Cassiopeia Gaunt

A few nights ago, you and your friends – consisting of Steve, Eddie, Nancy and Robin – hung out, enjoying a movie night. After, Nancy had asked what everyone’s plans were for Christmas and after hearing everyone’s plans to do stuff with their family, you lied and said you’d spend the day with your parents.

Truth is, you haven’t seen them since August. They’re in England now, you think. Or was it New York? You can’t keep track anymore. Ever since you were the ripe age of 14, they started leaving you alone more and more. It started out as a few days at a time. It gradually changed to a few weeks and when you were 15 they fucked off to god knows where for a few months, consequently missing your birthday.

You would say you’re used to it. To the big house and the dark backyard. The silence that rung at night. The loneliness. But you could never get used to it. The sadness of being left alone, of not being cared about by your family, clung to you like a small dagger plunged into your heart. And you were unable to pull it out.

It had all started when your brother left. He was seven years older, but you loved him. And you were under the impression that he loved you, too. Maybe he did. But he didn’t love you enough to stick around. Once he was 18 he left and never turned back. He occasionally called. A quick call to let you know he was still alive. He never called more than five minutes, though.

Then, only a few years later, your parents started to pull away from you as well and the wound your brother made only enlarged. It was then you decided you didn’t need anyone. You carefully built walls around you and you were even cautious around your closest friends, not letting them know the situation with your parents.

So, you told them you would spend Christmas Day with your parents, having a nice meal together and other normal family stuff. You knew that if you told them the truth, you’d certainly get an invite to all of their Christmases, but you didn’t want some pity invite. You weren’t ready for them to know that sad side of you yet, weren’t ready to part from your independence.

And yet, you knew deep down you hadn’t fooled Steve. Every time you told a white lie about your parents - usually because people asked about them - you could see a suspicion forming in Steve’s eyes. He could see how you would get uncomfortable about the topic and as he lived quite close to you, he never saw a car in your driveway, with the exception of yours.

Maybe he noticed because his relationship with his parents is similar. His father was away often, but you knew Steve preferred it. You could tell he and his father didn’t get along from the way he talked about him and how he’d be more on edge during the periods of time his father was home. His mother was home more often and you had the impression they got along pretty okay. He had also said he’d be spending Christmas with her.

✶✧✶✧✶

“Oh, hey, Steve! What are you doing here?” you ask him awkwardly, completely ignoring his question about your parents, hoping he’d drop it.

“I could ask you the same thing, Y/n. Are you here with your parents?“ he asked again. It was obvious the table was only occupied by you. There was only one plate of - now eaten - food and only one milkshake.

“I-, um-,” you clear your throat, “well, um no actually.” You start biting your lips, a clear sign that you were getting uncomfortable with the topic.

Steve sighs. “Can I sit here?” he asks you, gesturing to the seat opposite you. You can only nod. Steve settles down and considers you. The silence that envelops the both of you gets more awkward with the second

“Why don’t you just tell me – us, your friends – what’s really going on?“ he asks finally.

You look down at your hands, not knowing what to answer. He’s onto you and you don’t know what to do next.

“Nothing’s going on, Steve, I don’t know what you’re talk-“ you start eventually.

“That’s a crapload of shit and you know it, Y/n,” he interrupts you harshly. This whole conversation was beginning to trigger your fight or flight response and it seems like your brain has decided to fight.

“Why do you care, huh? It’s my life and it’s none of your fucking business! I really don’t see why you decided to come in here and bother me about it!” you know it’s unfair of you, you know he has the best of intentions, but you feel like you’re being driven into a corner and it makes you lash out.

“I care because I care about you!” Steve matches your energy, clearly not wanting to let it go.

“Why, huh? Why do you?” you ask him, harshly.

“Because I like you, Y/n! I like you so fucking much! Fuck, I-, you’re so amazing and yet you close yourself off and you don’t let any of us help you and we really want to, okay? I want to!” Steve exclaims.   

It seems your brain has now decided it’s time to flight.

“I, I gotta go, I’m sorry,” you say, grabbing your stuff. You leave a couple of bills for Molly and practically run out of the diner, ignoring Steve as he yells your name.

You make it outside to your car before you start crying. You’re searching for your keys in your bag, but your eyes are blurry, your bare hands are cold and the sky is black. A sob rakes through your body before you can stop it.

You hear footsteps approaching you and you don’t have to turn around to know who it is. You’re gently being pulled into muscled arms, holding you close, keeping you warm.

“Hey, it’s alright, you can let it out,” he comforts you gently.

You wriggle out of his grip and face him with your tear stained face. “I need you to leave, okay? Because that’s what you’ll do eventually! It’s what everyone does! My fucking brother left! And now my parents! And I cannot go through that again! So I need you to leave now because if you don’t, you’ll make me fall in love with you even more and then you’ll go and I’ll be left behind again,” you yell in his face.

A look of understanding dawns on his face and you realize you just told him about your parents, about your deepest hurt and that you love him.

“Hey, Y/n, I’m not going to leave you, ‘kay? I love you and I have since the second Robin introduced me to you and I can’t imagine ever leaving you,” he tells you, calmly. Like it’s nothing. Like it’s obvious. Like it’s not exactly everything you ever yearned for.

You can’t do more than just nod, not really sure what to do with yourself. “Can I hug you now?” he asks, smiling gently. You nod again, tears still streaming down your face. He wraps his arms around you and holds you tight, whispering I love you in your ear.

You pull your head back from his chest to look him in the eyes and only see the same love you feel. The loneliness still clings to you, but it’s less strong.

His gaze drops to your lips and flicks back up to your eyes. He leans closer, eyes flickering between lips and eyes, quietly asking for permission. You nod and it’s all he needs before he attaches your lips. It feels like coming home and fireworks and cozy movie nights and so much more. It’s more than a kiss, it’s a promise. 

When you break away, Steve holds your cold face between his cold hands and smiles. “Let’s get you home, okay? It’s freezing cold outside.”

You feel more at home in his arms  than you ever did in that big, empty house. Maybe your home is Steve. Maybe you are home. But you let him guide you to his car, knowing you’ll always be home when you’re with him.

  ✶✧✶✧✶

It is a few months after the downfall of Vecna and the (hopefully permanent) closing of the Upside Down. Eleven expertly managed to defeat him and everyone’s wounds (albeit the physical ones) finally managed to heal. Emotionally though, you’d never forget seeing Eddie’s seemingly lifeless body getting dragged out of the Upside Down by Steve, mad at yourself that you couldn’t protect him better from those godforsaken demobats.

The weeks that followed were a blur of hospital stays, refusing to leave Eddie’s side, whispered love confessions in the dark and the newly reappointed Chief of Police Hopper clearing Eddie’s name. Once Eddie was cleared to leave the hospital, you went on your first date with him and you can’t imagine your life without him ever since.

Steve had decided to throw a huge graduation party. Everyone from the self-proclaimed Babysitters’ Club has finally graduated – including Eddie, you think proudly. For this occasion, Steve had decided to open his house to the Class of ’86. Though, you also think he needed an excuse to throw a party to escape from the everlasting trauma of the Upside Down. But you weren’t one to complain, ready to jump at the opportunity to forget everything supernatural for a second.

Which is how you end up with a very drunk Eddie in Steve’s well-equipped and fully alcohol-stocked kitchen. During the party itself he mainly hung out with the older guys from Hellfire, excitedly talking about the summer campaign they were planning. You on the other hand mostly hung out with Robin and Steve. You had done a few shots with them, but not too many. You could feel the buzz of alcohol, but you’re far from drunk.

“Hey hot stuff, how you enjoying the party?” you ask Eddie, grinning up at him.

“Yeah, sure,” he says, eyeing you warily. You wonder what is up with that.

“Maybe it’s time to go to bed,” you suggest. Steve had very kindly offered you and Eddie one of the guest rooms to share. That way you could enjoy the party to the fullest. Robin and Nancy would take his parents’ room to spend the night in and if other people wanted to crash, there was always the basement with the pull-out sofa and the couch in the living room.

“No, thank you,” Eddie mutters dryly at you.

You grow concerned. What could be wrong? Maybe he’s mad at you for something, but for what? You stand right in front of him and wrap your arms around his neck, gazing deeply into his eyes, hoping to maybe find and answer there.

“What’s wrong, babe?” you ask, growing a little insecure.

He quickly ducks out of your arms, keeping you at a distance. Your face falls.

“I have a girlfriend. She’s very pretty and I love ‘er very much so leave me ‘lone, please,” he says seriously, interrupted by a lone hiccup. This has your frown morphing into a smile. He clearly is very drunk. You can’t help but giggle.

“Oh, really? That’s nice. What is her name?” you tease him.

“Y/N,” he says proudly.

“What a coincidence, that’s my name too,” you wink at him.

He narrows his eyes at you, clearly not believing you. God, he’s long gone and has to get to bed very soon. A plan forms in your head.

“I know where your girlfriend is, follow me, ‘kay?” you tell him. He nods his head excitedly at the mention of his girlfriend, eager to follow you along now. He’s like a puppy sometimes, you think fondly.

You grab his arm and maneuver the both of you through the heaps of dancing bodies in the living room and up the stairs to the guest bedroom. Once you’re inside he looks at you expectantly.

“Let’s get you in bed, shall we? You need to sleep,” you tell him.

“But-” he starts, but you interrupt him. “If you go to sleep now, you can see your girlfriend tomorrow, okay?” you try to compromise with him.

“Yeah, ‘kay,” he mutters tiredly, the fatigue clearly kicking in. You watch as he takes of his tight jeans and leather jacket, getting into the bed in his shirt and underpants. You go into the guest bathroom and fill two glasses that you find there with water. You put one on the bedside table next to Eddie, the other one you place on the other side of the bed.

“I’m gonna sleep on the other side of the bed, is that okay?” you ask him, tentatively. You really don’t want to leave him alone in the room in this state. He gazes up at you tiredly and mutters something along the lines of “Only if there’s pillows between”. So you obediently make a wall of pillows in the middle of the bed, seeing him doze off. Then you quickly take off your pants and bra, leaving you in a t-shirt and your panties. You flick of the lights in the room and get comfortable in the bed. Luckily, sleep finds you soon.

---

The next morning you’re awoken by a whiny groan from the other side of the bed. You turn around to see him rubbing his eyes and gazing around confusedly. He looks at the pile of pillows between the two of you and looks up at you questioningly. You giggle, last night’s memories quickly flooding back.

“You didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as me, because you had a girlfriend named Y/N,” you tease him. He groans again his head falling back into the pillow he slept on. You only begin to laugh harder. He then looks up at you with a small smile and throws all the pillows somewhere in the room. He wiggles to lay next to you and wraps you in his arms, muttering “C’mere, girlfriend.”

“Looks fucking metal!” he exclaims suddenly, realizing that he was staring a tad too long.

You smile bashfully at the compliment.

“I could do yours, too, if you want,” you offer him. You clearly didn’t think it through, though. Because doing Eddie’s eyeliner would mean being really close to him for an extended period of time. Some part of you wishes he would say no, but another, even bigger, part wishes he would say yes.

“Fuck, yeah, please do,” Eddie accepts.

You grab your eyeliner pencil and make your way over to him onto your bed. It’s a queen size bed, so there’s enough space for the both of you to be on it together. You sit cross-legged in front of him.

“Okay, close your eyes and stay very stil,” you command him.

“Sir, yes, sir,” he promises, jokingly saluting.

You delicately place a hand on the top of his head to make sure he keeps his head still and for something for you to lean on. With your other hand, you uncap the eyeliner pencil and very lightly try to line his eyes.

You know your breath is fanning his face and you can feel his on yours. You’re secretly glad that you brushed your teeth earlier, having had a piece of popcorn from watching the movie got stuck in your teeth.

You reposition your eye lining hand multiple times but can’t seem to find a comfortable position. Another position in which you can do his eyeliner comes to mind and a flare of braveness rises in you. You cap the eyeliner.

“Okay, it’s difficult doing your eyeliner like this, could you maybe lay down?” you ask him, slightly timidly. He opens his eyes, shrugs and just lays down on your bed, not knowing what’s to come. He looks at you expectantly, folding his hands behind his head.

You move over to him and throw a leg over his lower stomach, effectively straddling him. His eyes widen in surprise and his lips easily fall into a smirk afterwards. “If you wanted to sit on my lap, you could’ve just asked, you know,” he winks at you.

“Shut up and close your eyes, Munson,” you retort smartly, a beginning blush painting your cheeks. He makes a face at you, but closes his eyes. “Is this okay?” you ask him a few seconds later, to make sure you’re not making him uncomfortable or anything.

“Everything you do is fine, sweetheart,” he answers sweetly, darkening your blush. Luckily his eyes stay closed.

You lean forward so his face is in front of yours. You feel him freeze for a second and then fully relax. You’re a bit overwhelmed with how intimate this feels, but you force yourself to get over it. Then you place one hand on your bed next to his face for you to lean on. Your other hand once again uncaps the eyeliner pencil and you get to work to the eye closest to your hand. You can really trace the line of his lashes very precisely in this position. You cap the eyeliner, switch the hand you lean on and uncap the eyeliner again to work on lining the line of his lashes on his other eye.

When that is finished, you lean back and ask him to open his eyes. He looks up at you with his beautiful bambi-eyes, accentuated prettily by a line on his top lid. Next, you plan on doing his waterline.

“Okay, so now you have to keep your eyes open and look up. I’m going to line your waterline so you really can’t move. Also it can be quite uncomfortable so if it hurts or if you don’t like it, just tell me and we’ll stop.”

“Got it,” is his awfully short and clipped response. For a second you think you’ve made him uncomfortable, but you know that he would tell you if that is the case.

You lean forward again, ask him again to look up and start on the waterline of his left eye. You lean on your left hand that you’ve placed on the bed for support. This feels even more intimate, now that his eyes are open. He looks up, like you’ve instructed, but because your face is so close to his, he can still see you.

When you’re done with his left eye, you switch your hands again and start working on his right eye. When you’re done you cap the eyeliner and throw it next to you.

“Look at me?” you ask / demand.

His eyes snap to yours and your breath hitches in your throat. He looks absolutely gorgeous with eyeliner. You both just stare at each other for a few seconds, him being uncharacteristically quiet.

“You’re beautiful,” you finally whisper and his eyes are gazing deeply into yours, before trailing down to your lips and staying there.

You stay really still, as if he’s a wild animal and you’re afraid to scare him with one wrong move. And then he moves his head to yours, his hands that were still folded under his head finding your waist.

You freeze in anticipation, before you feel his chapped lips on yours and then your whole body is on fire. It only takes you a few moments to reciprocate the kiss, matching his energy enthusiastically. His arms circle around your back, hugging you into the kiss and you gasp in surprise and delight. He uses the opportunity to lick into your mouth, exploring it with his tongue.

The kiss turned full blown make-out comes to a stop when you’re both panting for breath. His mouth moves to your jaw, peppering kisses to it, whispering “you’re beautiful, too” inbetween.

“I love you,” you gasp. The words are out of your mouth before they even registered in your brain. It’s true of course, how could you not love him. He’s been your best friend for five years and you’ve been in love with him for the last two. You just didn’t expect yourself to say it quite yet, it’s not in your nature to put yourself out there like that and make you vulnerable for rejection.

Your heart constricts for a split second when he stops his kiss attack on your jaw and looks up at you, but the look of awe in his eyes is enough to reassure you.

“I love you, too, sweetheart,” he whispers sincerely.

This time it’s you who crashes your lips together. It takes everything in you to not sigh in pure bliss into the kiss.

---

✶✧✶✧✶

The next day, at lunch, the little freshmen shits were nowhere to be seen. Eddie briefly wonders what they were up to, but then remembers they had said something about hanging out with Max this lunch and helping her practice some skate moves. Not that he cares. Okay, maybe he cares a little, he wants the dickheads to be safe.

He still has the company of Jeff and Gareth and though that‘s often good company, he is quite bored of them on this particular day. So he’s just zoning out of their conversation, eyes roaming the cafeteria freely.

He‘s thinking about just skipping lunch and a few periods, maybe getting high in the woods near the school, when he sees you walk into the cafeteria.

He’s not sure if he’s seen you before, you look vaguely familiar but he can’t quite put his finger on why. He assumes he’s probably seen you before around the school. He is, however, absolutely entranced by you. You walk in with a careless attitude, just listening to music on your walkman and ignoring everything else.

He sees you plop down at an empty table next to the Hellfire one, alone and seemingly unbothered. You rummage through your bag before pulling out a notebook and scribbling in it, your head bopping to your music. He can’t quite explain why but there’s an ‘I don’t give a fuck’-like attitude to you. Your clothing style doesn’t help either. You’re wearing a pair of jeans with a shirt tucked in and, most importantly, a leather jacket.

Overall, he decides he likes you. You’re hot, you’re wearing a leather jacket and you’ve got the attitude right.

Suddenly, as if feeling his eyes on you, you snap your head up and look right back at him. You arch an eyebrow at his staring, but it seems more inquisitive than hostile. He just grins at you in response.

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he sees Jason Douchebag Carver walk up to your table. He stops right in front of you and says: “Hey, new girl!” Jason has the audacity to wink. Eddie can’t repress a gag. “Can I ask your name?” Carver continues.

You pull your headphones down, eye Jason up and down. You read his name on the Letterman jacket he’s wearing and remember Dustin telling you about him. Apparently he’s known for bullying him and his friends. You answer him with a firm “No.”

“No? Is that like short for Noelle or something?” Jason asks, a little dumbfounded.

You look at him incredulously, before saying, slowly so he can understand: “No as in No, you can’t ask my name. And I would very much appreciate it if you’d leave me alone now.” You’re full on glaring at him right now. Then you grab your headphones and put them back over your ears, to make your message clear.

“You’re gonna regret that, bitch!” Jason growls, seemingly not a big fan of rejection.

“Or what? You’re gonna throw a ball at me? I’m absolutely cowering in fear right now!” You deadpan sarcastically. Eddie can’t help the bark of laughter that comes out of his mouth.

Your eyes glance at him and you give him a little smirk, before Jason looks at him as well and says “What’s so funny, freak? Got nothing better to do than spy on me?” Jason lashes out at Eddie.

“I promised your mom I’d keep an eye on you, when I was fucking her last night,” Eddie shoots back with a wink. This provokes a laugh from your mouth and he can’t remember the last time he was this proud of himself.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch break, and Jason growls something along the lines of “Saved by the bell,” before cowering back to his friends. You and Eddie share an amused look, before you grab your stuff and leave the cafeteria without another look.

Eddie knows it’s way too soon, but he thinks he might be in love.

✶✧✶✧✶

They’re late. You groan while climbing out of your car. You had promised your dear little cousin Dustyboy that you’d pick up him and his friends from their D&D-club. He’d assured you they’d be done at six and right now it’s quarter past.

You march inside the school and head to the basement, as you know the club was there somewhere. The basement is a long hall with doors on either side that look mostly deserted. There’s some commotion coming from a room at the end of the hall, though, so you figure the little nerds are there.

You slam the door open and are met with a peculiar scene. You recognize your cousin and his two annoying friends immediately. They’re deep in a discussion with a couple older guys, all huddled around one end of the table. The table itself is full of dice and papers and a huge map of some kind of fantasy world. And last, but definitely not least, at the other end of the table, a guy is lounging in a throne, looking intently at something hidden behind some binders.

You immediately recognize him as the guy who you sat close to during lunch, both having your fun with Jason the asshole. You have to admit he is hot. Incredibly so, actually, he is entirely your type. And he has proved that he has a great sense of humor during lunch. So yeah, maybe you spent the rest of the day thinking about him, wondering. And, okay, maybe the fact that he is the leader of the club your cousin is so enamored by, makes your heart melt a little. Not that you’d ever tell anyone that, obviously.

Dustin looks up at you with wide eyes then. “Oh hi, Y/N! We’re almost done, I swear!” He says quickly, realizing the session took longer than he promised you.

“Yeah, well, hurry your ass up then because I need to get you and tweedledee and tweedledum home before dinner,” you sigh, nodding your head at Lucas and Mike, who apparently didn’t like the nicknames.

Eddie looks up at the intruder then and almost can’t believe his eyes. It’s the girl from lunch! But how did Dustin know you? And then he realizes it, you had to be his cousin. Damn, he really missed the mark when he called you lame.

He quickly gets out of his throne and walks up to you, doing a little bow. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve been acquainted yet, as I’m sure I would have remembered that. I’m Eddie, Eddie Munson,” he says formally, with a wink when he looks back up at you.

“Why, hello,” you curtsy, “I’m Y/N, Y/N Henderson. It is an honor to get acquainted with you,” you smirk back.

“Oh right!” Dustin says, remembering he hasn’t introduced you yet, “Everyone, this is my cousin Y/N. Y/N, everyone.”

“I must say, my dear freshman friend, it is pretty hard to believe that she is your cousin,” Eddie teases Dustin, ruffling his curls. A light blush covers your cheeks.

“He’s adopted,” you whisper-shout jokingly, with one hand covering your mouth from Dustin’s point of view. This leads to Eddie barking out a laugh and Dustin yelling a “Hey!”. You can’t hide the small smile that spreads on your face.

“Ah, well then, that explains it,” Eddie nods.

“I told you she was cool,” Dustin grumbles, probably already regretting the two of you meeting.

“That you did,” Eddie concedes, “however, you seriously undersold how gorgeous she is.” Eddie winks at you, the blush on your cheeks darkening. From anyone else you’d probably cuss them out for saying stuff like that, but because it’s Eddie you can’t seem to get yourself anything but flustered.

Because you were always shit at dealing with compliments, you just turn your attention back to the three nerds you’re supposed to be driving around and say: “Okay, let’s go, dipshits!”

You turn on your heel and go back out into the basement hall, the freshmen following closely. When you’re almost at the end of the hall, you hear someone running after the four of you.

“Wait, Y/N!” Eddie pants lightly.

“Yes?” you ask, one inquisitive eyebrow raised. He moves to stand right in front of you.

“Would you like to go out with me this Friday?” Eddie asks bashfully, a very light blush dusting his cheeks.

“I thought you’d never ask, Munson,” you grin, giving him a light kiss on the cheek, before moving past him to the stairs. “Pick me up at eight!” you throw over your shoulder, feeling a little giddy, but desperately not trying to show it.

“Ew gross,” you hear your cousin mutter to his friends, but you ignore him.

Friday really can’t come any sooner.

It feels weird, just going back to school after that. You feel wary. Like you can’t actually believe it is actually gone. But as the physical wounds started to scar and fade, some other side effects were more difficult to get rid of. For example, the nightmares started acting up again, causing you to be really tired often times. 

Which is why you shoot awake at Robin calling your name rather loudly.

“I’m up, I’m up,” you sigh, rubbing your eyes and lifting your head from the - probaby dirty - cafeteria table, to meet the eyes of your best friend. 

“Good, thought you were Vecna’d for a second,” Robin jokes. You force out a smile. You know the band geek copes with humor and can’t let yourself ruin that.

“Well then, I’m very disappointed to see that you haven’t even taken out a walkman with my favorite song yet. Do you even know it?” You ask playfully, with your eyes narrowed in a teasing way.

“Of course, it’s-”

Robin is interrupted by Eddie making his way, rather theatrically, to your table. 

You, Robin, Steve, Nancy and Eddie had all gotten quite close after the battle with Vecna. Shared trauma really does get people closer. The five of you would often hang out after school and on weekends. There had even been several sleepovers at your and Steve’s house as it was the biggest and almost permanently free of parents. At school, however, you all lead separate lives, with only you and Robin hanging out regularly. Eddie has his Hellfire Club and Nancy is almost permanently absorbed by the newspaper club. 

“Well, if it isn’t two of my favorite ladies in the world. How are we on this fine day of having to confirm to society and attend high school?” He asks, while dropping dramatically onto the seat next to you, draping his arm over your shoulders.

You roll your eyes at his antics, but there is no actual mirth behind it. You suddenly feel nervous actually, not that you’d ever admit that out loud. Truth to be told, after your whole adventure in the Upside Down, you developed a quite big and quite embarrassing crush on the metalhead. 

“What are you doing here, Eddie? Finally bored of hanging out with literal kids?” you tease him.

“You wound me, princess. Can’t a guy just visit his very, very dear friends without any ulterior motive?” He asks, lifting his free hand to his chest to mimic hurt. You give him a light shove and an unimpressed look at the nickname. He decided one day that since your brother was the King Steve of Hawkings High, that made you the princess. 

“No,” Robin answers his question.

“Spit out what you want already, Munson.” Is your reaction.

“Alright, alright. You’re both too smart for your own good. So maybe I do need a favor from you,” he starts, and there is a shyness to his demeanor that is not often seen on him.

You and Robin share a look, before both looking at him with raised eyebrows, egging him on to continue.

“Alright so, this Friday my band, the very well known Corroded Coffin, as you both are undoubtedly aware, is playing in the Hideout and well, I thought it’d maybe be cool if you’d come. I was planning to ask Steve and Nance as well, for some nice little post-Upside Down team building.” He winks at the last part, but you still pick up on his slight nervousness around his request.

You and Robin share yet another suspicious look, you really could communicate without using words, to the annoyance of Steve mostly, before you answer. “... That’s it? That’s the favor you wanted to ask us? That’s not even a favor, of course we want to come, Eddie!” 

“Great! Amazing! It starts around 9 p.m.! I’ll see you two there then!” He exclaims excitedly, before just standing up and leaving you and Robin to yourselves, bewildered at the sudden departure. 

“Of course we want to come, Eddie, oh man of my dreams! Keep it in your pants, Harrington.” Robin teases you.

“Oh shut up, Buckley,” you answer, desperately trying to hide the blush blossoming on her cheeks. Robin is one of the only people you told about your little crush. Not even Steve knows, you’re too nervous about what his reaction would be. You know he’s come a long way from the douchebag he temporarily was, but you always yearn for his approval and don’t know what you’d do if he didn’t approve of Eddie. So only Robin knows. And Max. But that’s only because the girl is very observant. And Max is to you what Dustin is to Steve. Dustin and Steve gravitated towards each other almost immediately, instantly forming some kind of brother-relationship. And while you understood why that happened, you always felt more kinship with Max. You recognize pieces of yourself in the redhead and you are overall just very fond of the girl, supporting her through the complicated mourning around the loss of her stepbrother. 

~~~

When Friday rolls around, Robin and Max are perched on your bed. It’s 6 p.m. and you had begged Robin to help you pick out an outfit for the concert. And Max decided to tag along, because well, it’s Max. She couldn’t come to the concert itself of course, because she’s way too young, but you would just drop her off at her house on your way to The Hideout. You had all decided to take one car, Steve driving of course, and you would pick up Nance along the way.

Currently Robin and Max are quietly chatting, while you are, quite stressed, emptying your entire closet onto the floor, searching for something to wear. You don’t know why you’re so nervous for Eddie’s show. It’s just that he’s acting quite suspicious since he invited you guys to his show. He won’t answer any questions about it, dodging the subject entirely. And then there’s the whole ‘asking for a favor’-thing, when it wasn’t even a favor to go to his show. And the shyness he showed. Maybe he’s just nervous? Maybe you’re reading way too much into it and maybe Eddie just has a normal little case of stage fright?

You are snapped out of your thoughts by Max waving a hand in front of your face. “Earth to Y/N! You still with us?”

“Yeah, yeah, was just thinking.” You reply.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Max retorts lovingly. You retaliate by messing up the redhead’s hair, rubbing your hands in it. Max slaps your hands away.

“What about this?” Robin interrupts you, holding up an outfit she fished from the clothes strewn all over your now very messy room. It’s a cool outfit. Definitely cool enough to fit in in The Hideout, but it’s also still very much your style.

Your face lights up at the outfit. It’s perfect. “You, my dear friend, are an angel!” You exclaim, wrapping your arms around your friend and hugging her. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know! Now go take a shower and get ready, or we’ll be late to Loverboy’s show!” She teases. And you do just that, heading into the en suite bathroom to your room and hoping a nice shower will ground you and calm your nerves before Eddie’s concert.

When you emerge from the bathroom, dressed in the outfit, hair done and makeup applied, Robin and Max quiet down for a second.

“Damn, you actually look really good.” Max says suddenly. 

“Language!” Slips out of you before you can stop it. Steve’s Mother Hen-persona is rubbing off on you it seems.

It’s silent for exactly one second, before the three of you erupt in laughter. 

“No, you actually look really good, Y/N. He won’t be able to take his eyes off of you.” Robin winks, once they’ve all calmed down. You cannot express how much you want that to be the truth.

“Okay, I think I’m ready.”

~~~

When the four of you arrive at The Hideout, there’s more people than you expected. Eddie seriously undersold his ‘audience of about five drunks’. The Hideout was quite packed, almost all dressed in a similar way as Eddie usually dresses. Steve and Nancy, with their obvious preppy style, stick out in this bar, but you guys can’t seem to care about that. You make your way through the crowd, before finding a nice standing spot in the middle of the audience, with a good view of the stage.

You chatter amongst yourselves, curious as to what the concert might bring, when suddenly you forget how to breathe. Eddie had come up on the stage and words escape you. He looks absolutely gorgeous. He has changed his trademark ripped black jeans for leather pants, with his trusty chain. And he’s wearing his familiar leather jacket. Silver adorns his neck and lots of chunky rings are wrapped around his fingers. But what really gets you is the fact that he’s shirtless underneath said jacket. Tattoos and demobat scars on full display. You almost begin to feel your mouth water, as it is slightly ajar.

You receive a subtle nudge from Robin that effectively wakes you from your trance and you snap your mouth shut. Steve gives you a questioning look that you just wave away. 

Eddie struts confidently to the microphone and announces the band. “My esteemed ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to introduce my band, Corroded Coffin!” He waves his hands around at his fellow band members theatrically. “Are you guys ready?” He asks, to which the audience, including the four of you, replies with a loud cheer. You can see the way Eddie soaks it all up. He really is in his element on the stage. 

He turns around and grabs his trusty guitar, slipping it around himself. The band communicates quietly and starts playing the first song, Eddie strumming expertly. You recognize the melody. It’s a metal song he frequently listens to and they’re now playing a cover of it. Eddie also spots you and your friends, and throws a wink in your direction. 

He moves his head to the microphone and starts singing. And suddenly a few realizations wash over you like a tidal wave. First of all, he sings. You knew he was the guitarist, but you didn’t know he was also the lead singer. Second of all, you realize that this isn’t just a crush. Seeing him up there in all his glory, singing like his life depends on it, you know deep in your heart that you’ve fallen head over heels, madly in love with him. You never let yourself ponder the deepness of your crush on him and now it all comes crashing down on you. And thirdly, you realize he probably doesn’t feel the same way about you. It feels like a stab in the heart. He never expressed anything other than friendship to you. Never dropped any hints. I mean, sure, you guys flirt with each other often, but he flirts with all his friends, so it doesn’t mean anything. The chances of this being unrequited are quite big.

You try to push your thoughts aside and enjoy the concert - enjoy Eddie. You focus on the music, moving your body along to it, really feel it, but you can’t escape the tight feeling, as if a hand is squeezing your heart.

Apart from your internal crisis, the concert is an absolute hit. The Hideout is thrumming with energy and elation and despite the squeezing feeling in your heart, you appreciate the concert. It’s a mix of metal songs and pop songs in a metal coat. In between songs, Eddie, ever the showman, entertains the audience, keeps them on their toes. He really is made to do this. 

“Alright, my lovely ladies and gents! It is, very unfortunately of course, time for our last song. This one is a special one, if I do say so myself. It goes out to a special girl in the audience! Enjoy!” Eddie announces. He spreads his arms while he is talking, in his usual way. Then you hear them counting down for the song to begin. 

You can’t fight the sadness that washes over you as his words sink in. He’s serenading a song for the girl he likes and you’re quite sure it’s not you. You subtly look around you. There are quite a few girls present. You try to figure out who it could be, but soon give up, once he starts singing. Your eyes snap to his. You make eye contact. Your breath is hitching in your throat and for a second, only a second, you let yourself hope. 

So long, I've been looking too hard I've been waiting too long Sometimes I don't know what I will find I only know it's a matter of time

Almost as soon as your eyes meet, he moves them away, avoiding your gaze. 

When you love someone When you love someone It feels so right, so warm and true I need to know if you feel it too Maybe I'm wrong Won't you tell me if I'm coming on too strong? This heart of mine has been hurt before This time I want to be sure

He’s singing earnestly now, pouring his heart and soul into the song. Yet your eyes never meet again. He looks everywhere but at you. 

I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life I've been waiting for a girl like you, your a love that will survive I've been waiting for someone new to make me feel alive Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life

Your heart sinks into your shoes. It’s not you. You’re not the special girl he’s singing this song for. You’re mad at yourself for letting yourself have hope. You should have known. Not even your parents love you, why would he?

When the song is over you look over at Robin with sadness in your eyes, only to be met with confusion. She shoots you a questioning gaze, but you just shake your head. 

The room packed with people starts feeling like it’s all too much. There’s too much noise, it’s too hot, and you’re getting a claustrophobic feeling. You need to get out of there, fast. 

You turn around, moving to get away when you’re stopped by your brother. “Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?” He asks, concern written on his face. 

“I just really need to get some air.” You answer vaguely. 

“Okay, I’ll come with you!” He says, moving to go with you. 

“No, please, I really just wanna be alone for a minute. I’ll be fine, I promise!” You look at him with pleading eyes. He looks at you for a long second, before sighing and nodding, letting you go. 

You make your way quickly through the crowd, as they’re all still cheering and clapping for the performance. Somewhere deep inside, you feel like a bad friend for not staying and cheering, but that feeling is no match for the overwhelming sadness. 

When you finally make it outside, you take a few calming breaths, hoping to calm yourself down. But your eyes have another idea and tears start slipping out of them. You stand against a wall near the entrance and let it all wash over you. 

It feels like the hand that wrapped itself around your heart starts squeezing more tightly, using its nails to hurt you even more. 

You don’t know how long you’ve been standing there. It could be only a few seconds, it could be 20 minutes. People are slowly exiting the bar, but mostly everyone stays inside. 

Suddenly the door slams open and catches your attention. You see Eddie exiting and looking around frantically. You turn away from him, wipe your tears and hope he doesn’t see you. Your hope is in vain of course, as you hear his chain rattling as he approaches you. 

“So what did you think of-” He cuts himself off when he sees your blotchy red face, the smile slipping from his. “Hey, what’s wrong, princess?” He asks softly, brushing your hair behind your ears and cupping your face. 

You clear your throat, looking anywhere but at him - which is quite difficult as his face is awfully close to yours - and say: “It’s nothing, it’s just something silly.”

“I’m sure it’s not just something silly, tell me!” He insists. 

“Just leave me and go to your stupid special girl.” You bite back, anger in your eyes. You push his hand away from your face and try to put as much distance between you as possible. You know you have no right to be angry. He can like whoever he wants. But being reasonable is off the table for you right now. 

He looks at you, pondering. “… Is that what this is about? You’re jealous?” He asks incredulously. 

“Fuck off, dickhead. No need to rub it in.” You snap back, anger boiling. 

“Well, the thing is, my very dear princess, it’s quite impossible to be jealous of yourself, I’m pretty sure.” He answers, a smile starting to break out on his face. 

“What do you mean?” You eventually ask uncertainly. 

“I mean, Y/N, that you’re the special girl from the song.” He explains patiently. 

The very second the words are out of his mouth, the hand around your heart disappears and you can’t do anything but rush forward and almost connect your lips. Almost. You’re still giving him an out. If he doesn’t want you, if he doesn’t feel that way about you, he can back up now and you will both pretend nothing happened. 

But he doesn’t do that. No, he wastes no time to close the distance and you finally feel his lips on yours. As your lips move against each other tentatively, his hands find your waist and he guides the two of you back until your back hits the wall. 

The tentative kiss soon turns into something that’s starting to resemble a full blown make out session. Not too long after that, you both pull away, gasping for air, with lovesick smiles on your faces. You both start blushing as well, remembering that you just did that in public. 

Suddenly a thought pops into your head. You smile a mischievous smile. “Rock, paper scissors on who tells my brother we’re dating?” You joke. 

Eddie barks out a laugh. “Oh, so we’re dating now, are we, princess?” He winks at you. 

“Well, you ain’t getting rid of me now, dickhead.” You nudge him playfully, but there’s still an insecure edge to it. Maybe you assumed to quickly and he doesn’t actually want to date you?

Before that train of thought can leave the station, he slings his arm around your shoulder. “Alright, that’s fine by me, princess. Where do you want to go on our first date then?” He drops a kiss on your cheeks and you can’t help the blush that spreads. You both start walking, ever so slowly, back to the entrance of the bar, to go back to your friends.

“Surprise me.” You wink.

~~~ 

“I’m going to get James and mum, okay?” you asked him. He merely nodded, a distant look in his bloodshot eyes. This was all the confirmation you needed, before sprinting up the stairs and barging into James’ room.

“What is it?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Sirius, he just arrived. He’s not looking okay,” you explained. James immediately shot up and climbed out of bed, acknowledging that the boy he saw as a brother needed him. “He’s in the living room,” you said to his retreating form.

Next you made your way to your parents’ room. There was no doubt in your mind that your mother was the best at healing in your house. You strode up to her side of the bed and awoke her gently, telling her what had happened. She  immediately climbed out of bed as well and went to the bathroom, grabbing some healing supplies she stored there, before going to the kitchen and grabbing the rest from there. After that she too went to the living room.

You weren’t too sure if you were wanted downstairs, but would feel incredibly guilty if you just went up to your room and pretended like nothing had happened. So you went downstairs as well and almost gasped at the sight.

Sirius was lying on the couch, his shirt cut open. His chest was filled with gashes and bruises, no doubt inflicted by his good for nothing parents. James was beside him, his hand clutched into Sirius’ grip as the latter squeezed it and hissed when your mother cleaned his wounds. 

You quickly averted your gaze and went to the kitchen to make some tea for everyone, wanting to be somewhat useful, but not wanting to be a burden or to make Sirius feel uncomfortable. Because at the end of the day, as much as you wanted to change it, you were still just his best friend’s one year younger sister. You weren’t by any means a friend of his, you were sure in his mind you were only James’ sister.

However, as cliche as it might sound, it wasn’t the case for you. You wished you could just call him your brother’s best friend and be done with it, but you knew you saw him as more than that. You had harboured a tiny crush on the raven haired adonis for a few years now. You never told anyone this, aside from your closest friends at Hogwarts, but even they had to pull it out of you. And you told them it was just a silly crush, not wanting to admit that the feelings actually went deeper than you were ready to face.

It had started out as a silly crush. He was the handsome best friend of your older brother, you were bound to be particularly interested in him. However as you got to know him somewhat better from spending so much time in your home and being in the same Hogwarts house, you felt yourself falling deeper and deeper into his stormy grey eyes. 

You snapped from your thoughts when Sirius’ hissing in the living room lessened and the aroma of the tea you just made filled the kitchen. You loaded the tea pot, milk, sugar and four cups onto a tray, before re-entering the living room. By now, Sirius was as patched up as possible and no longer bare chested, as he was wearing a t-shirt you knew belonged to your brother. There was a small smile  on his face, though everyone in the room knew it was fake, because his eyes were still distant and tired. Not only from exhaustion, but from life as well.

The boy you were now offering a cup of tea was not the ever confident and charming Sirius Black you had come to know and lov- um like. He was broken, both inside and out. And who could blame him? Your heart ached for him. You just wanted to hug him tightly, let him know that you would never let go of him if that’s what he wanted. You wanted to floo your way to the Black Household and hex them all into oblivion. You wanted to do so much, but you knew to leave him be. 

He had to heal. And James would help him with that. But you couldn’t. Because you were just his best friend’s little sister.

When Y/N had finished her cup of coffee and grabbed a little bite to eat, she exited her cabin. Outside of said cabin, there was a clearing with four other cabins. In three of those cabins lived her coworkers. The fourth one usually stayed empty, as it was meant for visitors or when some Gringotts representatives came. In the middle of the clearing was a gigantic tent with all the stuff they would need in their day to day work, as well as a table, where they would sometimes all sit and eat together.

Besides her and Bill, there was Daniel Buchanan and Flynn Atkin. Dan was the healer on hand. It was quite necessary, curse-breaking was dangerous and the wounds you could end up getting had to be treated at once. And Flynn was a historian, specialized in the Egyptian eras. He could be quite handy in deciphering hieroglyphs or estimating what kind of objects they came across. 

Y/N made her way to the tent in the middle of the clearing where she found Flynn, Dan and Bill sitting at the table, conversing.

“What are y’all sissies sitting there for! Let’s go, we got some curses to break,” she called out. Bill raised his eyebrow at this, while Flynn was getting up.

“Well, lovely of you to finally join us, princess,” Bill said.

“Don’t call me princess, Weasley,” she warned him menacingly.

When you saw Y/N, you wouldn’t exactly call her princess. On colder days in the Luxor desert, she wore black skinny jeans, a t-shirt or a top and was almost never seen without her black dragonhide jacket. However, Luxor could get quite hot, like today, so she then wore a simple black top with black shorts and perhaps a light, loose cotton blouse overtop, to protect her arms from the sun. And a pair of sunglasses of course. 

Flynn, Bill and Y/N then made their way to the tomb of Ramesses I, where they were currently trying to break a rather stubborn curse. Dan usually stayed behind. He would be notified if someone was wounded and then he would apparate immediately, but most days would pass without any incidents. On those days, Dan would take care of all the correspondence with Gringotts and the more administrative aspect of the job. 

When the three of them arrived at the tomb, they all just stared at it. They had managed to finally break the entrance of curses the day before, but now the trickiest part came. You never knew what kind of boobytraps or curses you could find inside of those tombs.

“So, what do you suggest, Y/L/N?” Bill asked her, still gazing into the tomb.

“Set it on fire,” she said without missing a beat. Bill and her kind of had this inside joke - could you even call it a joke? - where she would always suggest to set things on fire.

“Why is arson always your first answer?” Bill sighed.

“‘Cus I like fire. But no, I think we should maybe investigate the hieroglyphs around the inside of the entrance first. But we shouldn’t get too close,” she finally suggested.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Bill agreed. “Flynn, amaze us with your knowledge, mate,” he said, turning to Flynn, who was already grabbing a quill and some parchment to take notes on the hieroglyphs.

✶✧✶✧✶

When they finally finished their work day, Bill and Y/N could always be found around the table in the tent, playing some kind of wizard - or sometimes even a muggle - game. Today’s pick was wizard’s chess. And Y/N was losing badly, as always.

“Checkmate,” Bill said triumphantly. Y/N glared at him.

“I wanna punch you, but that’d ruin that pretty little face of yours,” she grumbled.

“Hey! My face is not pretty! It’s handsome,” Bill protested.

“Aw, did your mum tell you that?” Y/N mocked.

“She did, actually. Speaking of my mum, she’s coming to visit soon. Well, the whole family is actually,” he said, gleaming. Anyone could tell that he was really excited for the arrival of his parents and his many siblings. 

Bill had told Y/N all about his six siblings. Charlie, the dragonologist with his head in the clouds. Percy, the studious soon to be Head Boy with his nose always in a book. Fred and George, the genius, mischievous twins who had a love for terror. Ron, the sweet, sometimes overlooked boy, who was - together with Percy - the usual object of said terror. And lastly, Ginny. She was fierce and could take any one of her brothers without a blink of an eye. In the way Bill spoke of Ginny, Y/N could tell she was secretly his favourite. 

Y/N loved hearing the stories of Bill and his siblings, although it came with a pang of jealousy and hurt. She never showed it though, she wasn’t one to openly show her feelings. But she never had the family experience Bill had. Far from it actually. She came from a pureblood family that - opposite to the Weasleys - wasn’t close at all. Her parents were not opposed to Voldemort’s visions when he gained power when she was younger. She never understood it. She had an older brother who shared the same beliefs. So, at Hogwarts, she spent the Christmas holidays there and during the summer vacation she usually avoided her family. Their house - well, more like castle - was big enough to only see each other during meal times. The minute she graduated, she looked for a job that would get her out of her house as soon as she could. And so, being a curse-breaker in Egypt seemed like one hell of a good offer. However, she could never bring herself to tell Bill about her dysfunctional family. It’s not like she didn’t trust him - being curse-breakers together meant you had to literally trust each other with your lives - she just never really felt like opening up about it.

Bill and Y/N played for another while, making light conversation - and sarcastic comments - as they did so and then parted ways to their respective cabins. 

When Y/N was lying in bed that night, she let her mind wander about what she thought the Weasley family would be like. Sure, they would all have the same deep red hair and freckled skin Bill had, but she wondered about the dynamics in the family. She wondered what it would be like to chat about sweet little nothings while having a cosy dinner. Or just hang out together for no reason. Tell each other secrets your parents couldn’t know. 

Y/N wasn’t one who fell in love easily, but she thought that if she was to ever fall in love and start a family - big emphasis on the if here - she would make sure the family was as close as she could get it. She had no clue how she would do it, of course. But if she ever committed to a family, she would commit fully. However it was unlikely she would ever get that far. The closest she had ever come to loving someone was Bill, but of course she didn’t have any romantic feelings towards him, whatsoever. He was just her best friend. Nothing more. At all. 

Sure she thought he was handsome. And she liked hanging out with him. No, she loved it. She was convinced there was no one else she could spend so much time with. They were together every day of the week, including the weekends. Of course they didn’t have to work on those weekends, but two days was too little to travel home and back. So they usually hung out in the clearing or sometimes they visited other parts of Egypt together, or just went to the city of Luxor. But it was always the two of them. He had become her constant companion and she loved that. 

However she didn’t have any romantic feelings for him. Correction: she wouldn’t allow herself to feel them. She was too scared of it. She wasn’t used to feeling things like that, all giddy and sparks in her stomach, so she told herself she would ignore it until it would eventually go away. Because, above all, Y/N treasured her independence. If she wanted, she could just give up her job of Gringotts and move to the other end of the world. Sure she had to tell Bill, but she could still do what she wanted without having to take others into account. And if she admitted to herself that she liked - maybe even loved - Bill, it would be like a piece of that independence would go away. And she couldn’t bear that thought. It was that same independence that had gotten her through the rough relationship she had with her family. She wasn’t ready to give it up.

And with that, she fell into a deep slumber.

✶✧✶✧✶

When Bill’s family finally arrived, he was ecstatic. Y/N could tell by the way he couldn’t sit still, always glancing at the ‘entrance’ of the clearing, where his family would meet up with him. Bill had asked Gringotts for a vacation of two weeks and they had obliged.This meant Y/N - and therefore Dan and Flynn as well - also received said vacation, because curse-breaking on your own was too dangerous.  

Y/N and Bill were sitting at the table in the tent and playing - or attempting to play - a muggle cards game they both didn’t understand the rules of. Dan - who was muggleborn - had taught them a thousand times, but they kept forgetting how it went and were currently making up their own rules. Speaking of Dan, he and Flynn had gone home to their families for the two weeks worth of holidays. 

A crackling sound made both of their heads snap up and Y/N saw a bunch of gingers walking excitedly towards them. They all hurried to Bill, who had gotten up from the table. A small girl, around 11 years old, was the first to jump into Bill’s arms and Y/N figured that was Ginny. She looked at Y/N curiously when she noticed her, but stayed behind Bill for a bit. The next to hug Bill were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. After they hugged their eldest son they made their way over to Y/N.

She extended her hand politely. “Hi, I’m Y/N,” she smiled. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint why she wanted to make a good impression on Bill’s parents, but she wanted to nevertheless. However, instead of shaking her hand, Mrs. Weasley pulled her in for a hug. Y/N was a bit taken aback, but soon hugged back a bit awkwardly. She wasn’t used to receiving hugs, let alone motherly hugs. 

“Oh so you are the famous Y/N Bill writes so much about!,” Mrs. Weasley gushed, making not only Y/N flustered, but even Bill was starting to sport a redder shade than usual. He quickly turned back to the rest of his family, pretending that he hadn’t heard what his mother had said. “My name is Molly and this is Arthur,” she introduced her and her husband.

“Nice to meet you both,” Y/N said, still a bit flustered. 

“The pleasure is all ours, dear!” Molly responded. 

Arthur had noticed the game on the table and looked back at you, a gigantic grin on his face. “Is that a muggle game?” he asked you.

“Um, yeah, but Bill and I forgot the rules so we just made it up,” Y/N laughed. Arthur nodded, the grin still plastered on his face, mumbling: “Interesting, interesting.”

Bill’s siblings had all hugged him by now, so they joined Y/N and their parents.

Y/N saw two identical looking boys and assumed those were Fred and George, although she had no idea who was who. She figured that the tallest redhead, aside from Bill, was Charlie. An awkward looking boy next to Charlie seemed too old to be Ron, so she assumed that was Percy, which left one boy who she assumed was Ron.

After all chatting for a little while, it was time to make the sleeping arrangements. The guest cabin had two rooms with a king size bed each. In Bill’s cabin, there was a guest room with a king size bed and Bill’s own room that also had a king size bed.

“So, Mum and Dad can sleep in the guest cabin, together with Ron and Percy. Fred and George can share the bed in my guest room and Charlie and Ginny can share my bed,” Bill suggested.

“And where will you sleep?” Y/N questioned.

“I can sleep on the couch,” Bill shrugged. Y/N looked at him shocked.

“No. I have a guest room as well, someone can sleep there!” Y/N was too stubborn to say no to and Bill knew that. He sighed in defeat. 

Before he could ask who of his siblings wanted to sleep in Y/N’s guest room - or before he could suggest that he would sleep there -, Ginny piped up: “Me!”

“That’s settled then! Come on, let’s go,” Y/N said to Ginny, who was already excitedly grabbing her bags and following Y/N to her cabin. 

The rest of the family soon grabbed their bags and went to the cabins they were assigned to sleep in. 

✶✧✶✧✶

The month that the Weasley family stayed with her and Bill in Egypt was among one of the best of Y/N’s life. Being born in a cold, distant family, she had now for the first time in her life gotten a taste of what it was like having a family that cared for you no matter what. She wasn’t officially part of the family of course, but even so she had felt more at home than at any other moment in her life.

She had spent time talking to Arthur about muggle magic he called electricity. Molly had taught - or at least tried to teach - her how to knit, but it turned out she wasn’t a natural, at all. She had also spent ages talking about dragons to Charlie. She had recommended Percy a few of her favourite Arithmancy books, as she knew the boy was interested in the subject. She had also spent quite a lot of time with the twins and they reminded her of herself when she was still in Hogwarts. She had been a quidditch beater as well and didn’t scare away from a prank or two, though she was never near as extreme as the twins. However, she still gave them some tips on how to get into Snape’s supply closet, though they had to promise her first not to tell a soul. Next, she spent endless evenings playing wizards’ chess with the youngest Weasley boy. For being so young, he sure was a genius in wizards’ chess. She lost every time, but as time went on it was harder and harder for him to beat her - though he still managed to every time. He even gave her tips on how to play better and explained which moves would’ve been better. And lastly, she spent the most time with the youngest Weasley, Ginny. 

Sharing her cabin with Ginny resulted in Y/N having a really close bond with the girl. She could still remember the first night Ginny spent with her at the cabin. They had drunk a cup of tea together and Ginny just asked bluntly: “Are you dating my brother?” Y/N almost choked on her tea and had to ask where she got that idea. “Well, he always talks about you in his letters, so I thought that maybe you were his girlfriend,” the red haired girl had answered, before going back to sipping her tea.

Their nightly tea time then became a tradition of sorts. They drank a cup of tea - which usually ended up in multiple cups - together every night and spilled all kinds of secrets to each other. Ginny had told her all about her crush on Harry Potter and Y/N in turn had told about some mischievous things she had done at Hogwarts, giving the small girl tips on how to not get on teachers’ bad sides.

Bill had noticed how close Y/N and Ginny had gotten and it made him even more absolutely smitten for the girl. Yes, he had denied it for a long time at first, but seeing how well she was with his sister, he couldn’t run away from his feelings any longer. He was absolutely in love with Y/N. He loved all her sarcastic remarks and the witty comments she could throw at his head with no effort, but in the last month he had gotten to know another side of her that made him fall even deeper than he deemed possible. She was kind around his family, a trait he never really saw in her before. And she seemed happier. Not to mention that she wasn’t as grumbly as she used to be in the mornings. Of course he had loved her before, but it seemed like she was now more authentically herself now and that only made him fall deeper.

During the first two weeks of the month that the Weasleys spent in Egypt, Bill - and Y/N - didn’t have to work. Y/N had mentally prepared herself to barely see Bill for the next few weeks, when he would show his family around the tombs they had rid of curses and other magnificent parts of Egypt. However, Bill, Molly and Ginny insisted on Y/N tagging along, as she would be all alone in her cabin otherwise. So she joined the family on their little trips, adding a bit more information when Bill seemed to have forgotten.

However, when the last two weeks of their visit rolled around, Bill and Y/N were expected to work, so they could only hang out with the family after work and on the weekends. Molly and Arthur took that time to visit the more tourist-y spots with six of their children, like they enjoyed a boat trip on the Nile and visited all the pyramids they could find. 

And when it was finally time for them to leave Egypt, Y/N had to try her absolute best to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. She really wasn’t one to openly show emotions like that, so it was quite a new feeling of having to hide watery eyes. Molly had given her about the thousandth motherly hug and she hugged Molly back a little more tightly than before. As if Molly knew what that meant, she made Y/N promise that she would write often and even visit the Burrow sometime.

When they were gone at last, there was an empty feeling in both Bill and Y/N. This resulted in Y/N inviting him to drink another cup of tea in her cabin, which he happily agreed to.

“This was a little tradition of Ginny and me. We would drink tea every night like this. She truly is an amazing kid,” Y/N started.

“She is. She’s going to do wonderful things, I just know it,” Bill smiled.

“You know, you’re really lucky with a family like that,” Y/N mumbled after a while.

“I know. Growing up with them wasn’t always easy, but Godric I wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” he smiled nostalgically. 

“You know, growing up, I never had that kind of relationship with my family. They were all so… cold,” Y/N began and Bill gazed at her. He suspected her home situation wasn’t all that. She had never once received a letter of a family member, nor had they ever visited. He felt happy that she finally felt comfortable enough to tell him about it. 

“They all believed in pureblood supremacy and money and I was so glad to get out of there the minute I got the chance,” she continued. “And don’t get me started on my older brother. He was the worst of all. But it’s fine. They’re out of my life,” she concluded finally. Bill didn’t really know what to say, but Y/N understood what his silence meant and she appreciated it.

“Now, let’s play a game, shall we!” she exclaimed, abruptly changing her mood. She was already going outside to the tent, where all their games and board games were. Bill followed her soon after.

“What do you wanna play?” he asked her.

“Wizards’ chess!” He chuckled at her response and grabbed the familiar game.

He sat it down on the table and his eyes began to gleam with the Gryffindor courage. “What if we make this game a little more interesting,” he suggested.

“What did you have in mind, Weasley?” Y/N asked, not opposed to a challenge.

“If I win, you have to go on a date with me,” he said confidently, courage still soaring through his veins. Her telling him about her family made him see that he was even more in love with her than he ever could’ve dreamed and he had to make it known to her. Y/N stiffened at his request ever so slightly. She still treasured her independence, but after spending a month with the Weasley family, she learned that independence wasn’t everything. So she agreed.

“Okay, but what if I win?” she asked, a small smirk playing on her lips.

“Like you’re going to win,” he joked and shot her a wink. Yet deep down he was all giddy that she hadn’t exactly rejected him. Had she not wanted to go on a date with him, Bill knew she would’ve rejected his offer immediately.

They started the game and Y/N tried harder than ever before. Not because she didn’t want to go on a date with him, but because he thought she couldn’t do it and Y/N wouldn’t be Y/N if she didn’t try everything in her power to prove him wrong.

And so, when she could finally say the word she had been longing to say ever since Bill and her first game of wizards’ chess, she was gleaming with pride. “Checkmate!”

Bill looked at her incredulously. He hadn’t expected her to win the game. “Okay, so you won, you can choose something I have to do now,” he sighed, looking down.

“Kiss me, Weasley,” she said confidently. His eyes snapped up to meet hers. They were full of determination and passion.

“What?” he all but gasped.

Y/N shoved the board onto the side and climbed onto the table until their faces were mere inches away from each other. “I said: kiss me,” she repeated, sitting down on the table in front of him. Bill didn’t have to be told twice - or well thrice - as he cupped her face gently and crashed his lips onto hers. As their lips began moving hungrily in sync, his hands moved to her waist and he pulled her off the table and into his lap so that she was straddling him. Y/N took this as an opportunity to deepen the kiss. Their tongues began combatting for dominance, both too stubborn to give up. Meanwhile they were pouring their feelings into the kiss. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was the kiss they used to tell each other that they loved each other.

She slipped out into the hallway on the very tips of her toes and closed the door as softly as she could. She stood still for a second, holding her breath. She wanted to make sure that she didn’t hear any sounds out of the ordinary, signaling that someone was waking up. When she couldn’t hear anything, she tiptoed as quietly as she could past the twins’ room. She knew George was a particularly light sleeper and she didn’t want to wake him. Only after she was positive she could hear the snoring of both Fred and George, she continued downstairs.

When she arrived on the ground floor, she immediately entered the kitchen. She grabbed a cup and muttered a quick “aguamenti”, successfully filling it with water. She downed the cup, not realizing how thirsty she actually was until the water touched her tongue. She filled it once again and was sipping slowly this time, mindlessly looking out of the kitchen window. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the familiar creaking of someone descending the wooden stairs. She whipped around and saw a very sleepy George entering the kitchen. He was rubbing his eyes with one of his hands, his other just hanging by his side. He was wearing striped pajama pants and a simple white shirt over it.

“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Y/N asked worriedly. She always felt guilty if she interrupted someone’s slumber, knowing how hard it could be falling back asleep.

“No, I was just thirsty,” he smiled reassuringly. She smiled back at him, relieved. When he grabbed a cup and muttered the same spell she had used only minutes before, she took her time to take in his appearance. His hair was messy, but she still found it incredibly attractive. She had to stop herself from touching her, the ginger mop just looked so soft. Next she analyzed his freckled face. Oh, how she had grown to love that face. George Weasley was Y/N’s all time crush. Ever since the beginning of their friendship, she had felt more than just platonic feelings towards the younger twin. At the time she hadn’t realized it yet, of course. And now she thought they had been friends for too long to do something about it. 

“Like what you see, Darling?” George joked without looking up.

“I wasn’t- uh- I was just staring ahead, you just happened to stand in my way,” she finally managed to croak out, lying of course. George just chuckled, obviously not believing her.

“So, what are you doing here at this time of the night?” he asked her nonchalantly, but Y/N could hear a bit of concern in his voice.

“Thirsty as well,” she only partly lied this time. Though Fred and George were her best friends, she never had the heart to tell them about all her sleepless nights. She always found some excuse as to why she was awake, or why she only had managed to catch a few hours of sleep. She didn’t want to burden them with it. George had obviously noticed it, but Y/N didn’t know this.

“Now, Love, didn’t Mr. and Mrs. Y/L/N teach you lying is bad?”

Y/N immediately lowered her eyes to the floor. George had caught on to her sleeping problem, hadn’t he?

George strode towards her, trapping her between the kitchen counter and his long body, and lifted her chin up with his index finger, his eyes meeting hers.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?” he asked her sincerely, a twinge of hurt in his eyes.

“I-, I just didn’t want to burden you guys with it,” Y/N admitted softly, not able to break the penetrating gaze of his chocolate brown eyes.

“Y/N,” he sighed. Y/N couldn’t ignore the butterflies in her stomach as her name rolled so gently off his lips. “It wouldn’t be a burden! That’s what friends are for,” he continued. “Now, why are you up at this time of night?” he asked her again, almost stern, yet soft as ever.

“I have a sleeping problem. More often than not I can’t fall asleep at night and when I do fall asleep, I have trouble staying asleep,” Y/N finally spilled one of her best kept secrets, aside from the crush she had on her best friend.

George wasn’t as surprised as Y/N expected. He knew something was up. When the Marauders’ Map was still in his and Fred’s possession, he could sometimes see her sneaking around the castle at the weirdest hours of the night. Of course he always assumed she was planning pranks or something, yet somehow never got caught. But when he noticed that she would sneak around during her visits at the Burrow, he started assuming things. He didn’t know however how serious her problem was.

Not knowing how to react, he just softly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a big hug. He could feel Y/N melting into it, and his senses were soon engulfed by her sweet scent. Y/N loved these kinds of hugs. The kind that could make her forget any and everything. The only thing on her mind would be George. His cinnamon-like scent, mixed with something smokey and candy was the only thing she was able to pay attention to. 

“Is there anything I can do?” he whispered in her hair. Y/N hesitated for a second. She had noticed that she would have slightly less trouble sleeping if she could be cuddled up against someone. The feeling of safety and warmth tended to make her fall asleep easier. It didn’t always work, but it was worth a shot right?

Y/N tilted her head to look at him rather shyly. George seemed to be a bit taken aback at this. Y/N wasn’t one to get shy easily. “Sometimes cuddling helps,” she suggested quietly. 

George wanted to make a comment along the lines of ‘if you wanted to get me in bed, you could’ve just asked’, but decided against it, knowing it was neither the time nor the place. He suddenly started feeling nervous at the prospect of spending a night cuddling with Y/N. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat and just nodded, not trusting his voice. He then softly grabbed her hand and led her to his bedroom, making sure not to wake his twin in the process. He lied down first, and scooted over to the wall, making sure there was enough space for Y/N to lie down next to him.

Y/N carefully lied down as well. She was facing George and he was facing her, the both of them gazing into each other’s eyes. George instinctively wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, however not breaking the eye contact. And then they just lied there. Gazing intently into each other’s eyes. Wanting to say the same words, but not daring to speak. 

That’s when George found a sudden burst of bravery. He didn’t know if it was the comfort of his trusted bed, the look in Y/N’s eyes or her fingers, tracing circles absentmindedly on his arm, but he felt confident enough to inch closer to Y/N, feeling her breath on his face. Taking her fluttering her eyes closed as an invitation, he fully closed the gap and pressed his lips against hers. 

It was a sweet kiss, their lips moving against each other instinctively, fireworks going off in both of their stomachs. It felt right and natural. George’s tongue glided over Y/N’s bottom lip, asking her to let him in. She happily obliged and he deepened the kiss. Their lips were dancing against each other to their heart’s content.

Y/N was the first to pull away, in dire need of fresh air. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” George admitted. 

“Right back at ya,” Y/N smiled. She moved her hand to George’s ginger hair, finally feeling the soft locks between her fingers. He however couldn’t help but stare lovingly at her. His heart was thumping hard in his chest and he was sure Y/N could hear it.

Adrian had now caught the quaffle and was making his way to the Gryffindor keeper. Before Y/N could start the pursuit, all the Gryffindor supporters in the stands were on their feet and cheering. She hastily looked around and saw that Harry Potter, the Gryffindor seeker, had the golden snitch clutched in his fist. She couldn’t help the gigantic grin that made its way onto her face. They had beaten Slytherin! 

She finally allowed herself to wipe her sleeve under her nose, wincing at the pain it caused. She looked at her sleeve and saw that there was quite a bit of blood on it. She held one of her wrists under her nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Her other hand was clenched tightly around her broom, steering it towards where her teammates were gathered. 

“We won!” she exclaimed when she had reached the others, still not believing it.

George was about to answer her, matching her level of excitedness. But then he noticed the dark red stain on her sleeve and the wrist under her nose.

“Is that blood?” he asked her immediately, pointing to her sleeve. The team had stopped cheering and was now looking at her.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that we beat those stupid little-”

“Your nose is literally bleeding. You need to go to Madame Pomphrey,” George interrupted her rather concernedly. She looked at him disbelievingly. How dare he ruin her happiness. Sure, he really had a point - her nose was hurting quite a bit - but she just wanted to enjoy this moment. She glanced around at the rest of the team and saw that they were also concerned. She simply rolled her eyes, turned on her heel and marched towards Madame Pomphrey. She heard a pair of footsteps hastily following her. Throwing a look over her shoulder, she saw that George was following her.

“What is it, Weasley,” she asked, still irrationally annoyed at him for ruining her happy moment.

“Well, I thought I’d escort you to Madame Pomphrey, making sure you don’t faint or anything,” he said sheepishly.

“I’m not a damsel in distress, George. I’m a damsel doing damage,” she retorted.

“Oh, I never doubted that,” he grinned, “but you never know.” He winked at her and she just rolled her eyes once more. But her annoyance at the younger twin had melted away. This happened quite often. He would annoy her but she would forgive him sooner than she’d like. They were soon just making small talk about the match they had just won, cracking jokes about the Slytherins. 

It was a weird friendship she had with George, and Fred for that matter. They weren’t the best of friends or anything. Not at all actually, she could get quite annoyed at them when they would prank her for the umptheenth time. But, she didn’t hate the twins either. 

When Y/N and George arrived at the hospital wing, Madame Pomphrey immediately sent George away. She said something along the lines of ‘Miss Y/L/N needing lots of rest’. She then quickly fixed Y/N’s nose and ordered her to stay in the hospital wing until after dinner, to rest. She assured her that she would make sure she could eat a little in the hospital wing. 

After a few really boring hours, Y/N was finally dismissed from the hospital wing. Madame Pomphrey had kept her promise of giving her food in the hospital wing, so luckily she wasn’t hungry. She was however still dressed in her quidditch uniform, and she could imagine that she smelled quite bad. She quickly made her way over to the Gryffindor changing rooms, seeing as her other clothes were still there.

Once she got there, she immediately stripped and took a nice, long, relaxing shower. She could feel her stiff muscles slowly but surely relax and it felt amazing to be able to wash off the stains of blood. When she got out of the shower, she quickly dried herself off, put on the extra clothes she had brought with her before the game and grabbed the remainder of her stuff. She then walked back to the castle, heading for the Gryffindor tower.

Once arrived at the Fat Lady’s portrait, she quickly muttered the password. She went inside and was met with the heat and the scent of people dancing and a lot of alcohol. She could hear the music pounding, and was quite surprised that she couldn’t hear it in the corridors. One of the party-goers had probably thought about casting a silencing spell. 

When Y/N entered, all eyes were on her. The people inside the common room had thought that a teacher had found out there was a party and had come in to crash it. When they recognized it was Y/N however they stormed up to her, congratulating her for the goals she had made, and she couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed.

She quickly said: “I’ll be right back, I’m just gonna drop my stuff in my dorm.” She then made her way through the thick crowd, ignoring people calling her name as if she didn’t hear them. Once inside her dorm, she quickly closed the door, drowning out the sounds. She normally loved to party, but at that moment, she just was a little overstimulated from all the sounds, all the things everyone was saying and all eyes that were on her. She sat down on her bed and took a few deep breaths, slowly calming down. 

When she felt calm enough, she went back to the common room and easily spotted Angelina, her best friend.

“There you finally are!” Angelina exclaimed.

“Here I am indeed,” she answered her, smirking. “Now, where can I get myself some Firewhiskey, I wanna get drunk!”

Angelina smiled at her best friend and grabbed her hand, leading her to a crowded table in the far corner. The table was filled with all kinds of drinks, but Y/N immediately spotted the Firewhiskey bottle and poured herself a cup. She quickly downed it and then grabbed the bottle again, pouring her another cup.

“Damn, someone’s thirsty,” Angelina joked, grabbing a butterbeer for herself.

“Cheers, I’ll drink to that!” Y/N giggled.

“You drink to everything!” Angelina threw back, still joking.

“Cheers!” Y/N winked and gulped down another drink. “I arrived late to the party, so I gotta catch up,” she explained as she poured herself yet another drink and her best friend nodded understandingly.

The familiar loss of control that Y/N associated with being quite drunk, soon engulfed her and she was dancing with Angelina in the middle of the common room, seemingly having the time of her life. She felt a set of eyes on her figure and turned to the person they belonged to. She saw the awestruck look in George Weasley’s eyes and couldn’t help but hope she was the cause of it. She started dancing more seductively, maintaining eye contact with the younger Weasley twin. She could see his eyes darkening - as well as his cheeks -  and only took that as encouragement to dance even more seductively. She wanted to run up to him, jump in his arms and kiss every part of his body. 

She was pulled out of her trance however by Angelina turning Y/N to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Dancing,” Y/N retorted innocently.

“Y/N, don’t lead him on,” Angelina said sternly.

“What do you mean?” Was she leading him on?

“He’s had a crush on you since forever! Please don’t lead him on ‘cause it would break him.”

She didn’t know what to say. George had a crush on her? Since when? Why did he never tell her? Did she have a crush on him too? Or was she just leading him on? The room started to spin, there were too many questions popping up in her head and her not so sober brain couldn’t handle them. She felt the urge to sit down, so she just went and sat on the stairs leading to the girls’ dormitories. She took her head between her hands, trying to think, but it wasn’t happening. 

She felt a pair of hands on hers and she looked up, being met with the same pair of chocolate eyes she saw before.

“George,” she breathed. He seemed quite surprised at that, maybe not expecting her to distinguish him from his brother in her drunken state.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” George said softly. Y/N just nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak. She felt his arms engulf her and she allowed him to carry her to her dorm. His arms were so strong and muscled, being a beater definitely did him well. Once inside, he noticed that one of her roommates was already asleep. He quietly asked her which bed was hers. She pointed to her own bed and George put her down in said bed and covered her with her duvet. He then summoned a cup, filled it with water and put it on her nightstand, knowing she’d need it in the morning. He turned to leave but stiffened when he heard her sleepy voice call out for him.

“Georgie?”

He turned to look at her and couldn’t help but admire her.

“Yes, love?” he answered kindly.

“Will you stay for a while I mean if you wanna go back to the party that’s okay but maybe if you’d like it you could stay for a little while here with me,” her words were rushed and quiet, but he still managed to understand them.

“I’ll stay if that’s what you want, darling,” he whispered. She scooted over, pulled the blanket back a bit and patted the now empty space next to her, motioning for him to lay there. He happily obliged and slipped under the covers. She immediately cuddled into him and stiffened again, before wrapping his arms around her. She soon dozed off to sleep, but he couldn’t. His senses were completely occupied by her. She was all he could see, her soft breaths and light snoring were all his ears would allow him to hear. The only thing he could feel was her body pressed up against his and the only thing he could smell was her sweet scent. 

When he was positive she was fast asleep, he sneaked out of her bed and out of her dorm. He didn’t want to scare her in the morning. But deep down, he was scared that she would think they had done something and be disgusted with herself or something. He knew this was irrational, but he couldn’t help the fear. The fear of rejection had always been all-consuming to him.

Once back in the common room, he saw that there were still quite a few people out partying, but he didn’t feel like joining them. So he made his way up the boys’ dorms and went into his own dorm. He crawled under the covers and was almost immediately sucked into a sleeping state, his dreams filled by a certain Gryffindor chaser with a bleeding nose.

***

Y/N woke up next morning with a pounding headache. She looked at the nightstand and saw the cup standing there. She quickly took it and inspected the inside, before realizing it was water. She downed the drink without thinking twice about it. She then looked around the room and spotted Angelina, already awake. 

“What happened last night?” Y/N asked her, her voice croaking. 

She raised her eyebrow at her best friend. “You don’t remember?”

“Well, I remember drinking a shitton of Firewhiskey and I remember us dancing,” Y/N began. She was racking her brain, but those were the only parts of the night that weren’t blurry in her mind. 

“Do you remember dancing seductively for George?” Angelina asked her. Y/N did kind of remember that and Angelina made her stop, but she forgot the reason. 

“Yeah and you stopped me, but I forgot why you did.”

“That doesn’t matter now,” Angelina waved her hand dismissively. She actually felt quite guilty for spilling George’s secret to Y/N, so she was relieved when she heard that she had forgotten all about it. “Now get your ass up, we need to get to breakfast,” Angelina continued, quickly changing the subject. Y/N did as she was told and got ready to go to breakfast.

Once they entered the Great Hall, Y/N immediately sat next to Angelina, who had decided to sit right in front of Fred. Consequently Y/N was right in front of George, who was eying her nervously. Angelina and Fred shared a knowing look, but both Y/N and George seemed to be oblivious to it. In fact, Y/N was oblivious to everything at that moment. She was still racking her brain for what had happened the night before, the pounding headache not helping her in the slightest. 

“So Y/N,” Fred started, a mischievous look apparent in his eyes. “You disappeared suddenly last night, where did you go off to?” 

“I don’t know to be quite honest. Dancing with Angelina is the last thing I remember. After that I just woke up in bed. Don’t even know when or how I got there,” she answered his question, before focusing back on the food on her plate.

Fred gave George a kick under the table and a pointed look - both of which Y/N was too oblivious to notice -  but George didn’t know how or what to tell her. What if she reacted badly. George cleared his throat. Y/N’s eyes snapped up to meet his, but his were focused on anything but hers. “I um I gotta go, promised Lee to set up a prank,” he said awkwardly and basically bolted out of the Great Hall. Y/N looked at Angelina and Fred in confusion, but they were once again sharing a knowing look with each other. Y/N was too tired and too hungover to look into it, so she just focused her attention back to her food.

After breakfast she decided she would take a nap. It was a Sunday after all so who could stop her? Besides, it was a Hogsmeade weekend, meaning the dorms would most likely be quiet. She quickly put on an oversized T-shirt she loved to sleep in and crawled under the covers, enjoying the welcoming warmth. Right before sleep completely engulfed her, she remembered something from the night before. Those brown eyes. 

Y/N woke up from her nap slightly drooling. She quickly wiped her mouth on her wrist, climbing out of bed. She put her normal clothes back on and felt almost reborn. The nap had done her well, as she was now finally properly awake and the headache had gone as well. She exited her dorm, closing the door quietly. Then she stopped in her tracks, the sound of two hushed voices speaking filling her ears.

“Why didn’t you tell her that you put her to bed?” one of the voices asked.

“I don’t know, Fred. What if she reacted badly,” she could hear the other voice say. Okay so one of the speakers was Fred. That probably meant the other was George.

“You can’t keep your crush hidden forever, you know. Why don’t you just ask her out?” Fred said.

“What if she rejects me?” George’s tone was insecure. Y/N wondered who they were talking about. She felt a pang of jealousy. So George had a crush on someone. Great. Wait, why was she feeling jealous right now? And why did this question feel so familiar to her mind? Her train of thought was broken by Fred answering.

“You know what, I wasn’t going to do this until it was really necessary, but here.” Y/N heard some rustling like someone giving something to someone else, but couldn’t see what it was, without revealing herself to them.

“What is it?” George asked cautiously.

“Liquid Luck,” Fred stated proudly.

“Where did you get this?” George asked incredulously.

“Nicked it from Snape’s secret stash.” Y/N could hear the smirk on Fred’s face. 

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You drink a tiny bit of this and then you ask her out! No chance of failure!” Fred sounded even prouder than before.

Y/N crept back into her dorm after hearing that. She didn’t want to hear any more. George was going to ask out the girl he fancied and she’d have no choice but say yes. Who would say no to George anyway, Y/N thought.

Y/N had decided to just read a book in her common room, hoping not to encounter the conversation where George asks out his crush. But, she couldn’t get sucked into the book she was currently reading like usual. So instead she decided to grab some of her school books and just work on some assignments in the library. When she entered the common room, she was relieved to see neither George nor Fred there. 

Once she entered the library, she threw a smile in Madame Pince’s direction and noticed how the library was slowly filling up. People were probably coming back from Hogsmeade and deciding to catch up on some schoolwork. She positioned herself in a corner of the library, behind a few shelves. It was her favorite place, she wouldn’t be interrupted there.

Y/N had managed to finish two essays that were due on monday and she felt quite proud of herself. She yawned and stretched out her arms. Would she work on another assignment or go back to the common room, she thought to herself. But she didn’t want to go back to the common room. She dreaded it in fact, not wanting to see George asking out or being all lovey-dovey with a girl that wasn’t her.

Before she could make up her mind on what she would do next, a throat cleared behind her. She whipped her head around and was met with those brown eyes she had come to adore. Her eyes widened at the sight of George standing in front of her.

“Hey, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime,” George asked rather confidently. Y/N’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when realization hit her. It was her Fred and George were talking about. She was George’s crush. 

Not finding the right words to answer his question, Y/N stood up from her seat and walked over to George. She snaked her arms around his neck and looked deep into his eyes, before closing her eyes as well as the distance between their lips. George didn’t need much time to respond to the kiss. It was sweet, yet urgent. George slipped his arms around Y/N’s waist, pulling her body even closer to his. The kiss soon started getting more passionate, with George gently nibbling on Y/N’s bottom lip. This resulted in her opening her mouth and letting his tongue dance with her own. 

They pulled away soon after that, still enveloped in each other’s arms, as their lungs were in need of air. Y/N looked deep into those chocolate brown eyes and George couldn’t help but return the favour. 

You liked that your aunt had raised you. She came from a wealthy wizard family so even though she was only 22 years old, there was more than enough money to take care of the both of you. However, it was only ever the two of you. Your aunt’s and your mother’s parents had died before you were born and left their daughters quite a bit of money. And then when your mother died, your aunt and you had inherited everything. But, your aunt never really knew what she was doing, so you regarded her more as an older sister than an actual parent. And it was only when you had gotten your Hogwarts letter, she had told you all about who your father actually was, what his name meant and why you could talk to snakes. Maybe she assumed  that if you never really got your acceptation letter, you wouldn’t have to be bothered with stuff like that, despite growing up in a magic household.

Your first year at Hogwarts, you had actually tried to make people see you for who you were, and not a pureblood Slytherin who looked down on anyone who didn’t belong to the Sacred Twenty Eight. Hell, you couldn’t give one fuck about someone’s blood status. But it was difficult making friends when everyone has already decided what kind of person you are, before even bothering to get to know your first name. It wasn’t any better in Slytherin itself. Everyone looked up at you like you were their queen. You hated it. You knew they only did it because of your last name. You knew they did it because they had an image of you made up in their head and latched onto it, unable to stray from it.

So when second year rolled around you stopped bothering. You mostly kept to yourself, a permanent bitchface plastered onto your face. Every glare, every scared glance thrown at you only fueled the permanent anger in the pit of your stomach. And all it took to silence anyone bothering you was one glare in their direction. This only fed the image they had of you of course. Everyone was now positively convinced you thought you were better than everyone around you, even other members of the Sacred Twenty Eight, because you were a descendant of one of the founders of the school. They thought you thought the school was yours.

When third year came around, you had made an actual friend. Cassiopeia ‘Cass’ Greengrass. She was your dormmate and actually got to know you before judging, surprisingly. The two of you became very close very fast and you couldn’t have been more grateful. She shared your views of not caring about blood status and money. Cass and you shared the same kind of mischief. The kind that would get you in trouble. But you both didn’t care.

In fourth year, Cass and you became impossibly closer. You knew everything about her and she knew everything about you. You could not imagine a single Hogwarts day without her. The two of you were inseparable. Wherever she was, you were. Wherever you were, she was. However, this meant you found out some nasty things about her home situation. While you were always tormented at school, people shooting nasty looks at you and assuming things, she was tormented at home. It resulted in her always spending the Christmas holidays with you and your aunt, but unfortunately her parents wouldn’t allow her to stay with you all through summer.

In fifth year rolled around however, things started to take a turn for the worst. Cass and you had discovered the taste of smoking too many cigarettes, partying until the sun came up and waking up in strangers’ beds. It wasn’t a good habit, you were both aware of that, but it made you feel alive. It made you carefree. And that was something the both of you longed for so very much.

And then sixth year rolled around.

* * *

You woke up to a snoring sound in your ears and a heavy arm draped around your waist. This was not a rare occurrence. You peeked open one eye to see what dorm you were in. Slytherin. Of course. You looked over your shoulder to see if you could get a glimpse of the guy you had just spent the night with. You recognized him as a seventh year quidditch keeper. You rubbed your eyes, feeling a pounding headache. You looked around the dorm and saw that all the other guys were still sound asleep.

You softly lifted his arm off of you and crept out of the bed. You tiptoed around the dorm, grabbing and pulling on pieces of your clothing you saw lying around. Then you quickly – and quietly – made your way out of the boys’ dorm. Once you entered the common room, you quickly glanced at the clock. 8 am. Thank Merlin the party had taken place on a Saturday, that meant you had a whole Sunday to make sure your hangover disappears. You climbed back up the stairs to your own dorm, relieved that it was a rather quick walk of shame.

Once inside your dorm, you threw a look around the room. One of your dormmates – Emma Rosier – was vastly asleep in her bed. Cass’ bed however was empty, just like yours. You smirked, seems like you weren’t the only one with an exciting night. Knowing that sleep wouldn’t be happening anytime soon in your hungover state, you decide to take a nice relaxing shower. You took off your clothes once you entered the bathroom and had made sure you were alone and inspected yourself in the mirror. Your eyes caught a glimpse of a small, round purple coloured mark on your neck. Shit. The idiot left a hickey. You sighed and rubbed the bridge of your nose. You had to stop drunkenly agreeing to go with boys to their dorm. You threw one last look in the mirror, before enjoying a hot shower.

When you got back in your dorm, you saw that Emma had already left – she probably went to breakfast – and Cass had arrived and was rummaging through her trunk, searching for what to wear. She looked up at you and smiled sheepishly.

“So, who’s the lucky one you spent the night with?” you asked her teasingly, winking.

“Some Hufflepuff girl, I think her name was Martha or something.” She glanced at your hickey and smirked.

“Who’s your lucky one?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. You groaned

“Snyde, the keeper,” you sighed. Her eyes widened.

“He’s been ogling you for weeks, you’re not getting rid of him now,” she exclaimed.

“Great,” you muttered sarcastically. “You’re going to have some trouble getting rid of the Hufflepuff as well, though. You know how clingy they can get,” you retorted.

“Let’s bet on it, if Martha approaches me first, I jump in the Black Lake. But if Snyde approaches you first, you have to jump in,” her eyes glistened mischievously.

“Deal,” you grinned. The bet wasn’t that bad, you had both swam in the Black Lake many times before. Hell, you had both even skinny dipped in it. The thing this time however was that, seeing as it was October, the lake would be very very cold. But you weren’t worried, she was so going to lose, Hufflepuff’s always came back for more.

The two of you then got dressed for breakfast and headed to the Great Hall. It was about 9 am, so you still had one hour of breakfast. You both sat down at the very end of the Slytherin table, which was your usual spot. You quickly glanced around the table to see if a certain quidditch keeper had already entered and were relieved to notice he wasn’t around. Cass and you then talked about the party of the night before and started eating breakfast as if you hadn’t eaten in days.

Suddenly you heard a cough coming from someone who had approached the both of you. You hoped it was the Hufflepuff girl. You looked up and saw a cocky looking Snyde and a smirking Cass. You suppressed the urge to kick her under the table as she had difficulty hiding her laughter.

“Yes?” you asked at Snyde, annoyed.

“Nice hickey, Gaunt,” he commented with a smirk. You rolled your eyes.

“If that was all you wanted to say, you can go now,” you stated bluntly.

“I was actually going to suggest to do that again sometime,” he said with a smirk playing on his lips, obviously convinced you wouldn’t reject him.

“Sorry, I don’t really do ‘that again sometime’,” you retorted. He seemed taken aback at this. He stood there without saying anything for a second.

“Anything else?” you asked innocently. He just shook his head and went over to his friends who were seated. You knew you were being mean, but you knew his type and if you didn’t shoot them down hard, they would never leave you alone. You met Cass’ eyes only to see that she was grinning widely. And you knew what went through her head at that moment, because it was also going through yours. You were going to have to jump in the freezing Black Lake.

Before either of you could say anything, a cute Hufflepuff girl made her way over to the two of you. Cass’ smiled politely at her, although you could tell she was annoyed that she hadn’t left her alone. You however were very frustrated that she hadn’t decided to come over sooner.

  “I am so not happy about this,” you groaned as you handed Cass your robe, your grey v-collar and your tie. The two of you were standing near the dock of the Black Lake. You looked around at your surroundings. Aside from the Ravenclaw quidditch players that were practicing in the quidditch pitch and four Gryffindor guys chilling near the Black Lake beach. You recognized them from being notorious trouble makers.

“I so am,” Cass smiled at you as you handed her your shoes and socks. You had decided to shed your white blouse and skirt when you were running on the dock, so you didn’t have to run around in your lacy underwear.

You gave her one last sigh before running onto the dock. As you kept running, you quickly took of your blouse and skirt so that you were left in your black bra and panties. When you reached the end of the dock you jumped up and dived in.

The ice cold water was everything but welcoming. It felt like every part of your body was stabbed by a million needles. You quickly swam up to the surface and took a deep breath. You swam back to the dock and placed your hands on it. Then you heaved yourself out of the water. You saw Cass running up to you, quickly handing you your robe. You smiled gratefully at her and quickly wrapped it around you. You also saw that the marauders had come closer to the two of you, probably looking for a damsel in distress. You rolled your eyes. Cass and you started walking back to the castle as if nothing happened, grabbing the clothes you had thrown on the dock as you went. You could feel the marauders’ and some other students’ (who had come to watch after hearing that someone had jumped in the lake) eyes on you but you ignored them all, looking straight ahead. The only thing that went through your mind was the want for a nice hot shower.

* * *

The next morning rolled around and Cass and you made your way to Transfiguration, the first class of the day, which you unfortunately shared with the Gryffindors. You knew it was kind of hypocritical of you to be judgemental of the Gryffindors, only because of what house they were sorted into, but you couldn’t help it. The Gryffindors had always been the first to label you as a ‘stonecold pureblood bitch’, so you just returned the favour. Cass and you went to your regular seats, at the back in the left corner of the classroom. When you sat down, you could see the so called marauders in the right corner of the room, pointing at you and whispering among themselves. They were so childish sometimes.

You snapped your attention back to the front of the classroom when McGonagall started speaking. “Good morning everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend,” she started. “Now, for today’s class I will let you work on a new assignment. You have to work on this assignment in pairs, and because there are as much Gryffindor students as Slytherin students in this class, I will use that to my advantage to promote some interhouse bonding.” You inwardly groaned. You’d much rather do the assignment all by yourself than having to cooperate with a Gryffindor. However it seemed like you weren’t the only one with objections.

“Now, Minnie, I was so looking forward to working together with James,” a raven haired boy pouted.

“It’s Professor McGonagall to you, mister Black. And I’m sure you and James will have more than enough time to spend with each other during the detention you have both received after last week’s stunt.” You racked your brain for an event that happened last week that could’ve gotten them detention, but you came up short.

“Now listen carefully because I am going to be announcing the pairs,” McGonagall continued. You didn’t really pay attention though, you just distractedly waited until you heard your own name.

“Miss Gaunt and Mister Black.”

You looked at the raven haired boy, knowing his last name was Black. Great. Of all Gryffindors, you seemed to be stuck with the cockiest one.

“Miss Greengrass and Miss Meadowes,” McGonagall finished. “Now, everyone take a seat next to your partners, please.”

Cass shot you an apologetic look before mumbling good bye and going to sit in the now empty seat next to Dorcas. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a presence sit down on the chair next to you. You didn’t even bother to look at him.

“Anyone there?” he whispered next to you, waving his hand in front of your face. Annoying git. You just looked at him and rolled your eyes.

“Tough crowd,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m sorry, were you expecting some kind of welcoming feast perhaps?” you asked sarcastically.

“Now, now, love. No need to overdo yourself. A Hogsmeade date will more than suffice.”

You threw your head back in annoyance, finding it once again very hard to suppress a particularly loud groan.

“I’m sorry, what was your name again? Severus Black?” you asked him, trying to hurt his ego. His face adopted a look of disgust at the mention of Severus. You knew his name was Sirius of course. How could you not? Cass’ and your tendencies to wake up in strangers’ beds was nothing compared to him. You had heard that he slept with another girl at least every other night.

“It’s Sirius. Forgetting the name of a fellow Sacred Twenty Eight member, wow. That’s not very Gaunt-like of you,” he spat back, his voice laced with venom.

“Don’t make assumptions about me, Black, or I swear I’ll make sure you won’t be able to carry on the family name.” You sent a glare his way so deathly you were sure he was taken aback. He opened his mouth to respond, but you never got to hear it, as McGonagall called your attention.

“Mister Black, Miss Gaunt, I would appreciate it if you would pay attention to me instead of to each other. Now, as I was saying, in this assignment we will focus on human transfiguration. Each pair will get a different part of the body they will have to be able to transfigure.” You zoned out after that, only remembering that Sirius and you had gotten hair colour.

When the class ended, you grabbed your stuff swiftly and you were the first to leave the classroom. You couldn’t handle being in the same space as that hypocritical cunt. How dare he judge you simply for being a Gaunt. He of all people should know that you are not defined by your last name. You had heard Regulus, his brother, talk about it in the common room once. How Sirius had run away from home and how his parents had disowned him, all because he didn’t have the same values as them. So was it actually so stupid to have hoped that Sirius wouldn’t judge you merely based on your last name?

* * *

In the next week, you were happy to announce you hadn’t had any more run ins with the annoying and hypocritical Sirius. However, Monday eventually rolled around and when you walked into the classroom and saw him sitting at your table, you couldn’t – more like couldn’t be bothered to – hide the scowl that made its way onto your face.

“Good morning, love,” he mused. You rolled your eyes.

“It was a good morning until I saw your face,” you grumbled in response.

“Now, that hurts, Darling,” he said as he pretended to wipe away a tear.

“Good,” you retorted.

“Feisty, are we? Anyway I was meaning to talk to you, we should probably work on that assignment this week.”

“Yay, more time to spend with you, I’m so excited,” you threw back sarcastically.

“Good to know my love for you isn’t unrequited,” he winked back at you. You rolled your eyes again and sighed.

“Fine, when do you want meet?”

“Preferably Friday night over a moonlit dinner with candles, but how about this afternoon in the library?” The nerve of this guy! Couldn’t he tell how hard he was annoying you.

“Fine,” you grumbled finally.

“Fine to dinner or to our library date?” he grinned. You gave him a sharp look.

“Fine to meet in the library, for school.”

 Later that day, you entered the library to see Sirius already sitting there.

You sat down in front of him and unloaded some parchment and books onto the table. You began to look through them, searching for some kind of spell to change the colour of your hair. When you couldn’t find anything in your own notes or in the transfiguration textbook, Sirius and you looked for what felt like hours through the books in the library. Finally you heard an “Aha!” coming from his mouth. Your head snapped up.

“Did you find it?”

“Yes, it’s right here,” he exclaimed. He showed you the page and you eagerly took it.

‘If you desire to change the colour of your hair, you simply point your wand up at your hair and after a curt flick, you state clearly ‘Crinus Muto’. It is preferable that you practice this spell in the mirror.’

You looked up at him smiling, only to see he was already looking at you intensely.

“I have a question,” he started.

“Tell me,” you threw back, focusing your attention back to the page.

“Who are your parents exactly?” Your head snapped up so fast you were surprised you hadn’t gotten a whiplash.

“My mother’s name was Rosabella Harris. My father’s name is Corvus Gaunt,” you answered, even though you were very confused at the question. His face also took on a confused look.

“Funny, my mother never mentioned that Corvus had a daughter, which meant she didn’t know of your existence, as she was always pushing pureblood girls on me,” he stated.

“And that is my problem, because?” you were quite annoyed at this point. Why did he care?

“Well, are you sure Corvus is your father?”

“What kind of question is that? Yes, I’m sure,” you spat back irritated.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I’m a parslemouth, okay? Trust me, I have searched and searched, but the only known parslemouths have ever been descendants of Salazar Slytherin, specifically the Gaunt family,” you hissed at him. He looked taken aback, but you weren’t done yet. You had gotten mad. “I wish he wasn’t my father. Hell, he’s more like a stranger anyway! I never even saw the guy once in my life. He left my mother when he heard she was pregnant and didn’t even bother to claim custody over me when she died giving birth to me. If I had been a boy, I’m sure he had come running for me the second he heard, because – of course – boys are gods in pureblood families. But no, I can’t carry on the disgusting family name, so why even bother, right? It’s funny. I think he might actually hate me, just like my other Gaunt relatives. I mean I’m the only Gaunt of my generation and I’m a girl. The name dies with me.” You were practically yelling at this point.

Madame Pince threw you the dirtiest look you had ever seen her giving to anyone. You grabbed your bag, not even bothering about your stuff, still lying on the table. You stormed out of the library without another look. You were glad you didn’t have any classes anymore because that meant you didn’t have to skip and raise suspicions. You almost ran to your dorm, relieved to find it empty. As much as you loved Cass, you needed to be alone for a minute. You opened your trunk and pushed open the secret compartment. It was your very own alcohol stash. You fished out a bottle of Firewhiskey and hid it in your robe. Then you made your way to the boathouse.

You were lucky that your outburst had taken place during dinner hours, meaning most students and teachers were there that very moment. Once you arrived in the boathouse, you took of your shoes and socks and sat down near the edge, your feet touching the water. You had discovered this place – and how there never seemed to be anyone – in your first year in Hogwarts, when you couldn’t take it anymore. It was nice and quiet to relax. You grabbed the bottle of Firewhiskey, unscrewed the top and took a big gulp. The familiar burn made you feel at ease, but not entirely.

And then finally, tears spilled out of your eyes. You hated how much it hurt you. You just always felt so rejected when you thought back to your father’s side of the family. Your grandparents. You knew for a fact they knew you existed. During your second year at Hogwarts you had written to them in a moment of weakness. You had told them about yourself, how Corvus was your father, how you were a Slytherin, even how you were a Parslemouth. But they had only ever responded with a “please don’t contact us ever again”. It had hurt. Bad. It hurt because here in Hogwarts, most people didn’t want anything to do with you because you were a Gaunt. However, your own family wanted nothing to do despite being a Gaunt. You just felt so out of place. You could never talk about things like this with your aunt, simply because she didn’t know that much about it all. She hadn’t even known her sister – your mother – had dated a Gaunt until your mother turned up on her doorstep, pregnant and broken hearted. So all you knew about your family had been through books and rumours.

You took another big swig of the bottle, still crying. The silent tears had actually turned into quiet sobs. When the bottle was half empty, you took out a pack of cigarettes and lighted one with your wand. You placed it at your mouth and sucked in a deep breath, the feeling of the smoke filling your lungs partially calmed you down. You heard soft footsteps behind you and threw a look over your shoulder. Cass was approaching you. She knew this was your spot when you needed a good cry. You smiled weakly at her. She just took off her socks and shoes, just like you had done, and sat down next to you. You handed her the bottle and she gladly took a swig, throwing her arm around your shoulder and pulling you close.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” she asked softly.

“Sirius kept pestering me about my family so I snapped and told him that I’m a parslemouth and I told him about my family,” you said dryly. Only Cass, your aunt, your ‘grandparents’ that you had tried to contact and now Sirius Black knew that you’re a parslemouth. It was a thing you kept secret, as you had learned it wouldn’t be received well.

“And how did he react?” Cass asked.

“I don’t know, I was shouting to him at that point so I just kinda stormed out and came here.” She made an understanding sound. The two of you sat in silence for a while.

“I’m so stupid. Why am I crying about people I’ve never even met in my life?” you asked. The question was more directed to yourself than to Cass, but she answered anyway.

“I think it’s logical. You just want to be accepted. That’s not stupid, that just makes you human,” she replied kindly. And in that moment you had calmed down. You let out a deep breath.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” you said to her.

“Now don’t get all clingy on me, Gaunt. We don’t want a Martha 2.0,” she joked. You laughed.

The two of you sat there for another while, just talking about nothing and everything, laughing and cracking jokes.

* * *

The next day rolled around and you groaned. You had drunk a teensy bit too much of Firewhisky, making your head pound. Fortunately, you had Binns first two classes and free period after that, meaning you could take it slow. You walked into the classroom with Cass’ arm attached to yours. The two of you sat down in the back once again. You stifled a yawn, prepared to take a well-deserved nap, when you felt a pair of eyes staring intently at you. You looked up and were met with the stormy grey eyes of Sirius Black. Your breath hitched in your throat at the intensity of his gaze. You felt yourself becoming nervous. You quickly averted your gaze.

The two hours Professor Binns had to himself went by very slowly. You felt yourself drift in and out of sleep, but Binns remained, as always, unfazed. When class was finally over, you walked out of the class and into the corridor with Cass. But then you heard someone call your name. Instinctively you turned around, only to be met with the same intense grey eyes as before.

“Can I talk to you for a second.” There was something about the urgency in his tone you couldn’t ignore. You looked at Cass who seemed to be thinking the same thing as you and muttered something along the lines of seeing you at lunch. And then she left.

“What is it?” Your tone wasn’t exactly hostile, more just tired.

“Maybe we should go somewhere more private,” he suggested. You looked around the crowded corridor and nodded. You followed him outside and to the edge of the Black Lake in silence. He finally sat down under a tree and motioned for you to sit down next to him. You obliged.

“I just wanted to..,” he started, “um apologize.” It was obvious he didn’t apologize very much to people. “I really shouldn’t have pestered you with those questions. It was a douche-y thing to do, truly. I mean it’s none of my business anyway. And it was rude to intrude in your personal life. I’m sorry for assuming things, solely based on your family name.”

You inspected his face, but after seeing nothing but sincerity and honesty, you just ran a hand through your hair and said: “It’s fine.”

The two of you were quiet for a little while after that, until he broke the silence once again.

“I can imagine how you feel, though. It sucks being rejected by your own flesh and blood. The people who should be there to care for you, but actually turn out to be the worst of all and don’t want anything to do with you anymore.” He chuckled coldly, obviously remembering something nasty from his own family. You looked at him and grabbed his hand, a kind gesture you thought he could use. To your surprise he didn’t pull away, but instead gave it a slight squeeze.

You sat there for another while in silence, quietly holding hands. You were both consumed by your thoughts. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable however, it felt right. You understood each other. The thought that you might have made another friend even crossed your mind.

“I have another question for you,” he spoke after a while. “Not about your family or anything, don’t worry,” he quickly added with a sheepish grin on his face.

“Shoot,” you said.

“Why did you jump in the Lake the other day?”

“Oh that,” now it was you who was grinning sheepishly, “I had lost a bet.”

“What was the bet?” he asked curiously.

“Well, Cass was convinced that my one night stand would come begging for more first, because he had been ‘ogling me for weeks’ or something, while I was convinced hers would come begging for more first, because she was a Hufflepuff. Needless to say, I was wrong, though it was only a matter of minutes,” you explained. He laughed.

“Oh, I almost forgot, we’re throwing a party in the Gryffindor common room this Friday, you should come! And you can bring Cass, Dorcas always talks about how nice she is,” he winked at that last part. You hesitated. You had always stayed away from Gryffindor parties, not wanting to be judged there.

“I don’t know, kinda don’t feel like being judged all night,” you said, half laughingly.

“I promise they won’t get the chance! Come on! It’ll be fun. You can see it as my formal apology and if you reject it, I will assume you reject my apology as well.” He bumped his shoulder into yours laughingly. You couldn’t help but smile a little as well.

“Fine, but only if there’s enough alcohol,” you agreed.

“Don’t you worry about that, love. I personally am in charge of the alcohol.”

Sirius and you sat at the Black Lake for a while after that, beginning to practice the spell for McGonagall. The two of you had loads of fun. The first fifteen tries or so, neither of you had gotten any results. However, on your sixteenth try, you had managed to turn part of your hair pink. And Sirius had managed to turn his hair white. That’s when the best part started, you both began experimenting with your hair colour, yours had been bright orange, blue, dark green and purple. Sirius’ hair had been pink, red, dark blue and blonde.

That’s when the two of you figured out you could also use the spell on others, so of course you began messing around with that as well. You had given Sirius rainbow coloured hair and even made it half green half silver, representing the Slytherin colours. Sirius had given you a mix of bright green, bright orange and bright blue – which looked horrible – and then settled for red and gold, the Gryffindor colours. When lunch finally rolled around, the two of you turned your own hair back to its original colour and walked to the Great Hall together.

Inside the Great Hall, you immediately found Cass, said good bye to Sirius and sat across from her, your back facing the other houses’ tables. During lunch you had explained everything about Sirius’ apology, to the invitation to the party and the changing of hair colours. Every so often Cass would glance at something behind you.

“Dorcas really said I was nice?” she asked. There was a blush creeping onto her face. She glanced back to something behind you so you turned around and saw that she was looking at Dorcas. However, another pair of eyes caught yours. You saw that Sirius was looking at you, before quickly averting his gaze when the two of you made eye contact. Weird. You turned back to Cass.

“So, crushing on Dorcas, are we?” you asked her teasingly.

“Oh shut up and eat your lunch,” was her smart reply, the blush on her cheeks darkening.

* * *

When Cass and you entered the Gryffindor common room that Friday night, you couldn’t help but immediately let your eyes roam the room for a certain raven haired, grey eyed boy. You spotted him leaning against a wall, talking to a girl. You felt a pang of jealousy course through your body. Damn, you thought, apparently Cass isn’t the only one who’s crushing on a Gryffindor.

“Let’s get drunk shall we,” you suggested and Cass happily obliged. The both of you made your way to the drinking station. You had to hand it to him, Sirius had done his job well, the alcohol was well supplied. You grabbed a trusty bottle of Firewhisky and poured yourself a drink, while Cass opted for Daisyroot Draught. The song changed and Cass’ face lit up. “Let’s dance!”

Without waiting for your response, she grabbed your hand and yanked you to the middle of the bundle of people dancing. The both of you started dancing and yelling – quite off pitch – the lyrics to the song that was playing, occasionally taking a quick break to drink from your cups. When your drinks were empty, you went and grabbed another one for you and Cass. When you went to go back to where Cass was however, you saw that she was already preoccupied with dancing with Dorcas. You just downed the drink you had gotten for her and put the cup aside, knowing not to bother her right now. Your eyes searched the common room for Sirius, but then you saw that he was almost making out with that same girl you saw him talk to earlier. The jealousy in your chest only grew.

A Ravenclaw boy then came up to you and asked you to dance. You happily obliged and started dancing with him, not even bothering to get to know his name. The two of you jumped up and down and you were actually having a really great time. The drinks you had downed probably had a hand in that, as you felt quite a bit lightheaded already. And that was when you heard it. Cass’ and your song.

You whipped around to where she was and saw that she was also looking at you. The two of you had a rule that whenever this song was played, no matter what the two of you were doing, you would find each other, climb up on something – preferably a chair or a table or something sturdy – and dance while singing at the top of your lungs. So that’s exactly what you did. She pointed to a table close to the both of you, so you both ran and climbed on top and started singing and dancing. Soon Dorcas and the Ravenclaw boy followed suit, so that the four of you were now basically performing – horribly.

When the song was finished, Cass turned to you and shouted over the music: “We’re going to play truth or dare with veritaserum! Come join!” You nodded and followed her, grabbing the Ravenclaw dude’s hand and pulling him along as well. You followed her to a corner where the music wasn’t too loud. There were already a few people sitting there, including Sirius Black and the girl he has been glued to all night. However, he seemed to be paying no attention to the girl next to him, too busy glaring at the Ravenclaw dude and your hands. What was his problem?

You sat down and after a name round, you knew that the people sitting there were Remus, James, Lily and you knew Sirius, Dorcas and Cass already. You had also learned that the name of Sirius’ girl was called Olivia and that the Ravenclaw dude was called Chester.

“Okay, so the game is simple,” James started his explanation, “someone asks you ‘truth or dare?’ When you answer truth, you have to take a shot of veritaserum before you answer and when you choose dare you have to complete the dare, no matter how bad it is. Understood?” Everyone nodded.

“Okay so, Lily,” James looked at the pretty redhead. “Truth or dare?” he smirked. She rolled her eyes.

“Truth,” she answered quickly. She was handed a shot of veritaserum and downed it without a doubt.

“Would you ever go out with me?” James asked her with a very hopeful expression.

She rolled her eyes as if she had expected something like that, but as she had taken a veritaserum shot, she had to answer truthfully. “Yes,” she admitted. James cheeks turned even brighter scarlet than the Gryffindor logo and his eyes twinkled.

“My turn to ask!” Lily exclaimed and she looked mischievously around the circle of people. Her eyes landed on Dorcas.

“Dorcas, truth or dare?”

Dorcas’ reply was quick. “Dare!”

“I dare you to kiss the person you’re the most attracted to,” Lily said without missing a beat. You could see she had planned this. Dorcas looked around the circle, a blush darkening her cheeks. Her eyes landed on Cass and you knew what was about to happen. Dorcas leaned closer to Cass and looked at her intensely. Cass nodded, giving permission and Dorcas crashed her lips onto Cass’. You couldn’t help but smile. The crush Cass had definitely wasn’t one-sided. Dorcas pulled back after that and cleared her throat.

The game went on for a while after that and you had to admit, you had loads of fun. Chester had chosen truth and had to admit something he had never admitted before – apparently he had a little crush on the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost. You had chosen dare – obviously – and you had to give Chester a lap dance, a dare he had obviously given. He did look like he had kind of regretted it, obviously not liking the fact that Sirius was now glaring daggers at him. Cass had also chosen dare and you dared her to go steal some food from the kitchens. She came back triumphantly with a ton of desserts tucked under her arms. Olivia had chosen truth and she told everyone about how she thought Hagrid was kind of really hot. She then asked Sirius the ‘truth or dare’ question and dared him to run around the common room, naked. Of course Sirius never turned down a dare, so he went up to his dorm, came back out when he was naked, ran around the common room and back into his dorm to put his clothes back on. You couldn’t help but admire his perfect body, the muscles in his arms even apparent when he was covering his private parts with his hands. Remus then chose truth and had to tell everyone the password to the prefects’ bathroom. And James was dared to remain on his broom for the rest of the party, so he was currently floating about three feet in the air.

During the game, Cass had mentioned that you were ‘the queen of dares’ as you had never turned down a dare before. Sirius’ friends however interjected that he was ‘the queen- well king of dares’. So they had come up with some kind of challenge. Sirius and you would alternately receive a dare that you had to fulfil. Whichever was the first to reject a dare would be the loser.

It had started off quite easy. Your first dare was to take three shots of Firewhiskey. Sirius got dared to flirt with the Fat Lady. However, after a while of innocently playing, it escalated quickly. You had just completed a dare to go and steal a teacup from the Divination classroom, entering the Gryffindor common room proudly with a pink China teacup clutched in your hand. There were very few people left at that point, as it was about 4 am at the time. The only people left were Sirius, Remus, James, Lily and you. Dorcas and Cass had gone to Cass’ – and your – dorm because ‘Dorcas was curious because she had never seen a Slytherin dorm before’. Everyone obviously knew this was bullshit, but no one commented on it.

“You actually did it!” James exclaimed when you showed everyone the ugly pink teacup.

“Of course I did!” You had actually no idea how you had gotten away with it. You were actually quite tipsy at that point. And it wasn’t like you were quiet when running through the corridors or when you broke into the classroom. You just retrieved the cup by pure luck. But of course you didn’t tell the rest that.

“Anyway, I think I’m off to bed now,” Lily yawned and then threw a pointed look at James and Remus.

“Um yeah! Me too! Very tired!” James exclaimed suddenly.

Remus then faked a yawn. “I am very fatigued as well! It was nice meeting you, Y/N. I’ll see you around!”

You shared a confused look with Sirius as they all scrambled to their feet and almost ran – or well, James flew – to their respective dorms.

Sirius nodded his head to a sofa close to the fire, motioning to go sit in there. You obliged.

“Now we still don’t know who won our dare competition,” you realized.

“Well, you can be the dare queen to my king any day,” Sirius winked at you.

“I swear, how do you keep coming up with those?” you asked incredulously.

“It’s a talent, darling.” Your heart skipped a beat at his nickname for you.

“So how bad would it be if I were to crash on this couch tonight? I’m afraid Dorcas and Cass wouldn’t be all too happy if I interrupted their um admiring of our dorm,” you laughed. Sirius chuckled as well. You hadn’t noticed how close the two of you were sitting to each other. You looked at his lips. Merlin how badly did you want those lips on yours. You were so mesmerized with them you had to concentrate extra hard on the words that came out of them.

“Now, what kind of host would I be if I didn’t at least offer to sleep on the couch so you could sleep in my comfortable, warm bed,” he almost whispered, but you understood him clearly. He inched closer to you, you could almost feel his breath on your face.

“I think we can compromise,” you whispered back, still not taking your eyes of his lips. You had inched closer as well.

“Tell me.” You could now actually feel his breath on your face. Your heart began to thump uncontrollably at the vicinity of his body.

“We could both sleep in your bed,” you whispered so quietly it was almost drowned out by the crackling of the fire. He didn’t answer verbally. Instead he softly put his hands on your cheeks and you looked up at his eyes. Your faces were now an inch apart. He searched for confirmation. You nodded ever so slightly.

And then it finally happened. He closed the gap between your lips. You wasted no time to melt into the kiss. You tangled one of your hands into his raven coloured curls and you put your other hand on the back of his neck, pulling him even closer. He moved his hands from your cheeks and grabbed your waist, pulling you on top of him so that you were straddling him. He flicked his tongue across your bottom lip and you let him in, deepening the kiss.

You had to pull away after a while, gasping for breath. Sirius smirked at you.

“So, how about that Hogsmead date huh,” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, shut up and kiss me again,” was your only reply.

Lee Jordan suddenly enters his – and the twins’ – dorm and raises an eyebrow at all of you, clutching your stomachs and rolling on the floor. “What did you do now?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“We- cauldrons- shrink-,” Fred tries to explain what happened, but can’t seem to get his laughter under control.

“We snuck into Snape’s classroom and –” you can’t finish your sentence, a burst of laughter rippling through your body.

“- and we shrunk the cauldrons,” George finishes, a huge grin on his face.

Fred has now calmed down and adds: “Filch saw the three of us running away and ran after us, but we managed to get away.”

Lee laughs at your prank. “And what exactly did you prank Snape for? You know he’s going to come for your heads now, right?”

You throw your arm over Lee’s shoulder and tell him matter-of-factly: “Well, my dear friend, Snape had it coming. He called me a ‘stupid young witch’ and I couldn’t just let him get away with that, now could I?”

“And of course, we couldn’t say no when dear (Y/L/N) here proposed the prank,” Fred winks at you.

“By the way, he has no proof it was us,” George adds.

“But Filch saw you running,” Lee interjects.

“Yes, but we were already far from the dungeons by then, so he really just saw us running. And as far as I know, running in the corridors is not against the school rules,” you begin.

“So actually, he has nothing against us,” George continues.

“And so we innocent, until proven guilty,” Fred finishes.

“I still don’t understand how you manage to get away with stuff like this all the time,” Lee chuckles.

“It’s a talent, my friend,” Fred answers.

You, the twins and Lee just hang out for a while in their dorm. You are playing exploding snap, snacking on some Honeydukes’ sweets, before realizing it’s time for dinner. Then, the four of you descend from the Gryffindor tower and make your way to the Great Hall. You wave at them and go sit down with a few friends at your house table, while they go and sit down at the Gryffindor table.

“Where have you been all day?” Joanna – one of your best girl friends asks, with a small smile playing on her lips. She obviously knows you were up to something.

“The twins and I pranked Snape,” you say mischievously, grabbing some food from the middle of the table and placing it on your plate. Joanna looks at you with wide eyes. Amelia – another good friend of yours – gasps.

“What? we won’t get caught,” you say confidently.

“How can you be so sure?” Amelia asks incredulously.

“Because he hasn’t got any proof,” you state, before stuffing your face with the delicious Hogwarts food.

You were right in thinking that Snape wouldn’t catch you. However, ever since the cauldron situation, the potions professor has been even more nasty towards you and the Weasley twins, meaning he does suspect you were behind it. But, the prank was worth it.

* * *

Fred and George are sitting next to you in the courtyard. You’re laughing at something Fred had just said, when you see a certain Slytherin – flanked by two idiot friends – walking towards the three of you. Adrian Pucey. Immediately the smile vanishes from your face. Pucey used to be your boyfriend. However, the stupid git cheated on you so of course you broke up with him. And took revenge with Fred and George of course. It was one of the pranks you are most proud of. The three of you had filled his quidditch gear with fire ants right before a match, so during the entirety of the match he would make a gigantic fool of himself, scratching anywhere and everywhere. The next day we had ordered anti-fungus cream in his name, making him so embarrassed when it arrived during breakfast.

You snap back from that lovely memory when you hear Pucey’s annoying voice. “(Y/N), still a disgusting little slut, I see?”

“What do you even mean?” you ask. How can someone be so confident in their attempted bullying, yet so bad.

“Too slutty to be satisfied by one guy, so you prefer twins,” he winks. Is he for real? You feel Fred getting ready to stand up and punch him in the face, but you take his arm, stopping him.

“Well, I’m not the one who cheated, so who exactly is the one that can’t be satisfied?” you retort. You hear Fred and George snort next to you.

He sneers, obviously not satisfied at not getting under your skin. “Yeah well, you’re only a half-blood, how could you ever fully satisfy a pureblood, huh?” He looks at the two Slytherins who are flanking him, seemingly proud as he hears them snicker. Fred and George stiffen at the negative use of half-blood.

“Well, you were the one who asked the half-blood out, so joke’s on you,” you spit back.

“Oh right, you still think I actually wanted to date you, forgot about that fact. I only dated you for a bet. Flint challenged me to get you in bed and well, I succeeded, didn’t I?”

You feel a pang of hurt in your chest. Of course you never actually loved the guy, you dated for barely a month before you found out he cheated. You only said yes to him in the first place because you were bored. But it still feels really bad to realize you were used for your body. And for a bet nonetheless.

What happens next almost happens too fast for you to progress. Fred has jumped to his feet and is now clutching a very scared Pucey’s collar. George has grabbed his wand, ready to hex him senseless. But, before George even has the chance to utter a single hex, Fred’s fist makes contact with Pucey’s nose. And although that was extremely hot, you also scramble to your feet and try to pull Fred away from Pucey, not wanting to get him in trouble. From the corner of your eye, you see George beginning to wave his wand, ready to hex, but you grab his arm as well, trying to stop him.

“What is going on here?” you suddenly hear a cold voice utter sternly. Snape.

Pucey was the first to speak: “He punched me!” he says pointing to Fred.

Snape takes no time to hear our side of the story, instead just directs his glare to the twins and you and says: “Mister Weasley, Mister Weasley and Miss (Y/L/N) detention with me. Now. Mister Pucey, you go to Madame Pomphrey and see what she can do about … that.” Then Snape turns around briskly and marches towards the castle.

Detention with Snape is horrible. You have to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads, Fred has to pickle rats’ brains and  George has to sort out rotten Flobberworms from good ones. The whole of detention, you are awfully silent, not even looking up at the twins. You just feel so disgusted. Sure, it wasn’t like Adrian was your first time or anything, but you can’t help but feel so used and violated.

After detentions is over, you quickly grab your stuff and make your way to your own common room, before either of the twins has the opportunity to talk to you. It’s not like you are mad at the twins or anything, you just don’t want them to pity you.

* * *

You haven’t spoken to the twins since what happened with Pucey. That was two days ago. Now, you’re sitting – or more accurately, hiding out – in the library with Amelia and Joanna across from you, all writing an essay about the Goblin wars Bins had assigned. Suddenly you see two familiar figures plopping down on the chairs on either side of you.

“So, love, how long do you plan on avoiding us?” Fred asks, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, we need to know when you can start helping us with the prank we’re going to pull on Pucey,” George adds. You look at them, a weak smile playing on your lips.

“Your planning on pranking him?” you ask.

Fred throws his arm around your shoulder: “My dearest (Y/N), you didn’t actually think we would let Pukecey get away with what he did, now did you?”

“I’m sorry for ignoring you guys,” you admit honestly, “I just didn’t want you to pity me or something. Or maybe treat me differently.”

“We know and we understand,” George states.

“But the longer you avoid us, the longer we don’t plan our revenge and the longer that git thinks he’s won,” Fred winks. “So, you in?”

“Hell yeah, I’m in. Tell me what you have in mind,” you say mischievously.

“Aaand (Y/L/N) is back,” Fred says happily. You smile at him.

 When breakfast rolls around, you find it hard to hide your excitement. You sit in between Fred and George at the Gryffindor table, hoping the teachers won’t notice you’re not sitting at the correct table. When the owls come flooding in with the morning post, you share a mischievous look with the twins. From where you’re sitting, you have the perfect view of the Slytherin table. You watch as a howler is neatly dropped right in front of Pucey. His face immediately becomes paler than you’ve ever seen. He carefully opens it. “ADRIAN PUCEY, HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU HOW IRRESPONSIBLE IT IS THAT YOU CONSTANTLY FORGET EVERYTHING. THIS TIME YOU’VE FORGOTTEN YOUR FAVOURITE STUFFED ANIMAL, FLUFFY. MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN OKAY? LOVE YOU SO MUCH ADRIANIKINS, YOUR FATHER AND I WILL SEE YOU DURING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY!”

The whole Great Hall – that had fallen silent – bursts out laughing. You, Fred and George are no exception. The howler was the first part of the genius revenge plan. You had pretended to be his mother, imitating her voice and sent it to him. Right on cue, three owls fly in a life size pink teddy bear and drop it right in the middle of the Slytherin table. The laughter got even louder. And now it is time for the grand finale. George, who is the best at charms out of the three of you, charms the teddy bear, so that it follows Pucey around for the rest of the day. The teddy stands up and goes up to Adrian, hugging him. The laughter in the hall is so loud now, you can barely hear anything else. Adrian catches your eyes and you almost see smoke coming out of his ears. Seeing him stand op, you quickly grab Fred and George and the three of you run out of the hall, Adrian hot on your tail.

“We need to split up,” Fred says urgently.

“You and (Y/N) go right, I’ll go left,” George suggests. The three of you nod and do as he says.

After going right and following that corridor, you can hear Pucey’s hard footsteps, meaning he has chosen to follow the two of you, instead of George. You throw a look over your shoulder and have to try your best not to burst out laughing right there. Not only is Pucey running after the two of you, the giant teddy bear is running after Pucey. Good to know George’s charm works perfectly. Fred, also having noticed that Pucey chose to follow you two, grabs your hands and leads you through all sorts of corridors. After running for another minute or so, you’re both convinced that you’ve lost him and you run through the courtyard and hide outside, against the castle walls.

You are both panting, adrenaline running through your body as you lean against the castle wall and Fred stands right in front of you. You look into his gorgeous brown eyes and he can’t help but return the favour. Suddenly you have to fight the urge to kiss him senseless. But you don’t want to fight it. Your eyes flicker to his lips, the only sounds you can hear is the panting coming from those very lips, mixed with your own. As if it was planned, you both close the gap between the two of you. You feel Fred’s incredibly soft lips crash onto yours. It feels good kissing him. It feels natural. It feels right. As your lips move in sync, you can’t help but feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach. Have they always been there?

He pushes you against the wall, using one of his hands to steady himself. His other hand is on your waist, pulling him impossibly closer. You tangle both of your hands into his flaming red hair that you love so much. He flicks his tongue over your bottom lip and you let his tongue in, your tongues dancing for dominance.

You are the first to pull away, in dire need of air. You clear your throat as realization hits you. What have you done? He is your best friend for crying out loud! You can’t just go around, snogging your best friend!

“So um, we should probably head back,” you say nervously, not meeting his eyes.

“Yeah, probably,” he sounds as nervous as you are.

* * *

You find your friends in a deserted corner of the library.

“(Y/N), there you are!” Amelia almost yells.

“Please tell me it was you who was behind the prank! It was genius!” Joanna exclaims excitedly.

“Yeah it was our prank,” you retort quietly. Amelia immediately knows something is up. It’s not like you to be quiet after a prank like that.

“Oh no, what happened?” she asks.

“Well, we were running away from Pucey and George suggested to split up, so we did. And Fred and I ran outside the castle walls and hid out there and um… well then we kissed,” you admit to them.

They share a knowing look.

“It was about time, you two have been ogling each other for a while now,” Joanna smirks.

You look at her, confused. Had you been ogling Fred? You have to admit you would sometimes look at him during lessons and dinners and stuff, but that was just out of curiosity, right?

“I don’t have a crush on Fred,” you retort defensively.

“Do you think about him when he’s not around,” Joanna asks pointedly.

“Well, yeah, but he’s my best friend! It’s logic to think about someone when they’re your best friend!”

“George is your best friend too, do you think as much about George as you think about Fred,” Amelia asks with an eyebrow raised.

“Well, no,” you trail off.

“And did you get butterflies when you kissed,” Joanna asks.

“Yeah,” you answer sheepishly.

“Are you attracted to him?” It was Amelia’s turn to ask you a question.

“I mean, sure he’s handsome.”

Amelia and Joanna share another knowing look.

“I’m sorry to say, girlie, but I’m afraid you have a crush on Fred,” Amelia states. You look down.

“But what do I do now? He is my best friend, I can’t just throw that all away. I mean sure he’s incredibly attractive and he gives me butterflies and the kiss was just so amazing, but what about our friendship?” you sigh. You look back up at your friends but see them looking at something behind you. Before you can turn around, you hear an all too familiar voice.

“Let’s fuck up the friendship.”

You whip around and are met with the familiar brown eyes of a certain twin, determination clear in them. He grabs your face and crashes his lips to yours. You don’t waste any time to respond, kissing him back passionately.

You led your team to the Slytherin changing rooms, lecturing everyone one last time. “So you’ll all go to bed early tonight, you’ll eat a good breakfast tomorrow and then we’re going to kick some Gryffindor ass!” Your team’s response was a mix of groans and affirmational noises. The practice had obviously been tiring.

Daphne, Jazz and you entered the girl’s changing rooms as Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Adrian walked into the boy’s one, everyone obviously looking forward to the steamy shower you were all about to take. But your nerves didn’t calm down quite as much as you had hoped they would. Daphne, not only your teammate but also one of your best friends, seemed to notice this.

“Hey, we’ll be fine! We practiced like crazy the last couple of weeks, Wood’s not gonna know what’s hit him.” You just smiled at her. You really wanted to win this game. The Slytherin team had a really bad reputation before you became captain, and you wanted to do everything in your power to change that. You didn’t allow foul play, instead opting for harder practices. To obvious disappointment of your beaters of course, who both loved to play a little dirty.

When you all left the changing rooms it was already pitch black outside. You were making small talk with Jazz about her latest boytoy when you were walking back to the castle. Jazz had a new conquest every two weeks or so and never spared you the details about them. This was definitely not the case for you, being captain of the quidditch team made you kind of… intimidating. But you didn’t mind, you had enough on your plate with quidditch practices, maintaining your social life and the occasional detention you would get for talking back to teachers – you did often have a problem to keep your snarky little comments to yourself. Besides, there were not many boys who particularly caught your eyes. You found most of them too childish or they really couldn’t handle responsibility. Well, except Oliver Wood of course, but you’d rather be hit in the face by a bludger – repeatedly – than tell anyone, let alone Wood himself, about your childish little crush.

Once back in the dormitory you shared with Daphne and a few other Slytherin girls, you jumped on your bed and immediately groaned after realizing you still had to change into your short, emerald nightgown. Lazily, and rather slowly, getting up from the bed, you undressed and put the gown on that barely covered the middle of your thighs. Instantly you jumped back into your bed, earning a chuckle from Daphne. All the girls in the dormitory soon settled down and the only sounds you could hear were coming from the Black Lake at the other side of the large window. You closed your eyes, eager to let sleep take you away from reality.

But sleep never came. In fact, after a few hours of rolling in your bed, you knew you just had to get out of there. So you quietly slipped out of your dormitory and into your abandoned common room. You glanced at the clock, it was 2 am. Great. So much for following your own advice of going to sleep at a decent hour. Wanting to catch a breath of fresh air, you decided to sneak up to the astronomy tower, hoping not to get caught.

Somehow you managed to reach the steps leading to the tower unseen. It was only when you made it to the top of those very steps, that you noticed you weren’t alone. Standing on the edge of the astronomy tower was none other as the rivalling team captain. You turned around, not wanting Wood to see you, but it was too late. He had whipped around to face you. “Y/L/N?”

You turned back to him, your cheeks darkening when you realized you were still only wearing the short nightgown. You saw his eyes glancing up and down your body, lingering at the hem of your gown. “That’s me,” you muttered.

He snapped his eyes to your face. “What are you doing here?” he asked suspiciously.

“Could ask you the same thing,” you retorted.

He chuckled lightly. It was obvious he was as nervous for the match tomorrow as you were. You were somehow relieved to see him like this. It meant he thought you had a chance to win the match. He turned back to look where he was looking before you came. You walked towards where he stood and copied his movements, admiring the breath taking view. You both just stood there for a while, engulfed in a weirdly comfortable silence.

It was Wood who had decided to break the silence. “You know, you actually did a great job with training your team. You might actually have a chance at winning without foul play.” You were taken aback at his compliment. Well, you interpreted it as a compliment anyway.

“Thanks. Your team doesn’t look bad either,” you answered him truthfully.

He suddenly turned his body towards you. He reached out his right hand for you to shake. “May the best team win.”

You smiled at this. An actual smile that you couldn’t stop from creeping onto your face. You nodded in agreement and shook his hand. You wished you wouldn’t have, though. Feeling his warm hand around your cold one – your hands were always cold – made you feel all tingly inside. You didn’t like the feeling very much, knowing that the captain of the team you had to play against tomorrow had caused it. You quickly retreated your hand, not wanting him to know the effect he had on you. You both stayed there in silence until you decided to head back to your dormitory and he decided to follow suit. You wished each other good luck and sneaked back to your respective dormitories.

* * *

Both the Slytherin and the Griffindor teams entered the pitch. You and Wood shook hands in the middle of the field – you were happy that you were both wearing gloves, you didn’t want the tingles he gave you to distract you from this match – and your teams took their places. Madame Hooch blew her whistle signalling the game to begin.

You were right in thinking it was going to be a rough game. Your chasers, even Jazz who was extraordinarily good at dodging, had all been hit by a bludger at one point, fortunately none of them were hurt. Your beaters had returned the favour and managed to hit their chasers and even the seeker once. Only four quaffles had managed to slide through Wood’s arms and into the hoops  – despite the many, many attempts of your chasers. You were proud to say that only one had made it past your defences.

But then you saw it. Potter had seen the snitch. Draco was hot on his tail, but his chances were small. You had to look away from the seekers as Angelina Johnson came your way with a quaffle stuck under her arm. She threw it rather hard, but you managed to catch it. And that’s when you heard it. The Gryffindor supporters were roaring in the stands. You looked over at Potter and saw a tiny gold ball clutched in his hand. He had caught the golden snitch earning the Gryffindor team a total of 160 points. Slytherin had lost the game.

You looked over at the handsome Gryffindor captain to see him beaming of happiness. Even though you were really disappointed that your team lost, you were happy for him. He looked over to you, caught your eye and winked. Not even a second later you saw a bludger hit him right in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and he fell off his broom. Luckily he was already close to the ground, so the fall wasn’t deadly, but it certainly must’ve hurt. Your head snapped over to the direction where the bludger came from and you were absolutely flabbergasted to see it had come from Crabbe. Seriously? After all your efforts to better the Slytherin quidditch team’s reputation, the idiot shot an illegal bludger? Everyone knows you’re not supposed to shoot a bludger after the game has ended!

You flew over to Wood and jumped of your broom. He was surrounded by his teammates, who were obviously worried about their captain. You saw him lying there and noticed he was unconscious. “I’m going to kill that stupid git,” you muttered under your breath, ignoring the confused glances his teammates gave you. They probably must’ve thought this was your order or something. You briskly turned around and marched over to Crabbe, who was now snickering with Goyle. You were fuming.

“What did you do that for?!” you yelled at him. He was obviously scared of you now, despite being about a whole foot bigger than you. Before he could answer – probably an excuse his brain needed a lot of time to produce – Madame Hooch strode over, almost equally as mad as you were.

“Excuse me, young man! That behaviour is not tolerated in this friendly game of quidditch! Three whole weeks of detention! Now go before I change my mind and make it a month!” she shouted at Crabbe. You can’t remember the last time you saw Madame Hooch this mad.

“And you!” she directed her glare at Goyle, “you think this is funny? Well you can join Crabbe in a week of detention!” Goyle scowled and ran after his friend.

Madame Hooch now turned to you and sighed. “You played really well, miss Y/L/N. It was a great piece of quidditch we saw today, unfortunately those boys had to screw it up.” You felt like she was talking to herself more than she was to you.

You had always liked Madame Hooch. She was fair and never treated you differently based on what house you were from. You just offered her a small smile and a nod, before returning to the remainder of your team. You led them to the Slytherin changing rooms, disappointment clear in your steps. Before Adrian and Draco could go into the boy’s changing rooms and Daphne and Jazz could go into the girl’s changing rooms, you called them together.

“We played well today, guys! Adrian, Daphne and Jazz, I was especially impressed with your chaser skills today! We managed to score 40 points! That’s quite a lot when Wood’s keeping! I know we didn’t win, but I think we can be proud of ourselves! Now go shower please, because you all really stink,” you said this last part laughingly. You got some small laughs in response, but it was obvious that disappointment was thick in the air.

* * *

You couldn’t get Wood’s unconscious body lying in the grass out of your head. You weirdly felt guilty for what had happened. Of course you knew it wasn’t your fault, but you somehow felt responsible. After debating whether you should go pay him a visit to apologize, or just sulk in your bed the rest of the day, you decided to make your way to the hospital wing. It was now two hours after the match had ended. When you arrived, you peeped inside and saw that the Gryffindor team was just about to leave. You quickly leaned against a nearby wall, inspecting your nails intensely and acting like you just happened to stand there. The team came outside and all of them threw confused glances at you, but at least you were happy to see that they weren’t angry or hateful glares.

You slipped inside and saw Wood lying there. He looked up at you, surprise clear on his features, as well as some kind of dazed look. He must’ve had a rather strong painkilling potion.

“Y/N!” he called. You found it hard to hide your surprise, he usually called you by your last name. You awkwardly waved at him. He pointed at the chair next to his bed, motioning for you to sit there. You obliged.

“Look, I’m really sorry about what Crabbe did-” you started.

“Naaahh, it’s fine!” he drawled out his words, it was obvious he was under a lot of medication.

“Maybe I should come back when you’re not drugged,” you said.

“No! I want you here!” he said quickly. This time you weren’t able to hide your surprise.

“Really?” you asked, incredulously. He smiled sheepishly before nodding. He held out his hand for you to hold. You couldn’t refuse so you put your hand in his big one, the tingles engulfing your entire body.

“I loved you in that nightgown the other night. Green looks good on you,” Oliver compliments you. You’re at a loss of words. You felt a blush creeping onto your face.

“Actually,” he continues, “I’m sure any colour would look good on you.”

“Is that so?” you teased. You had never seen him like this and it was quite amusing. He hummed in response, not noticing your teasing tone.

“Wow, if I didn’t know any better, I would almost begin to think you had a teensy little crush on me,” you only half-joked.

He looked up at you, gasping in surprise. “How did you know?”

“Well, I’m not dumb. I mean you compliment me, you refuse to let me leave and even insist on holding my hand,” you lifted your hands up in the air as proof.

“Oh, well I guess that makes sense then,” he shrugged. “Soooooo,” he started, drawling out his words again, “do you have a teensy crush on me too?”

“I think we better continue this conversation when this potion Madame Pomphrey gave you is out of your system.”

“Yeah,” he said dazedly, “that makes sense.” His eyes were fixed on your face, as if scanning every inch of it. You couldn’t stare back at him, instead opting for observing the hospital wing. You were the only ones there.

“Psst,” he whispered after a while, “do you promise to stay here until that happens?” His tone was hopeful, like a child asking for a piece of candy. You couldn’t help but say yes. He dozed off soon after, still clutching your hand.

* * *

Your head snapped up as you heard six pairs of feet walking toward you. You glanced around confused for a second, you were still in the hospital wing, holding Oliver’s hand. You must’ve fallen asleep in the chair next to his bed. You looked back up at the people approaching you two and saw it was the Gryffindor quidditch team. Your cheeks suddenly darkened to a similar shade as their robes.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” George was the first to speak, wiggling his eyebrows at you and Wood.

“Got a soft spot for a certain Gryffindor?” Fred winked.

“Oh shove off,” you retorted.

You suddenly noticed a movement to your right, Wood was stifling a yawn and opened his eyes. They immediately landed on you, widening in realization when he remembered last night. You couldn’t help but notice the small blush that was starting to take form on his face. Neither of you had let go of the other’s hand.

“I’ll just umm, I’ll just go get breakfast and leave you all to it,” you cleared your throat, finally letting go of Oliver’s hand and scrambling out of the hospital wing. You didn’t actually go down to breakfast, instead heading straight to your dorm to try and catch another few hours of sleep. Thank Merlin today was Sunday, you were so sore from sleeping in that chair. And as soon as your head touched your pillow, sleep took you in its arms.

You were roughly awoken a few hours later by Jazz shaking your body. “Hey, sleepyhead, wake up!” she almost yelled in your ears.

“What now,” you groaned.

“Get up and tame your hair, there is a certain good looking Gryffindor captain outside the common room waiting for you.” You hummed, not really registering her words immediately.

“If you don’t go now, I’m going to make a move,” she teased. Your eyes snapped up at hers and you were relieved when you saw the playful twinkle in them. Wood was here to see you. You sprung out of bed, glancing at a mirror. After quickly pulling your hair into a high pony and changing into clothes you hadn’t just slept in, you made your way to the corridor outside the common room. As you looked around, you saw Wood standing there.

“Madame Pomphrey dismissed you?” you asked, already knowing that she must’ve done.

“Yeah, but that’s not why I came,” he said honestly.

“Oh, why did you come then?”

“Well, you never really answered my question,” he said nervously. Your racked your brain, what question was he talking about?

“What question?” you asked, voicing your thoughts.

“Do you fancy me too?” He scratched the back of his neck, his arm accidentally flexing as he did so. Your heart skipped a beat. You somehow expected that he would’ve forgotten your little conversation, being so drugged.

You looked down, not knowing why you were so shy all of a sudden. You looked back up at him offering a small smile before nodding. That was all the encouragement he needed to stride over to you and crash his lips on yours. Your eyes widened in surprised before you gave in, kissing him back as hungrily as he was kissing you. His hands snaked around your waist, pulling you impossible closer while yours tangled into his hair.

He pulled back slightly gasping for air. You left small kisses along his jawline, letting him catch his breath. “Did you really spend the whole night in the hospital wing, just because my drugged ass asked you to?” he whispered in your ear. You smiled against his neck.

“I guess I did.”

“Damn, you really are a keeper.” You looked into his eyes and bit your lips while smiling at him.

It wasn’t only Flint’s personal grudge against you that made you loathe the guy. He just seemed to really hate women, something that always made your blood boil. There was a reason you were the only girl on the team. A girl you knew had tried out for keeper and, even though she was considerably better than Miles, Flint refused to give her the spot. You only managed to get on the team because there was no denying that you were the best seeker in the whole of Slytherin. And you only stayed on the team because your love for quidditch was greater than your deep loathing for Flint. Sighing, you made your way to the changing rooms, hoping to enjoy a nice hot shower before Flint would yell your face off.

***

“WHAT?” Your voice boomed through the common room. Everyone stopped talking to look at you, but you didn’t care. “YOU’RE THROWING ME OFF THE TEAM?”

Flint just looked at you, hatred clear in his eyes. “Yes, I was not satisfied with your seeking today. You should’ve caught the snitch sooner,” he said with a sneer.

You couldn’t believe it. You had put up with him criticizing everything you did during practices and matches for months on end, even when you were certain you didn’t even do anything wrong. And for what? To be kicked out of the team for catching a snitch a second too late? Your blood was boiling. You knew yourself to be hot tempered, but you can’t remember the last time you were this angry. Your mind was consumed with rage, resulting in you not being able to think clearly. Not knowing what even to answer Flint, you cried out in anger, turned on your heel and stomped out of the Slytherin common room, fuming. You needed to calm down. You could only come up with a solution, something that would force Flint to let you play, if you could think clearly.

Mindlessly wondering around, you soon decided to go down to the Black Lake, a unusually calming place in your opinion. That’s why you loved being a Slytherin, being able to fall asleep to the watery sounds of the Black Lake every night, as the common room and the dormitories had gigantic windows where you could look into the lake. You sat at the edge of the lake for what felt like hours, but could easily just have been minutes, going over every possibility inside your head to ensure you could keep playing quidditch. Maybe you could go to Snape? He was head of Slytherin house, maybe he could somehow convince Flint to let you play? But Snape didn’t really care for quidditch and it wasn’t like you were his favourite student either. I mean he didn’t despise you, but he wasn’t as fond of you as he was of that Malfoy boy. Maybe you could go to Dumbledore, convince him to let you change houses and then try out on their team for seeker? Or any position really, you would gladly take any. But no, you were a Slytherin, nothing could change that. Maybe you should just drop out of school and see if any professional team would accept you? But that wasn’t a realistic solution either.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by a pair of footsteps approaching. “Leave me alone please, Miles,” you called without looking up. You felt some kind of resentment towards your best friend, because he would always manage to stay on the team only because he was a guy. You did feel guilty about feeling this, because he couldn’t help that Flint didn’t absolutely detest him.

“Wrong keeper, Y/L/N,” a voice you vaguely recognized answered calmly. You looked up to see yourself looking straight into the brown eyes of Oliver Wood. You easily recognized his face as he was in most of your classes. That didn’t mean that you were friends however. I mean you weren’t enemies either or something. Just acquaintances.

“What do you want, Wood?” you asked in a rather annoyed voice. You weren’t fuming like before, but you weren’t exactly happy either.

“Well, I wanted to compliment you on your seeking skills, you managed to save your team from a horrific defeat.” You didn’t know if he was mocking your team or actually trying to give you a compliment. Or maybe a mix of both.

“Yeah well, hope you enjoyed it while it lasted,” you grumbled, more to yourself than to the Scottish boy.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Why do you even care?” you spat, confused. You had barely ever spoken to the boy, why did he want to know what was bothering you now? Maybe he wanted to find out what the Slytheryn strategies were or something, after you almost beat them. Jokes on him, because the team doesn’t even have a strategy.

“I- well,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “I don’t know actually. I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to your thoughts.” He briskly turned around and walked back to the castle rather quickly.

 * * *

The news that you got kicked off the team travelled rapidly through the school. Well, mostly rumours with suspicions as to why you got kicked off. The wildest rumour you heard was that you and Flint were actually dating and you cheated on him and that’s why you got kicked off. As if you could ever date that arrogant, good for nothing womanhater. On your way to double Transfiguration, your first class after the quidditch match last Saturday, you felt the stares and heard the whispers of your fellow students. You just ignored him and made some small talk with Miles. You had gotten over your resentment towards him. He had also reassured you that he was on your side and promised to talk to Flint, not that you think it’d help.

During McGonagall’s lesson, you felt your temper rise again. You sat next to Miles in the back of the class were constantly met with all kinds of gazes. Some people looked over their shoulders at you with a frown on their face, probably because they understood the team had lost a great player. Some looked at you with anger, as if you deserved it for supposedly cheating on their captain. As you had this class with Gryffindor, some of them turned to look at you with some kind of relief, happy that the Slytherin team was now even worse than before. But, a certain brown eyed boy glanced at you with an expression you didn’t quite understand. Was it pity? Was Oliver Wood pitying you? Why was he pitying you? You didn’t need pity. You didn’t want pity.

The class went by rather slowly with you not really being able to focus when every once in a while people turned to look at you. Glad when the class was finally over, you quickly stuffed your books in your bag and wanted to get out of there as quickly as you could. Miles quickly waved goodbye to you, practically running down the corridors. He had told you before the class that he would spend free period with his girlfriend, who also had free period. You didn’t mind, you were happy for them, they were so in love. His girlfriend was a Ravenclaw girl named Arabella. She was always so nice and you liked her. She was actually a really good friend of yours.

As you entered the corridor, a now more familiar voice called your name from behind. You spun around, looking at the owner’s brown eyes. Oliver Wood.

“Yes,” you said, your voice flat.

“I heard you got kicked off the team,” he said, trailing off. You couldn’t help but notice how bad this boy was at communicating. What did he think? That you didn’t know?

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” you retorted sarcastically.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he admitted quietly. You almost felt bad for your sarcastic behaviour. Almost.

“Of course I’m not okay. One of my favourite things in the world has been taken away from me and to top that off half of the school actually thinks I would date stupid Flint,” I answer, not really knowing what else I was supposed to say. Oliver gave a chuckle for what you said about Flint but you just glared at him.

“I could try to talk to him, you know. One captain to another,” Wood offered. I scoffed. A few days ago he was just a random boy in your class and now he was offering to help you? What the hell was going on?

“Please, as if he’d listen to you. He hates your guts. But no, I don’t want you to go talk to him. I don’t want your pity.” You inhaled sharply. “Why do you care anyway? It’ll only be easier for Gryffindor to defeat Slytherin now.”

“Maybe, but a challenge is so much more fun.” You didn’t know what to answer to that, so you just muttered a “whatever” and turned around and marched to your favourite spot near the Black Lake, leaving the Scottish boy behind.

***

After classes, you were sitting with Arabella and Emilia, another Ravenclaw girl you were friends with, on the grass between the Black Lake and the quidditch pitch, silently working on some homework. At least they were. You were staring rather longingly at the quidditch pitch. You had concocted a plan. It wasn’t anything grand, but it was worth a shot. You knew, thanks to Miles, that quidditch practice would start in a few minutes. You would just follow the team there and talk to Flint in a calm manner. Surely you could just convince him, right? Maybe he was just really disappointed that we didn’t win and he took it out on you and now he regretted it.

You saw a six familiar figures dressed in green and silver robes march towards the quidditch pitch. You quickly said goodbye to Arabella and Emilia, to whom you had already explained your plan, and almost ran to the pitch. Once there, you marched towards Flint and called his name to catch his attention. He turned around.

“Get out, Y/L/N. This is a closed practice. You know, only for people actually part of the team,” he sneered, looking proud of himself for coming up with that himself. He glanced back at the team, hoping they would snicker or something, but they just quietly stood there. You made sure you were calm before you spoke.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about that. Look, we both know I’m a good seeker. So why don’t you just spare yourself the trouble and I’ll make sure I’ll catch the snitch sooner next time. Deal?” You were hopeful. Maybe this could work. Okay, Flint was irrational, but he couldn’t be that-

“No. I should’ve known that letting a girl on the team would be a bad idea. Girls aren’t as good as boys.”

You gritted your teeth, losing your calm. You were glaring daggers. That was it. You lost your temper. Before Flint could register what you were doing, you swung your fist right into his face. Flint – with reflexes rather slow for a quidditch player – was too late to duck. He dramatically fell to the ground, even though you hadn’t even hit him that hard. Right when you were about to punch him again, you were pulled away. You looked up at the person who had now pulled you close to his body to refrain you from hitting again, and saw that it was the Gryffindor captain. He must’ve seen the conversation and figured what would happen if you lost your temper. You wanted to wiggle your way out of his grip, but you couldn’t, it was too tight. Being engulfed in Oliver’s captivating scent, you actually started to calm down. You didn’t wiggle anymore, you actually quite liked him holding you like that.

You looked back to Flint and saw that he had managed to scramble back up to his feet. He was fuming. Then his face turned into an ugly sneer. “Yeah, go ask a boy for help, you weak little girl,” sexism lacing every word he spoke. This time it wasn’t you who had lost your temper. Before you could react, Wood had let you go and punched Flint himself. At the sound of a whistle blowing, your head whipped around. Madame Hooch was marching towards the group, making everyone freeze.

“Wood, Y/L/N, detention!” she yelled angrily.

“But-”, you started.

“Don’t make me take points from your houses,” she warned. You quickly shut your mouth.

“You will both clean the broomshed without magic, Friday at 7 pm. Now go to your common rooms, so I can take a look at Flint,” her voice full of authority. You both left without another word.

***

Friday rolled around rather quickly, unfortunately. You knew how dirty that very shed was. And to have to do it with Wood of all people. You had avoided him the last few days. As much as you could of course, with him being in most of your classes. Truth is, you were kind of confused as to what was happening to you. You couldn’t forget his arms wrapped around you, nor could you forget his captivating scent. Or the snitches flying around in your stomach, whenever you two made accidental eye contact during classes. What was happening? You weren’t the kind of person to have crushes. I mean sure he was handsome. You had always thought he was handsome. And he was so passionate about quidditch, just like you. And he had actually punched Flint after he called you a weak girl. Of course, you would’ve done it yourself to prove to Flint you weren’t, but still.

It was now two to 7 pm. You were running out of the courtyard, toward the broomshed, hoping you’d be on time. Of course you were running late for your detention. When you finally reached the familiar shed, you saw Madame Hooch and Wood already standing there.

“Ah, right on time,” Madame Hooch said. “You know I expected better of you two. It’s a shame I have to do this. But you leave me no choice, your behaviour was unacceptable. Now, give me your wands and start cleaning the shed with this.” You both handed her your wands and she gave Oliver two brooms –  that weren’t magic, you assumed – and you a bucket with soapy water and two rags.

“Very well, I’ll come back in one hour to check up on you two. And no funny business,” she added, before stalking away.

“So, Y/L/N, how are we gonna do this?” Wood asked, having obviously never cleaned without magic. Not that you had, being born in an all-wizard household.

“Ehh, I think we should maybe start with sweeping the floors?” you said uncertainly.

“Ah yes that sounds like a plan.” He hands you a broom, once you had put down the bucket and the rags. Then you both started sweeping as best as you could, an awkward silence thick in the air.

After what felt like ages of sweeping the dusty, dusty floor, you decided to break the silence. “You really shouldn’t have punched him you know. I mean I could’ve handled him. And then you wouldn’t have detention right now.”

“Nah, he had it coming,” Oliver said, “I’ve been wanting to punch him ever since he played foul in our first ever quidditch match.”

You couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment at his words. He had only punched Flint because he wanted to, not to defend your honour. Not that you wanted a knight in shining armour to defend your honour, but still.

You were both quiet for another while, the only sounds being the brooms sweeping on the floor.

“I have to admit, you are different than I expected.” He was the one to break the silence now

“What do you mean?” you inquire.

“Well, I was really impressed with your seeking skills during the match. You’re way better than Terence Higgs used to be.” He said, referring to the guy who was seeker last year.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, your face heating up. Seriously? You were blushing? Since when did you blush?

“Are my eyes lying to me, or do I see miss right hook blushing right know?” Oliver teased you.

“You’re seeing things, Wood. You should probably get your eyes checked out, before you go back to keeping,” you retorted.

Suddenly Oliver dropped his broom, strode over to you and pinned you against the wall behind you, his arms leaning against the wall besides your head, your broom dropped onto the floor.

“So you’re telling me,” he paused, his brown eyes staring deep into your E/C ones, “that that is not a blush I see on your cheeks?” You can’t find your voice to answer. Even if you did find your voice, you had no idea what you would say. Your eyes are just staring into his, occasionally flickering over to his lips. His eyes seem to be doing the same thing. You could feel his breath on your face, your faces were so close together. Your senses were engulfed with his scent. You couldn’t think clearly.

You both awoke from your trance when you heard footsteps approaching the door of the shed. Hastily picking up your brooms, you continued to quickly sweep again. Madame Hooch entered and seemed quite pleased.

“Okay, I think you’ve both done enough sweeping, now you can wet and clean the floor with the rags. I’ll come back in another hour or so. No funny business,” she said before turning on her heel and marching back towards the castle.

You simultaneously put your brooms aside and went over to the bucket, neither of you speaking or even making eye contact. The tension could be cut with a knife. What had just happened? Had Oliver really tried to kiss you? Was he just teasing you? Maybe it was a joke? Maybe he had a feeling you fancied him and he wanted to know for sure? Maybe he’s just bored?

You both reached for the same rag, your hands accidentally touching, causing the snitches in your stomach to go wild. You both mumbled an apology, before Oliver grabbed the second rag and quickly went to the other side of the shed, starting there. Was he blushing? You thought you saw a slight tint on his face. Or maybe you just needed your eyes checked.

The end of detention couldn’t come sooner. You both hadn’t uttered a word since Madame Hooch had left you. Both probably overthinking what had happened. Well, you did anyway. You had no idea if Oliver was even thinking about it, let alone overthinking it. Hooch came back shortly and seemed satisfied.

“That’ll do. Now, if I ever hear one of you punched someone again, your detention will be way worse than this. Understood?” You both nodded. She handed you back your wands. “Off you go then!” She didn’t have to tell you twice. Not wanting to awkwardly walk next to each other on your way to the castle, you decided you would go back to sit by the lake for a few minutes and get the gorgeous brown eyed boy out of your head.

The Black Lake was breath taking as a full moon shone over it. You could sit here for ages on end. Your head snapped around as you heard a few branches being snapped by feet walking across it. It was Wood. Of course it was.

“Hey, um,” he scratched the back of his neck again, something you noticed he always did when he felt uneasy, “I was wondering if we could just… forget about what happened in there… and just be friends.”

You felt a pang of disappointment in your chest. Of course he regretted what happened. Yet you took his offer. Being friends with the brown eyed captain was the next best thing.

And friends you were. Best of friends actually. Yet the closer you grew to each other, the harder your feelings for him grew.

***

You sat next to Wood, watching the quidditch game unfold. It was Ravenclaw against Slytherin and even though the Ravenclaw team isn’t known to be the best team out there, it sure was beating Slytherin to a bloody pulp. Seriously, you could see the snitch zooming around the new seeker’s face and he still didn’t see it. What a moron. You told Wood this and he chuckled.

The Ravenclaw seeker finally managed to get a hold of the snitch, putting the Slytherin team out of their misery. Ravenclaw had won 250 to 30. It was a disgrace. You were eager to get back to the castle quickly, so you grabbed Wood’s arm and pulled him with you. Halfway there you were stopped when you heard people shouting after you.

“Y/L/N!” You turned around. It was Flint who had shouted.

“What?” you snarled, still not happy with him. If only he had let you stay on the team, you might have actually caught the snitch in the first twenty minutes, as you had seen it zoom in the air from your seat.

Flint looked back at his team. He was clearly about to do something against his will. You shared a confused look with Wood.

“Well um, the team,” he started and added quietly “and me,” before continuing with “thought it might be a good idea to … um.. perhaps have you back… um… on the team.”

You couldn’t believe your ears! Flint finally realized how much the team needed you. You knew he was a bit dumb, but did it really take him this long to figure that out?

“Hmm, I don’t know. I mean why should I? What do you think?” you asked Wood with a wink, who obviously understood you were messing with Flint.

“Well, I for one think Flint should apologize first,” Oliver said, playing along.

“Ah yes, you’re right! I’ll give you my answer after your sincerest apology, Flint!” you said, turning to walk back to the castle.

You heard a quiet sorry, but feigning that you didn’t hear it, you placed your hand behind your ear, saying “Sorry what was that? Didn’t quite catch that.”

“I am sorry I threw you off the team and blamed you for the tie with Gryffindor,” Flint grumbled loudly.

“That’s better!” Wood chipped in. “Anything else you want before you give your answer, Y/N,” he asked you, messing even more with Flint.

“Well, now you mention it, there is something! Flint, I want to hear you say that girls can play quidditch as well as boys,” you answered.

Flint looked at you in disbelief. You merely rose an eyebrow in anticipation.

“Fine, girls can play quidditch as well as boys,” Flint grunted.

“Okay, then I will gladly be your seeker,” you accepted, winking at Miles who stood beside Flint. “Now, if you’ll excuse us,” you added, turning back to the castle and walking there, with Wood right beside you.

When the Slytherin’s were well out of earshot you exclaimed loudly: “Yes!” and did a little victory dance.

“Damnit woman, a warning next time please,” Oliver said, pretending to cover his ears, but chuckling at your ridiculous victory dance. He was obviously happy for you.

***

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” you assured Oliver, as he was pacing around nervously. You two were hanging out at your now usual spot near the Black Lake. It was an hour until the Gryffindor – Hufflepuff quidditch match and he was, as was usual before a match, a nervous wreck. You thought it kind of adorable. Even nervous and worrying, he was handsome as ever. Quickly realizing what you had just thought, you tried to think about something else. Oliver and you were still really good friends. The best of friends actually. You could tell him everything. Well with the exception of your feelings towards him of course. And he could tell you everything.

“But what if we lose?”

“You won’t lose! Now go to the changing rooms, clear your mind and give ‘em hell babe,” you winked. He blushed. Did he blush because you called him babe? Probably not. It’ll probably just be his nerves.

He nodded his head, turning around to leave. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, turned back around to you as if forgotten something and pulled you in a gigantic bear hug. You couldn’t help but just melt in his arms, the familiar scent engulfing you once again. Too soon he let go, marched towards the changing rooms and left you standing there, unable to breathe normally.

During the game, you sat with Emilia, Arabella and Miles. Your eyes couldn’t help but keep on darting over to the handsome keeper. He was playing marvellously. Once in a while he caught your glance and threw a wink in your direction. That simple gesture was enough to make your cheeks redden each time. And each time Emilia, Arabella and Miles would throw each other a knowing look, but not saying anything. Of course they had noticed your little crush, they were your best friends for crying out loud, how could they not?

The game was nearing its end. You saw the Gryffindor seeker dive and stretch out his hand, obviously in pursuit of the snitch. You quickly glanced at the scoreboard. Gryffindor 70 – Hufflepuff 10. Your eyes darted back to the seeker just in time to see him close his hands and end the game. Gryffindor had won. You couldn’t help but cheer. You looked over to Oliver, who was gleaming. Smiling broadly at his team, obviously happy with the victory. His eyes darted to yours, a strange look in them. You immediately jumped up, quickly leaving your seat behind and marching onto the pitch to congratulate your friend. He was in the middle of a Gryffindor bundle, all of them obviously cheering. He caught your eye, motioned for you to come over and you couldn’t help but run over to him.

As you were near him, you jumped up, certain that he would catch you. And he did. He spun you around in happiness, holding you tight. And then he stopped. He looked at you, that same strange look in his eyes. You let your eyes stare into his brown ones. You heard him mumble something along the lines of “screw this” and before you could register what was about to happen, he closed the gap between you and his soft lips were on yours. The cheering around you faded into the background as your lips continued to move in sync. All you could see, feel, hear, smell and taste was him. The golden snitches in your stomach were zooming around like crazy and you wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bludger in there too.