Twitter [punz]

twitter [punz]

pairing: punz x gn!reader

pronouns: they/them

synopsis: some unlikely events lead to you talking to your favourite streamer.

wc: 1.4k

a/n: for my fellow punz simps, because there is not enough content for him.

tw: swearing, as usual.

“who’s someone who inspired you to start streaming?” the familiar sound of the text to speech voice rang through your headset, catching your interest and attention.

“ooh, that’s a good one, chat! thank you for the dono!” you exclaimed, pausing to think and exaggerated the face of deep thought to alert your audience you weren’t ignoring the question.

currently, you were doing a chill q&a stream while playing a game of unranked valorant, mainly just so the viewers had something to look at. though the game was usually quite fast paced, it was a nice contrast to the questions running through your donations, making for an all-around entertaining stream.

the stream itself had been going fairly smoothly, you having been getting a mix of both personal and random questions, from your pizza toppings of choice to your current relationship status. having a question related to you and your personal life that didn’t involved anything romantic was a nice change.

“if i had to pick one person, i think i’d say punz.” you replied, honestly. “i watch his streams all the time, valorant especially. he’s really good, and he’s taught me alot about the game just from his plays! i’d love to play with him sometime, what a dream that would be..” you commented, absentmindedly shooting down another player of the opposing team.

in retrospect, you should’ve picked your words more carefully to avoid the inevitable. you had been a streamer long enough and had accumulated enough of a following that you had to be cautious of what you said for the fear of things being taken completely out of context.

as the round came to a close, you answered a few questions before you ended your stream, bidding your chat goodnight. you saw a few chats mentioning twitter, but you chose not to mention it and instead opened the app only after hitting the end stream button.

imagine your surprise when you saw your name trending. only it wasn’t just your name.

it was punz’s name too.

trending: y/n and punz

twitch streamer y/n l/n talks about fellow streamer punz when asked which creator inspired their own streams. their fans are asking to see a collaboration between the two.

you sighed, running a hand over your face in embarrassment. you clicked on the trend hesitantly, frowning as you scrolled through the endless amount of tweets tagging punz to connect with you, and you felt heat rise to your cheeks as you saw more than a couple ‘shipping’ comments, and what your combined name would be.

despite you being in the same community of streamers, you weren’t nearly as big as punz. you’d never talked, nor interacted. he killed you once in a minecraft monday event, but that’s about as far as that went. now he was practically being harassed by his and your own fans to stoop to your level and stream with you? you could only hope he didn’t use twitter that often and didn’t see any of it.

you really should’ve known better than to mention your desire to stream with him. in your defence, you’d never trended anything from your own fanbase, it simply wasn’t that big. punz’s viewers must’ve caught wind of a clip of you saying it though, and made it as big as it was. even goes as far as shipping the two of you.

there was a very good possibility if he’d see that trend, he’d have no idea who you are. which was even worse.

you turned off your phone with a sigh, glancing at the clock and deciding to call it a night. turning off all your devices, you left to prepare for bed, blissfully unaware of the chaos that was currently happening online.

when you awoke the next morning, you grabbed your phone only to do a double take at the sheer amount of notifications you had on the screen. “what the hell?” you muttered, squinting your eyes against the bright screen.

most being from twitter, you instantly opened the app and saw your notifications absolutely blown up. if you’d thought the tweets were bad yesterday, you were completely mistaken. you had well over a thousand tagged tweets now, your twitter lagging so bad you couldn’t even scroll through the notification tab.

you suddenly wished you had turned on filtered notifications so you only got notified when someone you follow tagged you in tweets, and resented everyone who had a verified tab because right now you didn’t and you were suffering for it.

despite the lag, you managed to click on one of the most recent replies, tensing when it loaded and you noticed it was a reply to punz. you swallowed harshly, opening the tweet with a nervous frown.

Punz tweeted:

‘who’s y/n?’

you wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there. you almost deleted the app, but curiosity got the best of you and you clicked on the original tweet, wanting to see some of the replies that were undoubtedly breaking your notifications tab at the moment.

however you paused once you noticed punz had replied to the tweet himself, opting to click on it instead.

Punz replied:

‘@.y/n dms!’

your heart sped up at the sight, hesitantly clicking his profile and nearly passing out at the ‘follows you’ next to his twitter handle. you sucked in a breath, quickly clicking the dms button and seeing a message from him sent a few hours ago.

"yo, i wanted to apologize for this whole situation! my fans tend to get over-excited about interactions with other creators. super flattered that i could inspire you tho! i checked out your twitch and you seem cool - we should queue together in valorant sometime"

you blinked once, twice. you squealed in excitement, allowing yourself to get it out of your system. one of your biggest twitch inspirations had just invited you to play your favorite game with him. you sucked in a shaky breath before grabbing your phone to type out a reply.

"no need to apologize! if anything i should be sorry! i shouldn’t have mentioned wanting to stream with you - i didn’t think they’d all spam you."

"and i’d be down for val anytime, here’s my discord tag! just message me whenever you want to play :)"

it felt like a long shot, despite him offering first. he had probably only done it to make you feel better about the whole situation. chances were he wouldn’t even see it, he had messaged you hours ago. following you was probably to settle down the fans, too.

how wrong you were, because not even a minute later, he responded.

"it’s all good, they tend to blow things out of proportion more often than you’d think, i’m used to it."

"oh, and i’ll add you now :]"

you waited for the notification to come in from discord, clicking it and accepting the pending friend request immediately.

you smiled, deciding to leave it at that for now. you went about your morning, forcing yourself to get ready for a stream later that day. you hadn’t decided what you play yet, so you put up a poll on twitter.

‘what do you want to see me stream today?’, with the options being valorant, minecraft, just chatting or a new game. you set it for an hour, putting down your phone and heading to the bathroom to shower.

when you came back, you opened your phone to see another influx of notifications, opening your twitter once more to see punz had replied to your poll tweet.

Punz replied:

‘vote valorant!’

of course, with punz’s help valorant won with over 90% of the votes, and you smiled as you pulled up discord, shooting him another message.

"since you rigged my vote, i think it’s only fair that you play a few rounds with me."

you hesitated, wondering if you were being too forward too soon, but punz was a chill guy. you sent the message nonetheless, nerves bubbling in your stomach. minutes later you heard the familiar ping from discord.

"bet."

you smiled, quickly discussing amongst you when the best time to stream would be. you felt oddly comfortable joking with punz, him even throwing in some shipping jokes here and there.

this was going to be fun.

and sure, maybe you meant the upcoming valorant stream, but you had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time you and punz streamed together either, much less the last time you spoke.

wait does that mean i'm tubbo 😭 i'm literally a shitlord ngl idk if i fit tubbo credentials

I SAID U WERE TOMMY MUSHROOM DIDNT AGREE 🙄

---

but like you're Tommy cause you kinda brought us all together and are arguably the most famous one lmaooo Arielle has Tubbo's chaotic but also kinda chill vibes and I have convince some of my followers that I'm a cryptic and I'd like to keep it that way

-🍄

I KNOW U DID NOT JUST CALL ME FAMOUS LMFAOOO

---

mcyt masterlist

c!technoblade

✯ stories - reader meets their childhood hero from stories they were told as a child.

✯ a tale as old as time - c!techno in beauty and the beast [ongoing series]

✯ drabble #1 - spending some alone time with techno

sapnap

✯ under the bleachers - high school au ft jock!sapnap and unpopular!reader

✯ all-star - high school au ft basketball player!sapnap and coaches kid!reader

✯ ghost - inspired by ghost by justin bieber.

✯ flirt - sapnap loves to flirt, and is determined to get reader to flirt back.

✯ favorite crime - inspired by favorite crime by olivia rodrigo.

✯ favorite virtue - part 2 to favorite crime

✯ there for you - platonic, sapnap comforting stressed reader

georgenotfound

✯ a bad day - reader has a bad day, and boyfriend!george cheers them up.

✯ coding - reader is a struggling coding student, george is a coding master

✯ crushing - mutual pining, confessing.

dreamwastaken

✯ puzzles - like love, even puzzle pieces wear out.

✯ goodbye - dream's channel finally took off, but at what cost?

✯ drabble #1 - dream's fans don't understand your love language.

quackity

✯ flights - surprising quackity.

✯ stargazing - reader and quackity confess under the stars.

✯ playlists - sharing song recommendations on a late night drive with quackity.

✯ breaking point - you can only put on an act for so long.

punz

✯ twitter - stans can do a lot for a cc, including introducing them to their idol.

karl jacobs

✯ nails - karl has been begging reader to come on stream, and they finally agree.

✯ drabble #1 - wedding ring

✯ drabble #2 - reader plays with karl's hands when they're nervous.

✯ friend of a friend - a last minute invite to among us leads to something more.

wilbur soot

✯ oh, tommy - wilbur has feelings for reader, and tommy knows it.

badboyhalo

✯ drabble #1 - post-stream slow dancing

---

breaking point [quackity]

pairing: quackity x gn!reader

pronouns: they/them

synopsis: "the truth is we were both faking this.. whatever this is."

wc: 1.3k

a/n: this is my entry for @cherios and @ttakinou's duo event! congratulations to you both again on your respective milestones! :)

tw: just angst, probably swearing u know me.

all good things must come to an end, as they say.

you thought you were the exception.

how naive you were.

for the longest time, being with alex was a high like no other. you were soaring on the wings of love, and nothing could drag you down.

sure the two of you had your lows, but at the end of the day you’d find your way and be right back up on cloud 9.

you wouldn't trade your relationship for the world. at least, there was a time you wouldn’t.

that time had long since passed.

you really weren’t sure when your relationship fell apart. it was like one day everything was fine and then suddenly, it wasn’t.

looking back, all the signs you were falling out of love were there. it began with little things, no goodnight texts from alex while he was streaming, you not thinking to tell him when you left the house, and spending more time apart than together.

but despite the signs, at the end of the day, you would tell each other you loved the other and you would pretend like everything was just fine. like you weren’t experiencing a pang in your heart every time he crawled into bed and turned his back to you, no longer cuddling into each other like you once did.

no, that was manageable.

the real pain came when you tried to maintain your appearance as a couple on alex’s streams.

as famous streamer ‘quackity’, he liked to put on a particularly loud and bashful persona for his audience. many times that involved flirting with you in front of them, with you reciprocating just as playfully.

you used to look forward to being invited to talk to his chat or play games with him. those were some of your best memories.

once his career really took off, you suddenly had hundreds of thousands of viewers invested in your personal life and relationship. you and alex were constantly being asked questions about when you’d be featured next, so you took to being on his streams more often.

it wasn’t an issue at first, feeling completely at ease by his side and loving the way he kept you involved in every aspect of his life, even sharing his career with you.

this grew complicated, however, once you felt the shift in your feelings. you were left with an unspoken deal that you would keep up your appearances on his streams. the last thing you wanted to do was displease his fans. as important as they were to him, they were to you too.

even if it meant putting yourself through the pain of living a lie, you would do it for them.

“alright! alright! calm down chat, i’ll text y/n and ask if they’re busy!” quackity laughed, pulling out his phone and shooting you said text.

you flashed your gaze down to the illuminated screen, sighing as you pulled yourself off the couch, grabbing one of alex’s hoodies that had been left laying around and sliding it on, forcing a surprisingly convincing smile before strolling inside his office.

“hey chat! hey love.” you greeted, kissing him on the cheek and waving excitedly at the screen.

“hey, what have you been up to?” he asked, smiling softly as you pulled up a chair next to his own.

“not much, cleaning up around the house. chat, you wouldn’t believe how messy this man is. seriously!” you joked, earning a scoff and a pout from him.

“i’m not that bad!” he defended, but it came out hopeless and his chat went wild, calling him stinky and other such insults. “shut up chat! you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“they’ve always liked me more, you know this.” you shrugged, winking at the camera facing you. your name filled the chat, rooting for you. he scoffed, but wrapped an arm around you regardless. you nestled into his side, getting comfortable as you continued to talk.

a short while later you excused yourself, hugging your boyfriend once more in front of the camera before pulling away and leaving the room, your heart heavy.

most days you could do it. put on your pretty smile, cuddle up next to him, and pretend everything was okay. there were some days, like today, that hurt you more than you could express.

it felt so real, like the banter you used to have with him - when he cared for you. now it was the same banter, the same alex, just without any true emotion behind it. it was nothing more than an act.

everyday on stream, you put up a mask that everything was fine. it wasn’t fine though. everytime you faked it, it hurt just that much more.

it served as a constant reminder of what used to be, and what never would be again.

you couldn’t take it anymore.

while he was still preoccupied with his stream, you began packing your things and setting them in your car. you arranged plans to stay with a friend, them being more than willing to offer you their guest room.

a part of you felt a weight lifted off your shoulders as you cleaned up the remainder of your things, managing to squeeze most of your belongings in your vehicle.

now comes the tough part. confrontation.

you tried to busy yourself with cleaning up the house one final time, but you still couldn’t help the nerves that fluttered in your stomach.

finally, you heard the familiar clicking of his office door, and a tired alex came out, plopping down on the couch. “you wanna order some food or something?” he asked, eyes set on the screen as he turned on the tv.

you fell silent, standing stiffly behind the couch. he glanced at you, frowning when he noticed just how tense your figure was, and caught sight of the tears pooling in your eyes.

“hey, what’s up?” he asked, softly. you swallowed harshly, daring to look into his eyes for just a brief moment.

“i cant do this anymore.”

your words hung heavy in the air, his frown deepening as he took in your words. “you.. you can’t do what anymore?” he asked, quietly. though deep down, he knew.

“this. us. this show we’ve been putting on, i’m sick of it. we can’t keep pretending we love each other!” you choked back a sob, the reality of your words crashing down on both of you.

“don’t say that. we can fix this, we’ll make it work. we love each other!” he tried desperately to make you look at him, to no avail.

“no we can’t, alex. we haven’t loved each other in a long time. the truth is we were both faking this.. whatever this is.” you argued, tears threatening to spill from your eyes.

“how could you say that?” his voice broke, successfully cracking your heart along with it.

you turned away, a shaky breath escaping your lips. “you know i’m right, alex. we haven’t been a real couple for weeks, maybe months. we have to let go now.” you reasoned, desperate for him to accept defeat and let you walk away.

“no. you’re lying. you love me, and i love you. you cant leave me!” he stepped closer, reaching out and swiping his thumb across your tear-stained cheek. the contact was too overwhelming, and you lost it.

“stop fighting me! i’m trying to make this easier on both of us!” you sobbed, pushing him away. his expression was visibly hurt, watching as he deflated, turning desperate.

“i’m not fighting you, i’m fighting for you! why can’t you understand that?” he screamed back, tears flowing of their own will down his cheeks. “you can make it easier on both of us by not doing this! you don’t have to leave, you can stay here!” he sobbed, reaching for you.

you stepped back, turning away. “please. stay with me.” he begged, one last time. you couldn’t form words, only broken sobs as you shook your head and turned, leaving.

“so this is it for us?” he whispered. you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, too ashamed and afraid of retracting your statement if you saw the heartbreak swirling in his eyes. so instead, you simply walked out of the door.

he didn’t bother to follow.

---

this is literally one of my fav fics i’ve ever read so u all better go show arielle love for it rn >:(

interpretations [c!sapnap x reader, hogwarts au]

Hi! Here we are again and with somewhat of a continuation for my Hogwarts AU. Remember that Slytherin housemate from Mercy that I left unnamed? This is about her now and her little “interest” in a certain bandana wearing fiend.

Of course, we’re still going to use stuff like [Name] and [Surname] so don’t get it confused with the other story; it’s not about the reader from Mercy, but she will be mentioned differently.

Also another note: this takes place a little bit before Mercy. There is going to be a bit of an overlap and time jumps with these stories depending on who's getting what storyline. So far I have a good idea for two more and will be going through that.

Divider done by @firefly-graphics.

Here's my masterlist

TW // Mentions of blood

PAIRING: C!Gryffindor!Sapnap x Slytherin!Fem!Reader

PREMISE: A nightmare connected the most unlikely people, but was it worth it?

WORD COUNT: 14K+

Everything felt cold. Why was that? She had no idea why… Wait. She did know why. She was dying…

Wake up!

Wake up!

Wake up!

[Name] jolted upwards, gasping for air as if she had just resurfaced from water. Her breath was still short and heaving, sweat rolling down the back of her neck as she tried to remember her nightmare, though it was useless. All she remembered was one thing: it was cold, practically freezing. She also remembered that she was dying. And the voice.

“I really hope that isn’t me.” She whispered to herself, regretting saying it immediately. “I really hope that isn’t anyone, actually…”

Looking around, she spotted her dormmates bodies breathing underneath a pile of blankets. It was still dark out, [Name] making out the moonlight shining through the water of the Black Lake against her window. She hadn’t an idea what time it was--most likely between one to three in the morning--and she wasn’t sure how long it would take for her to go back to sleep. Though, she wasn’t exactly too keen on re-living on dying.

Letting out a quiet groan, [Name] settled herself back to bed, looking up at the dark stoned ceiling, feeling helpless once again. All she wished for was sleep, but she never seemed to be having any ever since she had started having those hellish dreams. They started in her third year as nightmares she couldn’t remember and it stayed that way for a while up until now, where she was starting to not only feel things but to hear them as well.

The voice was familiar, but where did she recognize it from? [Name] groaned again, her head pounding as she tried her best to dig from the back of her head as she tried her best to recall her memory. Someone else shifted from the other side of the room, [Name] spotting her housemate sitting up and staring at her with concern.

“Nightmares again?” She heard her ask faintly.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I was about to fall asleep.” [Name] lied smoothly, eyes staring numbly at the wall.

A yawn could be heard as her housemate quietly said, “You honestly need to go to Madam Pomfrey for a deep sleep potion. It’s amazing that you still manage to stay awake during lessons.”

“Fake it till you make it.” [Name] joked, a smile creeping on her face.

“Of course you can still joke when it sounded like you just swam out of Black Lake.”

A giggle washed over the room, only for a moment though since they heard Minx groan a harsh “shut up” from her pillow. Not wanting to bother their other dormmates, both girls allowed the room to be silenced once more. [Name] turned her body so it faced the murky window. Faintly she could see fish swim by and an occasional tentacle--the giant squid?--watching the way the water illuminated the room.

She thought of the voice again. What was it saying to her again? “Wake up.” [Name] whispered quietly to herself. Well, here she was--awake. But for what reason? No dream or nightmare could ever be this strong, [Name] thought to herself. There has to be a reason for these recurring dreams; she just needed to find it. And her first issue wasn’t easy, but it definitely was simple: find the voice.

“You dressed early.” Her housemate said at the same time Minx said, “You look like shit.”

[Name] glared at her from her spot on her bed. She hadn’t slept ever since she woke up, only moving and ruining her bed whenever she tossed and turned. She didn’t need a mirror to know there were dark bags under her eyes. She was pretty sure she felt them sinking into her face when she made herself take a cold shower to wake up this morning. Still, she threw a sarcastic smile at the tall Slytherin. “Thanks, Minx. I really needed to hear that at 8AM.”

She rubbed her eyes, trying to rub exhaustion out of them as they made their way to the common room. Like always, there was commotion everywhere--first years running out, panicked that they might miss breakfast, with a few of their fellow fifth years cursing at them to slow down. Faintly, she can feel her housemate shove her way between her and Minx. [Name] questioned it until she heard the familiar wheezing laughter of their resident prankster.

“You can’t always hide from him, y’know.” [Name] advised as she tried to pull away when they made it out the door, only to be pulled back by her dormmate, grip tight.

“I can and I will. I see Dream more than enough times than I’d like to admit.” Their dormmate said.

“At least be happy you didn’t have to go on a date with him or one of his little friends like some people I know.” [Name] said coyly, eyes shooting at Minx, who only scowled in response.

“George asked me to place enough money on him during that charity event last summer so none of their little psycho ‘fans’ from Hogwarts would try to take him on a date and drop a love potion in his drink.” Minx explained, very much annoyed. “Worst date ever.”

“Yeah I’d find it horrible too if I spat on the cutest boy at Hogwarts.” [Name] jeered out, giving her friend a good natured smile when the finger was thrown her way. “I don’t even understand--”

“I panicked!”

“That hardly explains why you did that. I nearly fell off my bed laughing when I read your letter. Poor George.” [Name] said. She continued her jibe at Minx’s failed pity date with the Ravenclaw up until they made it to the Great Hall, where it was bustling with a mix of excited younger students and exhausted older ones.

Once settled into their spots, [Name] was greeted with a letter dropped on top of her plate. Her eyes looked up to meet one of the sixth years at her house, Punz, standing beside her, obviously being the one to drop the letter on her table. Raising an eyebrow, [Name] chose not to touch the letter, opting to sip her pumpkin juice instead.

"Just take the letter." Punz urged, poking at her back.

"I don't trust you." [Name] responded honestly, setting the letter aside to place a boiled egg in its place. She had every right to. Her last excursion with Punz resulted in her receiving three weeks of detention with Professor Binns, the tragically dead and even more tragically boring History of Magic professor.

Still, the older Slytherin was persistent, placing the letter on top of the boiled eggs. "Punz! My eggs!"

"Look, there's a friend of mine looking for a certain… Item." Punz said, voice going down in a whisper. [Name] rolled her eyes, knowing where this is going, but urging him to continue by waving her fork to continue. "It's the spine of a shrake. Hard to find unless you know somebody."

"Let me guess, I'm that somebody?" [Name] asked, not really looking for an answer.

Punz nodded. "Yeah. You're the only one who has access to a shrake--"

"No." [Name] interrupted. "I can't get it."

"Bullshit," Punz said, annoyed. "Your brother is a Potioneer. He's got access to every potion ingredient possible--"

"And I would gladly send him a letter requesting for ingredients not provided by Hogwarts--for a certain sum, of course. Just not a shrake." [Name] said, eyes darkening as she started to think about the terrifying sea creature. "They're impossible to catch and not to mention every potion that involves a shrake spine always results in bones breaking or death. Just who is your little friend and what are they up to, Punz?"

"Maybe if you look at the envelope, you'll see." Punz said mysteriously, walking farther up the table, stopping to give Dream an overly complicated handshake before walking further to sit with the other sixth years.

"Since when have they been friends?" Minx asked, eyes trained on their housemates. Their dormmate shook her head, probably silently dreading the possible trouble coming down on them now that Hogwarts's biggest troublemaker just networked with an infamous dark items seller. It wasn't any better that they were in Slytherin.

[Name] rolled her eyes once more, picking up the envelope. She tucked into her robes, deciding to read it later. With everything she's dealing with, having to be a middleman for the middleman were the least of her troubles. All she wanted was to eat breakfast.

The next day had been a Friday, a day where [Name] chose to hustle all her work in that day to avoid too much work during the weekend. She spent the majority of her evening at the library, eyes trained on her outline for an essay for her Potions class, making adjustments and adding comments in the margins for her to look back and reference to.

Her eyes were so trained on the essay, she had failed to notice the two bodies settling themselves in front of her. [Name] nearly jumped out of her seat when she met Karl Jacobs’s kind gaze from across the table. “Salazar’s soul!” [Name] yelled out, earning a harsh shush and irritated glance from Madam Pince. Faintly, she could feel something slick and cold splash on her hand. [Name] sighed as she picked up her ink pot, which had been knocked down when she almost jumped from her seat.

She could only offer an embarrassed smile at Madam Pince before turning to glare at Karl and Sapnap, who flinched at her disgusted gaze. “Whatever it is you want, Karl, it better be a damn good reason.”

The brunette grinned sheepishly. “My bad. I’ll get you a new one, I promise--” Silently, [Name] picked up her parchment, wet and stained with black ink to the point of no return. “--and I’ll replace that too. Scout’s honor.”

[Name] sighed, shaking her head as she pulled a handkerchief out to clean the ink from her fingers as best she can. “Karl. What do you need?” [Name] urged again.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Karl elbow Sapnap, who had yet to speak up. The dark haired Gryffindor elbowed him back, as if communicating for Karl to say something instead of him. A whisper fight ensued, though it was nothing [Name] could decipher besides the quiet “You do it/No, you do it!”.

“If you two won’t stop this little…” [Name] waved a hand their way, trying to find the right words. “Lovers quarrel, I’m going back to my dorm.” To yell at Dream, [Name] thought to herself. There was no way he didn’t send those two to talk to me.

“No,” Sapnap said, holding a hand out to grab the hand holding the strap of her bag, speaking up for the first time. “We were just going to ask you about the shrake spine.”

“That was you?” [Name] asked, earning a nod from the Gryffindor, who quickly let go of her hand. “I already told Punz I wouldn’t get it.”

“Why not, though?” Sapnap pressed further.

“Do you know how much danger it is to get shrake spines?” [Name] asked. From the two boys’ confused looks, she would have guessed no. “Well, let’s just say the purpose of a shrake’s existence is to create as much damage and trouble as possible.”

“Look, we’ll pay you a lot.” Sapnap countered.

[Name] raised an eyebrow. Just how much money does Sapnap have to say that so easily?

“This is a kind of serious type of favor. I promise there’s no pranks involved with this.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Usually, [Name] would use jokes as a means of refusal, showing there was no animosity between her and whoever was requesting ingredients that she was not able to bring up. They usually gave up after a one or two tries, tired from [Name]’s constant “no’s” and jokes. From the looks of things, [Name] could see it was doing the opposite for Sapnap.

She rarely ever spoke to Sapnap, mainly because they were in opposing Houses. While she never really understood how House rivalries can last so long, [Name] had subconsciously not spoken to most of the Gryffindors, mainly due to either them beginning the silent avoidance or she had just found a few of the red and gold wearing students annoying.

Sapnap had been the latter. She was more than sure a small part of her first year self held onto it, but she would never forget the time Sapnap jinxed one of the salad bowls at the Slytherin table to explode. [Name] and Dream had been in the line of fire. Dream, who had known Sapnap for quite some time, was angry at him, choosing to throw a punch and tear a portion of Sapnap’s uniform in retaliation.

She was more than sure that fight had solidified a strong friendship between them--something she would never understand--because by the time they served their detention, Dream and Sapnap weren’t seen without the other afterwards. Whatever bond they had before grew stronger after their little toss of juvenile testosterone. Hell, Sapnap even wore the torn piece of his uniform around his head.

[Name] had chosen the opposite, avoiding Sapnap at all costs. He had apologized to her soon afterwards and she forgave him--sort of. They hadn’t spoken so much as a few nods of acknowledgement and having to sit next to one another in joint classes. She was more than sure he still felt guilty in some way, even after all these years. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have sent Punz to ask for the shrake spine or have Karl try to talk first. It looked like it was about to change, though, with how frustrated he looked.

“I’m not only refusing because its hard to obtain, Sapnap.” [Name] explained, softening when she noticed him looking as if he were about to explode. “Shrake spines are dangerous once crushed. Just the powder itself can create issues. If it gets into your mouth, nose, or eyes then you can have internal bone breakage. I should know; I lost count of how many times my brother got sent to St. Mungo’s for it.”

“We didn’t know…” Karl said apologetically.

“Why would you? I don’t exactly tell people my life story.” [Name] replied. She turned to Sapnap, who looked a little less irritated after her explanation. “Not to mention, I’ve got other things to worry about. I’d rather not add being the cause of internal bone breakage for you and your feral friends.”

“I wasn’t going to involve them.” Sapnap promised, though [Name] could spot the lie right behind his eyes. Anything anyone did with him and his friends, they were most likely going to be involved in some way.

Shaking her head, [Name] finally decided to ask, “What is it you’re doing anyways? What does something as dangerous as a shrake spine need to be included in whatever it is you’re brewing?”

Karl and Sapnap paused, turning to look at each other in hesitance. “Punz gave you an envelope.” Was the only thing Karl said after they stopped looking up from each other. [Name]’s eyes widened, suddenly remembering the letter her housemate gave her. She shuffled through her pockets and bag until she finally found it. She looked up at Sapnap curiously, who only urged her to open the note.

She was tempted to ask him if this was another prank, but something told her to trust him. Slowly, she broke the seal open, pulling out the letter and opening it. Her eyes furrowed as she read the contents in the letter. It was just a list.

1 shrake spine, crushed

1 Pogrebin tooth, crushed

3 Abraxan hair--

“Wait.” [Name] said as she went further along the page. “I recognize this potion.”

From above the page, she could see Sapnap shuffle uncomfortably the moment she mentioned her familiarity with what was listed. [Name] let out a huffed laugh, shocked as she realized what Sapnap was trying to make. There was no way he was trying to make a potion like that…

“Is it just the Gryffindor in you or are you just straight up crazy?” [Name] asked once she finished analyzing the potion.

“If you’re going to make fun of me, just go ahead and do it already.” The Gryffindor snapped. Karl looked at him in panic, slapping his arm, as if urging him to sit back down. Sapnap only pulled away, glaring daggers at [Name], who only watched him as she tried to process what she was trying to piece together.

“You might as well practice Legilimency, Sapnap.” [Name] said, not phased by his explosive behavior. Carefully, she set down the paper. “You’ll hurt yourself trying to make a mind breaking potion. Whoever’s brain you’re trying to pick at--stop it. You’d have to follow this potion down to the very last detail. Put the wrong amount of shrake powder and you’ll have your rib piercing your heart.”

“Look, we’re desperate okay? He’s been getting these weird flashes of--” Karl started, only to be stopped by Sapnap, who covered his mouth.

Shaking his head, Sapnap grabbed his bag and walked away, obviously upset. [Name]’s stomach dropped, the thought of him putting himself in danger not sitting well with her. Her eyes shifted to Karl, who was still watching Sapnap with the same amount of concern she had. Once Sapnap disappeared, Karl turned back to the Slytherin, giving her an apologetic smile.

“I’d tell you what’s happening, but it’s not my place to say.” He started. “I can tell you this; the thing that’s been affecting him has been eating him up from the inside out. He barely gets sleep nowadays since he thinks about it all the time now. He hasn’t been acting the same since.”

As curious as she was about what exactly is bothering Sapnap, [Name] knew not to press further. She certainly hated it whenever Minx tried to push her to explain her nightmares. She also understood what he’s been through to some degree in regards to barely getting any sleep. Her eyes widened for a moment when realization hit her. The mind breaking potion was strong, stronger than any potion she’s ever read on. And highly dangerous--her brother refused to make it because of how dangerous gathering the potions were. However, a few good things came out of it besides trying to pick through someone’s mind--it also brought clarity up the night you take it.

[Name] looked back down at the ingredients list again. “It’s hard enough trying to get a Pogrebin.” She told Karl.

Karl nodded. “We can help you--get the other potions, I mean. I know you’re hesitant about it, [Name], so I don’t want to make you do something you’re not comfortable with.”

“I don’t like it, but…” [Name] paused for a moment, looking back at the door where Sapnap left from. A feeling of guilt washed over her for upsetting him. But how else was she going to get the message across? By holding his hand and telling him he could possibly die from just trying to make a potion?

“But…?” Karl urged.

“It’ll take months to get shrake spine, much less convince my brother to send me it.” [Name] continued, writing down a name on a corner of her ruined parchment. “During that, you and Sapnap need to help me gather the rest of the ingredients. In particular the Pogrebin. I have a friend who can help, though. She’s in your House so you might know her.”

Handing him the paper, Karl examined the name before his eyes lit up in recognition. He nodded excitedly at her, confirming he knew who the sixth year Hufflepuff was. They talked a little longer afterwards, going through any contingency plans and preparations for the potion gathering. Not to mention they had to keep it quiet; from the looks of it [Name] was sure only Karl, Dream, and possibly Punz knew about Sapnap’s little dilemma. No doubt it would take several months if they were keeping this agreement just between the four of them.

“Can I ask you why you suddenly changed your mind?” Karl asked suddenly. [Name] searched him for a moment, hesitating to lie to him. Karl, while he was one of the key members of Hogwarts’s notorious troublemakers, was one of the nicer of the boys, next to George.

He was the kindest to the victims of the pranks, coming up to anyone who was not involved but still received the brunt of their jokes and apologizing for bringing them in. Not wanting to take advantage of his friendliness, [Name] decided to say hold back on whatever lie her brain was trying to make. “I have some use for the mind breaking potion.” [Name] admitted vaguely. “Since you or Sapnap won’t tell me what the potion is for, I’ll hold back as well.”

Karl laughed. “Fine. I’ll go tell Sapnap.”

“You go do that.” [Name] said as she cleaned up her spot and shuffled her items in her bag. Karl looked as if he was ready to leave, stopping when [Name] called his name quickly. “Can you tell Sapnap I said sorry?”

“For what?” Karl asked.

“Being an ass.” [Name] said honestly. “I was kind of harsh on him even though I knew he was going to act like that.”

Karl nodded in understanding. “Will do.” He said as he shuffled his bag. He gave one last goodbye wave to [Name], closing the door behind him. She could faintly hear him call out Dream’s name loudly and quick footsteps. Clearly, their tall leader was passing by the hall.

What have I gotten myself into? [Name] asked herself in her head.

She was dying again.

Wake up!

It was cold, like always. But where was she? [Name] turned her head, only for her vision to be blocked by her hair. Was she… Floating?

Wake up!

Was she in space? Is she going to drop back on earth? Where is she?

Wake up!

Wake up!

Dammit, Sapnap, wake up!

[Name] gasped, chest heaving again as she woke up from her nightmare. Looking around, she realized it was just her in the room. “Why…?” [Name] asked herself before she remembered being invited to a Duelling Club meeting by Puffy. [Name] refused, noting she wanted to wake up early on Saturday so she can go on the first wave of carriage rides to Hogsmeade.

“I think this is a little too early.” [Name] told herself. The meeting didn’t end until midnight and judging from the chattering downstairs it wasn’t even eleven. Curling into herself, [Name] let herself think of her dream again.

Sapnap’s name was mentioned by the voice this time. But why? It hadn’t been mentioned at all until now. Was it because she involved herself with him and her mind subconsciously included him? If it had, then why had it not been Karl, who she spoke to longer, instead of Sapnap?

Sighing, [Name] grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on, the cloak she haphazardly threw on the edge of her bedpost when she came to her dorm room last night. She didn’t bother to spare anyone a glance as she zeroed in on the doorway. It felt too crowded in the common room despite there being only a few students scattered around the room. A sigh of relief escaped her once she felt the frigid air of the basement.

“I have to get out of here…” [Name] whispered to herself. But where to? She wondered to herself. This wasn’t her first time leaving the common room after hours. In exchange for her requests for ingredients, her brother enlisted her help to get materials only found in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. [Name] hadn’t known how many times she scratched herself trying to fit through open pockets in the deteriorating walls to hide away from Filch or the Prefects.

Remembering there was a hallway that leads straight to the astronomy tower almost always empty, [Name] chose that route, making sure to cast a warming charm around her before she went. Usually, she gave herself time to admire the hallway. It was barely used since it was close to Greenhouse 5, which always gave off a putrid smell year-round. Everyone was so focused on the smell, they never realized just how pretty the hallway was.

It could have been from a spell gone wrong, but the ceiling of the hallway was covered in growing vines, pink flowers littering here and there. It reminded [Name] of some sort of nature made solar system. She’d spend hours watching the “sky and stars”, admiring at how the moonlight illuminated the flowers before and after she set out to find the Hogwarts exclusive materials. Right now, however, [Name]’s mind could only focus on one thing: the putrid smell. She wished she could have focused on the overgrown vines, but if she did that would have meant she’d go into deep thoughts.

She’d rather not go into deep thoughts.

That would lead her straight back to her nightmare, wondering why Sapnap was involved in it this time.

Quickening her steps, [Name] spared no time to deal with the putrid scents. Once the door was closed, she let out the breath she held quietly, turning a corner where the astronomy tower was. Just as she was about to head for the tower, she heard a familiar set of voices from the other hallway.

“--idiot. Absolute idiot. I can’t believe you froze up just because I opened the door on you two.” Sapnap said quietly. “You totally had her attention, man.”

“Shut the hell up.” [Name] heard Dream said harshly. “We wouldn’t know anymore because someone decided to make things awkward and point out the fact we were still holding hands!”

A laugh erupted from Sapnap this time. [Name] moved her head around a corner, spotting the two friends standing around in the dark hallways, wands lit, but aimed at the ground. She fought back a giggle as she noticed the Gryffindor’s panda themed pajama pants.

“Aw, don’t get all sad about it, Dream. From the looks of it we’ll be seeing her more with whatever deal you struck with her. Maybe once you guys get to be friends, you can set me up with her--”

“Watch it Sapnap.” Dream interrupted, voice cutting a little harshly this time. “Besides, you’ll have to get past her friend first.”

A groan erupted from Sapnap’s lips. “Ugh. Don’t remind me. Just the conversation at the library made me want nervous. You weren’t kidding when you said she says it like it is. Kinda scary.”

Are they talking about… Me? [Name] thought to herself. That means they were talking about--

“I told you so.” Dream said lightheartedly. “Don’t get it wrong, though. She’s really nice. Let’s me copy her notes whenever we were serving detention.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” Sapnap snapped. “[Name] nearly tore me to shreds when I was trying to convince her on getting the shrake spine. I don’t think I’d want to have another conversation with her.”

[Name] had no issues with people’s criticism with her. Afterall, everyone was human; there was no once set way of thinking and perception will always be different from person to person. As someone who was considered to be “the perfect example of a Slytherin”, she had her fair share of good and bad comments that she usually didn’t care for.

At least, she thought she did. An odd tugging feeling occurred on her chest as she processed Sapnap’s words. She didn’t blame him--after all she was a little short with him at the library. Maybe Karl didn’t tell him that she said sorry? [Name] didn’t care at this point now. She turned her back back to the wall, huffing in annoyance as she felt a sting in the back of her eyes. There was no way she was going to let this get to her.

“Don’t say that,” Dream defended, sounding as if it was his duty to preserve his housemate’s name. “She’s been going through a lot, apparently. I’m surprised she has enough energy to even focus on writing notes, let alone make them as neat as she does with them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sapnap asked, a tone of inquiry evident.

“Well Minx says she’s been--wait, who is that?” Dream asked as he looked past Sapnap’s shoulder. Right at the corner [Name] was peeking from.

Sapnap, seeming more frightened than curious like his friend, jumped as he spun his body around in alarm, eyes wide. They pointed their wands toward her, illuminating her face. They all stood in front of one another, mouths agape. There was a bit of silence around them, awkwardly looking at one another as they slowly realized [Name] must have heard a good portion of their conversation.

“[Name]--” Dream started, prepared to remedy the situation.

“I was just passing by.” [Name] interrupted, standing up straighter as she stared the two boys down. I’m not letting them notice anything. “I heard some people talking; should have expected it to be you guys.”

Her eyes flicked to Sapnap, who seemed to have his mouth sealed the entire time, face unreadable through the harsh lighting pointed her way. He stood stiffly, though, as if he were a child caught in the act of doing something he was told not to do. His eyes were trained on her face, which was squinting from the light emitting from their wands.

He wanted to say something. [Name] wasn’t going to let him. She turned to Dream, lips turned up in a grateful smile. Gratitude waved over her at the way he came to her defence just minutes earlier. Dream, while he was a little mean and childish at times, understood people the best from his little friend group, second to Karl. Unlike most of their housemates, he took time knowing people before passing judgement--hence why his friend group was so diverse in regards of the houses. It was something she was grateful for since her constant nightmares made her irritable when she wasn’t in a teasing mood.

“If you don’t mind, I kind of want to get to the astronomy tower without getting caught by Filch or the Prefects. So can you just turn them down or point them to the opposite direction?” [Name] asked, motioning at their wands. She watched as Sapnap switched to his opposite hand, watching as the light caught a portion of his face. A slight twinge of amusement bloomed as she realized his face was bright red, probably embarrassed from getting caught by the very person he was criticizing..

“Sorry.” Was all Sapnap could say, though [Name] felt like it was more than just for shooting the light her way. Dream turned to look at him, eyes narrowed to a knowing glare.

“Yeah. We didn’t mean to aim it at you that way. Kinda spooked us.” Dream said, grinning nonchalantly as he tried to change the topic. “I thought you were in your dorm.”

“I was but I…” [Name] trailed off, not wanting to admit her nightmares yet. “The astronomy tower has a good view of the sky. I wanted to see the stars tonight since all I see is murky water.”

Not necessarily a lie, but not entirely the truth. The astronomy tower did have a good view of the sky. No doubt the stars were something to behold, just like every other night. Her reason coming there however… Something she didn’t want to share, especially after what she just heard. Not wanting to hear anything else, [Name] bid the two schemers goodbye before making her way to the spiraling staircase, excited to finally see the stars and, more importantly, not talk for several hours.

“Karl told me we should be meeting them around here. Apparently, there was a Pogrebin sighting around here.”

[Name] nodded at the older Hufflpuff. Just like Karl promised, he found [Name]’s friend without much issue and asked for her assistance--in secret, of course. She was the daughter of a renowned Magizoologist, meaning she wasone of the few students who was experienced enough to deal with Class XXX Beasts such as Pogrebins. Additionally, she was one of the few people [Name] brought around when collecting potion ingredients from the forest and was more than happy to help a friend out.

Both of them glazed their eyes over the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. It was dark out--not an unusual time for them to be out gathering materials; the best and rarest came out at night. An unusual discomfort rose in [Name]’s chest as she continued to stare out into the forest, shocking her a little bit.

She enjoyed the quiet a lot more than she did noise lately and she hoped the Forbidden Forest would be somewhat helpful, even if her she had more company than expected. However, at the moment, she felt as though she’d rather collapse and give up on the search for the Pogrebin.

“It’s close,” the Hufflepuff commented offhandedly. “You feel like you want to collapse, right?” At [Name]’s nod, the older girl continued. “They want you like that. By the time you fall on your knees, they attack and try to eat you.”

“How come you don’t look like you’re affected by it?” [Name] asked.

The Hufflepuff shrugged in response. “I think I’m used to it. Not to mention, I haven’t exactly been having nightmares constantly these past few years.”

“What’s that have to do with Pogrebins trying to eat you?” Another voice chimed in. Both girls looked up, watching as three figures ambled toward them. Sapnap, Karl, and Punz looked more than energetic as they crossed the field. Just like [Name] advised during dinner, they bundled up in clothes and wore boots instead of their signature sneakers. She raised an eyebrow, however, when she noticed them decked out in their Quidditch gear.

“Having nightmares means your mind is more…” Her friend met [Name]’s eyes, trying to find proper words as she explained, “Vulnerable. Pogrebins depend on that vulnerability so the despair can consume you faster.”

“Sounds like something of major concern.” Punz commented, looking between the two girls before looking back at his companions. “Should some of us not be here then?”

“Just make sure you tell me if you’re feeling like you want to fall over. Out here, we can’t hide emotions or else it will quite literally be the death of us.” The Hufflepuff sixth year said as she gripped her wand. “Make sure you know the Stunning Spell by heart; we’ll need that to subdue it. If not, I hope all of you can pack a lot into a kick.”

“We’ll lose the night time if we keep talking,” [Name] said as she turned and walked toward the forest. The feeling of hopelessness had started to get to her, but at her friend’s words she knew better than to succumb to it. “Let’s go.”

“Aye aye, boss.” Karl said, patting Sapnap’s back to urge him forward. “Or should I say girlboss.”

“I swear on Rowena’s grave, Karl…” [Name] started the same time she heard Sapnap let out an amused “Dude.” She stopped her sentence, her eyes flicking back on Sapnap who quieted around the same time she did, meeting her gaze. It wasn’t even a second later did [Name] turn her attention ahead of her, ignoring the way the Pogrebin inducing pity party subsided to let the butterflies in her stomach flutter for a moment.

Of course, it didn’t go unnoticed. It never will if you have someone as analyzing as Punz or as observant of her friend. It only took a second for the sixth years to notice something had happened between them. There wasn’t much conversation besides Karl and Sapnap making jokes only they understood and maybe Punz and asking her friend some questions to pass the time.

They all stopped after a few minutes until they went farther in the woods, where the dirt path forked into two different paths. [Name] shook her head as she spotted her housemate grab Karl by the shoulderpads wordlessly and urged him to move forward. Her Hufflepuff friend, as if reading Punz’s mind, smiled “innocently” [Name]’s way.

“We’ll be close by. You and Sapnap should look on the other end. Remember what I said about the Stuning Spell. Call me if you need anything.” She reminded quickly as she raced toward the blonde and brunette. So much for Hufflepuff hospitality.

[Name] watched in horror as she realized she was alone with Sapnap. They stood in front of one another wordlessly, Sapnap staring straight at her while she scratched her neck as a means to ease her discomfort. Not speaking a word, [Name] just offered a tight smile as she walked forward. She could hear Sapnap give a sigh, not saying anything either as he kept a distance while walking behind her.

She was more than glad he was chose to be quiet. Ever since her encounter with him after hours, her nightmares had only started to include him more and more. She wasn’t sure why it was that way, but she can hear the voice still urging him to wake up.

Wake up to what, though? [Name] thought to herself. Not to mention, whose voice was that?

After a few nights of trying to remember, [Name] was sure it was a woman’s, however it was so distorted she couldn’t sort out whose it was. Maybe once she takes the mind breaking potion, she’ll--

“Watch out!” Sapnap’s voice called out. She felt a pair of arms encase around her, pulling her away from a deteriorating cliff. Just below were a set of dead trees that looked painful if fallen into. Gasping, [Name] turned her body into Sapnap’s, allowing him to hold her tighter in response as he backed themselves away onto safer ground.

Shocked, [Name] still watched the cliff as some of it crumbled away. She felt Sapnap let out a relieved sigh against her, resting his head against a tree behind them as the final waves of adrenaline fell away from them. They let the rest of it go away as they stood with one another, arms still around one another as they watched the edge again.

“Shit…” [Name] said. “I almost died.”

“You almost died.” Sapnap repeated, just as shocked as her. He pulled himself away from her, realizing he was holding her a little longer than he should have. [Name] coughed, an attempt to hide her embarrassment, before turning her attention back to the dark forest. “Karl told me you know the Forbidden Forest like the back of your hand.”

“I do.” [Name] replied, taking offense to Sapnap’s implications. “I was just…”

She bit her lip, willing herself to keep quiet again. How could she tell someone who doesn’t even like her very presence about her nightmares if she can’t even tell her best friends about it? Sighing, she shook her head, waving a hand as if to say it was nothing. Attempting to brush past him, she was stopped when she felt Sapnap’s hand grip her wrist.

It wasn’t like the one at the library, where it was a little too hard and almost quick. This one was gentle and his fingers ghosted just above the veins. Looking up, she met Sapnap’s dark blue ones, which seemed hardened, but not in the way [Name] perceived it to be mad. It was more understanding.

“Is it those nightmares?” Sapnap asked, causing [Name]’s mouth to drop open as she stared at him.

“Who told you--” [Name] started.

“No one. It’s on your face. You have bags under your eyes because you can’t sleep. Your skin looks like it hasn’t seen the sun in days. Not to mention you started acting less and less… Well, you.” Sapnap rambled off, the last point making [Name] huff out a laugh.

“Like you know anything about me.” [Name] accused.

“I don’t.” Sapnap admitted, sounding almost sad as he said the words. “I do know how you usually are with everyone--snappy, kind of a jerk--”

“Hey--”

“--But you haven’t been like that these past few weeks. You’re too exhausted to even let out an answer when Dream takes a dig at you.” Sapnap finished. “Right now, you almost got yourself killed because you didn’t notice something that was so obvious.” [Name]’s jaw tightened as she let her shoulders relax in defeat, knowing the Gryffindor was right.

“You don’t have to tell me everything about whatever’s been keeping you up at night, but it would help to talk about it.” Sapnap said as he led her away from the cliff. “It certainly did with me when I startd having nightmares. Plus we shouldn’t hide much or else we could die, according to your friend.”

“You too?” [Name] asked, curious.

Sapnap nodded, eyes glossing over as he thought over it. “It started happening a year ago. It felt like I was dying. Like I was--”

“Drowning.” [Name] finished for him, realization hitting her as she processed what he said. Sapnap tuned to her, eyes wide as he nodded in confirmation. “Someone’s telling you to--”

“Wake up.” Sapnap said. “How--”

“I’ve had the same nightmare. Dying like I was drowning.” [Name] admitted. “It started two years ago for me. I always thought it was more than nightmares, though. Clearly it is if you’re experiencing the same thing I am…”

[Name] felt herself space out once more, head abuzzed as she tried to think of every possible way as to how it was possible for two people to experience similar dreams. There is no way… Unless--

A scream interrupted [Name]’s pacing. She was quick to jump toward Sapnap, gripping his gear clad arm, fear crawling up her spine. “That’s Karl.” Sapnap remedied, though he said it quieter, as if he was just woke up from a dream or something. Looking at him, [Name] realized he was staring intently at the hands gripping around his arm.

A sigh escaped [Name]’s lips, hands relinquishing their hold on him. She walked ahead, clearly flustered by her own uncharacteristic action. “The Pogrebin must be close by or something.”

Karl’s scream ripping through the forest caused the both of them to pause. It sounded uncharacteristically like his usual high pitched screams--this one had actual fear in it. Drawing his wand, Sapnap speeded past her as he yelled, “I think it’s closer than you think!”

[Name] had no time to argue as she pulled her own wand out, following the sound of the younger Hufflepuff’s voice. They traversed through the trees, Sapnap allowing [Name] to lead the way. Once they realized Karl’s voice was getting closer, [Name] was quick to cast a spell at the foliage, moving apart and causing a shorter path that lead to them seeing Karl run away from a boulder looking creature.

“Pogrebin!” The older Hufflepuff girl informed as she held Punz up in her arms. “It tried attacking Punz and Karl cast a Stunning Spell but it ran off and hit Punz instead!!”

Karl’s horrified screams echoed around the field. [Name] didn’t take a second to hand Sapnap a few big rocks. Understanding her motive, both of them lobbed rocks at the Pogrebin until it stopped to look at them. [Name]’s nose wrinkled as she watched it bare it’s sharp teeth at them before running their way.

“What now?” Sapnap asked, standing behind her as he gripped her shoulders.

“Chicken…” [Name] muttered under her breath as she looked around her. Spotting a long green material, she pointed her wand at it. “Accio vine!”

She wasted no time shoving the other end of the vine into Sapnap’s hands, pushing him as she backed away. The vine tightened, tripping the Pogrebin over as it came closer and closer . “That worked?!” [Name] asked out loud.

“You didn’t think it would?!” Karl asked, shocked that she had not believed in her own plan.

It was Sapnap’s turn to override their shock as he pointed his wand at the still collapsed Pogrebin. “Stupefy!” He commanded, a light casting out from the tip of his hand and directly toward the creature. Not a second did it try to get up did it completely collapse once more, immobilized.

Everyone stood still in the middle of the forest, breathing heavily and staring at one another before Sapnap decided to move, his eyes trained on Punz, who was still on the ground with [Name]’s friend holding him. [Name] gasped as she realized the Hufflepuff had a harsh looking bite mark digging into her arm. It was deep, blood staining the sleeve so much, no one believe it was white previously.

“I was trying to help.” Her friend explained upon noticing [Name]’s trained eyes on her torn arm. “It almost bit Punz’s head off.”

“And it bit you instead!” Punz countered gruffly, finally shaking off the effects of the Stunning Spell. He pushed himself off of her, switching positions as he held onto her, examining her bloodied arm. [Name] watched with narrowed eyes when Punz uncharacteristically ran a hand through her friend’s hair, whispering something only they could hear. That’s a new discovery…

“Can I get some help?” Sapnap called out. [Name] turned her head, watching the Gryffindor try to lift the stunned Pogrebin over. Quickly, she shuffled tugged Karl by the arm and brought themselves over to Sapnap, deciding to give their older friends some privacy.

With the two boys pointing their wand at the creature, [Name] quickly lifted it’s mouth, easing a tooth out with a wordless spell. “Ugh, gross.” She groaned out as she put the bloodied material on a napkin.

“Shouldn’t you be used to this?” Sapnap teased, trying to ease the tension.

“Doesn’t mean I like it. I’d rather watch Romeo and Juliet over there.” [Name] said, motioning her head toward Punz and the Hufflepuff. Both boys turned, watching with great interest as the two spoke silent whispers to one another, hands clasped over each other. Their eyes widened as they watched Punz knock his head against the Hufflepuff girl’s forehead.

Sapnap and Karl’s mouths hung open at the unexpected couple’s subtle romantic display. Sapnap closed it before opening it again, ready to say something. “Don’t,” [Name] interrupted quietly, eyes hardening as she met Sapnap’s. “Let them be concerned for each other. I have a feeling they don’t really get these kinds of moments.”

“A near death experience?” Sapnap asked.

[Name] smacked his shoulder. “You know what I mean. Just leave them alone so stop staring at them. Especially you Karl.”

“She--He--” Karl stuttered. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he continued to look onward at them. “Dating? She never even mentioned anyone.”

“That’s kind of the whole point of secretly dating, genius.” Sapnap countered. “Now come on; do as she says so we can finish this night already. What even happened anyways?”

“I was feeling left out,” Karl admitted, casting a spell with Sapnap to lift the Pogrebin and settle it farther into the forest. “Punz said he wanted you guys to have some alone time or something. Then those two kept whispering about whatever--though, I’m kind of glad I didn’t bother trying to listen. Didn’t help my little sadness, y’know.”

“I’m sorry, Karl.” [Name] apologized, a sadness waving over her. Since their meeting at the library, her and Karl had spoken enough times to consider one another friends. She was more than sure he had a bit of an idea about her nightmares.

He made sure to constantly pester her about what she needed the mind breaking potion for whenever they met; while she never admitted to it being nightmares, [Name] relinquished some information, some of it still pretty vague. Regardless, he was still someone she considered a friend so completely ignoring him because she was so focused on the idea of being alone with Sapnap made her feel guilty.

Shaking his head, Karl only said, “I shouldn’t have give into that feeling. No one would’ve been attacked if I didn’t let it feed off my emotions.”

“Doesn’t mean we should invalidate them, man.” Sapnap said seriously, clapping a hand over Karl’s shoulder once they put enough distance between themselves and the Pogrebin. “You should’ve been there anyways; apparently she’s been having the same dreams as I am.”

“How is that possible?” Karl inquired, a little shocked at the revelation.

“No clue.” [Name] answered this time as they walked back to their other friends. Once entering the clearing, she spotted her Hufflepuff friend, arms still bloody, but wrapped in gauze--no doubt it being from her bag since [Name] knew no one else would think once about possible injuries. She stood a little off ways from Punz, whose eyes were practically glued to the back of her head. A frown settled on the older girl’s face. Clearly, the conversation turned sour during their time away.

“For now, let’s just get back before the spell wears off that Pogrebin. I don’t think it’ll wake up all giddy missing a tooth.” [Name] said. Both boys nodded, understanding her half assed reasoning before walking up to their friends.

A quiet gasp escaped [Name]’s as she jolted herself awake from her spot at the farthest corner of the library. The nightmare. Again. Like always, it ended with someone calling out Sapnap’s name. [Name] rubbed her eyes, trying to remember farther from the drowning incident. Once she gets the potion made, she was sure she would be able to go farther back in her memories.

“Nightmare again?” A voice chimed in.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t happen.” [Name] said to Karl, leaning back on her seat once she woke up. It had been almost two months since the Pogrebin incident and not much had changed, save for managing to get the rest of the potion materials. The older Hufflepuff girl had to be taken to the St. Mungo’s for treatment since the bite was so deep. [Name] had apologized almost a million times since her return, which was usually met with her light hearted laughter.

“Next time, we can try and see if I can turn my limbs into iron for a few moments.” [Name] recalled her saying. It had really amazed her at how dismissive she had been the whole duration of their conversation. Though, [Name] was more than sure it was because Punz had been there before her.

Since the accident, [Name] made sure to keep her (and sometimes even Punz) away from trying to get involved in her, Sapnap, and Karl’s efforts in making the potion. Occasionally, one of their other friends would be there, helping Karl research the meaning of the nightmares while [Name] and Sapnap tried to figure out how to get the rest of the ingredients.

“Same thing?” Sapnap asked from across from her, breaking her from her thoughts. She didn’t need to provide an answer, just a look that seemed to have said What else? “You should take the deep sleep potion Dream gave you.”

“And not try to figure out what we’ve been seeing?” [Name] countered back. Unlike [Name], Sapnap did his best to have dreamless sleep. His dreams had begun only months ago so he wasn’t quite used to it the way [Name] was, which shocked him when she had told him it had been almost two years since her own started.

Sapnap pointed at his face as he said, “Well, some of us don’t look like we just got punched in the face because of a good night’s sleep.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You look worse than Filch after he’s had a good night’s sleep,” Sapnap said matter-of-factly. “Have you seen yourself lately? You’re so sleep deprived because you keep waking up in the middle of the night and never going back to sleep.”

[Name] glared at Sapnap, though she didn’t bother denying it. In fact, she had seen herself this morning. The bags under her eyes were sunken and dark, a clear indication from lacking in any sleep. Her hair looked like it had been swept by wind coming from every direction. Her skin felt papery and dry from lack of hydration.

Of course she knew what she was doing wasn’t good for her--there were nights before she went to sleep wondering if she should stop herself and take the potion Dream gave her. However, she knew would never stop thinking about the dream--in particular, the mysterious voice--if she tried to ignore it.

“You might be alright with ignoring it, but I’d rather address it head on,” [Name] snapped. “Not that you would know; since you don’t like having conversations with me.”

She turned her head back down to the letter she was writing before she had fallen asleep, ignoring the heaviness of Sapnap’s stare on her at the slight dig. Clearly, he seemed to have remembered that night as much as she did from the way he tensed up.

Karl, seeming to have sensed the tension between the two, immediately changed the subject. “How is the letter to your brother going?”

“Fine.” [Name] said offhandedly. “He said he can get us the shrake spine, but it will take a few more months. I’m just sending a correspondence to say thank you.”

“Does he know about your nightmares?” Karl asked further.

“Yeah, but not by much. No doubt he knows what I’m up to since shrake spines aren’t used too often for things.”

“He must be concerned for you then.”

[Name] let out a laugh, smirking at Karl as she said, “Not necessarily. He’s more in for half of the money Sapnap paid me to get the shrake spine. I don’t blame him, though. 50 Galleons is a lot.”

“Just so you know, that was two year’s worth of Galleons. I felt like a portion of my life went away.” Sapnap butted in.

Karl let out a quiet laugh at her joke, [Name] joining him soon after. They continued their conversation, Sapnap commenting every now and then, though [Name] did notice a significant drop in his attitude since her implication of having knowledge of his hurtful comment all those months ago. They carried on with their work, bringing up small things every now and then as Karl and Sapnap did the research as [Name] wrote the correspondence letter.

Almost an hour went by when all three of them looked up when they heard footsteps coming by. “Eyyy--” Quackity started, but was abruptly stopped when they were interrupted by a George hushing him, motioning that they were in a library.

“Quackity, George! What’s up?” Sapnap said, visibly relaxing at the sight of his friends.

“We came to tell you we found something. About your little night terrors being connected.” George said, motioning at some scrolls underneath his arm. Quackity waved a book that was held tightly in his hands, handing it to [Name]. George handed Sapnap the scrolls, who took no time unrolling the scroll on their long table.

[Name] could only catch a few words such as “connection” and “visions” before her eyes furrowed in confusion at the mess of writing. Shaking her head, she looked back at the book Quackity handed over to her. The middle of the book had piece of scrap paper wedged between it, the writing not legible just yet since it was hidden within the book. Opening the book, she caught the note as she read the passage in front of her carefully.

Typically, it is rare even in the Wizarding World for two people to share visions. There have been instances as of recent, however it was out of special circumstances and the connection was made out of pure accident since one of the individuals was intended to be dead. In extremely special cases, when two individuals share the same visions, it is typically because there is a possibility they had a strong bond in a previous or multiple--

“A mind connection? ‘Usually connected due to circumstances regarding past lives’?” Sapnap interrupted, looking up from his spot as he pointed at a portion of the scroll. “Is that even possible?”

“Clearly it is.” George said, looking between [Name] and Sapnap. “If you two are having identical visions and there’s multiple accounts, then it’s definitely something close to that. The scroll was sent to Eret from one of the archives at the Ministry of Magic and the book was from a few years ago. I think Dream’s girlfriend looked through it as well. She even wrote a note.”

At the mention of her dormmate, [Name] looked down at the scrap of paper in her hands, looking down at her neat handwriting as she read the words “SOUL LINK/SOULMATES?” in heavy black ink. A frown settled on her face as she read the words over and over. Her and Sapnap? Soulmates? She would have believed time traveling to be real sooner than making that assumption.

Flipping through a few more pages in the book, she noticed a few sentences were highlighted, detailing the indications of soul links.

Strong emotions when affecting the other.

The night when I was trying to go to the Astronomy Tower.

Explosive or synched reactions.

When we were helping get rid of that Pogrebin.

Comfort in one another.

When we found out about each other having the same dreams...

Sapnap motioned for the book, [Name] handing it to him without any question, watching as a heavy blush settled on his face as he processed the words. Running a hand over his unshaven face, he avoided [Name]’s eyes as he handed the book back. Typically, she would have laughed at him, but there was no way she would right now because she was just as flustered as him; she just took it in a calmer way.

George, clearly understanding the damage he caused, smiled as he said, “I think you two need to talk. Go for a walk. We’ll clean up for you two.”

[Name] opened her mouth, ready to counter, but was immediately shut down by Karl who pulled her out of her seat before tugging Sapnap out of his. Both did their best to protest as they were tugged out of the library, but was silenced by not only Karl, but by Madam Pince. [Name] only managed to get her Hufflepuff friend’s name out of her lips by the time they were out of the library.

“Karl--”

“Talk.” Karl said simply, looking between the two. A sneaky smile fell on his lips when he added, “Now that we know what the weird tension is between you two, I’d suggest behaving.”

“Dude.” Sapnap said defensively, but was cut off shortly at the shutting of a door. Both stared at the library door, mouths agape in shock as they heard his all too familiar giggling from behind it.

“I can’t believe them…” [Name] trailed off, annoyance waving off her. She didn’t even manage to get her canvas bag before being pushed out...

Sapnap could only nod in agreement. “Dream’s girlfriend probably told dumbed the theory down for George and Quackity before they came here and wanted us to find out ourselves. There’s no way those two would’ve been able to figure it out without help.”

[Name] fought back a smile at the Gryffindor’s implication of his friends’ obliviousness to detail. “Like you haven’t done that before? Last I remembered, we wouldn’t have been in this situation if someone didn’t ask me to help him out.”

“I have valid reasons. I actually admit to being stupid while those two don’t.” Sapnap replied back haughtily, though [Name] can see a faint smile at her reminder. “Anyways, I think we need to have a much needed talk.”

“About the soulmate thing.” [Name] stated.

“About the soulmate thing.” Sapnap confirmed with a nod. “And… I kinda need to apologize for that night when we were out past curfew.”

“You mean the time where you said I wasn’t easy to talk to and you never wanted to do it again?” [Name] reminded coyly, making Sapnap burn red but still glare weakly.

“Like I said, I can admit when I’m being stupid. That was me being stupid and not bothering to get to know you more,” Sapnap said candidly. “I really am sorry about that night, though. You were going through as much as I was and I never considered your feelings and--and--”

[Name] sighed, shaking her head as she watched him struggle to say the next words. She put a hand on his shoulder to halt his stuttering, a smile on her face as she attempted to subdue his ranting. “We can just ignore it happened, alright Sapnap? I said some awful things as well; we should probably just ignore it and try to find a way to make that mind breaking potion.”

“But we can’t.” Sapnap opposed as he took hold of [Name]’s hand on his shoulder, removing there but not bothering to stop holding it. He either didn’t notice the growing blush on his face or chose to ignore it as he stared at their conjoined hands. “We really can’t. Especially after this whole soulmate thing being revealed.”

“You can’t possibly think it’s real, could you?” [Name] asked meekly, this time being the shy one at the mention of their soul link. “There could be other possible explanations.”

Sapnap brought his head up, eyes questioning her as he leaned forward. “We’re literally trying to find a way to look into identical dreams we’ve been having, which could possibly--and most likely is--a memory from our past lives because of a soul link. There’s no other way there’s other possible explanation.”

[Name] swallowed her nervousness down as she stared into Sapnap’s eyes, searching for a sign of falter. Was he only saying this out of duty or was it because he really did like the idea of them being soulmates? She was going to admit it to herself, but she couldn’t help but be happy it was Sapnap of all people to be connected to.

Why exactly? She had no idea why. Maybe it was a subconscious thing--their past lives being attached to one another and all--but a part of her had found him a lot more interesting, their little quarrels subsided, than she’d like to admit ever since the night at the Forbidden Forest all those months ago. She wouldn’t jump on the word love but crushing was definitely an option…

She would never admit it, though, especially to Sapnap of all people. Instead, she said, “You kind of were stupid for saying that.”

“Look, in my defense, you were being pretty standoffish.” Sapnap defended, shoulders relaxing as his jubilant persona started to come out more. A grin settled on his face as he leaned in closer. [Name] made sure to lean back, rolling her eyes as she realized he was starting to come back. “Come on, admit it.”

“I never said I’d never deny it, even though I think it’s pretty valid to not want my bones to, y’know, break. You can break yours all you want, but I myself would rather avoid pain and suffering as much as possible if I can allow it.” [Name] informed matter-of-factly.

“Spoken like a true Slytherin.” Sapnap laughed out, squeezing her hand as it intensified. “So what do you say? Truce? I know you’re kind of on the cusp of all this ‘soulmate’ thing, but we’re going to be connected to each other whether you like it or not and I’d rather have us get along instead of arguing all the time--”

“Truce.” [Name] finalized, hushing his ramblings at the utterance of the word. This time, it was her turn to squeeze his hand.

“Truce.” Sapnap repeated, smiling.

Pulling her coat tighter, [Name] glared at her housemates as she shivered in the stands with them. “Remind me why I said yes to coming to a Quidditch game with you.”

“Because you love me?” Her housemate asked. “And your boyfriend asked you to.”

“Sapnap isn’t my boyfriend!” [Name] snapped, blush evident on her face. Sure, ever since they caled a truce, they began to be around each other more, though there was very minimal changes. Instead of explosive arguing whenever they had a disagreement, they usually chose to talk to one another about it so their conversations were significantly less anger fueled and any awkwardness between them was completely gone. “We’re just--”

“Soulmates.” Minx finished from beside her, looping an arm around her. “Yeah we get it.”

“Soulmates don’t need to date just because they’re connected, y’know.” [Name] informed, nudging her other friend. “You should know that; you’re the one that told me about it.”

Her dormmate rolled her eyes at the lame excuse. “Yeah I remember. I also remember Sapnap lending you his scarf and asking you to cheer for him when he’s up against our house.”

[Name] tugged her coat over her neck, trying to hide the red and gold scarf Sapnap had given her before heading off to his team. He had asked her to cheer for him jokingly in passing as he left, but [Name] was sure he was being a little bit serious. Regardless of the joke, she was more than happy to follow through with it, though she would never admit that to her friend or Minx.

“You’re just upset because Dream is upset,” [Name] said. Dream had come to visit his girlfriend right before the game started. He was observant as ever when he spotted the scarf sticking out from the rest of her green attire. Needless to say, she had a bit of a telling off from her housemate that went somewhere along the lines of cozying up to the enemy. As if he wasn’t going to address the fact that Sapnap was his longest friend. “I swear you two are more in sync than Sapnap and I--and we have a valid reason for that, need I remind you.”

“That’s what happens when you’re in a relationship.” The Slytherin girl countered, smile on her face as she prepared her next words. “You and Sapnap have it easy; you have it pre-built in your systems.”

“We’re not--”

“AND GRYFFINDOR IS THE WINNER!” HBomb’s voice echoed across the field, garnering a cheer from the opposite end of the field. From across the field [Name] watched in amusement as Gryffindor and it’s supporters went wild, becoming even more hectic when the Gryffindor Quidditch team lined up in front of them.

A smile crossed her face as she spotted Sapnap’s white bandana flying throug his dark hair as he circled around his housemates, fist pumping. It widened even more when he turned to high five Quackity, giving his fellow Beater, before spotting her. He waved a hand her way before motioning it around her neck. Clearly he was asking about the scarf.

Ruffling a hand inside her coat, she pulled it out, motioning it for him to see that it was still around her neck. He seemed to have enjoyed the action, turning back to cheer even louder to the crowd in front of him. A laugh left [Name]’s lips as he flew a few laps around the field.

“Ooh.” Minx teased, nudging [Name]. “That’s not very friend like.”

[Name] could only roll her eyes as she watched everyone make their way down from the stands. Tugging on Minx’s arms, she urged her friends to get down, wanting to get away from the wind.

“Wait! [Name]!” A voice halted her. Turning her head, she watched as Sapnap flew toward the Slytherin stands, arm waving to get her attention. [Name] barely even heard Minx’s jibes as she let her go, pushing her away quickly and running off. [Name] gripped her arms to her sides tighter as she made her way over to him, blocking the bright reflection of the clouds to look up at Sapnap.

His dark hair was pushed back by his bandana, letting the chilly air blow on his face to help himself cool down from the long game. He had shaved a few days ago, but a beard was beginning to grow around his jaw once more, adding more into his rugged look. A wolfish grin made its way to his face once they were within speaking range. [Name] did her best to fight off the churning in her stomach as she came closer.

“Congratulations on the win.” [Name] complemented, smiling back at him. She reached for his scarf, assuming he had called her over to take it back.

A hand settled a top of her’s halting her from removing it around her neck. “Keep it.” Sapnap said as he came down on the stands. “I like it on you. Plus, I think you’re my lucky charm when you wear that; my team scored so many goals.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” [Name] said, feeling blood rushing to her cheeks as she ignored his first statement. “Dream will be pretty upset.”

“Well, he can be a big pissbaby all he wants; his girlfriend is there to make sure he doesn’t cry.” Sapnap said dismissively, laughing when he caught [Name] let out a muffled laugh underneath his scarf. Leaning against his broom, he let his eyes settled on her, lingering mainly on his scarf around her. [Name] looked away, flustered at his blatant actions. “Listen, there’s a party at Gryffindor Tower to celebrate the win. I know you’re kind of with the opposing team--”

“I beg to differ.” [Name] interrupted as she lifted his scarf, waving it in front of his face. Sapnap’s grin widened, though it turned a little shyer than the last one.

“--and everyone is technically invited, but I wanted to ask if you… Wanted to come with me? It doesn’t start until seven and you honestly don’t need to go if you don’t want--”

“I’ll go.” [Name] interrupted.

“You will?” Sapnap asked, excited. At her nod, Sapnap let out a loud Yes!, the words echoing around the empty field. Giggling, [Name] turned, ready to let him celebrate his successful effort. She hadn’t seen Sapnap snap his attention back to her, jogging up behind her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

Mouth agape, [Name] ghosted her fingers over her flushed cheek, watching as Sapnap ran off, yelling out “I’ll pick you up at 6:50!” as he jumped back on his broom and disappeared.

[Name] fiddled with her skirt as she laughed at Dream's scowling face in the common room. "Oh, stop your little pouting session, you big baby." [Name] chastised as she elbowed her friend. "Plus, you never acted like this whenever Slytherin loses since all your friends are on their own Quidditch teams."

"I don't have an issue with losing," Dream stated, frowning as he watched [Name] huff out a laugh. "I have an issue with one of my own housemates colluding with the enemies."

"He wasn't an enemy before the game. He's your best friend." Dream's girlfriend corrected, glaring at his childish behavior.

"He asked her out on a date!" Dream emphasized.

"Not a date." [Name] corrected the blonde.

"Oh so I guess that little kiss he planted on your cheek was just between friends, huh?" Dream asked, laughing when [Name] gaped at him in shock. How does he manage to know everything that happens with him and his friends so much? "Oh come on, it doesn't take rocket science to see that dopey look on his face afterwards. He only gets that way with girls he likes."

[Name] shook her head at Dream, choosing to ignore the fact that she so happened to be a girl he possibly likes. "He invited you, too."

"Yeah, but I didn't get a kiss on the cheek."

"Because he knows better." Dream's girlfriend joked, planting a kiss on his cheek to calm him down. She turned to [Name] with a smile. "I think it's great you and Sapnap get along, dating or not. I don't know why it never never occurred to me that there was a reason why you two were like that."

"Why would you say that?" [Name] inquired, curious.

Dream spoke up this time. "For starters, you're both a pain in the ass when you want to make a point. Always arguing even if you can be wrong."

"Not possible. I'm always right."

"There's also whatever that is you just displayed."

"Confidence." Dream's girlfriend offered, settling her fingers to pinch his cheeks as punishment. "You both just display it differently. Sapnap through physicality and you through your knowledge."

"Not to mention it's like both of you have some empath connection. It's like you both can feel each other's emotions and feed off it at the same time even way before. Y'know how many times he practically kicked himself for like two years after the salad bowl incident? He couldn't even explain it; he just felt bad." Dream said.

Did he really think about it for that long? [Name] asked herself. She barely even remembered that day, only recalling nearly crying her eyes out in embarrassment as she allowed the Head Girl to help her remove the salad dressing out of her hair in the Prefect bathroom. Something in her chest swelled, though. Possibly at the thought of how strong a bond could be. Possibly at the thought that Sapnap was capable of mulling over an incident as small as that. [Name] wondered if he still thinks about the time she caught him saying those negative admissions about her.

"[Name], Sapnap's here." Minx called out from the door. A look of disgust waved over her as she frowned at the doorway. "Hurry before his Gryffindor stench reeks this whole common room."

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Sapnap's voice boomed from behind the door. Letting out a laugh, she bid her housemates goodbye (and flipped Dream off when she heard him mutter "Don't stray from the path." under his breath), opening the door and smiling at Sapnap. The party was casual, obvious through Sapnap's choice of clothing being a white shirt over a black long sleeve. He wore black cargo pants and some expensive looking shoes. He still had his bandana on as well.

[Name] practically felt overdressed in her skirt and blouse. But I always wear this as casual. She argued to herself, slightly straightening her back in confidence. It shot up even more when she realized Sapnap had not spoken a word yet, still staring at her as his mouth hung ajar. "You okay..? I think you'll catch a fly if you don't shut your mouth" [Nams] teased.

Hiding his blunder with a cough, Sapnap nodded. "Right. Um. Yeah. You look great. I just forgot you had style."

Way to ruin it. "I'd say you have it, too, but I'm not one to lie." [Name] responded, laughing loudly when Sapnap sputtered out insults. Shoving his shoulder forward, she urged the Gryffindor to lead the way. They talked the whole way to the Gryffindor common room, most of it being banter and loads of teasing.

"Okay we're here." Sapnap said, opening the door. [Name] backed out of the way as they realized that once the door had opened, a plate of something came flying at them. Quickly, she walked behind Sapnap as a means to try and block herself from being a target again. Puffy wasn't kidding when she said Gryffindors partied like crazy. Sapnap didn't even seem phased, only bobbing and weaving naturally whenever someone's hand almost hit him. "Guys, I told you to watch over the party while I picked her up."

"Sorry, I was kind of busy keeping Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from causing twice the damage than now." George admitted as he jammed a thumb behind him. [Name] held a look of amusement as she met Quackity's eyes. He couldn't so much as say hi, though, since he seemed to have had a Silencing Charm casted on him as he screamed something, but no sound coming out.

Karl was sat beside him, his hands bound by rope. He managed to raise both hands, though, as he waved excitedly at [Name]. "Glad to see you here. We weren't sure you'd come since it was your team that lost."

"If Dream can push his ego aside to come with his tail between his legs, then I can do it." [Name] said with a smile. "Besides, I'm not really big on Quidditch. I only came because I was forced to."

"Well aren't you glad you came? You wouldn't have been asked out on a date." George said smugly, eyeing Sapnap through his signature shades.

"It's not a date." Sapnap and [Name] argued together.

"Wow, you're even in sync." Quackity piped up once George said a counter spell for his Silencing Charm. "That's so cute."

"Stop it." Sapnap said, putting his hands on [Name]'s shoulders and maneuvering her away from them. "I only brought her here so she can say hi to Karl, which she did, so now we're going over there and you're staying over here. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"No promis--OW! Okay!" George snapped, rubbing his leg as he glared at Karl, who looked back innocently, as if all five of them hadn't seen him punch the Ravenclaw with his still bound hands. He gave an obvious sly thumbs up toward Sapnap, however, and [Name] only rolled her eyes when she met his grinning gaze.

Once the two reached the other side of the room, Sapnap handed her a drink, letting silence between them continue as they took a break from the chaos surrounding them. "Sorry about them. They like to embarrass me." Sapnap said after a moment.

"That's what friends do. We haven't been friends for long and we both do our best to humiliate each other in public all the time." [Name] reminded with a laugh.

Sapnap laughed with her. "I guess you're right. I kinda thought it's because of this whole soulmate thing, but we probably would have been good friends even if the bond didn't exist and we talked more those past years."

"We really would've." [Name] said, smiling as she thought back on her conversation with Dream. Of course it was Sapnap who managed to confirm Dream's observations while claiming they could have been friends even without their souls being linked.

“Thinking about something?” Sapnap asked. A smile was thrown her way when their eyes met.

[Name] offered a nod as she put her drink up to her lips. “The shrake spine--it’s on it’s way over in a few days. We should be able to look back at our memories soon..” She decided to say, not wanting to admit her fondness.

Immediately, Sapnap’s eyes glimmered in excitement. “Really? Now we can finally see what those dreams are all about.”

“Yeah...” [Name] said, though she wasn’t entirely sure what to feel. Was she really ready to look into the night terrors that have been haunting her for so many years?

Sapnap seemed to have understood her sudden solemness, though, nudging her side as he spoke. “Hey, no going back now. We can finally see what’s been getting at us. And more importantly…” He lifted his hand hesitantly, letting it hover close to [Name]’s face. Dragging a thumb under [Name]’s eye, Sapnap let himself get lost in his thought before continuing to speak “You can finally get some sleep.”

[Name] did her best to fight off a blush as she looked down. “That is a pretty promising outcome, not gonna lie. A 6+ hour sleep with no interruption sounded like something unattainable a year ago. It’s a good thing we found each other then.” She teased him, bumping her shoulder against his.

“Is there some kind of hidden context behind that?” Sapnap asked her, making [Name] look up at him, confused.

“Meaning?” [Name] asked, knowing what he was implying. She denied their friends’ dating claims despite being obvious with each other’s feelings toward one another. [Name] only kept claiming there was only a friendship between them despite crossing a few lines with one another (Sapnap’s kiss on her cheek being a prime example) because neither of them seemed want to bring up the elephant in the room until now.

And [Name] wasn’t going to waste a chance with this.

“Well, I mean, we’re already soulmates right?” Sapnap started, watching as [Name] nodded. “And we like each other--”

“Do we now?” [Name] questioned, laughing when Sapnap shoved her shoulder and turned to leave. She called out his name, reaching for his arm as she continued her giggling, urging him to come back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help it. I know where you’re going, though.”

“So you’ll say yes if I ask you out?” Sapnap asked, fully turning his attention to [Name].

[Name] hummed out, thinking for a minute as she tapped her finger’s against his bicep in thought. “Yes. After I get some sleep and won’t look like this mess.”

[Name] motioned around her face, still riddled with exhaust. Sapnap nodded, seeming to like the arrangement. “I would’ve taken you out, with that needed sleep or not; you look good regardless.”

All she was the deep green water as she spun herself this way and that. The man in her arms was dragging her down, but there was no way she would leave him in the water. This was supposed to be a normal day out with her husband. He promised to take her to somewhere special. But the boat turned over somehow.

Now here she was trying to drag her husband out the water because his head managed to hit the heavy oar he had in his hands when they tipped over. Once she reached to shore, she dragged looked around before finding land. “James, hang in there!” She yelled over at him through the raging water.

Worry grew over her when he didn’t answer. She swam faster, cursing herself for not securing her wand closer to her body. It was somewhere in the water now; she’ll have to revive him the Muggle way. Once they reached land, she didn’t hesitate to crawl up to him and start doing chest compressions, pressing her lips against his after a certain amount of harsh pumps.

“C’mon, wake up! Wake up, James, wake up!” She urged, as if hoping her shouts would help revive him. She continued this for what felt like hour, pushing her palms against his chest, occasionally tapping his face as she yelled out James’s name, before he coughed, water leaving his mouth.

“Adeline--Addie.” James gasped out the minute he managed to get himself together. He continued to cough, letting out a huff when Addie let out a scream of relief, settling herself on his chest. “Addie. Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that.” Addie snapped, tears streaming down her face. James’s cold thumbs ran across her cheeks, urging the tears away. “You idiot. You didn’t have to grab the oar when we were falling already! What good would that do.”

James let out a laugh, running a tired hand over her hair as he said, “I was making sure it wouldn’t hit you. Of course you’d still focus on calling me an idiot when I was practically dying.”

“You’re an idiot!” Addie sobbed.

James nodded. “I know. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll buy you as many chocolate frogs for the rest of your life. I know how much you like them.”

Addie laughed, letting it continue until it faded…

[Name] gasped herself awake, groaning when she felt a hand run over her hair. “You know that makes me want to sleep again, Sapnap.”

“If it means you get to stay on me, so be it.” Sapnap countered, running his hand over her hair again. “Dream about our past lives again?”

[Name] nodded, settling herself back on his chest as she looked at the mountains they could see plainly from their spot under the tree they were laying on. It had been two years since they re-lived those memories, when they managed to make the potion. [Name] didn’t remember much that day since it had taken most of her and Sapnap’s energy since going through your past memories was uncommon--one could say it was even more rare than finding your soulmate.

She remembered their past names, though. James and Adeline. When she looked them up, it was found that they were wealthy land owners who had no children. Unlike [Name] and Sapanap, they were not aware of the depth of their relationship, though they subconsciously brought themselves together. [Name] almost busted a lung when she found that Sapnap’s past life was the Slytherin and her’s was the Gryffindor.

Sapnap was more shocked with the concept, nearly having a breakdown as he realized their personalities were quite similar to their current selves so why had he gotten into Slytherin his past life? He made sure [Name] never told a soul, knowing full well that Dream would use this against him.

“You seem to like that dream.” Sapnap quipped, tangling his fingers through [Name]’s hair. “Thought you’d hate it since it made you lose all that sleep.”

“It did, but I just like re-living the fact that you were still the biggest idiot in our past relationship. I can’t believe you reached for an oar of all things and you managed to let that hit your head--AHHH!” [Name] was cut off when she felt Sapnap attack her sides, laughing hysterically at his silencing method and hitting his arms at the same time.

Of course, it was to no avail--afterall, he was already signed to be a part of a Quidditch team, meaning he had to stay at his top shape. Sapnap only rolled over, essentially trapping [Name] beneath him. “Shut up.” He said as he pressed his lips against her’s.

Humming, [Name] grabbed his face, keeping him in place before forcing him away. They looked at each other, admiring each other’s features for a moment. Running her thumbs under Sapnap’s eyes, [Name] pressed her lips under both of them before whispering, “Remind me to charm a life jacket on you twice once we get on Sam’s boat.”

“Y’know what--” Sapnap started, grabbing [Name]’s sides and shaking her gently. They continued their play fighting, Sapnap and [Name] occasionally exchanging a kiss until they heard [Name]’s brother call for them.

“As happy as I am to see you all happy, I don’t really wanna see you tackling and then making out with my sister so much.” Sam admonished.

Sapnap pulled away regardless, pulling [Name] up and hugging her close to his side. He hadn’t been phased the least bit by his dig, quite used to his friends already egging on him for being so affectionate with [Name]. “Hey, man I’m just doing this to appease her so when I vomit on her on the boat she won’t feel so annoyed with me.”

Sam howled out in laughter, dodging [Name]’s punches. He clapped hands with Sapnap, nodding in approval. “Good move. I should try that next time.”

“What do you mean by that?” [Name] asked almost immediately, raising an eyebrow at her older brother. Sam, realizing his revelation, only looked away. “Sam, do you have a partner?”

“Not saying anything.” The green haired man said, turning and walking away.

[Name] broke off from Sapnap, sprinting toward the tall man, who ran away upon hearing her hurrying footsteps. “Sam! Stop running and tell me!”

“No way! Go make out with Sapnap!”

It was Sapnap’s turn to respond, running after [Name] as he repeatedly yelled, “Listen to the man, [Name]!”

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