HP!TayNew

part 5: delicate

( 4.5 k)

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

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

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

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

“Red looks good on you though.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Off was raising an eyebrow at him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Homenum Revelio!”

No reaction.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Annihilare!”

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

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

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

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

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

With his arms full of Tay.

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

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

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

He could feel Newwiee’s breath on his lips.

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

Electric bolds ran through his body when their lips touched.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Instead of having Newwiee to hold onto.

He wanted to have him next to him so badly.

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

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

The following week was stressful for everyone around them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dejectedly he turned around and wandered down the corridor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Newwiee!” Tay could hear his voice break.

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

This was all he wanted.

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

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

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

to be continued

part 6

HP!TayNew

part 4: warm on a cold morning

( 2.6 k)

thanks as always to @earthpodd , @bl-phillip @ziq-panda + @somewhatavidreader for the sweetest tags and comments (and still reading this fic ^^)

special thanks to @sluttynewwiee who is the owner of this plot bunny

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 3.3 5)

Now that it was late October it had gotten too cold to swim even for Newwiee. Usually he’d cast charms in the winter to help him stay warm but now that a skrewt might be on the loose it was too much of a hassle to add protective charms as well.

Besides, Tay’s grandmother had sent two two-way mirrors so most of his nights were spend lying in bed while talking to Tay about everything they hadn’t found the time to discuss during the day.  At first, he had been confused as to why Tay would give him something this valuable.  But apparently Tay’s grandmother had intended to only sent one and keep the other for herself to stay in contact with her grandson, but had put both of them into the package by mistake.

Tay had decided to keep both and had later handed one to him.  Whatever Tay had been thinking, now they were talking to each other as much as they wanted, whenever they felt like it.  Which almost always ended up being in the wee hours of the night, thus messing up his workout routine.

So instead of swimming Newwiee had picked up flying again. It was something he usually did from time to time to clear his head, when everything around him got too loud and he didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Even if it was only for a while, the feeling of being not confined by the thick walls of Hogwarts was freeing.

From high above its towers the castle looked deserted. No noise could be heard from the ground and no one was visible from that altitude either.  Not only did people appear to be non-existent; his worries would shrink the higher he’d soar into the air.

Newwiee reveled in this self-imposed solitude.

Even though he had been the commentator of the last two Quidditch seasons at Hogwarts he had never tried out for the team. He enjoyed the full control he had about where he’d go and when he’d come back. It was the silence that he craved when he was riding on his broom.

But flying in lazy circles about the edges of the forbidden forest he found his mind wandering to his late-night talks with Tay.  Normally he’d fly to forget that there were other people around him, but thinking about Tay like this made him feel warm.  Going back to their last argument, thinking about a wittier comeback for next time or imagining what Tay was doing at this exact moment was something he found to be quite enjoyable.  

Now that they had gotten closer, Newwiee had started to invite Tay to go fly with him on several occasions.  Tay had declined his proposal every time.  When Newwiee had suspected that Tay just could not fly, Tay had looked insulted. He had taken proper classes in school and believed that he was good enough.

Truth was that he could barely hold himself up for long due to his fear of heights. He never acknowledged his phobia, convincing himself that the wobbly way he handled brooms was the same for everyone. For him there was no reason to go that high and fast on something this unsafe anyways.  

Newwiee asked him again on a Saturday.

Quidditch season would start soon and the grounds would get busier. Tay declined, using homework as an excuse.

He had no idea why he wouldn’t just tell Newwiee that he wasn’t that into flying. Finally, Newwiee had pressed him for a better answer, saying that Tay could just tell him if he didn’t want to hang out with him. But Tay had stuck to his excuse.

Having found refuge in the library he was about to open his books when he remembered that he had already finished his assignments.  Rain started to knock against the windows.

He wondered whether Newwiee was still out there flying his rounds.  It was most likely that no one else was on the grounds in this weather.  Must be lonely.  Or Newwiee enjoyed the solitude.  But if he did why had he asked him to join.  And why was he so adamant on not going.  Spending time with Newwiee was fun, classes had become much more exciting since they had hit it off at the lake and he enjoyed their banter and the insults they’d playfully throw at each other.

Nowadays, they spent most of the time during Astronomy classes lying next to each other while talking about everything. Tay would occasionally talk over Newwiee while he was in deep contemplation because he had identified the cry of some animal in the night, which would get him a playful nudge in return.

But spending time alone outside of class with just the two of them…

His stomach tightened. Every time Newwiee had asked him to join, he had felt sick just by imagining them flying next to each other.

It was not because he was busy.

Not because he disliked flying to that degree.

Not because he thought it wouldn’t be fun to circuit the school.

Not because he was afraid of making a fool of himself in front of Newwiee.

But because hanging out with just the two of them, away from the distraction by others, would make him painfully aware of how much Newwiee meant to him.

And how he must mean a lot to Newwiee, but not quite enough.

He didn’t know what to do with himself. Groaning he buried his head in his hands. Hoping that the rain drumming on the window would clear his head of all thoughts. Tay wanted to get out of the library and do something but at the same time it felt like he was tied down to his chair and any move he took would hurt too much.

He couldn’t really hide forever. They sat next to each other in almost all classes, so disassociating himself would be weird as well. 

And he really wanted to talk to Newwiee.  Bicker with him in class.  Argue about everything.  Just have him next to him.  If it was Newwiee he wouldn’t mind getting thrown out of Snape’s class for arguing, he wouldn’t care anymore about what teacher was scary or his grades or the reputation of his family.  His everything got centered around Newwiee.  But right now, it was all too much.

Tay returned to the Hufflepuff Basement late.

“No Gun?”, he asked upon entering their room. “He’s out enjoying himself.” Off was lounging on his bed, going through his clothes to prepare for the weekend trip to Hogsmeade. “Mhmmm.”

The room was weirdly silent.

“Yo, Peng. Looks like Newwiee is grumpy. He thinks you’re evading him. Gun told me.” “Mhmmm.” “You could just go and fly with him? Or tell him a better excuse.”

Tay grumbled something into his pillow in response.

Even though his night had been restless, Tay was up really early the next day. When his stomach wouldn’t stop rumbling he decided to go ahead to the Great Hall and have breakfast. There was no movement from Off’s bed.

Once he sat down on one of the long benches his appetite had vanished completely.  He nibbled on his noodles but just got grumpier by the minute when they turned cold and soggy because he was taking too long.  Lost in his discomfort, he thought about how to best act next time he saw Newwiee.

His head hit the table with a thump. Waking up early after getting close to no sleep hadn’t been a good idea after all.

“It’s disappointing that your head didn’t hit the bowl”, Newwiee piped up from across the table. “What time is it?” Tay mumbled while forcing his eyes open, too sleepy to freak out about Newwiee and him being almost the only people in the Great Hall. “Few minutes past seven.”  

He had only dozed off for half an hour.

Vision still blurry he sat up straight, Newwiee’s face starting to slowly get into focus.

Newwiee’s full attention was focused on a small gadget in his hand while he was eating.  They had met each other just yesterday but for some reason Newwiee looked different to him today. His dark brown eyes seemed to twinkle and Tay hoped that he’d look up and lock eyes with him. He caught himself wishing that he could make Newwiee laugh so that his eyes would vanish in a smile just for him. Every time Newwiee would take a bite of his breakfast his dimples would show and to Tay they suddenly looked inexplicably cute.  He felt the urge to trace them with his fingers. Newwiee’s cheeks seemed to be really soft as well.  In his head he was caressing Newwiee’s face, softly touching the mole on his nose, when his eyes wandered to Newwiee’s lips.

There was no way he could stop being close to Newwiee. Hanging out with him was too much fun, they connected in a way he had never connected with anyone before. It would be physically impossible for him to keep himself from interacting with him, from wanting to be near him.

Maybe it would hurt sometimes. But it would be worth it.  Probably.  He would be fine with just looking at Newwiee like this from time to time. Maybe.  Staying like this was the only real option he had, so he would just have to adjust himself with having these feelings.  Not knowing if he could turn back or if they would go away eventually he decided not to repress them. Hurting every now and then was enough already without forcing himself to change his heart.

Before he could get lost in his thoughts some more, he took notice of what Newwiee was eating.

“You are having cake?” Newwiee didn’t even bother to stop chewing, eyes never leaving the gadget in his hand. “It’s my breakfast.” “Cake is not a meal!” Tay insisted forgetting all about the recent awkwardness between them. “And soggy noodles are?” Newwiee shot right back, without so much as looking at him. “It’s all sugar. You’ll get even fatter”, Tay said in a playful tone.

Newwiee was not having it.  Without saying anything he just kicked Tay lightly under the table.  Off and Gun were right. He really was mad at Tay for evading him.

“How was…”, he started again, unsure whether Newwiee still wanted to talk to him. But Newwiee understood what he was getting at. “Didn’t fly after all. Too much rain.” Just the thought of yesterday seemed to dampen his mood even further. “Do you want to try again today?” For the first time this morning Newwiee looked directly at him. “Together?” Tay held his breath after the words had left his lips.

Newwiee sighed before kicking him once more.

“No assignments today?” Tay bit his tongue. He didn’t feel like lying again. Newwiee’s face finally softened and he nodded. “You should eat something before that though.” And with that he finished the rest of the cake and stood up to leave.

“Meet me in 10 minutes at the middle courtyard.”

Tay watched him leave, still feeling somewhat uneasy, unsure whether he had made the right choice.  At least it felt like some of the weight on him had been lifted and his appetite returned.

After putting on a thick hoodie and a huge scarf he wandered outside. Newwiee was already waiting for him, wearing only a thin sweater and holding a slick broom in one hand.

He scrunched up his face when he saw the school broom Tay was holding.

“Thought you were rich enough to buy a decent broom?” His annoyance with Tay seemed to not have completely vanished just yet. “Not that much into flying. Stop being an arse.” Newwiee stepped closer to playfully hid Tay on the back of his head. His anger seemed to have been resolved at last.

They got onto their brooms and took off, slowly ascending over the walls of the courtyard heading towards the Great Lake. The wind felt refreshing on Tay’s face.  In the distance the sun was climbing up the horizon, illuminating the geese that were flying over the water.

Newwiee chatted non-stop about the latest brooms, going on and on about the Siberian Arrow. His Firebolt Supreme was the latest model, but apparently not good enough. Tay teased him about needing a professional broom even though all he was doing was lazily fly over Hogwarts.

“Wait till you see me fly at home.” Newwiee hollered and Tay quite liked the idea of being invited to his home just like that.

“For what? To watch you show off in front of your parents?”

Newwiee suddenly pulled up next to him and nudged him in mock-anger. It was just a small push but it made Tay lose control over his broom and while he tried to steady himself he made the mistake of looking down.  While they had been talking over one another constantly they had gained some considerable height without Tay realizing it.  His hands on the broomstick became clammy and his whole body started to shake.

Newwiee immediately held onto his arm to steady him.

“Wowowow…you okay?”

Tay didn’t know why he felt so embarrassed. He was older after all. But be it in class or out here, somehow Newwiee always seemed to have the upper hand.

“Not a big fan of heights”, he managed to press out between gritted teeth, eyes still fixed on the ground below him.

Newwiee laughed softly. It seemed like he had come to the conclusion that Tay’s reluctance to go fly with him stemmed only from his fear of heights.  It seemed like he finally wasn’t holding a grudge against him anymore.  Tay wasn’t going to correct him. He didn’t want to complicate things further. Besides he wouldn’t know how to explain himself in a way that wouldn’t reveal his feelings too much.

“We can go lower than this.” Newwiee said softly. “Urghhh”, was all that Tay could answer. Unable to move, just the thought of dropping down towards the ground made him feel sick. Newwiee sighed but moved his broom closer to Tay’s.

“You can hop over if you want to. Just swing your leg over my broomstick.”  It was hard enough for Tay to raise his eyes and it took him several minutes to move according to Newwiee’s instructions.

After finally settling in place behind Newwiee he commanded the school broom to fly back to its shed with a swish of his wand, the other hand forcefully holding onto Newwiee’s sweater.

“That broom seemed to be very happy to get away from you”, Newwiee snickered.  Tay put his wand away to be able to hit him, but just as he raised his hand Newwiee decided to dip the broom, making them race towards the ground at a steep angle.

Throwing his arms around Newwiee just in time Tay screamed into his ear while clinging onto his back. The wind blew passed them with force, making it hard to breath.

Newwiee was screaming like a mad man until he finally pulled up again and they slowed down.

The wind had left his ears red and sore and his knuckles hurt from grabbing onto Newwiee too tightly.

Nevertheless, laughter escaped him as they flew over the Great Lake and he relaxed against Newwiee’s back, putting his head on his shoulder while watching the birds pass them by.  His breath evened out and turning his nose to the front he drank in Newwiee’s scent while closing his eyes.

If he could control himself like this, keep his feelings steady, then everything would be alright.  He could stay right here next to Newwiee and everything would be fine.

to be continued

part 5

HP!TayNew

part 6: ซ่อนกลิ่น tuberose (sorn klin) - part 1

( 3.6 k)

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

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 5)

The weeks leading up to the Christmas break were the busiest they had had so far.

Not only did almost all of their professors insist on giving them short tests before the break, the weekend trip to Hogsmeade was coming up and they were already busy making use of the new places they had discovered in the castle.

Luckily for them the Slytherin head-boy was too embarrassed to admit that two students had broken into the prefect’s bathroom and stolen the quidditch team captain’s robes, so their incident went undetected by the school’s staff.

Nevertheless, rumours had started to spread and both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students were claiming to house the brave intruders. Tay sincerely hoped that the Hufflepuff’s who had seen him coming back that day, had already forgotten about the incident or at least wouldn’t spread the information.

The robes would turn up on Halloween in midst of the spooky decoration in the Great Hall, adding new fuel to the rumour mill. At first Newwiee was displeased with the obvious spot Tay had chosen to get rid of the stolen item but it turned out that Tay, while on the lookout for the perfect hiding spot, had simply dropped and forgotten them. But as no one had any real proof and the prefect had sworn all witnesses to silence, no one knew who was behind the alleged storming of the prefects’ bathroom besides Tay, New, Off and Gun.

Turning the situation to their advantage, Tay and Newwiee would sneak back into the bathroom from time to time to relax in the hot water. Although the password changed regularly, Tay’s nose for bath salts never disappointed and they were granted entrance without failure. Funnily enough, Off and Gun would never join them, Off having a disdain for being naked around others and when they asked Gun, he simply gave them a lazy smile as if he’d already seen everything the castle had to offer and the prefects’ bathroom couldn’t entice him anymore.

Tay and New had come to the verdict that the best time to hijack the bathroom was after their potions class on Friday. No one was there during that time and it was an unmatchable feeling to strip off the school robes that had absorbed the stuffy air of the dungeons and a variety of cauldron fumes and be enveloped by the scented water.

It was the first Friday after Halloween when they attended an especially gruelling potions class. While none of the students had been able to brew the potion to perfection Snape had fixated on Newwiee and took up station in front of his desk to degrade him.

Newwiee endured the public shaming in silence trying not to give the professor another reason to snap at him. Tay could feel himself getting enraged by the minute, the sleeves of his robes getting squeezed between his balled fists. When Snape started to repeatedly call Newwiee a fool he had had enough. “With all due respect Sir, I think Newwiee has understood his mistakes”, his voice was shaking and sounded even to himself like someone else was talking in his stead. Snape spun around and looked him over from head-to-toe. “Infatuation – does make fools out of us and clouds our judgment. I will not tolerate insolent students in this class. There is no need to act like the chivalrous hero, Mr. Vihokratana. Mr. Thitipoom just has to refrain from showing off and work harder on precision instead of letting – spells – do the work for him.” Snape turned to face the class. “Be advised that fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions and allow themselves to be provoked this easily- weak people, in other words, are not made for the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making.” Tay’s cheeks started to burn while he fixed his eyes on the ground. “5 points from Hufflepuff. A new record for the house, I guess. You must make your parents proud.” He could hear a Slytherin choke on laughter. The only consoling thought that came to his mind was that Gun would deal with her later.

Tay stood rooted to the spot in shame. The injustice of it all made him feel sick. He felt bad that Newwiee had gotten dragged back into the situation after he had tried to defend him. “You can pack your things and leave Mr. Vihokratana. Maybe your lovebird Mr. Thitipoom wants to follow you.” Snape’s remark was cutting but his face didn’t show any trace of an emotion. Snickering could be heard echoing in the dungeons. Tay forced himself to not look at anyone as he took his belongings and made his way out of class. He could hear footsteps trying to catch up with him but didn’t slow down until he felt a small pull on his robes after he exited the classroom. He turned around to find Newwiee smiling at him. It seemed like Newwiee didn’t mind to get mistaken as Tay’s lover and had left the classroom with him to Snape’s indifference and the jeering of their classmates.

“Want to take a bath?”, was all he asked and Tay nodded, feeling exhausted. They agreed to meet each other at the statue of Boris the Bewildered after dropping off their books.

The bathroom seemed to have mercy on them and made it easy to enter, the calming scent of lavender already being noticeable in the corridor.

They left the lights off, stripped naked and wordlessly glided into the steaming water. Tay sighed. Scotland was too cold for him and the potions lesson had left him emotionally exhausted. The room was almost completely dark, the water reflected the little light that seemed to come out of the glass-stained windows themselves. It was already dark outside. Tay could feel his body thaw and almost got lulled into a trance when Newwiee splashed him from the side.

Tay still could make out the smile on Newwiee’s face but his features were mellowed by the dim light, making his skin look even more even. Small droplets of water glistened as they were running down his upper body. He got another mouthful of water. Newwiee’s laughter echoed in the room. Tay started to feebly retaliate and waded closer to Newwiee to at least hit some part of him. “What a dick.” “What?” “Snape”, Newwiee clarified blocking Tay’s arm and splashing him with the other. “Let’s just, no…uh-uh”, Tay shook his head in disdain. He didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about that class. Newwiee cocked his head and smirked at him. “You defended me.” Tay splashed him instead of answering. Fingers interlocked they fought for dominance and tried to dunk each other into the water.

After wrestling for some time, the heat and humidity made them feel light-headed so they swam to the pool side, arms resting on the edge.Tay let his head fall down onto his crossed arms and turned to Newwiee. For once they weren’t saying anything, trying to catch their breath. Tay’s small pants echoed in the room and Newwiee turned to him smiling. He was so freaking beautiful to him that Tay got lost staring at him for a while.

Newwiee, whose wet bangs covered his eyes. Newwiee who didn’t know what it did to Tay when he pushed his hair back. Newwiee who rested his cheek on his hand and looked back at Tay. Newwiee who wouldn’t meet his eyes, gaze fixed on his lips instead.

What?

Before Tay could spend more time on that thought, Newwiee twisted his body and scrunched up his face. Rolling his shoulders, he tried to loosen up some kink but it didn’t seem to work.

“Did you pull something?”, Tay asked concerned. “It’s fine, just have to move it a bit.” To Tay it looked like Newwiee was putting on a show but he decided to indulge him. Moving behind him, he held onto Newwiee’s shoulders and started to massage him. He could feel Newwiee stiffening under his touch at first but soon he started to relax when Tay with rather amateurish movements loosened up his arm muscles. Just being allowed to touch Newwiee like this made him overwrought. Using his chance while Newwiee was defenceless, he poked his finger into his side making him squirm. Tay’s laughter filled the room as they got into a tickling fight, which ended up with them wrestling again in the water.

When their movements became more sluggish they emerged from the water, still giggling despite the exhaustion. All of the sudden, Tay felt embarrassed at his exposure and put on his pants as quickly as he could. He managed to pull a hoodie over his head before Newwiee could offer to dry him off with a spell. The last thing he needed was Newwiee’s wand pointing anywhere near his naked body.

Before he could zip up his pants however, hands were grabbing onto the hem of his hoodie, trying to pull it up. Tay stopped Newwiee with his hands and was met with a pout. “I want this.” “What?” "It’s green. I want it”, Newwiee said like it was obvious that he owned anything in that colour.

Off didn’t even bat an eyelash when Tay returned to the dorm wearing a pink sweater.

Off started to regret not teasing them more often when Tay and New constantly hollered at him on their way to Hogsmeade.

They took turns calling out “Peng” and then giggled like little school girls when he turned around. At some point Gun shot them a tired smile and pulled Off away from them towards The Three Broomstricks.

Tay steered Newwiee towards Dervish and Banges instead, a helpful shop that sold and repaired magical instruments. The shop was empty and the door chime rang into the silence when they entered. The goods were arranged in a neat and organized manner and the metal instruments seemed to glint on the dark cupboards.

Newwiee’s mood turned sour by the minute as he went through the list of things Tay had broken recently, all of which he could possibly fix for him. A small witch appeared behind the counter and Tay went over to talk to her. Feeling left out, Newwiee stayed next to the window and with a flick of his wand dancing letters appeared on the back of Tay’s coat reading ‘I’m an idiot’. The little witch rummaged through a small box before retrieving a small object and placing it on the counter. Newwiee couldn’t make out what it was, as Tay was blocking his view. The shop assistant was flourishing her hand at Tay and he complied, pulling out his wand and tapped the top of the item. To his surprise Newwiee realized that he had never seen this wand before. But before he could step up to observe it a loud whistling sound hit his ears and the witch and Tay jumped back, startled. After helplessly watching on as the witch fought to get the gadget under control Tay turned towards Newwiee, immediately being faced with the incriminating letters that were still floating in the air. A sigh escaped him. Newwiee didn’t know why his reaction didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was because how Tay looked at him made him feel ashamed of what he did, even though it just had been a silly prank to begin with. It didn’t make him feel better when he found out that Tay had only wanted to purchase a sneakoscope and had never intended to have his things fixed by anyone else but Newwiee. Feeling that it was hard to decide where to begin to explain himself, Newwiee decided to just simply pay for the item, face flushed red when they left the shop.

Tay was still confused over the intention of Newwiee’s prank. But whatever had been the purpose it seemed to have gone wrong terribly because Newwiee looked very regretful, deliberately forgoing all shops he might have an interest in and instead heading over to Dogweed and Deathcap so Tay could check on some exotic plants.

Tay thought he was rather cute.

To their disappointment both Dogweed and Deathcap as well as Gladrags Wizardwear had a rather modest variety of goods. The items were mostly outdated and the clothes were more fitting for the elder inhabitant of Hogsmeade than a Hogwarts student.

After leaving the stores without purchasing anything they both decided to meet each other over the Christmas break to go shopping in London. Without telling him where they were headed, Newwiee, now in a better mood, pulled Tay along with him. They ended up on the doorstep of a cute little café. It looked like any old tea shop in the UK except that the frames of the storefront bay windows were painted in a particularly obnoxious pink. The hanging sign read “Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop” and the inscription in turquoise above the door confirmed Tay’s suspicion as it screamed “Tea & Cakes” at him. Through the window Tay could catch a glimpse at the shop, crowded with couples sitting on white chairs in the midst of what could only be described an explosion of pink and cushions.

Curiously Tay pushed the door open and got assaulted by a waft of warmth and the scent of sweets and spices.

The decoration was very tacky and everything was covered with frilly bows. The windows to their sides were steamed up and Tay couldn’t hear anything over the chatter of what seemed to be at least eight couples.

Newwiee aimed for the stairs and they made their way to the second floor, sitting down on a comfy sofa towards the back of the room. Although the place was bustling with people and the clattering of dishes had been deafening downstairs, the noise was more bearable upstairs as some of the seats were still empty.

“It’s only couples in here…”, Tay started but a waitress came up and he got interrupted by Newwiee listing what seemed to be every item on the menu as he looked at Tay and shrugged. Soon a mountain of cakes, pastries and sweets started to form on their table. Tay took a sip of his oolong tea, the only thing he had ordered, as he watched Newwiee make short work of a pumpkin pastry, hands already reaching for the cauldron cakes. He hummed in satisfaction and Tay couldn’t find it in himself to stop him, even if everything indicated that one of them would experience severe stomach aches tonight. “Here”, and Newwiee pushed half of a treacle tart into his face so he could take a bite. Tay obliged. “Urghhh, it’s really sweet.” “These are from Sugarplum's Sweet Shop. They only have them in Diagon Alley and here.” Newwiee’s pace had slowed down, but now he was excitedly slapping Tay with his sticky fingers. Some of the Toffee eclairs had gotten smeared around his mouth. Tay took a tissue and wiped the corner of Newwiee’s mouth, who happily pushed his face closer.

The couple next to them seemed to have gotten distracted by the amount of sweets Newwiee was eating and Tay could see them shamelessly gawking as they started to whisper. He shot them his iciest look and they turned around.

He tried to make Newwiee drink some of his oolong tea and decided to nibble on some of the sweet treats to humour him. But besides the fresh fruit that was used for decoration nothing was to his taste. However, just watching Newwiee trying to decide between a doughnut and a brownie was all the entertainment he needed. “You can eat all these on Christmas for free”, he laughed. Newwiee force-fed him some waffles for being a know-it-all. They weren’t half-bad. “Hogwarts doesn’t have THESE”, and Newwiee pointed to whatever was left-over of his order and shook his head at the idea that all these delicious treats could taste the same to someone. Tay smiled fondly at Newwiee.

“What’s this new wand about by the way?” Tay seemed to be confused for a moment before he pulled it out of his jacket and realized that Newwiee had only ever seen his practice wands. “Not new. This is the one my parents bought for me.” “What’s it made of?”, Newwiee stretched out his hands for Tay to hand it over. The wand had a beautiful light brown colour, was only slightly curved and adorned by a wood knot at the end. Something pulled at Newwiee’s heart as he looked it over. “Nepalese alder with unicorn hair”, Tay held his wand at a safe distance from Newwiee’s sticky fingers. “The wandmaker told me that I must be stubborn in character for an alder wand to choose me.” “I have to agree with him. Never met someone as bull-headed as you!”, Newwiee smirked and knew he had pushed the right buttons when Tay got worked up more and more about his comment by the minute.

In the end they were almost thrown out for too much arguing.

That night Tay was awoken by a soft voice calling out for him. Turning in his bed he saw a glint in the two-way-mirror. Yawning, he reached out for it and Newwiee’s face appeared in his line of sight. “Ui, Tay. Tay, Tay”, Newwiee whispered into the mirror. All Tay could see where his lips and he had to stop himself from just pressing a kiss on his side of the mirror. Sleep-drugged Tay never made the best choices. “What?”, he grumbled instead. Silence. “What?”, he repeated. Newwiee seemed to have become aware of his presence. “Can’t sleep”, he whined trying to act cute so Tay would take pity on him. “Told you not to eat all those sweets”, Tay nagged, which only let to Newwiee whining some more.

After stretching his legs, he put on a jumper and his boots, walking out of the dormitory leaving the mirror behind on his bed.

He had to give it to the sorting head. The kitchen being right in the vicinity of the Hufflepuff common room was everything he thought he ever needed. Walking down the corridor he stopped in front of the painting of a bowl of fruit and tickled a pear gingerly, trying not to wake up the house elves. The pear giggled sleepily and turned into a large green door handle, revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens.

It took him some time to find what he was looking for but soon enough he climbed up the stairs to the 7th floor a cup of piping hot tea in his hand.

Waiting in front of the painting of the fat lady he berated himself for forgetting to take the mirror with him. Despite his drowsiness he felt something akin to fear at the thought of being caught by Filch. Just when he was sure to have heard a cat meowing around the corner the painting swung back and revealed Newwiee’s face.

Both got startled and Newwiee dropped the blanket in his arms to clasp a hand over Tay’s mouth before his screams could wake someone up. “Huaaaaaaaaa”, a loud yawn escaped from the portrait. ”You might as well just go inside Hufflepuff hottie”, the fat lady chirped. Apparently she had faked her sleep in order to ogle at Tay while he was waiting to be let in. Now that she had to face the wall and the Hufflepuff boy seemed to be taken she rapidly lost interest. Newwiee shuddered at that thought of the fat lady creeping up on Tay and pulled him in by his arm, while Tay was concentrating on not spilling the tea.

After histrionically flopping down on the sofa in front of the fire place Newwiee curled up with his blanket.

It was the first time for Tay to enter the Gryffindor common room. It was full of squashy armchairs, tables and a sofa, all in several shades of red. Many windows looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The others were covered with scarlet tapestries depicting witches and wizards, as well as various animals and bookcases filled to the top with novels.

Tay sat down on the sofa, blowing on the tea to cool it down a little bit further before knocking the cup softly against Newwiee’s head. He only got a growl for an answer. “It’s oolong tea, should help with your bloated stomach.” Newwiee pushed himself up to look at Tay and was met with the rim of a cup in his face. Having no other choice, he took a few sips. The tea tasted incredibly bitter but Tay was unyielding and forced him to drink up. Newwiee pushed himself up a little more so he wouldn’t choke and rested his head on Tay’s shoulder when he finished. “Isn’t this going to keep me awake?” he mumbled, eyes half-closed. “I steeped it long enough.” “Huh? You don’t make sense”, Newwiee started to get cranky and knocked his forehead against Tay’s shoulder. “During the first three minutes theine gets released into the water and keeps you awake. If you steep it longer, the tannin will dissolve as well and make you sleepy in return”, Tay patted Newwiee’s head to appease him.

“How did you know I was coming?” Newwiee didn’t answer. A sudden thought made Tay feel all warm and fuzzy. “Did you have that blanket with you to go and sleep at my dorm?” The question was meant to annoy Newwiee, but when he got just another growl in return he knew that he had been dead on. He felt all silly and vulnerable in his hopefulness.

“Tay?”, Newwiee forced his eyes open to look up at him. “Alder wands don’t choose stubborn people. They often are for those who are helpful, considerate and most likeable.” With that he re-positioned himself and fell asleep with his head on Tay’s leg.

Tay had a hard time to control his breathing.

to be continued

HP!TayNew

part 3: Day 1 (Part 3)

( 1.8 k)

thanks as always to @sluttynewwiee, @earthpodd , @bl-phillip @ziq-panda + @somewhatavidreader for the sweetest tags and comments (and still reading this fic ^^)

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 4 5 6)

After sleeping in for a little bit longer than usual they met for breakfast in the great hall.

Newwiee had just helped himself to a big portion of pancakes when they started bickering. It started with Tay calling him fat and turned into them arguing about wand sizes. A discussion which went on, with some intermissions, until the third period. Tay was convinced that Newwiee’s slightly shorter wand allowed him to cast spells more accurately.

“I told you mine is bigger”, Tay yelled as they tried to pass the door to the charms classroom simultaneously. Neither of them acknowledged the questioning eyes of the people around them. “So? The accuracy of your spell has nothing to do with size. I’d know, I have professionals in my family.”

Tay would attribute every successful spell in class to a miracle or his superior natural magical abilities and every failed one to the length of his wand. Just to annoy him Newwiee performed a switching spell, whirling Tay’s targets around so he couldn’t aim properly. This only lead to more complaints about his long wand.

The noise level of the class rose and Flitwick knew he had lost control over the students. He decided on having them repeat the Carpe Retractum instead. Nothing more effective at tiring out a bunch of teenagers than having them try to pull a heavy cabinet on a magical rope. They were standing in a row, everyone chatting excitedly while waiting for their turn. Some could hardly control the spell and the light orange rope would fizzle out before it could even fasten around the furniture. Loud cheers and cries erupted when one Ravenclaw managed to rattle the cabinet, string darkening in color before her energy ran out.

Tay was next. He moved his wand in a whip-like motion, feeling pretty smooth when the dark orange string hit the cabinet, getting a good hold on it. But pulling it was much harder than he had expected. “Mr. Vihokratana! Arm angled, wand higher, weight shift to the back”, professor Flitwick tried to help him. Tay leaned back, but the pull on his wand was too strong to bend his arm. Now it looked less like he was handling a magical rope but more like he was struggling with a fishing rod, getting pulled by the catch. Taking a step back and leaning back even more he could feel Newwiee standing right behind him. “Move!”, was the only thing he could get out between gritted teeth before the pull got too strong. His rope broke and he fell against Newwiee, who looked down at him with amusement.

Tay quickly moved out of the way, rubbing his arm to loosen the muscles that were strained by overexertion.

Standing to the side he watched to see if Newwiee could do any better. Newwiee cast the charm beautifully. His rope had more of a purple hue and looked quite sturdy. Leaning back, he got into textbook posture and started to pull. The cabinet slowly but surely started to move. What was even more admirable was that it hardly scraped over the floor while getting pulled towards the students. Everyone held their breath in anticipation until Newwiee’s gang of Gryffindors started to cheer him on loudly, chanting their house name. Newwiee looked quite smug but all Tay could focus on was his arm. The sleeves of Newwiee’s white buttoned shirt were rolled up and he exerted enough strength that Tay could see the veins protruding.

The same arm that had snaked around him to hold him steady when they were fighting that skrewt at the lake. It was funny how he could still feel where Newwiee’s hand had been on his left side. He put the palm of his hand onto the same spot but he couldn’t chase the feeling away.

It looked like finally Newwiee had used up all his strength, the rope turned orange before it vanished. Light was dancing in front of Tay’s eyes as he kept staring at the spot where it had disappeared. The cabinet had moved by quite a bit and Professor Flitwick ecstatically clapped his hands and motioned for the next student to step forward. Newwiee smiled when he moved to Tay’s side, propping up his elbow on Tay’s shoulder before he turned to watch his classmate’s efforts. Tay was still caught in his thoughts. Usually he wasn’t keen on being touched but Newwiee’s hands on him felt nice, reassuring. He really had become a steadying presence for him here at Hogwarts.

Getting no reaction out of Tay who was still spacing out, Newwiee patted his shoulder before joining his gang of Gryffindors.

If Professor Flitwick hadn’t called on him to ask whether he still had a question Tay would’ve stood rooted to his spot for even longer. The classroom had already emptied out.

Hastily he collected his bag and robe before breaking into a sprint. He arrived at the dungeons just in time.

Newwiee wasn’t obligated to wait for him. Nevertheless, Tay felt weird when Newwiee looked up at him and simply raised his eyebrows like nothing had happened. Nothing HAD happened. Putting down his belongings he could feel his whole face scrunch up in a scowl. He knew that he was being unnecessarily weird about something like this.

Writing appeared on the blackboard. ‘Wit-sharpening Potion’. “Oi, Tay. This one’s for you!”, he heard the amusement in Newwiee’s voice and his scowl intensified. “You are dumb, too.” What a weak come-back.

“Open your books on page twent-ty-four”, Snape snarled while swooshing into the classroom. “You have one hour. One wrong color change: you start over.” His eyes pierced Newwiee, who just stood there listening attentively. “Second wrong color change. Leave.” He gave an icy look around the room. “Don’t. Waist. My. Ingredients.”

Tay took a look at the instructions. Only three ingredients were listed and it seemed like they just had to be added one after the other before simmering the potion. Should be easy enough.

He had successfully added the ginger root and armadillo bile and was now waiting for the potion to turn from lime green to blue. Pulling out a stone mortar he started to prepare the scarab beetles. The recipe said that they had to be ground into a fine powder. With his right hand holding the mortar in place he started to push the pestle down onto the dried shells of the insects. Getting into a rhythm was easy, he had seen his grandmother grind up ingredients like this since he was a small child. Looking up he could see that most students were following what he was doing. Some tried their luck at charming the pestle with varying success, clinging onto their mortars as the pestles came down hard. Newwiee stood relaxed to his side, eyes never leaving his cauldron to inspect the color change while his mortal and pestle worked perfectly on their own on the beetle powder. The charms were all quite simple, but Tay was once again impressed by the precision and control Newwiee had.

Snape had just wandered over to the Slytherin tables when it happened. The mortar cracked loudly before breaking into two pieces. The half-ground beetles got scattered over his table and the floor. Tay froze. The air in the dungeons felt even colder and he didn’t dare turn around in case Snape had witnessed the accident. Left hand shaking while he was still gripping one piece of the mortar he slowly looked up and met Newwiee’s eyes. They were both staring at each other in shock, but Newwiee’s eyes twinkled like he might laugh any second. “What the fuck Tay?”, he mouthed at him, lips definitely twitching now. “Help?!” Tay whispered back, still unmoving. Making sure that Snape was still behind the pillar breathing down the necks of other students Newwiee walked over to him. He manually removed the broken mortar from Tay’s hand. “Reparo duo”, the two pieces sprung together and melted back into each other. Tay had regained some of his composure and attempted to clean up the mess around him. “Tergeo.” The crushed beetles were lifted into the air momentarily before falling down and spreading even further. “Stop.” Newwiee put his hand on Tay’s wand. “Reparo.” And all the crushed insects returned into his newly fixed mortar. Tay sighed at himself. Nodding at Newwiee he was about to get back to work when his hands were caught again. He had cut his finger when gripping too strongly onto the mortar. “Episkey.” The small cut closed up nicely. “Tergeo.” The blood around the wound vanished as well. “Ah…” Tay thought. “This mixture doesn’t need any blood in it. You do realize that you desperately need this potion, right?” Newwiee smirked at him. Tay didn’t dare saying anything in return. He was the one that just confused two beginners’ spells…

When the hour was up, Snape walked around inspecting their results. Tay eyed his potion over the rim of his glasses, trying to figure out whether it was a dark orange or more of a maroon. “Too much heat. Poor.“ Snape didn’t even need to take a second look. Tay didn’t know how one could feel so stupid when brewing the wit-sharpening potion. His glasses had slid halfway down his nose, his robes were smeared with beetle dust and his shirt got loosened during the panicky frenzy earlier. Newwiee’s result wasn’t that much better, he had spent most of the time helping Tay instead of monitoring the color of his cauldron. “Too much of the ginger roots. Acceptable.”

The remaining time was spend repeating the properties of each ingredient until Snape decided that he had enough of them and ended the class, three devout Slytherin following him outside to his obvious displeasure.

“Too much of the ginger roots? Were you going for a beautification potion?” Tay teased Newwiee, happy that this dreadful class was over for the week. “Not that I would need that. Although if I remember correctly, wasn’t it your ginger powder that turned your dorm in an inhabitable zone just a few days ago?” “Well that ginger powder was meant for you!” Tay could feel his face burn-up at this thoughtless insult that sounded more like he was caring about Newwiee than anything. “I wouldn’t take some potion mixed by you. Your Wit-Sharpening Potion’s color was telling its own tale. Maroon.” Newwiee snickered. Tay couldn’t believe his ears. Newwiee just managed to one-up him on the stupid insult scale. “Get it?! Maroon. Moron. Maroon. Moron?! You. Are. An. Idiot.” Newwiee really went all in with this joke, hands on Tay’s shoulders holding him in place while he hollered the words in pure delight into his ears. Tay let his head fall on Newwiee’s shoulder in mock exasperation before he shrugged him off and walked on.

Turning around he threw a “Let me take a quick shower!” at Newwiee before walking away. Newwiee contorted his face, dumbfounded.

Thankfully there was no one around who could’ve heard Tay.

to be continued

part 4

HP!TayNew

part 3: Day 1 (Part 2)

(2.1 k)

thanks again to @sluttynewwiee, @earthpodd , @bl-phillip @ziq-panda + @somewhatavidreader for the sweetest tags

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.3 4 5 6)

Tay got a pleasant surprise the next day. Thursday mornings meant transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall. Thursday mornings usually meant Newwiee excelling at another subject. But this Thursday morning Newwiee failed to execute the charm they had been studying for the past week. Newwiee’s voice had been low and steady. A shiver head run down Tay’s back. Newwiee’s movements had been swift and confident. But the color of his uniform never changed.

When he tried it for the first time Tay didn’t realize that Newwiee had failed. It just never happened.  He just assumed that he had targeted something that was so small that he just couldn’t see the color change. But Newwiee tried again after having a quick look around.  Professor McGonagall was occupied with containing the mess one student had made out of his hair, her look quite severe. “Colovaria”, Newwiee said pointing at his own uniform. Nothing happened.

Tay had stopped practicing and his head propped onto his hand he alternated between watching Newwiee’s efforts and Professor McGonagall slowly making her way to them.

She was known for having no tolerance for silliness and dismissed any students who dared to fool around. Tay didn’t know whether changing the color of one’s uniform fell more into the silly or foolish category with her. But Newwiee was in for some big trouble if he didn’t stop immediately. He looked back at Newwiee going for his fourth attempt, clearly not aware of how close Professor McGonagall was. Tay didn’t try to warn him, looking forward to the drama that was about to unfold.

“Mr. Thitipoom”, her voice cut through the background noise of the classroom. “What exactly are you trying to accomplish there?” She definitely knew what he was doing, Tay rejoiced. “Changing the color, Professor.” “Do not try to be cheeky with me”, she said sternly.  To Tay’s disappointment she left it at that and moved on to the next table. The perks of being an outstanding student he guessed. But professor McGonagall halted in her step and turned around, eyes piercing Newwiee who still stood rooted to his spot. Tay held his breath.  “But do say, what color were you trying to turn your uniform into?” Tay gripped tightly onto his copy of Intermediate Transformation in excitement.  “Green, Professor.” Tay could feel the pages scrunch up under his fingers. Another book that would hate him he guessed. Professor McGonagall actually seemed at a loss for words.  She raised one eyebrow and then declared:  “One point from Gryffindor.” Tay was full on squeezing his book now, looking up at Newwiee and waiting for a reaction. “And one point from Hufflepuff.”  Tay jumped in his seat and sat up straight. But too late. “For mucking about and not stopping a foolish friend.”  Shock was written all over Tay’s face, while Newwiee sat down next to him patting his shoulder sympathetically.

Things turned out to not go any smoother for the rest of the day. Having to carry two books to class was always a nuisance but Newt Scamander’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was particularly heavy. Tay was even more annoyed by the fact that Professor Rakepick never made use of it. He somehow managed to push open the classroom door with his shoulder but before he could put down his books he collided with his desk and they fell down with a clunk. Scamander’s book had landed wide open and he could hear the spine crack. Newwiee sighed as he went to pick up the book form him. But has as soon as he had lifted it he dropped it with a shudder. Now the book laid down on its other side and Tay could see that it had opened right on the introductory page of skrewts. Their eyes met. “Gary!”, Newwiee mouthed at Tay and they snickered.

Professor Rakepick was an excellent curse-breaker and well respected in the wizarding community. At the same time, she had the habit to tease her students and pick the most ungrateful spells to end her class with. Today she had them go through the movements for the hex-breaker. It was a left-handed spell that required six steps and finished with the caster doing a handstand and saying the spell while holding the wand with their feet. While looking absolutely ridiculous Newwiee made it through the steps, pushing himself up into a handstand without difficulties. Tay’s eyes were fixed on his arms again. They didn’t even seem to feel the weight of the body they had to support. When it was Tay’s turn he stumbled quite a bit around before even reaching the final step, much to the amusement of Professor Rakepick. Pushing himself up in a headstand proved to be even more difficult. In the end Newwiee went down on his knees, arms reaching around Tay’s waist to hold him steady. Just as he was about to cast the spell he suddenly felt Newwiee’s right hand moving upwards touching his butt. All strength left his arms and giggling he fell right onto him. Newwiee was shaking with laughter. The blood had been drained from Tay’s head by standing up-side-down for so long that he felt extremely light-headed when he attempted to stand up again.

The whole way from the classroom to the library Newwiee kept an arm around his shoulder just to be sure he wouldn’t feel dizzy and fall.

Gun was already waiting for them, having fought everyone who attempted to sit next to him in order to keep the table empty. He watched them curiously as they walked in arm in arm, still cackling about the disaster their hex-spell had turned into.

Brooding over their assignments they decided to compare notes from time to time. Which pretty soon turned into them arguing about every little detail. Pointing at some of Newwiee’s scribbles Tay complained that they were unreadable while the other poked his finger at Tay’s face arguing that he must still be high from standing up-side-down for too long. Tay took mock-offense and threatened to poke Newwiee until he’d recognize his seniority.

Gun held his head between his hands and occasionally looked up to sigh as they draped themselves more and more over each other while arguing. Their fight was completely off topic by now and he rejoiced when Off stepped into their part of the library. Luckily there still was an Astronomy class at midnight and Tay and New had to excuse themselves to get something to eat.

In that moment Madam Pince turned the corner to throw them out. 

After dinner Tay returned to the Hufflepuff basement to take a quick shower. Taking his time to wind down he realized that this was the happiest he has been at Hogwarts so far. And it all had started with a small exploration of the selkies. He smiled thinking about how panicked Newwiee had looked that day, standing wandless in the water. How he would distort his face in mock disgust when Tay teased him about it later on. And Newwiee’s hands on his. On his waist.

Tay’s mind wandered to today’s incident and he was about to touch where Newwiee had put his hand earlier before he stopped himself. The water was cascading down on his head as he leaned against the tiles, cheeks hurting from not being able to control his smile.

After changing into a thicker sweater, he all but ran up the stairs to the astronomy tower.

High above the walls of the school it pushed into the sky. Circular levels overlapped and formed a protruding observation platform in the middle, roofed by a pointy spire and open to the sides. Flanked by two smaller towers a balustrade encompassed the open space, giving it the illusion of a stone pavilion.

Last week he had sat here with his telescope looking at the constellations in the sky, feeling small and forlorn. Tay felt a pang in his heart just at the memory of that night.

Some of his classmates had already settled into their spots along the balustrade, using hot-air charms to keep warm.   Professor Sinistra stepped through the archway and distributed blank star charts. Later they would be used to determine the adequate time to plant or harvest certain magical plants and the potency of certain potions depending on the position of moon. There were still some minutes left before the bells would strike midnight, but Tay already got anxious about Newwiee skipping class so he collected one extra chart from the professor. Some students set to work early, but he decided to wait for a little longer.

Tay was getting irritated. He pointed his wand at his reference books and used the depulso charm to throw them around. While not suffering any real damage, Tay was relentless in his attack, slapping them repeatedly against the balustrade. Newwiee just had to fix the pages ones he got here, served him right.  

“I didn’t know you wanted people to take you as even a bigger weirdo than you already are”, Newwiee chimed up behind them. Putting the cushion he had carried under his arm next to Tay he assembled his equipment with a swipe of his wand. Tay forgot all about using the books to punish him and looked up. Newwiee thought that Tay looked funny like that, brows still knitted together in silent fury while his grin already touched his ears.

He propped himself up on the plushy cushion, stretching his legs. The bells in the bell towers chimed 12 times. “I thought you might have gone down to the lake to swim again.” Newwiee shuddered at the thought. “I don’t think I will go back there alone any time soon.” Tay looked displeased at his posture. “Give me half of the cushion”, he threatened holding up the star charts, well-knowingly that Newwiee could just ask Professor Sinistra for another one. Newwiee just raised his eyebrow and pouted before he moved a little bit to the side. With a smirk Tay threw his head onto the pillow, pulling up his telescope so he could observe the stars while lying on his back.

Scribbling the stars of Aquila and Cygnus on his chart it took Newwiee some time to notice that Tay wasn’t working on his. “What are you looking at?” “Hm?” “I said what are you looking at?” Tay grabbed his neck and pulled him towards him so that he could see through his telescope. “The fireworks galaxy.” Newwiee took a look at the colorful spots and turned to face Tay. “So, you are a geek about astronomy as well?” “No, I just happened to see it…” Tay playfully slapped Newwiee’s stomach. “If you’re not working, you might clear the space between us so I could lie down more comfortably.” “Am working. And this”, he gestured at his left hand holding the quill “only works like this”, and he turned on his side to note down some stars, starting to work seriously. But after the third dot he started giggling and Newwiee realized that he had been spouting bullshit. Looking up at him waggishly Tay started to move his papers behind his back before his eyes caught something. Newwiee was only wearing the school’s thin buttoned shirt.

“Aren’t you cold?” “I’m always warm”, Newwiee shrugged. Tay’s hand landed on his chest, taking in the temperature. “You are”, he said in surprise. “Annoying.” Tay turned around to get back to work.

After finishing their star maps most students cleared the tower to head to their beds. Newwiee still had some constellations to dot down while Tay was lying on his back, head more on Newwiee’s shoulder than his cushion. He couldn’t tell whether Tay was distracting him intentionally or not. The air was getting colder around them, most of the hot-air charms surrounding them were wearing out slowly. But with Newwiee nestled next to him it was still comfortable enough for him to just lie on his back and gaze at the stars. In the distance scratchy, bark-like calls could be heard. Tay perked up. It sounded just like the call of the short-eared owl his family used for their correspondence. His chest felt a little bit tighter. He missed his grandmother.

A finger on his chin pulled him out of his thoughts. “Did you forget to shave?” It seemed that Newwiee had finished the assignment. He turned Tay’s chin from side to side and inspected the stubble grazing it with his fingertips. “Broke my razor…” Newwiee looked amused. “Don’t laugh. I can’t trust myself with any spells so I have to go around like this. Off wouldn’t help, he thinks I should go for a beard.” “Try the spell. You might end up bald.” Tay couldn’t even force himself to look annoyed.   “Do it for me?” Professor Sinistra cleared her throat behind them.

They jumped apart immediately. Newwiee collected their belongings while Tay handed over their assignments, apologizing profusely to the professor, stumbling over his words.

to be continued

part 3.3

HP!TayNew au

part 8: New Years Bonus

@earthpodd @sluttynewwiee @bl-phillip

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 5 6)

Hogwarts was one of the biggest schools in the wizarding worlds.

Its buildings were huge and it was home to a myriad of corridors and rooms.

Still, it was hard to find privacy. All dorm rooms were shared with at least 4 people and some nosy first-years could be found nearly everywhere.

After almost getting caught kissing by Professor McGonagall one day and Tay thoroughly embarrassing them by flirting with Newwiee in front of a second-year student another day they opted for the room of requirements.

While it might have been an obvious choice for a place to avoid people, it came with its own specialties.

After Newwiee felt him up during astronomy class “by accident” one to many times Tay dragged him to the 7th floor corridor, even though it was way past their curfew. After stepping through an inconspicuous doorway, they found themselves right back on top of what seemed to be the astronomy tower’s observation platform.

The only difference was that no wind was blowing and beyond the balustrade a vast nothingness began instead of the drop to the ground.

Some stars could be seen and Newwiee slumped over Tay’s back.

“So…you did enjoy that back up there.” Tay could feel his smile against his neck.

“What?” Tay tried to keep his voice steady, but the layout of the room was telling another story and it made him furious that he couldn’t even attempt to lie.

“Me brushing you occasionally.”

“That’s called caressing!”

“Sure.” Tay slapped the hand away that tried to sneak under his sweater.

Newwiee whined disapprovingly but let himself get pulled further onto the platform instead.

“You actually envisioned stars…so romantic.” Newwiee couldn’t stop teasing Tay. “Do you want to do this on the real tower as well?”

“I’m not…” Tay’s voice wavered before he smirked.

“You are not what?”

“…into that like you.”

Newwiee sputtered. It still amazed him how Tay would get embarrassed so easily in public but say the wildest things when it was just the two of them.

“I’m not an exhibitionist”, he pulled Tay down on a cushion and slapped the back of his head as punishment. All the pouting wouldn’t wipe away Tay’s shit eating grin and the situation was made worse by the fact that Tay wouldn’t even kiss him.

Newwiee knew he looked adorable when he was sulking but somehow it didn’t work on Tay when he wanted it to.

“Ah…ah…”, and Tay nodded with his head in mock-understanding closer to Newwiee’s face. ”I’ll give you a kiss if you want it that badly.”

Newwiee pulled away in annoyance and jabbed Tay’s side with a finger. Soon they were engaged in a serious tickle fight with each other, leaving them out of breath and disheveled.

Upon sneaking back into his room Tay was awarded with a knowing look by Off. Of course there had been some making-out involved but it made him mad that Off wouldn’t even buy that they had just tickled each other and nothing more.

The next time they opted for the room of the requirements an even bigger betrayal was awaiting them.

“New!” Tay yelled upon entering what could only be describes as a replica of the Slytherin common room. He disapprovingly shook his head and held his index finger in Newwiee’s face who looked just as shocked as he was.

“Don’t fuck with me. This is definitely not what I was looking for!”, Newwiee screamed at the room, but even he himself wasn’t sure if his subconsciousness wasn’t still stuck on the green Slytherin outfits and compensating for their last adventure.

Eying the rough stone floor he shivered.

“This is going to be uncomfortable.”

Newwiee walked further into the room letting his fingers glide over the skulls that were lined up on the dark wood cupboards.

The replica of Slytherin common room was just like what Gun had described to them. Part of it stretched under the lake with windows opening up to the water, giving the room a green tinge. The light got amplified by round, green lanterns hanging from the ceiling on chains. Newwiee decided to head towards the group of dark green leather sofas that were grouped around the fireplace.

The room had seemed creepy and cold on first sight, but the elegant interior combined with the mysterious light did something to him he couldn’t quite explain. His skin tingled where the soft warmth of the fire touched him and he perched himself on the biggest sofa.

Running one hand though his hair he turned to Tay in anticipation as he reached for the first button on his shirt.

Tay smirked back at him. Newwiee didn’t need to know what he had been wishing for when they were running up and down the corridor on the 7th floor.

HP!TayNew - Finale

part 7: ซ่อนกลิ่น tuberose (sorn klin) - part 2

( 2.8 k)

thanks to @sluttynewwiee : this would have never happened without you and I was delighted at the plot bunnies you gave me @earthpodd : thank you for all the comments and being supportive and helpful while I asked you random questions and screamed at you @bl-phillip for the amazing life commentary + I stole some of your ideas 💕 @ziq-panda + @somewhatavidreader for the sweet comments both in the tags and on ao3 @babynewwiee / @ceceliinee:  to make you more emotional ^^

shoutout to “ASMR rooms” & “Magical Ambience & ASMR worlds” on youtube for their brilliantly looped Harry Potter soundscapes (songs that were also on loop while writing this: Warm on a Cold Night by Honne (the whole album), Delicate by Taylor Swift, ความเงียบดังที่สุด by Getsunova, ซ่อนกลิ่น by PALMY & Harry in Winter from the HP Soundtrack)

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 5 6)

The end of the year was nearing and while Tay pondered what he’d do during the Christmas break, it was obvious to Newwiee that he’d just join his family. However, these plans had to be pushed back by a bit. A delegation from Tay’s old school was expected to visit Hogwarts and a ball had been organised on the 23rd to celebrate their educational effort in the wizarding world.

Usually Tay had a certain dislike for such events, not only because he felt uncomfortable with anything that involved dancing, but also because he’d draw the attention of everyone once more. But as both an alumnus and the grandson of a former headmaster it was good manners to attend.

Tay and New decided to stay on until the big feast on the 25th, seeing no reason to skip Christmas as there would be nothing going on at Newwiee’s home anyways. Overhearing their planning Gun shook his head. Tay and New were obnoxiously cute together. He really wouldn’t mind them as much if Newwiee hadn’t taken to defend Tay against his bullying. He was already set up with Off as a partner, a must for a 3rd year like him, so he spent his free time observing other students trying to approach both Tay and New with the intention to ask them out for the ball. Occasionally Off would join him but he found it much harder to watch how his oblivious friend broke one heart after the other.

Not only did Tay believe that he wasn’t exceptionally good-looking, he was convinced that he wasn’t popular at all. In his mind the novelty of being an exchange student had already worn off. Therefore he didn’t spend too much thought on the students that tried to approach him, asking him whether he’d attend the ball. He confirmed to all of them that he indeed planned on going, but never dwelled longer on the topic. It made Tay happy that his school mates started to talk to him instead of just whispering behind his back. However, everyone who’d had hopes of being his date interpreted his behaviour as rejection and withdrew. Newwiee on the other hand was already fixed on going with Tay. Not particularly because he thought of him as a date but because the idea of going with someone else didn’t cross his mind.

So he was taken by surprise when Tay asked him who his ball date was. “Did you ask someone?”, Newwiee felt silly for not taking into consideration that Tay might find someone else. “No?”, Tay seemed to be as confused as he was. “Why would I go without you then?” Off looked like he was about to explode, trying desperately not to comment on their exchange. When he couldn’t hold it together anymore he turned to Gun and made the most inconspicuous gagging face. Gun climbed into his lap to distract him from his misery. Tay’s expression morphed into something very complicated. Newwiee had asked so innocently, he really shouldn’t think that there was more to it. It was satisfying enough to know that Newwiee hadn’t even thought about going with someone else.

On the night of the 23rd instead of the house colours, banners with Hogwarts’s crest were hanging down from the ceiling of the great hall on one side, while banners of the Suankularb School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were arranged on the other. The pink and blue banners adorned with yellow, orange and red roses looked quite frivolous next to the time-honoured crest of Hogwarts. The designs should have been incompatible but somehow they complimented each other in a peculiar way. Just like them, Tay thought as Newwiee and him entered the brightly decorated hall. Newwiee wore simple dark robes with a light blue lining, while Tay had felt obligated to wear his old school’s white dress uniform. A white khrui with gold boarders completed his look and made him stand out from the masses. Newwiee’s skin was radiating in the candle light. Tay pulled on his stiff mandarin collar to get some more air. “For fucks sake”, he swore under his breath when even more students poured into the room making it difficult not to get pushed around. Newwiee put his arm around his shoulder to steady him. It turned out to be impossible to walk further into the room so they decided to lean against the wall as not to get squashed. Tay’s eyes went up to the ceiling. After meeting Newwiee he had never felt home-sick, but seeing his grandma’s schools’ banner again after so long made him choke up. Noticing his inner turmoil, Newwiee lightly massaged Tay’s neck until he could feel him relax. Tay gave him a small smile in return. Headmaster Wittaya Srichompoo spoke some words after Dumbledore. He was quite young and less known as a wizard so not many people were paying attention until he declared the banquet to be open. Cheers erupted from all sides of the hall and people started clapping when Dumbledore led Professor McGonagall onto the dance floor. Soon, everyone around them got up to dance or chat up new people. Tay patted Newwiee’s sleeve before pushing through the crows to greet his seniors as etiquette demanded. Newwiee was left behind, awkwardly leaning onto the wall as he watched Tay’s head disappear among the dancing couples. He considered joining his Gryffindor pals but they were all scattered across the room with their respective partners. The drink in his hand tasted bitter so he tossed it into the nearest Christmas tree. Off joined him later on, looking slightly pissed. Tay only returned when the ballroom dancing was over and The Weird Sisters had taken over the stage. Everyone was dissolving into chaos when the first bars of the bass line the room. Newwiee liked the band and Tay pretended to at least know them as he screamed random lyrics at the top of his lungs. Instead of dancing they both were jumping around aimlessly and Off side-eyed them as he backed off to look for Gun. Newwiee hadn’t noticed it at first but Tay must have had one too many drinks handed to him by his school’s seniors because he started to lose his footing. After the fourth song he was just swaying about, looking totally out of it. After someone stumbled into him he lost his balance and fell into Newwiee chest who held him tight and guided him out of the hall. By now Tay’s head had lolled onto his chest and he couldn’t walk properly anymore. The entrance hall was still crowded with too many people but at least there was more room to breathe. Luckily Off crossed their path and even though he was arguing loudly with Gun, he took his time to check up on Tay and told Newwiee to take him to his dorm. “Take good care of him!”, he called after them before running to catch up with Gun. Somehow Newwiee managed to get them down the stairs and in front of the barrels that blocked the entry to the Hufflepuff common room. He softly shook Tay, who was fast asleep in his arms. No response. Just when he grew impatient enough to kick the barrels, the doorway opened up and a group of giggling Hufflepuff girls ran past them. Once he had laid down Tay on his bed he froze. Being close like this in better light he could see where tears had run down Tay’s checks. Newwiee reached down to stroke Tay’s face, pondering whether he should help him change. Tay stirred in his sleep and slowly cracking his eyes open before being blinded by the light. Groaning he rolled onto his side. Coaxing him with a cup of water, Newwiee made Tay sit-up again to make sure he wasn’t feeling too sick. Tay seemed to get better after having a few sips and he wasn’t crying anymore. But the dried streaks on his face made Newwiee feel uneasy, although he couldn’t fathom that something this upsetting might have happened while they were separated. “You okay?” Tay simply nodded. “I’ll help you change.” Tay didn’t answer, but did nothing to protest when Newwiee sat down on the bed and proceeded to unbutton his top. Putting his fingers on the next row of buttons Tay did his best to make Newwiee’s job easier but his head was spinning badly and he couldn’t quite remember where he was or what had happened. When he was stripped down to his pants all energy left him and he leaned against Newwiee for support. “Sorry”, he mumbled against his neck. “You never say sorry”, Newwiee was amused despite the situation. Tay only groaned in answer but Newwiee could feel his small smile against his skin. “I’ll never – drink – again”, Tay managed to get out inhaling Newwiee’s scent to calm himself.

The effect of the alcohol seemed to slowly wear off. Making sure that he could hold himself upright again Newwiee fetched some towel and wiped down Tay’s body before getting a set of pyjamas for himself. He quickly changed, crawled into bed and pulled Tay down beside him.

“Still feeling fuzzy?” “It’s okay. I think I can sleep.” Newwiee turned off the lights and waited for Tay to fall asleep. He softly held him in his arms, careful not to smother him too much and make him feel sick again. But the alcohol circulating through his veins seemed to keep him awake. Nevertheless, Newwiee tried hard not to disturb him.

But after several minutes had past, he realised that Tay was looking at him. His eyes were blurred with tears.

“Why did you cry?”, he couldn’t refrain from asking. “Alcohol - just makes me think of things.” Tay’s voice was barely audible. “Things?” Tay didn’t answer and after listening to his deep breaths for a while Newwiee was sure that he had fallen asleep. Pushing the blanket to the side he was about to get up when he felt Tay’s fingers hold onto his t shirt. He lay back down and let Tay cling to him and push his nose into his chest. “I thought about you”, he mumbled into his shirt. And with that he finally seemed to have fallen asleep.

Tay woke up with a headache. Turning around he reached for his glasses but found Newwiee to be in his way. He couldn’t remember how he had gotten back to his dorms. He had even less of an idea why Newwiee was laying in his bed with him, spread out like a starfish. Tring not to make any sudden movements so as to not to upset his stomach he got up to drink some water. It was still dark, but he was sure that Off’s bed was empty. Pondering why Newwiee had brought him home and not Off he took another sip. He was doing surprisingly well until he made the mistake to turn his head too fast. A sharp pain ran through his head. Deciding that it was still too early he went to curl up next to Newwiee to sleep off his hangover. The next time he awoke it was already bright outside and next to him the bed was empty. The pain in his head had subsided so he got up to take a shower. But just as he had finished dressing himself he could feel all his energy getting drained from his body, alerting him to the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday’s lunch. While he wallowed in self-pity Off entered the room followed by Newwiee who was still wearing Tay’s shirt and sleeping shorts, holding a plate. Off seemed to only have returned to let Newwiee inside and he left after Tay assured him that he was doing better. “Here!”, Newwiee handed him the plate and sat down beside him on the bed. Tay took a look at the pancakes and raised an eyebrow at Newwiee. “This is not breakfast.” “Then don’t eat it”, Newwiee pretended to grab the plate. Begrudged Tay took a bite, his face scrunching up in disgust when sweet maple syrup coated the inside of his mouth. “You were much cuter yesterday”, Newwiee laughed. “I wasn’t cute.” “You can’t even remember what you did!” Tay panicked for a second. But Newwiee still being at his side meant that he couldn’t have done something too terrible so… “I remember everything!” “Really? Even how you didn’t want to let me go?” Tay’s stomach felt upset and he was quite sure that neither the hangover nor the pancakes were to blame. Newwiee looked worried. “How much did they make you drink?” “Not much”, Tay groaned. “But it’s wizards’ booze so the hangover is much worse.” “Sure”, Newwiee smirked. Tay jabbed his fork into his arm and laughed at the yelp that escaped Newwiee. In the end Newwiee finished the pancakes and when Tay felt well enough to get up again they went over to the great hall to get some “real food” as Tay called it. Feeling much better Tay asked Newwiee to go outside with him to catch some air while it was still light outside. Relieved that Tay’s melancholy had only been a thing of last night Newwiee was happy to comply.

The air was crisp and refreshing and they chased each other down the hill leaving tracks in the fresh snow. When Tay clumsily kicked up some snow to hit him Newwiee knew that Tay was back to his old self. After walking at the edge of the forbidden forest for some time they ended up on the small beach where they had fought the Skrewt. Their fight had happened only months ago but to them it felt much longer. Now the water was lapping peacefully at the beach and the trees were swaying in the wind. Tay shivered and pulled his shoulders up to hide his neck in his collar. The scenery was beautiful but it was way too cold. “Take me shopping over the break. I need a new camera.” Newwiee hummed in response and took an amused look at Tay who was bobbing up and down to stay warm. He stepped closer to adjust Tay’s jacket so that he was better protected against the wind. Hands falling down to Tay’s hips he turned him left and right. “Stop it, I’m not a child.” Tay protested but he rather enjoyed Newwiee holding him even if it was just to tease him. Newwiee had to laugh at Tay’s stern expression moving his hands to Tay’s cheeks to squeeze them. They were cold under his touch so he left them there to give off some of his body heat. Tay didn’t fight back even though his face got squished under Newwiee’s hands. He seemed to be lost in thought. Newwiee’s eyes vanished in a smile and Tay couldn’t help himself anymore. Taking Newwiee’s hands in his, he softly removed them from his cheeks and moved closer. When their noses were almost touching Newwiee looked at him in surprise but Tay just angled his head, looking into his eyes like he was asking for permission. Newwiee felt a tingle on his lips. The same one that had never really left after that day in the room of requirements. Their lips met in a soft kiss. Tay slowly pulled away in a daze, confused at the realisation that Newwiee hadn’t moved out of the way. Their lips had been too cold to feel much but Newwiee’s scent was still lingering, making his heart beat faster. Before he could say something Newwiee had pulled in him by his hips and kissed him hard. Tay parted his lips and slowed down their pace, leaving Newwiee breathless as he moved his hands behind his neck. They kept kissing until snowflakes fell down on their noses, alerting them to their surroundings. Newwiee pulled back and let his arms fall over Tay’s shoulders smiling at him teasingly. The sun was starting to go down. The wind was ruffling Newwiee’s fringe and under the orange light his eyes sparkled. Tay embarrassedly turned his head to the side and batted him off. Newwiee was still not saying anything and just continued to make him squirm. Unsure of what to do Tay decided to hug him tight and hide his face in his shoulder. He could hear Newwiee’s chest rumble with laughter so he turned his head to eye him up in annoyance. Newwiee opted to simply kiss his nose before having to giggle again so Tay bit his shoulder instead. Soon they were caught-up in a playfight as they were running up to the castle. Half-way up the hill they had to stop and catch their breath. They looked back down onto the lake as the last rays of sunshine vanished, dip-painting the scenery in a dark blue. Tay intertwined their fingers and they walked back to the castle hand in hand.

the end

HP!TayNew

part 3: Day 1 (Part 1)

(4.2 k)

thanks again to @sluttynewwiee, @earthpodd + @bl-phillip for the sweetest tags 

read on ao3 (part 1 2 3.2 3.3 4 5 6)

The first time they met after the incident was on Monday morning. By chance he arrived at the classroom at the same time Newwiee and his group showed up. Instead of the usual nod Newwiee gave him a soft smile, partially expressing his gratitude for what Tay had done for him on the weekend.

Suddenly what had happened started to feel real.

When he had returned to the dormitories the adrenaline had still been pumping through his veins. He had tried his best not to wake up Off and Gun who were splayed out on Off’s bed. Fully clothed he had sat down on his bed. Sleep just wouldn’t come to him, but his head had been empty. Caught in this trance he had stayed wide awake until the first rays of sunshine had shone through the window and he had passed out from exhaustion. When he had come to it, it was late afternoon. The room had been empty and no noise came from the common room.  He had felt like he was hung-over, both his head and stomach had hurt. Disoriented he had sat up slowly only for it to get black in front of his eyes. Off had sauntered into the room, holding his step, seemingly surprised to have found Tay somewhat awake. “You look like shit Peng!” he had greeted him, eyeing him up and down. Off had taken another bite of the sandwich he was holding in his hand before he had pushed the rest of it into his face. “Want some?” Tay couldn’t say anything before his stomach started growling, so he had taken a few bites.

A strong slap to his shoulder took him out of his thoughts. 

Newwiee squeezed his shoulder lightly with his hand before moving his hand to his back, pushing him into the classroom. “You alright?” he asked in a light tone pulling Tay down next to him in their usual corner. Newwiee’s friends strolled in behind them and didn’t comment on getting ignored in favor of Tay. Newwiee still had both his hands on Tay’s arms when he leaned over. “Are you okay?” he whispered. Maybe it was because he was sleep-deprived but Tay could swear that Newwiee never had touched him this much before. “Just freaking exhausted.” “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” He shook his head. Tay decided not to mention the abrasive burn the sand had left on his belly. Besides, he had already applied one of his dad’s healing pastes so no scarring should occur.

Professor Binns floated into the room and began his class. As if by command Tay’s head lolled down and he fell asleep. Deciding that he wouldn’t have to move his left arm for this class anyways, Newwiee let Tay’s head rest on it just as it was. Occasionally he played with Tay’s thick dark hair while Tay was soundly asleep, breathing deeply. Newwiee had never been so awake during a History of Magic class. He could remember just as little of what Professor Binn’s said as always.

Gentle nudges brought Tay back to the world. 

He felt somewhat refreshed and let Newwiee drag him down to the Greenhouses. The other Gryffindors had been sidelined completely by now. Thinking it was weird, Tay drew back the hand Newwiee was holding pretending like nothing was wrong when the other turned around to look at him.

Continuing their group work during herbology they settled into a good rhythm. Newwiee made jokes and pushed Tay from time to time but Tay would only get quieter and quieter, shying away from his touch. Thinking it was because of the exhausting weekend, Newwiee let it slide and just clung to him for the rest of the class.

Tay worked on his homework for the rest of the day, Off joined him for a few hours in the common room until Gun popped by to steal him and get something to eat.

Seriously, how did Gun manage to get into their common room on his own the whole time?  There was a secret rhythm one had to tap on a specific barrel in order to get in. While it would be possible for Off to have told Gun about the right lid, he was inept at drumming so there was no way Gun could have learned the rhythm from him. Off himself could hardly get inside the Hufflepuff basement most of the time.  Asking Gun directly had just earned him a “Obviously I just walk right in”, while Gun had patronizingly patted his head.

By the time he had finished his assignments the table in front of him was cluttered with scrolls and books. Tay sighed and began to clear the space. Working his way down the pile his eyes came to a stop on a notebook that had ended up under the parchments. It was the one he had taken to the lake.  Just by looking at it he could still feel where Newwiee had grabbed his hand and waist in the water.  Or maybe it was because today he had touched him there again.  Why did Newwiee suddenly touch him this much. Tay’s brows knitted together in confusion, before he decided to give up thinking about it. Newwiee was a mystery to him.  His stomach growled.

Most of the students had already finished their dinner when Tay sat down to eat. Usually he rejoiced when the kitchen offered Thai food at the end of the day. Today the Pad See Ew tasted stale. Half-heartedly he picked at his food, not sure whether he could finish it. His head felt heavy.

He was about to fall asleep when someone sidled up next to him. Newwiee put down a bowl with ice cream on the table, spoon jammed between his teeth. Tay turned around to see Newwiee’s Gryffindor pals eyeing them. They sat in silence, Tay painfully aware of how few friends he had as he watched Newwiee shovel ice cream into himself. He got caught staring and Newwiee offered his spoon to him. “It’s not healthy to eat sweets that late in the day”, Tay declined the offer. “I don’t think you have to be worried about your weight.” “It’s not the weight. It’s just really not healthy.” Newwiee hummed and took another bite. Somehow, they had gotten along better at the lake. He really wanted to talk to Newwiee, he just didn’t know how.  Newwiee seemed to be completely unfazed by the awkwardness of their exchange and continued to feast on his ice-cream.

Off joined their table some time later, complaining about some ginger powder that had exploded in his face. As a sixth year he could’ve easily used a spell to clean up the mess, but he had deliberately left some powder on his sleeve to show him. “Bad enough you don’t flush when you go to the toilet…” Agitated Tay got up and tried to hit Off, who jumped out of the way.Tay ran out of the room towards the basement as quickly as he could. Newwiee looked like he didn’t pay attention, but out of the corner of his eyes Tay could have sworn that he had seen him hide a smile. “You never clean up”, commented Off who had followed Tay back to their dormitory. “Did your family suddenly lose its reputation or why do you act like you can do housework now.” Tay decided to ignore him. “Tergeo.”

Tay taking Muggle studies as an elective on Tuesday mornings was the bane of Newwiee’s existence. He would pose endless questions and find all his answers fascinating, while Newwiee couldn’t see the appeal in it.

This week he had the good fortune of encountering Tay right after he had read an essay on “Why Muggles Need Electricity” in class. Tay however, seemed not as grumpy as yesterday so Newwiee decided to indulge him.

“Do you…do you have any electronic devices at home? Your dad being a muggle and all.” “We don’t. My dad has his mobile phone, but he leaves it out of my mom’s reach.” “What happens if he doesn’t?” “Just stops functioning”, Newwiee shrugged his shoulders. Tay looked thoughtful. “Isn’t that inconvenient for him?” “I think he does okay. He only needs the phone for work anyways so.” “A phone. For work.” Tay repeated, like those words held some deeper meaning that had to be unwrapped first. Newwiee playfully pushed a finger against Tay’s head. Tay scrunched up his face and looked peeved. Newwiee started to wonder whether yesterday’s bad mood hadn’t really gone away. “My mom says he doesn’t need to have a job but he insists.” “Your mom works too?” The dark clouds around Tay seemed to have vanished in an instant as curiosity took over. “She helps out at Ollivander’s wand shop.” “Is she a wandmaker?” Newwiee was about to smack Tay’s head but stopped when he saw Tay already evading his hand. “No,“ he laughed instead. “I only got some in my distant family. Although they make my dad a little bit uncomfortable so I don’t know them well.” Tay looked at him sympathetically, like he understood something that Newwiee didn’t even know he had said.

They had potions together during their third period.

The fourth-year curriculum was centered around poison antidotes. “Although those…will be taught only…the-o-ret-tically.” Snape had enunciated every syllable during their first class. Due to the complexity of their mixing, the preparation would have to wait until sixth year. Off frequently had melt-downs about his potions class until Gun distracted him with kisses. Tay had been warned about Snape. But while he came of as partial and stonehearted it seemed like Snape wasn’t going to pay particular attention to him, be it for better or worse.

They were quizzed about last week’s class in a grueling manner before going over the ingredients of the Girding Potion and their characteristics. Tay had done all of his reading but feeling all eyes on him he found it difficult to answer when Snape called on him. “What. Is the effect – of the Girding Potion?” “I-it gives the consumer e-extra endurance, Sir.” “That is correct.” He held his breath throughout, concentrating his all onto the lesson in fear that Snape would call his name again. The sample of the Girding Potion Snape had prepared in advance for them to examine wasn’t helping either. Its foul odor wafted threw the classroom making Tay feel nauseous. He could feel Newwiee’s eyes on him from time to time but he didn’t have enough energy and guts to continue their banter during Snape’s class.

Newwiee left for his Arithmancy class right after, having to walk from the dungeons all the way up to the 7th floor.

Tay heard nothing from Newwiee for the rest of the day. Most likely he had returned to the Gryffindor tower right after to drown himself in more complex number charts. He felt bored not having Newwiee constantly invading his private space. Even Off couldn’t distract him.  

During dinner Gun put everything Off wouldn’t eat onto Tay’s plate who absentmindedly gobbled it down. He really didn’t know what the point of magical food was if you still couldn’t eat most of it because it made your teeth break. 

Afterwards they decided to stay in the great hall and do their homework, which in Gun’s case meant clinging to Off as much as he could while peppering his neck with kisses. Tay laughed abashedly at their sight. He had to admit that Gun was beyond adorable. And then it hit him. This was Gun’s way to show affection for his friend. All the touching Newwiee had done was because he considered Tay to be a friend now. He had never hugged his friends casually like this, but Newwiee might be different, was different.

He ripped a parchment paper into two pieces, folded it into a swallow and tried to perform a bird charm.  Soft swings of his wand lifted it in the air and brought it closer to the entrance of the great hall. However, the first gust of wind in the entrance hall was enough to bring it down. Like this he wouldn’t be able to send it all the way to the 7th floor. If Newwiee was even still there. He gave up. The parchment paper had been blank anyways.

Tay grumbled to himself thinking about writing to his grandmother so that she could send him a two-way mirror. Not being able to contact Newwiee when he wanted to was quite inconvenient. The Hufflepuff basement and the Gryffindor tower had quite too many buildings in between them that even more sincere practice of the bird charm would be futile. He’d have to remember to send an owl to his grandmother first thing. Or maybe Newwiee could charm one of those mobile phones his dad used. He wasn’t sure if that was technically breaking the law prohibiting the enchantment of muggle items. Another problem would be to get them past detection at Hogwarts.  He’d have to ask Newwiee about that. If he could just ask him.

Tay was quite late for the charms lesson on Wednesday morning. Professor Flitwick had already begun his class but didn’t seem to mind latecomers too much, just nodding his head in acknowledgement when Tay made a small bow by way of apology. He headed straight to where Newwiee was sitting letting himself fall on the seat next to him with a flop.

“Uiii, Tayyyy!”, Newwiee whined loudly. Confused Tay lifted his butt only to see that he had sat down on Newwiee’s opened copy of The Standard Book of Spells, wrinkling the pages. Tay immediately stood up in shame and tried to look apologetic while stifling his laugh. Even Professor Flitwick who usually didn’t mind the students chatting gave them a look, like he was disappointed that his best student didn’t know how to use the Muffliato charm.

“Reparo.”

It was the first time that Tay noticed Newwiee wand.  It was of average length but made out of a beautiful white wood and twisted in itself, making it look like an elongated spiral. After Newwiee had rescued his textbook Tay settled down next to him and examined the wand.

“Did you get this one at Ollivanders?” Newwiee pulled his wand out of Tay’s hands pointing it at them. “Muffliato.” “I told you that we had wandmakers in my family? She’s a distant relative, but I inherited this from her.” Tay looked at him with wide-eyes. “Wow! I mean it looks beautiful but I imagined the wands of wandmakers to be more…. “ “…impressive?” Newwiee offered. “…flamboyant?” said Tay. They laughed. “The core is white river monster spine”, revealed Newwiee.

Tay’s eyes widened. He didn’t know about wandlore but he knew most about the beasts that were used for wand cores. “It’s from the Americas.” Newwiee laughed. “Never met her, but she was the only one who was able to lure the white river monster so these wands don’t get made anymore.” “Have you seen a white river monster?” “No. Never been to the Americas. My mom and the rest of her family are a little bit distanced…” Again, Tay had this look on his face so Newwiee thought it was necessary to comfort him. “My mom’s side of the family is living off the riches the few wandmakers bestowed on them. Other than that, they are dispersed all over the world geeking over wands.”

Tay was still in deep thought over the white river monster. Would it win against a blast-ended-skrewt in a fight?

They both decided to take pity on Professor Flitwick and actually practice today’s charms. Holding his wand only with his fingertips Newwiee drew a sharp edge into the air. “Vermillious!” he said soft but firmly. Red sparks flew out of his wand following the movement of his hand. Professor Flitwick clapped his hands in delight. Heads had turned around to watch Newwiee perform and the class waited for Tay to follow suit. He took his own wand and copied Newwiee. Nothing happened. Brows knitting together he shook his wand up and down. He could faintly hear the stifled laughter around him as his glasses slipped down his nose.

His movement got more urgent and forceful. The bench they were sitting on started to shake violently and Newwiee stared with amusement as Tay was almost jumping up and down in frustration. His face was determined but no spark would leave his wand. Stopping for a second, he examined it and suddenly a fountain of red light sprang out of the tip, effectively lighting his collar on fire.

Newwiee didn’t know how it had happened but he couldn’t watch this sad spectacle any longer. He extinguished the flames and shot down the people around them with a look.  Everyone looked at least somewhat ashamed of getting caught gawking and proceeded to get back to their own wands. Newwiee was about to touch Tay’s skin to check for burns when his fingers came to a halt unsure if Tay would flinch again. But Tay held still and let Newwiee’s fingers fumble over his chin and neck.

“Who would’ve thought that you can defeat a deformed scorpion but are a lost cause with simple sparks?!” Tay looked mad at himself and defiantly turned to Newwiee holding up his left palm.

“Vermilllious” he said and a red fountain of sparks formed over his hand. Newwiee waited until they seized glowing before he grabbed Tay’s hand. “Oi Tay! How…even….” He used both of his hands to examine first Tay’s palm and then his whole arm. Tay could feel his skin prickle, but he didn’t pull back. To him it was quite normal to perform wandless magic. For some spells a wand could be a tool to achieve more force and precision but other magic required a direct connection to the wizard.

Newwiee thought back to the day in the greenhouses, to the blue dots that had formed on the Devil’s Snare. He had thought that Tay had just performed a weak charm that day to spare the plant unnecessary pain. Now he realized that he had witnessed the most powerful kind of magic there was.

“Why do you keep looking at me like that? It’s not my fault that they fail to teach you wandless magic here.” Tay sounded confused. He felt like he had to apologize for something he hadn’t done. “You can’t just teach wandless charms. That’s ridiculously advanced magic. I only know a handful of people in history who can perform it.” “Well then you have to add my whole family to that count. Wands are a means of control.” This was not where Newwiee had thought his discovery of Tay’s superior magical abilities would go. “Teach no one how to utilize their body to channel spells and they are dependent on wands, a government to implement wand regulations, restrictions of underage magic, the oligopoly of wandmakers and the list goes on.” Tay stated all of this like it were obvious facts.

“Are you taking a dig at my family?” Newwiee said half-jokingly. “At least I can do a simple spell without setting myself on fire.” “That has nothing to do with magical capabilities. I’m just a disaster.”  Newwiee was inclined to belief him.

“Did you mean to impress me with your bluebell flames back then?” “Shut up.” There was no bite in Tay’s voice. “Well, with your wand it’s no wonder that it won’t work. Are you carrying that around since first grade?” Newwiee’s comment wasn’t far off. Tay’s wand was of average length, completely straight and even. It looked like the wand you would get as a child when your magic was still unformed.  

“Himalayan oak and dragon heart string”, Tay explained.

It was not that the material of his wand was completely unfitting, at least not judging by how moody Tay had been since yesterday. But it did seem a little bit plain and nondescript. “I could…introduce you to my mom. Ollivander could maybe figure out what wand might work better for you…if you want that.” “That’s okay really. This is only my spare one…” “Your spare one?” Having more than one wand wasn’t unusual for wizards but using one to learn charms for the first time?

Tay looked sheepish.

“I tend to break my wands…so once my parents bought a good one they told me to use a spare one for school.” Newwiee was stunned silent. Even the unruliest student in his year had somehow managed to keep her wand in one piece. One look at his charms book told him that it still hadn’t forgotten its assault by Tay, resentfully flapping its pages at him. Maybe using a spare wand really was the best option. He could fix everything but not a broken wand.

They met again during afternoon classes. 

It was their first time nearing the forbidden forest after the incident. Falling into step next to each other, their hearts were beating quite fast as they moved closer to the edge of the forest. Tay’s palms felt sweaty and he started to have hick-ups. Newwiee jumped him from the side and threw himself completely over Tay who almost lost his balance. The hick-ups stopped as quick as they had started.

“If they had figured out who was responsible for that stunning spell they would have punished as by now or at least given our houses point deductions”, Newwiee tried to reassure him. “I’m more worried that we might meet Mr. Gary again.” Tay walked on but didn’t pull away from Newwiee’s arm around his shoulder. Newwiee didn’t seem to mind their situation at all, not having had much enthusiasm for the care of magical creatures to begin with. 

Maybe he should swap to ancient runes as his elective. There still was some time to consider that option though. Taking Hagrid’s class meant he could at least be outside and it was hard to fail as well. With Tay’s enthusiasm for animals and beasts it might turn out to not be that bad after all. Or it might be worse, considering how Tay started respectfully referring to that butchered-up version of a scorpion as Mr. Gary.

Luckily there was no sight of the skrewt when they arrived at Hagrid’s hut and Tay visibly relaxed.  He tensed right back up when Hagrid arrived to lead them into the lighter parts of the forbidden forest to where some of his open enclosures where. Newwiee massaged Tay’s neck and laughed at his panicky eyes. Tay just felt really guilty looking at Hagrid, knowing he had stunned one of his beasts over the weekend.

He got excited again when Hagrid promised them a large and catlike beast for today’s lesson. Newwiee stepped back a bit, knowing that Hagrid’s assessments of animals were most of the time understatements. Tay enthusiastically turned towards him. “He might have a Nundu!” Newwiee just raised an eyebrow. “They resemble leopards but are gigantic in size and have toxic breath. What’s most exciting, they have spiky throats.”  The other students had crowded in front of Hagrid and Tay could here surprised shrieks from some of them. He detached himself from Newwiee’s arm and cut his way through the other students, like he was a groupie of Hagrid’s. Newwiee felt annoyed.

Behind Hagrid, perched on an array of wooden boxes and tree trunks were three felines. Their fur was spotted and they had a lightly plumed tail, similar to that of a lion. Newwiee who had caught up to Tay shrieked in delight. “Cats!” “They are kneazles”, Tay barked back at him before Hagrid could get a word in. “That’s right. These pretty fellows are a clutter of kneazles. Very intelligent. Can be ghastly though to folks they don’ like. Who here has a kneazle as a pet?” Hagrid turned towards the other students. Two or three were raising their hands.

Afterwards Hagrid explained different types of Kneazles and how they were bred with cats to make more agreeable pets. Tay seemed to be in a bad mood all out of sudden, looking very grumpy as he walked towards the enclosure to feed the “cats”.

“Should I ask Hagrid to get you your Mr. Gary?” Newwiee asked teasingly.

Tay smacked his shoulder in return but had to smile despite the scowl on his face.

Lying in bed, Off was listening to Tay recounting his day. Most of it revolved around the white river monster.  And it’s spine in Newwiee’s wand.  Tay paused, thinking.

“How do you know him again?” “My family is full of socialites who have loose connections to his family.” “That’s where you get your chatty mouth from.” Tay snickered. “Maybe. I chatted him up one day over his fancy wand. That’s how we figured that our families knew each other. I hang out more with him now cause he’s close to Gun.” “Is Gun’s family rich as well?” “He’s a pure-blood. Everyone in his family is a Slytherin. Other than that, he comes from a simple home. Also, my family isn’t rich, we just talk a lot to rich people. Like you.” He could hear Tay double over with laughter in his bed. “You definitely palaver a lot.” “Peng, if you want me to talk to you, stop sounding like my grandpa.” Tay chucked a pillow at him.

It only hit Off’s blanket and instead of handing it back he reached down and pushed it into the arms of Gun, who was sleeping head-to-toe next to him.

to be continued

part 3.2

notes

- i didn't like the way jk rowling wrote about wandless magic, treating the wand as the superior tool that European wizards introduced to the world. i modified the way it works in a way the concept makes more sense to me. imo the introduction of the wand had it's merits in some aspects and using it makes spells that were especially invented for the use of a wand more powerful. however like the charm Tay used at the lake: for some spells you need physical contact in order for them to have en effect. and the working of that charm is actually canon. so the introduction of the wand resulted in better magic in some places, whole new spells & charms just designed for the use of it and it was a powerful tool to monitor people and steer the usage of magic (wand regimentation etc.)

- i swapped the gender of the american wandmaker (whose in canon otherwise)

HP!TayNew

part 2: Crustaceans might not like Tay, but he approves their existence

(5.6 k)

for @sluttynewwiee (who gave me a lot of plot bunnies) and @earthpodd + @bl-phillip for the sweetest tags and listening to my complaints 

read on ao3 (part 1 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 5 6)

His first class on Monday was History of Magic. When he finally found the classroom on the first floor it was already cramped with students who tried to fit in between the towers of books that filled the whole room and made Tay feel claustrophobic just by looking at them. He was expecting whispers and knowing glances when he entered the room. What he didn’t expect was the head of a familiar Gryffindor student turning around and looking at him in surprise.

On the far right of the room, sitting amidst his Gryffindor friends was New. Their eyes met and Tay was about to head to the free seat next to him, when New’s face changed into a more reserved expression and the group surrounding him started to whisper. “I didn’t know you knew the Suan guy, Newwiee” “Are your families close?”... After leaving him to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, New finally seemed to have made up his mind and waved him over. All eyes followed him.

“I think you are in the wrong class.” He said softly. “Huh?” Tay adjusted his glasses. “This is History of Magic, for fourth years.” Tay sighed in relief. “Ah, I know. The school decided to put me into fourth grade.” New looked surprised for a moment before he nodded and cleared the space beside him.

They hadn’t talked that loudly, but everyone had taken the chance to listen in on their conversation to find out why Tay Vihokratana was here in their classroom. As soon as Tay sat down next to New everyone began to share their theories in hushed voices. “The Suan guy is in fourth year like us. But he’s 16, isn’t he?” “I thought he had graduated already.” “I heard that the great mage Vihokratana herself tutored him” “Now he has to repeat two years. So is it all down to connections...”

“Do you need help with your timetable?” New asked in an attempt to drown out the gossip around them. Tay shook his head. “But do you know the Professor for this class?” “Well, this will be the most tiring class you might have. Professor Binns will talk you to sleep and give assignments about the most boring topics. Might be because he’s been here for so long that he doesn’t care anymore.” “He’s old then?” New turned to look at him in disbelief. “You know that he’s a ghost right?” “Sure.” Tay said hastily, silently chastising himself for not reading up on his teacher prior to the class.

“Are there ghosts teaching at your school?”  “No. They are banned from holding chairs at any kind of educational establishment in my country. Too many people believe that only the bad and revengeful come back as ghosts, so they have reservations against them educating their children. Thailand is abundant with ghosts and spirits though. Might be because so many muggle only believe in the scary ones that ghosts turn out to look like that.” “Muggles have nothing to do with the appearance of ghosts.” “Of course they do. You can only become one, when you hypostatize ghosts as a concept that unifies both your beliefs about death and ideas of the afterlife. So believing in grotesque ghosts and vengeful spirits leads to a natural increase of appearances of that kind.” “No.” Having to discuss profound matters like these with people who didn’t even bother with arguments before rebuffing him was infuriating to Tay. “Then how do you explain that ghosts here mostly look like their former selves, while the ones back home somewhat return in an altered shape.” New looked at him as if he had said something particularly stupid. “How would I know how ghosts work back at your home. I’m just saying that it has nothing to do with muggles. My dad is a muggle, I would know.” “Then how do you explain that the sighting of ghosts got fewer over recent years? It is because people stopped believing in them, so the thought of turning into a ghost couldn’t manifest in them. Ms Myrtle Warren is the youngest ghost in Hogwarts and she already died in 1943.” “Well, that’s only Hogwarts isn’t it? It’s impossible for Muggles to influence  wizards in a big way.” Tay had to stop himself from saying, “well you were obviously born.” He barely knew New, there was no need to have a dig at his family.

They sat in silence until Professor Binns floated through the door and began his class. New and his friends arranged some of the books in front of them as barriers and were now using the class for a nap. Tay wasn’t sure how helpful books were at blocking a ghost’s eyesight but it seemed to be a system that had worked for them before. Pulling out parchment paper and his quill he started to take notes.  New and him weren’t going to get along, that much was clear.  Putting down dates and names he decided to focus on Urg the Unclean. Minutes later Professor Binns’s monotone voice had lulled him into sleep.

He was abruptly awoken by the noise of other students rearranging their books as Professor Binns got into a tirade on how everyone was too slow at grasping the subject matter. Disoriented Tay opened his eyes, adjusting his crooked glasses. He heard a yelp next to him. When he wanted to lift his head he felt something rubbing against it. Turning around he was faced with a sleepy looking New, who scrunched up his face in annoyance. Their heads had knocked together while they were sleeping and now the tips of their noses were almost touching. Tay must have jabbed him by accident with the temple stem of his glasses. Luckily for him, Professor Binns decided to end his class right then. Tay stood up immediately, gathered his things and followed the ghost out of the room, almost crashing into the door.

His timetable told him that he had herbology next. It was one of the subjects Tay had been looking forward to.

While he wasn’t particularly interested in plants, his home school’s curriculum was centered around their care and cultivation and he knew that in part his grandmother had sent him to Hogwarts to study the endemic plants of Scotland, a place that was too cold and far for her to travel to. 

The walk down the hill behind the castle was nice. The sun was warming up his skin and the smell of grass and flowers filled up his nose. Everyone around him was scattered in small groups as they headed to the green houses. Overhearing some of the Gryffindor’s conversations he found out that New got called Newwiee by his friends and that there were already several heatedly discussed theories as to how he came to know him.

Tay followed a Hufflepuff girl into one of the bigger green houses where they awaited Professor Sprout’s arrival. He stood alone while everyone was chatting in groups. Out of habit he started to inspect the plants around him. Some where kept in small terrariums but most of the glass cases were empty. No doubt Professor Sprout had cleared out the most dangerous species before the new term started. Somehow the empty Greenhouse made him feel uneasy. It was sad how lonely the few leftover plants looked.

His thoughts got interrupted by the arrival of Professor Sprout who shot him another of her warm smiles before beginning her class. Today’s lesson would be to harvest Bobutuber pus. While Tay wasn’t particularly keen on milking a plant, he got excited at the prospect of being able to keep some of the diluted pus at the end. After they had put on their dragon-hide gloves and carried the small plants from an adjacent room into the greenhouse, Professor Sprout decided that it was best to split up the class into groups of three. Tay looked around to find a partner but everyone was already taken before he could even ask.

Professor Sprout looked around in confusion before detecting the group of Gryffindors who all clung to each other. “Gentlemen, I think you will find yourselves in a group of four”, she pointed out before motioning one of them to move over to Tay. With an apologetic smile Newwiee stepped forward and joined him. “Now, if the Gryffindor collective could tell me something about the Bobutuber...”, apparently Professor Sprout felt like she needed to reprimand the group for a little bit longer. One of them managed to deliver a somewhat useful answer and Professor Sprout was back to her buoyant and motherly self.

Tay and Newwiee worked next to each other in silence, filling up flasks with the Bobutuber pus. “Who even found out that you can milk these things?” Tay exclaimed when he squeezed too hard and some of the liquid got flung dangerously close to his face. “Sacharissa Tugwood discovered it’s healing properties. It’s good for acne scarring.” Newwiee answered. “You know about plants?”, Tay was intrigued. “I know about skin care.”

Tay decided that he could deal with Newwiee. They worked together just fine and despite their differences it wasn’t like he thought that Newwiee was a bad person. They just didn’t fit as friends. 

After the herbology class had finished they didn’t interact much with each other for the rest of the week. They still had to attend the other mandatory classes together but Newwiee kept to his group of friends and just nodded at him in greeting.  Tay noticed how adept Newwiee was in Charms, moving Professor Flitwick almost to tears on one occasion when he was the only one to perfect the mending charm they were revisioning. The only common elective they chose was Care of Magical Creatures which would only start the week after. Newwiee had chosen Arithmancy as his second elective while Tay had opted for Muggle Studies.

After the first week was over the overall gossip had mostly died down, but still no one tried to approach him and Tay found it hard to make friends.

Surprisingly he had hit it off quite nicely with Off, who seemed aloof and cold at first but turned out to be just very laid-back and not a big fan of commotion.  Tay wasn’t quite sure how Gun fitted into that picture. It became Off’s habit to mock him for all his health and beauty products which already cluttered one of their unoccupied beds.  Tay had already gotten used to Off’s comments. 

“I knew you said that you weren’t really that interested in plants, but there was no need for you to pulverize all of Professor Sprout’s botanical monsters!” “Why don’t you bottle up those swaying bastards in the common room?!” “Are you trying to impress Madame Pomfrey with your tonic collection?” “When I came back I thought I had apparated into Snape’s cupboard, with all the potions around here.” And Off’s personal favorite:  “I thought the purpose of this tonic was to make you more beautiful?!”  Tay would retaliate half-heartedly, while being very happy that he found someone to bugger around with.

Next week came around and after barely managing to keep awake for History he couldn’t wait to get to the greenhouses.

Small potted plants were arranged in groups, looking about the same. Considering their size, they still seemed to be saplings. The specimen all had long swaying tentacles that came in different shades of dark green. Newwiee naturally sidled up next to him, their shoulders touching. At the sight of today’s subject Newwiee shot his Gryffindor mates suggestive looks across the room.

Professor Sprout greeted the class cheerfully and then went on to explain their assignment.  Their task was to tell Devil’s Snare and Flitterbloom apart and replant the later. Not easy distinguishable to begin with, it was even harder when they were sitting in identical pots.  Flitterboom made a nice decoration for the home, Devil’s Snare however was possibly lethal with tentacles that would constrict and strangle everything that would come in their vicinity.

The groups went to work under Professor Sprouts observant eyes, making sure that no student found an untimely death by fussing with the wrong plant.

Both species were endemic to his home country and Tay had no problem telling them apart. He ended up doing all the identifying while Newwiee took the Flitterblooms he pointed out and put them in bigger pots, carefully evading the Devil’s Snare’s tentacles.

“Incendio!” someone howled beside them and an orange flame almost grazed Newwiee who sprang to the side glaring at the Hufflepuff student who had cast the charm and was now apologizing profoundly. 

Professor Sprout was immediately at their side to asses the situation. A Gryffindor boy had not been careful enough and grabbed one of the Devil’s Snare’s tentacles, who in return had grabbed.  His Hufflepuff friend had been quick-witted enough to cast the right spell to help, but had not only burned off the tentacle but almost hit Newwwiee in the process.  Professor Sprout told them all to stop before calming down the Gryffindor who was crying now, while praising the Hufflepuff for casting an almost perfect spell. “The tentacles are not easy to hit and Mr. Thitipoom appears to be quite alright.” She told him after making sure that Newwiee really hadn’t been hit. Pulling the crying student further away from the pots she told them to just plant the specimen they already had identified as Flitterblooms and to leave the rest to her.

Tay and Newwiee had already finished, but instead of being idle Newwiee went up to the Hufflepuff who had almost hit him.  “The incendio is difficult to control under stress. Try it with bluebell flames”, he lifted his wand, pointed it at a Devil’s Snare and a blue blob condensed on one of its tentacles, making it shrink back.  “You can control it more easily with your wand and increase it’s heat when its already fixed on your target”, he pulled his wand higher increasing the intensity of the blue hue. The Hufflepuff just stared at him awestruck before apologizing again for his misdirected spell.

Everyone else was busy with wrapping up their work stations and Newwiee walked back to Tay as if nothing had happened.

“You performed that charm nonverbal.” Tay remarked. Newwiee just nodded in affirmation like there was nothing to it, repeating the motion on one of their plants. “That’s fervent enough!”, Tay could hear himself say. “Ferv…fervent???”, Newwiee let his wand drop. “Ahhhh….hot.” “You have to tell me though how you can tell those beasts apart so quickly.”  Tay thought it was a serious question. “They look almost the same, but their girth is slightly different...” “Which one’s thicker then?” Newwiee couldn’t stop himself from asking. “...and the Devil’s Snare’s tentacles are slightly wet because it prefers moist places.” Tay continued, ignoring Newwiee’s suggestive tone.

Newwiee was staring at him like he was trying to figure something out. The scrutiny made Tay feel uncomfortable. He wasn’t the one who had started to insinuate things.

To be smug and distract him, Tay lifted his hand above a Devil’s Snare. He was just outside of the reach of its tentacles, when he chanted the incantation in his head. The plant recoiled slightly, tiny blue dots forming on its epidermis.

Newwiee’s reaction was not what he wanted it to be.

“You look like a snake charmer. They should have put you in Slytherin.” An awkward silence followed. “At least I’m not asking for the girth of plants like I want to buy them condoms.” Tay shot back. Newwiee’s mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. “Maybe you should take one of the Flitterblooms home with you.” “The swaying makes Off go crazy.” “He has Gun around him 24/7 I don’t believe that some dancing plants can faze him.” “You should see him during late study session when one of the plants in the common room creeps up on him.” Newwiee couldn’t hold back his laughter at the mental image of a sleep-deprived Off fighting a plant in the Hufflepuff common room.

Tay started to feel more at ease at Hogwarts. While most people still didn’t try to interact with him, the constant staring and whispering had stopped.  He and Off were on the same wavelength and Gun didn’t seem to mind to share Off to some capacity.  Tay got the feeling that Gun treated him more like a pet but he didn’t mind. He was 16 surrounded by 14 year olds, nothing much to a third year student patting him and commanding him around.  He got used to the classes and professors. He had a somewhat awkward relationship with Hagrid but his class was by far Tay’s favorite.

He read up on all the local creatures and made a list on which ones he wanted to see with his own eyes, matching his own assessment with the rating of the ministry of magic’s classification. Selkies were rated dangerous so they were his obvious choice for the top spot. According to myths they shed their skin at night and came to land in search of human lovers, something Tay wanted to verify with his own eyes. The shedding part that is.

Sneaking out of the castle by night was easier than he had anticipated. Then again, he was quite sure that there were fail-saves so he couldn’t really endanger himself while being on Hogwarts grounds.  It was much more of a mystery to him how Gun managed to get into the Hufflepuff dormitories at night.  When he put together his equipment for his small expedition Off didn’t bat an eyelid. Even Gun who usually questioned his every move didn’t comment, seemingly happy to have the room for themselves.  It was September but the nights had already turned quite cold, he pulled the zipper of his jacket higher to protect his neck and made his way down to the lake. Exploring the grounds for two weeks he had found a small beach sheltered by boulders and flanked by the forest which in his opinion would make a great place to observe merpeople as the water was still quite deep next to the rocks.

It had been drizzling lately but luck was on his side and there were no clouds in the sky, the moon shining brightly and illuminating his way. According to rumours Hagrid had mated some nocturnal creatures and one of the crosses was rumored to look like a scorpion. Tay didn’t believe that the chances were high to encounter the beast if it really existed (with Hagrid you never knew) but as he planned to sit in the underwood for possibly quite some time tonight, he took some precaution and rubbed lavender oil onto his skin as a makeshift repellant.

When he arrived at the lake small waves were lapping at the beach, but otherwise it was silent. It must have been a few minutes after midnight as Tay settled into a place hidden by small bushes and rocks, pulling out his notebook and a self-inking quill waiting for something to happen.

The sound of the waves and the strong lavender scent lulled him into some kind of trance and he was lost in his thoughts about the dangers merpeople could possibly pose to him on land. He had just concluded that communication would be a major cause for conflict when a noise pulled him out of his speculations. 

Eyeing the shore, he quickly assessed that nothing had changed, so it could only mean that someone or something was nearing from the other side. He pulled out his wand just to be safe and listened to the sound of footsteps. They sounded too light to be Hagrid’s and if he was unlucky a teacher had decided to come down to the lake and patrol it, compromising his field study.  He held his breath as a man emerged from the woods, heading to the beach. Fortunately for him he was heading for the boulders opposite of him. The distance was short enough however to be able to make out who it was. 

It looked like Newwiee had decided to break school rules and come down here, clad just in thin pants and a t-shirt.  Before Tay could make himself known, Newwie had started to take of his clothes and put them folded on one of the rocks in what seemed to be routine. The moonlight illuminated his bright skin and Tay had to swallow hard to get rid of the dry feeling in his mouth as he watched Newwiee wade into the lake with just some short swimming trunks on. 

Tay had to shiver at the sight of him, he couldn’t imagine going for a swim at these temperatures.  The waves were crashing with slightly more force onto the beach now as Newwiee jumped into the water and swam away from the shore with swift and strong strokes.  No wonder Newwiee’s shoulders were that broad when he presumably had the habit to go for night swims. Tay was just thankful that Newwiee wasn’t skinny dipping. 

His little field study however, had become obsolete. Newwiee seemed to be quite sure of not being disturbed at this time of the night and had shown no hesitation when jumping into the dark water. Even if there were merpeople close to the shore, now that someone was swimming in this area they would most likey not show themselves, especially not transforming and coming on land.

Tay decided to call it a night and head back to the castle. 

His legs had fallen asleep making it difficult to stand up. Stretching his legs he packed his bag and walked towards the edge of the forest, deciding to hide in the shadows just in case. He turned around but couldn’t see anything in the waters. Newwiee must have swam quite some distance. 

Tay was about to move along when something caught his eye. He could swear that he had seen a light right where the waves met the sand, close to the rocks where Newwiee’s clothes were laying.  Pondering whether he had enough time to step closer and investigate he went through the possibilities. The glow had been too soft to belong to a Selkie, which left bioluminescent substances or a small magical organism.  The decision whether to observe the light closer or not was taken out of his hands when he could hear Newwiee approaching.  Having no choice, he crouched down where he was, not wanting to scare the other or worse, having to explain himself. 

Newwiee seemed to be totally unaware of his presence and went to retrieve his clothes.  But just as he stepped closer to the rocks the light flared up again and Tay saw him jump back while a loud shriek escaped him.  “Idiot!” Tay thought to himself, “The light had been faintly red, no water-based organism would emit such a light.”  He tried to make out what had scared Newwiee but all he saw was a dark shadow slowly detaching itself from the rock structure. If the freaking moon could just shine a bit brighter. His grip on his wand tightened. Newwiee had slowly walked backwards, eyes never leaving the shadow and putting some good distance between them. Tay realized that Newwiee’s wand must be where his clothes were. What a careless idiot.  He heard Newwiee cuss loudly at the creature, but what worried him was that his voice was laced with fear.  Whatever had surprised him, it was not something that one would usually encounter on Hogwarts grounds. Which in itself meant that this situation could become very messy.  Tay remembered the rumors and no, no, no.

The shadow had sprung forward and closed in on Newwiee who was rooted to the spot, not even a cry leaving his lips, arms held up in a silly attempt to protect himself with his fists if it came down to it.  Tay had to force himself not to run up to him, knowing that the creature might turn aggressive when confronted with another intruder. As for now it seemed to be stuck in some kind of defensive stance, a small ball of fire flickering at it’s front. As far as luck went, Newwiee seemed to be at least out of reach by another jump. Tay’s heart was beating fast.

From where he was hiding he assessed the length of the thing to be around 2 meters. The moonlight was dimly reflected by it’s armor. It had a long stinger over it’s back, lifted menacingly at around the same height as Newwiee’s neck. Tay shivered. It resembled a cross between a giant scorpion and an elongated crab. The armor would probably pose a considerable problem, but for now Tay’s goal was not to kill it, but get it away from Newwiee. Getting another whiff of the lavender oil, a crazy thought came to him.

Caught in this unfavorable stand-off Newwiee regained some of his composure and decided to slowly back-off into the water. For some reason this seemed to madden the creature, the fire ball getting bigger as it readied itself for another pounce. Tay knew it was now or never.

Screaming he ran out of the shadows, wand aimed at the creature. He seemed to have taken it by surprise because it abandoned it’s attack on Newwiee, instead aiming for him. Tay had an advantage of mere seconds as he threw himself onto the ground, sliding the leftover distance on the sand until his right hand barely touched one of its armored legs.

“Levioso”, he shouted at the top of his lungs just as the stinger came down fast. 

The creature got propelled backwards through the air and flew a considerable distance before crashing into a rock, sliding down and landing in the water on its backside.

Tay got up slowly, trying not to drop his wand as he was shaking all over. Newwiee looked even more in shock by his sudden appearance and what just happened as a barely audible “Tay” escaped his lips.  It was enough to give Tay the energy to step in the shallow water in between Newwiee and the creature. It desperately moved its legs to try and flip itself over as the water carried it closer to the shore.  A sigh of relief left Tay. This could only mean that it was unable to defend its armor-less underside. They didn’t have a lot of time before it would be able to push itself up on the sandy ground so Tay waded closer to get better aim. Precise charms never had been his forte. The creature stopped wriggling its legs and recoiled in itself. At least the lavender seemed to be working.

The sound of water splashing behind him had him briefly turn around only to whip his head back when he knew that it was only Newwiee who was hurrying towards him.  He took calming breaths to steady his hands that were both holding his wand now. Newwiee had no wand and couldn’t help even if he wanted to.  Before he could concentrate on the stunning spell, Tay’s back got pressed against Newwiee’s naked front. Left hand steadying him at his hip Newwiee’s right arm reached around him to secure his hands.

“I could blast it” Newwiee’s mouth was right next to Tay’s ear, making him shiver.

“Don’t. Just stun it.” “I can control the Confringo”, Newwiee whispered and Tay could only manage to shake his head, feeling that his legs could give out any second. The grip on his hand was gentle but firm as Newwiee adjusted their aim. “Stupefy”, Newwiee’s voice was booming and surprisingly steady as a scarlet jet broke out of Tay’s wand and hit the creature square on.  They stood frozen in the water and held their breath until it was clear that the creature wouldn’t move for quite some time.

Heavily breathing Newwiee held him close as he collapsed onto him. “What the fuck….was that?” he asked, still trying to catch his breath.  Tay’s voice was shaking. “I have an idea. And if it is what I think it is we should get away from here.” “You think there are more of these?” Newwiee straightened himself up to peruse their surroundings. “No, but Hagrid might be here soon. And even if not, there’s no way the spell wasn’t visible from the castle.” Newwiee nodded.

“Maybe we should pull the thing out before it drowns...” ,Tay started but Newwiee pulled him out of the water by his wrist. “Are you crazy?!”

He quickly retrieved his clothes and wand, using a drying spell on both him and Tay, who was shivering both from adrenaline and his soaked clothes. They just made it back to the trees when they could here people approaching, Hagrid  definitely being one of them.

“Professor”, Hagrid’s voice could be heard clearly despite the distance. “Hagrid.” a soft female voice could be heard returning his greeting. Newwiee jumped at the sound of her voice and made Tay crouch down with him, pressing him against the bark of a tree. “You know her?” “She’s my Arithmancy teacher. I will get my ass handed to me if she finds out we were here tonight”.  Tay badly stifled his laughter, so instead it came out as a snort-laugh. For some reason the image of the elegant Professor Vector being more frightening to Newwiee than that crustacean was hilarious to him. Newwiee looked at him incredulously before opting to push him down further to the ground until he was almost lying on top of Tay, effectively constricting his ability to breath. Tay only managed to get out a weak “I’ll shut up now” as a promise.

Down at the beach the two professors had discovered the aftermath of their fight.

Apparently, they had dealt with something called a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Or Gary if Hagrid could be trusted. Tay visibly perked up by the mention of the first name. “Oh wow.” Newwiee turned to him so he would elaborate. Excitement had taken over Tay’s whole body and it was a good thing that they were almost entangled at this point so Tay couldn’t gesticulate wildly. “It’s a cross between a fire crab and a manticore”, Tay whispered. “What?” Newwiee remembered Hagrid raving over manticores during their first lesson. He should’ve known. “Manticores are known to kill wizards!” “The rating is not accurate. They’re rather intelligent and are capable of human speech”, Tay said empathetically. “Fire crabs are only a three.” He still seemed excited by the idea of Hagrid managing to breed those two species. Newwiee felt rather sick just by the thought of it.

“So, this thing would be considered a four. It would be classified as dangerous!” reality was catching up with Newwiee quickly. “The classification of the ministry of magic isn’t Arithmancy, Newwiee.” The nickname slipped right out. “And even if that were true, that just means that it can be handled by a skilled wizard.” “Confident much!” “Only the stinger derives from the manticore!” “And it’s size!” Newwiee couldn’t believe they were having an argument about why a giant armored crab-scorpion wasn’t as scary as it sounded.

Checking up on the situation on the beach, it came as a relief to both of them that the two teachers didn’t try to pursue whoever had casted the stunning spell, most likely deducing that it had been fired in self-defense. Surely enough Hagrid could be heard saying:

“Encountering Gary might have scared them good. I don’t think the student will come back here during the night, Professor.” Professor Vector was working on upholding the stunning spell, prolonging its effect while Hagrid worked on getting Gary out of the water.

Realizing that this would be their only chance to run, Tay and Newwiee got on their feet and stealthily made for the castle. Running up the hill side by side they made it to the entrance pathway. Crossing it would lead to a secret pathway which in turn would take them back inside the castle.

“Meant to ask this before but I got distracted by a giant crustacean with a deadly stinger…” “Happens” Tay threw back at him giggling. The running was invigorating. “…why do you smell like the Provence personified?” They slowed down to a jog as Tay held up his arms for Newwiee to smell. “Lavender oil.”, he explained to him. “Scorpions have a good sense of smell and are sensitive to lavender. Luckily cats hate essential oils as well. The same seems to be true for big cats.” “You knew that thing was roaming around the grounds!” 

They turned a corner and were now comfortably walking side by side in the secret passageway. “I heard a rumor and took some precautions. Didn’t know there was an actual beast skipping about or I would not have gone out at night!” “I’m glad you did” Newwiee laughed, but he meant it.  Didn’t matter how much Tay was convinced that that thing was not as dangerous as he made it out to be. Arithmancy or not, it was definitely a four, not a three. And a four meant that dealing with it required specialist knowledge.  Tay was pretty nerdy, but seeing what he was capable of tonight made him rethink his initial dismissal of the guy.

They emerged inside the castle behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy.

“Using your wand might have been good for something else.”  Tay looked at Newwiee questioningly. “If they investigate, they might find out that it was your wand that cast the spell today. However, they can’t be sure because the signature of the user is misleading.” Tay wasn’t versed in the intricacy of Wandlore, so he decided to just trust Newwiee with this. They stood in front of the statue without saying anything, both not sure what they were waiting for.  Finally, Newwiee gave him a lopsided smile.

“See you on Monday!” “Yes, see you.” Tay grinned widely, his eyes’s disappearing.

Newwiee’s heart skipped a beat as he turned around and headed back to the Gryffindor tower. He could here Tay’s footstep faintly in the distance, making his way downstairs.

to be continued 

part 3.1