#sophie’s fic recs 📖 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chicksung · 3 years ago

Text

make sure to check out @jishyucks entry for my sweet sixteenth collab!

Into My traeH ‣ sjy

‣ genre: hogwarts!au, implied bestfriends-to-lovers, fluff

‣ wc: 4.1k

‣ summary: A strike of realization occurs between you and Jake when an encounter with the Mirror of Erised reveals nothing but your own reflections

‣ prompt: ❝What are you doing out here so late?❞

‣ warnings?: none, I don't think

‣ an: This fic is for @chicksung's birthday collab! Happy (early) Sweet Sixteen, Sophie! Sending you my best wishes and I hope you enjoy this! <3 (ps. gonna change the link to the masterlist once you post it!)

It wasn’t an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence for you to have trouble sleeping, especially on stormy nights.

No, you weren’t afraid of storms. Oddly, you found storms comforting. It was probably in the fact that people tended to find ways to get cozy in bad weather. It held a sense of warmth, on the inside rather than out. This was the same reason why you preferred winter over the summer and autumn over spring.

Sitting up in the dark, you carefully eyed your dorm mates, hoping that no one else was awake to see you in your drowsy state. You didn’t want to bother anyone either or cause any sense of panic in them when you decided to leave. After a few more moments of observing, you concluded that no one was up, that all their chests had been rising and falling in states that were only possible at rest.

Quietly, you throw your blanket aside, sliding your legs over the edge of the bed and just above the slippers that you placed on the floor just a few hours prior. The set destination you had in mind was the fireplace in the common room. Though it wasn’t necessarily cold in the room, you craved the comfort of the fire’s heat. The same type of comfort that could help lull you to sleep.

Tip-toeing down the stairs, you feel your eyelids losing their weight, tugging your night robe tighter to your body. From the middle of the staircase, you could see the fireplace had been lit, the red-orange glow emitting off of the turn in the staircase walls. This caused your brows to knit together in confusion. Who was down here at such a late hour?

At the bottom of the staircase, you let yourself stop for a moment, taking in the back of another’s head as they faced the fire. They had moved one of the couches so that they were closer to the fireplace. They wanted heat too.

“Hello?” You spoke quietly.

The person—the boy—jumps up and turns to look at your presence, surprised at the unexpected company. Since the fire had been set behind him, his face was almost completely blocked out by shadows. Instead, his silhouette greeted you.

“Y/N?” He said, “You scared me!”

You recognized his voice almost immediately. It was none other than your best friend, Jake. No one else would be scared of something so simple.

You laugh at the familiarity of this situation, and you’re suddenly taken back to when you first met Jake. You both were first years. It was the first time you both had been away from your parents for that long, sharing rooms with other first-years who already seemed to have gotten the hang of the dorm system. For eleven-year-olds, that was impressive, you remember thinking. Only you weren’t the type to act so nonchalantly when it came to being away from home.

There was a night sometime in October that year that your chest had been aching. The cause? Homesickness. It didn’t help that the only form of communication you had with your parents were owls. That was probably the only thing you missed from the muggle world. Telephones.

You brought yourself down to the common room, lighting the fireplace on your own. The fire’s warmth gave you comfort, the same type you’d find at home, and you remember you felt the achiness of your chest ease at the feeling.

“Are you homesick too?” A sudden presence has appeared seemingly out of nowhere. You turned to find a boy, pyjamas and a sweater a bit too large for him, “I’m Jake.”

You feel yourself smile at his automatic need to introduce himself, “I’m Y/N.” You scooted over to one side of the couch, a wordless way to say sit with me. Jake understood this, plopping down in the now empty spot. “How did you know?”

Jake nods, “Just a good guess.”

You remember replying instantly to Jake’s observation, warming up to him almost immediately. That conversation started a chain of smaller convos, the both of you veering off of certain topics and into others. You two had clicked easily. Speaking to him was easy. So easy that the next thing you knew, the sun had been shining through the small glass windows on the sides of the tower.

“Jake? What are you doing out here so late?” A relieving feeling bloomed in your chest, thankful that it was Jake who had been down here instead of someone else. You guess he added to the sense of comfort you were looking for.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he chuckles quietly. Approaching him, you rounded the couch and sat next to him. You take in his attire, which had been simply pyjama pants and his knitted Gryffindor sweater. For being awake late at night, he looked as alive as he did in the daytime.

The warmth of the fire greeted you kindly, engulfing you in a hug. You smiled at it and replied, “I can’t sleep… I don’t know if I’m just not tired or if something’s secretly bothering me, but I can’t sleep.” You turned your attention to Jake and tilted your head in question, “How about you?”

“I’m studying for the upcoming test,” Jake didn’t feel the need to specify which test he was talking about as you had the same transfiguration class with him. It was only when he pointed towards the mess of books and parchment on the coffee table that you had actually noticed them.

You laugh, “Sim Jaeyun, that test is on Monday.” Taking your index finger, you dig it into his side, which causes him to jump slightly, “Don’t stress yourself out.”

Quietly yelping, Jake hugs himself before nodding, “I know, but knowing myself I’ll pay no mind to it over the weekend. It’s better to stock up on knowledge now than have to magically absorb it all on Sunday.” Jake wiggles his eyebrows, a smile rising upon his face, causing you to laugh softly.

“Fair,” you nodded. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, the rain falling and the fire crackling, substituting pure silence. Jake was swinging his legs over the edge of the couch, toes wiggling when it neared the heat. Your gaze shifted from his restless legs to his still hands, which were so close to your own that you wondered if the heat you could feel at your fingertips radiated off the boy or the fireplace. A part of you wanted to push your fingers closer just to get a feel of holding his hand, but you kept yourself from doing so.

It was when you were finally immersed into the sounds of the rain that Jake spoke up, “Wanna go on an adventure?” He had a childish glint in his eyes and a smirk that could possibly cause someone to mistake him for a Slytherin. Jake sat up and faced you completely, “I’m bored.”

“And get caught?” You scoff, “No offense, Jake, but you’re a bit foolish sometimes.” Bringing your arms out closer to the heat, you sighed.

“It’s the weekend tomorrow,” Jake points out, “It isn’t as bad as if it would be on a weekday.” He stands up and brings his hands to his hips, trying to persuade you with a knowing smile. Knowing because he knows how much you love to explore the unknown.

Jake teetered back and forth slightly on his feet, waiting for your reply with his hands crossed in front of him. The way he looked right now reminded you of a younger child begging to go to the park during a snowstorm. It was a ridiculous, dull-witted idea—of course, it was, this is Jake we’re talking about—but as you began weighing the options at that very moment, you believed that Jake was secretly a genius.

“What do you even plan on doing?” You ask, slowly sliding forward on the couch. Your feet were now flat on the worn-out carpet, which was so worn out it was firm under your feet, “Don’t you recall those three Gryffindor students years ago? If we end up like them I swea–“

“We’re not going to the forbidden quarters, Y/N,” Jake huffs, “I don’t have dirt for brains.”

Without thinking, Jake holds out his hand to help you up, a brow raised. For a mere moment, you feel your heart skip a beat, eyes dead set on his rather soft-looking hand. Your eyes flickered towards the entrance of the common room, returning to Jake’s hand. He was often persuasive without even knowing it, especially when it came to you. Barely thinking about it, you take his hand, grabbing hold of it to stand up.

After crouching through the doorway, Jake leading the way, you both find yourselves in the dimly lit castle, the muffled sound of the hard-hitting rain pelting the outside. The atmosphere was a lot different out here compared to the common room, an obvious detail. You felt as though you were some shrimp in the middle of a giant empty tank.

“Where were you thinking of going?” You whispered, shifting all of your weight from one foot to the other. Jake mentally skimmed the possible destinations within the castle, crossing off the further ones.

When he reached a point of indecision, he shook his head and turned to you, “Let’s just wander.”

Furrowing your eyebrows, “Wander?”

Without another word, Jake takes off, not with a sprint, but a skip, leaving you behind. You could hear him giggle faintly, causing your eyes to widen in a slight panic. Chasing after him with feet as light as feathers, you try to shush him, propping a finger over your lips. Jake acts as if he’s ignoring you, though you notice him following your orders as he slows down to allow you to catch up.

“You have to keep your mouth shut, Sim,” feeling like a mother, you smack the back of his arm hard enough that it was considered a smack, “As if the professors aren’t patrolling the halls.”

Jake shrugs carelessly, “We won’t get caught I promise you.” Again, he takes the lead, hands buried deep in his pockets to contain their warmth. He was humming a slow song under his breath. It looked like he was just casually strolling through a park.

None of you had been able to speak up for the next fifteen minutes, speaking to each other through exaggerated hand signals and eye movements. It was hard to keep yourself from laughing, muffling your wheezes with your robe’s sleeve. It didn’t help that Jake’s giggle was contagious.

Your aimless adventuring leads you both to a larger space among the maze of corridors, one side of the wall filled with endless rows of windows. Though the moon was covered entirely by storm clouds, lanterns outside the castle allowed for some light to bleed in.

You say nothing, walking up slowly to the window before pressing your hand against the glass. The glass that surrounded your fingers fogged up at the moment of heat being pressed against the cooler glass. You grinned and whispered, “I wish we could go outside.” It was stupid to say such a thing. The rain was probably bone-chilling… not to mention the creatures that could be lurking by the castle grounds.

Jake didn’t reply, not because he wasn’t listening, but he zoned out at the sight of you under the soft lighting. He was caught off guard; it was as if you were glowing in the darkness of this unknown place you both found yourself in. Even if he tried to say something back, he suddenly felt like his throat had been wrung out like some dishcloth.

He gulps in hopes to find his voice back. It works.

“Stunning,” Jake sighs out, only he wasn’t sure where he had been directing the comment. All he knows is that he hadn’t even taken a single glance outside.

“You’re right about something,” you replied, certainly oblivious of the fact that Jake hadn’t been talking about the view outside of the castle.

Before Jake could say anything else, footsteps approached from down the long hall, a sharp voice hissing, “Who’s down there!?”

Your head shooting towards Jake’s direction, eyes wide in both fright and shock. He had been looking back at you with a similar expression. Your hearts were racing, and just by the look in your eyes, it was obvious you were combing through what to do next.

Give in? No.

Run? Better.

As if Jake had the same train of thought, he grabbed your hand tightly, pulling for you to run down the opposite direction. It took effort trying to run light on your feet, afraid to look back in fear of being face to face with whoever professor was doing the nightly run-through of the castle. Jake ran blindly, trying his best to spot a door that happened to be open.

“I can hear you!” The professor sounded much closer, which only caused you both to run faster.

When you encountered a sudden extension into another hallway, Jake took the path as an opportunity, in desperate need of losing the professor. She was too close.

Being dragged by the boy allowed you to have a better look at what you were passing. “Jake over here!” You finally spot a door that has been opened by a jar. Jake had missed it completely. His head turned to look at the doors on his left rather than his right. You tugged at this arm to direct him towards the opened door. It didn’t take him long to respond, quickly moving his feet towards it.

Slipping into the room, you shut the door quickly, making sure you didn’t slam it close. Hearing the lock gave you and Jake a sense of relief, causing you to lean back against the wooden door. Both of you had been breathing heavily, probably loud enough for the professor to hear. Still, luckily there weren’t any footsteps coming close to the room.

“Thank goodness,” he sighs out, hand coming up to his chest. He was slightly bent over, a bead of sweat rolling slowly down his forehead, “I had to keep my promise.” You didn’t know if he knew you could hear him. He seemed to be talking to the stone floor, voice barely above a whisper.

It was funny how neither of you had realized that you were still holding hands. It was probably the adrenaline running through your veins, the rush of the moment. It had probably been the sense of comfort it brought, being that you both were just about beneath the nose of the professor. When you both noticed that your hands were still in one another’s, both of your hands were drawn back in a state of panic, unsure whether or not it was fine to be holding a best friend’s hand like that.

“I think she’s gone,” Jake whispered, standing up straight. He fixed the hem of his sweater before pulling down his sleeves to create sweater paws.

You huffed, “She better be.”

The room was colder than the hall, dark, but not so dark that it was pitch black. Jake’s face was growing tired of squinting to see, but he could make out that the room was filled with odd furniture stacked upon each other carelessly. He wanted to see it all.

Drawing his wand, Jake stuck it in front of him and mumbled a spell he knew well, “Lumos.” The tip of the wand illuminated a white light, allowing both of you to see clearly. The size of the room was more evident now. It was bigger than you both initially thought, but it wasn’t a giant room either. It seemed to be an unused classroom.

Most of the objects were difficult to actually pick out. All that Jake could make out were desks and old blackboards. He skimmed over the premises of the room, guiding his wand to light it all up for him. That’s when he stops.

Jake’s attention was drawn to a taller piece of furniture, the top resembling a throne of some sort. It was a mirror, the frame gleaming specks of gold depending on how the light bounced off it. At the top of the mirror’s glass was some kind of message, though Jake ignored it as it seemed like it was written in a different language, “Look, Y/N.”

You turn your head to look from the other side of the room, interested in the smaller, more detailed pieces of furniture. Jake pointed his wand at the mirror, brows raised in curiosity.

“Wow~” You say wryly, “A mirror.” Turning your head back to the small, carved egg, you shake your head.

He clicks his tongue, “Do you think it’s a magic mirror?”

“I know we’re wizards,” you snorted, “But not everything’s magic. I bet you that’s just an ordinary mirror. Why would it be in here if it was a magic mirror?”

“Let me see something,” Jake fixates himself in the centre of the mirror’s view. He stared back at his reflection for a brief moment and confidently spoke, “Mirror mirror on the wa…ll? Who’s the handsomest of them all?”

Putting the egg down, you approach him from behind but slightly to his left so that you can see yourself in the mirror. Despite waiting for an answer, nothing happened.

"It works!" Jake exclaims, smiling to the point you could see the smile lines on his cheeks. Your heart jumps at his genuine smile, especially with the way he turns back to look at this reflection.

"Jake," you laughed, "You're ridiculous." This time you bring yourself to stand next to him. The mirror didn't look like it was ordinary, but nothing was happening. The reflection only revealed the both of you, like any other mirror in the muggle world, "It's just an average mirror."

Jake sighs, a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to add this to his list of Hogwarts adventures, "I guess you're right." At this moment, you yawn. Jake takes notice and tugs at your robe's sleeve, "Let's go back. You're tired."

Though you still wanted to stay a bit longer to explore the room, your mind tells you to nod, eyes suddenly growing heavy, "Lead the way."

Jake opens the door for you, looking both ways before letting you out first. Before he closes the door shut, he takes one last glance at the mirror, making sure he's taken a mental picture of it.

*✲ﾟ*｡⋆

"Why do you both look out of it?" Jay was sitting at the Gryffindor table, despite being dressed in his green and silver knitted sweater. The room's atmosphere had been pleasantly quiet if you disregarded Riki and his goal to annoy his fellow housemate. It was about an hour after breakfast, and with the poor weather, no one was in the mood to go to Hogsmeade.

The third Slytherin, Sunoo, looks up from his textbook and snorts. He points to Jake, "You look like you've thrown up slugs and you—" You give Sunoo a keen look, which causes him to rethink what he had been planning to say, "You look like you've been blessed by the power of Merlin… that means—uh—beautiful by the way." He hurries his attention back to what he was studying, hiding behind his robe's sleeve.

"We were exploring the castle last night," Jake replied, eyes blinking to keep them lubricated, "We were almost caught by a professor."

"Who?" Jay asked.

You shrugged, "I didn't recognize her voice. We ran before we could even get a glimpse of her."

"Brightside," Jake points out, "We stumbled into a room full of antiques and there was a magic mirror." A sly smirk had found its place in his mouth as he told an exaggerated story. A sense of pride overcame him, and he crossed his arms, watching his friends all lean in to hear more.

“What did it do?” Riki stopped picking on Jay, eyes wide. Because who didn’t want to hear about a magic mirror? You chose to speak up to see where this was going, slightly amused with the reactions of the others.

“I—” Jake looks side to side, as if it were some deep, dark secret only purebloods were privileged to hear, “I asked the mirror who was the handsomest of them all and the mirror showed an image of me!”

The three listeners grumbled at Jake’s ridiculousness, Jay even going an extra mile to give him a hard smack on the back, “Sim, I swear on my grandma’s grave… please don’t tell me you started that question with ‘mirror, mirror, on the wall’?”

“He did,” you snorted.

“What did it look like?” Sunoo ignored the fact that he had basically walked into this, “I think I’ve read something about a mirror in this book.” He began to flip through it, eyes moving rapidly to keep up with the flipping pages.

Jake could recall the mirror’s image as if he were looking at it, “There were three short pointed pillars on top. It was arch-shaped and it was tall… the frame was painted–”

“Gold?” Sunoo interrupted. He pushes his book towards you and Jake, “Did it look like this?”

You and Jake inch closer together, head bent down over the aging book Sunoo had been reading for class. At first glance, the sketch of the mirror looked nothing like the mirror they had seen in real life. But upon closer observation, the identical unmistakable message at the top of the mirror gave away that it was the same mirror.

“That’s it!” Jake gasped. His eyes went to search for the object’s name, but Sunoo pulled the book back to himself.

He read aloud, “The Mirror of Erised… There is no known creator and the mirror was created in the nineteenth century… Wait, I’m skipping to what it’s power is….” Sunoo pauses, using his finger to help him skim the pages, aware that four other people are curious about what the mirror does. “The mirror reveals the deepest desires of those who look into it. Erised, shown in the reflection of a mirror, reads Desire… The message carved across the superior end of the mirror reads ‘Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.’” Sunoo had butchered the message, a sheepish expression appearing on his face before he continued, “Which translates to ‘I show not your face but your heart’s desire’ in its reflection. An individual who obtains all the happiness in the world will see only their reflection.”

You and Jake lean back slightly, puzzled by the mirror’s abilities. The mirror didn’t seem to show any trace of power. It had simply acted as a mirror… it was evident in Jake’s horrible Snow White joke.

“So?” Jay had his head tilted to the side out of curiosity, “What did you guys see?”

There was a lingering silence when the three boys looked at you and Jake expectedly, waiting for some kind of exciting response.

“Jake probably saw himself winning the League cup,” Riki poked Jake in the side.

“That’s your deepest desire,” Sunoo jeered, side-eyeing the younger wizard, “But then again, Jake loves quidditch as much as Riki does.”

The gears were turning rather quickly in your head; if it had been doing so in yours, Jake’s gears were probably turning twice as fast.

“Go on…” Sunoo gestured, “Tell us.”

Jake laughed nervously, afraid to look at you, “You know, it’s a bit funny….”

“What is?” Jay questioned.

You spoke up, “Our reflections stared back at us as if we were simply looking into a muggle’s mirror.”

There was another pause between the five of you, understanding of this magic mirror in shambles.

“The mirror couldn’t have been broken, could it? Maybe that was why the mirror was stored in that room,” Jake said in a hushed tone.

“Can magic mirrors even break?” Riki doubted it was, “If it wasn’t completely broken, the mirror itself is probably fine.”

So what did this mean?

The third moment of silence.

If the mirror wasn’t broken or drained of its magic (if that was even possible), then why did you just see each other?

I show not your face but your heart’s desire.

Then it clicked. Not just in Jake’s muddled brain but also in yours. It was an obvious answer, but both of you hesitated to come to such a conclusion because a broken magical mirror seemed much more believable than this. For a brief second, you both glanced at each other as if you had somehow communicated the only viable answer.

You were each other’s deepest desire.

#OABDKSBDOWBD #THIS WAS SO FUCKING GOOD #AND WITH JAKE SIM #AKA THE LOML #AND THE HOGWARTS AU #words cannot describe how much i loved this fic #you did very well my darling #and it’s okay #i don’t think a lot of engenes follow me either lmao #sophie’s fic recs 📖

301 notes · View notes