Fic: Of Badgers and Serpents
Title: Of Badgers and Serpents
Author: mallardeer
Pairing: Brittany/Santana
Summary: Santana and Brittany read Harry Potter together.
Author’s Notes: This is a sequel, of sorts, to Buenas Noches, Wild Things. A rather intense discussion on which glee dweebs belong to which Hogwarts house kind of erupted on my blog the other night, and I got a request to do this. So I did it. Short, sweet, and adorable. I hope.
“San, how come your Harry Potter is different from mine?” Brittany asked, picking the book up off Santana’s floor.
Santana hung over the side of the bed, looking at her best friend upside down. “It’s in Spanish, silly, can’t you see?” she said, grinning.
“Oh,” Brittany said, realizing there were different words on the cover. “Don’t you have it in English?”
“Sure, the English ones always come out first. I just like reading them in Spanish,” she said.
The girls were eleven, and Santana still preferred Spanish to English. She’d learned not to speak it at school, though. Unless she was angry.
“You’re gonna get dizzy,” Brittany warned, but Santana stuck her tongue out at her. “I always do,” the blonde added thoughtfully, and Santana sat up.
“C’mere,” she said, pulling Brittany onto the bed. “Siempre me entiendes. I’ll read it to you.”
“Okay!” Brittany said happily, and she and Santana settled down against the pillows, Brittany’s head on Santana’s shoulder.
Santana started to read, and at first, the words were funny, and Brittany couldn’t make any sense of them. But then she remembered that she could always understand Santana, so she stopped listening to the words and started listening to Santana, and soon she was in the cupboard under the stairs with Harry. If she got distracted, she lost the story, and she had to wade through the words to find Santana again, but it only happened once or twice, and she always made it through the words.
After the first two chapters, Santana got tired of reading, and she closed the book. “I need a break,” she said softly, not wanting to disappoint Brittany.
“That’s okay,” Brittany said agreeably. “San. Which house would you be in?” she asked with a yawn.
“Slytherin,” Santana answered promptly, and Brittany shrank away from her, horrified.
“That’s where all the bad guys are,” she fretted, and Santana laughed.
“But not all Slytherins are bad, Britt,” she insisted. “That’s where the smart, powerful people go.”
Brittany scowled. “What house would I be in?” she asked instead of arguing, and Santana almost said,
“Slytherin, with me, silly,” because she couldn’t imagine them being separated, but she realized Brittany wouldn’t like that answer at all.
“Hufflepuff,” Santana said slowly, and sighed in relief when Brittany’s eyes lit up. “Cuz you’re really nice, and you work really hard, and you’re the best friend anyone could ask for,” she said, growing shy. She hadn’t planned on saying all that.
Brittany looked at her wonderingly, making her uncomfortable, so she got up. “Do you mean all that, Santana?” Brittany asked quietly, freezing her in her tracks.
“Yes,” Santana said quietly. Of course she did-how could Brittany not know that?
“I can take a turn reading if you want a break,” Brittany offered, her voice small, and Santana finally turned toward her.
“Okay,” she agreed quietly, and she pulled the English copy of the book off her bookshelf. She handed it to Brittany and cuddled up to her again, her head on the blonde’s shoulder this time.
Brittany still read slowly, but Santana never tired of the sound of her voice, so she just listened patiently and helped with the words Brittany didn’t recognize. Eventually, though, the familiar voice started to lull Santana to sleep. She settled her head more comfortably on Brittany’s shoulder, and Brittany leaned her cheek on her head.
She finished the chapter and then asked if Santana wanted to go to bed. “Okay,” Santana yawned, so they got changed and brushed their teeth. After saying goodnight to Santana’s parents, they crawled into bed together, and Santana snuggled up to Brittany’s back, draping an arm across her waist.
“Night, San,” Brittany murmured sleepily.
“Night, Britt,” Santana returned.
Both girls quickly dropped off to sleep, but Santana woke suddenly to a small shriek from Brittany. “What’s the matter?” she asked groggily, sitting up.
“I heard something,” Brittany whispered, shrinking against her.
“What?” Santana asked, unconsciously beginning to stroke her friend’s hair.
Brittany shivered and hid her face in Santana’s neck. “Something at the window,” she said shakily.
It was dark, and Santana’s curtains were drawn, and it was the perfect time of night to let her imagination run away with her. But Brittany was scared, so she got up and went to the window, slowly pulling the curtains back. Light from the streetlamps below her window shone in, and she saw there was nothing outside. “It’s all right, Britt,” she said, releasing the breath she hadn’t known she was holding in. “There’s nothin’ out there.”
“Really?” Brittany asked, kneeling on the end of the bed and peering at the window.
“Promise,” Santana said firmly, closing the curtains again. “Maybe you just had a bad dream.”
“Maybe,” Brittany agreed, and they settled back in bed together, Santana at Brittany’s back, her arm more securely around the blonde’s waist this time.
Santana ran her fingers up and down Brittany’s arm, hoping to soothe her, because she could still feel her friend shaking, and in a minute, they were both nearly asleep. “Santana?” Brittany murmured.
“Hmm?” Santana returned, hardly aware she was talking.
“I think you should be in Gryffindor,” Brittany said softly, and Santana frowned. She knew Brittany probably meant it as a compliment, but Gryffindor was full of annoying losers like Hermione Granger, who reminded Santana of that weirdo Rachel Berry.
“Why?” she demanded, opening her eyes, but Brittany didn’t hear the harsh tone in her voice.
“Because,” she said sweetly, her voice already thick with sleep, “you’re the bravest person I know.”
Santana felt the back of her neck grow warm, and something in her chest fluttered, but she just clasped Brittany tighter and hid her face in soft blonde hair. “Thanks, Britt,” she whispered, but the other girl was asleep.
A moment later, so was Santana.
Author: mallardeer
Pairing: Brittany/Santana
Summary: Santana and Brittany read Harry Potter together.
Author’s Notes: This is a sequel, of sorts, to Buenas Noches, Wild Things. A rather intense discussion on which glee dweebs belong to which Hogwarts house kind of erupted on my blog the other night, and I got a request to do this. So I did it. Short, sweet, and adorable. I hope.
“San, how come your Harry Potter is different from mine?” Brittany asked, picking the book up off Santana’s floor.
Santana hung over the side of the bed, looking at her best friend upside down. “It’s in Spanish, silly, can’t you see?” she said, grinning.
“Oh,” Brittany said, realizing there were different words on the cover. “Don’t you have it in English?”
“Sure, the English ones always come out first. I just like reading them in Spanish,” she said.
The girls were eleven, and Santana still preferred Spanish to English. She’d learned not to speak it at school, though. Unless she was angry.
“You’re gonna get dizzy,” Brittany warned, but Santana stuck her tongue out at her. “I always do,” the blonde added thoughtfully, and Santana sat up.
“C’mere,” she said, pulling Brittany onto the bed. “Siempre me entiendes. I’ll read it to you.”
“Okay!” Brittany said happily, and she and Santana settled down against the pillows, Brittany’s head on Santana’s shoulder.
Santana started to read, and at first, the words were funny, and Brittany couldn’t make any sense of them. But then she remembered that she could always understand Santana, so she stopped listening to the words and started listening to Santana, and soon she was in the cupboard under the stairs with Harry. If she got distracted, she lost the story, and she had to wade through the words to find Santana again, but it only happened once or twice, and she always made it through the words.
After the first two chapters, Santana got tired of reading, and she closed the book. “I need a break,” she said softly, not wanting to disappoint Brittany.
“That’s okay,” Brittany said agreeably. “San. Which house would you be in?” she asked with a yawn.
“Slytherin,” Santana answered promptly, and Brittany shrank away from her, horrified.
“That’s where all the bad guys are,” she fretted, and Santana laughed.
“But not all Slytherins are bad, Britt,” she insisted. “That’s where the smart, powerful people go.”
Brittany scowled. “What house would I be in?” she asked instead of arguing, and Santana almost said,
“Slytherin, with me, silly,” because she couldn’t imagine them being separated, but she realized Brittany wouldn’t like that answer at all.
“Hufflepuff,” Santana said slowly, and sighed in relief when Brittany’s eyes lit up. “Cuz you’re really nice, and you work really hard, and you’re the best friend anyone could ask for,” she said, growing shy. She hadn’t planned on saying all that.
Brittany looked at her wonderingly, making her uncomfortable, so she got up. “Do you mean all that, Santana?” Brittany asked quietly, freezing her in her tracks.
“Yes,” Santana said quietly. Of course she did-how could Brittany not know that?
“I can take a turn reading if you want a break,” Brittany offered, her voice small, and Santana finally turned toward her.
“Okay,” she agreed quietly, and she pulled the English copy of the book off her bookshelf. She handed it to Brittany and cuddled up to her again, her head on the blonde’s shoulder this time.
Brittany still read slowly, but Santana never tired of the sound of her voice, so she just listened patiently and helped with the words Brittany didn’t recognize. Eventually, though, the familiar voice started to lull Santana to sleep. She settled her head more comfortably on Brittany’s shoulder, and Brittany leaned her cheek on her head.
She finished the chapter and then asked if Santana wanted to go to bed. “Okay,” Santana yawned, so they got changed and brushed their teeth. After saying goodnight to Santana’s parents, they crawled into bed together, and Santana snuggled up to Brittany’s back, draping an arm across her waist.
“Night, San,” Brittany murmured sleepily.
“Night, Britt,” Santana returned.
Both girls quickly dropped off to sleep, but Santana woke suddenly to a small shriek from Brittany. “What’s the matter?” she asked groggily, sitting up.
“I heard something,” Brittany whispered, shrinking against her.
“What?” Santana asked, unconsciously beginning to stroke her friend’s hair.
Brittany shivered and hid her face in Santana’s neck. “Something at the window,” she said shakily.
It was dark, and Santana’s curtains were drawn, and it was the perfect time of night to let her imagination run away with her. But Brittany was scared, so she got up and went to the window, slowly pulling the curtains back. Light from the streetlamps below her window shone in, and she saw there was nothing outside. “It’s all right, Britt,” she said, releasing the breath she hadn’t known she was holding in. “There’s nothin’ out there.”
“Really?” Brittany asked, kneeling on the end of the bed and peering at the window.
“Promise,” Santana said firmly, closing the curtains again. “Maybe you just had a bad dream.”
“Maybe,” Brittany agreed, and they settled back in bed together, Santana at Brittany’s back, her arm more securely around the blonde’s waist this time.
Santana ran her fingers up and down Brittany’s arm, hoping to soothe her, because she could still feel her friend shaking, and in a minute, they were both nearly asleep. “Santana?” Brittany murmured.
“Hmm?” Santana returned, hardly aware she was talking.
“I think you should be in Gryffindor,” Brittany said softly, and Santana frowned. She knew Brittany probably meant it as a compliment, but Gryffindor was full of annoying losers like Hermione Granger, who reminded Santana of that weirdo Rachel Berry.
“Why?” she demanded, opening her eyes, but Brittany didn’t hear the harsh tone in her voice.
“Because,” she said sweetly, her voice already thick with sleep, “you’re the bravest person I know.”
Santana felt the back of her neck grow warm, and something in her chest fluttered, but she just clasped Brittany tighter and hid her face in soft blonde hair. “Thanks, Britt,” she whispered, but the other girl was asleep.
A moment later, so was Santana.