Work Text:
Gabriel was Castiel’s best friend. He had been since first year, and even in their seventh, he was still the person that he spent most of his time with. The years had changed them, but they still managed to make it work. And even though they seemed to share very little in common, they were nearly inseparable.
Being as close as they were for as long as they had, Castiel knew something was wrong as soon as he dropped onto the bench across from Gabriel for breakfast.
Usually, it took only a moment for Gabriel to start talking. He would talk about his night. He’d tell Castiel all about his conquests— usually in much more detail than he was comfortable hearing about. Then he would move on to talk about the most recent rumors he’d heard, and how true he believed them to be. Castiel was used to it, and he would pretend to listen while he got through his breakfast. That was their well established morning routine. A routine that was suspiciously lacking on this particular morning.
“Long night?” Gabriel asked in a tone Castiel had never heard before in lieu of immediately talking his ear off.
It was easy enough to ignore in his sleep deprived state.
Castiel just nodded at him, gripping his cup with both hands to warm them. It had been a long night. In fact, he’d never even made it back to the Slytherin dorms.
“I didn’t see you in the common room this morning.” Gabriel’s tone was sly, and Castiel knew where this conversation was heading. Ever since Gabriel had gotten him to admit that he was seeing someone after hours but denied him the knowledge of who that person was, he’d been trying to get the answer out of him. It had somehow become another part of their morning routine, although it was usually reserved for after Gabriel talked about his own conquests.
“No, you wouldn’t have.” Castiel replied evenly, setting down his cup to dish himself out some breakfast. He knew there was no way he’d get away without being harassed further by his friend, and he saw no reason why he should have to take that on an empty stomach.
Surprisingly, Gabriel remained silent. The suspicion on his face was still clear, and his attention was still wholly on Castiel. He didn’t try to further the conversation though, which was not at all what Castiel had been expecting.
Castiel did his best to ignore him, and focused on the breakfast laid out before them.
There was a tension developing at the table, but it was thankfully broken by the sound of the Great Hall doors opening. It drew the attention of quite a few of the students closest to the door. Including the ever curious Gabriel.
“He looks even more obvious than usual.” He whispered, conspiratorially. Apparently, his irritation at Castiel’s unwillingness to share was not enough to stop him from his fascination with the lives of the other students.
There was only one person in the school that dared show up so late to breakfast. One person that Castiel found he’d been unable to ignore. He turned to look before he could stop himself.
The sight of Dean Winchester making his way into the hall was not a surprise, but Gabriel was right, he did look obvious. His hair was a mess, instead of it’s usual style. His robes were in complete disarray, as if they had been thrown on only seconds ago. He hadn’t even put his house tie on. Basically, he looked as if he’d just stumbled out of a broom closet he’d shared with a very enthusiastic lover.
He was still the hottest thing Castiel had ever seen. The bastard.
It didn’t help that Dean swaggered into the hall with a pleased grin, nor did it help that the grin seemed to be pointed at Castiel.
He quickly turned his attention back to his breakfast.
It wasn’t really that he was ashamed to be the one that rumpled Dean’s robes. In fact, he was rather proud that he’d somehow managed to get the other boys attention. The problem was that Dean seemed to have no interest in letting anyone else know what was happening, and Castiel knew that his own face would betray him if he spent too much time looking.
It wasn’t his fault that Dean was beautiful, and the last thing he needed was for Gabriel to see him staring at Dean with hearts in his eyes. Gabriel might not have the highest marks in class, but it wouldn’t take him long to figure Castiel out.
That might actually be the worst case scenario for Castiel. He’d already beaten himself up enough about falling for Dean. He didn’t need Gabriel telling him what a terrible idea it was. Although, it was just as likely that Gabriel would congratulate him. Gabriel was often times overprotective and Dean did have a bit of a reputation. On the other hand, Dean was also gorgeous and Gabriel was always telling him that he needed to get laid. It could go either way.
Castiel didn’t even know what his defense would be if Gabriel did find out about Dean. Of course, Dean was smart and loyal and hardworking; all of the attributes that had placed him in Hufflepuff in the first place. His sense of humor was appreciated by everyone, and he had charisma through the roof. The problem lay more in the rumors that had started in fifth year. The rumors that said Dean was never short on witches and wizards to warm his bed at night.
Castiel hated that he could be counted in those numbers, but he found he really couldn’t help himself. Dean was everything he looked for in a partner, and even if he ended up just being another notch in a bedpost, Castiel had realized some time ago that he was willing to take what he could get as far as Dean was concerned.
What had once started as a fairly intense rivalry for top marks in Transfiguration had somehow turned into a fairly intense make out session in the library. And it wasn’t long until he’d found himself in another make out session with Dean. And another. And another, until hardly a day passed where he hadn’t been pulled into a closet or pressed into a bookshelf with Dean’s tongue in his mouth.
The sex was fantastic, when they’d finally gotten around to it. Castiel had believed at the time that the act would help him get over his thing for Dean, but it had only made things worse. So, the sex continued while he convinced himself that he probably just needed to get the Hufflepuff out of his system.
Four months later, he started to admit to himself that it wasn’t actually going to happen
Two months after that, he had to admit to himself that he was falling for Dean.
It had taken so long for him to even figure out what his feelings truly were that he hadn’t known what to do with them. By the time he realized he wanted everyone to know that Dean was his— if only so they’d stop flirting with the man in front of him— they’d been keeping it a secret for so long it seemed impossible to change it. Not once in their time together had Dean mentioned telling anyone what they had going on. And Castiel found he’d rather keep it secret than risk losing what they had together.
So, no, he wasn’t ashamed to be the one to rumple Dean’s robes, but he was upset that he’d have to spend the next few days listening to everyone speculating on who Dean was sleeping with now. And he was painfully aware that his name would never come up.
Gabriel’s quick intake of breath brought his attention back to the present, and he followed his friend’s eyeline back to Dean.
Dean was still staring directly at him. The same Dean that was heading in his direction, a pleased smirk still gracing his face.
What the hell was he doing?
Castiel quickly looked away, staring at his plate as if it held all the secrets of the universe. Dean wasn't really approaching his table, he tried to convince himself. Dean was safely at the Hufflepuff table where he belonged.
His attention was caught again as his vision was filled with green and silver silk, dangling in front of him.
It was so unexpected that he allowed his eyes off of his plate. They followed the Slytherin tie in front of him, up to the hand it was hanging from. His gaze trailed from the arm holding the accessory, to the shoulder, and neck. And before he knew it he was staring into the spring green eyes of Dean Winchester.
He froze. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. As far as the rest of the school knew, they barely even knew each other. But here he was smiling at Castiel, right up in his personal space. And how, exactly, had Dean ended up with a Slytherin tie?
Dean’s smile was making his heart flip, as usual. God, he was beautiful. And Castiel was well aware that he was just staring like an idiot.
Dean’s smile grew, and he dropped the tie to the table. Then, he placed both his hands on Castiel’s chest, nearly making him jump. He had no idea what was happening and wouldn’t have been able to stop the other’s actions if he had wanted to. He felt as if he was in a dream as Dean’s hands slid down to loosen the tie already around his neck. It was a familiar movement, but felt foreign with so many eyes watching them.
“You should pay more attention.” Dean’s voice was honey sweet, but his smirk was devilish. He made quick work of the length of silk around Castiel’s neck. When he’d loosened it enough, he pulled it over Castiel’s head.
It was that flash of black and gold through his vision that caused him to flush completely.
How had he not noticed that? He’d been in such a hurry to get to breakfast on time, he’d apparently grabbed the wrong tie. He’d been inadvertently advertising his Hufflepuff lover the entire morning. How had Gabriel managed kept his questions for so long?
He spared a glance to his best friend, who’s eyes were the size of saucers. Apparently, even the damning evidence that pointed to him being with a Hufflepuff wasn’t as surprising as the fact that said Hufflepuff was Dean Winchester.
Castiel turned back to Dean, and he didn’t really like what he saw. Dean’s confident smirk was fading, turning sour and almost regretful. Castiel’s brain finally caught up to the situation.
Dean was outing them, in that casual effortless way he did everything. The entire school was in this room, and with Dean coming in late— and going to the wrong table— all of their attention was directed toward him. Everyone in the school now knew that Dean Winchester was with Castiel .
He could get used to that.
But Dean looked like he was regretting that decision already, and it took a moment for Castiel to realize why.
He was just staring at Dean, neither confirming nor denying the implications of the tie mixup. He didn’t want Dean to be upset, especially while Castiel was getting exactly what he’d wanted. Everyone knew that Dean Winchester was his, all he had to do was show that he was Dean’s.
He didn’t really know how Dean had expected him to react, but he threw caution into the wind and leaned forward, cupping Dean’s cheeks between his hands.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered as he pressed his mouth to the other man’s in an innocent brush of lips. “I’ll try to be more observant in the future.”
The smile that spread across Dean’s face was as bright as the sun, and he couldn’t help but lean forward toward that warmth, again. This time Dean met him in the middle, wrapping his arms around Castiel’s neck and pulling him closer. The kiss that followed was still innocent enough to hopefully keep the professors off their backs, but left no doubt as to the nature of their relationship.
If Castiel had been able to hear over the sound of his own heartbeat, he would have recognized the sounds of the Great Hall falling into chaos as the rest of their classmates finally realized what was happening.