#TAILS’ HALF MADE ME SO MAD HE SEEMED LESS COLOURFUL AND BECAUSE OF THE OUTFIT I THOUGJT ABOUT MAKING IT LOOK LIKE SOMETHING DOECHII WOULD

[emerald--antssss]

something I did with @somemismatchedsocks! They did the lineart and I coloured it

[magpiefngrl]

Hi! I was just about to literally fall at your feet for the wonder that is your erised fic BTW DID I TELL YOU I LOVE FAKE DATING TROPE SO MUCH I COULD BREAK THROUGH WALLS JUST TO GET IT anyway i am SO pleased read SPAZZING when i heard about au requests! so here! DARE DATING! both harry and draco date just to prove who is a better date but the catch is the whole date goes PERFECTLY every gesture every glance is fine but underlying thought is OH U THINK U CAN BEAT ME ON THIS R U LL FU I LL WIN

Thank you for this capslock comment, it made my day! Your prompt is awesome, I was laughing when I was reading it, which always means that I’d enjoy writing it. And I did! It was so much fun to write :)

This is 8th year, dare dating trope (rated Teen, 2k). Apologies for any errors, I’m a non-native Eng speaker :)

*

Harry didn’t know how hewas pulled into this madness, but before he knew what was happening, Zabini haddared him to go on a date with Malfoy, Hermione had accepted on his behalf andRon and the rest of his House had taken up the challenge with unprecedentedenthusiasm.

‘You’re representing Gryffindor now, mate,’ Ron said, while the girls oftheir year rifled through Harry’s trunk, trying to find the right outfit.‘Gotta prove you’re better than him at dating.’

Harry tried not to wince as he watched the girls handling his underwear.‘I don’t see why I need to bother with my clothes and — ouch, Parvati, I toldyou a comb doesn’t help, it always looks like this.’

‘Maybe a spell?’ she offered, but he stopped her with a hand. Sheshrugged. ‘Let’s hope he likes it that way.’

‘There’s nothing to like!’ Harry protested. ‘This is a dare.I don’t expect him to like anything about it!’

‘Really?’ Hermione was perched on the end of Ron’s bed, flicking throughthe dating advice section of a Cosmopolitan. ‘Because if he hatesit, it means Gryffindor is bad at dating.’

‘D’you want Gryffindor to look bad, Harry? Do you?’ Seamus said.

Every eye in the room (and there were many) turned to stare at Harry.

‘No, of course not,’ he mumbled. ‘Maybe try your spell?’ he askedParvati, who grinned and took out her wand.

In the end, two and a half hours after this new kind of torture, Harrywas waiting at the school entrance, his hair marginally tamer but a lot softer.He was wearing jeans and a plum-coloured jumper that Fleur and Bill had giftedhim. He hadn’t worn it before. Toonice for school, he’d alwaysthought. Lavender had insisted, though and she’d even untucked his shirt tailsand let them peek underneath the jumper. ‘This slightly messy look is sexy.Will make your date want to touch you.’

Harry had spluttered, ‘I don’t want Malfoy to touch me!’ The thoughtthere’d be touching made his insides squirm in a peculiar way.

Several stern looks had shot at him again. ‘Do you think Malfoy hasn’tthought of everything? He’ll make you want to touch him and then Gryffindorwill fail,’ Ron had said, and that was that. Harry had nodded in a resigned anddetermined way. Gryffindor had to win.

When Malfoy arrived, he looked — Harry didn’t want to think of it thatway, but it was the first word that came to him: he looked glorious.He’d worn a crisp white shirt and a dark grey suit, and he looked so puttogether and neat that Harry had to suppress a sudden urge to ruffle his hairup or wrinkle his shirt.

How deviant. Surely this was a Slytherin tactic, like theones Lavender knew. Harry clenched his fists and led the way out of the castleto Hogsmeade.

The walk there was wreathed in a painful silence. Harry wondered whetherthe Slytherins had had a hand in creating Malfoy’s look. Whether he’d also beenadvised what to do and whether he saw it as a House challenge, like Harry did.But Malfoy stared ahead, almost unconcerned that Harry was by his side, whichannoyed Harry no end.

So he reached out and held Malfoy’s hand.

‘What—?’ Malfoy said, shocked, but smoothed his expression when he sawHarry’s satisfied smile.

‘Is there a problem?’ Harry asked.

‘Of course not,’ Malfoy sneered.

They’d walked for a few more silent minutes when it was Harry’s turn togasp. Malfoy had started caressing his palm with his thumb. Malfoy’s smug smileat Harry’s reaction pissed Harry off.

He’d show him. He started stroking Malfoy’s palm, too, and was rewardedwith a blush spreading on Malfoy’s face. Ha!

‘Where—’ Malfoy had to clear hisvoice and start again. ‘Where do you want to go?’

They’d reached Hogsmeade. Harry’d been thinking about the pub: cozy,lots of booze, perfect place to keep this as non-romantic as possible, but he’dchanged his mind. ‘Madam Puddifoot’s alright?’

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. ‘Sure.’

The tea shop was as frilly as Harry remembered but much less pink nowthat it wasn’t Valentine’s Day. Thankgod for small mercies, Harrythought as he squeezed at a round table at the back next to Malfoy. The limitedspace meant Malfoy sat so close that Harry caught a whiff of his perfume. Whichsmelled nice. Enticing.

Harry winced internally at his thoughts. How could he find Malfoy’ssmell attractive in any way? He might not be a bigoted bully anymore, but hewas still a Class A git.

After they’d ordered coffees (Irish; a shot of alcohol being absolutelyessential to deal with this situation), Malfoy held his hand again. Harry’sstomach performed a flip at his touch, which was quite disconcerting. Harrysilently berated his internal organs for their traitorous behaviour and turnedto Malfoy, trying to come up with some conversation. What do you say to the manwho was your enemy for many years? Hermione had advised Harry to be himself; what bollocks. Harry had to demonstrate dating prowess, but judging by his lastfew dates (Susan Bones, Ernie McMillan, not to mention Cho some years ago) hewas crap at it.

Malfoy, apparently, found words, proving Slytherins had trained him muchbetter than Harry’s housemates had. ‘Your hair looks different. Did you dosomething with it?’

Harry wanted to snap back a biting reply, but instead he said, ‘Parvatiknew a spell that makes it softer.’

‘Oh,’ Malfoy blushed. It was hot in that tea shop. ‘Softer.’ His voice cameraspy and low and brought shivers to Harry’s spine. Merlin, Slytherins hadthought of everything!

‘There’s not a lot I can do with my hair,’ Harry said to fill thesilence. ‘It won’t listen to anyone or anything.’

‘Just like its owner,’ Malfoy smiled.

Harry was taken aback by the lack of mockery in his tone. It almostsounded as if Malfoy was flirting. ‘I guess,’ he smiled back, reluctantly. ‘It gotme into a lot of trouble when I was young. My aunt and uncle hated the sight ofit. Once, my aunt sheared it off so much that you could see my skull. But thefollowing morning it’d all grown back. Back then I’d no clue what had happened.I mean, it’s hard to tame, but I like it.’ Harry shut his mouth. Why on earthwas he babbling about hair? He gave himself a mental kick in the bum.

‘Accidental magic.’ Luckily, Malfoy didn’t seem bored. He thanked thelady that brought their coffees and stirred his cup, his left hand stillwrapped around Harry’s right. Harry would have to spend the rest of the dateone-handed and using his left, because he’d be blasted if hepulled his hand away first. Though, he had to acknowledge that it wasn’t thatmuch of a hardship. Malfoy’s hand felt rather nice, warm and just large enough(Susan’s hands were too small, Ernie’s too large). He decided he could likeMalfoy’s appendages even if he still disliked the person.

Malfoy put down his cup. ‘Once, I made my father’s hair turn blue for aweek. Don’t laugh.’ Malfoy smiled, seemingly pleased with Harry chuckling. ‘Nospell could change it back until he bought me what I’d been asking for: a toybroomstick. He was proud, though; he didn’t even Glamour it when he left thehouse, but praised me for doing such magic at the age of five.’

Malfoy trailed off and stared at his half-full cup. A shadow passed hisface and Harry startled himself by wanting to chase it away. He put it down tohis need to impress his date, that was all. It was all part of the dare.

‘What Quidditch team do you support?’ The change of subject was ratherabrupt, but Harry felt a little flutter when Malfoy gave him a grateful smile.

‘Bristol Buzzards. You? Don’t tell me, I know: Chudley Cannons. Theunderdog, right?’

Once the conversation got going, Harry realised he could almost forgethe was talking with Malfoy and holding his hand. Malfoy shifted, pressinghis thigh against Harry’s, and heat spread through Harry’s body. He wassurprised to realise he’d been enjoying himself and had therefore lost track ofhis goal to beat Malfoy in the dating game. He couldn’t help but be impressed;Malfoy was good at dating. Harry had to step up his game, and the opportunitycame when Madam Puddifoot brought over a huge chocolate soufflé ‘on the house’,while sneaking a glance at Harry’s forehead. Before Malfoy had something to sayabout that (as if Harry could help who offered him free desserts!), Harrypicked up the spoon, cut through the soufflé and offered to feed Malfoy. ‘Wanta taste?’

Read More on AO3: The Dare 

**

Mermaid AU

Pirate AU

Durmstrang!Harry and Beauxbatons!Draco AU 

Royalty/Arranged Marriage AU 

Musicians AU

Medieval AU

Fae AU

Adventure AU

Firefly/Space AU

Magical Flower Shop AU (canon universe)

kofi

**

AU Series on AO3

[trashyocstash]

okay, here it is! the fic where rick helps julie to stop being so scared of halloween. i’m glad i got this out in time. now to start working on the “rick is a good dad au” fic...which i’m scared is gonna be really long..

Julie gazed out the window, the fact it was autumn now was pretty evident, with the different coloured leaves on the trees and the clouds in the air. She could also feel a slight cold breeze on her skin. Normally, she didn’t mind the season too much, but if there was one thing she dreaded, it was Halloween, and now that it was October, Julie was less than thrilled.

A finger poked her shoulder, and she turned behind her to see her boyfriend Rick with a big smile on his face. “Since it’s almost Halloween and all, I went looking to see if you had Halloween decorations, but I didn’t see anything. You think we should go buy some?”

Julie didn’t appear to be very happy with this suggestion, which Rick took notice of. “What’s the matter Julie?” He asked.

She sighed. “I...I don’t really like Halloween very much..”

Rick was surprised by this. “W-Why not?”

“It’s just...I don’t like scary things very much, and I get scared easily..and this is a holiday where you’re supposed to scare people...it’s not very fun..” Julie admitted.

“Aw Gingersnap...there’s more to Halloween than just scaring people! There’s carving pumpkins, candy, parties-”

“But I hate parties! Crowds stress me out too much..”

Rick chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, I can help you conquer your fears. Besides, you’ve faced danger before on our adventures, and you’re not gonna run into anything scarier than me.”

Julie was touched that he wanted to help her, but was still a bit hesitant about the idea. She knew he had a point about the fact she'd faced danger alongside him, but she wasn't sure how to feel about the whole “you're not gonna run into anything scarier than me” thing. Still...she did see the sincerity in his eyes, and Rick was always trying to help her become more confident and assertive, perhaps this would be a good thing for her.

“Well...okay then..” She agreed.

“Yes!” Rick cheered. “Now come on, I have some great ideas of things we can do together. We should go buy some Halloween decorations, and maybe you could make some Halloween-themed food. How does that sound?”

Julie did have to admit, it sounded nice. “Sounds...sounds good. I could get some coloured frosting, like in orange and black colours, and maybe find some nice toppings-”

“Like candy eyes or fake knives and axes with bl-blood on them, or a cartoony ghost!” He suggested excitedly.

She giggled softly, it was really nice to see how enthusiastic he was. “We can get whatever you want.”

“Except spiders of course.”

“Yeah..” Julie muttered nervously.

Julie had a fear of spiders, and wasn't fond of bugs in general. She didn't like the way they felt crawling on her, or just seeing one in her house out of the blue. She'd never been stung by a bee or anything similar before, but noticed they always tended to come close to her, which didn't ease her fears at all. One time on an adventure, she and Rick came across a giant spider, and she had hid behind him in fear, not exactly the most pleasant memory.

“I have another idea,” Rick mentioned. “What about we get matching costumes too?”

“Oh that would be wonderful!” Julie exclaimed.

“And then we can go get a pumpkin and carve it into a Jack-o-Lantern too!”

She giggled, and agreed with that idea as well. After all, she did have to admit that carving pumpkins and wearing matching costumes did sound fun. All of his ideas weren't really that bad, and though Julie still felt hesitant, she did care far more about his feelings above her own.

------------

The couple headed off together to a supermarket, where they intended to buy the stuff they were looking for, except for the pumpkin, Rick decided they could find a good one off-planet.

As they walked in the store, Rick asked Julie something he was curious about. “So, did you ever even go trick-or-treating as a kid or w-what?”

“Don't worry, I did.” She told him reassuringly. “I loved the whole dressing up aspect of it, I used to dress up like a princess all the time.”

“Julie, you don't need to dress up as a princess, you are a princess, my princess.” He winked.

Julie blushed at his flirting and smiled shyly. “Oh Rick...well..I guess if I'm your princess, then you're my prince charming.” She then gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Heh...speaking of dressing up...what do you think we should dress up as?” Rick asked as he picked up a bottle of orange icing and inspected it.

“Hmm..” Julie thought for a moment. “Maybe we can go as an angel and demon? With me as the angel and you as the demon?”

“Oh I like that.” Rick agreed as he put the bottle of icing down in the cart. “Or maybe I could dress up in even more stereotypical mad scientist get-up and you can dress up an outfit inspired by Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Thats sounds really good too! But what should we go with?” She asked.

“I got an id-idea.” Rick pulled out a coin from his pocket. “Heads for the angel and demon costumes, tails for my i-idea.”

“Alright..”

He flipped the coin and quickly caught it. “Heads.”

“Maybe we can go as your idea next year?”

“Sounds good.” He grinned. “I bet you’ll look beautiful in your angel costume..I mean..not that you already aren’t but..”

She giggled. “It’s fine. Come on, let’s keep looking for the stuff we need to get.”

“I already got some orange icing.” He said, pointing to the cart.

Julie nodded. “Great! Now we just need..” She looked at the shopping list she’d brought with her. “A lot more stuff..”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll get everything we need.” Rick then gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder, making her smile at him.

The two continued their shopping together, getting everything they needed in no time. They got different coloured icing, sprinkles, some Halloween-themed toppings and things to put cookies in a ghost shape and a pumpkin shape. When it came time to get decorations, Rick, even though he really wanted to, didn't get any scary decorations for Julie's sake; she appreciated it. They then went to the aisle with costumes, where they both found what they were looking for. Julie got a pair of angel wings and a halo, but decided to buy a pretty white lace dress to complete the outfit. Rick just got horns, a tail, some fake sharp teeth and a pitch fork.

------------

Finally, they returned home, and Julie set the bags down. Rick gave her a wide grin. “I wanna put the decorations up right now.”

She smiled at him. “Go ahead.”

Rick excitedly took out the decorations from the bags, and Julie watched as he began placing them around the house. She didn't really care where he put them, she just wanted to see him happy. When he was done, a few decorations still remained.

“I'll be bringing these over to my place.” He let her know. “Hope the ones here make you feel better about Halloween.”

Julie realised that she'd completely forgotten her fear of Halloween. She knew that it was his presence that had helped her, his enthusiasm for the holiday had eased her fears and made her forget. In all honesty, she was glad about this. Julie felt happy she could enjoy something that he loved just as much as he did. She hated when he seemed upset about her dislike for Halloween, but maybe she wouldn't have to deal with that anymore.

“Me too..” She agreed, and kissed him gently.

Rick returned the kiss, and afterwards, gave her a gentle look as his hands held onto her face. “You feel better about Halloween already my princess?”

“I think so...just a little bit..”

“Why don't we bake those cookies together? Maybe it will help.” He suggested.

“I hope so. At the very least, I know it'll be a lot of fun. There's never a dull moment with you around..” Julie blushed.

Rick snickered and kissed her again. “Let's get to it then.”

The two got to work, happily baking the cookies together. While Julie actually made them, Rick decorated them, covering them with icing and sprinkles, which made her laugh. While the cookies baked in the oven, Rick quickly left to get a pumpkin on another planet, and came back with one that glowed green, They worked together to carve it into a Jack-o-Lantern, and all the while, Julie felt even more comfortable with Halloween than before. She knew that once again, it was all because of him.

When the cookies were finished, Julie set them down on a plate, and Rick quickly grabbed one.

“Don’t eat too many,” She advised. “I want to bring these over to the Halloween party at Mark’s apartment.”

He sighed. “What, is it just gonna be you, him and Vivian? And I-I-I thought you hated parties.”

She shook her head. “You’ll be there too...and ah...Mark’s..other friends..and I do hate big, crowded parties, but as I said, it's just us and some friends..not too many people..”

“What other friends?” Rick asked, raising a side of his brow.

“Mark is...a hippie, and he knows other hippies too...he’s sort of established a friend group with them..” She explained.

Rick facepalmed. “Ugh..as long as I get to be as far away from them as possible...I’ll go..”

She laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Mark will understand…”

“If you say so..” He grunted.

----------------

“So..do you actually feel better about Halloween now?” Rick asked as he put on his devil horns.

“I...I do..” Julie admitted from another room. She was getting changed, and wanted to see how Rick would react to seeing her in her angel costume. It was Halloween now, and tonight was the night of the party of course, so now it was time to get ready.

“Really?” Rick was a little surprised, but also grateful. “That’s great!”

Julie smiled. “Yeah...it is..”

“You almost done in there?” He wondered, while he put on the tail.

“Yep...in just a...ah! There we go! I’m ready!”

Julie opened the door and Rick’s jaw dropped at the sight of her. The white dress she was wearing was long and flowing, with a sweetheart neckline. The bottom of the dress had lace on it, as well as the neckline, and the bottom half also had a transparent overlay with a flower pattern on it. Julie had a pair of white gloves on as well, along with the fake wings and halo.

“I...I-I...uh..” He stammered.

Julie giggled softly. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Right...o-of course..” Rick agreed, shoving the fake sharp teeth in his mouth and picking up the pitchfork.

Before they left, Julie brought the cookies, and filled a bowl with candy and set it on the front porch. “For the trick-or-treaters.” She explained.

“You actually get any?’’ He chuckled.

“Sometimes...but it's better to keep it out regardless right?” She replied.

“Yep. Now come on, we better get going.”

------------

When they arrived, Julie and Rick were greeted by Mark, who was dressed like Luke Skywalker, and Vivian, who was dressed as Morticia Addams.

“You came!” Mark exclaimed excitedly. “And you and Rick are in matching costumes too! An angel and a devil..pretty neat!”

Vivian sighed. “Mark and I were supposed to do the same thing, but he really wanted to be Luke Skywalker, and I wanted to be Morticia..and he didn't want to be Gomez and ugh..”

Julie laughed. “Don't worry, I'm sure you two will have some great matching costumes next year!”

“If you say so..” Vivian mumbled.

“Look what I brought!” Julie beamed, and showed them the cookies.

Mark immediately grabbed them and placed them on the table. “You always make the best food, you know that?”

Before Julie could respond, Rick took her hand and they walked inside. There, they could spot Mark's other friends..who were all in costume too. One was dressed as Superman, another as a werewolf, and the last one as a vampire.

“Sup.” The one dressed as Superman greeted. “Sweet costumes dude, especially the chick..”

“Back off.” Rick snarled possessively.

“Take it easy man! I was just uh..”

“Hitting on my girl. Like I said, back off.”

“Why don't we go eat some food?” Julie suggested as she grabbed onto Rick's arm, hoping to stop this from escalating further.

“Sure..” Rick grumbled. When he started walking away with Julie, he made sure to give the guy a death stare, which kept him quiet around Julie the rest of the night.

Julie had always avoided Mark’s parties in the past due to her fear of Halloween, but thanks to Rick, she could now finally be at one, and she had to admit, it was a lot of fun. She was so grateful and happy, and it showed how much of a positive influence he had on her.

------------------

When they returned home from the party, Rick gave Julie a kiss and grinned at her. “So...how do you feel about Halloween now?”

“Well..I feel a lot better about it now..” She told him. “..Thanks to you..” She then kissed him back. “Thank you so much for helping me Lemon..”

“N-No problem, my princess.”