just shrug defeatedly. “Don’t really know, actually.”

He had a sympathetic look on his face, putting his arm around your shoulder. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

Tears filled your vision, yet you didn’t let them fall, leaning on his shoulder so he wouldn’t see. “I don’t know. Just feel like…”

He waited patiently, giving your temple a kiss, rubbing your back and shoulders with his fingers.

“Feel like I don’t have anything to offer. Like a shell of a person.”

“That’s not true”, he argues, furrowing his eyebrows. But that is what you felt like, even though it was hard to describe. You shake your head, pushing your head in his shoulder.

Miles couldn’t stand to see you upset. “You’re the most beautiful, smartest creature I’ve ever known. Remember how you helped me out when I first came to school? How I basically passed all my classes solely because of you? I would be nothing here without you. I think in the future, when you do those things again in a different scenario you’ll change the world.”

He went on a full tangent, his worlds so beautiful and unreal to you. “Not to mention that you put up with my dumbass everyday, I mean that take some serious inner strength…” You sit up to look at him. “Miles?”, you interrupt.

“Y/N?”

Then you finally let a laugh escape your lips, a genuine one, and Miles’ heart skips a beat. That sound was all he waited to hear.

“Just saying, you’re so much more than just a shell. You’re really special, Y/N. I’ll forever be grateful… for meeting you.” He watched you with admiration and fondness.

His tone and the seriousness he talked with made you feel like the best version of yourself, bringing you to tears again. “Oh, God…”

You pull him in a strong, emotional hug and he embraces you back, soothing you with sweet nothings and brushing your hair with his fingers. “Just swing through it, Y/N, I know you can.”

“I’m so lucky”, you mumble in his shoulder.

“I think I’m the lucky one here”, he smiles.

Immediately your chest felt lighter, like losing a rock that weighed on you for the last couple of days, making it a little easier to breathe.

“I love you, it’s gonna be okay.”

That was all it took for you to kiss him with so much love and passion, cupping his face with your hands. The kiss fixed all of your pent up sorrow from the day. Miles kisses you until he made sure that you were fine and satisfied.

After a few moments he stands up, taking your hand in his.

“Come on, let’s get you outside.”

Sudden excitement finally rushes through your body. “Can we swing, Miles? Please?”, you ask with enthusiasm.

“Anything for you, m’lady”, he laughs.

#miles morales #into the spider verse #across the spiderverse #spiderman #miles morales x reader #miles morales imagine #spiderman itsv #spiderman atsv

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youngpettyqueen · 4 months ago

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please tell me which pokemon each of the DS9 crew would have?

please enjoy this absolute novel of a post <3

I gave everyone what Pokemon I think they would have and the amount of Pokemon I think they would have- I dont think anyone on DS9 has a full team of 6, most of them only have 1 - 2 in my mind's eye, and ill also be giving my reasoning for each choice

Sisko-

Gothitelle: I think Gothitelle compliments everything Sisko has going on with the Prophets, since it's a Pokemon that sees time and memory differently than humans do. I think a Gothitelle could help Sisko with the visions he gets, with processing them and interpreting them. I also think Gothitelle would be helpful to Sisko with processing and grieving and dealing with his trauma

Kabutops: Sisko inherits this one from his father I think. I think a fossil Pokemon fits how he can get stuck in the past, and Kabutops specifically can also represent that vicious, angry side Sisko shows at times when things get truly desperate and dark. but Kabutops is also a Rock type, and what is Sisko if not a rock that his crew and family so often look to in their darkest hours?

Kira-

Ceruledge: I imagine a young, resistance fighter Kira teaming up with a Charcadet- something small and quick, just like her. growing up alongside it, and it evolving into a Ceruledge, a fierce and fiery warrior to match her. I think the typing, Fire/Ghost, suits something that comes out of the Bajoran resistance- wild and angry, but haunted, and dark

Jadzia-

Gallade: I dont think there's a better type combo possible for Jadzia than Psychic/Fighting, and of the limited options I think Gallade is best both for how strong it is and even just design wise. very easy to imagine Jadzia sparring with a Gallade, matching its blades with her bat'leth. this is absolutely one where she raised this Gallade from a Ralts, and I think there would've been a lot of thinking over which form to evolve it to, with her ultimately evolving it to a Gallade after being Joined with Dax, with how important Klingon culture became to her

Kingdra: I dont know how to explain my choice for this one it just came to me in a vision. I think both the Water and Dragon types also suit Jadzia, I could've picked any number of Dragon types for her, but Kingdra just spoke to me as I was looking at it. I think it suits her for the strength and speed it has, while also being a majestic and prestigious Dragon type, acknowledging her for the queen that she is

Julian-

Eevee: he's had this Eevee since he was a small child and he's never had it evolve. it's never shown any interest in evolving, and he doesnt pressure it, and will be supportive if it ever decides to evolve. this Eevee is very affectionate and cuddly, and always offers comfort to Julian's patients, and would be his constant companion, usually perched on his shoulder. ive had this hc in mind for a while that he would have an unevolved Eevee, which I imagine would've been a gift from his parents when he was young, and which helps him deal with all his trauma over being augmented by being something he can save. he couldnt stop his parents from doing what they did to him, but he was able to save his Eevee, and give it the freedom and choices he never had

Delibird: where most medical professionals have Pokemon like Chansey and Audino, Julian has a Delibird. Delibird is silly and whimsical, and offers humour and joy to patients, while also being capable of healing. if we borrow from the Pokemon world that Nurse Joys are paired with Chanseys, I think when the time came for Julian to be paired, he instead went with this goofy ass Delibird who was loud and silly and tended to annoy other medical students, but was always a hit with the kids

Absol: I think he would acquire an Absol during the run of the series, sometime after Camp 371. a Pokemon that can sense incoming danger would be incredibly helpful for a doctor in particular, especially planetside and during missions. I think the Dark typing as well as the more intimidating, battle-ready design would serve well in representing Julian's arc into darker territory towards the end of the series, and it would be his only Pokemon that would be capable of true battling if needed

Miles-

Metang: I cant see Miles having a Metagross but Metang seems like it was made for him. a partner that's been with him for a long time I imagine, helping him out on the job as needed, but also able to do work of its own since its been doing this for a while. Steel type is just perfect for Miles, and I think Metang captures that really well, with its design complimenting Miles' work and its Psychic typing giving it that higher intelligence to have it be an independent engineer in its own right

Bastiodon: this is another partner I think Miles would've had for a while, and this Bastiodon is what I imagine at his side when he was fighting Cardassians, and when he fights the Dominion. I think a Bastiodon physically represents Miles' desire to protect, as well as how he'll be a battering ram when needed, all brute force and no delicacy. the safest place in the universe for Miles' children is in his arms, and the second safest place is with this Bastiodon, who often lays down for long naps with Molly curled up with it

Elekid: this is a whole scenario hc- the crew finds a Pokemon egg thats been left behind by the Cardassians and it hatches into an Elekid that immediately imprints on Miles. its his little buddy assistant who hands him tools and powers stuff up for him to run tests. he complained endlessly about it for 3 days and then got so attached that he'll kill anyone who looks at it wrong. this Elekid loves Keiko so much and hides behind her when its scared, is best friends with Molly, and it loves Yoshi more than anything else in the universe

Odo-

Ditto: you know I have to give Odo a Ditto. and you know this Ditto has to have trouble with faces, and Odo feels deeply connected to it as a result. this Ditto has imprinted on Odo so hard and copied his personality so its a very gruff Ditto that does great impressions of Odo and is uncannily like him. it has a vendetta against Quark and all of Quark's Pokemon and tries to fight them constantly

Quark-

Gimmighoul: money man gets the money Pokemon. this Gimmighoul is to Quark what Odo's Ditto is to him- it acts very similarly to Quark, is always scheming, and has a greedy streak to rival his. this little guy will scuttle around the bar and collect loose slips and chips, and keeps its stash mostly in its chest, which it shares a cut of with Quark. this little guy's design, money-obsession, and size and sneak factor make it just the perfect partner for Quark, because I think theyre best friends but also they butt heads constantly and argue over who gets what money. this Pokemon knows capitalism and it is WINNING

Porygon-Z: might seem like an odd choice, but I was debating over Pokemon that would serve different purposes for Quark, and I realized how multi-versatile Porygon-Z could be and then some lore ideas came to me. im thinking Quark may have gotten this Porygon-Z as a Porygon, when he first arrived on DS9, and its been with him all these years. this Porygon-Z goes in and out of the computer, accessing and taking in databases for Quark's use. it can also be a translator for other Pokemon and other species alike. Quark gets most of his information from this Porygon-Z. Odo absolutely hates it and it has a very intense rivalry with Odo's Ditto

Zubat: Quark's ears around the station, which reports back to him constantly. station inhabitants know to watch what they say when they spot a Zubat in their area, but visitors? not so much. Zubat is small, and sneaky, and has unmatched hearing. its also a slippery little bugger, much like its owner, except when this guy shrieks and squeals it tends to leave people disoriented and confused, letting it slip away and go flying back with its tails tucked. it also has a nasty bite, though nobody has ever been able to prove it was Quark's Zubat that bit them- I imagine DS9 would have a Zubat problem, dont ask me how thats possible in space its just the Vibes

Worf-

Emboar: while Fighting is obviously a great type match up for Worf, I knew it couldnt be as simple as just any Fighting type. I went through a lot of ideas before deciding on Emboar, with its design reminding me of Klingon Targs and Worf having had one as a childhood pet, while also being a massive, bulky, insanely strong Pokemon that could keep up in combat. much like Jadzia and Gallade, I can imagine Worf sparring with this Emboar, with this Emboar physically presenting the fire that burns in Worf at all times

Aegislash: hear me out on this one cause I know its strange. I wanted a Pokemon for Worf to represent the blade, and the Klingon culture, and I think Aegislash fits this both for being a literal blade, but also for its Ghost typing. Worf is in many ways haunted by his own culture, how disconnected he is from it due to being raised by Humans. I think Aegislash is as much a bat'leth as it is a representation of his own heritage following him like a ghost, the shadow of what he could have been always lingering

(I do also think Worf would take in Jadzia's Gallade after her death)

Ezri-

Sylveon: for someone as anxious and neurotic as Ezri, I think a partner like a Sylveon would be best, while also being a great help to her as a counsellor. Sylveon is a highly empathetic Pokemon much like its owner, and is a great help and comfort to her patients, while also being a great help and comfort to Ezri herself. Ezri adopted an Eevee while going through training in the Academy, and it very quickly evolved into a Sylveon imo

Kingdra: inherited from Jadzia. at first the two clash horribly, as Kingdra is angry and mourning, and Ezri agreed to take it in out of guilt. eventually they manage to come together, and they form a very tight bond, offering comfort to each other as they navigate the ghosts in their lives, and this strange position theyre both in

Jake-

Gumshoos: I think a Yungoos stowaway on the station would be Jake's first caught Pokemon, and would evolve eventually into Gumshoos as it grows up with Jake. a scrappy Yungoos in the beginning that follows Jake around and gets into trouble with him, and as it grows older and evolves it investigates with him, sneaks around for him to gather information, and is his right-hand man in journalism. this Gumshoos is viciously protective of Jake, and it and Sisko get along really well, and Sisko trusts it implicitly. I figured a detective-type Pokemon would be a fun match for Jake, especially one that could mature with him

Brionne: this Brionne was belonged to Jennifer. Sisko of course cared for it after her passing, but the Brionne was very attached to Jake, so Sisko gave over ownership once Jake was old enough to care for a Pokemon himself. I wish we had more of Jennifer to go off of in canon, but with how connected the Sisko family is to water and the importance of that meeting of Benjamin and Jennifer on the beach, I think a Brionne makes a good choice for a Pokemon that she would've had, and which would make a good match for Jake. Brionne is silly and fun, with a cheerful disposition, and from what we see of Jennifer I think a Primarina would've suited her, but perhaps Brionne never got to evolve to that point and after losing its owner, doesnt want to evolve anymore

and of course, bonus recurring characters...

Rom-

Timburr: I think Rom doesnt have a Pokemon for the longest time, having not had any as a child and then being too busy trying to raise Nog as an adult to worry about Pokemon. I think he acquires a Timburr on the station, secretly rescuing it back when it was occupied by Cardassians, and its stayed with him ever since. this Timburr is his assistant, and much like him, is timid but well-meaning. this Timburr loves Nog dearly, and the only time it gets violent is if it feels Nog is in danger

Nog-

Golisopod: another scenario hc, I think Quark gets cheated with an egg that hatches into a Wimpod, and not wanting to deal with it he pawns it off on Nog to deal with. Nog resents it at first, but comes to care a lot for the Wimpod, seeing himself in it as a trouble kid being bullied all the time. as Nog grows and matures, his Wimpod grows with him, and while Nog might not grow up to be big and strong, his Wimpod sure does evolve into a massive and imposing Golisopod. Golisopod is considered an odd choice for a future captain, but since Nog is anything but a typical captain, the two make an excellent match

Garak-

Kecleon: I did consider Zoroark for Garak's partner, but ultimately Kecleon won me over with its camouflage-based stealth and lizard design. Garak's Kecleon could also represent the Regnar he kept in secret through his schooling, Mila, if he got to keep her. Kecleon's camouflage is invaluable to him in keeping tabs on the station, and his Kecleon acts very much like him, being elusive, mysterious, and largely unknown. I think most people wouldnt even know Garak had a Kecleon, with Julian being one of the few who's even seen it, lurking about in Garak's shop

Keiko-

Roserade: my botanist queen of course had to have a Pokemon that would be a helpful research assistant, and what better than a Roserade? I went through several flower Pokemon before deciding on Roserade, for being one of the stronger and more combat-able ones, for someone like Keiko who isnt afraid to stand up for herself. I think she never had a Pokemon of her own as a grown up, maybe leaving any childhood ones with her family on Earth when she Joined Starfleet, until she started dating Miles who gifted her with a Budew, which is now her Roserade

#star trek: ds9 #pokemon #what a combo of tags #im not tagging everyone rn sorry im so tired #ive been writing this post for like 2 hours #again I am so insane about Pokemon that I had already thought about this exact question a lot #hope you enjoy this gotdamn ENCYCLOPEDIA I truly have no chill #longtime followers will remember when I did this for MASH #twice

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justanamesstuff · 1 year ago

Text

Chapter 4

Seasons

Matty Healy x f!reader

A/N: SURPRISE!! Idk what got into me today but i finally edited this!! I hope you like it...sorry for the delay :)♥

Warnings: ANGST, also fluffy feelings hehe, typos.

Word count: 4,9 K

MASTERLIST TAGLIST

< Chapter 3

LA, USA

After the chat with Y/n, Matty was even more restless. Something woke up that night, some kind of strange feeling. Anger? Happiness? He wasn’t sure even though it kept him awake for the rest of the nights after. Matty couldn’t put a name to the sensation driving him insane day by day. The knife in the middle of his chest kept him company during Christmas dinner watching Y/n actively enjoy the holidays with the boys and Matty’s parents.

His mind was constantly thinking about the night he met Y/n and the car ride. Why did he tell her those stupid things? Why? What’s the point? Did he make her uncomfortable? Yes, he noticed. He was so stupid.

The purpose of that night was to talk about the problem –even when he still didn't know if they had. No, he had to go and tell Y/n that a relationship with her would be amazing. Which he was convinced of, but still. First thing first, he had a girlfriend. Why suddenly it was so hard to remember that? Secondly, Y/n was his best friend. Those sayings and feelings belong in the past, when he was so in love with her. He got over those, right?

Matty felt exhausted. He only talked about this with himself. Who could he trust this? George? He loved G, although Matty couldn’t risk his friend telling Y/n about it. G had all of his trust, but his heart was deeply scared driving him to choose to keep the secret to himself only.

Matty couldn’t even think about the possibility of her knowing. The singer believed that Y/n would be so shocked and horrified. Then, who? Ross? Adam? Maybe. How do you bring a topic like this up without making a fool of yourself? Well, he was already one.

Matty returned to LA. Work demanded a lot of him: his strength, attention, and so much more. On top of that, he was in a relationship. Why was it so hard to remember that? Well, no, he didn’t forget. Only his full attention was elsewhere and Nadia wasn’t stupid. She noticed.

At first, she thought work was the cause, but her sixth sense told her something else was happening. Something else was troubling her boyfriend. Why did Matty go from being so thoughtful to be slightly distant and cold? Was she being clingy? They came from a pandemic, a lockdown, from living every single day and –almost– hour of the day together; to being kilometres apart. It was reasonable. Or she wanted to convince herself that it was normal. Especially when she was arriving in LA to visit him that week. That was going to help.

Matty tried his best to pass his free time with Nadia those days. He had to redeem her for his behaviour. He loved Nadia.

———————————————————————————————————–

January, Ireland.

For most people, the end of the holiday season was a bummer. Y/n agreed it was kind of sad, because it is a season full of colours and happiness, on the other hand starting a new year comes with a feeling of fresh start.

After the conversation with Matty, Y/n was adamant to keep moving forward and left the clouds full of dark feelings away, in the past year. Or she was really trying to. Sometimes, Matty was a pandora box for her, one she really wanted to understand and crack open. She couldn’t understand the boy, his motivation to say this or that. Maybe Y/n was overthinking and he was only joking. But what if…? She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the “what if’s”. What if she let him kiss her that night?

Her belly flopped with the solo thought of it. What if she never accepted his offer to drink with the whole gang? What if…? What if he had feelings for her? No, that couldn’t be right. Apart from that night, Matty never gave her any sign to think otherwise. Or maybe she didn’t notice? No. She had to stop. She couldn’t think about him like that.

The “what if’s” had to stop. The distance will help, although Matty made her promise to not disappear again. And that was another challenge for Y/n because she succeeded when she was away from him without contact, but now would be different. Yeah, she agreed it wasn’t a good solution. It did work for a month but the moment Y/n saw Matty…everything collapsed. Didn’t matter, she must keep the promise to herself.

Not everything in her life was awful.

Y/n returned to the place that brought so much peace to her life right at the moment. Which was kind of funny because she got stressed from work a lot, but it also made her very happy. Y/n returned to Ireland after that hectic, torrid couple of weeks. As soon as she dropped her bag, Lily updated her about the party and the whole staff shenanigans, also about Tom. She even teased Y/n about him.

Y/n had to talk with Tom about the date, arrange the details.

A couple of days went by since she arrived and Y/n still didn’t say a word, neither did Tom. He was waiting. He didn’t want Y/n to think he was a creep or something. Y/n had other reasons.

At the same time, Tom was a wonderful human being, very handsome. Those blue eyes drove her crazy in the best way possible. She had to find a person she fancied, someone who wanted her as well. Well, Tom was definitely the boy. Not because she was that confident, just because he let her know and Lily kept saying that she believed it.

Thing is, she was still heartbroken. Y/n’s heart was broken. She was sure that Tom would never do something to hurt her on purpose, but the heart was never rational and when it got hurt it was difficult to make it trust again. So, yeah, Y/n had a dilemma between her hands. She needed a little time.

“What are you overthinking now?” a sleepy Lily entered the kitchen, where Y/n was making a cup of tea and scrolling through Instagram at the same thing.

“Good afternoon to you too.” Y/n joked.

“Yeah, yeah.” Lily waved her hand around, trying to shut up her friend. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Nothing really, Instagram.” Y/n informed her, refreshing the page.

“What a boring day. I hate Sundays.” Lily stated, sitting at the kitchen table.

“Yeah.” Y/n said without really paying attention.

“Could you make me a cup too? Please.” Lily said in a sweet voice. Y/n looked at her, letting her phone fall on the table.

“Yeah, of course.”

Lily took Y/n’s phone and refreshed the page once more. How boring the internet became with the pandemic, ha?

While Y/n finished pouring the drink, she heard Lily gasping a little too loud. Which startled Y/n.

“What?” she turned around.

“You don’t want to watch this.” Lily warned her.

“I do now.” Y/n tried to reach for her phone but Lily pushed it further away.

“Y/n! No.”

“Lilly-Rose!” Y/n said, giving her friend an angry look, warning her. “Give me my phone.”

“Fine but, for the record, I warned you.”

Y/n took the phone with her heart beating in her ears. When the pictures reached her eyes, all the blood on her head fell towards her feet. She took a seat beside Lily.

Matty uploaded a picture of Nadia, with a subtle but loving caption. It was the first picture he posted of her ever. The likes were blowing as well as the comments. She kept scrolling and a picture of Matty in the same place appeared. Yeah, she followed Nadia on Instagram. Y/n left the phone on the table slowly. Then, she looked up at Lily, who had been staring at her waiting for a reaction.

“What?”

“Y/n…”

“What?”

“I- You- “

“No, I don’t care.” Y/n tried to state firmly but her voice broke a little at the end..

“Y/n.” her friend insisted.

“Lily, stop, I don’t care. He is my friend. He has a girlfriend, a so pretty one…fuck me!”

“You’re prettier.” Lily told her, which made Y/n laugh.

“Thanks for cheerleading me, L. I feel fifteen all over again.” she tried to joke.

“Y/n, I mean it.”

“Thanks, but- It doesn’t matter. He wants her, he is with her. And I don’t want him… like that any more.” she started passing around the kitchen.

Silence took a place between them. Y/n was deep in her inner battle, and Lily was pitying her a little. Y/n was more than her PA by now, she was her friend and Lily could tell Y/n was hurt. Yes, she was making such a good job coping with such difficult feelings but in the end, she was wounded.

“I don’t care.” Y/n stated out of the blue, more for herself than for anyone else.

“Keep repeating that… maybe next week you’ll convince your head.”

Y/n huffed. “That doesn’t help.”

“It doesn’t help that you avoid what you’re feeling, Y/n.”

“I’m no- “

“Don’t lie. Y/n, I fucking know it hurts to see them…”

Lily let her hand fall on Y/ns’s back, caressing her with affection. “Yes, it does. Fuck!”

“It’ll pass.”

“I’m trying so fucking hard, I’m exhausted.”

“Then stop trying.”

“What?!” Y/n looked at her dead in the eyes.

“I’m saying, stop trying. Maybe you’re trying too hard, maybe you have to let the universe decide.” Lily stopped, expecting a reaction getting nothing, so she continued. “What I’m trying to say is…don’t cover your feelings, you’re hurt right now, fine, well no, you get it. And then keep living your life, you have a lot of work to do- “

“Thanks for reminding me.” they chuckled.

“You have work and let me also remind you…you have a perfect boy waiting for the tiniest signal to let him know that you want to start something” Lily stated.

“I’m scared.” Y/n admitted.

“I know babe.” Lily’s face softened.

“I don’t want to waste Tom’s time”

“Shut up, he’s a grown-up. If he decides that he doesn’t want to build something with you, then he has the choice to leave. Same as you.”

“And that’s the scariest part.”

“Agh! I fucking know, okay? Just let yourself live a little. He is not going to hurt you like Matty, I’m 100% sure.”

“We don’t know that.” Y/n stared at her phone, replaying the pictures of Nadia and him.

“We won’t know if you never try.”

“I don’t want to know if he is going to hurt me.”

“Y/n, could you stop worrying that much? You haven't had a single date. Oh god, you’re perfect for the industry…do you know?” Lily said.

“Shut up.”

“No, seriously. Give him the chance.”

“I- “

“Let me ask you a question, okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Forget about Matty and everything, just listen.” Lily told her, and Y/n obeyed. “Do you Y/n Y/L/N want to start something with Tom Blyth?” she asked. “No! No…don’t rush it!” Lily stopped Y/n when she saw her opening her mouth to speak. “Really think about it, and then give me the answer.”

Y/n took 2 minutes to do so. “This is stupid.” she shook her head.

“You’re stupid.” Lily teased her.

“Hey!”

“Well, the answer?”

“You know the answer!”

“Do I?”

“Yes.” Y/n answer barely out loud.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes!”

“Yes, what?” Lily grinded big.

“Yes, I want to go out with him.”

“Well, the question was to start a beautiful story of love and live forever happily, although… I think your answer is good.”

“You are an idiot.” Y/n laughed, moving closer to her friend, sharing a hug.

…………………………………………………………

Y/n was a morning kind of person. She liked to wake up before everybody. The world is quiet when you wake up early. The world around you, your world. She loved the feeling.

Even though she hated Monday mornings. They were hectic and chaotic. More if you have to get ready quickly to leave for the set, for work. This particular morning was different.

Y/n was excited and nervous too. She was excited to see Tom, and nervous because she was going to ask him about the date. She didn’t let herself worry if he was going to say yes or no or whatever. Y/n had to try. She had to move forward in her life. She owned it to herself.

By midday, Y/n was getting angrier and less nervous or. It was like the universe tried to say: wait a little bit, it’s not the moment. She was frustrated.

Lily and Y/n arrived at the set pretty early, they followed the schedule as planned. The girls bump into Tom at the makeup trailer where she had a moment with him alone, but someone called him. Y/n politely smiled and said nothing. Then, she tried between some breaks, but the rest of the cast were around so popping the question was almost impossible. She wanted to ask him so badly by midday.

After lunch, Y/n had a moment in Lily’s trailer to do some work. She knew moving papers and huffing between every two seconds was a very childish manner but the girl was frustrated. Y/n stood up, leaving all the paperwork aside ready to leave the trailer when the door opened. A worried Tom came inside through the open door. Y/n stopped in her tracks.

“This is the only way we’re going to be able to talk? In Lily’s trailer?” Tom asked nicely, teasing her, showing Y/n a warm smile.

“I was going to search for you right now.”

“Oh.” Tom said. His smile disappeared from his face. “Something happened?” he asked politely.

“Yes- No- I mean…” Y/n started. Tom waited for her to continue. “I’m sorry, I was trying to talk to you for most of the day and…”

“And something keeps getting in the way.”

“Exactly, did you notice, ha?” Y/n inquired, looking at him. Fuck, he is so handsome.

“Yeah, I- I first thought that you were angry at me…”

“What? No, no…it’s- no-”

“I know.”

“Can we start again? As if we just see each other today?” Y/n said laughing.

“Seriously?” Y/n nodded. “Okay, just let me- “ Tom got off the trailer, and seconds after he came back. “Hi, Y/n, how are you?” the actor tried as hard as he could keeping his laugh under control.

“Hi, Tom!” Y/n replied smiling. “I’m good, you?”

“Yeah, good! Now that I’m talking to you.” he said, making Y/n blushed.

“Oh, sweet.” she didn’t know what else to say. She had to ask him. “Tom?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” she simply said, and getting off a weight from her shoulders. “I mean, you asked me weeks ago, but- If you don’t it’s okay…”

“Yes!” he interrupted her. “Do you want to go today? I think we’re going to end pretty early so…”

“Yeah, that would be great!”

“Amazing! That’s all you were going to tell me? You’re not angry right? Just checking.” Tom asked.

“Yes, that was all. I’m not- I wasn’t angry at you, I was frustrated that we couldn’t talk.”

“Mm okay, glad we did. See you after the last scene?”

“Are we heading right after? I wanted to change clothes. I’m looking like a mess…”

“You always look beautiful, Y/n.” Tom admitted.

“You’re too kind.” Y/n replied shyly.

“Not really.” they chuckled. “I mean it though.”

“Okay.” Y/n nodded, blushing.

“Okay.”

“See you in a couple of hours.”

“See you.”

Tom left the trailer, leaving a very happy Y/n. A very content with herself Y/n. This was one more step in the right direction. She was excited.

………………………………………………

Lily was waiting for Y/n’s return from the date. They left at 5 pm and until that moment Y/n had been gone for 5, almost 6 hours. Which indicated the date was going perfectly? Yeah, she was sure of that. Y/n and Tom were meant to be, they would make a cute couple.

Lily almost jumped from the couch when she heard the front door unlocked. A delighted Y/n came into the living room.

“Hi.” Y/n said, breathlessly.

“Spill the tea, queen!”

“What are you doing awake? Don’t you have lines to memorise?”

“I already did. Now talk.” Lily bounced on her seat.

“What?” Y/n sat beside her friend.

“Y/n, drop it!” Lily warned her.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” Y/n apologised. “What do you want to know?”

“Mm everything?!” Lily exclaimed. She laughed about Lily’s reaction.

“We went to a beautiful café downtown. We talked about everything and nothing, we thought that the place was amazing…I mean, they had books everywhere- “

“Please, don’t tell me you only read.” Lily pledged.

“Course not! As I was saying the place was amazing- “

“Yeah, yeah, don’t care about that. Did you kiss?” Lily inquired, Y/n blushed.

“We talked a lot, you know him. He’s so sweet and caring. We chat about everything you could think about…”

“Amazing, I’m so happy. Did you kiss?”

“Omg, Lily, didn’t you want to know about everything?”

“Yes, everything means…did you kiss?”

“We ended up leaving the café because Tom told me about this park really close by, and we went there. The talk continued forever while we stroll by- “ Y/n ignored Lily’s ask once more.

“You’re totally doing this on purpose.” Y/n’s friend folded her arms together in annoyance.

“We strolled by the park and when we realised the hour, Tom offered to walk me here. So, we did.” she made a little pause. “He left after we kissed.” Y/n smiled wide with the last part.

“What?!” Lily screamed, looking astonished at Y/n.

“Didn’t you want to know that?”

“Omg, is he a good kisser? How do you feel? THIS IS AMAZING!” Lily continued, excited, making Y/n smile even more.

“He is. I’m feeling on cloud nine” Y/n admitted. “I don’t remember when was the last time I felt like this.”

“This is so cute. See? I told you!”

“Shut up.”

“No, seriously. I want to be your maid of honour, okay?”

“And I’m the one that exaggerates?” Y/n teased her.

“I’m so happy for you, babe! You deserve someone like Tom.”

“I’m so happy too!”

“So, are you going to see him again?”

“He did ask me on another date, we planned to have a picnic at the park we went today…he said that it’s prettier with daylight.”

“Aww, cute. I love the idea.”

“Me too, I…I can’t believe this.” Y/n pushed herself back on the couch, hiding her face behind her hands.

“Believe it my friend! YOU DESERVE IT Y/N Y/L/N!!” Lily accentuated every word.

“I know.” y/n agreed. Finally feeling happy. .

———————————————————————————————————

A month later…

After a couple of days, weeks really, with his friend, Adam could easily tell that Matty was stressed about something. The guitarist attached it to the mental requirement Matty was under with the album.

Adam reached a point where he subtly tried to convince Matty to rest so many times but the frontman was beating himself up working out almost constantly as long as working. When he wasn’t at the studio, he was at the gym the Airbnb had and when he wasn’t there he was writing new songs.

A bunch of nights, Adam found Matty at the kitchen table balancing his attention between his guitar, a very worn out notebook and a cup of wine or whiskey.

Adam wasn’t stupid, he could figure something was happening really. For the longest he attached it to the long months in lockdown, some kind of post trauma symptom. That hypothesis left his mind after only one week of keeping his attention closer to his friend.

They fought a bunch of times. George and Ross tried to interfere, but the boys explained that it was something between them, and only them. Adam started to think that maybe it was more about Tom vs Tom himself. Again, he was worried.

Weeks kept passing by and Adam got nothing out of Matty, which got him fed up with the situation. He didn’t want to push the singer too much, but Matty had to stop that behaviour. It wasn’t healthy.

“Fine, I’m going to work out for a little.” Matty said, seconds after they entered the rented house after a very long day at the studio. They were left alone when the guys decided to stay behind for a few more hours working on other projects.

“Matty.” Adam said in a warning tone.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Matty spat at him.

“Actually, yes, I have.” Adam stared at him with bored eyes.

“Oh, really?” Matty opened his posture, coming closer to where his friend stood closer to the front door.

“You know what I think. I know- “ Adam tried to maintain the calm, something difficult after weeks of the same shit.

“You know nothing.” Matty Interrupted his bandmate, in a bitter tone.

“Then, explain it to me, talk to me. Fuckin’ tell me what keeps you like this, mate!” Adam shouted, losing his cool a little.

Matty studied his red face after saying, “Fuck off, Adam.”

The singer turned around, heading to the gym. Adam followed him. “No, thank you. Matty- “

“Which part of fuck off, leave me alone… you don’t understand dickhead?”

“Matty, I don’t give a fuck about your swearing. I’m done with this childish behaviour. You can’t beat yourself just for work.” Adam tried to reason with his best friend, who scoffed at the comments. Matty started working out, hoping that Adam leaves him with his thoughts.

“You know nothing- “

“Give me one reason to let you continue with this-” Adam moved his hands in the air, trying to find a word to Matty’s behaviour. He couldn’t. “Well, whatever you’re dealing with.” he ended up placing his hands on both sides of his hips, which reminded him when their mothers scolded them.

“I- I’m- No, there’s nothing. Adam, please.” Matty tried to persuade him.

“Agh!” Adam covered his face in annoyance. “I know that working after a lot of time off triggers you, more so now with the pandemic which made our routine all different. Still, you can’t continue like this. I’ve been here for two or three weeks and it’s insane, you’re stressing yourself beyond any human toleration.” Adam passed around the gym, meanwhile Matty sat on the floor, watching him rant. “This is insane.”

“Have you finished?” Matty asked cockily.

“Yes, I think- Yeah.” Adam answered, gazing down at Matty.

“Thanks. Now you can leave.”

“What? Are you serious?” Adam almost screamed.

“Yes.”

“You’re a fucking child sometimes. Do I have to call Denise?”

“What? No, why?” Matty avoided his stunned gaze.

“You- Ah- I- Didn’t you listen to me?” Adam asked, almost speechless.

“Yes”

“Then?”

“I thank you. I don’t want to fight any more. Please, please, leave me the fuck alone.”

“Fine! You don’t leave me another option.” Adam turned around, going through the door. A little idea crept into his mind. “I’ll call Y/n- “

“No!” Matty ran quicker than ever before in his short life after his friend. “No, no!” he started to repeat, but Adam was gone.

Matty reached the living room just seconds after Adam took the phone out from his pocket.

“Oh, yes.” Adam said, unlocking it.

“Hann, no- stop…STOP!” Matty whined. The tone of his voice made the guitarist stop.

“What?” he asked, intrigued now.

“Don’t call Y/n. I- I’ll- “ Adam was surprised to watch Matty so desperately, trying to speak clearly, failing miserably.

“You will…?”

“No, fuck.”

“Fine, I’m calling her.” Adam continued, searching for Y/n’s contact.

“NO! Hann!” Matty started to scream “I’ll talk with you! Okay?! I promise!”

“Really? That's all I had to do? Threaten you to call Y/n?” Adam inquired.

“Yes- I mean, no- Could you put your phone aside?” the singer asked nicely, a request that Hann obeyed. “Fine, sit.” he obeyed again. “I’m dealing with something, well, not something. I don’t even know how to name it…” Matty started to walk around the couch in circles.

“Then what?” Adam shyly asked. He didn’t want to interrupt too much, in fear of Matty’s reaction.

“It’s not about work.”

“Then what?”

“Are you going to repeat that over and over again?”

“Well, no, if you say something that makes sense.”

“Fine. Where to start?” Matty set his sight far from Adam, thinking. “Do you know that Y/n was angry with me the last time I went home?”

“Mm no. She seemed pretty happy when I saw her.” Hann admitted.

“Well, she got angry. She didn’t really tell me why, I got angry at her because she started to ignore me. The next day we talk, but we don’t actually talk- “

Adam pushed forward, waiting for the worst scenario. “Wait, you don’t talk? Then what did you do?”

“No, not that! For God’s sake, mate!” Matty pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Okay, go on.”

“Well, we talked and everything is fine…and not at the same time.” Matty ran his hands through his hair, anxiously.

“What do you mean?” Adam felt very lost.

“That’s what I don’t know…I said a bunch of stupid things, that I still believe and made me feel some- something…”

“What thing?”

“Feelings I thought were gone.”

“Like which ones?”

“You know which- “

“No, I don’t.”

“Hann.”

“Matty…”

“I had a crush on Y/n when we met her.”

“Only that night?” Hann’s voice was full of sarcasm.

“That’s it.” Matty exclaimed, turning around ready to leave.

Adam stood in the middle of Matty’s way. “No, no.” Adam tried to stop him. “I’m not, I just- Please, keep going, mate.”

Matty took a step back, “Okay, yes, I had a crush on her that night and after that…for a while. But- “

Adam waited patiently.

“But she is my best friend”

“And?”

“She is amazing”

“She is. And?”

“And?”

“And what is the problem with that?”

“She’s not the problem. She never was. I’m the problem. Fuck.” Matty expressed passing again. “The thing is- I have- I had those feelings, which I got over them. Although, now after that talk- “

“What did you say that night?”

“I told her I think that if something happened between us it would be…I think that it would be amazing.” Matty watched as Hann's face changed completely..

“Wait a minute, you said what? You have a girlfriend!”

“Do you think I forgot? Fuck this a mess, or am I overreacting?”

“This is a mess. Let me get this straight. You had feelings for her.” Adam waited for Matty’s nod to continue. “You got over those, or you thought that- “

“I got over those.”

“Aha…” Hann was suspicious that it was true.

Matty noticed the doubt in his friend’s voice. “Not helping!” he warned him.

“Fine. You got over those. You hooked up with every woman possible…” the guitarist remembered, making Matty scoff. “I’m not judging you, I’m just saying.” They laughed. “After that, you started something with Nadia. Everything seems fine till Y/n gets angry?”

“This sounds so stupid. Did I mature?”

“I mean…” Adam teased him.

“Okay, but no- Y/n’s my best friend. This is stupid, I’m stressed…”

“Mate, you are in love with Y/n since the first moment you watched her at the pub” Adam didn’t hesitate to say.

“What? No, I was- “

“You- “

“No, see? That’s why I didn’t want to talk to anyone. You don’t understand- “

“Do you understand what’s happening?” Hann crooked an eyebrow.

“Yes- No- But, I’m not.”

“You have to face it.”

“Fuck you, mate. I’m with Nadia.”

“That’s what made it a little more difficult.”

“You’re such a great advisor…” It was Matty’s time to be sarcastic. He knew it was wrong, he was taking his anger with Adam. He knew he had to talk and let the truth out, but it also meant risking his relationship with Y/n and Nadia as well. The solo thought made him feel sick.

“I am.”

“You’re not.”

“I get why you’re so troubled…you have to- “

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do!” Matty got defensive again.

“You can shout and swear all you want, but…the reality is one. Your feelings are for one only.”

“I don’t have feelings for Y/n, she is my best friend. I’m- I’m only scared that our relationship breaks or something, she sometimes distanced from me and I don’t want to lose what we have. And I neither want to lose Nadia, I love her- “

“Not in the way you love Y/n.” Adam remarked.

“No, she’s my girlfriend.”

“Your heart is elsewhere.”

“Why do you think you are right? You’re not by the way.” Matty started to walk away.

“Because I know I am…you just-“

“I know what I’m feeling!” he shouted without looking back.

“You said you don’t!”

“Well, I do now. Thank you, are you happy?” Matty dryly said.

“Not entirely, just a little.”

“I’m going to work out…as I wanted to do so.”

“Yes, go in peace, mate!” Adam chuckled, watching his friend behave worse than his own child. The frontman left without saying anything more.

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

Taglist: @hollybrislen @sinarainbows @eaglestar31 @sugarkane1001 @brittluvs1975

Chapter 5 >

#matty healy #matty healy fic #matty healy x reader #matty healy fanfiction #matty healy x you #matty healy angst #matty healy fluff #matty x reader #matty x you #seasons

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