Speed Bumps | Claudia & Simon

[Deleted]

Early June 2025
Following this thread

Claudia tiptoed silently into Simon’s bedroom and crawled back into her spot next to him in his bed. She had just left to use the restroom and had run into Jessie in the hallway. It was a little past 2 in the morning and she was honestly surprised to find anyone else in the house awake. In the few times she had been here so far, she had yet to run into anyone, though she was fairly sure Sofia and Jessie knew that she was here. Sofia she didn’t care about. As far as Claudia was concerned, the only thing she had against his sister was that she had questionable taste in friends. Jessie, however… running into her had been a sweet tourture to her soul. At least she felt like she had won that battle, not that she was really even fighting, rather, she felt she was being judged rather harshly by the Gryffindor who didn’t know her from the next girl.

She laid down and pulled herself against the man lying beside her, tangled in the sheets. Looking over at him, she reached and gently began to run her fingers across his chest. He seemed so peaceful and she felt so incredibly lucky in that moment to be lying there with him. She leaned over and placed soft kisses on his chest until she felt him stir. “Oh, sorry. I wasn’t trying to wake you up…” she admitted in a whisper, but she was kind of happy he was awake.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

Simon was deep in a peaceful slumber, legs tangled in the sheets and head buried in his pillow. His chest rose up and down with each breath as he dreamed about pointless things he'd forget about when he woke up. Slowly, he was awoken by the sensation of lips peppering and stroking his bare chest. It was enough to pull him from his slumber, causing his eyes to pry open with a slow, tired smile. Simon enjoyed affection from certain people, from Claudia, it was especially intoxicating. He found himself unable to contain himself from her touch, even after being pulled from his dead sleep.

She apologized, stating that she wasn't trying to wake him, so he let out a lazy chuckle. "Whatever you're doing I approve.." he agreed with a sleepy whisper, arms stretching out to pull Claudia's warm body against his cooler one, planting soft kisses on her temples, face, and lastly meshing with her lips, lacing his fingers through her hair to caress her tresses.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia truly hadn’t meant to wake him, but if she had just laid down in bed with her thoughts, she would have driven herself crazy. She was thankful for the company of the boy whose bed she was lying in. She was grateful for the distraction. He pulled her closer and kissed her head in a few places before kissing her lips and grabbing for her hair. She should have known that he would get frisky if she woke him up. That was basically all she had wanted from him for the whole time they had known one another, but now, in the weird moment that she actually wanted a little more, he was being touchy. Of course he was. “You’re cute.” she whispered with a giggle as she kissed him back. She couldn’t describe the feeling in her chest. It made her feel incredibly full, so much so that she wondered if it was possible for her chest to burst. She knew love didn’t really exist within your heart, but she felt almost like it did.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

Simon sighed peacefully with a dreamy smile dancing at the corners of his lips as she called him cute and kissed him back. The Lion thoroughly enjoyed her lips on his but he pulled away sleepily, "Claudia Watkins whispering sweet nothings into my ear...I must be dreaming..." he yawned happily with a slow and lazy full-body stretch, cracking his toes for the perfect ending. Simon held her close as the sleepiness quickly started fading away...it wasn't a dream that he had one of the hottest girls at Hogwarts in his bed. Claudia wasn't the type of girl to wake him in the middle of the night. She would typically slip out of bed unnoticed and sneak off home. He didn't mind that she woke him up now because it meant he got to spend more time with Claudia. Masking his feelings from her was one of the most painful things he ever had to do, not only from her, but Nate as well. Summertime was making things more complicated. "Are you having trouble sleeping?" he asked, genuinely caring but trying not to sound like he was being too soft, Claudia didn't like that. Merlin, emotions were weird. His arm remained looped around her to keep her close to him.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia felt her face blush when she commented about how her whispering sweet things to him must be a dream. It hit her a little harder than it usually would that something as simple and nice as her calling him cute was so far fetched and novel that he made a joke about dreaming that it must be happening. But she tried not to let it show. Maybe Jessie was right, maybe she didn’t deserve him. Maybe she was awful to him and he just kept her around for… she didn’t know. Her body maybe. The sex had always been good. Rather than comment herself and show how entirely vulnerable she was starting to feel, she brushed it off with a small breath of a giggle and cozied up to him when he pulled her closer. “Yeah I suppose so. I can’t see to shut my mind off…” she decided that was safe enough. With her injury and everything, she had plenty to think about. Saying she had a lot on her mind didn’t incriminate her. Not unless he asked what it was about, and not unless she chose to tell him.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

Simon shifted under the sheets, cradling his arm around Claudia as she pressed her warm body against his. The scent of her soft tresses filled his nostrils, sending a sleepy smile to the corners of his lips. As much as Simon loved the feeling of Claudia Watkins against his body, he would never tell her that. It would be the perfect recipe for disaster if he wanted her to stop talking to him. The last thing Simon wanted was to look like a lame clinger and ruin their ‘no strings attached’ agreement. It was bad enough he was the softer one when it came to his group of friends. Maybe he cared more what people thought that he thought...

As Claudia shared that she couldn’t seem to shut her mind off, his stomach dropped. He didn’t want them to have an awkward moment but he also didn’t want to seem like he didn’t care because he cared about her so much. Hell, he liked her so much it hurt his insides. Deep down he yearned to have those moments with the snake. Simon rolled slightly on his side to reach far for the drawer of his bedside dresser. He always had joints and spliffs rolled for these moments, though Simon rarely had trouble sleeping; he just liked having spliffs ready for when the mood would strike. “Well, I have something that could help with that..” he told her in an optimistic tone, lighting the end with a flick of the wrist. Simon took in a generous puff before passing it to Claudia feigning a nonchalant expression as he bravely asked “Is it something you want to talk about?”

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia had never told someone that she had something on her mind before, she had never been that open with literally anyone. She had always kept everything inside and didn’t let anything get to her. It was probably because she always had dance to focus on and to take her mind off of everything else going on around her. She could pretend that nothing else mattered when the one thing that really did matter to her was at the front of her mind. But now that dance didn’t matter, she couldn’t pretend that people and emotions and relationships didn’t matter. She hated to admit it, but people mattered. Simon mattered.

He rolled over and pulled the spliff off of his nightstand, lighting it up and passed it over to her. She took it and puffed in, holding it in a few seconds (as was slowly becoming natural for her) and then letting it out, blowing towards the slightly opened window. He asked if it was something that she wanted to talk about and she hesitated. She did kind of want to, but she wasn't sure how to bring it up. “it’s mostly just me trying to figure out what to do now.” she shrugged. Which was kind of true. She needed to figure out what mattered and what to spend her time doing now that she couldn’t pursue dance. It had been her dream for as long as she could remember. But now it wasn’t. “Like what matters…” she added softly, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. She passed the spliff back to him. “Sorry, you can go back to sleep if you want.” she insisted. She really hadn’t meant to wake him.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

Simon could sense her hesitation to tell him what was on her mind, but it also seemed like deep down she wanted to share with him. The dancer wasn't one to open up and be vulnerable easily so he wanted to listen. As she hit the spliff, a lazy hand ran softly through her loose curls and down the soft, bare skin of her back. She explained that she wasn't sure what to do now after her accident. Then, she insisted that he could go back to bed. He shook his head in protest and took the spliff back with a soft smile to hit it generously before responding. "The only thing that matters right now is you healing and not overworking yourself for the first time in your life. Maybe just having a normal summer for once.." he told her straight up, though his tone was caring and more heartfelt. All Simon wanted was the best for Claudia, and so much more, but she wouldn't allow him to give it to her.

He licked his lips, suddenly, he was feeling reflective on her words because he wasn't sure what 'mattered' in his life. Honestly, he wasn't sure if that was something he wanted to think about. His eyes searched for hers before falling again, "People and relationships matter, too." he said bravely, more in a way to show her that he was there for her. His arm remained around her warm frame to keep her close, prepared for her to break away at any moment.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia let his words sink in. What mattered now was her healing, he said, and her relaxing and having a normal summer. What constituted a normal summer, she wasn’t sure. But honestly, a part of her was kind of excited to find out. Plus, anything that involved being in Simon’s bed, especially when there was another girl down the hall who wanted to be in her place, sounded like a pretty sweet deal to her. And before she could say anything else, he added that people also mattered. And relationships. It was like he was reading her mind. Damn him. “That they do. I think I’m starting to realize that a lot more now than I used to…” she turned her head to look at him but she couldn’t breathe. She felt her heart pounding. She could not believe she was being so soft and vulnerable right now. It kind of scared her. A part of her wanted to jump up and run home. But she was frozen there. And she wanted to be.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

He felt his heart stop in his chest...or maybe he was holding his breath. Simon found himself wanting to pull himself closer to the radiant female, not in a lustful manner, but to comfort her. As a more reserved person, Simon understood how it felt saving energy for certain people or activities. This was out of character for Claudia to open up and allow herself to be so vulnerable. He desperately didn't want to ruin the moment.

His hand reached to pull her toward him so that his arm draped around her, "I really care about you, Claud..." he told her, feeling his insides flip around so he bit his lip. His instincts were telling him to resist, when all he wanted to do was open up and be honest with her. Maybe it was the spliff they were passing back and forth. He took a puff before adding to the sentiment, feigning a nonchalant tone, "It kind of freaks me out sometimes." Simon told her honestly, blue eyes unable to meet hers as he swallowed. Maybe he shouldn't have been that honest again.

@claudia

[Deleted]

Claudia held her breath as those words came out of Simon’s mouth. They were both words she didn't want to hear, and words she felt as if she had been waiting to hear for ages. He cared about her, so much so that it freaked him out sometimes. Normally, if he said something like that to her, she’d run. Well, maybe not really run, since running could risk injury, but she’d certainly walk away and probably not give him a second glance. Then the next day she would pretend that it never happened and go about as usual. She wasn’t sure if she could keep turning a blind eye to this. To him. To them. “I know.” she whispered back. The realization felt like a weight on her chest. “It scares me too, how much I care about you…” she admitted, feeling the weight lift slightly, but now the air felt heavy. She felt the expectation there, she felt almost as if she was making a commitment though she knew nothing came of those words alone. “I’ve tried to turn emotions off for so long I’m not sure I remember how to process them properly…” she warned, making an excuse, definitely, but she also felt it was the truth. She had been awful to him. She knew that. And to everyone. But she wasn’t regretful of her actions towards everyone, just to him.

simon sixten svendsen

[simon sixten svendsen]

Simon was used to hiding from his emotions. He wasn't the type of person to trust easily or allow just anyone into his inner circle. They seemed to have that in common, though Simon seemed to trust a little freely than she would. A weight lifted off his chest when Claudia confessed to being afraid of how much she cared about him. Something about that made his heart soar. That sentiment was huge for Claudia Watkins. She wasn't the sort of person to admit to that but in this moment he found it comforting. At school he was used to her fighting and running away from facing her emotions. There was so much more he wanted to say but he couldn't articulate it. Sometimes he wasn't sure if it was a language barrier thing or maybe he was just stupid.

His hand dropped down the bare skin of her back gently, "It's okay, I know. We don't have to get too deep tonight." he assured her as he sank into his pillow, his sleepy eyes searched for hers. Simons fingers ran through her soft tresses, leaning in to offer her a tender kiss. Simon pulled away slowly, "You don't have to turn them off for me. I'm not ever going to hurt you." he promised her solemnly. Not realizing what that promise entailed and how hard it would be to keep after a conversation of their current nature. Honestly he was speaking from the heart, he wanted to be true to his promise. Simon thought Claudia was the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts and he felt like he had been chasing her for a while now.

@claudia

[Deleted]

He held her and said that they didn’t have to get deep tonight. She scoffed a little bit, but nodded at the same time. To her, they already had. Just admitting what she had said was as deep as she had ever gotten with anyone, and it left her feeling incredibly vulnerable and scared. But at the same time, she was never sure she felt safer with anyone; Or as at peace in any situation, than she felt right now with Simon. The only time she felt safe and peaceful was when she danced, when she spun or leaped, there was nothing else in the world and she felt weightless, she felt strong, and she felt present. There weren’t many things in the world Claudia Watkins wanted to feel present for, but this was one of those moments where she wanted to soak in the now and forget about everything else. It terrified her.

She simply whispered “Okay.” she didn’t know what else to say. Words failed her, not that she was a fan of speaking anyway, but she felt like he deserved something better than what she could provide. She tried to just let the weight of his promise sink in. He was never going to hurt her. He was going to be there. Maybe things could be different… Maybe things could be real…

simon sixten svendsen

The End