“Oh good lord.” Panting and slightly panicked, Sasha placed a hand on her chest to try to steady her breath as she kept the door closed. She could hear the cheery chatter of the students outside, walking through the hallway to the common rooms. “Oh good grief. What have I done?”
What she had just done was sneak into the Slytherin dorms and pour a love potion into Mikasa’s shampoo, which, thinking about it now that the adrenaline was lessening, seemed like the stupidest idea Sasha Braus had had in her seventeen-year-long lifespan.
***
Okay, no, technically, it hadn’t been her idea, but still -- she was the one currently hiding out in a supply closet waiting for the Slytherin girls to leave the hallway so she could sneak out back to the Gryffindor common room.
Connie was the one to first come up with the idea to prank their classmates. April fools had been approaching, and the two of them were known throughout Hogwarts for their exceptional stunts and escapades. Last year, they cursed the second floor boy’s bathrooms and made it so that tiny crocodiles were swimming in the toilets. Poor Marlowe had been in the infirmary for a full 3 days, and he still glared at the two of them whenever they passed each other in the hallways.
Okay, so, maybe, this year, they shouldn’t be pulling life-threatening pranks. “Physically, we won’t harm anybody.” Connie had sworn, a devilish grin as he placed the book he was holding onto the library table with a loud ‘bang!’ “That still leaves enough options on the table though…”
Sasha had peered up at him, eyes flickering between her best friend and the book dubiously. The book’s title, 20 Years of Potions & Herbology, stared right back at her. “You know I suck ass at potions, you even more so -- how are we even going to pull this off?” With a snort, she then continued: “or are you gonna make a plant grow out of Reiner’s ass?”
Connie opened his mouth, ready to answer, before he tilted his head. “That would actually be kind of funny, but no, I am talking about this.” His face was smug as he opened the book to a chapter with a red border, curly letters sprawled across the page.
Sasha leaned forward, peered at it for a second to read the title, before realization sat in. A Love Potion.
“Connie. You absolute fucking idiot.”
“Is that a yes?”
“...God, they’re gonna hate us so much.”
At that, Connie grinned again, tugging at his beanie -- his mom had sent it to him with Christmas and he hadn’t taken off the hideous thing ever since. Sasha could barely envision her friend without it now. She wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he even took showers with it. “Well, they don’t have to find out it’s us. We’ve gotten away with worse. They still don’t know about the pixies.”
Sasha thought back fondly at the prank -- in their third year, when they’d just started doing these kinds of jokes, they had caught a bunch of pixies and stuffed them into Professor Hange’s desk before class. When the Professor had started class and enthusiastically opened their drawer to get something, the pixies had escaped with loud shrieks and snarls.
Eventually, the prank ended with Headmaster Zachary appearing in the classroom to freeze the pixies. At that point, it was practically useless -- multiple students were crying -- Bertholdt huddled into a corner with Reiner, Mikasa patting a distressed Eren on the back, Jean under a desk with his hands over his ears. It had taken Marco and Armin almost an hour to coax him out from under it.
“That was a good one,” Sasha hummed, “but that still doesn’t change the fact that we can’t do potions for shit.”
“And that’s where Armin comes in.”
“Armin?” Sasha cocked her head to the side as she peered up at Connie. Tugging at a strand of chestnut brown hair falling over her shoulders, she frowned. “He’s never gonna help us. He’d probably report us if he heard what we were up to.”
“No, because, you see--” Connie pointed at the page, pressing his finger up against the paper “--this potion consists of a mix of two other potions, so if we ask him separately to help us make either one of them, we don’t have to do any of the work…”
“...Because we can just pour the two of them together without him knowing what he’s actually helped us with!” Straightening up in her chair, Sasha grinned at her best friend. “Connie, you fucking genius!”
The boy smiled smugly yet again. “So, you in?”
“You bet your ass I am.”
And so their cunning plan had been set in motion. Convincing Armin to help them hadn’t been too hard, at least, not on Connie’s part. He’d gone up to the boy first, and came back to Herbology class afterwards with a triumphant look on his face. “He says he can help me after classes today.”
Sasha had high-fived him under the desk as they giggled, ignoring the pointed look Professor Moblit gave them.
They met up again that afternoon before dinner, the both of them laying down on the carpet of the Gryffindor girl’s dorms as they stared at the ceiling discussing their plan. All of the other Gryffindor girls that Sasha shared her dorm with -- the dark-haired, chirpy Mina Carolina and shy Hannah Diamant -- were gone for the afternoon, something about finishing course work in the library.
Sasha didn’t care much about upcoming exams, instead hauling Connie back to the empty dorm to discuss their game plan and hear him out about his meet-up with Armin. He’d gotten his part of the potion -- a vial with a bright red liquid.
“It’s like, a weaker version of Veritaserum, it makes people spill all their secrets and shit. I told Armin it was for our potions class.” Armin Arlert, who was basically the only Ravenclaw the two of them were friends with, was undoubtedly the smartest in their year. This automatically meant he took AP classes, and barely spent time with less academically gifted people like the two of them. Sasha only really knew him because he was a childhood friend of Mikasa.
Ah, the cunning and silent Mikasa Ackerman, legendary Seeker, the second-smartest in their year, and breathtakingly beautiful. Sasha smiled fondly as she was reminded of the girl, thoughts drifting off as those gray eyes flashed through her mind.
***
Sasha had known the girl since their first year when she had been about 5’2 -- right in the middle of her growth-spurt -- and still didn’t have full control over her now longer limbs. Now, at seventeen, she had taken a bit of control over her post-puberty body, but twelve-year-old Sasha didn’t have this mastered as much.
Despite a warning mumbled by the boy next to her -- a quick “Oi, Mikasa!” -- she wasn’t watching where she was going, and Sasha had ended up bumping into the raven-haired girl right in the middle of shopping for books.
At first, she had been the slightest bit intimidated. As she lay on the ground, the books that had previously been in her hands now spread all over the shop’s floor, peering up at her, the gray-eyed girl only stared right back. Her face had been void of any emotion, and Sasha barely noticed the brown-haired boy and blond one flanking her. They were all dressed the same as her -- in those unassigned Hogwarts uniforms, about the same age as Sasha. As she scrambled for her books, she realized that these three were her future classmates. How embarrassing, for her first meeting with other first year’s to go like this.
But then Mikasa had kneeled, gracefully dipping down, as she started picking up all the stuff Sasha had dropped. Sasha had protested. “No, it’s okay, it was my fault really--”
But Mikasa had just stuck her hand in the air, silencing the girl as she waved her words away. “It’s fine.” Sasha gaped at her a bit as she continued picking up some quills right by her feet, before sticking out the neatly stacked bundle back to Sasha.
“Hey, you’re a first year too, right?” The blond boy who was still standing with them, gave Sasha a soft smile. His hair was long and he looked the youngest between the three, almost a bit like a girl. Sasha decided he looked the friendliest, seeing as he was the only one smiling at her. Mikasa, who was still looking at her blankly, only blinked as Sasha glanced back at the boy.
“Uh, yeah, you are too? I mean-- Of course you are, you’re wearing, you know--” gesturing at their uniforms, Sasha had let out a weak chuckle. “I’m sorry for bumping into you, I should’ve been watching where I was--”
“I said, it’s fine.” There was no malice in the girl’s voice, but she managed to end Sasha’s rambling with her firm words immediately.
Gulping, she’d tugged a strand that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “I, uh, I’m Sasha. Sasha Braus.”
The blond boy had tilted his head, smiling sweetly at her. “Armin Arlert, nice to meet you!” When neither of his two friends said anything, he elbowed Mikasa next to him, who was still staring at Sasha. Sasha wondered vaguely if she still had some soup smeared on her chin from lunch earlier -- otherwise, why would she be staring so much? Sasha was a messy eater after all.
“Mikasa. This is Eren.”
Eren just nodded, before his gaze wandered again. The boy seemingly didn’t have the ability to stand completely still, and contrasted Mikasa next to him by fiddling at the hem of his uniform, moving from side to side a bit as he looked around the store. Mikasa was standing so still she might as well have been a statue. Sasha had squirmed a bit under her gray eyes, and nodded as she tugged the books in her arms a bit closer to her chest. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you guys. I don’t really, ha, know any other first years.”
Sweet and welcoming Armin had let out a short laugh. “You can sit with us on the train next week. We don’t mind the company. Right, Mika?”
“Hm.” That was the only sound coming from the girl. Sasha just hoped it was a confirmation of Armin’s words, and, judging by the way he was smiling, it was.
“Right, well, we have to get going, we still need to get our wands,” Armin had said, tugging up his bag a bit more on his shoulder. Next to him, Mikasa hummed again, affirmatively.
“I still wanna get a cat,” Eren interrupted, pulling at Mikasa’s sleeve to grab her attention.
She said nothing, but Armin let out a sigh at Eren’s words. “Eren, you know your mom told you that you’re getting an owl, not a cat.”
“I want a cat! A black one. Zeke has one too.”
“You can barely remember to brush your teeth by yourself in the morning, let alone take care of a cat!
The two continued to bicker as they made their way past Sasha. She’d only managed to blurt out a soft “bye!” as the three of them passed her, and Mikasa had shortly glanced back. Sasha watched as those eyes softened a bit, a bit of hesitation on her face -- then, a small smile, and they were gone, out of the store with the bell above the door tinkling happily.
She had gone back to her parents and siblings in a bit of a happy haze, her sister Kaya bumping into her side as they waited for her dad to pay for her new books. “Why does your face look so weird?” Kaya’s nose had scrunched up, the girl looking at her in confusion.
Realizing her face had twisted into a bit of a dreamy expression, Sasha had quickly composed herself. “Shut up. You’re weird.”
***
They hadn’t ended up sitting together on the train. Instead, Sasha found herself sitting with a boy named Connie, who was wearing a colorful knitted sweater and a bunch of Wizard cards with him. They admired his collection on the train ride to Hogwarts, joking and laughing together as they got to know each other.
Sasha had gotten along with Connie quickly. Marco, who was the sweetest and most compassionate soul Sasha had ever gotten the pleasure of meeting -- they still jokingly called him freckled Jesus -- was also pulled along in their friend group, and with it came grumpy and scowling Jean Kirstein. Just like Sasha and Connie, him and Marco were like two peas in a pod, and the four of them often sat together on their free afternoons, teaming up every time they got to visit Hogsmeade.
Their sorting had been quick and went by in a blur, Sasha too nervous to remember most of the other student’s faces, names and houses. Mikasa was one of the first one’s up on the chair, the blank-faced girl not showing any emotion as she was sorted into Slytherin.
Sasha had let out a huff at that -- though Mikasa was silent and generally seemed very void of emotion, Sasha thought of her more as a Ravenclaw, but the girl in question didn’t protest as she made her way to the Slytherin table. Next was Armin, who smiled shyly as the Ravenclaw table cheered when he was announced as one of them, giving Eren a pat on the shoulder in passing as he walked over to his seat.
Marco, Sasha, Jean and Connie all got sorted into Gryffindor. Sasha had expected this -- her mom and dad had been in this house as well, so it only seemed like a logical decision to be sorted into this house. Connie had a personality very alike to her own, as she had figured out in the past hours they’d spent together, so him ending up in the same house was a pleasant outcoming, but not totally unexpected.
The only other student Sasha really paid attention too -- mostly because she didn’t know anyone else -- was Eren, who got sorted into Hufflepuff. Sasha caught him glancing slightly panicked at Armin, who gave him a wave and a thumbs up in encouragement. Sasha was happy she’d ended up with Connie at least -- she couldn’t imagine ending up in a different house than her friends, even though she had only known them for the day.
And her new friends stuck by her side, accompanying Connie, Marco and Jean throughout their five years at Hogwarts up until now. She could barely remember all the endless hours they’d spent in the common room, curled up around the fire as they laughed, studied, gossiped. One of her favorite times of the year was right before Christmas and just after their last exams, the last day before they would pack up for the holidays.
They always spent this night before leaving together, sometimes joined by the shy but sweet Bertholdt, who was in their house as well, but most of the time, just the four of them. Complaining about how hard exams had been, Connie grunting as Marco explained the difficult questions and Sasha felt the nerves rising realizing how many things she had answered wrong; Jean coming back from the kitchens with mugs -- hot chocolate for Marco, butterbeer for Connie, both for Sasha, because she could never choose.
Their worries of exams would slip away with the hours, and those evenings always ended with their head of the house, Colt Grice, coming down the stairs with a grumpy and sleepy expression on his face, ordering them to go to bed.
***
The other thing occupying her days, was, of course, quidditch.
Now, Sasha Braus was a pretty competitive person, though this was common, being a Gryffindor and all. She was the first to sign up for try-outs in her second year, and was quickly selected by the team captain, blond-haired and determined Porco Galliard. She was assigned as a Chaser, mostly because she was quick and had an ‘almost flawless aim’, as her captain called it.
Connie didn’t join her, despite her nagging him about it before the initial try-outs. Over dinner, Sasha had tried to push Marco to try out between taking big hurried bites of her chicken. Marco had only smiled nervously at the thought. “I don’t know, Sasha, people die playing quidditch. Did you know that? You can get hurt pretty badly. Two years ago, there was this girl--”
“I’ll join you,” Jean had promptly said, not looking up from his pudding. He had grown a bit since Sasha had met him, and was now taller than her, puberty clearly catching up to the 13-year-old.
“Jeanbo! That’s why you’re my favorite.” That statement had earned her a glare from Connie. Sasha just stuck out her tongue at him teasingly.
Marco, who was next to Jean, looked at him with wide, worried eyes. “No, you won’t.”
“Marco, I’m not made of sugar,” Jean had huffed. “I can handle a bit of flying without getting to the brink of death.”
“You don’t even like quidditch? Since when do you want to do this?” Marco gave him an exasperated look, letting go of his fork as he waved his arms around in a questioning motion.
“I do like quidditch!” Jean huffed. When Marco gave him a pointed look, his shoulder slumped, mumbling: “and Yeager is trying out as well, so I’ll finally have a reason to beat that fucker’s ass.”
That spawned another rant from Marco, the freckled boy scolding his best friend for the childish rivalry he and Eren still had going on. Sasha was just happy enough to not have to join the team on her own, and even happier when results were announced -- she, a Chaser, and Jean, a Keeper. Marco had hummed happily, bumping into Jean’s side as the four of them read the new team listing hung up on the wall. “See? You don’t even get to chase after Eren, you’ll be guarding the hoop instead.”
Jean had just grumbled, something about getting to Eren in another way.
What Sasha had not taken into account when signing up for quidditch, was the fact that she would be facing her opponents as well -- stupid, of course, because quidditch was all about the rivalry, yet she still felt herself stiffen on her broom when she was met with Mikasa during their first game -- the girl was floating only few feet away, eyes full of determination and fire as she looked straight back at Sasha.
Back then, at 12, Mikasa had been a Chaser too, and a damn good one at that. Sasha could barely keep up with her, and what started as a fun side-hustle, a hobby to waste some time, quickly turned into a rivalry between her and the raven-haired Slytherin.
She couldn’t help it, though. Somehow, Mikasa managed to get under her skin every game they played against each other, always slipping away from under her fingers just at the last moment. Sometimes, she smirked a bit, which made Sasha’s skin hot and her fingers all clammy as she gripped at her broom, before hurrying after her opponent. Galliard often yelled at her to just leave Mikasa alone and focus on the other players instead, making it so that Mikasa had no way of passing the ball to anyone else.
However, Sasha just couldn’t help but engage in the endless chase. The green of Mikasa’s uniform was a blur as she pushed herself to be faster, more agile, just as quick and cunning as the Slytherin chaser. She never was, though, and when Mikasa was announced as the new Seeker of the Slytherin team at the beginning of their third year, Sasha had felt both disappointment and a bit of pride -- she couldn’t play against Mikasa one-on-one anymore, which made her weirdly grumpy.
But, Mikasa had become the youngest Seeker Hogwarts had ever seen, and Sasha couldn’t help but be a bit happy for her fellow student as she watched the girl smile ever-so-slightly in the hallways.
***
It was only days before their first match that year, their fourth year at Hogwarts, and a now 15-year-old Sasha had been splayed out on the grass outside in between classes when a shadow blocked her view of the summer-y September sky. Several words had followed quickly, a flat-toned female voice telling her, “come practice with me.”
“Huh?” Propping herself up on her elbows, Sasha had squinted against the sun that was glaring just behind Mikasa -- she could barely see her face this way, but she would recognize that voice anywhere. “Mikasa?”
“Sasha.” Mikasa mirrored her. Then, repeated: “Come practice with me.”
She was already wearing her training clothes, the same clothing all the Hogwarts students had -- Sasha too -- but with her Slytherin-colored uniform shirt draped over it, the green suiting her pale skin and dark short hair. She had chopped it off during the summer, and when Sasha had seen her again at the station last week, when all the students were arriving, she had stopped in her steps for a moment, admiring how much it suited the girl. She looked less like a girl and a bit more grown-up now, and it brought her from “cute” to “beautiful”.
Then again, Mikasa had always been beautiful, Sasha had thought as she stared at the back of the girl as they walked over the train station’s platform. Mikasa didn’t notice her, and when Connie looped his arm through Sasha’s, she let her gaze snap from the girl back to her best friend. She should stop being such a creep -- she was slowly turning into Jean, who had an embarrassing crush on the Slytherin girl.
Not that Sasha had a crush on Mikasa, no, she was just admiring her. Still, she was happy to listen to Connie’s enthusiastic rants about the upcoming school year, distracting her from the raven-haired girl a few feet away from them.
Now, that same girl was peering down on her, face not revealing any of her emotions, just as calm and composed as always. Then, she stuck out a hand to Sasha, clearly motioning for her to grab her hand and stand up to join her.
Sasha looked back at her for a moment, wondering why, out of all the people Mikasa could practice with, she wanted to practice with Sasha. Annie Leonhart, who was in Slytherin as well, was an amazing chaser, and could definitely help Mikasa practice. It also seemed more logical, seeing as they were on the same team and in the same house.
However, Mikasa was here now, asking Sasha to join her -- not Annie. Sasha.
A little baffled, Sasha reached for Mikasa’s hand, letting herself be tugged up by the other student. They stood for a second, Mikasa dropping her hand. “Well. Go get your stuff. Meet at the field?”
Sasha had opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, like an idiot, not sure what to say to that. “Um. Yeah. Okay, yeah. Give me-- Give me ten.”
Nine minutes later Sasha came back, panting heavily from running through the hallways all the way to the training fields, broom under one arm and gear under the other. Mikasa was already there, stretching on the grass as she looked over at Sasha’s already exhausted form. “Don’t push yourself, Braus,” she said with a flat voice.
When Sasha glared at her, she could see a playful spark in the girl’s eyes, though, and her frown fell as she plopped down on the grass. “What do you… What do you want to do?” She breathed heavily as she started strapping up, tightening her knee braces while she had glanced back up at Mikasa.
“I wanna see if I can outrun you.”
Sasha had gaped at her. “Mikasa -- You’re a Seeker. Of course you can outrun me.” She hated to just outright admit to that, but it was the truth -- if Sasha had even been the slightest bit as fast as Mikasa, she would’ve been a Seeker too. Instead, Gryffindor’s Seeker was still Petra, a lively redhead that wasn’t the best at defense or aiming, but an amazing Seeker with good sight and quick reflexes.
Mikasa had just shrugged at her protests, hauling herself up from the grass as she stuck out her hand to summon her broom. She caught it with ease as it flew up right into her hand. “Then try harder.”
About an hour later Sasha was sprawled out on the grass, not even noticing the way it was tickling at her neck and bare ankles, too exhausted from practice. She was sweating in places she didn’t even know she could sweat, and everything was hurting so bad.
Mikasa seemed as perfect as always, not even broken out into a sweat or breathing louder than usual. The only sign that she had been training was a small flush on her cheeks, tinting the fair skin a bit pink. She sat down next to Sasha’s splayed out body, watching the girl with a small smile on her face. “So, when are we doing this again?”
And despite the ache in her muscles, which got even worse the next day, despite the bruises tainting her legs and arms and the straps of her gear leaving marks on her skin -- despite all that, Sasha found herself waiting for Mikasa on the training fields not even four days later, body still sore from the previous practice. She couldn’t help an eager smile spreading on her face, however, as she watched her opponent trudge up the hill towards her, broom already clutched tightly in her right hand.
It became a thing. What kind of a thing, Sasha couldn’t really say herself, either. Were her and Mikasa friends? If it came to school hours, the answer would be no -- Mikasa and Sasha ignored each other as usual, the Seeker never once talking to her during classes. This wasn’t that weird, because they weren’t usually seated next to each other. Mikasa liked to coop up with the other Slytherins during dinners, and Armin and Eren often flanked her when they walked through the halls, making it impossible for Sasha to even interfere.
On the field, however, it was only the two of them, Mikasa laughing breathlessly as Sasha yelled at her, chasing her through the air. Mikasa was right, in a way -- Sasha was getting faster and pushing herself more, and she noticed herself getting better, being able to move quicker and becoming more agile on the field.
Still. Mikasa always outran her, just out of her grasp, never able to fully catch up with her.
And Sasha watched from a distance, watched as the girl zipped through the air during games and almost always managed to catch the Snitch. Armin and Eren always cheered for her, even though they weren’t in the same houses -- and Sasha did, too, though she hid it a bit more, pushing down a smile as she watched Mikasa stick a hand in the air, Snitch trapped between her long, smooth fingers.
“You’ve been training a lot,” Connie noticed too on a particularly drowsy November day, when Sasha came back from the fields, soaked to her underwear from the rain. She was shivering, even though she had warmed up a lot from training. Connie was sprawled out on her bed, obviously waiting for her to return so he could copy some of her homework.
“Yeah, just getting in a few more hours before winter break.” Quidditch would pick up again in March, when the weather would get warmer and the days longer, and this weekend was the final tournament for the autumn season. Mikasa had given her a fond smile and tugged on her ponytail in a teasing motion, wishing her luck on the next game. They weren’t playing against each other -- instead, Gryffindor would be playing against Ravenclaw, and Slytherin against Hufflepuff.
“Right,” Connie drawled, not convinced in the slightest. “You sure you’re not doing it to, I don’t know, impress someone?”
“What? No,” Sasha scowled as she wrung out her wet brown hair, water droplets falling into the sink that was placed in the corner of their dorm room. Both Hannah and Mina were once again absent, probably in the common room or library to study. “It’s not like that. Me and Mikasa are barely friends.”
“How did you know I was talking about Mikasa?”
Huffing, Sasha fought the blush that was creeping up her cheeks, not turning back to look at Connie, instead roughly tugging off her gear. “Shut up, baldie.”
“Ginger.”
“I’m not ginger, it’s chestnut brown!”
“Tsk. Same thing.”
Sasha tried not to ponder too much on the way her mind had immediately gone to Mikasa at Connie’s suggestion.
***
Just like back then, about one-and-a-half years ago, Connie was comfortably positioned in Sasha’s dorm room, now on the floor still as he continued to talk about the potion in his hand. “So, not Veritaserum, but still, loosens the lips a bit, you know? Makes people say shit they wouldn’t usually confess to.”
Connie twirled the vial between his fingers, holding it up above them and squinting at it. “Your part of the potion is more of a… Hmm… Vitamix? And a bit of euphoria, you know, it makes them all giddy and stuff.” Vaguely waving his hand, Connie let out a hum. “I don’t really know the specifics, but when we have it, we can give it to one person, and the other person who drinks it will fall in love with the first one. Or, no, the other way around. Yes.”
Sasha frowned as she thought through the logistics of it all. “So, say, I give one part of the vial to person A, and you give one part of the vial to person B, person A will fall in love with person B?”
“Yep.” Connie threw the vial into the air, catching it as it fell back down. “God, next week is gonna be so much fucking fun.”
***
Where Connie had easily convinced Armin to help him out, Sasha was having a bit more trouble. She had found the boy in the corner of the first floor library with Marco and Historia, the three of them deeply engrossed in discussing something as Sasha approached their table with a skip. “Armin,” she had started.
The blond had looked up from his book, letting out a sigh at the interruption. “What is it, Sasha?”
“I was wondering if you could help me with my potions assignment?” Smiling sweetly at the boy, she placed her hands on the table and leaned a bit towards the trio. “I can pay you in chocolate frogs.”
Armin’s voice was flat-toned: “Sasha, I’m lactose intolerant.”
“Oh.” Blinking, she quickly added: “I have lots of other snacks. You can pick everything! Just, I really, realllllly need your help. Zacharius will kill me if I don’t hand in something.”
Next to Armin, Historia muttered something along the lines of “I doubt that he would get away with that” as Armin face-palmed himself, obviously tired of Sasha nagging him like Connie had done only days earlier.
“I should start charging people for this, I could make a fortune with it,” he groaned as he rubbed his face. “Tell me, is it a coincidence Connie asked me to help him this week too? You guys aren’t planning something stupid again, right?”
Fuck. “No? Why would we?” Fluttering her eyelashes as innocently as she could, Sasha tried to muster up a naive smile.
Marco was side-eyeing Sasha, and she could see a hint of suspicion crawling onto his face. He was probably seeing through her facade -- after all, Sasha wasn’t the type to do anything for class very far in advance, especially not potions, since she was so bad at it. She usually just copied from Bertholdt, who was too nice to refuse. Besides, Marco had known her for years now, and next to Connie and Jean, was one of the people that knew her best.
“Please Armin? I will do anything, I just need your help. I promise I’m not planning anything with Connie.” Reaching out over the table, Sasha stuck out a pinky, smiling at Armin, who was still scowling at her with a skeptical and wary look on his face. “Really.”
Waving her hand away, Armin rolled his eyes. “Fine. Go get your stuff and be back here in ten.”
Sasha let out a squeal at Armin’s words. “You’re the best!”
***
It was the next day that the two of them met up again, Connie still in his gown as Sasha marched into his dorm. Thomas, his roommate, was on his bed doing homework. Upon seeing Sasha, he immediately let out a groan, gathering his stuff. “I’ll leave you guys to it,” he murmured, an annoyed tone in his face as he stormed off.
Sasha merely grinned, knowing that no one was listening to their conversation now. I got the goods!”
“Fuck yeah,” Connie grinned as he leapt up from his desk, high fiving her before grasping the vial out of her hands, holding it up to the light. It was a clear fluid, not any color in it like the one Connie had made. Armin had spent about half an hour trying to explain the process to Sasha, only once more asking her what in God’s name she needed this for. “I don’t really get it, this is more of a hobby-potion. Not something Zacharius would teach me, at least?”
Sasha had chortled, hoping Armin couldn’t read the bit of panic in her eyes. “Armin, dummy -- you’re in an AP class, of course Zacharius teaches you different and more advanced potions.”
Huddling over Connie’s desk, Connie pulled out his own vial. As he opened the both of them, he glanced up at Sasha for confirmation. When she nodded, he poured the two together. There was no climactic boom, no explosion or fireworks, just a light hiss and a bit of sizzling. A beat of silence. Then, Connie asked: “did it work?”
Sasha shrugged. “I dunno. Guess we won’t know until we try?”
They silently plopped down onto Connie’s bed, Sasha twirling the vial between her fingers as a thought suddenly popped into her head.
“Okay, so, tell me again -- who are we going to poison with this?”
They both blinked at each other wordlessly, turning back to look at the vial on the table in front of them.
“I…” Connie opened and closed his mouth, before humming thoughtfully. “I didn’t actually think about that.”
Sasha couldn’t help but snort, then, let out a gasp. “Ooh! We could do Professor Smith and that janitor, you know, the one who always looks like he’s eating something sour?”
“You mean that Ackerman dude?” Connie scowled. “He would feed us to the forest trolls, Sash. I’m not dying on April Fool's of all days.”
“He’s related to Mikasa?”
Sasha felt Connie shrug next to her. “I think Armin mentioned they were second cousins or something. They do kind of look like each other.”
“Hmm.”
Another beat of silence as the two of them pondered over their options. Connie was the first one to open his mouth again. “We could do Jean and Mikasa.” Sasha could hear how he was trying not to laugh at the idea.
“Shut up.”
“For real! Think about it -- Jean is crazy about her, and everyone knows it. If we give her the first bit, and him the next, and Mikasa will confess to him and everything, and then maybe, Jean will get some for once.” Connie chortled at the idea.
Sasha didn’t know why, but the thought of Jean with Mikasa, the latter pouring out her feelings for him, made her heart squeeze up a bit. “Yeah,” she chuckled weakly. “Right.”
“So. You give Mikasa the first half, then I’ll sneak some of it into Jean’s breakfast after, and bam, we’re good to go.” Connie turned his head. His green eyes were sparkling at the foresight of pulling one of their pranks again. “Deal?”
And though Sasha’s stomach turned a bit at the idea, she pushed down the weird emotions, turning back to grin weakly at her best friend. “You got it.”
***
She found herself watching Mikasa more closely the following days up to April 1st, eyes lingering on the way the girl walked through the hallways, how she moved through the crowd, movements elegant and graceful as always. She was less conserved when it came to hiding her emotions these days, and Sasha caught her smiling at Annie and Hitch during lunch, when the three of them were sitting a few feet away from her and Connie, Marco and Jean.
Sasha watched shamelessly, lost in thought as Mikasa threw her head back and laughed out loud at something her fellow Slytherin had told her. A pang shot through Sasha’s chest as she glanced from Mikasa to Annie and back to Mikasa -- she wanted to make her laugh like that. Why didn’t Mikasa laugh like that during practice? She only ever smiled, never bursting out laughing like that, though.
She didn’t even realize how much her expression had contorted, her fists balling and fingers digging into the grass, until Marco nudged her gently. Looking back at him, he was smiling sympathetically at Sasha, as if he knew something she didn’t. “You okay there, Sash?”
“Huh?” A little dazed, Sasha shook her head. “Oh, yeah, fine, just… Stressed about the upcoming game. You know how I get,” she tried to chuckle, but couldn’t really shake off the uneasy feeling weighing on her chest.
“You’re gonna do fine,” Marco told her.
“He’s right,” Jean perked up. He was sprawled out on Marco’s lap, head resting on the boy’s upper legs. His amber eyes were closed, and Sasha had assumed he had been asleep. “You’ve been training so much, Hufflepuff doesn’t stand a chance against you.”
“Those bitches won’t know what hit ‘em,” Connie added, shoving Sasha playfully as she giggled at her friends. Though she still felt a little off, Mikasa still occupying the back of her mind, she smiled fondly at her friends’ words.
She didn’t catch the gray eyes behind her, staring intently back at her as she laughed at Connie’s next joke.
***
And now, days later, here she was, standing in a supply closet as she listened closely to steps walking past in the hallway. It had been about two weeks since Connie and her had come up with their fateful plan, and now that it was finally happening, she couldn’t help but swallow painfully at the way her throat was closing up. She didn’t really get why she was so nervous -- normally, while pranking someone, both Connie and her were giddy with excitement, running around shrieking and whisper-laughing at each other as they worked out their plans.
This time, however, her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty and the vial between her fingers felt like a ticking time-bomb. This was a bad idea. The words flashed through her head suddenly, and she couldn’t help but wince at the sudden revelation. She couldn’t ignore the way her stomach had been churning at the thought of Mikasa and Jean together -- God, the way it made her heart ache.
She couldn’t bear the thought. The past few days her mind had been filled with those gray eyes, made-up scenarios of amber eyes gazing back at them and Jean kissing Mikasa after she’d had confessed to him. It occupied her brain all day, head spinning with the endless ways this prank could end up playing out. Never once did she find herself amused at the idea of using the potion on her two friends.
But that was what this was all about, though, right? To have a good laugh? Instead, Sasha found herself tortured by the idea of Jean kissing Mikasa, and she just didn’t understand why. Had she suddenly grown a weird conscience and did she not want to hurt anyone’s feelings with a good old prank?
That wasn’t like her at all, though. She normally didn’t really take anyone’s feelings into regard, just thought about how much amusement Connie and her could get out of the joke. Somehow, this one in particular was bothering her. It was keeping her awake at night, for fuck’s sake, tossing and turning as she tried to ban the image of Mikasa with someone else out of her mind.
“God fucking damn it!” Whisper-yelling, she kicked against the door in frustration, immediately regretting it when she saw a shadow stop through the light that was pouring in from underneath the door. “Fuck, fuckity fuck, you’ve really done it now, Braus,” she cursed softly, as she heard someone ask:
“Hello?”
Mikasa. Of course. The fates were cunning tricksters, making her face the one person she really did not want to see today, of all people. She would have rather been caught by Hitch the Bitch, or Annie, even, who could make grown men shit their pants with a single glare. But noooo, it had to be Mikasa Ackerman, now knocking on the door to see if anyone would open up.
Sasha held her breath, leaning against the door heavily to keep it closed and make sure Mikasa wouldn’t push it open. Of course, she was the dumbest person to ever walk Hogwarts grounds, because the door didn’t open to the inside, but to the outside. She only realized this when Mikasa was already turning the knob and pulled the door open. Tumbling down at the ground, Sasha let out a curse. “Fuck,” she groaned as she made contact with the ground.
“Sasha?”
Mikasa sounded genuinely surprised at the sight of her, and, considering the time of day and the place she had just caught her, her surprise wasn’t all that out of place -- after all, it was 7:30AM on a Sunday morning and she had just found a Gryffindor in the Slytherin supply closet. “What are you doing here?”
Peering up at Mikasa with a sheepy smile, Sasha let out a chuckle. “Uh. Wanted to scare you? April Fools!”
“What?” Mikasa’s voice was laced with confusion as she dipped down and hooked her arms under Sasha’s, hauling the girl up to her feet. Sasha yelped at the sudden contact, scrambling up as quickly as possible and stiffening as soon as she was on her feet again, staring into Mikasa’s surprised eyes.
Mikasa had grown just as tall as her over the years, and, despite the one year age gap, she was now not even an inch shorter, making it so that their eyes were at the same level. Her hair was wet, and Sasha could smell the shampoo she had slipped the potion into only half an hour before, a mix between typical soap and a hint of coconut. She was wearing her Slytherin uniform, the collar of her blouse popping out from underneath her black sweater with green details and Slytherin logo on the front.
The silence between them was thick as Sasha blinked dumbly at Mikasa. “It’s April Fools. I wanted to scare you.” Sasha sounded a bit out of breath, brain going haywire at the feeling of Mikasa’s hands still resting under her lower arms, gripping the fabric of Sasha’s sweater.
“Right.” Mikasa cocked her head a bit, and then her eyes fell to the vial still clutched in Sasha’s right hand. “What’s that?”
“Huh?” Quickly snatching her hand away and taking a step back, Sasha shoved her arm behind her back and out of Mikasa’s reach. “What’s what?”
“That thing you’re hiding behind your back.” Mikasa seemed a bit amused, corners of her lips twitching a bit. When Sasha just stared back blankly, not knowing what to say, she moved. In a flash, she was standing pressed up against her, her arm around Sasha’s waist as she tried to grab the vial from her.
Sasha let out a sound of distress as she tried to squirm out of Mikasa’s grip, the feeling of Mikasa’s arms around her setting her skin aflame as she turned, flushing a bright crimson. She stuck her hand in the air, and Mikasa let out a huff as she stretched out to grasp it out of her hands, but Sasha still had a bit of length on her.
“Get here,” Mikasa grunted, frustration at Sasha’s antics clearly sounding in her voice. She jumped a bit, and Sasha quickly moved back, turning away from her. When Mikasa grabbed for the bottle one last time, Sasha made a rash decision -- in a hurried panic, she opened the bottle, downing its contents as quick as she could before Mikasa could get to it.
“Ha!” She let out, Mikasa stiffening against her. They were still pressed together, Sasha backed against the wall now as Mikasa glared at her. “See? Nothing. Don’t have anything.” She showed Mikasa the empty vial, and when Mikasa’s eyes fluttered between the object and Sasha’s face, the reality of the situation sunk in.
Oh. Oh no.
Because, now that Sasha had drunk the potion, Mikasa was going to confess to her, and the whole prank thing with Jean was going to go to waste. Sasha held her breath as she kept her eyes locked on Mikasa. The Slytherin girl was steadily staring back, eyes not wavering as she let out a deep breath. Her face seemed to soften, going from the previous glare to a hazy expression.
Sasha was suddenly a little bit too aware of how close Mikasa was pressed up against her.
“Sasha,” the girl whispered, her voice low as gray eyes stayed on her.
“....Mikasa?”
Silence fell between them as Mikasa’s hand reached up. Then, ever so tenderly, she was wiping away a strand that had fallen in front of Sasha’s face, finger’s brushing against her skin as Sasha’s breath hitched. God, no, this couldn’t be happening. She didn’t know if she should be laughing or crying at the foresight of what was about to happen.
She could smell Mikasa’s clean fragrance even better now that they were so close -- nothing like the sweaty musky smell mixed with grass after their practice. That smell was intoxicating, made Sasha a bit dizzy in the head, in a good way. This smell made Sasha want to bury her face in Mikasa’s neck and drown herself in it. And those eyes, good grief. Now that they were this close, she could see the specks in between that dark gray, eyes shimmering a bit from the morning sun that was shining through the hallway windows.
Letting out a shaky breath, Sasha murmured, “what are you doing?”
“Mmm…” Mikasa leaned forward, and Sasha stiffened as Mikasa’s nose brushed against her cheek. Her hot breath fanned over her skin, smelling a bit of minty toothpaste still. “Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
When she moved a bit to the side and her nose brushed against Sasha’s, Sasha panicked. The feeling of Mikasa’s breath on her lips got her out of her trance, and then she was pushing the girl away, heart hammering in her chest in a panicked haze. “No!”
Mikasa was stunned, wide-eyed as she looked at Sasha with a confused look on her face. “....N-- no?” She looked as if Sasha had just told her she liked to stomp on little bunny’s in her spare time, and Sasha could feel her heart squeezing almost painfully at the broken look on the girl’s face.
Sasha stammered, “not-- Not like this. You don’t really want this, Mikasa--”
“But I do.” Then, again, a bit softer, Mikasa’s eyes flickering between Sasha’s eyes and her lips, she whispered again, “but I do,” and then she was closing the distance and reaching out for Sasha -- fingers grabbed hold of Sasha’s face, tilting it just the slightest and then they were locking lips, kissing deeply. Sasha could only let out a gasp of surprise at the surprisingly soft feeling of Mikasa’s lips on her own, eyes fluttering shut as she felt her brain quiet down finally.
Ignoring the alarm bells going off in the back of her brain, she reveled in the feel of Mikasa’s fingers sliding up into her hair, her tongue prodding at her entrance as she deepened the kiss, no sign of slowing down. It was all so intense, more intense than any kiss Sasha had ever had. Truly, that wasn’t much at all -- one spin the bottle kiss in their second year with Thomas, and a quick peck on the lips when she’d gone to the Yule ball last year with a Hufflepuff named Niccolo -- something that hadn’t worked out.
But this? Mikasa, kissing her? It was like nothing she could’ve ever imagined. She could do this for hours and still not have enough, and she tried to memorize every little thing, savoring in the taste and the feel of Mikasa’s fingers grazing her cheeks, but it was all so much, so overwhelmingly good, and she couldn’t keep up--
“Jesus fuck,” a voice sounded from a few feet away.
Sasha scrambled back quickly, her cheeks burning as she pushed Mikasa off. The raven-haired girl just stared at her dreamily, face flushed adorably and lips swollen. “Annie!”
Blue eyes flickered between her and the girl in her arms, and for the first time since Sasha had known Annie Leonhart, she saw the girl laugh -- first, chuckling a bit, then, full on cackling as she bent over, slapping her thigh as if it was the funniest sight she had ever stumbled upon. Sasha just stared in stunned silence as Annie wiped her eyes and composed herself. “Man--” huffing, she straightened herself. “That was the best prank ever. Didn’t think you’d have it in you, Braus.”
Blurting out the first thing Sasha could think of, she told her: “Annie, I need your help.”
“With what?” She raised her eyebrows. “Eating each other’s faces? Seems like Ackerman here is already pretty impressed by your knowledge on the subject.”
“I am not. Kidding!” Feeling a bit desperate, Sasha tried to ignore the way Mikasa was still staring at her. “Please! I accidentally-- I gave her--” She felt her cheeks redden even more, embarrassed at her current position. “IaccidentallygaveMikasaalovepotion.”
Annie still looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Okay. Again, but now, slower, please?”
“I might have accidentally given Mikasa a love potion.”
A beat of silence as Annie just stared at Sasha blankly. “Accidentally.”
“Okay, so, it was on purpose, but she wasn’t supposed to fall in love with me!”
“God, you really are an idiot, aren’t you?”
“Just help me, God, Annie!” Sasha had never been close to the Slytherin girl, but Bertholdt was good friends with her, and she just hoped that, by association, Annie would be willing to offer some friendly advice in this horrible mess she had landed herself in.
Meanwhile, Mikasa was still leaning up against her, weight not too heavy but body still warm and firm against her as her fingers traced unrecognizable patterns on Sasha’s cheeks. Sasha grasped at Mikasa’s wrists to gently pry her hands away from her face. Mikasa seemed fine with that, and settled on just entwining their fingers instead, smiling fondly up at Sasha. The sudden bright expression made Sasha let out a choked whimper.
“Jesus Christ, look at you.” Annie was shaking her head. “Fine, but if I miss breakfast because of this, you better sneak into the kitchens for me later, Braus.”
Annie was quick on her feet as Sasha hauled Mikasa along through the hallway and down the stairs, the same path she had gone up on earlier that morning when she snuck into the Slytherin dorms. “How did you even get in here?” Annie murmured.
“Um.” Sasha said as she tightened her grip on Mikasa’s waist to keep the girl close. “I bribed Eren with snacks yesterday for the password.”
“Of course you did.” Annie slowed down when she neared the common room door, glancing back over her shoulder at the two of them. “Don’t slow down, just, ignore anyone who says anything. We don’t need anyone reporting to the Headmaster. Or worse,” and Sasha swore she saw Annie shiver, “Levi.”
“There’s really no other way?” Looking around, Sasha felt her stomach turn. “Can’t we climb out the window or something?”
“Yeah, and you can fall to your death while you’re at it.” Annie’s voice was overflowing with sarcasm before she pushed the door open.
Luckily, the common room was fairly empty -- everyone was either sleeping in or already at breakfast, Sasha assumed as she ignored a few first year’s huddled on the couch, their eyes gazing curiously at the trio as they made their way to the exit. “Hurry up, Braus,” Annie commanded her as she held open the door for her and Mikasa.
Mikasa complied easily with Sasha’s every move, happily sagging against her with that same dreamy smile on her face. Sasha hated that it made her feel something, the way Mikasa was looking up at her like that, and she hated that she was still feeling the warmth of Mikasa’s lips on hers, the memory of it imprinted into the front of her brain, probably for forever.
“Come on,” she told the girl in her arms, gently tugging her along with her, then, “I’m sorry.” She knew good and well what she was apologizing for, but it was such a low whisper that Mikasa barely could have heard it.
Indeed, those gray eyes stayed on her with a loving look in them, not reacting to her apology. “M-hm. You’re so pretty,” Mikasa breathed, voice awe-d.
Huffing, Sasha tried to ignore the burn on her face as she averted her gaze, not having enough balls to look Mikasa back into the eyes. “Right.”
“Don’t you think I’m pretty?” Mikasa’s voice was laced with disappointment, and Sasha almost missed a step on the stairs as they followed behind Annie.
“What? Of course I think you’re pretty. Have you seen yourself?” At that, a bright smile spread on Mikasa’s face again, and Sasha just rolled her eyes, wishing she could sink into the stone steps of the stairs. Maybe the fat lady would let her join her painting and she could just become oil on canvas instead of being here, in this horribly embarrassing situation.
“Arlert!” Sasha barely realized they had stopped in front of the Ravenclaw common rooms. Annie was aggressively pounding on the wooden door. A bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle squawked in protest, and Sasha heard him ask Annie for an answer to his riddle to gain entrance. “Just let me talk to Armin before I rip you off this door, you fucking pigeon.”
The knocker just let out a squawk again, opening its bronze beak to ask again, when the door swung open, revealing a sleepy looking, dark-haired girl. Pieck Finger was still dressed in her pajamas, looking slightly disheveled as she rubbed her eyes. “Hello?”
“Is Arlert up?”
“Oh,” the girl turned, looking over her shoulder as she called out for Armin.
She yawned as she turned back to Annie -- Ravenclaws were known to be late sleepers, and especially Pieck, who was a sixth year student -- Sasha had seen her slumped over in her chair during many dinners. She barely knew the girl, though, only recognizing her because she was Porco’s girlfriend. “Gosh, it’s so early. What brings you here at this hour?”
Annie just shook her head sternly. “Nothing for you to break your head over. Armin!”
She waved at the blond boy as he shuffled next to Pieck into the entrance, still only dressed in pajama bottoms and a dark blue t-shirt. His blond hair was sticking out in all directions and he was holding a steamy cup of tea, giving Annie a weird look when he saw her. “Annie?” Then, glancing over her shoulder: “Mikasa?" His voice dropped to disappointment as he saw the way Mikasa was hanging onto Sasha. "I thought you weren’t going to prank anyone?”
“How do you even know--”
Armin looked a bit angry as he stepped aside, Pieck still glancing at the four of them in confusion. “Just… Get her to my room.” Glancing down at his tea, he shook his head, murmuring to himself, “I really need something stronger than this right now.”
“Come on Mika,” Sasha told the girl at her side, who fell in step with her without any protest, still cooing about how pretty she thought Sasha was. Sasha tried not to let her brain go haywire again, and accepted that by now she must look like a tomato at Mikasa’s shameless overload of compliments and affection.
Armin didn’t give them a second of rest as soon as he closed the door of his dorm behind him. “Let me guess -- you gave her the potion that I helped you and Connie make, didn’t you?”
Luckily, the Ravenclaw room was already empty -- the rest of the other students were having a study session in the common room and had only glanced up shortly at the three newcomers. A study session at 8AM, really? had shortly flashed Sasha’s mind, before Mikasa started nuzzling cheek with her nose and she had to push the girl away from her.
Armin’s shared dorm was very fitting for the boy, just as neat and in-place as Sasha had expected it to be. She couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the cleanliness of it all, though, because, sat on the floor with her back against the bedpost, Mikasa was still leaning into her, head on her shoulder and eyes closed as she hummed happily.
“I…. Maybe?”
Armin pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am never trusting anything that Connie and you tell me ever again for the entirety of the rest of my life, ever.”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Sasha pleaded with the boy as she pushed Mikasa’s hands from creeping around her waist, settling on intertwining their fingers instead to keep her prying hands occupied. “Just, help me fixthis, please?”
Armin looked back at Annie, who had settled herself on a chair, feet kicked up on the desk she was sitting at. “You really couldn’t think of anyone else to solve this?”
“Hey,” the girl defensively put her hands up. “I’m only third when it comes to scores in our year. You’re mister number one here, if anyone can sort this shit out, it’s you.”
He looked back at the two girls settled on the carpet. By now, Mikasa had fully snuggled up against Sasha, face pressed into the curve of her neck. Sasha felt weirdly comfortable -- not with Armin’s staring, but with Mikasa’s body. She didn’t hate the weight pressing against her and the heat flaring through her chest. What she did hate, however, was that none of this was real, and that when Mikasa was going to snap out of this, she would most likely never speak to Sasha ever again.
Armin may have sensed Sasha’s distress, because his expression softened a bit as Sasha felt tears prickle at the back of her throat. “I didn’t mean to mess it up,” she whimpered, lips quivering as she reached up to run a hand through Mikasa’s hair. The Slytherin girl seemed unaware of Sasha’s distress, leaning into the touch instead. “I’m sorry.”
“God, you…” Armin shook his head as he set down his teacup on the desk next to Annie’s feet, before he marched over to his book shelf, which was overflowing with books. “Here,” he told her as he made his way back to where Sasha and Mikasa were sitting. He sat down next to them, quickly opening his book and scanning the first page.
When he found what he was looking for, he browsed past the pages, eventually settling on the one he wanted to read. “This is what you guys used, isn’t it?”
Sasha sniffled, blinking her watery eyes to sharpen her sight again. When she was able to scan the page, she nodded. “Okay. So you know what the potion does, right?”
“Um,” Sasha mumbled, voice a bit uncertain. “Yeah. It makes someone think they’re in love with someone else. Right?” When Armin gave her a dead-panned look, she pursed her lips. So, not right.
“Did you guys actually read the recipe beforehand?”
“Well, Connie did. I think.” Sasha shrugged. “I just looked at the pictures.”
Annie let out a snort at that. Armin just shook his head again, murmuring under his breath before he lifted his head back up. “Okay, just-- I want you to read the last paragraph for me.”
With her free hand, Sasha wiped at her damp eyes, the other one still entwined in Mikasa’s black hair, the short strands soft under her fingers. “Okay.”
Can be taken both as a beverage, mixed with solid food, or shampoo or other lotions. Okay, this part Sasha had been told about -- they figured, since they never sat at the same table as Mikasa with breakfast, they couldn’t just slip something into her food, so Sasha was going to put it into her shampoo instead, as she knew Mikasa always arrived with wet hair into the dining hall every two days, which meant she would most likely shower again that morning. She looked up, and Armin nodded at her, encouraging her to read on.
As mentioned before, this potion causes the drinker to become infatuated with the giver of the potion, or with the person that the potion is shared with. The effect that the potion has will wear off over time. In order to maintain the potion's effect, the giver must continually administer doses, or else the recipient may 'fall out of love’ with them. A single dose typically lasts up to 4 hours, but the precise duration is dependent on the weight of the drinker.
It needs to be taken into consideration that this will only work if the subject has already existing feelings for the other one. If this is not the case, the potion will not work, and will not have any effects on the subject.
“I don’t get it.” Sasha glanced up at Armin for further explanation, confused at what she had just read. “Does this mean I need to have feelings for Mikasa to make the potion work?” Because, thinking about it, that did make sense. She couldn’t deny the way her heart jumped with the way Mikasa was still curled up in her arms, euphoria brewing under her skin as Mikasa yawned softly against her shoulder.
“After this, I’m telling the Headmaster he needs to hold you and Connie back a grade, that’s how ridiculously stupid the both of you are,” Armin retorted. “No, Sasha. It means that Mikasa has to already like you for the potion to actually work. It’s not a love potion, just a confession potion. It makes people loose-lipped, makes them spill their truest secrets.” Armin glanced at his friend, grimacing. “For Mikasa here, it was her crush on you.”
Her head was spinning a bit. “Oh,” was the only thing Sasha could properly produce. Mikasa liked her?
From the chair a few feet away, Annie was cackling again. “God, I love April Fools. This day just keeps getting better and better.”
Sasha, however, was getting a bit panicked. “What do I do?”
Armin just heaved a sigh, pushing himself off the floor and patting back to the bookshelf to place his book back on it. “Wait it out. You read it yourself, a single dose takes about 4 hours to wear off, so…” He glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 8:15AM. “Give or take 3 hours?”
Sasha felt a panic bubble at her throat, tears yet again threatening to spill. “She’s gonna hate me, Armin.”
Annie chortled from her seat. “Yeah, really looks like she wants to choke you to death right now.” Mikasa was dozing off in Sasha’s arms by now, not bothered in the slightest by the fussing around her. Her black hair was tickling at Sasha’s face, and Sasha felt her heart swell painfully as she let her fingers graze past the sleeping girl’s cheek, touching the soft, fair skin gently as to not disturb her slumber.
“She’s not gonna hate you,” Armin told her. A moment of silence as he stood looking at them. “Okay, so, she won’t be happy, but she won’t hate you. I don’t think she could.”
“You’re really not helping!” Sasha whined.
“Just, God, I don’t know, you guys got yourselves into this mess! I don’t have anything to do with this.” Turning back to the desk, Armin swiftly picked up his cup of tea. “Now, you can stay here and I’ll make sure everyone stays away, our study session lasts until 12 anyway. I have a book downstairs waiting to be read. Annie, you can leave.”
Annie was already hauling herself out of the chair, stern expression back on her face once again. “Whatever you say, blondie.”
Before Armin closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in peace, however, he turned back, a slight smile playing at his lips. “And, Sasha?” She looked up, giving him a teary-eyed, questioning look.
“Keep it PG, please.”
***
It wasn’t until 11AM when Mikasa stirred in her peaceful slumber. At that point, Sasha couldn’t feel her lower legs anymore from sitting at such a clumsy angle against the bedpost, and she had been riling herself up from all the different scenarios about how this could possibly play out. Most of these scenarios had ended fairly awful, and so, when Mikasa started waking up in her arms, she stiffened in her place, not sure how to go from here.
“Hmmm… Sash?” Mikasa scrunched her nose as she yawned, eyes squeezing shut in a horribly cute manner. “Why…” She still seemed a bit out of it as she rose up a bit. “Why are we in the Ravenclaw dorms?”
Her voice was a bit raspy from sleep, and Sasha gulped at the sound. “Oh, well-- You see--” Heaving a heavy sigh, she started over again. “Okay, so, this morning--”
Mikasa’s posture went rigid, and then she was scrambling away from Sasha, the absence of warmth of her body leaving Sasha’s skin to feel awfully empty. Mikasa’s face was contorted into a panicked expression as she pressed a hand to her mouth. “What did you do?”
Her voice broke at the last word, and Sasha’s heart hiccuped at the sound. She was right back where she was hours ago, again on the verge of tears at the panic she felt in her chest. “I’m so sorry, it wasn’t-- I wasn’t supposed to drink it, it was dumb and I messed up and I’m so sorry, Mikasa--”
“I kissed you.” The Slytherin girl sounded horrified as her face paled. She wasn’t looking at Sasha anymore, instead murmuring to herself in a frenzy, hands grabbing on to her short black hair. “I kissed you?”
“Yes, but it’s okay, it was my fault, I mean--” Taking a deep breath, Sasha tried to calm herself. “Okay, so, I didn’t not mean it, I kissed you back after all, but like, it wasn’t your fault and also it was a mistake. Did I say I’m sorry yet? I’m so--”
“Sasha, shut up, please.” Mikasa’s voice was muffled by her hands covering her face, and though Sasha couldn’t see her expression, she could hear the sadness laced through her voice. A tense silence settled between them, and Sasha fumbled with her fingers, desperate to make the girl in front of her feel at ease.
“Mikasa. Please. I’m sorry.”
A choked up sob. “You’re such an idiot.”
“I know. I’m an idiot. Will you please look at me?”
Slowly, Mikasa dropped her hands, showing her tear-streaked face to Sasha. She was averting her gaze, staring at the carpet instead. “Why would you even give me that?”
This was exactly what she’d been afraid of telling her. “It was stupid, okay? Connie and I-- We-- We thought we could do some prank that could make people confess to each other, and Connie wanted to do you and Jean--”
“Jean?” Mikasa’s voice was strangled and she finally met Sasha’s stare, an exasperated look in her eyes. “Jean?!” She repeated.
“I hated it, okay?” Sasha snapped, slamming her hand onto the carpeted floor. “I hated the idea of you confessing to Jean or you and Jean together in any way, or just you and any other person in general. I regretted putting that potion into your shampoo the moment I did it, because I knew, deep down, that I wanted you to confess to me, not to that horse-faced idiot friend of mine, not to anyone else but me.”
Sasha was panting by the time she finished her sentence. Mikasa just stared back at her blankly, eyes wide and mouth a bit agape. A moment of silence fell between the two before Mikasa managed to whisper, “what?”
Swallowing down her remaining bit of pride, Sasha straightened her back as she looked Mikasa right back in the eye. “I said what I said.” Her voice wavered, though, exposing her nerves.
“You were… Jealous.”
“Yes.”
“Of me and Jean.”
“Yes.”
“Even though… There is no me and Jean.”
“...Yes.”
Rubbing at her face with the sleeve of her sweater, Mikasa let out a huff. “You’re so…”
Sasha just dropped her head. “I know I was dumb, this prank was dumb. I shouldn’t mess with people’s feelings and if I could turn back time, I promise you, I would.” She peeked at her through her eyelashes, suddenly shy at the way she’d put out all her cards on the table just now. “And I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. In any way. I never meant to. I would never intentionally put you in such a position like the one you were just in.”
When Mikasa didn’t say anything, she coyly went on: “and. If it helps. I didn’t hate kissing you. I really, really didn’t mind it. At all.”
Somewhat expecting Mikasa to get angry at her, or, worse, start crying again, Sasha let her shoulders slump, unwilling to meet her eyes. When she stayed quiet, though, Sasha peered up at her, and found the girl smiling through her tears. “You are an idiot,” she repeated again, but then, she was shuffling towards her.
Her hand reached out, trembling a bit as she let it hang in the air between them hesitantly, and Sasha felt herself reach back out to grab it, pushing her to cup her cheek. Mikasa’s fingers were warm and soft against her cheek, and this time, there was no potion clouding Mikasa’s eyes as she gazed fondly back at Sasha.
“Okay?” She whispered, as if to ask Sasha if she was alright, and Sasha could only nod. Mikasa’s touch brushed her skin, the touch so sweet and gentle that it made her want to cry all over again, and then, just like that morning, Mikasa was leaning forward, her forehead leaning against Sasha’s shortly as she closed her eyes.
She was so close now that their breaths mingled, and Sasha reveled in the feeling of being so close to another person -- to Mikasa, of all people. Just as she thought she couldn’t wait any longer, Mikasa kissed her softly, lips velvety smooth and warm against hers, and now it wasn’t just the potion doing this -- it was actually her, deciding to do this, to kiss Sasha back, and Sasha could only grasp at Mikasa’s shoulders to steady herself, to make sure she wouldn’t float away from the sudden wave of feelings crashing over her.
The kiss was short, a stark contrast from the hungry eager kiss from before, but Sasha’s smile was brighter than ever when Mikasa pulled back, nervously searching her face for any trace of regret.
“More than okay.”
***
“And then she kissed me again!” Sasha flopped back onto the couch, feet dangling over the edge as she grinned at the common room ceiling. “Can you believe that? Mikasa Ackerman is my girlfriend?”
When she turned her head to look at her friends, Connie was gaping up at her, face still stuck in the same surprised expression as it had taken on about half an hour earlier, when Sasha had burst back into the dorms to haul him into the common room. She had tugged Marco and Jean along as well, the latter protesting as he had just wanted to go take a nap. “This is way more important!” She had promised him.
Now, Jean was just giving her an annoyed look as he lay in his usual position, draped over Marco’s lap. “Okay? I thought you two were together already.”
“What?” Sasha frowned at him. “Why did you think that?”
“You two were constantly running away to practice out on the fields for hours. I thought you two were just doing some weird friends-with-benefits thing,” Jean shrugged, before poking Marco’s cheek. “This guy here thought the two of you were actually dating.”
Sasha sat back up and gave the freckled boy an accusing look. “Marco?”
“What?” Two innocent brown eyes blinked back at her. “You two were just very sweet together, it was pretty obvious you liked each other. I thought you knew. Sorry, Sash.”
Letting herself fall back down onto the couch again, she grunted at the ceiling, annoyed that apparently, everyone had known about their mutual pining before she had even known she was falling for Mikasa herself. “Wait,” Jean’s voice interrupted her moping. “Who, besides Mikasa, were you gonna give the rest of that potion to in the first place?”
Simultaneously, both Connie and Sasha scrambled up in their seats, exchanging panicked looks. Connie was the first to grimace, telling Jean, “nobody.”
“U-huh,” Sasha nodded. “Nobody. Nada. No one. Like the Mitski song -- nobody, nobody--”
Jean’s sharp glare shut her up. “Who, Sasha?”
“Okay, so, don’t be mad--”
“It was just a joke--”
“--you know, haha, no harm in pranking someone--”
“--it is April Fool’s after all, so--”
“You morons, just spit it out already!”
“It was you.” The words tumbled over Sasha’s lips before she could stop herself. Sitting next to her, Connie froze as well, pressing his lips together tightly as he paled. Both Jean and Marco were gaping at them for a short second -- then, instead of angry cursing and yelling -- Jean burst out laughing, Marco following shortly after.
“Why are they laughing?” Connie whispered at her, a tremor in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Sasha whispered right back, clutching one of the pillows from the couch in her arms as a shield in case Jean would start chucking things at her head as revenge. “Have they gone insane?”
Marco was the first to calm down, Jean still wheezing on his lap as he explained in between laughs -- “Didn’t you guys know about us?”
Now it was Connie and Sasha’s turn to be stunned into silence.
“Us? Who is us?” Connie echoed stupidly.
Jean pointed at himself and then at Marco. “We’ve literally been together since Valentines Day.”
Sasha scoffed. “No, you haven’t.”
“We’ve literally kissed in front of you two?” Jean gave her a pointed look.
“Uh, yeah, on the cheek?” Connie threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “That’s normal. You guys do that all the time.” Sasha nodded in agreement at Connie’s words.
Silence spread through the Gryffindor common room as Marco and Jean stared at them, Marco silencing his chuckles in his hand as Jean shook his head. “Good God, Mar, we’re surrounded by idiots.”
Turning to lie back down on the couch again, Sasha swung her legs over the edge again and let them dangle happily. “Whatever, at least I’m an idiot with a girlfriend.”
A three-voiced groan was the response from her friends.
***
“You know, you can still sit at your own house during these games.” Mikasa tugged the green-black-striped scarf around Sasha’s neck a bit tighter, fingers brushing over bare skin as she checked her girlfriend to make sure she wasn’t going to get cold. “People might think you’re starting to conspire with the enemy, now.”
Sasha just tsk-ed. “Like that’s going to stop me. And the rest of us are sitting together anyway, so it’s not like just me going back to sit with Gryffindor changes anything. Now, c’mere and let me give you a kiss for good luck.”
Stepping a bit closer, she hooked her fingers on the belt of Mikasa’s quidditch uniform, pulling her towards her to kiss her gently. Sasha hummed against the girl’s lips as she felt a hand slip into her zipped-open jacket, brushing the bare skin of her waist that was uncovered just between her sweater and jeans.
She savored in the feeling of Mikasa’s fingers sliding over the strip of bare skin, her whole body tingling as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, forgetting about the fact that they were still actually in public and this was kind of inappropriate -- but Mikasa’s lips were soft and tasted of that one chapstick she always used and--
“Ackerman, on the field!”
The Slytherin quidditch captain, Yelena, sounded stern in her command, and Mikasa hummed against Sasha’s lips apologetically before pulling back, fingers lingering inside her jacket before letting go of her waist as well. “Gotta go,” she mumbled, brushing her nose against Sasha’s, who smiled at the feeling.
“Go win for me,” she told her, pecking her quickly on the lips one last time before she pushed Mikasa away and towards the entrance to the quidditch field. Annie, broom in one hand, was waiting for her, giving the both of them impatient looks. She, like many of their friends, had quickly gotten tired of their PDA, but Sasha couldn’t give less fucks if she tried. If she wanted to kiss her girlfriend, she would do exactly that.
She waited for a moment, watching Mikasa step onto her broom and glance back one last time, smiling sweetly before pushing off into the air. Then, she turned to the stairs to quickly make her way to the tribune and join her friends.
“I got you popcorn,” Connie shoved the paper bag into her hands as she sat down, and she beamed at her friend as she looked down at the salty snack.
“You’re the best, Con.”
“Duh.”
“Gimme some.” Eren, who was sitting between Armin and Connie, leaned over Connie’s lap, making desperate grabby hands for Sasha’s popcorn, who let out a “hey!” in protest.
Armin, who wasn’t having any of Eren’s childish behavior, swiftly grabbed the boy by the collar, tugging him back. “Keep your hands to yourself, Eren.”
“But I want popcorn!” the boy whined.
“Then you wait until break, and we can get popcorn,” Armin told him in a stern voice.
Sasha just continued happily chewing on her fresh popcorn, her eyes searching for the girl she was looking for. A flash of green, followed by a flash of yellow, quickly caught her attention. Mikasa had already found the Snitch, mere seconds into the game, and was being high-tailed by one of the Hufflepuffs as she chased the small gold ball around the arena.
Meanwhile, Annie had started her ever famous Chaser tactics, zooming through the arena, Hufflepuff’s Beater Reiner hot on her tail as he tried to get her off her broom. Sasha just smiled to herself, because she knew that he wasn’t going to succeed -- Annie was agile enough to dodge his attempts. Sasha had been faced by the Chaser on the field herself, and she was well aware of how frustratingly quick the Slytherin girl could be.
However, that wasn’t the Slytherin girl she wanted to focus on right now. Her eyes quickly found her target again, still spinning through the sky as she moved at almost inhuman speed. Two seats away, Eren whooped when Mikasa almost caught the small thing, jostling Armin around in his seat in his enthusiasm.
Next to Sasha, Jean shook his head at the Hufflepuff’s antics. “Isn’t that moron supposed to be cheering for his own team?”
“Hey, horseface, I can hear you loud and clear. Keep my name out of your mouth!”
“I didn’t even say your name, you idiot?”
Sasha didn’t miss the way Armin and Marco exchanged a tired look from behind the two boys.
Slytherin won when Mikasa caught the Snitch -- by the lack of sound coming from the Hufflepuff crowd, this wasn’t all that unexpected. Sasha caught her girlfriend at the top of the stairs, jumping against her and throwing her arms around her neck as she squealed. “You did so well!”
“Hmm, well, can’t lose when I know you’re watching me, can I now?” Mikasa mumbled the words with her lips pressed to Sasha’s cheek, pressing another quick kiss to the corner of her mouth before Eren jumped into their embrace, hollering on about Mikasa’s amazing performance on the field. Mikasa sent Sasha an apologetic look, but Sasha could only laugh as she watched Eren’s enthusiasm, Mikasa smiling back brightly at her brown-haired friend.
Eren pulled Mikasa and Armin along down the stairs when their blond friend got to them as well. Sasha watched the girl in front of her with a fond look before she felt herself being tugged along by Connie, who had slung his arm around her shoulder. “Look at you, you fucking simp. I can basically see the hearts forming in your eyes.”
“Shut up, bowling ball.”
“Call me that again and I’ll light your snack stash on fire.”
Sasha gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. “You heartless demon, have you got no compassion?”
“Can I once again remind you who got the two of you together in the first place? I’m basically Cupid incarnate.”
“Hmm. Yeah, your prank was a real clever one.”
Sasha’s retort was obviously thick with sarcasm, and she yelped as Connie pinched her cheek. “Our prank! And be grateful, you little leprechaun.”
“I told you, my hair isn’t red!”
“Sorry?” Connie cupped his ear, leaning a bit closer. “I can’t hear you over the sound of my success as a matchmaker.”
Punching him in the arm, Sasha cackled as Connie clutched his skin, giving her a playful shove back in return, before she turned her eyes back to the trio walking in front of them. There, Mikasa was glancing over her shoulder, her face still as perfectly pretty as always, not even the slightest bit disheveled from the game she’d just played. As the girl wiped a few strands of black hair from her face, she sent Sasha a bright, luminous smile before her attention was grasped back by something Armin was saying to her. And, yeah, okay -- their prank hadn’t turned out the way it should’ve, and there were about a thousand better ways of confessing your feelings to someone.
Yet here she was, the girl she loved only a few feet away. And she was hers, and hers alone. So, Sasha just shoved away the doutbful thoughts, because, that dumb prank had landed her here, and she had gotten her happily ever after for now. Oh well -- she’d thank Connie, one day, someday.
Maybe. When he wasn’t being so smug about it, at least.