Flannel Sheets [Rhys]

[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys noted that they probably shouldn’t stay here too long with this cold. They’d both catch a chill or have frostbitten fingers at this rate. Just enough to stargaze a bit, enjoy the cookies and make the trek back to the dungeons. Though Rhys knew some shortcuts, they could take. It was never fun climbing so many steps to the Towers, so the shortcuts were better for the walk down. Juniper put on a hat and mittens. Rhys felt chilly though not nearly enough for a hat. He looked down at the tin in his hand. He forgot that he’d been holding them and instead had been distracted.

”Right—yes. Here.” She walked toward him, and Rhys stepped closer, carefully popping off the tin lid and waiting for Juniper to take one. He figured it was best to stay close. He knew he radiated heat at times since Nell told him so when it was inconvenient and annoying for her. There were enough cookies to last a few days here, so they would not finish them tonight. But he had an idea, something that stupidly had not occurred to him before because it hadn’t been necessary. ”Can you hold this?” Rhys held out the tin so Juniper could hold it, and he reached into his jacket for his wand.

They learned about warming charms in their first year. It wasn’t enough to heat the whole tower, but at least immediately near them, they didn’t turn into ice cubes. Muttering the incantation, he moved his wand in a clockwise motion a few times, and a light glow emitted from the tip. Rhys felt the heat immediately, and it should linger for a while if he recalled. But it just needed to be recast wherever they moved. ”That should hold for a bit.” Rhys mumbled as he took the tin back. That way, Juniper’s hands were free to grab her hot chocolate.

But Rhys’ brain kept trying to creep elsewhere into his thoughts, much as it had during their walk up here. As he ate one of the cookies, he thought about how to ask what was on his mind. It should’ve been alright, right? He felt he could easily talk to Juniper just as he had all these months. Fidgeting where he stood, he pushed through the anxiety in his chest and rising heart rate. ”I wanted to ask you…” Rhys paused, his mouth going dry. ”Nevermind—it can wait till later.” Rhys wanted to know why she’d stayed over the break and why with him. It was hard for him to fathom that she didn’t have better plans than standing in a cold tower in mid-winter.

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If the cold air hadn’t completely frozen her nose when the two of them stepped into the tower, Juniper assumed that she would have been able to smell cinnamon that had to be wafting out of the container right about now. Greedily sticking her wool laden hand in and grabbing two cookies, she immediately stuffed a whole one into her mouth. The good thing about the house elves was that they always portioned out the desserts to be easy to eat. Normally she didn’t stick around long enough after dinner to grab sweets, but during holidays and special occasions she always managed to take a few extra to go. Now she knew two of the kitchen workers and could go back if she felt like breaking a few more rules.

As she finished chewing the first cookie, Rhys held out the container for her to take before pulling his wand out and casting a warming charm around them. She had thought about that on the way up but completely forgot the second the cookies were pulled out. The instant warmth that the charm brought was welcomed, and made Juniper slip her mittens off again once Rhys took the cookie tin back from her. “I never thought about it, but the professor probably always cast those when we had class here…” she mused as she picked up her hot chocolate and tested it again. Whatever the house elves used for chocolate, it was marvelous! The cocoa wasn’t too bold but also wasn’t completely masked like it usually was in the instant packs her family kept around. Most of those were always expired because she was the only one to drink them. But this? This was like the house elves had melted a bar of chocolate directly into the cup and then added the milk on top. The additional warmth it provided on top of the charms Rhys had cast helped envelop her entire boy in what felt like a cozy hug.

Caught up in her cocoa, she momentarily forgot that Rhys was standing right in front of until he started to ask a question, quickly cutting himself off and saying it could wait until later. She looked at him curiously before taking another sip of her drink. “So where’s Gemini tonight?” she asked, remembering that he had said the meteor shower would be in the northeast but they needed to locate the constellation first. It was fun to have him teaching her things instead of the inverse, where she usually just word vomited information onto him whether he knew it already or not. Plus, the cardinal directions had completely slipped her mind since last year.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

It was a simple question, yet Rhys felt stupid for feeling nervous. And why should he be? They’d talked so easily before. Even when they’d both been stuck at the hospital wing, the conversation had still flowed despite some misunderstandings. Rhys wasn’t known for being incredibly social or jumping around wanting to talk to everyone, but he always felt that nervous anticipation with people he didn’t know. He supposed they didn’t know all that much about one another besides their shared academic interests. Rhys occupied himself by taking a cookie and stuffing it in his mouth. They were just as delicious as he remembered.

But Juniper didn’t force the issue. She rarely did when it wasn’t about school, he’d noted. And secretly, he was grateful. That was the problem with kids their age or younger. They often lacked the self-awareness, foresight, or tact to ask such questions. A first year had once asked Rhys if he’d ever met Fenrir, and Rhys had merely blinked a few times and walked away. He was just a kid who hadn’t meant any harm with his probing questions.

Thankfully astronomy was brought up again, and Rhys nodded as he finished his third cookie. There was something about the serotonin these brought him. ”Right. it’ll be in the northeast.” He walked over to one of the telescopes, placing the tin on a side table. Rhys adjusted the telescope, peering in with one eye until it was facing just above the horizon in the northeast. It was late enough that the entire constellation was now visible as the sky moved from east to west. ”Here.” Rhys took a half-step back, putting his hand gently on her back to help guide her into place to use the telescope. ”Take a look.”

But Rhys stayed close in case adjustments needed to be made. Once you found one of the twin’s feet, the constellation was easy to find. ”It should be just east of the north star.” Rhys added. Since he was standing so close, he kept his voice low to avoid accidentally shouting in her ear. Rhys supposed it still felt odd that another person shared or indulged his interests. Astronomy wasn’t a popular hobby. Most of the other boys he lived with were meatheads like Bagman, barely able to read a book. And some of the girls were less interested in other things than talking about anything substantial. But even with his slight nervousness, Rhys still felt good. This was nice and in one of his favorite places in the Castle. ”Thank you.” Rhys found himself saying. ”You didn’t have to come up here with me.” And yet here she was.

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Despite there being an abnormally large amount of cookies inside the tin, they were making quick work of the top layer of them. Juniper made sure to alternate bites with sips of her hot chocolate, which weirdly enough felt like it wasn’t decreasing in amount. That would be something the house elves would do; casting a never ending liquid spell on a drink they made. Either that or it was merely larger inside than it appeared. Sort of like her bag. It made sense that they went above and beyond with something as simple as a warm drink, and the thought had her peering into the cookie container as she took her next one to see if it was also seemingly bottomless. The glint of metal at the bottom told her it was normal, but she wasn’t going to be convinced until they ate them all. A stomachache for Christmas sounded okay to her as long as it was because of this.

Happily eating, she watched Rhys prep a telescope. As it was pointed to the northeast, he ushered her over and she placed her drink next to the cookies so that she could use both hands to look through the lens. Feeling Rhys’s hand on her back, guiding her carefully towards the instrument, made her immediately aware of their closeness. Walking up the staircases to the tower had been one thing, the same with hanging out in the library or eating in the Great Hall. But this proximity was different. Focusing on the north star was damn near impossible as she tried to follow his quiet instructions. Juniper had assumed that some of her knowledge on Astronomy would come flooding back the second she was in front of a telescope again. Hoping that would happen was now completely over the railing and on the ground below them though, as her thoughts were becoming way too preoccupied now.

Staring through the telescope but not actually achieving her goal of finding the target, she listened as Rhys thanked her for doing this with him. Hanging on to every word was all she could do as she looked blankly into the night sky. Of course she had to come up here. In the same way that she had chosen to forgo Christmas with her family. It was because he was here. Losing out on two weeks for break seemed like such a waste when she enjoyed every moment that they spent together, whether it was in Potions or going over other coursework. Or this. “Sure I did,” she responded, pulling her face away from the telescope to look him in the eyes, “I would’ve been miserable all break if I had gone home. You’re the first person I’ve ever enjoyed spending time with, so it only makes sense.”

Once again, she was trying to make it sound like the logical conclusion more than what she actually desired. Trying to keep her momentum going before she resorted to shoving more cookies in her mouth, her hands went to the pouch slung around her front. Fumbling for the zipper to her bag without breaking eye contact with Rhys, she reached into and pulled out the poorly wrapped present. “I uhh…I got you this. For Christmas.” Duh.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Sometimes Rhys wished he’d had the forethought to stuff his mouth full of cookies rather than speak what was on his mind. He’d never been good with words. Somewhere in the middle between his brain and his mouth, something got lost in the mix. And it didn’t help when he was nervous or in a large crowd. Even now, he did not register their proximity as he was focused on what she’d just said. Rhys knew his friends liked his company. It wasn’t some action out of pity where they merely tolerated him. He supposed this was different because it’d been said out loud now.

The look he gave in return might have been described as blank if not for all the thoughts swirling in his head. But as he opened his mouth to respond, with Merlin knew what, she began to dig through her bag furiously. It was only a few seconds, but Rhys had forgotten about the telescope they stood next to and the constellations he was trying to find. Finally, she pulled out something book-shaped, and Rhys took it in his hands. It had some weight to it. But he finally looked away to see what his hands were doing as he quickly unwrapped it.

It read ‘Ancient Egypt: A History of Cursebreaking & Crypt Diving’. Rhys’ eyes lit up. While Cursebreaking was more of a Plan B in terms of careers, it didn’t mean he wasn’t fascinated by its history. Not to mention the connections between mythology and magic. Rhys was almost speechless for a good two seconds as he flipped it open and skimmed the table of contents. ”This is…” Rhys flipped another page. ”This is amazing.” Closing the cover carefully, Rhys looked back up at Juniper—his eyes bright. ”Thank you…” But he also felt a bit flustered at the same time. Receiving gifts was not something he’d grown accustomed to yet.

It was quite the gesture, and on top of choosing not to go home for the break. Though Rhys justified it with her earlier words, that should have been miserable at home. But he couldn’t see how when her family was there. His mouth felt dry, and the Tower felt warmer than it needed to be despite the winter weather. But the words had flowed so easily from her, and Rhys thought about them as he realized they were probably the words he’d been searching for all this time. ”I’m—I’m glad you stayed.” Rhys began, just pushing through now. ”And I enjoy our time together.” He grinned softly. It could have been silently studying or working on their Potions assignment. It hadn’t just become routine but comfortable and something he sought out. And then Rhys realized that standing in front of a person was not the ideal time and place to realize what you felt for them.

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The infinite time between seconds was the sort of antagonizing moment that she didn’t know existed until it happened to her. A flood of stupid thoughts popped into her head as she spoke and subsequently handed over the book. What if he didn’t like it? Was it not appropriate to give friends Christmas gifts? Would she make him feel bad if she was the only one giving a present? What did any of this mean, or what did she want it to mean? What the actual fuck was she doing right now? The moment of panic was perfectly hidden by the fact that Rhys was engrossed with opening and scanning the contents of the book, meaning her scared, awkward, frozen self wasn’t being looked at currently. Her hands were still half out, as if they were still holding the book in them. Quickly shoving them into her pockets was the only way they could make themselves useful right now.

There was a difference in being thanked for tagging along to the Astronomy Tower and being thanked for the book. She could see it in his face when he finally looked up from the book and how he actually put into words. Rhys reciprocated with the same sentiments about her staying and the time that they had spent with one another so far, and it made her fidget slightly. This was so much easier when she was the one saying it. All of this was new to her, from making a friend to whatever it was she was trying to do now. The easy answer was that she was happy that her gift had made him happy, the instant gratification that it sent back to her helping a lot with controlling the nerves of all of this. But the question that brought up was where she wanted to go from here. Her normal headstrongness was wavering as she entered this unknown territory. So diving in head first without wasting any more time seemed appropriate. “I want to do this more often…just the two of us,” she started slowly. It was always just the two of them anyways, but denoting that this was different from their study sessions was what she was aiming for. “That’s why I kept asking questions about you and Nell, and if you had ever brought anyone else up here…I didn’t want to get in the way…”

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[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

Rhys felt fidgety, the book heavy in his hands. They both admitted they liked spending time with one another. And he wondered, ‘what now?’ This wasn’t something Rhys had ventured into, a new area. Were there girls he’d liked in the past? Sure, but they’d turned into short flings and nothing more. There hadn’t been long conversations in the library or the hospital wing. Walking to class and all of that. And she had gotten him a book that he knew he’d end up reading cover to cover at some point. There was a short lull, and Juniper spoke up.

He just listened and processed what Juniper said. For how smart he was, his brain was slow regarding certain things. Things like this. But she brought up Nell, and he tried to think. The question she had asked him back at the Hospital Wing came to mind. But they’d hardly spoken before that. Maybe that was why he hadn’t thought about it since then. But her question earlier made sense too. ”Nell and I never…” Instinctively, he began to explain but stopped because he knew he didn’t have to. He’d made it perfectly clear that he and Nell were just friends.

But Rhys hesitated, just like he always did. The same thoughts popped into his head. Greyback. He was a Greyback. She was a McGonagall, for Merlin’s sake. However, there was something about how her eyes locked onto his own. Aside from the astronomy portion that Rhys liked, it was just a nice private place. At least when there wasn’t some assignment that required midnight attendance. Despite that voice in the back of his mind, he was glad this was out in the open now.

After a moment, Rhys put the book on the table. Making sure it wouldn’t fall and he looked back to Juniper. She was significantly shorter than him, and when he stepped closer, he towered a little bit. Eyes still bright but a little more intense. ”We can come back here anytime you like.”

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Thinking that watching Rhys open the present was agonizing was hilarious compared to how horrid it was while waiting for him to interpret what she had just said. Obviously she knew he and Nell weren’t dating and never had – that had been made clear the day back in the hospital wing. But she also didn’t really care about any of that stuff until now so the constant double-checking over the last few months had been important to her. It made sense in her head: they already spent an inordinate amount of time together between classes and free time, and virtually every moment doing classwork was spent together too. In her brain, their friendship had progressed to a point where it could go to the next step. If not, it was fine as it was. She felt like she could function through either, only because she didn’t really know what was considered normal and what wasn’t yet.

She wavered slightly in place as she waited for a response, failing to pick out anything in particular on Rhys’s face that would give away what he was thinking right now. The dim lighting they had in the tower didn’t help either. “I understand that, but it’s not what I meant,” she responded immediately, trying to keep her voice from sounding too exasperated. The way she had phrased it could definitely be misconstrued and it wasn’t like there had been any indications prior to this about how she viewed their relationship. Which was looking like it was maybe to her own detriment. She really didn’t care how often they could come back to the Astronomy Tower. It was nice and all, but he was missing the point. Straightening her shoulders out so she could gain a half an inch more in height, she certainly felt tall enough to stare up at Rhys right now. “I’m asking you to go out with me.”

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[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

At one point, Juniper had probably been taller than Rhys by a few inches, but his recent growth spurt had put him taller than many of his peers, and he was still adjusting. But it didn’t stop Juniper from standing as straight as she could to add another inch to her height to address him. For such a small girl, she had a commanding presence, but Rhys knew a few girls like that, and he found it was easier to go along with them than try to fight them. But on this, he didn’t want to fight her. In fact, she’d forged ahead and said the words that had been sitting on the tip of his tongue, but he hadn’t figured out how to get out.

Rhys gave a slight half-grin, his eyes brimming brightly against the almost moonless night. And he leaned down slightly as he closed that last bit of distance between them. Rhys could feel the heat of her breath on his cold face, but he could still see her eyes. ”Yes, McGonagall, I’ll go out with you.” His eyes scanned her eyes but then flickered to her lips and back. Rhys didn’t want her to go into some logical explanation or plan. So, he inched forward again, paused for a mere second, and then kissed her.

He'd never considered himself a particularly aggressive person. Maybe a few days before the full moon, he had the urge to throw everything at the slightest inconvenience. Like he had no way to release all that built-up energy until the wolfsbane kicked in. But he also did not doubt that if Juniper didn’t like something, she would quickly let it be known. One hand went to her waist to pull her a little closer. So much for that meteor shower they were supposed to look out for. Rhys hardly cared about Astronomy right now.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Being blunt and forthcoming like this was fairly typical of her, though she would have preferred to not have to practically shout it at Rhys. This never would have happened if it was outside of break, the fear of being overheard and then immediately judged by students she didn't know scared her. That was new after coming to the realization in September that she was not well liked by most. Somehow Rhys had overcome and dealt with her reprehensible behavior with ease, so it had led her to believe that she could attempt this in the first place. But spelling it out in this way? Was he playing dumb on purpose? The more she thought, the more she felt like maybe she'd jumbled her words up so much the first time that maybe it hadn't been comprehensible. That seemed like something she'd unknowingly do...

What gave it away was the stupid smile of his. The one where his eyes lifted up and looked like they were shimmering, where she always caught herself staring into them. She didn't notice him leaning down towards her, instead only hearing him say that he would go out with her. The shock (which she could have never anticipated no matter how much she prepared) was palpable, only snapped when he kissed her. The breath of surprise that caught in her only escaped after another one of those never-ending seconds when she pulled away slightly. Compared to the other times that had happened over the last minute or so, this one wasn't agonizing at all. Everything she had assumed this would have felt like was completely wrong, aside from the fluttering anxious feeling in her chest that was more of a borderline shot of adrenaline. Being pulled in closer didn't help. "That's cheating..." she said quietly, embarrassed to look up at him because she could feel what her face probably looked like: an equally dumb and happy grin to match Rhys's.

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[rhys alexander greyback]

just us, you find out

December 24, 2016
juniper minerva mcgonagall

It had taken Rhys some time to adjust to Juniper’s blunt nature. It wasn’t a secret, but there was a difference between occasionally being on the receiving end of a comment—perhaps once a quarter and hearing it almost every day. But just like everything else, Rhys adjusted, sometimes saving him the hassle of thinking about something too hard. Like any teenager, he was still learning to read between the lines and the subtleties of how sixteen and seventeen-year-olds communicated. Rhys had a difficult enough time trying to communicate how he felt already. So while he’d been on the same page as Juniper, she’d said it clearer and quicker.

Rhys still had that stupid grin on his face. He couldn’t help it. Things like this didn’t happen to him. Rhys had always simply been content with what was rather than what could be. Too much daydreaming was dangerous for a guy like him as he already spent too much time in his head. She might have had a point, but Rhys could bring up the infinite number of times he was distracted by something she did that he found endearing. He didn’t want to talk about it right now, he wasn’t good at talking, and Merlin knew he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and ruining it so quickly. Instead, Rhys tilted her head just so. And he could see a similar grin plastered on her face. And he kissed her again.

[ end rhys ]

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