Slytherin x Hufflepuff Relationship

Chapter 2- Enamor

They were in no mood to train for Defense Against the Dark Arts because it was a humid day.
Slytherin wiped his sweaty forehead with the inside of his wrist and glanced at Hufflepuff, whose eyes were closed against the beating sun.
His gaze briefly lingered on Hufflepuff. Even with her slightly red cheeks and frizzy hair, she looked as pretty as ever.
Wait a minute, thought Slytherin. Pretty? This was Hufflepuff he was thinking about. Sure, he sometimes found himself gazing across the Great Hall at her. Yes, he felt his mouth go dry when he saw her smile and heard her laugh. But they were only friends, and friends usually don't think about each other in that way.
Slytherin shook his head and averted his gaze. It was probably the heat that was causing him to think like this.
Hufflepuff opened her eyes and groaned, squinting at the sun.
"I am literally melting," she said.
Slytherin sighed in agreement and laid on the grass.
He suddenly sat up and looked at her.
Hufflepuff raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"We should skip training today and go swimming in the Black Lake."
She stayed quiet as she thought about it and Slytherin continued.
"We're already ahead of the curriculum, and you don't really need any more practice at the moment. You're practically as good as me now."
Hufflepuff snorted and said, "I think this is the first time you've ever complimented me."
Slytherin rolled his eyes and got up.
"Well? What do you say," he asked, extending his hand to Hufflepuff.
"Hold on a sec. Isn't there a giant squid in that lake?"
"It probably crawled all the way to the Atlantic Ocean to get away from this heat."
Hufflepuff smiled amusingly but still hesitated to take Slytherin's hand.
"Aw, c'mon Puff! It'll be fine, just trust me," he said earnestly.
Hufflepuff met his eyes, and for a moment, she forgot about the sweltering heat.
Slytherin stood in front of the sun, which made him look like he was glowing, and the whole world seemed to brighten from his silly grin. He smiled as if there were no place he would rather be but here, and his eyes held such a soft fondness for her that she felt a rush of warmth that coursed through her body, leaving her with a tingly feeling in her chest.

Slytherin tilted his head questioningly. Why was Hufflepuff staring at him like that?
Hufflepuff snapped out of her trance. Merlin, what was with her today? It was probably the humidity that was causing her to think like this. She knew that they were only friends, and friends don't think about each other in that way.
She looked down at his outreached hand and Slytherin noticed a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Hufflepuff smiled and whispered, "Race you."
Before he knew it, she slapped his hand away and took off, running towards the Black Lake.
Slytherin, surprised, let out an indignant sound and turned to see Hufflepuff in the distance, bent over laughing at his startled expression.
He shook his head, huffed a laugh of his own, and started after Hufflepuff, who shrieked and started running again when she saw Slytherin coming towards her.
Hufflepuff finally came to a stop when she reached the edge of the cliff that overlooked the lake and tossed her wand on the ground.
She looked behind her and realized that Slytherin was nowhere to be found.
"Slytherin," she called, walking towards the area where she last saw him.
Before Hufflepuff could say anything else, Slytherin, who had snuck behind her, picked her up bridal-style.
"Don't you dare throw me into that lake," Hufflepuff demanded, clinging to his shirt as he walked to the edge of the cliff.
With a teasing smile, Slytherin kicked his shoes off and got ready to jump. She gripped onto him tighter and insisted, "At least let me remove my shoes!"
He decided to be merciful and relented, pulling his shirt off and tossing his wand next to hers while she took off her shoes and shorts. However, he wasn't too merciful; the moment she got up, he lifted her over his shoulder.
"Wait! Can I-"
Before Hufflepuff could finish her sentence, he jumped into the lake.
Slytherin emerged from the water first, bursting with laughter when Hufflepuff surfaced, gasping for air.
"Bloody hell, Slytherin!" she exclaimed, irritation written all over her face.
He shrugged and acted like he was completely clueless as to what he had just done.
"Didn't I say I'd let you remove your shoes?"
Hufflepuff scrunched up her nose in mock annoyance but she couldn't fight her smile, because when Slytherin is happy, Hufflepuff is happy.
The water felt icy cold against her skin, but it was a nice change from the heat. She looked up at the clouds and breathed in the earth, feeling as if all her worries were melting away with each passing minute.
Meanwhile, Slytherin drank in the sight of Hufflepuff. She looked so peaceful that Slytherin held his breath. He did not dare to interrupt her moment of tranquility.
Suddenly, Hufflepuff let out a yelp and looked down at her feet with alarm.
"What is it? What happened?"
"Something just brushed against my foot," she said, peering through the clear water.
Slytherin smirked. "It was probably Bigfoot. It's not like there's fish in this lake or anything crazy like that."
Hufflepuff sent him a look of annoyance and splashed him.
He laughed and tried to reassure her. "Honestly Puff, it's ok. it was probably just a harmless grindylow or something."
Hufflepuff looked at him with uncertainty and continued to examine the area below her, when she abruptly screamed and reached for Slytherin.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and looked down through the water.
Hufflepuff frantically exclaimed, "Do you see that?!"
"All I see is your feet. I like your nail polished toes by the way."
"Sly, I'm serious!"
Hufflepuff pointed at what she was talking about. The creature was a few meters below them, but Slytherin could see it clearly. It had green hair, yellow eyes, and grey skin.
He tried to suppress his snort. "Have you never seen a selkie before?"
Hufflepuff looked at him with bewilderment. "A what?"
"It's another word for a merperson."
Hufflepuff looked back down and tightened her grip on Slytherin in fear.
"Look at how it's staring at me!" The selkie gazed intensely at Hufflepuff, who shivered when she saw its pointy teeth.
Slytherin tried to calm her down. "Selkies are usually peaceful. It probably thinks you're pretty or something."
Hufflepuff frowned and asked, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Perhaps."
Hufflepuff continued to observe the creature, and Slytherin gently squeezed her waist, causing her to look back up at him.
"Are you going to spend your time staring at it or will you just enjoy this," he asked softly.
Hufflepuff was taken aback by his tenderness and stared at him with an unreadable expression before she slowly nodded.
She suddenly became aware of what she was doing- specifically, what she was doing to him. Her legs were wrapped around his torso, and she had placed her arms around his neck to maintain her balance.
His hands rested on her waist and she could feel a slight burning sensation on the parts of the body where he touched her.
Her eyes were drawn to his chest, which felt warm against her skin. She wasn't surprised to see that his body was toned and well-defined. After all, Slytherin was a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, and she frequently saw him training with his teammates at the Quidditch pitch.
"Like what you see?"
Hufflepuff abruptly looked up. Slytherin was watching her with a subtle smile.
She swallowed hard and shook her head.
"I wasn't- I mean, I'm not-" she stuttered, frantically trying to think of an excuse.
His eyes twinkled with amusement. He decided not to press her about it.
A comfortable silence laid upon them. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional rustle among the trees.
Hufflepuff released her left arm from his neck but maintained a grip around him with her right. She ran her hand through the water, which moved softly around her outstretched fingers, caressing coolly, eddying in their wake.
Slytherin watched her and noticed how close they were, their faces merely inches away. He looked into her eyes, which were as rich as the earth's soil after rain. They were pools of dark-cinnamon swirls that glowed with humor and playfulness. It gave him shivers and wrapped him in a warm embrace at the same time. There was some sort of goodness in her eyes, and it told him that no matter what she did, her intention never carried any hint of malevolence.
Hufflepuff felt his gaze and looked at him. Slytherin watched as she smiled; there was a faint curve to the lips, and she raised her eyebrows, as if to say, "Is there something on my face?"
Before he could say anything, she let out a small gasp and stared in awe at something behind him.
He turned and saw that the sun was setting. The sky was covered with rich hues of gold blended with orange, purple, and crimson.
Slytherin felt his soul soaring at the view, but what he saw in front of him took his entire breath away.
Hufflepuff seemed endlessly fixated by the sight ahead of them. Her eyes were no longer a dark shade of brown. Instead, they melted into golden rays, circling an eclipse.
She unconsciously shifted closer to him, her arms draped over his shoulders.
"Isn't it beautiful," Hufflepuff murmured, eyes transfixed on the sky.
Slytherin never looked up from her, at the sunset and all its golden light swathing itself over everything. He saw all that he needed to see right there.
"Yes."
-
When the sky finally darkened into shades of midnight blue, Hufflepuff looked back at Slytherin and smiled blissfully.
"I think it's time to go."
He nodded. "We wouldn't want to get in trouble with Professor Sprout again, would we?"
Hufflepuff grimaced at the memory. She pulled away from him to swim back to the shore, and Slytherin found himself missing her warm embrace.
As they walked back to Hogwarts, Hufflepuff brought up the upcoming Charms quiz.
Slytherin looked at her with confusion and exclaimed, "Wait, that's tomorrow? I thought it was on Friday!"
"When Professor Flitwick announced it, you were half asleep. Remember when I threw a paper ball at you to wake you up," she asked, a smile forming on her lips.
"Of course I do. I also remember that it hit me straight in the eye."
She tried to stifle her giggle. "What can I say? I have a spectacular aim."
Slytherin rolled his eyes. "Merlin, I'm gonna fail this quiz," he said glumly, looking into the distance.
Hufflepuff looked at him sympathetically and tried to console him. "How 'bout I help you study?"
Slytherin's eyes light up at the idea. He asked, "Are you sure? Don't you have other homework to do?"
"It's fine, I'll manage."
When they arrived at Hogwarts, Hufflepuff said that she would meet him at the Slytherin common room entrance after getting her notes.
He nodded and they went on their separate ways.
-
Slytherin was leaning against the wall outside the Slytherin common room when he saw Hufflepuff turning the corner.
His eyes lit up at the sight of her. She had changed out of her wet shirt and was now wearing a yellow tank top and black shorts.
Slytherin gaped at her figure; the tank top hugged her chest and the shorts revealed her beautiful long legs. He caught himself and looked back up at Hufflepuff before she could notice.
"Hey! Took you long enough."
Hufflepuff fidgeted with her notes and said, "I ran into Professor Sprout. She thought I was going somewhere to hook up with a guy."
Slytherin's breath hitched. A guy? Was there someone that Hufflepuff was seeing?
He whispered the password and held the door for her.
Hufflepuff did a 360 turn around the Slytherin common room. There were black and dark green leather sofas, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. The lamps glowed with green light and a fire crackled under an elaborately carved mantelpiece.
He cleared his throat and tried to act nonchalant when he asked Hufflepuff who Professor Sprout thought the guy was.
She sat down on the couch and wouldn't meet his eyes. "She thought it was you."
Slytherin frowned and asked, "Me? Why?"
"Remember that 'we were sleeping together' incident?"
He sat down next to her and snorted. "How could I forget?"
Hufflepuff sighed and muttered, "Apparently, she hasn't forgotten either."
Slytherin looked at her amusingly and she grimaced back at him. "Hey, wipe that smile off your face! You better do good on this quiz, because she said she's gonna check the results to make sure that we were actually studying and not doing... you know."
"Would that be such a bad thing," he teased.
Hufflepuff glared at him but there was a faint smile on her lips. She began to spread out her notes on a table and muttered, "Honestly, I don't know why she's so harsh on me when I'm around you. She's usually very nice."
"It's because I'm a Slytherin."
She looked up at him and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"She probably thinks I'm a bad influence on you," he said casually, flipping through the papers.
Hufflepuff grabbed his hand and looked at him intently. "You're not," she assured him. "Sly, you're one of the greatest people I know."
Slytherin pulled his hand from hers and looked away in shame. Hufflepuff thought of him to be a better person than he actually was. She didn't know what he had done. He was a monster, and monsters didn't deserve kindness, especially not hers.
Hufflepuff looked at him with concern. Just as she was about to ask him what was wrong, he abruptly changed the topic. "Let's get to work, shall we?"
She decided to let it go, and he let out a silent sigh of relief when she began her lecture on the Charms topics that would be on the quiz.
Hufflepuff helped him study for 40 minutes and let him look over the notes himself while she did her homework.
An hour passed and Slytherin felt a lot more prepared for tomorrow.
"Hey, I think I'm..."
He faltered when he noticed that Hufflepuff had already dozed off.
Slytherin nudged her and called her name. She stayed sleeping, a few light snores leaving her mouth.
He looked at the clock. It was already 10:58 pm and the curfew passed about an hour ago. He would never be able to carry her back to the Hufflepuff common room without getting caught.
Slytherin thought about leaving her there to sleep, but all the other Slytherins would see her, and he couldn't leave her vulnerable like that, so he decided to bring her to his dorm.
Slytherin carried Hufflepuff bridal-style and gently placed her down onto his bed.
Great, he thought. Where was he gonna sleep now?
Slytherin couldn't leave her here by herself. She would be alone with his dorm mates, who he was on friendly terms with but not too close to the point where he could trust them.
He knew what the only option was. "I hope you're ok with this," he muttered to Hufflepuff as he quietly got into bed with her, draping the covers over them.
Slytherin made sure not to touch her and slept on his side, facing away from her
A blanket of warmth drifted over him and his eyes felt heavier and heavier. His heart thumped in accordance with slow, shallow breaths. Serenity was plastered across his face as he fell asleep.
At peace, his consciousness swirled in the land of dreams, oblivious to the physical world. It was a sweet release from his desperate longing for a certain someone, an escape from his heart that beat for her.
But even then, Slytherin dreamt about Hufflepuff and how her lips would feel against his.