Word Count: 3536
Pairing: Niff
Niff Hogwarts!AU. Jeff is a muggleborn, Nick is a pureblood. Fluff, laughs, magic (ft. Sebastian and Blaine) x
"Are you sure you have everything?"
"Yes mum." Jeff sighed.
"Positive?"
"Yes mum."
"All of your books? Your clothes?" Jeff's mother pressed.
"Yes mum."
"Do you have your owl?"
"Yes mum. Now please, stop asking me questions."
"Alright. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." Jeff smiled and stepped forward, giving his mum a quick hug before stepping back. "I have to get on the train, but I'll write to you."
"Promise?"
"I promise. Bye mum."
"Bye Jeff!" Jeff's mother yelled as he boarded the train. He walked up and down the carriages, looking for an empty compartment. He found one at the end of a carriage, sliding the door shut and seating himself by the window. He must have been sitting by himself for at least an hour before the compartment door slid open, a small, flustered looking boy standing in the doorway.
"Can I sit here? Please?" He asked frantically.
"Uh, yeah… sure." Jeff said in confusion. The boy hurriedly shut the compartment door and sat down across from Jeff, his breathing heavy. "Who are you?"
"Blaine. Blaine Anderson. And you?"
"Jeff Sterling. What are you running from?" Jeff asked, regarding the boy curiously.
"Well, I -" Blaine was cut off as the compartment door opened again and three boys stepped in, grinning maliciously. One of them stood forward, looking down at Blaine.
"Hey there Anderson. You weren't trying to hide from us, were you?" He asked.
"I – no." Blaine mumbled, cowering into the seat.
Another of the boys went to open his mouth, but Jeff cut him off. "Why don't you just leave him alone?"
"Stay out of this blondie. I'll curse you before you can blink." He growled. He pulled a wand out of his pocket, only half-rising it before the third boy grabbed it from him.
"Keep the blondie out of this. He hasn't done anything." The third boy said, stealing a glance at Jeff. Jeff's eyes widened, he was the most beautiful person that Jeff had ever seen. He was shorter than Jeff, but more muscular. He had brown hair and the loveliest eyes, Jeff could hardly look away. But he had to. No one could know his secret. Not now. Not when he had an opportunity to start fresh. He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of the compartment door banging shut, looking up to see that the boys had disappeared, leaving him and Blaine alone again. He spent most of the train ride comforting Blaine, feeling like no time had passed at all before the train finally came to a halt.
"Blaine Anderson"
Blaine stumbled up the stairs as his name was called, hoisting himself up onto the stool. Everyone waited in anticipation as the sorting hat was placed on his head, waiting for the first sorting of the evening.
"RAVENCLAW!"
Blaine waited for Professor McGonagall to remove the sorting hat before scrambling over to the Ravenclaw table, being welcomed by the older students immediately.
"Nicholas Duval."
The cute boy that Jeff recognised from the train made his way to the front, climbing up the stairs and taking a seat as the sorting hat was placed on his head. Professor McGonagall had hardly stepped away when the hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!". She removed the hat from Nick's head and waited for him to sit at the Slytherin table before calling up the next student. She progressed though the students before reaching the last student on the list. "Jeffrey Sterling." She said, looking down at the boy who was standing alone in front of the steps. He slowly made his way up the steps, nervously seating himself on the stool. The sorting hat was placed on his head, and he waited for his fate. "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Jeff scrambled off the stool and made his way to the Hufflepuff table, seating himself next to the boy who had been called out before him. The boy smiled at him as he sat down, holding out his hand. "I'm Sebastian."
Jeff shook his hand cautiously, giving him a small smile. "I'm Jeff."
They both stayed silent as the announcements were made and their dinner appeared in front of them, Jeff's eyes widening at the sight. "Wow."
Sebastian laughed. "Muggleborn, huh?"
"What's that mean?"
"Your parents aren't magic, are they?"
"No. It's just me. Are your family magic?" Jeff asked, suddenly feeling a little insecure.
"Yes. But don't worry, there's lots of muggleborns here." Sebastian said, elbowing him lightly. "Now, eat your food. My mother always said that Hogwarts feasts were the best."
"Tell me about the houses."
"First you have the Gryffindor's, they're the brave ones. The Ravenclaw's are the smartest, everyone learns that pretty quickly. And we're generally known as kinda shy, but there have been some pretty outgoing Hufflepuff's in history." Sebastian explained.
"What about the other house? Isn't there four of them?"
Sebastian's face suddenly turned serious. "Those are the Slytherin's. They're bad news, Jeff. There's not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."
"Surely they can't be all bad… right?"
"Who's to say, really? But it'd do you good to stay away from them. Especially the kids from influential families, they'll put you in the ground or hex your or something."
"Oh… okay." Jeff mumbled.
"You seem a little put out by that. Why?"
"I... uh…"
"Come on, tell me." Sebastian pressed.
"There was this boy on the train and he yelled at some boys that were picking on me. I was going to talk to him after we got off the train but I couldn't find him and then when we came into the great hall I think he got sorted into Slytherin." Jeff blurted out.
"I have no idea which boy you're talking about, but it's best to just put him out of your head. Nothing good is gonna come from you talking to a Slytherin."
"Psst. Blondie."
Jeff looked around for whoever had whispered to him, only seeing people doing their work. He shrugged and went back to his work when a scrunched up ball of parchment landed on his desk. He flattened it out, reading it slowly. You're cute. Jeff looked around again, no one revealing themselves as the note-thrower. Jeff went to scrunch up the paper again, stopping as he noticed the small Slytherin emblem printed into the corner of the sheet. He shook his head and crumpled up the paper, putting it in his pocket instead of the bin like he was going to.
"I saw a note land on your table during charms today. Who was it from?" Sebastian asked Jeff.
"I don't know; it didn't have a name. It did have a Slytherin emblem in the corner though."
"Oh god, they weren't bullying you, were they?" Sebastian asked defensively.
"No, no. It just said that I was cute." Jeff said, still confused about it himself.
"Cute? Do you think one of the girls fancies you?"
"Sebastian, there were only boys in that class."
"Do you think one of the boys fancies you?"
Jeff was a little shocked at Sebastian's statement. "I – I don't know." He looked at his feet, blushing lightly.
"Jeff, I know you're gay."
Jeff's head snapped up as he made sure no one else was in the room before looking pointedly at Sebastian. "I'm not." He mumbled.
"Yes you are. You don't have to be shy about it, Jeff. It's perfectly natural. Also I should point out that I'm the last person who would judge you for it, considering I myself am gay."
"You – you're gay?" Jeff asked.
Sebastian nodded.
"I wouldn't have guessed."
"Not many people do. And speaking of guessing, I can't quite seem to guess who you like. And it's obviously someone, so don't lie."
"I don't know…"
"Jeff, come on, you can tell me."
"No, I mean I don't know his name. He was the boy I told you about from the train. I think his name was Nate or Nick or something…" Jeff trailed off.
Sebastian's jaw dropped. "Jeff, you can't be serious. You cannot have a crush on Nick Duval. Oh my god."
"What? What's wrong with that?"
"He's the most influential person in the entire fucking school. His parents work for the ministry of magic. Everyone's terrified of them." Sebastian said, like it was obvious.
"But… he stopped the boys on the train from hexing me… He can't be all that bad." Jeff whispered, more to himself than Sebastian.
"Think what you want to, Jeff. I'm going to sleep. Night."
"Night." Jeff replied distantly.
Jeff was walking back to the change rooms when a hand grabbed his arm, dragging him down a small corridor. Before Jeff could even protest he was being pushed against a wall, a pair of soft lips pressing against his own. He mustered up all of his strength to push the person away, panting slightly as the other person landed on the floor. He looked down, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he recognised the person in front of him - Nick. What was he doing? Was he playing a trick on Jeff? Were the other Slytherin's hiding and laughing at him? Jeff opened his mouth to speak when Nick jumped up, coving Jeff's mouth with his hand.
"Be quiet." He whispered, looking at Jeff almost pleadingly. Jeff hesitated for a moment before nodding, pushing the brunette's hand away from his mouth.
"What do you want?" Jeff whispered.
"Follow me."
"Are you crazy? No, I have to get changed. I have a class to get to."
"Please? It's important." Nick looked up at him through dark lashes, and he finally gave in.
"Fine."
"Great." He grabbed Jeff's hand and dragged him through various hallways, pulling him behind statues or pillars whenever someone walked past. Jeff was about to ask where they were going when they stopped in front of an empty classroom. Jeff was pulled inside the room, only registering his surroundings when he heard the lock on the door click shut. He looked up at the other boy, not sure what to think.
"What is this all about?" Jeff asked.
"Let me explain. I'm Nick. Nick Duval."
"I know. And?"
"You're Jeff Sterling. I know that." Nick said.
"How do you know that?"
"I just know."
"What do you want from me, Nick?" Jeff asked impatiently.
"You. I want you." Nick said simply.
"You want me?" Jeff asked uncomprehendingly.
"Yes. I want you. I know that you're gay. So am I."
"You can't know that." Jeff stated adamantly.
"But I do. I know you're gay, and I know you fancy me."
"I – I do not." Jeff sputtered.
"Yes you do. Sebastian told me. I take herbology with him. He told me all about you. Told me how you like your tea and what you're frightened of. Told me how you always write to your mother on a Thursday and that your owl's name is Hooodini. Told me you like me."
"How could he do that to me? He was the one that told me to ignore Slytherins in the first place. You're all meant to be bad. Why can't you just be bad?" Jeff asked hysterically, sinking to the floor as he began to cry. He soon felt Nick's arms wrapping around him, but he didn't fight it. He just sat there, crying himself out and letting Nick rub his back. He pulled away from Nick once he'd stopped crying, standing up and straightening out his robes. He made to leave the room but Nick grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.
"Don't leave. Please."
"What am I supposed to do if I stay?" Jeff asked.
"Talk to me. I figured that if you already fancy me maybe we could talk and get to know each other better?"
"Okay." Jeff said reluctantly, seating himself on the floor. Nick sat directly in front of him, still holding his wrist. "What do we talk about?"
"Tell me about yourself." Nick said.
"Um, I like the colour blue. I have four siblings. I'm a muggleborn, I think that's what they're called. I watch a lot of Netflix. What about you? Tell me about you."
"Oh, okay. I'm an only child. I'm a pureblood – that means my whole family is magic. I think you're really cute."
"Oh. I'm really not." Jeff blushed, hanging his head. He felt Nick's hand slide down into his own, allowing the brunette to link their fingers together.
"You are. You really are amazing. Let me prove it to you." Nick brought his free hand up to Jeff's face, tilting his chin up. He leaned in, giving Jeff a second to pull back before pressing his lips against the blonde's. Jeff didn't push him away this time, instead settling for squeezing Nick's hand and kissing him back. He pulled back when he felt Nick's tongue against his bottom lip, breathing heavily.
"Sorry, I -"
"Don't apologise. I don't want you to feel like anything has to happen." Nick assured him.
"Okay. I just – I've never really kissed anyone before."
"There's nothing wrong with that. And as much as I hate to say it, we should get to class. And you need to get back into uniform too." Nick said, eyeing Jeff up.
Jeff blushed lightly. "Oh. Yeah, I suppose." He replied, standing up and pulling Nick up with him.
"So, do you think we could maybe… do this again sometime?" Nick asked, appearing anxious.
"Yeah. I'd like that. I'll see when I don't have class and I'll get Sebastian to tell you."
"Okay. Make sure you find out soon." Nick said quickly.
"I will. Bye Nick."
"Bye Jeff." Nick yelled back as Jeff left the room.
"I found something out today."
"Mmm, what's that?" Sebastian mumbled.
"That you told Nick that I like him."
Sebastian spat out his potatoes, coughing as Jeff patted his back. "I didn't."
"You did. He told me…"
"And? There's something you aren't telling me."
"We kissed." Jeff whispered.
"I knew it. He always says that he's going to kiss you and he never does. I knew it."
Jeff looked around frantically, making sure no one overheard them. "Can you keep your voice down? And I need you to do me a favour."
"Yeah?"
"Tell Nick that I don't have a class after lunch tomorrow."
"Hey Jeff."
"Hi Nick."
"What do you want to do?"
"Anything. You choose." Jeff said.
"Do you maybe want to have lunch with me? We can go and sit up on the big hill?" Nick suggested.
"That sounds great. Lead the way." Jeff said, smiling as Nick grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the kitchens.
After convincing the kitchen elves to give them some food, the boys made their way up to the big hill beside the castle. Nick pulled a blanket out from under his robes, laying it on the ground and sitting down, pulling Jeff and the food with him. Jeff landed on top of him, laughing as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He picked up all of the food, setting it out in front of Nick and himself. They ate their lunches quietly, Jeff blushing when Nick insisted on feeding him cake. He allowed Nick to spoon cake into his mouth, accepting the brunette's kisses when the icing got on his lips. Nick quickly cleaned up once they were done, wrapping his arm around Jeff's waist and sighing contently. Jeff smiled and wrapped his arms around Nick, pressing his face into the brunette's chest. They were silent as they embraced each other, Nick being the one to break the silence when he let out a laugh.
Jeff looked up at him curiously. "What? Did I do something?"
"Oh, no. I was just looking down the hill. Looks like Anderson got cornered."
Jeff sat up straight and looked down the hill, gasping as he saw a group of Slytherin boys pushing Blaine around. "That's not funny, Nick. Blaine's my friend."
"Really?" Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do something about this because you obviously won't be doing anything to help." Jeff stood up angrily, marching down the hill towards Blaine. He could hear Nick running behind him, but he didn't care. He walked straight up to the boys that were pushing Blaine around, looking at one boy whose name he thought was Kurt.
"What is wrong with you? Why do you have to push him around?"
"I just love to have my fun with little Blainers here." The boy replied, making Blaine whimper.
"Well he's obviously not enjoying it, so I think you should let him go."
"Well, blondie, I think you should just mind your own business." The boy shoved Jeff, hard, making him hit the ground. Nick had just arrived at this point, angrily storming up to the boy.
"I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen to me. Touch him – touch either of them – one more time and I'll hex you so bad you'll be in St. Mungo's for a year."
"What's gotten you so defensive all of a sudden?" The boy sneered.
"I'm not defensive, I'm just doing the right thing."
"The right thing by your boy toy?"
"Don't call him that." Nick growled. "You know I'll hex you, so stop."
"Fine. Have fun with your slut Nick." The boy snapped his fingers at his friends and they walked off, leaving Nick and Jeff alone with Blaine. Jeff dropped down to where Blaine was still on the ground, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Blaine, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Blaine said, glancing nervously at Nick.
"It's okay, he's not gonna hurt you." Jeff assured him.
"I'm gonna go. I have to get to charms. Bye Jeff." Blaine said hurriedly before running off. Jeff turned back to Nick, surprised to find the brunette close to tears.
"Nick, what is it?" Jeff asked worriedly.
"What he was saying about you. You aren't a slut. You aren't my boy toy."
"Nick, it's fine. I've been called far worse things in my life." Jeff said dismissively.
"That doesn't make it right. No one should say those things about you, Jeff. You're amazing and I love you and -"
"You – you love me?" Jeff cut him off.
"Yeah. Sorry if it's not a two-way-street, I just -" Nick was cut off as Jeff's lips were on his, kissing him hard.
"Nick, I love you too."
Nick smiled and wrapped his hands around Jeff's waist, pulling their bodies together.
Jeff looked up from his hands as Nick walked in, smiling fondly at the brunette. Nick locked the door behind himself, walking up to where Jeff was and sitting on the desk beside him.
"Hey Jeff."
"Hey Nick."
"What's wrong? Sebastian said you wanted to see me."
"I – I wanted to talk to you about something." Jeff mumbled, sounding nervous.
"Oh. Okay. Are you breaking up with me?"
"Oh, Nick, it's nothing like that!" Jeff said frantically before resuming to his shy self. "I just, I've been having these feelings lately… You know I'm not really a physical person when it comes to relationships, but I don't quite know anymore."
"Jeff, what are you trying to say?"
"I – I'm horny. Like, all the time. Not all the time, all the time, but around you I am. I don't know. I've never really felt like this about anyone before and these feelings are so foreign and… I'm scared, Nick. What if this ruins us?"
"Hey, don't cry. It's going to be fine. We can always go at your pace, you know that. I'd never push you into anything, you know that."
"I don't want to push you into anything either."
"You don't have to worry about that. I'm ready as I'll ever be. But I really do care about you, and I want you to be comfortable."
"You're really ready?"
"Yeah, of course." Nick said. Jeff looked at him for a moment before pushing him against the desk, capturing his lips in a searing kiss. Nick responded immediately, bringing his hands up to tangle in Jeff's hair as their tongues slid against each other. Only when Jeff pulled away and started to undo his uniform did Nick question him. "Jeff?"
"Hm?"
"Are you sure you want this? I don't want this to be a spur of the moment thing that you do because you're emotional and then get upset about it."
Jeff stopped puling at his clothes for a minute to look up at Nick. "I – I don't know. I mean, I really do want this, but the feeling just crept up on me so suddenly. I didn't know what to do, Nick. I'm panicking."
"Jeff, there's no need to panic. No one said anything has to happen between us. Now, come on, get your clothes back on, you'll get cold."
"I'm really scared about this Nick."
Nick pulled Jeff into a tight hug, rubbing his back soothingly. "Don't worry. I'll be right here whenever you need me, and even when you don't need me."
Jeff kissed Nick's neck softly, letting out a sob of relief. "I'll always need you."