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braveclementine · 28 days

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Chapter 11

Warnings: Allusions and innuendos towards OC sleeping with a Professor

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌, Harry showed me a letter from Sirius. Sadie had come back with the reply. It read:

Harry- I cannot say everything I would like to in the letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted- we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November? I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself, and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose. Be on the watch Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can. Sirius.

Then Harry handed me an unopened letter, also from Sirius. "Thought you'd want your own letter."

"Thanks." I said, taking it.

Eilís, Don't risk anything. I don't want you caught outside at night. Someone's obviously after Harry and I'm sure they're after you too. I know you're in Hufflepuff, but see if you can meet with Harry on the 22nd of November, if he can make it. I'd like to see you too, just in a safer zone for all of us. Love, Sirius

"He puts love in your letters?" Harry asked, "Why doesn't he do that with me?"

"Maybe because I sign my letters with love first." I said with a shrug, putting the letter in the bottom of my bag.

"You think he loves me?" Harry asked thoughtfully and I looked at him in surprise.

"Of course he does." I said warmly. "But you two are a man and a boy. Males show love a bit differently than girls do. We nearly always sign our letters with love and the boys or men we write to always know to sign their letters with love."

Harry looked slightly cheered and said, "I wonder what his reaction would be if I did sign a letter with love."

"He'd probably think someone's impersonating you." I said, a bit amused, spearing scrambled eggs on the end of my fork.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖉𝖆𝖞, The Daily Prophet released the article. I got a copy that morning. I read it and started laughing. Harry leaned over my shoulder to read the following paragraph.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. . . Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. . . I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me. Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevy, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one of two girls, either Hermione Granger, a Stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl or Elizabeth Kane, a gorgeous half-blood, both of who are top students in school, just like Harry himself.

Harry's face turned red. "I didn't say any of this!" He said in a panic.

"I know." I said. "I wasn't laughing at that. I was laughing about Hermione and I being part of the stupid newspaper."

Hermione wasn't even fazed. "She lies a lot when she writes, doesn't she?"

"It's her Quick-Quotes Quill." I said through a mouthful of egg. I swallowed and said, "Her quill is meant to exaggerate for better stories. More sorrow, more hype. It's just for longer stories as well 'cause the Quill uses more words."

"Stupid thing." Harry said vehemently.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up." I said. "Want to go? I think I'll bring food for Sirius..."

"Sirius is nearby?" Harry asked. I nodded.

"We won't go to his hideout right now, considering he won't know we're coming and I don't want to scare him, but I can leave food on a rock at the Shrieking Shack. I told him that's where I'd leave food."

"Sure" Harry said and that was the end of that.

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𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖌 a bad time, snapping at people when he finally had enough. He confided in me that he admired the way Hermione and I dealt with it.

"It's nothing Harry, you just let them get to you and I don't blame you. I've gotten into a couple of fights with Draco already, but I usually keep them on the downlow." I'd replied. "But yes, I'm with you in admiring Hermione." I paused and then said, "here's some good news. Ron will be your friend by Tuesday."

"That's good." Harry said a bit vacantly.

I spent a lot of time in library. Viktor Krum was spending a lot of time in there too. Sometimes we studied together and he confided in me that he was very interested in Hermione Granger, though he didn't know her name. He simply said, "your friend." and with a couple questions, I found that it was Hermione.

I was pleased by this and often talked Hermione up when I had the chance. Hermione on the other hand, was irritated by Krum's presence in the library.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily as I studied with her and Harry one day. A group of giggling girls were spying on his from behind the bookshelves. Hermione hated the noise. "The only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing."

I dropped my mouth in horror, goggling at her and started to cough. "Wronski Feint." Harry and I said at the same time. Harry's teeth were gritted and he burst into laughter at my face.

Hermione glared at us and we stopped laughing, but continued to grin.

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𝕾𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝕳𝖔𝖌𝖘𝖒𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊. Harry took his invisibility cloak, wanting to hide from Ron. I rolled my eyes but let it go.

We went to Honeydukes first and bought large chocolates filled with white cream. It was thick, a bit like frosting and they were good. We walked out eating them. It was a much different atmosphere now, and I could tell Harry could feel the difference. We were more free, no one was shouting horrible things at Harry- they couldn't see him.

I had a basket filled with sweets on my arm along with Chicken legs that I'd taken from the Lunch table this afternoon. We walked down to Shrieking Shack and I set it down on top of a rock. I didn't wait, I told Sirius we wouldn't wait- not wanting anyone to see him- and, looking around, I didn't see him in person or as a dog and we went to the Three Broomsticks afterwards.

Hermione went to get the butterbeers. I did not want to talk to Madam Rosmerta, who I knew was curious to meet me. I went with Harry to a table in the back. We passed Ron who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee. Fred looked up for a moment, but I passed by without looking at them.

I had nothing against Fred- I quite liked him, though I found my crushes on him and Cedric and others were waning (Snape shined brighter than ever). However, I felt that if I stopped to talk, I might end up chewing Ron out, and I didn't have the energy.

Hermione slipped Harry a butterbeer under his cloak and I drank my own. It tasted delicious and I realized I was going to have to buy some to put in a bottle and send to Trang. Nah, I was going to wait and bring her here. Yeah, that was best.

Hermione pulled out her S.O.E.A. notebook. I noticed Harry and Ron's names were at the very top of the very short list. She'd barely gotten anyone to sign. Nearly everyone thought it was a joke.

"When are you going to give up this Elves rights thing, Hermione?" Harry asked through a large gulp of butterbeer.

Hermione's eyes flared up and said, "When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions! You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens."

"No idea, ask Fred and George." Harry said.

"Hagrid's going to come over and tell you to visit him at midnight." I murmured, taking another sip of butterbeer.

"Why?" Harry asked in interest, looking around, "I don't even see him."

"You'll see him eventually, he'll be talking to Moody. Anyways, you'll wave, but you're under the cloak so he won't see. But Moody's eye sees under the cloak so he'll bring Hagrid over to you." I said after I finished swallowing the hot drink.

I watched at the next table as Ernie and Hannah swapped chocolate frog cards, wearing Support Cedric Diggory badges. Hannah had asked me to come and swap with them and I'd politely declined saying I'd rather not. She'd looked over and seemed a bit surprised that I wasn't with Harry.

Susan was at another table with some of the other Hufflepuffs. She never got a Support Cedric Diggory badge and I liked her all the more for it. If I had to hang out with a Hufflepuff, she was my go to.

I wondered who Harry was looking at. Probably Cho- she was sitting with some Ravenclaw girlfriends. Harry would be happy that she wasn't wearing a Diggory badge.

"Look, it's Hagrid!" Hermione said, motioning.

I wasn't sure if Harry waved or not. Maybe he was waving, or maybe he was waiting until Moody was looking in our general direction. Either way, eventually Moody and Hagrid made their way over to where we were standing.

"All right, Hermione? Elizabeth?" Hagrid said loudly.

"Hello." Hermione said, smiling back.

"Hey Hagrid, Hey Uncle Moody." I said, smiling at both of them. "Professor, I mean."

Moody waved away my apology and stomped around the table to bend down and mutter "Nice cloak, Potter."

"Can your eye- I mean, can you-" I hard Harry whispering beside me. Perhaps he hadn't heard me the first time. Or maybe he was just checking to see if Uncle Moody's eye really saw invisibility cloaks.

"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks. And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

Hagrid was beaming down at where Harry was sitting. Moody had, of course, told him about the cloak. Hagrid bent down and said very, very quietly, "Harry, meet me tonight at eleven thirty at me cabin. Wear that cloak."

"Nice ter see yeh, Hermione, Elizabeth." Hagrid said, winking and then Uncle Moody and Hagrid moved away, heading out of the pub.

"Eleven thirty?" I questioned out loud, frowning. "I'm positive I had foreseen midnight."

Hermione was frowning too and said, "It is strange that some of your memories are being changed. I wonder why that is."

"They aren't large changes." I muttered, frowning at the table, trying to figure out the puzzle. "Maybe Trelawney will know something."

Hermione snorted vehemently and Harry choked on his butterbeer. "Sure." He said, laughing. "Sure."

I had to laugh too. We soon left.

"Anyways," I said, wrapping my cloak tightly around myself as snow started to come down. It didn't stick and would probably be gone by the night. "Eleven thirty is better anyways considering you have to meet with Sirius tonight as well."

"Will you be there?" Harry asked. "You know the Gryffindor password."

"I'll think about it." I said honestly. "I don't know if I'd risk it, but it'd be worth it. I haven't talked to him in forever."

I separated from Harry and Hermione as we entered the castle. I went to the Hufflepuff common room and went upstairs for a nap. I woke up around ten and headed out of the castle. It was dark out and the stars were shining brightly. I had my wand and art pad and pencil. I was hoping I could find the moon flowers that I had found last time. Besides, the dragons were going to be out tonight and I hoped to get some good drawings of them.

I met with Firenze halfway through the forest. I was glad, because I could've sworn I'd heard footsteps behind me, but hadn't seen anyone.

"Elizabeth Kane, wonderful to see you again." Firenze said softly.

"Hello Firenze." I said cheerfully. "There's dragons in the forest tonight. I'm hoping to get some good drawings."

Firenze smiled. "Yes, we've stayed far away from the dragons. We don't enjoy Centaur barbecue."

I stared at him for a moment, my mouth open in surprise and when I found my voice I said, "You actually made a joke!"

"Was it good?" Firenze asked, smiling, and sounding amused.

"Very." I said, grinning. We set off into the forest. He led the way, already knowing where the dragons were.

I crept forward when we got there. There were four of them, each of them had about seven dragon keepers around them. The Chinese Fireball was already laying down, sleeping. I flipped open my sketchpad. I squatted down and worked on the drawing, capturing as many angles as possible in a short amount of time.

I recognized Charlie and that gave me an idea for Christmas. But I simply wrote a note for it and continued. There was also a Swedish Short-Snout, Hungarian Horntail, and Common Welsh Green. Harry would get the horntail of course, going last.

The dragons were all sleeping for now, I knew they'd drunk some sleeping draft before they'd been transported here.

Suddenly a wizard got very close and waved to Firenze, "Hello there."

"Charlie!" I said, popping up from the ground. Charlie took a few steps back out of shock.

He recovered and stuttered, "E-Elizabeth?"

"Firenze, this is Charlie Weasley, I've mentioned him before. Charlie, this is Firenze, he's a Centaur, obviously." I said, quickly introducing them.

"What are you doing out so late?" Charlie asked, nodding to Firenze politely. Firenze nodded back.

"Oh, well, I wanted to see the dragons and draw them." I said, showing him my rough dragon sketch.

"That's good considering the lack of light." Charlie complimented me. "How'd you know about the dragons? Your visions?"

I nodded. "The visions alerted me. Though they aren't extremely reliable, so I wasn't sure if they'd be here or not." I paused and said, "Hagrid's going to bring Madam Maxime soon."

"Great." Charlie said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll leave you now, Elizabeth Kane." Firenze said, putting a calm hand on my shoulder, "I shall converse with you later."

"Bye Firenze." I said, smiling and watched him gallop away.

I jumped the bush line to get a better look at the dragons.

"I love the Chinese Fireball." I said, starting another rough sketch. "And the Swedish Short-Snout is a very pretty dragon." I said.

"You know the different types?" Charlie asked in surprise.

I nodded. "I pay attention in Care of Magical Creatures class." I paused and then said, "Harry will have to get past the Hungarian Horntail- at least that's what I see for now. It could change."

Charlie brought me around the dragon camp so that I could see the dragons better. I added more detail to my Chinese Fireball dragon.

"I should go back up to the castle." I said, after I had rough sketches of all four dragons done. "The dragons will wake up soon so I want to get out of your way."

"Alright, hopefully I'll see you at the first event." Charlie said with a smile.

I smiled back and then said, "Hey umm, so I know Mrs. Weasley- your mum- is upset about Harry. Tell her that he doesn't actually cry about his parents, will you? Cause he doesn't. Everything Rita Skeeter wrote in there- or nearly everything- he never actually said."

Charlie nodded. "I figured as much. Mum was in floods after reading the article."

"It'll be nice if she knows it wasn't true." I said.

Charlie nodded again. I could hear Hagrid and Madam Maxime's voices approaching and the dragons were starting to wake up. The Hungarian Horntail started to breathe fire and both Charlie and I had to hit the deck to avoid being burned.

"Go, I'll let mom know. And don't tell Harry about this, understand. None of the contestants are supposed to know!" Charlie said.

I kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, I won't."

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"𝕯𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖔𝖓𝖘." 𝕴 𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖉 as Harry approached the Gryffindor Common Room portrait.

"I know." Harry said. "I just saw them. Balderdash."

The portrait swung open and I followed him into the Gryffindor common room. It was 12:55. "You stayed late." I commented.

Harry nodded. "I hoped Charlie was going to drop some hints about what the tournaments going to be like. Any ideas?"

I sighed. "I'm afraid that if I say, my visions will change."

"Well-" Harry said but stopped talking as he had spotted Sirius' head in the fire. "Sirius- how're you doing?"

"Aww man." I complained. "You cut your hair."

Sirius grinned at me but said to Harry, "Never mind me, how are you?"

"I'm-" he hesitated and then blurted out all his feelings about how he's felt in the past week. How no one except Hermione and I believed he didn't enter his name- along with a few teachers. How Rita Skeeter's article had lied about him and he couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at. For some reason, he threw in about Hermione and I being punished about it too. And he talked about Ron and how much he missed him and how jealous Ron was.

I stayed silent the whole time, becoming a background object and letting him speak. "...Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner." Harry finished.

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute- I haven't go long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"What?" Harry said.

"Karkaroff." Sirius said and I stiffened. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"They were at the World Cup." I muttered.

"Yes-hes one?" Harry asked.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year- to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"No wonder he's so scared of him." I murmured.

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry asked. "Why did they release him?"

"Information." I said.

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic." Sirius said, nodding to me. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names. . . he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place. . . He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, form what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Snape warned me." I said suddenly. "He came after me when I got to close to the ship. He thinks Karkaroff wants to use me to win the Tournament."

Sirius' face darkened. "Snape. . ." he muttered. "He could be right though, as much as I hate to say it."

"Are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. he seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing." Harry said slowly.

"We know he's a good actor, because he convinced the ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry-"

"-you and the rest of the world-" Harry replied bitterly.

"-and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm, but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely, Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror that Ministry ever had."

"So. . . what are you saying? Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But- why?" Harry asked.

"He can't possibly want to kill you." I hissed, "Remember my dream, Voldemort wants you. If it is Karkaroff, and I'm not all that sure it is, he'll use the tournament to get you to him."

"What dream?" Sirius asked sharply.

I hesitated. "It doesn't matter."

"Tell me." Sirius said.

I sighed and repeated nearly the whole story to him, leaving out the part about me and talking only about Harry. Somehow though, perhaps through my sucked in cheeks, he knew I was hiding something.

"Spit it out." He said, a bit harshly.

I kept my mouth shut and Harry, who'd heard the story twice, told him what was said about me. Sirius' face darkened even more.

"So Bertha Jorkins is dead and Voldemort is rising because of Pettigrew." Sirius said angrily. "I knew I should've killed him."

"I don't know if it's true." I said, exasperated. "Dumbledore seems to think so but my visions haven't been coming along so truthfully. Besides, it was a dream."

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins." Sirius said in a grim voice, "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So. . . so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament? Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?" Harry asked, pondering this information.

"I don't think Voldemort would be all that happy with him." I said, frowning. "I suppose it's possible though. . ."

"I don't know. . . Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in the goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing. They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff." Harry said, grinning a bit bleakly.

"Right- these dragons. There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell- dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon-"

"Yeah-" Harry started.

"Shh." I said.

"You can do it alone, there is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just-" Harry held up his hand to shush him.

"It's just Ron." I hissed.

Harry and I turned and waited apprehensively and indeed, it was Ron. He stared at us and then at the fire, put couldn't see Sirius from where we were.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." Ron said, hesitating in the archway. "Is that. . . is that Sirius?"

Harry and I looked at each other and Harry said, "Yeah."

Ron hesitated and then said, "Er- tell him I said hi. I'll go back to bed." He walked back up the stairs. I turned back to Sirius.

"Ron says hi, but I reckon the witch or wizard will be back soon. I'll tell Harry the spell, Love you."

"Love you too Elizabeth. Good luck Harry."

"Oh, Sirius." I said quickly and grinned broadly, "Harry wants to know if you love him too."

Harry pushed my shoulder so that I nearly fell over, spluttering and blushing, "Shut up Elizabeth."

Sirius snorted, "Of course I do, what a silly question. Also, thanks for the food Elizabeth."

"Bye." I said and with a pop, he was gone.

I yawned and stretched and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Look, I will tell you the spell, not tonight. I want to let Uncl- er Professor Moody talk to you first because he's got a great idea. If he doesn't talk about it though, I'll let you know both things, alright?"

"Sure." Harry said, a bit uneasily. "Night Elizabeth."

"Night Harry." I got up and left the Gryffindor common room and walked back to my own. Would Moody pull Harry into his office? It would be because he talked to Cedric. But would Harry know to talk to Cedric on his own? I was sure he would. I'd keep an eye on it.

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𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖆𝖞 𝖈𝖆𝖒𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 we were sitting at the Gryffindor table eating. Harry looked sick, eating his bacon. We were about to leave for Herbology when Harry said, "Hermione, Elizabeth, I'll see you in the greenhouses. Go on, I'll catch up with you guys."

"Harry, you'll be late-" Hermione started but I interrupted.

"Good idea Harry, we'll see you later." I said, and dragged Hermione down to Herbology.

"What was that all about?" Hermione hissed.

"Just something I foresaw." I muttered back, "Or, hopefully foresaw."

She didn't ask anymore questions.

Today in Herbology, we were pruning Flutterby bushes. Flutterby bushes quivered and shook, throwing their perfume in the air. The perfume was meant to smell differently to a person, and lure the unwary to them. To me, it smelled a bit like the sea. I'd never been to the sea- we'd never had money for a vacation. I'd always wanted to go to the sea and I supposed that's what the Flutterby bush smelled that way.

I worked carefully as I pruned my bush. I didn't want to cut any unnecessary branches. Harry hurried in after about ten or fifteen minutes into class and came over to where Hermione and I were working.

"Guys," He hissed, "I need your help."

"What do you think we've been trying to do, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking at him over her bush with round eyes. They'd been in the library researching for the simple spell that Sirius had mentioned since I wouldn't give it yet.

"I need to learn how to do a summoning charm properly by tomorrow afternoon." Harry muttered.

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𝖂𝖊 𝖕𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖆𝖉 of having lunch. Hermione and I worked with him until class was about to start. Hermione wasn't going to skip Arithmancy and I didn't want to skip Care of Magical Creatures (I suppose I could've redone the hour but figured Harry didn't need to miss Divination either).

We ate dinner and then rushed to the classroom we'd been before, working on it. I had started practicing it to, demonstrating, while Hermione said theories would help. We worked late into the night- we had the invisibility cloak.

However, Peeves showed up around midnight, pretending that Harry was throwing things at him and started chucking chairs. We quickly left before Filch was attracted to the noise. I made my way back to the Hufflepuff common room, but saw someone moving down to the dungeons.

Curious, I followed. They were creeping around by the Potions classroom. I followed them in after a couple seconds. They weren't anywhere around which meant that they must be in the office. I hid behind the door, crouching down. They wouldn't see me here in the dark. I drew out my wand, waiting.

The office door opened and I waved my wand but I was to slow.

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𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖕𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖈𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 over me, his wand pointed at my face, his own face pale. "Are you okay?" He asked when my eyelids fluttered open.

I grimaced, "Oww, yeah." My head was pounding furiously. I put a hand to my head. "What happened?" I asked.

"I was going to ask you that." Snape said, helping me to my feet.

"I saw someone sneaking around and I followed them. But I guess they knew I was here. . . I don't know how though. . ." I said, frustrated. "I know for a fact that they never saw me. . . they came out of your office. I never saw what he- or she- looked like."

"You shouldn't have followed them." Snape said in a terse voice. "You could have been more seriously hurt than just stunned."

"I. . ." I hesitated. "I was- I was worried." I admitted.

"Why?" He asked, frowning.

"I-" I blushed and turned away and said, "I thought he might try to kill you."

There was a pause. And then he groaned and said, "Damnit!"

"What?" I asked, turning around in shock. He was running a hand through his long hair.

"If he was going to kill me then you most definitely shouldn't have come!" He said very angrily.

"But-"

"No!" He said harshly, slamming his fist against the wall.

I recoiled. I blushed and said, "I couldn't just stand by-"

"You better." Snape said, glaring at me.

We both stared at each other angrily for a long time. Then Snape ran his hand through his hair again and I blurted out, "I l-" I stopped, biting my tongue, blushing furiously. Snape looked at me with piercing eyes. "What?" He asked, a bit curiously.

I shook my head, blushing even more. He took a step closer. My breath caught in my throat and I said, "It's nothing, okay. I'll- I'll go now, I-" He took a step closer, reaching out and taking a lock of my hair. He wasn't looking at me anymore, but looking down. My heart thudded in my chest and I tried to steady my breath.

"Elizabeth. . ." he whispered in my ear and I shivered. His fingers lightly grazed my cheek down to my chin. "Go to bed."

I nodded and choked out, "Yeah. . . of course." I stumbled backwards and turned from the room. I lay in bed, burying my head in my pillow. One of these days, I was going to screw myself up and admit my feelings and I was sure after that I'd have to drop potions or face eternal embarrassment when he admitted he didn't feel the same way.

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌, I felt horribly sick with nerves. Harry would be facing the dragon tomorrow and while I was sure he would do fine, I had my doubts. My doubts weren't based on Harry, but on whether or not things would play out the way that my visions declared.

At breakfast, I barely ate, drumming my fingers on my sketchpad. Then, I went to Moody's classroom. I didn't have class, but I wanted to tell him about the intruder and to ask him to keep an eye out.

I knocked on the office door and heard a voice growl, "Come in Elizabeth."

"Hey, I just wanted to run something by you real quick." I said, stepping into the office.

"Really?" Moody grunted, drinking from his hip flask. "Doesn't have anything to do with your visions, does it?"

I hesitated, imaging Harry flying past the dragons, "Well, no, it doesn't. Actually, last night, I was helping Harry with his summoning charm. And well, when I left, I saw someone sneak into Snape's office."

Moody frowned, or at least what was an attempted frown. His magical eye was zooming around the classroom, but his normal eye was fixed on me, "Really? Did they take anything? Was Snape there? What happened? Do you know?"

I shook my hand, "They stunned me. I don't think Snape was there though. I don't know if they took anything either, he didn't say. But I wanted to let you know, considering your an Auror, that someone's sneaking around."

"Might be a Durmstrang student trying to help Krum. . ." Moody muttered. "or even a Hogwarts student if they thought something in there would help Diggory or Potter. Don't know why they'd think any potions ingredients would help with this task though. . . though they don't know what the task is so maybe. . . hmm."

"Maybe." I said hesitantly. "I have to get to Charms, but I thought you should know."

"Thank you Elizabeth. I'm sure Snape already told Dumbledore, but I'll let him know you came by as well. It's important he knows. I'll keep an eye on students as well." Moody said thoughtfully.

I nodded and quickly left, sprinting down the corridor so that I would make it to Charms on time.

💙💙💙💙

𝕴 𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐 to Snape's classroom after school ended, but the door opened before I could knock or open it myself. I found myself face to face with Karkaroff.

"What are you doing here?" Karkaroff asked.

"I have a-a private lesson with Professor Snape." I stuttered, blushing. He was so tall!

"A private lesson, huh?" He sneered, leaning forwards. I jerked back, hitting my head against the doorframe, realizing just how unfortunate the situation was. I was frozen in fear, our cheeks almost touching as he whispered, "And how private, is private?" His body was pressed against mine. One hand was on my leg, trailing upwards. I stayed frozen.

"I-"

"Karkaroff!" Professor Snape snapped.

Karkaroff moved backwards slowly, moving his hand up to twirl his goatee. "I see. . ."

"It's not- It's not like that!" I said quickly, shooting at look at Professor Snape, a panic I couldn't explain inside of me.

"She has private lessons with several Professors." Professor Snape said, moving between the two of us. He was shorter than Karkaroff, though not by much, but somehow managed to tower over him at the moment. "Now get out."

Karkaroff snorted but said nothing, leaving the potions classroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Professor Snape asked quickly, his demeanor changing abruptly.

"Ah. . . no." I said, blushing. "I'm sorry, I should've chosen my words better."

"No matter." Professor Snape said, brushing my apology away. "He's been looking for a chance to get close to you regardless. Shall we start the lesson then?"

"Oh, right yes." I said, sitting down at our usual table where the ingredients and list had already been set out and we started.

💙💙💙💙

𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕴 were sitting on either side of Harry in the Great Hall for lunch. None of us were eating much of anything. I supposed it was nerves. But it was worse than before a Quidditch game- which was stupid. I wasn't even competing this time.

"Potter," Professor McGonagall said, coming over to the Gryffindor table, "the champions have to come down onto the grounds now. . . You have to get ready for your first task." Her face was white and though her body and manners seemed steady, her hands were shaking slightly.

"Okay." Harry said, dropping his fork onto his plate mindlessly. It made a loud clatter.

"Good luck, Harry. You'll be fine!" Hermione said.

"Good luck!" I said anxiously.

"Yeah." Harry said in an off-tone voice and followed Professor McGonagall out of the Great Hall. About twenty minutes later, Hermione and I went down to the arena that the champions would be competing in. We were sitting near the teachers. Ginny, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville were sitting with us. I looked at Snape, who was looking at me. I blushed and sat down and quickly engaged in a conversation with Seamus and Dean.

Ludo came up on stage at the blow of a whistle. He was commentating again. To bad, I would've liked Lee to have commented. Lee looked bored, in the front row and was looking up at Ludo as though insulted that he'd taken his job.

There was another blow of the whistle and Cedric entered the enclosure. I had my fingers crossed tightly, my sketchpad on my lap. The Swedish Short-Snout was in the arena with him. I remembered that they weren't as vicious as the others and was glad that this was the one that Cedric was going up against.

Cedric transfigured a rock, turning it into a yellow Labrador. I was surprised, that was a pretty good bit of magic. Of course- Cedric was brilliant, no doubt about that. The dog barked at the dragon. Cedric was trying to get around the dragon, as the dragon was drawn to the dog, gaining on it.

It took a long time, Cedric was trying to move very slowly, trying not to draw attention to him moving behind his back. I could see the dragon's nest somewhere behind that. Ludo was commenting, "A neat bit of transfiguration right there. . . wonder if it will work. . ."

Cedric sprinted for the eggs and grabbed the golden egg. The dragon turned, around blowing fire. I screamed- and I wasn't the only one. The fire caught part of his face. The dragon keepers were climbing into the arena now, containing the dragon. I saw that Charlie was among them. I crossed my fingers but no one was hurt.

Cedric was taken to the medical tent to get his face healed up. I realized I was gripping Deans' arm tightly and I let go. "Sorry." I muttered to him.

"It's fine." he muttered back, his face darker than usual.

I made sure to keep my hands to myself after that, gripping my knees instead, digging my fingernails in as Fleur came out next against the common welsh green. Again, not a particularly dangerous dragon. Fleur was muttering and waving her wand and the dragon seemed a bit dazed, as though it was being put into a trance. I wondered if Veela could charm animals as well. Looking around, I noticed so of the guys seemed to be in a sort of a trance too.

Out of curiosity, I looked up at the teachers panel. Snape's face was slack and I started giggling and poked Ginny who looked over and started to giggle too. "She's a Veela." She murmured in my ear. "And Professor Snape. . ."

We giggled harder. We watched as Professor McGonagall looked over and saw Snape's face. She quickly slapped him across the face and he reeled back. I think she was very happy that she got to do that, for as she faced back around, she was smirking.

Snape got up, rubbing his cheek and our eyes met. I was still giggling and sucked in my cheeks and looked away, trying not to laugh anymore. Ginny had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"It was a bit funny." I muttered. My hand was on my pencil and I was already drawing the scene, still grinning.

The common welsh snorted and flames caught Fleur's skirt as she got close to the egg. She put the flames out with water and got the golden egg.

The common welsh was taken away and the Chinese Fireball was put in place and the whistle blowed for a third time. Krum walked out, looking extremely surly. I wondered if he felt like this before every Quidditch match.

He was very quick in acting, but so was the dragon. The Chinese Fireball didn't get it's name for nothing after all. It kept blowing fire at him and he kept ducking behind rocks that had been strategically placed there as barriers. He was much quicker than Cedric or Fleur and Krum lifted his wand and yelled something. He was using the Conjunctivitis Curse.

The spell hit the Chinese Fireball in the forehead and she bellowed in agony, stumbling around. Krum got the egg but the real eggs were destroyed when she trampled them and then bellowed in agony at losing her eggs. I actually felt a bit bad for the dragon. Imagine losing your babies like that.

There was the fourth and final whistle and I drew closer on the edge of my seat. Harry came out, looking a bit sick. He raised his wand in the air and shouted something that no one could hear over the Hungarian Horntail's roars- but I knew he was summoning his broom. My fingers were crossed so tightly that the blood was draining from them.

Harry stood there for a moment, looking dazed and people started to whisper. But then, I heard a swooshing sound and heads turned to see his firebolt zooming towards him. It stopped dead in midair beside him. The crowd was shouting for joy. Bagman was shouting, "Well who would have guessed this!"

Harry swung his leg over the broom and soared upwards, and then- he smiled.

He was looking down at the eggs and muttering something and I relaxed. Harry was going to do wonderfully. He dived. The Horntail's head followed him though she didn't move. He swerved out of the way as a jet of fire came blowing out.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman shouted, "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Harry soared higher in a circle, the Horntails head revolving on its neck. He was trying to make it dizzy. Harry plummeted again after a moment, dodging flames again. However, the Horntail's tail came up and graze his shoulder, ripping his robes. I screamed again, this time, clutching Ginny's arm. She'd screamed as well.

Harry zoomed around the back of the Horntail and then moved back and forth. Slowly and gradually, he pulled just a little bit further away, just out of reach of the tail and flames. The dragon roared in exasperation, unable to get to him. Then the dragon reared onto her back legs, her wings spread out, blocking the view for some of the other viewers. He dove, going between her legs and scooping the golden egg up under his uninjured arm.

I jumped up with the Gryffindors, cheering!

"Look at that! Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!" Ludo Bagman was shouting excitedly. He looked hot inside his wasp robes- his face was red and sweat was trickling down his face. I reckoned he should be glad to be hot considering how cold it was outside.

I rushed from the stands as Harry landed in front of Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid.

"That was excellent, Potter." Professor McGonagall said, smiling, though her hands were still shaking, "You'll need to seem Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score... Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already.."

"Yeh did it!" Hagrid was cheering.

I threw my arms around him. "You did wonderfully Harry." I whispered in his ear.

"Thanks Elizabeth." Harry said.

I went with him to the hospital tent, feeling very excited. Madam Pomfrey on the other hand, was in a horrible mood.

"Dragons!" She exclaimed in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside and making him go into a cubicle. I waited outside, listening to her rant. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky. . . this is quite shallow. . . it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though. . ." A pause, a hiss from Harry and then Madam Pomfrey came out of the tent saying, "Now just sit quietly for a minute- sit! And then you can go and get your score!"

"Hey Elizabeth." Harry called from inside the cubicle. "What's my score?"

"Forty points." I called back. "If my vision is correct, of course. You'll be tied first with Ced."

Harry was on his feet, coming out and I put a hand on his chest. "Sorry, medic in training, go sit down." I said, smirking at him.

"Oh buzz off." Harry said, rolling his eyes jokingly.

Hermione and Ron entered the tent. I kissed Harry's cheek and said, "I'll let you be. I'm hungry."

I started to walk away when I heard someone call my name quietly. I turned to see Barty Crouch there. I stopped walking. He jerked his head, starting to walk towards the Forbidden forest. I hesitated for a second before I followed.

"Let me guess, I was right." I asked, crossing my arms as we came to a stop.

"You need to stay out of this." Mr. Crouch said. "You're just a kid."

Well, that stung. "Just a kid?" I asked, perhaps a bit angrier than need be. "Who warned you about what was going to happen, may I ask? Oh that's right, it was me. The kid. You really ought to listen to me more."

He glowered at me, "Stay out of it." He started to walk away.

"What? That's it? Stay out of it?" I snapped. He stopped turning back to me.

"What? Were you expecting something else?" he asked. His wording, his way of talking, it was all off from the clean, business like man I had met at the Quidditch World cup.

"You're already under it, aren't you?" I asked. "The Imperius Curse, I mean."

There was wavering behind his eyes but he said, "Of course not, that's ridiculous."

"Of course you are." I said, trying to sound kinder than I previously had. "I can help you."

His expression was guarded. "I'm not under the curse."

"So you say." I sighed. "More likely, you're just saying that. I've been under the curse. You're an adult wizard, aren't you? Throw it off. Have the will to throw it off. Cause if I can throw it off and you can't, then you must not want to actually throw it off."

This wasn't true, but I knew anger was a good motivator for throwing off the Imperius Curse. I turned to go and he grabbed my arm, jerking me back.

"Watch your back" he muttered in my ear before letting go of my arm, almost thrusting it away from himself. I tripped over my own two feet, but caught myself before I fell.. He started walking off back towards the tents. I caught sight of McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape, and Moody looking at us from far away, but I pretended not to see them, making my way up to the castle instead.

I shook my head, sighing in disappointment. If only I could help him! Then, I could solve this mystery.

⬅️➡️

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scoreplings · 5 months

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AWAWAAAA

#less than a month until jordan and i move in together wawawwwawaaaaaa #aaaaaa #kicking my feet and wagging my tail abd and and #im gonna start packing tonight depending on how tired i am from work rrrr #might order a pizza actually so i can multi task it lol #save some time cuz making dinner is usually an Ordeal. n i got a lotta overtime yesterday that'll more than cover it #awawawaaaa #i wanna stick my head out the window and yell the whole car ride home

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sickofcaffeinesworld · 1 year

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It’s the way I’m going to be sitting here at 8 am my time plotting southgate’s demise depending on the squad list

#jordan henderson #trent alexander arnold #england nt #england football #Southgate better put Trent in #need Trent and his boyfriend Jude reunited #hendo needs to play dad to Trent and Jude again #agent hendo and Trent have a task to finish

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leahcee · 2 years

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me lying about my availability during the phone interview🤝🏽me getting hired on the spot for the in person interview🤝🏽me lying to the phone interviewer again about my availability so they could send my hiring packet

#semi circle sorta #me🤝🏽queen of white lies #me 🤝🏽taking on jobs/tasks that are like impossible to do together but having the will of hal mf jordan #me thinking I can get from job 1 to job 2 within .928384 seconds so I can start at 3:30 after I clocked out of job 1 at 3:30 #I love overworking myself #<- sarcasm

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aahsoka · 1 year

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anyone else have zero energy after work. how are people doing anything after work.

#i would like to clean or sew or draw but all #i can manage is like. eating dinner #just let me do one task or spend 30 mins on a hobby thats all i ask #jordan talks

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erythristicbones · 5 months

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I've been half dead mentally for a bit now, but here's my current fixation; taking selfies with Shiny Pokemon I get on Scarlet!

#jordan plays pokemon #pokemon scvi #shiny mienfoo #shiny sneasel #shiny sliggoo #shiny tyrouge #shiny espurr #shiny mightyena #i have no energy for anythin that requires brain power #but luckily ive been shiny hunting on pokemon since i was in middle school #so its a hobby i dont need my brain for anymore lmao #just a fun monotonous task to make me feel better

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violetfairydust · 9 months

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I'm going to start posting more on here. I randomly selected this snippet, but I really liked the follow up, so I'm sharing both. There's probably a lot that won't make sense without context, but if you want it, I will be happy to share my wild imagination with y'all.

Stiles popped up from behind the counter. “Why are you up so early?”

Isaac jumped. “Early start at work. Old Man McDonald’s funeral is today.”

“So you’re saying that Old McDonald bought the farm?”

“Exactly.”

“EIEI oh well.”

...

“So Old McDonald kicked the bucket,” Stiles said as he signed his name at the bottom of some papers.

“That’s too bad,” Parrish said. “He was such a…” he looked up considering his word choice “famous old man.”

“Yeah, famous for being crotchety.”

“Doesn’t mean he deserves to drown in the milk vat.”

#teen wolf #stiles stilinski #isaac lahey #jordan parrish #my fics #snippets #i prefer to think of stiles and parrish as a tag team of private investigators #they solve cases and mysteries of the supernatural variety #they're called the supernatural task force #PIs can break the law (as stiles does) and are not associated with the police #they have fun covers sometimes

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the-ephemeral-ethereal · 2 years

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First things first; take care of what can be done now before worrying too long over what might never be.

from Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

#the wheel of time #wheel of time #lord of chaos #robert jordan #lessons #lesson planning #teachers #teacher life #teaching #learning #first things first #take care of it #get it done #do it now #do what you can #don't worry #focus on what's at hand #focus on the task at hand

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slasherscream · 4 months

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He’s Just Not That Into You

pairing: jordan li x reader

summary: a hopeless romantic, you keep looking for love in all the wrong places, with all the wrong guys. that is, until you meet jordan li, who takes pity on you and tries to help you learn when a guy just isn’t into you.

gif credit: artemidosgifs

“You good?”

"Huh?" Dazed and drifting, you look up from your incredibly important task of peeling off the label for the worst tasting artisanal beer ever created.

You quickly remember why you focused on the task in the first place. The lighting at this party sucks. It's mostly dim, to try and hide all the unsavory things happening in every corner of the house. The brightest bits of it are all flashing. Neon blue. Neon red. Neon green. As if anyone has ever looked good in neon green lighting. That plus the never-ending movement of people dancing is enough to make you sick.

"Are you good or are you starting to tweak?" Your eyes adjust enough to see who's talking and you sit up straighter. Jordan Li. Number #2.

She's wearing her ever present scowl that makes you study extra hard in Brink's class. You don't ever want to be in the position to have to ask for clarification on an assignment or further guidance. Brink's so busy being renowned that he's a pretty absent teacher, if you're not one of his favorites. Everything menial falls to Jordan.

"I'm good! Totally good. Just vibing, y'know."

Jordan stares down at you, looks back out onto the sea of partygoers, "What vibe do you think you're matching?"

“Excuse me?”

"You've been sitting here for almost twenty minutes. You've barely moved. Did you take something?"

"No! I.... I didn't take anything. I'm just enjoying the atmosphere."

Jordan rolls her eyes, takes the beer bottle from your hand, and then takes your hand itself. She pulls you to your feet, easy, despite the way you go limp at the last second to try and stay seated. Without a word she begins to pull you through the crowd. Bewildered, you follow.

She doesn't stop till you're outside on the porch. Surprisingly, no one else is lingering. But the air has a chill that's pretty biting for an early day in fall. You take a deep breath. You hadn't realized how loud the music really was. How overwhelming every smell. The itch that crawled across your skin with each jostle of a body coming too near.

"Yeah, you look like you were really enjoying the atmosphere." Jordan drawls, leaned up against the railing, observing you.

Your first instinct was to say 'fuck you' to that, obviously. But at the last second you remember she is your TA and is probably doing all the actual grading for every assignment you turn in.

You force a smile, "Thank you. Guess I was feeling pretty anxious."

"What are you even doing here?"

"Should... I mean, I was... invited? If that's what you're asking. Although I think crashing parties is pretty typical college stuff, even if I wasn't-"

“Not what I meant.” Jordan interrupts, “I mean you don’t usually go to parties. I never see you at any of them.”

“Maybe we just run in different circles.”

“Not really. You’re in the top ten now. What did you jump to, number 6?”

“Seven, actually.”

“Really? Well, won’t be long. Number 6 is a dick. He’ll be easy to knock out with the type of stats you’re pulling this year.”

Somehow, this compliment bewilders you more than anything. Jordan must see it on your face, because she rolls her eyes again.

“I keep an eye on the competition. Even if you are just a sophomore.”

“Okay, Junior.” You narrow your eyes at her. She narrows hers back, which feels like overkill, because she was already glaring.

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Did they hire you to be the bouncer for this party?”

“Jesus, ‘m just making conversation. You looked like you were gonna hurl in there. What? Did your friends drag you here then ditch you?”

“My friends would never do that. That violates the party safety rule. Arrive together, leave together.”

“Oh of course.” She says, nodding in a way that feels sarcastic.

“I actually came without my friends.” You say, standing up straighter. Proud of yourself for stepping out of your shell even if it ended on a sour note.

“You did?” Jordan raises an eyebrow. You deflate a little at the shocked tone. Even your TA thinks you’re lame.

“Well…. I was supposed to meet someone here. But they… I dunno, I must’ve missed them. Or whatever.”

“Who were you supposed to meet?”

You hesitate for a second, but they impatiently gesture for you to go on. So, begrudgingly you admit to, “Uuuuh… Andre?”

“Andre?” In the blink of an eye they shift, and take a step closer. As if he wants you to see the disbelief on his face as clearly as possible. “How do you know Andre?”

“What happened to we run in the same circle?” You snap back. “Andre’s top ten.”

“Andre’s a fucking nepo baby.” Jordan scoffs

“Aren’t you friends?” You frown.

“Andre barely shows up to class, he knows why he’s top ten, trust me.” Jordan says. “Andre invited you?”

“Yes, Andre invited me. We were at the club last week and you know…talked.”

“You were at the club? You’re changing it up like crazy this year, huh L/N?”

“Lot of good it’s doing me.” You sigh. You twist the sleeve of your top, wrinkling the fabric. You’d spent hours picking out the perfect outfit that looked like you weren’t trying too hard, but brought out all your best features.

Jordan’s face twists, you’d almost mistake it for sympathy, “Did you see Andre at all tonight?”

“Did he come here with you?”

“Would you like me to lie or tell you the truth?”

You sigh, moving to sit down on the porch steps, emotionally and socially exhausted. “It’s okay, I already know the answer.”

A moment of silence before Jordan moves to sit beside you. He offers back up the beer he took from you earlier, “You look like you could use a drink.”

“Eh, you have it. If you’re not a germaphobe. Thanks for rescuing me.”

Jordan shrugs, takes a sip and almost spits it right back out, “God it tastes like fucking piss.”

“You weren’t very nice to me during the rescue, so you didn’t deserve a warning.”

“Well fuck me, I guess.” He laughs, staring at you. He let’s out a sigh of his own, “So which line did he use?”

“Huh?”

“What did Andre say to you?”

“He didn’t use a line.” You protest.

“Andre doesn’t know how to do anything but use a line. Wait! Lemme guess,” Jordan looks you up and down before glancing at a few rings on your hand. “Were you wearing those?”

You stare back at him.

“Well?”

“Yes, I was, why?”

“Did he come up to you with one of them and ask if you dropped it?”

“.....Maybe. I repeat, why?” You ask, stomach twisting.

“Cause he slipped it off your finger with his powers so he’d have an opening. It’s his go to for girls that look shy. Seen it a million times.”

“Oh, well, that’s lovely, actually. Fuck me!” You groan, laying back against the steps and throwing your hands over your face. “You’re really good at comforting people, did you know that?”

“I’ve been told to work on it.”

“Clearly not enough.”

“Just didn’t want you to fall for the bullshit any more than you already have.”

You scrub your face harshly, trying to ignore the tightness in your throat. “Sorry. Do you like apples? I can put a nice shiny one on your desk Monday morning as a thank you for the solid.”

“Are you about to cry?” Jordan asks, bewildered.

“No.”

“Over Andre Anderson?”

“No!” You sit up, glaring at him. He glares back. “Not exactly. It’s just… I don’t put myself out there a lot. So it sucks. That I tried… and all I got was a guy who fed me a line he’s used a million different times on a million different girls, who then ditched me at a party he invited me to. I should’ve just fucking stayed home.”

You sniffle and then remember who you’re actually talking to and how awkward it’s going to be to see their face Monday morning for class if you keep spilling your guts. You stand up abruptly, already planning on apologizing for whatever you said while you were “drunk” tonight. You’re opening your mouth to make your excuses, already taking steps away from the stairs when Jordan reaches out, grabbing you gently by the wrist.

“Wait! I’m… sorry, I mean-”

“Why are you sorry?” You sniff, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I could’ve… I could’ve been nicer. About telling you. About Andre.” Jordan pulls you to sitting back down beside him, slowly, so you can pull away if you really wanted to.

“It’s okay. I should’ve known better.” You say quietly.

“Hey, no. I made it sound like he’s super obvious about it but he’s honestly pretty smooth. His only hobbies are picking up girls and cocaine. He could make… fucking, I dunno, Ellen Ripley blush if he had the prep time! It’s really not your fault.” The comment surprises a wet laugh out of you and Jordan smiles, bumping your shoulders together.

“Thanks, but he probably was obvious. I just… don’t see stuff like that coming very well.” You laugh bitterly.

“What do you mean?”

“I apparently just can’t tell for shit when a guy is actually into me! Or just… entertaining himself.” You sigh.

You and Jordan sit in silence for a second. You have no clue what’s going on in his head. You see him tapping his finger on the beer bottle, the sound of his rings the only noise for a moment.

“I could help you.”

“Help me what?”

“I could teach you how to spot when a guy is just being an asshole or when he’s serious about you. So this doesn’t happen again.” Jordan shrugs, taking another swallow of the beer, flinching again at the taste.

“Piss kink or short term memory loss?”

“Offer retracted.” Jordan laughs.

“Why are you offering in the first place?”

Jordan shrugs, looking out in the distance, “You’re… cool, y’know. Think of it as a welcome to the top ten gift. You’re only gonna get more and more attention now that you’re there. You’ll need to be able to sniff out bullshit or you’ll get eaten alive. No offense.”

“I’ve been in the top ten for the last six months.” You scowl.

“Mazel tov.”

“Dick.” You scoff, fighting back another laugh. You and Jordan make eye contact and both lose the battle, laughing together.

You take a deep breath once the fit passes, “This isn’t a top ten humiliation ritual of initiation thing, right?”

“I’m way too busy to waste my time doing stupid shit like that.” Jordan says, familiar glare falling back onto his face.

“Sorry, rough night, had to ask.” You say sheepishly. “Offer still open?” You smile, extending your hand out for a handshake.

“Yeah, offers still open, L/N.” Jordan rolls his eyes, but he does shake your hand.

“So, number’s one pretty obvious but we have to establish the basics because you told me you were hopeless.” Jordan sips her chocolate milkshake.

“Didn’t use the word hopeless, but sure.” You mutter, tossing a fry into your mouth and frowning at the lack of flavor. “Hit me.”

“If he calls off plans with you all the time he’s not interested. If he doesn’t give you as much heads up as humanly possible before he has to cancel a plan or bail then he might actually hate you.”

“You’re exaggerating.” You scoff, shaking extra salt onto your fries.

Jordan reaches over, stealing one of your now delicious fries to dip it into her milkshake. “It’s a type of power play. Too many reasons to name why a guy might feel the need to pull something like that but we don’t wanna get too complicated. All you need to do is memorize the red flags and run when you see them.”

“Okay…. follow up question, what would you consider to be ‘all the time’?”

“If you just started seeing each other and he cancels two dates in a row without desperately trying to make it up to you he doesn’t give a shit.” Jordan steals and dips another of your fries.

“What about emergencies? Like… I dunno, a funeral? What if his Aunt died? So he cancels that one date. Then the next one he tries to plan his car breaks down or something, you know?”

“He should call an uber and get to the fucking location of the date come hell or high water. That’s what a guy who likes you is gonna do. Don’t over complicate, L/N.”

“Oh and you don’t think you’re over-complicating the process of eating my fries?” You smack at her hand as it reaches for your plate for the umpteenth time during this lunch. “You could have ordered fries. Why didn’t you order fries?”

“Didn’t want any until I saw yours.” She tries again but you see the movement coming and block her hand, again. You did not notice the second, slightly sneakier hand that does successfully carry out the theft.

“Did you just juke me over a fry?

“Yeah, and I won.”

You toss a fry at her and laugh when she manages to catch it with her mouth. Asshole.

You sit on the corner of Jordan’s desk, watching as he finishes up some last minute work that Brink asked him to do before heading out. You’d offered to meet back up later but he just shook his head and said it wouldn’t take long.

“What if he’s just a private person?” You ask, kicking your feet lightly.

Jordan looks up from his laptop and frowns at you, “Why are you trying to invent exceptions to the rules? The rules are there to help you. Can you say that for me, L/N? Can you say the rules are there to help me?”

“The rules are there to help me.” You repeat back, mocking their tone.

“Thank you.” Jordan smirks at you, “Like I said, if he’s hiding your relationship from the world then he’s not serious about you. He should be introducing you to people. You should be on his social media. People should not be shocked you exist when meeting you. All that bullshit.”

“And if they’re a private person?” You challenge.

Jordan pushes away his laptop, turning to face you. “Fuck me. The types of guys you’re gonna be around as a hero are all gonna be doing the same stuff as you. There’s gonna be a certain level of our life that’s always in the spotlight. Minimum of two posts a week if he’s constantly posting in general.”

“I don’t post very much.” You counter.

“You should be posting more. Especially as a top ten. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be number 6 right now. You need to be more active on socials.” Jordan gives you a look before going back to typing. Two weeks ago that look would have put you on the verge of tears. Now you roll your eyes.

“I’ll think about it.”

“It was an order as your TA, actually.”

“Oh god, an order? I’m shaking in my boots.” You tease, playfully kicking his chair.

“That just knocked your essay from a B- to a C, congratulations.” Jordan quips.

“You were gonna mark my essay a B-, you dick? You know damn well I don’t turn in B- work. Who do you think-”

The rest of the afternoon is lost to playful outrage. The papers get graded late. Yours comes back an A+. No one besides you has gotten a grade of + anything since Jordan became TA.

“Okay, so this is one with a grey area.” Jordan says.

“Oh no.”

“Shut up. If he never gets jealous that’s a red flag.”

“But-” You sit up from where you’re laid out on the blanket you threw on the ground to better soak in the last warm rays of September sun.

“I am not saying go out with some overly possessive fucking maniac.” Jordan cuts you off.

“Be specific, Jordan. You can’t give me rules with built in exceptions. I’ll fail. Is that what you want? You want me to fail, Jordan? That’s messed up-”

“Shut up-” Jordan laughs, shaking her head. “Listen to me, if a guy never gets jealous he just doesn’t care at all. The most namaste, enlightened dude on the planet will get jealous in the right situation. I’m not saying tolerate anything crazy. It’s just good if he like… responds, when you say you’re going to study alone with another dude at 9pm, in the guy’s dorm... while his roommate is gone.”

“Is studying alone with another dude, in his dorm while his roommate is gone, okay as long as it ends before 9pm?”

Jordan rips out grass from the ground and tries to sprinkle it onto your face. You put up a force-field and laugh when she sticks her tongue out.

“He’s gotta give you his full attention. When he’s with you, he’s with you. Everyone gets distracted. But if his head is always somewhere else, every time you see him, he just doesn’t like you.” Jordan swipes at your head, fast enough to be a challenge to dodge but not hard enough to hurt you had the hit connected.

You go in for a kick yourself and he practically twirls out of the way. You try twice more, managing to evade his own hits just barely.

Breathlessly, you gesture for a time out and Jordan sighs, “We gotta get you better at hand to hand.”

“That’s what my shields are for.”

“The way you use your shields is really good. You’ve gotten a lot more creative this year. It’s why you’ve been jumping ranks so fast. You’re powerful.”

The earnest tone he uses makes you lift up from the hunched over position of misery on your knees, “You think so?”

“Well…. yeah.” He clears his throat. “But you can’t get lazy. What if someone wears you out and you don’t have any energy left for them? No more shields. You need to be able to fight.”

“If I don’t have any energy left for my shields and my only option left is hand to hand combat, respectfully, it’s my time.”

Jordan rolls his eyes, “Break’s over. Back in position, stay on your toes more so it’s easier to move, okay?”

You’re about to get back into form when you hear calls of Jordan’s name from across the arena. You turn and see Luke and Cate coming over, wide grins on their faces. You give them a small wave and they both wave back, incredibly eager.

You’ve always been friendly with one another but the strength of enthusiasm is… strange. Enough to make you blink in surprise.

“Thought you said you were super booked up this week doing stuff for Brink? Absolutely no free time.” Cate asks, staring Jordan down.

“This isn’t free time. I can’t slack on hand to hand combat training. It’s important.” Jordan stares Cate down even harder.

“Why didn’t you ask me?” Luke asks casually.

“Jordan saw my form in a video I just posted and apparently it was ‘despicable’ and ‘the most insane way he’d ever seen anyone do that before’. He rushed over to show me what the ‘right way to do it is’. Control freak.” You fake a cough as you say the last part.

“You were gonna hurt your back!”

“Super healing.”

“Super herniated disc.” Jordan quips back and you scoff, shoving him.

He shoves you back with an eye roll, fighting back a smile.

“How ungentlemanly of you.” You gasp. A shift, and she shoves you again making you laugh, “and unladylike!”

“You shoved me first!”

“Children, please try and be civil we’re in public.” Luke cuts in and you almost jump at the sound of his voice.

It’s easy to get lost in your own world when you’re with Jordan. You turn to be politely facing your classmates and not just Jordan, wearing a sheepish smile.

“Stop teasing them. They’re cute.” Cate smiles.

“Anyways, you guys need something?” Jordan asks.

“We can’t just hang out? Are you trying to get rid of your best friends?” Luke asks.

“Yes.”

“Jordan!” You bump her with your elbow.

“Okay, okay. We’ll leave you alone. Wanna grab lunch with us after though?” Cate asks, looping her arm through Luke’s.

“You feeling up to lunch, L/N?” Jordan looks over at you.

With three unexpected pairs of eyes on you, you fluster. “If you go easy on me for the rest of training, yes.”

“Not a chance.” Jordan snorts. “We’ll be there though. Now scram. L/N needs a lot of help.”

“No, I fucking do not!” You protest.

The two of you don’t notice Luke and Cate walking away trading looks.

“When you don’t know really know anything about him, it’s not a good sign.” Jordan tilts the bowl of popcorn towards you.

“And what do you mean, specifically, by knowing anything about him?” You ask, taking some pieces and throwing them back.

“Has has ever shared his feelings? Talked about his personal life? If you don’t know anything besides the superficial stuff he doesn’t care about you.” Jordan states. “You also need to look out for him not knowing anything about you. Does he give you space to open up? Does he remember the shit you do tell him?”

“Got it, so just look out for the superficial surface level conversations if you never have any deeper moments.” You say.

“Exactly.” Jordan says before her eyes snap back to the screen suddenly. “Did they say they’re gonna try and make that house feel more ‘open concept’? What the fuck is their problem?”

“Huh?” You look back to Jordan’s TV, which is playing Property Brothers. “You got a problem against open concept?”

“I have a problem with every house being made to look the same, inside and out. It’s bad enough new houses don’t have unique floor plans. Now we’re taking houses that were unique and fucking them up till they’re boring! What ever happened to individuality? I bet they’ll paint the walls grey too. Fuck me.” She huffs, leaning back against the couch.

“Are you really into this show or just really into design patterns?” You ask, charmed at her passion for something completely random.

“A bit of both.” Jordan says. “I wanted to be an architect. Before I got my powers.”

“Shut up! No, you did not.”

“I did.” She laughs, “I used to draw up plans and torment my parents with them every hour of the day.”

You spend the rest of the afternoon talking about your hidden passions.

You even get the honor of seeing a few of the sketches Jordan made years ago. They were crinkled at the edges, pencil markings dull with age in some places. You smiled down at the folder Jordan keeps the drawings in. When you look up, finally, to compliment them you notice a strange look on Jordan’s face.

Thinking you’d made her self conscious with your long silence you wrapped an arm around her and told her she would have made a hell of an architect. And probably killed someone with the utter lack of load bearing beams in her structures.

You expected her to shove you off playfully but she only leaned into you and smiled, flipping to the next page of the folder.

When you get back to your own dorm room, moon high in the sky, you have to stifle a laugh. The latest post on Jordan’s Instagram is a picture of you standing with your hands on your hips in the middle of their room, looking baffled.

The caption: I handed her the remote and walked away for five minutes. We’ve been looking for almost an hour #jesus christ #banned from room 4ever.

You step out into the hallway and call Jordan up, demanding they take down their character assassination attempt because you two only looked for 26 minutes, actually.

They refuse.

You’re so incensed by the exaggeration that you wind up back outside Jordan’s dorm room not ten minutes later. When she opens the door, and sees you standing there, she bursts into laughter. She drags you inside, and when you ask her when the ban got lifted she just throws you on the bed. You spend the rest of the night arguing semantics.

You and Jordan were sitting in the ground floor of the school’s library where you were allowed to talk quietly. You were teaching them how to fold paper to make little stars while they were teaching you how to make the perfect paper airplane.

“Are you filled with barely suppressed rage? Why is it so damn wrinkled?” You laugh at their mangled star.

Jordan grabs another piece of paper with a huff, pushing her bob back behind her ears. “You are shit at giving instructions. This is impossible. Do the steps slower again.”

“I’m sorry, I’m actually not capable of slowing myself down times 3 like a Youtube video.” You tease.

“Fuck you.” Jordan kicks you under the table with her foot. “Again. Show me.”

“You start with this corner here, then you twist it over here, next you wanna-”

“Hey! Hey! What’s up people!” You and Jordan turn in perfect sync to hiss at the person to be quiet only to find that person to be Andre Anderson.

You turn back towards the table, Jordan moves an arm to curl around the back of your chair.

“Hey.” Jordan says flatly. You make some noise that you hope passes for a greeting.

“Sorry, too loud. So this is where the party is, huh? What’re you two doing?” Andre grabs a chair on the opposite side of the table and you frown, focusing intensely on the paper before you.

“Don’t you have a class right now?” Jordan asks sharply.

“Blowing it off.” Andre grins back.

Jordan scoffs. You only notice your shoulders are practically up to your ears when Jordan puts her hand there and rubs. You relax, letting out a quiet breath you were holding. Jordan gives you a squeeze.

“Awww, you making little stars? Cute. Wanna show me how, F/N?” Andre has the nerve to sound flirtatious.

After ditching you without a word and radio silence to back it up. To really make sure there’s insult to match the injury. You clench your jaw. Keep moving your hands. Try to zone out.

The hand on your shoulder gets bigger and so does the thigh that brushes against yours under the table. “Could you fuck off for a bit? We’re trying to relax after our exams this morning.”

“Ouch. Didn’t know you couldn’t relax with me around, man.” Andre bites back. “F/N, you want me to stay, don’t you?”

You get up from the table abruptly. The sudden sting in your eyes doesn’t even allow you you to collect your things. Your chest feels tight. You have to just get out of here. You hope in a school of future superheroes no one will steal your stuff. You think you hear calls of your name from behind you. Some yelling. Your ears are ringing too much. You break into a sprint.

You can’t even make it to your dorm. You have to settle for tucking yourself into the first patch of trees behind a building you can find. You try to fight back the tears. One breathe. Two. Three. Try to focus on the birds chirping somewhere above you. But the memories are all flooding in at once and you start to cry. Heaving, chest burning sobs.

“F/N. F/N. F/N, hey look at me.” You zone back into the world to Jordan pushing your hair away from your face and you sob.

“Fuck me, I’ll kill him. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d get so upset. You seemed like you didn’t care after that night… I- I’ll fucking knock his teeth in.” Jordan hisses. You’d thought you’d seen them angry before. But their face has never looked like this.

“What’s… are you having a panic attack?” Jordan asks, still petting your hair gently. You manage to nod. “Is touching you okay? Is it making it worse?” You push yourself into his hands and without another word he pulls you into his lap, tucking you against him.

You notice absently he’s wearing his favorite jacket and try to shift, so that you’re not getting tears and snot onto the fabric. He pushes your head back against his shoulder, shushing you gently. You let yourself relax, letting out the rest of the tears. Letting the anxiety leave your body. You start your grounding techniques as your breathing evens. You can see the sharp cut of Jordan’s jaw. Hear his heartbeat. The birds chirping. Feel his hands as they rub soothing circles into your skin. Smell the cologne he wears. You tuck yourself closer, even though no more tears are coming.

“Andre is a fucking loser.” Jordan says, quietly but vehemently, “You shouldn’t waste a second fucking thinking about him. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. It’s not you. It’s just who he is.”

“It’s not just Andre… It’s… it’s not even mostly Andre.” You say quietly. “I mean he’s a dick but… it just brings up memories.”

“Memories?” Jordan echoes softly, and you know you don’t have to tell him anything but you want to.

“When I was younger… I was even more of a wall flower than I am now. Shocker, I know.” You try to joke, Jordan only hums to let you know he’s listening, pulling you closer. “Even though I had powers I wasn’t popular or anything. I had trouble controlling them. Not enough to be dangerous… just enough to be… well, a loser, honestly. Because of my anxiety, and how loud my head gets my force-fields would just pop out whenever. I couldn’t stop it. If I was scared. If I got nervous. If I was feeling stupid, or ugly. All the time. People called me bubble girl.”

“I learned to just keep to myself but I was such an easy, fun target. Sneak up on the mouse and watch them jump and make a bubble! Fun!” You laugh bitterly. You think you feel Jordan kiss the top of your head, but you’re still out of it. “It made even getting out of bed to go to school hard. Administration wouldn’t take it serious as bullying because I was a supe: if I wanted it to stop I should defend myself.”

“My parents felt the same way. Wouldn’t let me transfer. But I didn’t want to fight back. I didn’t want to turn myself into something I’m not just to be left alone! I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I thought eventually everyone would get bored, mature a little. But it just got worse and worse every fucking year. Senior year was… bad, though. I was getting better at controlling my powers so what kids would do to make me react was worse. But I just ignored it. I started just… pulling into myself. Whenever anyone would pour paint on my favorite outfit. Or cut my hair. Or hit me, I’d make the bubble in my head instead, and go there. Eventually, towards the end I thought people finally got bored, they stopped fucking with me as much. I thought I’d be able to graduate in peace.”

“There was this one boy… he was popular. But he’d always been nice to me. He smiled at me in the hallways. Would help me up if people shoved me when he was around. He even gave me his sweater once, when someone cut up my shirt during gym. His friends were dicks but I thought he was different, I thought he was nice.”

“He suddenly started being even more nice to me. It felt… when he asked me to prom I just wanted to be normal for one second. I should have known. I probably did know. I just wanted to pretend, for five seconds, I wanted to pretend.” You trail off, lost in the memory.

“What happened?” Jordan asks, voice sounding hoarse. You try to pull back to see what’s wrong but he keeps you still. You realize he started rocking the both of you as you spoke. You didn’t realize how soothing it was.

“It was a joke, obviously. We went to go shopping together, so we’d match, he told me. When we got to the shop he insisted we go to all his friends were waiting for us. Recording, of course. They all laughed at me. I still remember what one girl said, ‘you’re more crazy than we thought if you honestly ever believed someone like him would go out with a loser like you’.”

“F/N, those people were fucking assholes. They… god what the fuck is wrong with people. That’s not true.” Jordan makes you look at him, suddenly. You’re shocked that his eyes are red. “You’re not a fucking loser.”

“It’s okay, Jordan. I know they were just assholes. I always knew. It just hurts still. I’ve… I’ve avoided dating ever since, obviously. My first kiss wasn’t even romantic. It was just with a good friend that I knew wouldn’t make fun of me. So I could get it out of the way.”

“I’m sorry.” Jordan looks helpless, like he wants to do something but doesn’t know what.

“You didn’t do anything, Jordan. No need to say sorry.”

“And then Andre went and fucking… fucking motherfucker I’ll kill him!” Jordan snaps, goes to stand up and then remembers he’s holding you halfway. He sits back down, grip a little tighter, but still gentle.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t even a joke, what Andre did. He’s just… inconsiderate. And I happen to have a nasty experience that makes me blow everything out of proportion. I’ll have to get used to that kind of thing if I want to actually start dating.”

Suddenly both of Jordan’s hands are on your face, holding you still so you have to look at him. “You’re not blowing anything out of proportion. And… and you don’t have to get used to shit, F/N. You’re fucking incredible. You don’t need to tolerate anything, from fucking anyone. You’re a fucking… you’re a fucking dream girl! You’re smart, and funny, and sweet, and strong, and beautiful. You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met. You don’t have to settle for fucking anything. Okay?”

You stare up at him, shocked, he gives your head a gentle shake, “Okay?” You nod slowly.

He pulls you into another hug, the tightest one you’ve ever gotten. You don’t pull away until the sun dips so low you’re both draped in gold.

“Fucking rank number fucking 5!” Jordan screams, arm wrapped around you tightly. A chorus of cheers from the rest of the group and people nearby.

You cover your face, laughing helplessly. Jordan didn’t surprise you with this party, they knew that would only make you anxious, walking into a room full of people you weren’t expecting to see with (even if asked not to) cameras pointed at you.

Jordan had texted you: I am throwing you a surprise party on Friday night to celebrate your new ranking. Please practice your surprised face.

You had practiced. You’d done a very convincing gasp when you walked in.

“I’m so fucking proud of you.” Jordan says, for the umpteenth time, looking at you. You feel your cheeks go hot.

“Oh shut up. I’ll get a big head soon.”

“You deserve it more than anyone. You’re fucking awesome.” Jordan had started heaping more praise onto you than you knew what to do with, most days.

She claimed it was practically training. That you needed to get used to people complimenting you, with the level of fame you’re going to reach. That alone had made your stomach erupt into butterflies. Jordan believed in you. Really believed in you.

“You’re the one who’s awesome… you’re a good mentor, Jordan.” You reach up to hold the hand that’s been wrapped around your shoulder all evening.

“Are you saying that following my advice works?” Jordan pretends to gasp. You playfully dig your nails into her side and she jumps before grabbing the offending hand and holding onto it. She doesn’t let go.

Her advice had worked. You posted on your social media more, at her insistence. You started to become a beast at hand to hand, thanks to Jordan’s brutal training regimen. You were socializing more, because as long as Jordan was there you felt safe. But you were even feeling confident enough to do things on your own that high school you would be shocked didn’t instantly send you to the grave.

You’d done an interview, for God’s sake! All on your own. Although your eyes kept darting to Jordan right off camera, who smiled reassuringly the whole time.

“I will not. Because then you’ll get a big head.” You tease, giving both her hands a squeeze.

“Let’s get a drink.” Jordan says, tugging you towards the kitchen.

It’s quieter in the kitchen. The drink table in the living room is still overflowing so no one’s had to start looking for leftovers yet.

“How you feeling?” Jordan asks, helping you sit on the counter before going to the fridge. After a second he pulls out your favorite. He hid them in the far back, you can tell by how far he had to lean.

“Good.” You smile as he pops your drink open before handing it to you. He leans against one of your knees.

“Party isn’t too much, right?” He asks, for the third time tonight.

Laughing you push a strand of unruly hair back from his face. He freezes at the touch, before a smile creeps onto his lips.

“Party is perfect, Jordie. Thank you. For everything. For being so…”

“Don’t thank me for treating you the way you should always be treated.”

“You treat me like a princess! What if I get spoiled? You’ll have to deal with a monster.” You tease. “You won’t even be able to be mad at me, because you’ll be the reason.”

“You’ll terrorize the world.”

“Cause complete chaos.”

“Devastation, even.” As Jordan speaks you realize you’d gotten closer. A lot closer. Your chest seizes up with anxiety as you wonder how long you’d been leaning in like this. You almost pull back, ready to apologize. But you’re frozen stiff now and realize the two of you are still getting closer. With a jolt you realize you both leaned in.

Jordan has a hand on your thigh, you reach down, nervous, to hold his hand as reflex. It’s an every day comfort, lately. You give his hand a squeeze. He squeezes back. You don’t pull away as Jordan keeps leaning in.

“Jordan! Come stop Luke from doing a keg stand, please!” Cate’s voice, typically pleasant sounds incredibly annoying at the moment.

“Gimme a sec!” Jordan calls back, still looking you in the eye. You squeeze his hand tighter. He looks nervous. They’ve looked so nervous all night. Nervous you were having a good time. Nervous you were happy. Nervous… nervous to kiss you? Is he about to fucking kiss you?

“He has an interview tomorrow! Hustle please!” Cate calls back in a sing song tone.

“Fuck me!” Jordan throws his head back, shifting, frustrated. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

You nod, a little breathless from anxiety and excitement, and dread, and the full spectrum of human emotion. “Okay.”

Jordan stomps out of the kitchen, probably going to rip Luke a new asshole from the sound of her boots on the floor. She sounds like her own stampede. You giggle, pressing your hands, still warm from holding Jordan’s into your face. You may be bad at signals but…

You sit under the hideous fluorescent kitchen lighting feeling like something inside you is glowing. You kick your feet, nervous, waiting for Jordan to get back. Wondering what they’ll do. What they’ll say. If you’re delusional. You have to be delusional. You have to be.

“Guard dog taking a walk?” In the doorway stands Andre, looking a little rougher than usual. His right eye is dark, like a black eye that’s started healing. There’s a small bandage over his nose.

“What happened to you?” You gasp.

“Your guard dog.” Andre says, reaching into the fridge to pull out a bottle of spicy vodka. “Jordan’s number #2 for a reason. Congrats on making #5 by the way.”

“Thanks.” You say. “When did Jordan do that?”

“A week ago. Would have probably gotten it earlier but apparently Cate talked them into waiting to see me until they were less pissed off. For which I’m eternally grateful.” He says, taking a sip straight from the bottle without chaser.

You don’t really know what to say so you sit in silence. Legs still kicking, more from anxiety now, less from giddiness.

“He gave me a busted lip too, but that healed pretty quickly. I also think he might have kicked a rib loose, been a little sore on the left side.” Andre says, he doesn’t seem to be angry but you don’t know why else he’d talk to you.

“I didn’t ask Jordan to do that. If you’re wondering.” You say, slowly.

“No! No! You’re way too sweet for that. This was just my shitty way of getting around to an apology. I’m sorry. I should’ve said sorry before Jordan kicked my ass but I promise Jordan kicking my ass isn’t why I’m saying sorry. The original plan was to ask you out again, make it up to you with dinner. Jordan just kicked my ass first.”

“I hope to god you’re not working your way around to asking me on a pity date.” You narrow your eyes at him.

“So Jordan could put me in a full body cast?” Andre laughs loudly, shocking you. “No offense, you’re really cute, but nothing’s worth that fucking beat down.”

“Well, I guess I accept your-”

“You don’t have to forgive me. Jordan was pretty clear that I tore up some old wounds. I didn’t mean to, but I’m sorry. I can just be… a dick, sometimes. Often. All the time.” Andre jokes.

“What did Jordan say exactly?” You ask nervously.

“Nothing specific! I could barely pick out anything at all, really. The sound of her fist breaking my nose was pretty loud.”

You laugh then try to cover it up by taking a sip. Andre grins and you relax, knowing it was his way of breaking the tension.

“Can I ask you something?” Andre asks suddenly.

“You can ask, doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” You shrug.

“Fair enough.” Andre says, toying with the bottle. “Do you like Jordan?”

“What?”

“Because Jordan sure likes you.” Andre states.

“No, they don't.” It’s a reflex to deny the possibility of someone having feelings for you but the words feel wrong once you say them. Weren’t you just about to kiss? Wasn’t his hand just burning into your thigh like a brand? “Do they?”

“Jordan would never do a fraction of the shit they’ve been doing for you if they didn’t care about you.” Andre takes another sip, then moves to saunter from the kitchen. He stops, a glance over the shoulder. “However you feel, tell Jordan. And soon. They’re looking a little desperate.”

Then it’s just you and the sound of the party, and the cool marble you’re sitting on. And a lot to think about.

“Your incessant leg jiggling is distracting me from how and why they intend to turn this beautiful victorian home into another soulless open concept millennial nightmare.” Jordan says, glancing from the TV to your leg which, yes, has been jiggling for awhile.

“I’ve got a question.”

“Obviously.”

“How can you tell if a girl isn’t into you?”

Jordan turns to face you, eyebrows furrowed, “what?”

You feel heat flood your cheeks, but keep your eyes firmly glued to the screen. “Are the rules the same? Or different?”

“You like girls?” Jordan blurts out.

“What?” The question is enough to make you look at her. And now you're trapped by societal standards of politeness to maintain the most anxiety inducing eye contact you've ever shared.

“You've never talked about… you've never said anything about liking girls.”

“You only offered up the help for the one gender. Didn't wanna get greedy.” You force a laugh.

“How long have you…. have you always liked girls?” Jordan asks and you hope to God you're not hallucinating that quick glance at your lips.

“You follow me on Instagram!”

“What's that have to do with anything?”

“I literally have the pride flag in my bio?”

“I thought you were-”

“-Jordan Li, if you're about to tell me you thought I was an ally I'll beat you to death, and then jump off a cliff.”

Jordan laughs, ducking her head, hair falling into her face slightly. You dig your fingers into your thigh to stop yourself from reaching out and tucking it behind her ear.

“Is there a reason why you're asking… about how to tell when a girl isn't into you, all of a sudden?” Jordan looks up at you and the world narrows down to her brown eyes, and her nose, and her mouth. And the look in her eyes you hope you're not reading wrong.

You blink in confusion when amusement crosses over her face and for one awful second you think Jordan is laughing at you and you could throw up. But you realize you're suddenly looking at her from behind a force-field of light purple and feel queasy out of a different sense of embarrassment.

You can hear a smile in Jordan’s voice, but you refuse to unbury your face from your hands, “Never seen you not be able to control your powers before.”

“Please kill me.”

“Can't. Your forcefield is still up, princess.” She teases, tapping at the bubble.

With a groan of humiliation you drop your field and peek up at her through your fingers.

“First the forcefield, now the hands. Still haven't answered my question though.” You almost snip at her that she should take a wild guess at your answer but there's something about Jordan’s expression. It's teetering between playful, guarded, and… something else. And you have to bank on whatever that something else is.

You take a deep breath in and move in closer, “You're not so awful a teacher that the lessons for a guy didn't stick, but considering you're a girl too who knows what incredibly important lesson you didn't know you had to teach me. The lesson… the girl lesson, that would have stopped me from misinterpreting what's been happening here. If I’m misinterpreting. All I know is… all I can really be sure of, is how I feel. And I, well-” You bite your lip, taking a shaky breath, and Jordan moves in closer, “I'm about halfway to being in love with you.”

The words are barely out of your mouth before her lips are on yours. Her hand curls at the base of your neck, pulling you in closer. A brush of her tongue against your bottom lip before you let her in with a breathless sigh. She moans against your lips, other hand moving to your waist to tug you into her lap.

You lose your balance a little, fall into her in a way that is not at all seductive. You laugh, embarrassed and she chases the sound, using both hands to put you in her lap, holds you there firm and secure.

“You-” She kisses you, interrupting your sentence. “Haven’t-” Another kiss. “Told me-” She holds you tight this time, tilting her head to the side, sweeping her tongue against yours and gasping at your taste. You pull back with shaky hands, keeping her at a distance with a grip on her shoulders.

“Could we use our big girl words?” You ask, breathless and a little dizzy.

“I’ve fucking only been in love with you for two years, thanks for fucking noticing.” She huffs, exasperated and smiling.

“How on Earth was I supposed to interpret your seething stare of hate for being in love with me?” You’re already melting against her as she pulls you back in with the guiding grip on your hair.

“Shoulda looked harder, baby.” She coos, and doesn’t let you up again anytime soon.

A/N: my magnum opus of pining! if you enjoyed this fic consider reblogging, leaving a reply, or an anon! a writers fuel is engagement. xoxoxo

#bee talks #he's just not that into you #jordan li x reader #jordan li imagine #gen v #black!reader #this fic is a fucking monster in word count but that's just what jordan li deserves

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dilfl0v3rss · 10 months

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AAAHHG. okok boxer!todo who normally is very gentle and soft on his gf when they have sex bc his hands are deemed weapons he’s such a good fighter. but one night reader wants him to be rough so he knock the screws loose. (bonus points if he puts something in the marriage hole 🙊)

okay okay okayyyyy😩

ik you said marriage hole, but i couldn’t help not thinking ab actual marriage LMFAOOO

you absolutely loved how gentle todo was with you. he was always as delicate as can be and absolutely refused to speak to you in any other way than a soft tone. given what he did for a living, it was often that people assumed that he was just as rough during his everyday life than he was in the ring, but that couldn’t of been more of a lie.

“cmere mama, lemme tie your shoe” todo mumbled, lowering to his knee in the middle of the sidewalk to tie the loose laces of your jordans. “baby i could’ve did it” you said, feeling bad as you watching his sweatpants rub against the hard ground. todo just shook his head, finishing up his task before standing back up and kissing you on the forehead. “but i’m here so ima do it. don’t want you liftin a finger when you wit me” he said picking up the many bags from your shopping spree before holding his free hand out for you to hold.

as the two of you finished up your day at the outlets, you and todo were beginning your journey to his car when someone accidentally bumped into you. it was a particularly hard collision and it caused your freshly made smoothie to fall to the ground. the man who bumped into you wasn’t paying much attention, his concentration on a game in his phone as he uttered a small “fuck out my way”. you didn’t think much of it, only really caring about your wasted smoothie, but aoi was quick to grab him by the back of his collar, yanking the man back in front of you before speaking.

“you blind or sum? jus bumped into her and made her drink fall” his voice was low as he watched the mans face go from boredom to fear once he got a look at who was talking to him. “o-oh shit! m-my bad a. t, i wasn’t pay….paying attention” todo just gave him a hard stare, his patience quickly wearing thin as he slightly tilted his head. “youn need t’be apologizing t’me, apologize to my wife” he mumbled. the man’s eyes widened, fear coursing through his body as he felt the large hand begin to tighten on the back of his shirt, the fabric squeezing his neck as he let out a small apology. “s-sorry miss, wasn’t paying a-attention” you looked up at todo next to you, his eyes still on the smaller man as he kept a steady grip on his shirt. you looked back towards the man, “it’s fine….s’okay aoi let him go please”

your small voice caressed todo’s ears, his hand instinctively opening at your command as his eyes finally landed on you. the man scurried away, rubbing the back of his neck as he got as far as he could from the two of you. “you want another one mama? go wait in the car f’me and i’ll go ge-” “no no, it’s okay. let’s just go alright?” todo gave you a small nod, his anger nowhere to be found as he put your soft hand in his and walked you to the car.

as he drove you home, you couldn’t stop the hot ache between your thighs, your arousal filling your panties as you let the scene play over and over again in your mind. you didn’t want to admit it, but it turned you on how rough your man could get when it came to other people and you couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be willing to be the same with you in a different way.

‘what if he choked me up like that?’

‘would he ever talk to me like that?’

‘how come he’s only rough with other people’

‘i wonder if he’d spank m-’

“what you thinkin bout ma?” you were startled out of your thoughts, making todo chuckle as he looked at your widened eyes. “n-nun” you mumbled, earning you a deep sigh from your boyfriend. todo pulled into the driveway, turning the car off before turning towards you. “talk t’me princess. been quiet the whole ride so i know there’s sum on your mind. is it cause i called you my wife? it just slipped out ma ian mean to make y-” “would you ever be mean t’me?”

you cut him off, letting your thoughts get the best of you as you quickly covered your mouth after finishing your sentence. todo gave you a confused look, misinterpreting your question as he quickly shook his head no. “no, i love you. why would i ever disrespect the woman i love?” you let out a frustrated sigh, your legs squeezing tighter together as you thought of how sexy it’d be if he fucked you a little rougher. “i-i mean in the bedroom” you whispered, but he heard you. a surprised look planted on todo’s face as he thought of what could have brought this into your mind.

“you….you want me t’be rough? is that it?” you quickly nodded your head, wetness pooling in your panties at the thought of you getting what you wanted. a smirk crept onto his lips, thoughts of previous little altercations he’s been in that always seemed to cause you to grow quiet. “and how long you been wantin this?” he said, his voice making a wave of shyness come over you as you looked outside your window to hide from his seductive gaze. todo reached his arm over to you, letting his big hand surround your neck as he lightly pulled you towards him. he looked deeply in your eyes, “look at me, and answer truthfully, understand?” at this point your thighs were pressed so hard together you thought you might pull something as your eyes stared into his stern ones.

“c-couple weeks now” you said, voice small as you watching todo’s pink tongue swipe over his lips. he smirked at you, showing you the gold he had on his canine tooth before he squeezed a little tighter on your neck. the whimper you let out almost made him cum in his pants as he took in your shy, horny state. “you been waiting so patiently t’ask me haven’t you mama? been waiting like a good girl?” you nodded your head at his words, making todo’s smile begin to fade as his other hand snuck towards under your skirt. you twitched as his thick fingers made contact with your soaked panties, eyes watering in embarrassment as you watched todo move those same fingers towards his mouth.

“need you t’use your words baby, or i won’t give you what you want” he parted his lips before closing them on his wet fingertips, letting your arousal dance on his tongue as he loosened his grip on your throat so you could speak clearly. “yes….b-been waiting like a good girl” as todo released his fingers with a pop, he moved that same hand back to unlock the doors of the car, eyes never leaving you as he lowered his lips towards yours. they lightly grazed each other as he spoke.

“then go inside and let daddy give you what you want”

you practically sprinted towards your room, todo hot on your heals as you quickly crawled into the middle of the bed. todo stood at the edge, his arms crossed over his body as he kept his fist under his chin. you waited patiently for his next move, his eyes raking up and down your body as he thought. “undress” he mumbled, his eyes looking directly into yours now as he watched you take off each article of clothing from your pretty, brown body. todo followed you, removed his shirt and sweatpants, leaving him in just his briefs. “cmere” his tone was low, the same one he’d use when speaking to someone he putting in check.

your body instantly moved, crawling towards the edge of the bed before sitting down on your knees. “on your stomach sexy. put that ass high in the air f’me” your eyes widened in surprise. todo usually fucked you in missionary, always wanting a good look at your face so he could give you light kisses and reassuring smiles. this change in position told you everything you wanted to hear, he didn’t care. you obeyed his request, turning over on all fours before letting your arms stretch up the bed as your back dipped towards the sheets. todo let out a delighted groan, his fists clenching as he tried his best not to move too fast.

he slowly moved his hand up your back, pushing your arch deeper as he pressed his print into your soaked folds. “feel that?” he groaned, grinding his hips into you as you lightly moaned into the sheets. “y-yea” your voice was muffled, the already wetting fabric restricting your breathing. todo moved his other hand towards his underwear, freeing himself behind you as you obliviously moaned in the sheets. “ion like when you keep shit from me mama, s’nothin t’be scared of. you know i’ll always give you whatever you want” he slowly sunk into you, listening to your drawn out moan be released into the air as he bottomed out inside of you.

“s-so deep papa” you whined, hand instantly moving towards his hand on your back so he could hold it. if it were any other day todo would’ve held it without question, comforting you as he fed you his inches, but today wasn’t one of those days. “unt uhh mama keep those hands up there. next time you bring it back here ima pin it to your back” you whined as you closed your hands around the sheets, gripping them tightly as you tried to keep yourself from reaching back for him.

todo started off with slow, deep strokes before quickly moving to quick poundings to your poor pussy. his hand now finding purchase in your hair as he yanked your head from the sheets. “this what you wanted princess? wanted me t’fuck you like a slut?” he groaned, his other hand pushing your arch deep into the mattress as he fed you stroke after deep stroke from his thick dick. your drool was dripping from your lips, connecting your face to the sheets as you looked dumbly at the black headboard in front of you. your eyes fluttered closed, the feeling of him clouding your senses as you went higher and higher in the clouds. “y’hear me?….unt uhh, wake up ma. m’not done wit you”

todo leaned over you, tapping your cheeks to bring the lost light back to your eyes. as you came to, your moans began to fly from your lips, thighs shaking as you felt your quick orgasm began to approach. “m-m’gonna cum daddyyy!” you whined. todo just fucked you harder, making it as hard as he possibly could for you to keep your orgasm away. he lowerred his face to your ear, licking behind it before whispering his deep words to you. “hold it”

a loud whine escaped your lips. there was no way you were going to be able to hold in an orgasm this strong so you decided to do the opposite of what he told you earlier. you threw your hand back, connecting it with his abdomen before using all your strength to push him out of you. todo’s hips halted, a quiet gasp leaving his lips as he watched you hold your hand on his tattooed stomach. “c-can’t hold it papa” you whimpered, looking back at him with water in your eyes. a sorry expression on your face as you felt him pull out of you completely.

todo stood to his full height, keeping a hand on your hip as he brought you back into your arch. “gimme your hands” he said sternly, your whining only fueling him as he watched you cross your wrists behind your back. he held your wrists in his hand, using his other one to line himself up again with your entrance. “what’d i say mama?” your eyes never left him, tears running down your cheeks as you tried to speak through your sobs. “said n-not to put my h-hand back, but i couldn’t h-” “ion wanna hear nun else. you gon take it like i said to cause this is what you wanted, remember?”

without letting you reply, todo slammed himself fully into you, pushing his hand down on your wrists to deepened your arch as he pinned them to your back. “m’sorrym’sorrym’sorryyyy….fuck daddy you so deep” you moaned, moving your ass back into him to get back to the release you pushed away. todo’s eyes widened at your eagerness, any worry he felt about his roughness quickly left his body as he watched your hungry pussy tightly grip his dick. his gazed slowly moved to your puckering hole, body moving before his mind as he let his spit fall to it. you felt him circle your ass with his thumb, the slow movements making you push your ass out more in excitement.

“p-please aoi p-put it in” you whined, your fists clenching in anticipation as you waited patiently for your boyfriend to comply. todo quickened his thrusts, his dick hitting that spongy spot that made your eyes roll before slowly sinking the tip of his thumb in your hole. “like this princess? you like when daddy touches you here?” you moaned a loud “uhh huh”, your eyes in the back of your skull as you felt his thumb go deeper and deeper inside of you until the rest of his hand was close enough to lay flat on your lower back. todo’s dick twitched at the sight, his seed daring to spill into you as he listened to you moan in delight from his actions. who would’ve known a pretty little thing like you would want to be fucked like this.

“m’finna nut in you mama. want papa t’fill that pussy up?” your moans drowned out his voice, brain so fucked out that you could barely say anything other than babbles if “daddy” and “so good”. todo let out a groan at the state of you, letting go of your wrists to leave a hard slap on your ass. “cmon pretty girl, if you wanna cum you gotta talk t’me” you shut your eyes tightly, using all you had left in you to utter the words your man was longing to hear. “cum in me, f-fill this pussy up pleaseee” todo couldn’t conceal the grin he had behind you, his gold teeth showing completely as he angled his dick down towards your stomach. he slowly thrusted his thumb in and out of you, giving you extra attention so you could reach your orgasm at a high peak.

“anything for you”

when you finally woke up, you were laid on todo’s broad chest, black bonnet securely placed on your head as you looked up at your boyfriend. he had his glasses on, your red bonnet on his head as scrolled through the many boxing videos on his tik tok for you page. you left a light kiss on his pec, drawing his attention to you before inching up towards his stubbled chin. “how y’feeling pretty?” he mumbled, his deep, tired voice flowing through your ears as he placed his phone on the bedside drawer. you went to lay your leg on top of him when you were stopped by a sore pain. “legs don’t work” you whispered, making his chest shake as he chuckled. you rolled your eyes, plucking his neck before laying your head back on his shoulder.

“not my fault, you wanted me t’fuck you like that so you gotta deal wit the consequences. ima big man” todo’s hand gave your ass a quick squeeze, making you shyly smile as you played with the gold chain around his neck. you sighed deeply, “y’know….i never get upset when you call me your wife. i actually like it, makes me feel good when you say it” todo’s eyes widened at your confession, cheeks growing warm as he looked down at your pretty brown features. “wanna make it furreal?” his words made your eyes widen as you slowly sat up from your spot in his arms. “really? you wanna m-marry me?” todo scoffed at your surprise, leaning over to his drawer to search for something. your eyes nearly popped out of the sockets, excitement running through you as you sat in disbelief.

as todo leaned back towards you, that excitement quickly faded. the sight of his glasses case in his hand bringing small disappointment to your chest. he noticed this, smirking to himself as he opened his hand fully to show you the black box in the middle of his palm. “wanted t’do it sooner, but ian know how. was gonna do it after i won my championship, but ian wanna propose wit a busted eyebrow y’know?” your eyes watered, moving towards the pretty, light brown scar right above his right brow. “was also gon do it last week during our date night, but pussied out like a bitch”

your tears were falling now, his hand moving towards yours before give it a tight squeeze. “i feel like now is a good time tho, since you just told me the words i been wantin to hear every since i met you. we was young and i know i was a bit of a tough guy back then, but you really changed me. you’re bright smile and beautiful soul made me into the man i am today and i couldn’t, wouldn’t imagine myself bein wit anybody else. ion no where the future may take us, but i know that no matter what obstacle may come my way i’d rather have you with me to help me push through.”

he gently cupped your face, wiping your tears with his thumb as he slowly opened the box with his other hand. “i love you more than anything, more than boxing, more than life. you are my life mama and i been hoping, praying for the longest that i was yours. you let me know that today. so will you give me the honors of bein my wife? will you marry me?” you flew into his arms, mind on nothing, but him as you planted kiss after passionate kiss to his pink lips.

“yes!”

#jjk todo x black!reader #jjk todo x black y/n #jjk todo x black reader #jjk aoi todo x black y/n #jjk aoi todo smut #jjk aoi todo x black!reader #jjk aoi todo x black reader #jjk todo smut #aoi todo × black reader #aoi x black!reader #aoi todo × black!reader #aoi todo x black!reader #aoi todo x black reader #aoi todo x black y/n #aoi todo smut #aoi x black reader #jjk x black y/n #jjk x black!reader #jjk x black!fem reader

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