Their walk to Hogsmede was not interrupted this time. Instead, friendly smiles passed them by, friendly greetings even, a result of Taeyeon’s unexpected win at the challenge.

Much to Taeyeon’s relief, her fellow Hufflepuffs had not blamed her for their massive loss of points, most of them valuing her win much more than their House points. And on top of that, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were also nicer to her than usual, making her feel almost like a heroine of some sort.

Right now however, Taeyeon wished for a little more anonymity instead. With this much attention heaped on them, she was too embarrassed to hold Tiffany’s hand, even though the Slytherin prefect had certainly tried. As a result, there was an awkward silence between them as they entered Three Broomsticks and she was worried about what Tiffany might be thinking.

“Butterbeer for you?” Tiffany asked when they were inside and taking their outer coats off.

“I’ll get us drinks. Butterbeer?”

Tiffany nodded. “I’ll find us a table.”

“Be right back.”

Greetings and claps on her back accompanied Taeyeon on her way to the counter. A huge smile from Madam Rosem was awaiting her at the counter too.

“Here she is, our Hufflepuff winner. It’s Butterbeer you want, am I right? Winners drink Butterbeer, the drink for winners.”

“I’d like two Butterbeers, please.”

“Two Butterbeers for Taeyeon!”

Two tankards sloshed onto the counter. “On the house!” Madam Rosem declared with a wink.

“I-I’ll pay for—”

“Oh, nonsense. You deserve a drink for what you did.” Madam Rosem leaned forward and beckoned her to lean close. “I was whacked off my broomstick by a Slytherin in my fifth year. Broke my arm, I did. You made my day, you did. Now take your Butterbeers and go. Enjoy yourself.”

“T-Thank you,” Taeyeon said awkwardly and made her escape with the Butterbeers.

“You’re back fast,” Tiffany said without a smile, taking a Butterbeer from Taeyeon.

“Madam Rosem is very nice. And guess what? Our Butterbeers are on the house,” Taeyeon replied, hoping to put a smile back on Tiffany’s face.

“Quite the celebrity now, aren’t you?”

“Celebrity?”

“Famous, a superstar.”

“I’m not famous.”

“You are. And if you decide you’re too famous for me, tell me now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just say the word.”

“What word?”

“That you don’t want to be seen with me.”

It finally dawned on Taeyeon. “It’s not what you think.”

“What am I supposed to think if you don’t want to hold my hand?”

“It’s not that. I was just too embarrassed.”

Tiffany nodded. “By me. I know.”

“No, no, no. It’s not you.”

“No? Then what?”

“I don’t know. I guess, I got too shy because of all the eyes on us.”

“Why would you be embarrassed by that?”

“I don’t know.”

“So you’re not embarrassed by me?”

“No, of course not.”

“But you don’t want to hold my hand when we’re on a date?”

Taeyeon bit her lip. It did sound weird when Tiffany put it like that. “I want to hold your hand,” she said, blushing from the blood that raced inside. “I want us to hold hands.”

“Give me your hand,” Tiffany said suddenly, stretching and placing her hand on the table between them.

Taeyeon was still blushing when she did as Tiffany asked. Her blush deepened when Tiffany’s hand closed around hers and squeezed.

“If we’re going to date, we’re not going to care about what others say. We’re going to do what we want. It’s none of their business.”

Tiffany’s tenacity stunned Taeyeon. “O-Okay.”

“Don’t be shy.” Tiffany raised their clasped hands. “Be proud.”

“Tiffany!” Taeyeon gasped, trying to tug her hand down.

But Tiffany held on. “See? Nothing happened.”

“Okay, okay. I got it.”

Tiffany finally lowered their hands, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re so cute.”

“I’m not cute.”

“You’re so cute. I feel like kissing you.”

Taeyeon clapped her hand over her lips. “Not here.”

Tiffany threw her head back and laughed, attracting a few stares. It was all Taeyeon could do to stay on her feet instead of running for cover. After a good laugh, Tiffany finally stopped. “Too cute,” she said with a wide smile. “I think I’m liking you too much.”

Taeyeon buried her face in her palms. “You’re making me shy again,” she squeaked through her palms.

“I love how hard you stand up against bullies and how soft you get with affection.”

“Oh, shut up,” Taeyeon squeaked again. “Drink your Butterbeer.”

With a smug grin, Tiffany brought her tankard to her lips and downed a quarter of her Butterbeer. “Done,” she declared, smacking her lips after the long gulp.

Taeyeon gave Tiffany a long stare, then raised hers and did the same, stopping only when it was completely empty. “Doner,” she declared with a burp to finish it off.

Tiffany raised a brow but said nothing. She simply emptied the rest of her Butterbeer as well. “Up for another?”

“Er . . . I’m good, thanks.”

With another sly grin, Tiffany grabbed Taeyeon’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

x

“This is a good place.”

Taeyeon looked around. Little light reached this little cove surrounded by trees and drooping branches with leaves swaying in the mild breeze. It was dark. Maybe even a little scary. It did not look good at all. “Isn’t it a little dark here?”

Tiffany waggled her brows. “It is.”

“Shouldn’t we go somewhere with more light?”

“No.”

“There’s nobody here.”

“Perfect.”

“You mean, creepy.”

“Am I giving you the creeps?”

“This place is giving me the creeps.”

“I’ll protect you,” said Tiffany, putting an arm across Taeyeon’s shoulders.

Taeyeon laughed. “My heroine.”

“You know I’ll always protect you, right?”

Looking into Tiffany’s eyes, Taeyeon found nothing but openness and honesty, slightly disarming to see in a Slytherin.

“You’re my girlfriend. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

“I will protect you too,” Taeyeon found herself saying. “I will beat a whole team of Slytherins on broomsticks if that’s what I have to do.”

A laugh bubbled out from Tiffany, her eyes glittering in the moonlight.

Beautiful.

Without another thought, Taeyeon leaned in and brought her lips to Tiffany’s. The Slytherin prefect froze for a split second. Then her arms wrapped around Taeyeon, pulling them closer.

x

Thanks for reading Huffle & Slyther! I hope you enjoyed this little trip into the wizarding world of TaeNy :)
See you at my next story ~