Work Text
Wrapped Tightly
Your hands ached, your mind solely focused on counting the stirs of the cauldron. …forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty, fifty-one… On and on it went, you would count until you hit eighty-three and then stir the potion counter-clockwise sixteen times before setting it to simmer for the upcoming eleven hours — perfectly timed for when you’d return from breakfast the day after. You’d have to get an early breakfast to make it in time but curfew was coming closer for this Friday evening so you had no choice but to make it at this time.What you were doing wasn’t exactly allowed, but then again, no great things are discovered or created by strictly following rules and regulations, right? There, switch to counter-clockwise and one, two, three, four, five… It was a relief to move your arms in the opposite direction while you focused on counting — trying not to let the potentially disastrous outcome of brewing an illegal potion in a restricted tower of your school could yield; especially if the potion didn’t go as planned.You pulled the wooden spoon of honey-waxed oak out of the potion at the exact right time, staring into the still-swirling potion for any signs of it changing colour for a long minute. It did not, and you let out a sigh of relief. The icy blue liquid was thick and white fumes with what looked like minuscule crystals wafted up from the cauldron as you adjusted the burner beneath it. Nothing happened, the potion remained the same and you clapped your hands giddily.Before leaving the cold room with a slight shimmer to their walls as the fumes filled the space, you cast another three secrecy charms and a trespass hex for good measure. Rather someone gets a bit of a headache than discovering what you were up to, honestly.The clock struck nine, the giant clock tower not far from the tower you occupied boomed it out and you closed the door to get yourself back to Hufflepuff quarters. You were on the wrong end of the school, and at the top of it which also happened to be opposite to where your dormitory was. Hufflepuff wasn’t as deep down as Slytherin in the dungeons but still, like the badger representing your house, you were down below.You sneaked down the swirling staircase of stone, staying close to the inner wall, and made sure to keep your steps light and quiet. The curfew was in effect and now, with the halls lit with more candles and dressed in sparkly globes of magical ice, your reflection could be spotted as well if a teacher on patrol happened to pass nearby.“Miss Y/l/n,” came a quiet voice and you halted while stiffening. “Perhaps you should take a left, lest you run into old Filch in a minute,” it continued as you turned your head only to find Sir Nicholas peaking his head out from the wall, literally just the head and the tiny flap of skin holding it attached to his shoulders which were hidden within the wall or perhaps behind it — you weren’t sure how thick the walls actually were.
“Sir Nicholas,” you whispered. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the teachers’ side?”
He smirked, his moustache twitching. “Oh, I like a good joke as much as anyone and what you’re brewing will be a fantastic one.”You scrunched your brows. What you were brewing wasn’t intended for any joke. “What do you mean?”
“Come now, he’s nearly here.”
You looked around. “I can’t walk through walls,” you whisper-hissed.
“No, but you can open the door,” he chuckled and disappeared. Door, what door?
“In here,” came a voice you knew all too well.
Your heart quickened at the dark drone and you looked slightly behind you. “Severus?”
“Come on,” he said and a hand shot out through the wall— no, through a crack in the wall that suddenly opened wider. A hidden passage? I thought I’d found all— woah! You got yanked through the second your hand landed in his and darkness wrapped tightly around you along with stale air and an eerie quietness.He pulled you closer, you stumbled on the uneven stone floor and planted your face against his harsh chest in the process of nearly falling face-first. He smelled too good. Sage, peppermint, and a scent all his own. Your heart leapt anew and your pulse quickened rapidly.
“Sch,” he hissed as you were about to apologise for stumbling into him.Footsteps moved past the other side of the wall— erh, door. You both stood absolutely still and you could not help but inhale his scent deeply, feeling that ever-growing warmth in your gut once more — as you did each time you lay eyes on the young man who a year ago had fully caught your attention when he saved you from a potion about to explode in class. It hadn’t been your potion, but the benchmate you sat next to. Had Severus not pulled you away and down from the bench next to you on the other side you would have ended up in the Hospital Wing for weeks, like Mr Biscy (the boy who was brewing) had.You’d liked Severus before that, mostly by his appearance and this strange allure he had. You’d chalked it up to the bad-boy-vibes and the utter lack of interest he seemed to hold in anyone — even the world — and that was something you were fascinated by. Fine, alright, given your badger status, you were also quite happy to make friends and drag those friends along for the crazy ride that was life. To see people realise how not docile Hufflepuff people were was like the icing on the cake, to be honest.“He’s gone,” Severus said, the dark drone even deeper with your head so close to his chest. You almost whined a complaint as he let your hand go and stepped back. Your eyes had adjusted to the darker space but it was still hard to see much of anything.
“Thanks,” you said with a wide smile.
“Why are you out beyond curfew?” he asked, and you could have sworn his brow arched and his face hardened a smidge. He was so pale and his hair and clothes so dark that the features were actually visible even in the gloomy space.
“Wouldn’t you like to know."”
“I would not have asked otherwise.”You rolled your eyes, the saying going over his head apparently. “It’s my business. I could ask you the same question, you know.”
“True.” He turned and began walking, you followed quickly. "But I am not the one nearly caught. Good for you Nicholas told me.”
“Wait, he told you? What did he tell you?” Please, nothing about the potion for Merlin's sake.
“That you were about to get caught by Filch. I can come out of that unscathed, you, however, could not.” The drawl of his voice nearly sounded smug.You knew the squib and Severus had some strange form of friendship, or even a bond perhaps, but there was never a chance for you to ask anything about it. Hell, you barely got a chance to ever speak to or even be this close to Severus — he was a bloody expert at keeping distances… Annoying. You couldn’t quite bring yourself to admit that you truly fancied him, because there was no happiness to come from that given Severus barely acknowledged anyone's existence — yours included.“There should be rules about teacher pets,” you said quietly.
“True. It would not have any effect on the caretaker of Hogwarts, though. Would it?” he said, again, a hint of smugness to his voice you could not quite remember ever having heard before.
“You’re awfully smug, bit of a git behaviour that,” you said in a we’re-talking-about-the-weather kind of voice.
“Smug? No.”
“Then, what?”
He stopped, you nearly crashed into his back before he looked over his shoulder at you. “Happy…” he murmured before speeding off in long strides while your brain misfired and your legs had to start sprinting on instinct to follow the leader - so to speak - as you had no idea where you were or where the small hallway was taking you.Happy? Why happy? Have I never heard him happy before? I don’t think I have. Why is he happy though? Is it me— pfth, don’t be daft. But why? You caught up to him as your brain fired thoughts at you in rapid form. “Happy?” you asked. “Why? What makes you happy? I love it, but why?” you rambled while walking as fast as your shorter legs would carry you. Severus took such long strides you had to fight to keep up as the hallway twisted and turned, sometimes going down a few steps, and sometimes going up.“I could help you,” he said quietly, his words barely audible.
“Help me? Well, yeah, Filch would have caught me so I’m very thankful for the help.” It looked as if he nodded at your words but you weren’t quite sure in the gloom. Come on, get him talking, this is your chance!
But Severus beat you to it. “Why are you… sparkling?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.You held out your hands and arms, well, shit, you hadn’t thought about the fumes sticking to you as well as the surrounding area. “Erh, glitter bomb?”
Severus snorted. “Sure, glitter bomb. Engineer a better excuse.”
“Unicorn farted on me?” you said with a whitheld laugh.
“Better. Try again.” What, no laugh out of that?
“Fine, a Christmas elf sprayed me.”
He sighed. “Try again. Careful, steep drop here,” he said right after and slowed his steps.Severus stepped down, turning him a few inches shorter than you which looked so odd.
“Here,” he said, holding out his hand. You hesitated for a moment while your fingers tingled with the prospect of getting to hold his hand. You grabbed on, he took a sturdy grip with those long fingers, and you stepped down the high step with a bit of manoeuvring.
“Where are we?” you asked and he released you.
“Almost by Hufflepuff.”
“What?”
“Yes.”
“But we were over on—”
“Hogwarts has many passages and secrets.” Severus glanced back at you. “Now, another, better, excuse.”
How about the truth? “Alright, I was brewing the Dragon Ice potion and the fumes got all over the place.”Severus halted, you crashed into his back with an oomph! and a thud.
“You what?” he asked, turning to face you.
“Brewing the Dragon Ice potion—”
He grabbed your upper arms. “Are you completely out of your mind?!” he hissed. “Where’s the potion? Where are you doing it?”
“Southwest tower, the restricted one with the—”
“Idiot. Come on,” he said with exasperation and annoyance mixed with urgency.
“What? No, it’s not done until eight in the morning, it’s simmering for—”
“For eleven hours as per the recipe in the restricted section, yes, but that’s the incorrect recipe!” he snarled, grabbing your hand and pulling you back the way you came.You dug your heels in. “What? But it says the same thing in all three books,” you said, halting all movement.
“Yes, and they are all incorrect to keep people from brewing it!”
“What?” you asked, worry beginning to gnaw in your gut despite the warmth and absolute joy it was to have Severus so close. “What will happ—”
“It will explode, turn everything in close vicinity to ice.”
“You say that as if you’ve done it before.”
“I have, and I learned,” he said. “You’re about to learn that you don’t brew dangerous, illegal potions at school where, if things go wrong, the evidence is in everyone’s faces. Y/n, what were you thinking?” he asked, anger and frustration seeped through his voice but he was not quite mean to you.
“I need the money.”
“So brew less dangerous potions!”
“No, I need a lot of money.”
“Don’t we all…” he muttered“Come on, we need to break the potion cycle before it turns half the castle into an ice cube.”
“Wait, what?”
He jerked on your arm and you both began moving again. “Yes. The fumes are already turning your clothes hard, aren’t they?” When you thought about it, yes, your cloak felt stiffer than usual and your skirt wasn’t moving as swiftly around your thighs.
“I’m becoming ice?” There had been no bloody warning about that in the books.
Severus snorted. “No, of course not. It’s more like your clothes being covered in frost, not ice. It stops after a few minutes. The potion, however, is another matter.”You both walked at a brisk pace all the way back to where you came from. Sir Nicholas appeared just in time when you reached the wall that was really a door.
“Back so soon?”
“Dragon Ice,” Severus said, and Sir Nicholas smiled and chuckled so his head nearly toppled to one side.
“Yes, quite the jester our Miss Y/l/n.” He glanced at me with weird eyes of mischief one usually didn’t see in them. “It will be so much fun when—”
“No, Sir, it’s the wrong recipe, half the castle will turn to ice if it explodes. And it will.”
Sir Nicholas stiffened. “Oh dear, Miss. Quite the pickle we’re in now.” But there was definitely mischief in his eyes, it looked wrong on this specific ghost but not in a necessarily bad way.He floated backwards, out of the wall, and then reappeared again. “All safe, onward mighty students, to stop the botched potion!” he said with fanfare as if you two were knights in shiny armour. It was endearing but the bravado was a bit too much at the moment.
“Let’s go, Severus said and pushed open the wall— door, before grabbing your hand anew and pulling you close behind him toward the entrance to the tower.You started up the swirling stairs, rushing up them. Truth be told, it was hard to be fast when Severus held your hand, but you had no incline to let go. Who knew, perhaps you’d never get to feel his fingers squeeze around yours ever again after tonight? It felt as if you were in a whirlwind — there was so much happening that you barely had time to reflect on the fact that you were with Severus, holding his hand, nearly running with him and that he’d spoken more to you in the past fifteen minutes in one go than ever before. And he said he was happy… But you had no time to think any more of it as you reached the door.“Good hex,” he said, grabbing at his forehead with his free hand while you drew out your wand and undid it.
“Thanks, it was in—”
“Uncomfortable Spells For Protection, restricted section.”
You chuckled. “Yeah.”
“And here I was, thinking you badgers were sweet, none rebellious creatures,” he said, that smug sound in his voice once more but now you knew better.
“Aren’t you serpents supposed to be greedy, evil people? Not ones to help those in need with diffusing disaster potions and keeping people out of harm?”
“Touché.”You chuckled before pushing the door open with the back of your wand-holding hand and arm.
“Shit,” Severus said, seeing the room filled with a blue-tinted fog that wasn’t at all the type of fumes you’d left it filled with not too long ago.
“It didn’t look like—” But Severus let go of you and rushed toward the cauldron, looking into it and interrupting you.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” he muttered before starting to search through the pockets of his robe. “Where is it, where is it?” he muttered further as you moved closer in the freezing room with walls, ceiling and floor covered in a thin sheet of ice and small icicles were forming across the ceiling, too.“Well, this is bad,” you said, not sure if you were panicking or having a laugh at the whole thing.
“Yes, bad, very bad,” Severus muttered distractedly, still searching his robes.
“Maybe we should get a teacher?”
“No, this will not end well for us.”
“Us? You haven’t done—”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
True… “But you haven’t done anything, you can go to the dungeons while I get a teacher.”
“No time for— Shit! It’s going!” Severus snarled, nearly tearing his clothes apart when ripping at the pockets.Panic surged through you as the cauldron began trembling and creaking while the potion swirled like a whirlpool. A very beautiful whirlpool of glitter, silver, and blue. But ominous.
“Get out, Y/n!”
“No way!” you shouted back. “This is my fault!”
“We’ll be pop-sickles in a minute!” Had the situation not been so grave you would have burst out laughing. But Severus looked far too serious.
“We’ll melt eventually!” you shouted over the sudden storm-like winds spinning around the room, coming from the cauldron. Small flecks of ice scratched at your skin and forced you to squint.Severus grabbed his wand, shouted something, and a small cluster of purple twigs with white leaves flew from a pocket and into his hand. “Get down!” he ordered and you ducked as he threw the material into the cauldron before covering you with his own body. Your heart hammered, your pulse raced and in the midst of whatever was going on with the potion and dire situation you were in some bizarre form of heaven with Severus holding you tight while half laying over you to protect your head and back was there too, wrapping itself tightly around your heart.The cauldron exploded. You gasped and whimpered from the shattering sound before the noise of splattering liquid came a second later. Another second passed and quietness took over. No more storming winds, no creaking cauldron. Only the odd dripping noise now and then along with the drumming of your own pulse in your ears and the feel of Severus’s heart against your back with his harsh breathing fanning over the top of your head.After another moment you both straightened. The room was an absolute mess of darkly blue goo. A dense liquid closer to slime than anything else covered everything, including the wide-eyed Severus standing before you. He had protected you from most of it.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice gruff and low.
You nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” you replied while looking around the room before landing back on him again. “You’re not though, your hair, it’s turning blue…”
“Blue?!” He reached up and grabbed at the long black strands turning blue from root to tip like the black lake freezing over.“It’s not so bad—”
He gusted out a harsh breath through his nose while glaring at you. “Not, so, bad?” he snarled. “I’m blue, Y/n. Blue.”
You couldn’t stop the giggle as all that had been black on him turned blue. A vibrant blue to boot. “It’s pretty, very, umh, Christmasy,” you said, endeavouring to hold back the laughing. But, in your defence, he looked like a blue gnome with porcelain skin.
“Christmas is red and green, if you’ve not noticed.”
“No, it can be any colour you—”
“By Merlin, if you say one more word about it I will hex you, Y/n.”
“Well—” you stepped closer, loosening the tightly gripping fingers out of his own hair “—hex away if it makes you feel better, I owe you big time for this… I mean, I could have been blue. Can you imagine a vibrantly blue badger? Nope, nope, nope. Blue snakes exist, so, no worries there.”
“Pacifying me with facts, are we?” he asked, but he seemed less angered and softer as you brushed away some blue hair from his face and adjusted the now blue coat that had been askew.Looking up at him, you found his onyx eyes mesmerising. He looked slightly alarmed, but there was something to say for being the focus of his attention. Your heart certainly had a say about it, it galloped along like reindeer across the Christmas night sky rushing to bring the sleigh of Santa all around the globe.“Purple,” you said.
“Purple?”
“Plum purple, now that would suit you splendidly. Perfectly matchable with black, too, mind you.”
He arched a brow. “Plum purple?” You nodded. “Make plum juice next time then, badger.”
“Next time?” you asked, your knees turning slightly wobbly.
His eyes hardened and widened a bit at the same time. “Or not, not like I care either way.”His voice trembled ever so slightly, a lightness to it — as if he was suddenly embarrassed or something along those lines. You were too occupied with wondering what he meant to think much of it.“You know, it’s not nice to say you’ll stick around if you have no plan to do it. I keep my friends, forever. Unless they do something shitty I can’t forgive,” you said.
He glanced away for a second and then looked back at you. “Well, I wasn’t suggesting friendship.”
You tilted your head, trying with all your might to understand if he was rejecting you despite having helped you immensely or if this was his way of saying he felt something for you as you certainly did for him. You had hinted at it, you had tried to get closer to him — but Severus, well, he wasn’t one to allow distances to shrink.“Severus, are you saying I should keep my distance or are you asking me out on a Christmas date?” you asked, throwing caution to the wind and diving in head first.
The blue hair shimmered as he glanced all around the room except at you. “Maybe…” he muttered, redness creeping up along his neck and covering the tips of his ears peaking through the still-moist hair.You sighed, trying to find his gaze with your own. “Maybe what? Maybe a date? At Madam Puddifoots next weekend with some sweet treats and hot drinks in the corner booth?”
“Something like that, perhaps…” His voice was so deep, so low, you barely heard him.
“Will you still be blue? Should I match?” you asked, unable to hide the warmth and giddiness in your voice despite trying to lighten the mood as the poor bloke seemed absolutely stressed about the potential of going on a date. Pfth, it's probably more just talking and being with someone and admitting to feelings and all that stuff but bloody hell I am right now damn thankful for potions going wrong.Severus still hadn’t said anything, he just looked at you. “Well? Will you still be blue?”
“Are you— Are you making fun of me now?” he asked and the depth of his voice turned uncertain.
“Absolutely not.”
“You will go on a date, in public, with me?” he asked, his features tight but his eyes soft.
Better be clear here… “Yes.”
“I didn’t think you actually liked me.”
“I’ve been trying to show that for a year now, you're very difficult, you know.”
“Too difficult?”
“HA! There is no such thing as someone too difficult to love, Severus.”
“Love?” he asked, alarmed.
“Well, I’ve had a crush on you since Biscy nearly landed me in the Hospital Wing with his potion exploding.”
Severus snorted. “How he messed up so grandly I’ll never understand.”
“Perhaps not, but you noticed before anyone else did. I’ve always found you interesting, you know.”
“Have you?”You smirked, wiggling your eyebrows at him while the atmosphere softened and eased. “Well, yeah, I’m a friend collector and I always want to rope in as many kinds of friends as possible — you certainly are one of a kind, helpful, too.”
“Why does that sound incredibly ominous, badger?”
“’cus it is. And if you’re my boyfriend, well, all the more fun things I can rope you into doing. Do you think failing a Dragon Ice potion is the only mischief I’ve ever been up to?” you asked, laughter and mirth in your voice as Severus’s eyes widened in alarm.
“I believe I am about to find out…”
“We badgers are on a whole other level. Like the time the cups turned into mice in the great hall, that was us. The singing trees in the dungeons, also us. The ice rink in the hallway on the fourth floor, also us. Remember that time everyone started floating about as if gravity went haywire?” Severus nodded. “Well, that was me. Who knew messing with gravitational spells to create a new one could make such a bloody mess of everything?”
“Anyone with two brain cells to combine,” he snarked and you smirked at him, he wasn’t serious or harsh about it — it sounded as if he were joking with you, to be honest.“Think you can handle it?” you asked, stepping closer.
“Obviously. I may be blue, but we’re alive and the castle is whole, no thanks to you.” Severus looked down at you as you inched even closer, feeling all tingly as his eyes warmed a bit.
“So, knight in shiny armour it is,” you said, grabbing his hand and squeezing.
He arched a brow, not impressed apparently. “Shiny armour?”
“Ugh, fine, black knight,” you conceded and reached up on your toes.Before he could react, or step back, you planted your wanting lips atop his and kissed him with everything you believed he could handle. It wasn’t your first kiss, but it certainly appeared to be his as he stiffened and did not so much as soften his lips — it was sweet, endearing even. When you leaned back he looked paler than a ghost but he didn’t appear to particularly dislike what you’d done.He stared at you for a long moment while your hands warmed each other.
“You kissed me,” he said, eventually.
You smiled widely. “Supplying me with facts?”
“I wasn’t prepared.”
“Oh, shall I do it again on the count of three?” you asked, joking and smirking at him.
His eyes flickered from yours to your lips and then up again. “If— If you want to…” His ears turned scarlet red at that and your heart absolutely melted.
“Three, two, one,” you said quietly as you leaned closer and then you kissed him again. This time, he softened and tentatively kissed you back while his hand turned utterly warm around your own.When the kiss broke, Severus seemed as shocked as before. “You did it.”
“Well, yes, I wanted to,” you said brightly. “Now, will you still be blue for our date and the breakfast tomorrow?”
“No. It will pass in about six hours with a good shower and new clothes.”
“So no matching then,” you said with a smile.
“And no plum purple,” he replied.
You laughed as he smiled carefully. “You’re quite the hoot, you know that?”
“Perhaps you hit your head when you ducked?”
You laughed again. “Perhaps, perhaps, but at least my head isn’t blue.”
“Touché,” he replied before turning to look at the mess of the room. “This will take time to undo,” he continued.
“Nah, a few spells and we’re good. On toward the next mischief.”You never did tell him why you brewed the potion, or why you needed the money only illegal and dangerous potions to sell could bring in. That was a future discussion; if the relationship led to something more serious. For now, you’d enjoy a Christmas with the Slytherin you’d wanted for over a year — even if he were currently very blue you had no qualms about kissing him for a third time when he undid his cloak and rolled up his sleeves to help with the cleaning. The fact he stiffened and his ears reddened this time, too, only made you feel as if he was the sweetest thing that you’d eventually corrupt with shenanigans, of course.