#tay is a hopeless romantic and newwiee is sappier than he lets on

[ctl-yuejie]

HP!TayNew

part 5: delicate

( 4.5 k)

thanks as always to @earthpodd , @sluttynewwiee , @bl-phillip @ziq-panda + @somewhatavidreader for the cutest live-commentary & sweet comments

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 6)

Newwiee knew for a fact that he looked great in green. Too bad that he had gotten sorted into Gryffindor. Even worse that his BF was a Hufflepuff.

“I’m over wearing red all day”, he complained to Tay, pouting. “And it only gets worse in winter. Now we have to wear sweaters and scarfs in house colors, too.”

“Red looks good on you though.”

Tay quite liked how the gold stripes on Newwiee’s uniform seemed to mirror the yellow of his.

Newwiee absentmindedly poked his finger into Tay’s sweater while he stared at the Slytherin students in their class and let out a dejected sigh. Tay ruffled his hair and turned his attention back to the giant snail to his feet.

“Green would make me look slimmer as well. I wish people would stop spoiling me by saying that I’m thin.” “I never said that”, Tay snickered. “Fatty.” Earning a slap from Newwiee.

With his thick protective gloves, Tay was guiding another snail away from where they were standing.

After getting points deducted by professor McGonagall for hexing his clothes Newwiee had stopped trying to charm them. He was a brilliant spell-caster. But he had nothing on Hogwarts’s magic.

“Wouldn’t it be great to see if a Blast-Ended Skrewt would win a fight against a Streeler? Whose venom is more toxic, you think?” But Newwiee wasn’t paying any attention to him, most likely trying to figure out how to he could get his hands on a Slytherin robe. He had bugged Gun about this before. But besides the obvious difference in size, Gun hadn’t understood the appeal of his uniform to Newwiee. “They aren’t even THAT green”, he had said and refused to ask a friend to borrow a sweater that would fit Newwiee.

Putting his hands onto one of the sharp spikes, Tay pushed another Streeler’s shell away from him and made it reroute to the other end of the clearing. It was their exercise for the hour to herd the escargatoire into their winter den.

Suddenly there where hands on his shoulders and he whirled around almost losing his footing. Off had sneaked up on him and was laughing at Tay’s reaction. “Oi, Peng! What are you doing here?” Tay was happy to see his friend. “Had a special herbology class down at the grounds.” Tay knew what special herbology classes meant. He looked at Off in excitement, his eyes begging his friend to say what monstrous plant they had examined. “Made a quick trip to the Whomping Willow.” Off wasn’t impressed by dangerous plants and had stood at a safe distance throughout his class, but with Tay making his overexcited face the class had totally been worth it. “Ahhhh, I wish I could get close to that thing…At least we have unicorns on our curriculum this year.” “Don’t mean to disappoint, but most likely Hagrid will just make you trace them and collect their hair. We never saw an actual unicorn in class.” Tay looked crestfallen. “It’s fine. Rumor has it they don’t like men that much anyways”, Off tried to salvage the situation. “I thought they might be okay with me”, Tay mumbled dejectedly.

While he was talking he had forgotten to hold off the Streelers and Newwiee almost got run over by one. Shrieking he jumped onto the rock next to him to evade touching it.

From across the clearing Hagrid was checking up on them. Tay awkwardly gave him two thumbs up before having a look around. He wasn’t that interested in gastropods but he had to admit that Streelers were right up his alley. Enormous in size and with both toxic spikes and a venomous trail they left swath of destruction. Tay was buzzing in excitement. The shells would change color hourly making the clearing look like a kaleidoscope. Beautiful but dangerous. “What an abundance of nature”, he exclaimed.

Off was raising an eyebrow at him.

Pointing to Newwiee still perched on the rock like a cat he asked “What’s he doing?” to get Tay’s attention back. “Ogling the Slytherin’s.” “Is he still not over this? Gun complained to me about getting harassed by him.” Tay gave him a look like he agreed that Newwiee was starting to get way too obsessed with wearing Slytherin robes. Newwiee would definitely look great in green but the lengths he appeared to be willing to go to wasn’t something Tay was able to follow.

With a tap to Tay’s shoulder Off said goodbye and made his way back towards the castle. “Love you Peng!” Tay called after him, Off raising a hand in response.

Newwiee sighed again. The only reason he hadn’t dropped Care of Magical Creatures had been Tay. And Tay wasn’t paying any attention to him at the moment. Next thing Tay knew was that he got pushed against the nearest snail, starting off his next round of arguments with Newwiee.

Tay had been right about one thing. He really had no idea to what lengths Newwiee was willing to go to in order to get his hands on a Slytherin robe.

After a study session Newwiee held Tay back, making sure that no one around them was listening.

Off and Gun hadn’t realized that they were hanging back, arms around each other as they walked down the corridor.

“Let’s break into the prefect’s bathroom”, Newwiee whispered into Tay’s ear, holding onto his shoulder. “What?” Newwiee had to hush Tay before he could protest. “We follow the Slytherin prefect into the bath and grab his robes once he gets into the water.” Tay wasn’t sure if this was supposed to count as a plan. “We could steal them somewhere else? Or not at all?” He tried to argue back. Newwiee turned to him indignantly. “If I have to take them away from someone I want it to be at least a prefect.” “You don’t have to take the…”, Tay sighed. “That’s breaking a ton of house rules.” “But it’s exciting!” Newwiee met his eyes conspiratorially. “I just don’t see how a furius professor McGonagall and a sad professor Sprout are exciting to you.” It was a fruitless exercise to try an persuade Newwiee. “Your idea of excitement is talking to the ghost of the Fat Friar in the Hufflepuff basement.” “He has a lot of interesting thoughts on religion!” Tay objected. But Newwiee wasn’t listening. “Don’t worry about the professors. We just have to not get caught.”

‘We’ Tay thought. Of course he was included in Newwiee’s plans.

They met in the boy’s restroom on the fifth floor the next Sunday. Only wearing some dark pants and their white uniform shirts to make it more difficult to connect them to their houses.

There had been a slight change of plans. Not knowing the layout of the prefect’s bathroom put them at a disadvantage so they decided to break in first and then hide and wait. With some hasty digging they at least knew the usual time the Slytherin prefect was using the bathroom.

After making sure that no one was around they went outside and headed down the corridor. Passing the statue of Boris the Bewildered they arrived in front of the door that lead to the prefect’s bathroom.

The few days they had had to prepare for the heist hadn’t been enough to wangle the password out of one of the head boys or girls. Which meant that they had to improvise.

Crouching down in front of the door they brooded over the options. It had been silly to assume that standing in front of the door would give them any clues. A sweet scent wafted underneath the door and tickled Tay’s nose. “Urghhh”, he scrunched up his face. “I really don’t like Ylang-Ylang oil.” Newwiee looked at him confused “It smells more like vanilla to me.” Before they could start to get into a fight about bath salts they heard a click from the door and it unbolted. They sneaked in, closing the door softly behind them. Tay hadn’t expected that they would even get this far and felt really lost. Newwiee appeared to have trusted in their abilities as he didn’t seem to be surprised about actually getting in. Tay watched him pull out his wand.

“Homenum Revelio!”

No reaction.

It seemed like luck was on their side and no one had entered before them. They made there way through a narrow entrance that opened up into a big oval. The room was dominated by a large swimming pool-like tub. The water was perfectly clear only steam rising up from its surface towards the ceiling. They hadn’t bothered with illuminating the room so the only light came from outside, passing through the stained-glass windows making the place look even more magical than it already was. The only sound was coming from a bouquet of faucets, water in different colors slowly running down, filling up the bathtub. A heavy floral scent wafted through the room. Behind the enormous bathtub a bunch of changing cubicles were lined up against the wall. The thought of a hot bath was really tempting and Tay couldn’t stop himself from imagining what Newwiee would look like with wet hair, water running down his chest. Trying hard to stop his train of thoughts the next thing he knew was Newwiee dragging him over and pushing him inside one of the cubicles. Pointing his wand upwards he incantated a protective spell, conjuring a shield that would make the cubicle stay hidden so that no one would be able to see or hear them.  They left the door ajar to better survey the room.

Tay crouched down, heart beating wildly. This protection charm was advanced magic and he hoped that Newwiee hadn’t overreached and could actually uphold its effect. “Hope they will come soon. I haven’t tried this spell over a longer period of time.” Newwiee seemingly relaxed leaned on Tay, eyes fixed on the entrance way. Tay started to panic. He couldn’t even tell if it was the humidity of the room, Newwiee’s proximity or the certainty of the discovery that made him dizzy. Just when he felt like he wanted to bolt and get away from the room voices could be heard.

Lights turned on and the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team and the Slytherin prefect entered the room, already stripping off their clothes while they were walking towards the tub. They had some light banter going on between them and when they were fully naked they canon balled into the water. The Slytherin prefect relaxed against the edge of the pool, calling out towards the hallway. The head boys of Ravenclaw and Slytherin skittered inside and hastily stripped down to join the two seniors. Realizing that they weren’t planning on using the changing cubicles Tay let out a soft sigh, immediately clapping his hands over his mouth. Newwiee’s charm seemed to still be working. On the other end of the pool the prefect turned some of the faucets and soon not only the tub but the whole floor was covered with foam and bubbles.

Newwiee’s eyes were fixated on the Slytherin captain’s robes that were lying on their side of the pool. They both had a sturdy build, so they should fit. Adrenaline was pumping through Tay’s veins and he clung to Newwiee’s arm in order to not black out. “I get the robe and then we run.” Tay’s heart was in his mouth but he straightened himself up, getting ready.

Bolting from their hiding place scaring the boys in the water Newwiee yelled “Accio” and a Slytherin robe flew into his arm as they slid across the slippery tiles of the bathroom towards the exit. Having underestimated the amount of bubbles, it took them longer than expected to cross the room and when they entered the hallway they were wet from head to toe.

Tay was laughing hysterically as they made a dash towards the exit. “Colloportus!”, the Slytherin prefect yelled after managing to get his hands onto his wand. The lock on the door clicked and they were trapped. “Alohomora!” Newwiee yelled in return but they were running way too fast and he couldn’t aim properly. Just as they were about to collide with the door Tay stretched out his hand.

“Annihilare!”

Not only the lock was blasted open but he took the whole door with him. Besides being naked the force of their exit had the Slytherin’s shaken so it took them some time before they went after them.

Blinded by the explosion Tay and Newwiee grabbed onto each other as they turned the corner. They had an advantage of a few corridors but besides not having thought about where to go moving was made more difficult as Tay was shaking with laughter and clinging to Newwiee’s arm to steady himself. Newwiee was partially in a state of shock, already regretting to have asked Tay to come and break some school rules with him. This wasn’t a simple case of breaking and entering anymore, but school property getting blown-up. Tay didn’t know how many stairs they had taken to get to higher floors but he felt his energy getting drained making it hard to go one. His laughter came out as wheezes and he couldn’t control his breathing.

Chasing around the same block on the seventh floor several times, they started to panic more and more. Seemingly from all sites footsteps of running people could be heard and they didn’t know where to go. As they ran past the same wall for the third time, Newwiee noticed a small wooden door opening up in front of them. He grabbed Tay by his arm and steered them through it.

They crashed into the back wall painfully, Newwiee almost hitting his head but Tay pushed his hand in between just in time. Wooden sticks rained down on them and they all but expected the next Slytherin to open the door and drag them out. There was no way this ruckus could have gone unnoticed. But nothing happened.

Looking around Newwiee could hardly see anything in the dim light but he was quite sure that he was standing in a cramped broom storage room.

With his arms full of Tay.

Trying to stand up straight and disentangle himself Tay was shaken by another fit of laughter, forehead colliding with Newwiee’s shoulder. “Oi, Tay. Shush.” He wasn’t listening to what Newwiee was saying feeling like he wasn’t in control of his body anyways. Still giggling he turned his head slightly breathing against Newwiee’s collar.

“What did you do to that door?” Newwiee tried to sound reprimanding but the amusement in his voice was obvious. “I blasted it.” Tay started to shake with laughter again, his weight almost dragging Newwiee down to the ground. “Like a real picaroon.” ”A what?” Newwiee would never get used to the words Tay tended to throw around. “A bad person.” Tay snickered against his neck. “Shush.” Tay chortled but managed to calm down a bit.

“Your hand okay?” As if he could do somethings about it Newwiee took Tay’s hand in his, softly touching its back where it had come into contact with the wall. “I can’t feel anything.” It wasn’t a lie. Tay was far too distracted by Newwiee stroking his hand. After getting soaked by bubbles Newwiee’s shirt clung to his chest, Tay noticed that he wasn’t wearing anything under it. “So slutty.” Newwiee tried to turn his head so Tay could see his look of disbelief but Tay’s hair was in the way. “You should see yourself right now.” he whispered back instead. “I’m not that handsome though.” Tay said while pulling himself up to face Newwiee. His voice was serious. He meant it. Newwiee was ridiculously handsome and he couldn’t compare. Tay wanted to explain himself some more but realizing how close they were his words got stuck in his throat.

He could feel Newwiee’s breath on his lips.

It should’ve felt ticklish but he was so focused on their proximity that his body seemed to be numb to any external sensation. The only thing he felt was his heart beating loudly and his chest getting tighter and tighter. He had no idea what Newwiee was doing, whether he was staring back at him, aware of how weird Tay must be looking, whether he was thinking about their pursuers, or if his mind had wandered to the robes. All Tay could focus on where Newwiee’s lips. His eyes started to strain as he continuously had to cast them down. Slowly Newwiee’s lips vanished from his angle of view.

Electric bolds ran through his body when their lips touched.

Only fleeting while both had been swaying towards each other just so slightly at the same time. But he had felt the touch and could still feel the tingling sensation that got left behind. All air had left his lungs and he leaned against the wall in order to not fall down as all strength left his legs. He was trembling. Newwiee was looking at him questioningly with widened eyes. They still were close but Tay tried to melt himself into the wall behind him. Newwiee moved his body forward and panic rose inside Tay.

“Sorry”, it escaped him as a barely audible whisper and he bolted not caring about the Slytherins waiting for him on the other side.

He stumbled through the corridors, disorientated and head void of any idea where he should go.

How he wished that their lips had never touched. How he wished he had pulled Newwiee closer and really kissed him. How he wished that he would’ve played it off, like it was an accident. Because it had been an accident. How he wished it hadn’t been. How he wished that Newwiee had felt nothing. How he wished that it had been Newwiee’s intention to kiss him. How he wished he had had the courage to kiss him earlier. How he wished he had never tried to stay so close to him. How he wished to have never come here. How he wished to have known Newwiee earlier so he could’ve had the chance to make him his.

Somehow, he made it to the Hufflepuff basement undetected. His hands where still gripping the Slytherin robe and the few people around the fireplace looked at him in confusion. Without explaining himself he went inside his room and hid beneath the covers.

He pulled the Slytherin robe tightly to his chest, in substitution of not having anything that belonged to Newwiee to hold onto.

Instead of having Newwiee to hold onto.

He wanted to have him next to him so badly.

Tay bunched up the robe and the side of his blanket to form a bolder. Holding onto it he imagined Newwiee lying there next to him. He would throw a leg over his side to hold him in place as he would slowly kiss up his neck. Hands in his hair he would hold Newwiee’s face before kissing him on the mouth. Getting their bodies as close to each other as possible to feel him everywhere. Tay imagined how Newwiee’s lips would taste on his, how he would kiss him until Newwiee would open his mouth to get more air. How he would put his head into Newwiee’s nape and leave more kisses beneath his ear. He could almost trick himself into thinking that Newwiee’s hand would hold onto his waist before moving to his back to pull him close and hold him tight. Like Newwiee had done so many times before. As friends. He thought back to the second their lips had touched. Angrily he flung the Slytherin robes away from his bed and punched the cushion. He wrestled with the blanket tears of frustration pricking his eyes. What if Newwiee hated him now. What if Newwiee hadn’t even noticed their lips touching. What if it was all in Tay’s head. What if they couldn’t go back to how they were before.

Off found Tay tangled up in his blankets fast asleep. Sometimes he wished they could switch bodies for a day so that Tay wouldn’t stress out so much all the time.

The following week was stressful for everyone around them.

Tay had decided to carry on and act like nothing had happened but whenever Newwiee would get close to him he would withdraw completely. After he had pushed Newwiee’s hand away then Newwiee had tried to touch him for the umpteenth time that day Newwiee had gotten moodier and moodier. Tay couldn’t do anything against it. Forgetting that their lips had ever touched was clearly not working but he couldn’t find the strength to explain himself which let to himself getting even more irritated. They argued with each other as always but there was no lightness in their banter, comments cutting and almost hurtful. They couldn’t stay apart from each other, aware of how entangled their lives and themselves had become. But when they were together they were wearing each other down leaving each other exhausted and disgruntled.

They had calmed down a bit by Wednesday. Gun let out a big sigh of relief as he watched Tay and New climb the astronomy tower next to each other grabbing Off’s hand and moving it to his head so he would pat him.

They settled next to each over on the observatory as always but there was more space between them than usual. Tay turned away from Newwiee and rolled onto his side. His chest hurt and he couldn’t bear to look at him for much longer. Newwiee really seemed to not give much weight to their lips brushing. Neither of them was saying anything and their silence continued for the next days, much to the distress of professor Flitwick who had taken quite a liking to their bickering.

Over the weekend Newwiee seemed to have vanished. Tay missed him immensely. He blamed himself for pushing Newwiee away when the other wasn’t even aware of what was going on inside of his head.

He thought he had figured their relationship out by now. How could he still be so unsure about what he wanted himself. Newwiee had put his hands on his many times, they had been a constant presence on his shoulders and his waist. In return he had hugged Newwiee, held his hand and put his head onto his shoulder. That was all he wanted. He didn’t need to kiss Newwiee if it meant that they wouldn’t be the same anymore. It was frightening to think about walking up to Newwiee, but this really was his fault. And him blowing hot and cold shouldn’t  cause Newwiee to suffer.

Decided on putting an end to it once and for all he grabbed the Slytherin robe that was still in his room and started to look for Newwiee.

Rain was pouring down outside so he decided to focus on the inside of the castle. After canvassing all classrooms, he went up to the 7thfloor and waited in front of the portrait of the fat lady. Some first-year students eyed him up and down suspiciously when they past the entrance for a second time and he was still lingering in the corridor. Finally some fourth year students were approaching.

Talking to them didn’t help much. It seemed like Newwiee hadn’t been back to his dorms for the second day in a row. Tay was sure that his classmates were telling the truth as they seemed genuinely confused by Newwiee not being by his side this whole time.

Dejectedly he turned around and wandered down the corridor.

After telling Off and Gun tentatively about what had happened that day, only leaving out the part when his lips had brushed Newwiee’s, Gun had perked up at the description of the broom closet. By chance it seemed like they had stumbled upon the so-called room of requirements. “Papii and I go there all the time”, Gun playfully raised an eyebrow at Off, cocking his head. “Because that’s where we keep all of our clothes”, Off added cool. “Thought about banishing your tonics there more than once.”

Having checked all the places Newwiee tended to frequent he decided to follow up on his only remaining lead.

Not knowing what room Newwiee might have wished for he ran up and down the corridor imagining a place that would bring them back together. A room that allowed him to enter. A room where he could find him.  

Slowly a big cast-iron door with intricate details started to form. Impatiently he bobbed on the balls of his feet when at last a door handle formed and pushing it down he went through.

What he entered was less a room but the nave of a cathedral.

Between gigantic pillars of stone an array of things was piled onto each other. Wandering inside he became aware of the amount of secrets this place must hoard. Statues, stuffed animals, several musical instruments and a never-ending arrangement of instruments and furniture. To his left one of the piles was made up only by books and almost reached the ceiling. Several meters above the floor Newwiee had caved a hole into this paper-tower and was lying there with closed eyes.

“Newwiee!” Tay could hear his voice break.

When Newwiee opened his eyes and turned towards him Tay simply held out the Slytherin robes not trusting his voice. Gingerly Newwiee climbed down from where he had been perched and landed in front of Tay’s feet. Their eyes met and Tay’s heart-beat calmed down by a bit when he was awarded with a soft smile. Newwiee put his hand on Tay’s, throwing the robes onto the ground. Tay knitted his brows together in confusion. “I don’t know if I really want them. Might feel weird to wear them, even if they’d look good on me…” He crinkled his nose. Tay had to smile against his will. Newwiee put his hand on Tay’s shoulder and when Tay let him do so without pushing him away he could see him relax.

This was all he wanted.

Asking for permission with his eyes Tay sighed when Newwiee nodded in answer. Putting his arms around Newwiee’s waist he hugged him tightly. They stood like that for a while until Newwiee amusedly patted his head, surprised at the sudden clinginess. “What room is this?” Tay asked, resting his head against Newwiee’s collar bone. “This is the room of hidden things.” Newwiee replied sheepishly. He had tried to play it cool, but saying it out loud he realized how helplessly corny it sounded. Tay giggled and slowly entangled himself, left hand never letting go of Newwiee’s shirt. This was good. They were good. This was all he needed.

Having Tay look at him with such fondness, Newwiee’s lips curled into a smile, eyes twinkling. But standing this close he had to swallow hard.

Newwiee could feel his lips tingle, remembering how they had touched Tay’s.

to be continued

part 6