Seducing the Slytherin - RK1000

Childish Twirls

Markus did a twirl, and laughed when Connor eyed him with a raised brow, as if mocking his childishness. They were alone on the quidditch field. The snow glittered in the December sun, and the day was nothing less than entirely deprived of wind.

After their little meeting in the Three Broomsticks Inn the other day, Connor had surprised Markus by deciding on a time when they could practice their flying. As reluctant as he had been to receive help from Markus, it was a wonder he would be the one to initiate their little lesson today.

"Come on", Markus called, looking down at Connor's floating form from above. "Now you do a spin."

"I fail to see how that would help me on the field."

Since meeting up by the field and jumping onto their brooms, Connor had barely warmed up a third of the amount Markus had, with the excuse that he thought it was unnecessary. Seeing Connor sit so stiffly on the broom and holding the shaft so tightly his elbows trembled, Markus realised the biggest culprit might be the boy's own unease.

"It will help you by being more comfortable", Markus reasoned. "If you don't trust your broom, your flying skills don't matter shit."

Connor glared at him for the use of bad language, but that only made him grin wider. But when the boy still didn't make any indication of moving soon, Markus flew closer to him.

"You hold her as if you want to break her neck." He nodded at Connor's painstakingly hard grip around the broom's shaft, and gestured for him to imitate his own loose grip instead. He raised his gaze to meet a pair of brown questioning eyes.

"Why did you give my broomstick female pronouns?"

"Oh." Markus felt heat creep up his neck. "I think it's a muggle thing; seeing objects, especially vehicles, as ladies." He took off his glove to scratch his cold cheek distractedly. He wasn't actually sure whether Connor was a muggleborn or a half-blood, and Merlin's beard, there was even the possibility he was a pureblood, wasn't there?

"But they are objects, not people. It's rather irrational." Connor looked confused, and Markus couldn't help but ask.

"Are you a pureblood, Connor?"

Connor's confused expression was replaced by a difficult one, before he quickly looked away to hide his reaction. Could he have been hurt by Markus' question? Not half a second later, he turned again with his usual stoic expression marking his features.

"I am."

"Oh." Markus was impressed. The amount of purebloods had rapidly decreased since the turn of the millenium, since most wizards cared less for upholding their bloodline than pursuing true love. Now, soon forty years after the new millennium, the pureblood families within Great Britain must be more than sparse. Markus couldn't even name one other person except Connor he personally knew to be a pureblood.

"How is that important to teach me quidditch?"

"It's not." Markus eyed Connor's stoic demeanour suspiciously. Why did he always feel the need to mask his expressions like that? "I just want to get to know you, and I can tell you about myself. I'm a half-blood. My father was a romantic, and fell in love with an actual muggle." He laughed slightly, remembering Carl's stories of his lover who passed away too soon. "And I think that's good, since she introduced him to a lot of muggle stuff, too. I mean, I can't imagine how it must be not to have a laptop, for example." He smiled, hoping to get the other boy to warm up to him as well, but only got a confused nod in response.

"A boy in my dorm has a laptop", Connor said. "But the games he's playing on it is always disrupting his studies, so I fail to see how it would positively affect you."

"No, but that's exactly why it's such a good device", Markus argued. "It takes my mind off studies so I forget to stress about them. It's also good when you want to... you know... unwind."

Connor tilted his head slightly and shook his head no. Markus felt his blush reach his ears as he started to stumble over his words. Merlin, why did he always say the most embarrassing things?

"Hah, you know. When you... flog the nog? Wax the carrot? Bop the bishop?" Markus was, not for the first time, ready to fall from the sky and straight through the ground way below him. He was such an awkward goofus.

"Markus, what does masturbation have to do with a laptop?" Connor didn't seem phased at all by what Markus had been saying, and looked up at him innocently behind long lashes. Markus reminded himself to get back at the boy for making him say three metaphors when he'd understood all of them too bloody clearly.

"Nevermid", Markus grumbled, face still hotter than a pot of stew. "Let me just show you how to hold the broom, yeah?" He changed the subject, and Connor allowed him by letting him show how to hold his broom correctly, as well as how to sit properly to make the most of his upper body's strength to gain the most speed.

"Of course, as a seeker, you'll need to fly with only one hand for the most part." After going over the basics, they had flown around a bit, and the change in Connor's posture was great. No more trembling elbows or suffocation of the broom; now Connor flew with a lightness as if something that had been weighing him down before had been thrown away.

Markus eyed him from the side, and wondered briefly if the boy had only needed a small push from someone because his own confidence hadn't been enough.

"I think I will manage that", Connor said as he brought one hand to rest in his lap, and a small proud smile softened his features.

"Woohoo!" Markus exclaimed, and did a triumphant spin before grinning at the boy. "Look who's already the boss! You won't be needing me for long with those skills."

"Shut up", Connor mumbled, almost inaudible over the wind from their speed. He looked flustered, and seemed to try his hardest to hide a large smile. His eyes were wet from the cold rush of air, and they reflected the sunlight in a way that reminded Markus of brown diamonds.

Markus felt his heart beat quicker, but brushed it off as adrenaline from finally being out flying again. Yet, he found it hard to take his gaze off Connor, especially since it seemed he was finally starting to grow comfortable around him.

He was glad.

"Okay, Connor." He grinned and took off a little way ahead of the boy, before beginning to do spins and twirls without giving it a rest. "Now, will you join me?"

Connor did. And as they spun around, cold air rushing on their ears and heads spinning way beyond the point of being dizzy, the two of them laughed.

Together.