#I am not talking about Hogwarts legacy any longer

[peoplecallmelucifer]

Oh boo hoo the people who made a CHOICE to buy the fucking video game and put it on their platform and encourage more people to make their same CHOICE are feeling harrassed.

You know. I called for no herassment to general public because it's counterproductive. You're just creating enemies. The general public feels like it has no stakes in this game and someone is atacking them for liking a franchise that was a big part of their childhood. So you are actively turning public opinion AWAY from yoir cause!

Did I ever defend terfs or any publically anti trans asshole? No, I literally called for phisical violence against them!

But with the general public that would be the wrong aproach. Make it their problem and thwir intwrest to help you.... that's why I ussualy quote a poem at people who say that this outrage is pointless. Look up "first they came" by Martin Neimöler. And then look up the author and where he stood before and after events in the poem.

Wanna be an activist? Convince people they need to stop those events from hapening again, and helping you and your cause is how they do it.

And believe me Shouting at people and herassing them will lead to spite, alienation and disdain. So stop sabotaging our comunity and do some thinking

[satansapostle6]

The World Was On Fire And No One Could Save Me But You | D.M.

Warnings: Language. Violence. Mature Themes. Smut.

As Lord Voldemort rises to power, Death Eater legacies such as Draco Malfoy and Elise Selwyn are forced to join their ranks. Desperate to return his family to the Dark Lord’s good graces, Draco Malfoy is forced to fight alongside Elise in a war they never wanted any part in.

Part I

Part II

Part III: Retribution

That night, after the Malfoys had left, my father and I had a very important conversation.

“Do you understand, my daughter, that if the two of you both fail, even I cannot save you?" 

I paused, making sure to remain composed.

“Understood. I'll make sure Draco kills him," I assured him.

“Yes. You will," he agreed. "No matter what happens."

“Yes, sir."

"In the event that Draco fails," he said, "You know what you have to do."

"I do," I insisted. "If Draco can't kill him, I will. No questions asked."

"Yes. You will," he expressed his approval. “Just as you are my daughter, Draco is Lucius Malfoy’s son. He is arrogant, and prideful, and shortsighted. That’s what I saw that night at the Minustry.”

"Of course," I replied.

He studied me for a moment, leaning forward in his desk. "Elise, do you know what my first and only priority is in this world?"

I winced slightly, having been asked this exact same question thousands and thousands of time over the years. He asked me the same thing any time the topic of my mother came up, as well as the day I left for my first year at Hogwarts, and every year on my birthday. 

“Not me, sir," I murmured.

“That's exactly right," he confirmed. "My priority is not you, or even myself. It is this family, and its reputation, its legacy. The only thing in this world I value is the family, and sustaining it. You and I are both servants to the House of Selwyn."

“I understand," I said for the umpteenth time.

“As patriarch of this family, I am the sole provider. This family's welfare and reputation is my responsibility, my cross to bear," he said darkly. "I live for this family. I have laid my life on the line for this family, and now that you are no longer a child, you must as well. I am prepared to die for this family, and now, it is your turn to take your place by my side."

“I will, Father," I pledged. "I'm ready."

“Are you?" he interrogated me. "Because if you aren't, now is the time to decide."

“I'm ready," I said with pleading eyes.

“You had better be," he glared at me, looking right through me. "Because if you aren't... I, and this family tree have no place for anything but excellence. Do you know what happens to dead branches?"

I'd heard this speech a million times before. 

"They get pruned," I completed the thought.

“Right. And you know... that my loyalty is not to you. It is to the name of Selwyn. Do I make myself clear?" he asked me.

“Yes, Father," I responded. "I won't fail."

"No. You won't," he agreed wholeheartedly. "You truly believe you're prepared to do what it takes to uphold this family's reputation?"

“Yes."

"Good. You're powerful, Elise, a notable member of the Selwyn family. Don't squander that," he reminded me. "You are ready, if you choose to be."

"And if I wasn't?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Someone would have to answer to the Dark Lord," he told me. "And I can tell you it wouldn't be this family."

I stood there, just accepting everything that he said so that he'd leave me be.

"Understood," I promised him.

"Good night, Elise," he concluded the conversation.

I nodded dutifully. "Good night, Father."

*****

As soon as the train left for Hogwarts, Draco and I were inseparable, although not necessarily by choice.

He still seemed to resent that I was a part of this order he was given, but because we were united in this crime against humanity we were about to commit together, neither of us knew how to talk to anyone else, especially our friends. None of them could understand; I didn’t know how to tell my friends that, if it were to save my family from ruin, I would’ve taken pleasure in murder.

Draco and I both walked alongside one another, completely withdrawn from everyone else. I hated his childish entitlement, but somehow he was the only real connection I had. Together, we walked right past all of our friends sitting where many of the Slytherins were all gathered, all of them confused as they saw us together.

We passed by Crabbe and Goyle, as well as my best and only friend, Blaise Zabini, unfortunately accompanied by Draco’s recently ex-girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, who he had broken up with some time before April. She in particular stared at us as we walked past, our heads held low in all black as we tried not to draw attention to us. It seemed she must’ve thought there might be something going on between us, which she quickly signaled to Blaise.

She was right; there was something going on between us, only it wasn’t what she thought. Blaise looked at me in desperation, pleading with me to get him away from Pansy, but I couldn’t help. Draco and I sat down at a table not far from them, our belongings stowed above us. He looked at me with disdain, then turned to stare out the window, watching as our surroundings passed us.

“So, I’m the only person you’ll talk to, but you won’t talk to me?” I summarized.

He just rolled his eyes at me, deeming our conversation unworthy of his attention.

“You’re insufferable,” he muttered.

“I’m not particularly fond of you, either,” I assured him. “But we’re going to be stuck like this for a while, so I’m going to at least make this easier.”

“There’s nothing ‘easy’ about this!” he argued in a hushed tone. “I’m supposed to…”

He trailed off before revealing our entire mission to the entire train.

“Again. You’re not working alone on this, I’m not sure why you insist on believing that when you know it just makes things that much more difficult!” I reminded him.

“You make things difficult,” he spat.

“Name one time I’ve been anything but accommodating to you in this whole thing,” I frowned.

“Now!” he exclaimed in frustration, “You just keep doing that!”

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what ‘that’ means,” I said truthfully.

“Forget it,” he growled, losing his patience, “Don’t talk to me for the rest of this damn train ride.”

“You know, this arrogant, prideful martyr act is getting a bit old,” I told him. “Pretending like no one wants to help you and you know everything you need to know won’t get you anywhere. Don’t you realize that that’s kind of the same mistake your father made?” I reasoned.

Draco went silent, his eyes darkening, burning with hatred as he angrily got up from his seat.

“Fuck you, Selwyn,” he pointed a finger at me before storming off to join Pansy and Blaise.

I just sighed, realizing the mistake I’d made.

*****

Hours later, as the train grew closer to the school, I was startled by a sudden, suffocating darkness that overtook the room. There was something in the air that seemed to be choking and blinding everyone. I quickly drew my wand, glancing over in Draco’s direction to determine whether or not someone was targeting us. And then, I noticed it.

Moments later, Draco Malfoy had received correspondence from a large, mysterious black owl that he didn't recognize. The bird bore only a tiny slip of paper, which simply read,

'We need to talk. 

- E.S.'

I couldn’t risk someone near him reading it. Irritably realizing who it had been from, Draco spitefully tore up the parchment and boarded the train in search of his friends. Although it had been hours before he had heard from me, the moment I saw him it seemed as if it was too soon. I spotted him just after a mysterious bit of magic had caused the entire train car to go completely black. 

"I have nothing to say to you," he said angrily, shoving his way toward his friends. 

"Relax," I stopped him, my hand resting on his chest, "I'm not here to argue. I'm here to warn you."

He looked at me curiously, no longer insisting on ignoring me.

"About what?" he demanded impatiently.

I leaned in carefully, slowly shifting my gaze toward the rack above where he and his friends were sitting. "That was a diversion," I explained

“A diversion? For what?" he questioned. 

"Know anyone with an Invisibility Cloak?" I asked finally.

The expression on his face slowly turned from restlessness to shock to anger.

“I saw that trunk move itself, and the air rippling. Don't react," I reminded him. "You're welcome."

“Fuck off, Selwyn," he hissed as he tried to leave.

"Hey," I stopped him, watching as he turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry, you know. About what I said?" 

He said nothing, observing me skeptically.

"I really am," I told him. "I didn't mean it, and I didn't mean to be cruel. Just making a point, is all."

As he returned to his friends without another word, I saw Blaise get up and make his way over to me.

“You know?" he asked me. "About the thing?"

I nodded. "Something like that," I replied vaguely. 

"I didn't know you and Draco even talked," Blaise remarked in surprise.

"We don't," I assured him. "I'm only involved because of my father."

“Ah. They went to the Don for help, did they?" Blaise nodded.

“Something like that," I said again, looking around us to ensure that no one was paying attention. "His mother wanted my help."

"Really?" Blaise asked, only half-surprised. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Yeah, only he's too stubborn to accept my help," I said in exasperation. "So, I have to follow close behind, and clean up after him, if need be."

“Sounds like Draco," he agreed. 

Hours passed before the train had arrived at Hogwarts. From the looks of it, Draco was still waiting to catch his eavesdropper. Everyone eventually left to make their way onto the platform, except for Draco, of course. 

"Go," I told Blaise.

He understood exactly what I meant without any further explanation, and left me to deal with Draco, who had told Pansy and the others to give him some privacy. He saw me, and didn't mouth off this time. I raised an eyebrow as if to silently ask a question, and he just nodded without a word. I nodded back, and he glanced over at the blinds in the train car. 

Knowing what he was doing, I casually drew my wand as we both began to close all of them, so that no one could see inside. He stood in front of the door with his bag, seething. 

“Didn't Mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter? Petrificus Totalus!" 

Draco petrified Harry Potter before he could ever move, and I stood on the other side of him, wand aimed, just in case. Something invisible made a loud thudding noise, as if hitting the ground. Draco stared for a second, weighing his options before he uncovered Potter, who'd been paralyzed by the spell. 

"Oh, yeah," Draco sneered spitefully as he stood over him, "She was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin."

He aggressively kicked Potter in the face, presumably as retribution for everything that had happened to Lucius Malfoy months before. 

“That's for my father," Draco said angrily as he tossed the Cloak over him, "Enjoy your ride back to London."

He stood over him triumphantly, an expression of pure rage on his face as he looked back up at me. 

“You coming?" he asked crudely.

Taking in his newfound sense of camaraderie, I nodded silently as I stepped over Potter, looking down at him blankly. I followed Draco onto the platform as we both looked around carefully, confirming that no one was watching us too closely. We walked in silence, until a certain point where no one was around us to hear. Draco stopped in front of me, turning as he pointed an accusing finger at me.

His breathing was heavy and erratic; he was starting to panic, and I could see it.

“You don't breathe a word of that to anyone, understood?" he said frustratedly, pointing an accusing finger at me. 

"What agenda could I possibly have that goes against yours?" I asked him calmly. 

He didn't take well to being challenged. "I’m serious. I fucking mean it! If you're going to be part of this, then we're doing it my way."

“Fine," I told him, not having an issue with it, "I told you. I don't give a shit."

“I'm serious," he warned me again. "If you fuck this up for me, I'm going to kill you."

At that point, I'd had enough of his maddening inability to get over himself. I backed him up all the way up against the train, his back slamming against it as I left not even an inch of space between us to hide my wand pointed at his chin. He gulped in a panic for air, watching me fearfully. He had no idea at all what my next move was going to be. 

“I told you already, Malfoy," I said with finality. "You know that you and me, we're on the exact same side. Or do I need to roll up my fucking sleeve right here?" I questioned, to which he just nodded. 

His silence spoke volumes. I continued to instinctively lower my wand, my fist no longer closed around it. 

"I don't need the glory, Malfoy," I assured him. "My goal is to stay as far below the Dark Lord's radar as possible, and getting killed by him would kind of negate that."

For once, he just stood there, listening instead of talking. 

"My father told me I’m to see to it that you kill Dumbledore, and that’s what I’m going to do. Nothing less, nothing more,” I stated flatly. "But I'm serious, Malfoy. If you don't kill him, we're both fucked, so if this takes too long, I'm walking into the old man's office and casting the curse myself. Got it?"

Draco nodded, his breath still heavy as I calmly put my wand back into the pocket of my leather coat. 

“Good," I murmured, as we walked together in quick, purposeful strides in the direction of the castle.

[solemn-marauders]

“He’s going to start asking, you know.”

Sebastian x MC (Thea)

But it’s a short scene with Ominis and Thea

My previous piece, x

Disclaimer: More of my Hogwarts Legacy drabble that I’m posting. These are written quickly while the ideas are fresh. They are short and most likely sprinkled with errors. I’m posting these for me, but if other people enjoy them, then all the better. I will be using my MC’s name, Thea, since this is her story. I also keep the time period in mind. I do my best to keep it as period accurate as possible.

Trigger Warning: Heartbreak

Additional Information: This takes place during their 6th year. Thea plans to spend her time this year trying to uncover her origins and has enlisted the help of her Gaunt BFF.

They were two weeks into the new school year, and not a single word had been passed between Thea and Sebastian. Thea was self-aware enough to know that her silence came from a place of pain. She had no idea what she had done to deserve this treatment from him. After what she saw in Feldcroft, she stopped trying. She often attempted to fool herself into thinking that she no longer cared a lick about anything having to do with him. While she put on a convincing front of indifference, inside she was still deeply wounded.

“He’s going to start asking, you know.” Ominis caught her attention with his whispers. They were back in the library researching old wizarding families trying to see if any had a connection to Thea. Being from an ancient line himself, Ominis was a great help to her.

“Who asking about what?” Thea feigned ignorance, but she could tell he thought it a load of hogwash.

His voice took on a tone of annoyance, “You know exactly who. Sebastian. He’s starting to wonder why I've been so absent in my spare time.”

Thea sighed, she wouldn’t be surprised if Sebastian had already taken the liberty to follow Ominis and see for himself. “You don’t have to lie for me, Omi. I never asked that of you when we started this.” She motioned her hands over the numerous tomes scattered across their table. “If he asks, tell him as little as you can while still being truthful. Sebastian lost all rights to my personal life when he made the decision to ignore me.” Thea’s gaze traveled back to the open book in front of her.

“Now be fair, he has tried to approach you numerous times since term started.”

“Ominis!” Thea’s voice was raised and she accentuated her frustration by slapping her hand upon the table. For a moment, all eyes turned towards the pair as well as a pointed glare from Madam Scribner. Thea lowered her tone. “Ominis, you better than anyone know how broken I was, am, after what happened last year. After everything Sebastian and I had been through, I held out hope that we could help each other through our trauma. Instead he left me utterly alone with no explanation, and when I became so worried about him that I flew to Feldcroft myself, what do I see? Him fine and well, happily flirting with whichever new girl holds his interest.” Her traitorous voice began to waiver. “He got what he needed from me. I am of no use to him any longer. After how he’s treated me these past few months, I want nothing to do with him or his poor attempts at casual chatter.”

Ominis’s throat rumbled in a growl of frustration. “I wish you two would just talk. Really talk. There are things neither of you are seeing.”

“I went to Feldcroft with the intention of talking, Ominis, and look where that led me. I’m done with this conversation, and I’m done with your attempts at playing peacemaker. I understand where you’re coming from, but the only conversation I’m willing to have with Sebastian Sallow at this point is him groveling at my feet.”

He turned his pale eyes towards his friend and raised a blonde brow, “I’d pay to see that.” That earned a half-hearted chuckle from Thea.

[sugarbubbleslove]

Staring into Flames (Garreth x Fem!OC)

Title: Staring into the Flames

Characters: Annabelle Winters, Garreth Weasley

Pairings: Pre-Annabelle/Garreth,

Rating: Teen

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Hogwarts Legacy. WB owns Hogwarts Legacy and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: Her mind was whirling around, and she found her thoughts kept going back to one person.

Garreth Weasley.

Timeline: Hogwarts Legacy, AU for Gryffindor MC, Fifth Year

Warning: Gryffindor MC, Seer MC, angst, orphan background, child abuse (nothing explicit), flirting, Fifth Year

Author's Notes: Annabelle isn't the main MC (No ancient magic). She's been at Hogwarts since her third year. This will run alongside my other stories that I am working on, but it is not a necessity to read them (once they are up)

This is the backbone for a longer fic I'm working on for Annabelle/Garreth.

Series: You Make Loving Fun

(And this was meant to be a sweet and fluffy and cheerful one-shot…it didn't stay that way)

AO3 Link

Staring into the Flames

Annabelle Winters found herself staring up at the canopy of her bed, surrounded in red and gold and sighed deeply.

A clock chimed softly in the room, telling her time. Near midnight and she still wasn't sleeping.

Her mind was whirling around, and she found her thoughts kept going back to one person.

Garreth Weasley.

She kept falling back into her memories of her first day at Hogwarts. Sitting on the stool with the hat on her head, the whispers that filled her mind as it sorted through her memories, lingering on certain ones, asking her questions, the butterflies in her stomach then it shouted out her house where she was promised that she would find a new family, a new home.

A home away from hell.

Garreth made a space for her when the hat called out Gryffindor, alerting her to the cheers the table made for her. He shot a brilliant smile as she sat down next to him, flushing under everyone's curious looks.

Garreth had taken it upon himself to show her around Hogwarts on her first day. Cheerful and warm and welcoming and it had overwhelmed her.

She wasn't used to people treating her kindly, being warm and friendly. Treating her like she was a friend, instead of a burden that they didn't want to deal with.

Garreth had shown her Hogwarts. Showed her all the hidden places if she ever wanted to escape. The library and being chased out by Madam Scribner when he had laughed a little too loudly.

The Lake, which had caught her breath as she stared out at it. She barely remembered what it was like the night before, too caught up on how breathtaking Hogwarts had looked that seeing the sun sparkle upon the waves was mesmerizing.

She later snuck out that night too, just to see how it looked with the moonlight and she found that she couldn't decide what scene she liked better.

She had turned to look at Garreth only to find him staring at her with a smile she didn't recognise before he tugged on her wrist, telling her that there were more places to see.

Annabelle laughed as she followed him.

He was so kind. Always going out of his way to help people, to cheer them up whenever they were down. He would offer an ear to those who wanted to talk and help them take their mind off whatever it was for a short time.

Maybe it was because he was more confident this year. Summer had been good for him. He had always been taller than her – or was it that she was shorter than the others – but he seemed to have gotten a bit of a growth spurt and filled out more in the chest and shoulders.

(She had heard other girls talking about it earlier on, giggling and whispering to each other as they compared the boys. She was pretty sure she heard Sebastian mentioned at one point before he was dismissed as he barely saw the girls flirting with him…although she is pretty sure that she saw that the new fifth-year Ravenclaw might have gotten his attention…not that she was noticing these things).

He seemed to have a confident step to his walk, in the way he talked. He held himself differently, his smile more charming, the green in his eyes sparkling as he spoke. His laughter seems to fill the room, warming her.

Or maybe it's because Cressida Blume, her best friend, had been complaining about him non-stop since they came back to Hogwarts. Maybe that's what it was. Cressida had been complaining about Garreth was annoying her, acting cocky, and distracting everyone by blowing up his potions.

Briefly, she had entertained the idea of Cressida having a crush on Garreth but quickly lost that train of thought when she had to physically stop Cressida from trying to stab Garreth with her fork after the boy had knocked over a goblet of water, spilling it over Cressida's notes, sending the girl into a vicious rant as Garreth just gaped at her.

She knew then that Cressida did indeed not harbour a crush on Garreth Weasley but the urge to smack him silly into the Black Lake.

She knew that Garreth could rub people up the wrong way, especially with his potions – experiments, really – but she found that she liked the way he worked on his potions or whenever he got a new idea.

His eyes would light up, his hands gesturing, and he would rattle off a list of ingredients that he would be using in his potion, even asking her if she would be able to help him get them.

Oh…maybe it was the way his green eyes would be looking at her, pleading with a hopeful expression. The way his lips would curl up into that smile that made her want to do anything for him.

(And anything she did, she lost count of the times she procured some ingredients for his latest experiments).

Or maybe it was the late-night talks they would have when they couldn't sleep, bringing them to a world of their own, where no one else existed, where they were the centre of each other's world just for a short time.

Or maybe she was just being stupid.

Annabelle rolled her eyes with a soft groan and pushed the comforter off as she sat up, grabbing her robe and slipping it over her nightgown, slipping her feet into her slippers and she slowly made her way out of her room, careful not to wake up her roommates.

Especially Cressida, who was currently mumbling spells under her breath. A fond smile came to Annabelle's lips as she paused to watch her best friend then she shook her head. She was just glad that Cressida's spells didn't work in her sleep, having removed the wand far away from the other girl.

She had learned her lesson about letting Cressida keep her wand close by the hard way.

Annabelle slowly made her way down the stairs, her hand gliding over the bannister when an unfamiliar scent filled her senses, a sweet scent…flowers and honey.

Then the visions came, too fast, too brief, too much just as her hand tightened on the bannister as her knees weakened and she rested against the wall, breathing heavily.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let the emotions bleed out from her, centring herself before she exhaled slowly, a tear slipping free.

The visions featured the new girl.

Dark blue Ravens fluttered in the air above her. White and light blue magic swirled protectively around her.

Her dark blue eyes filled with tears. Her smile…so blinding, yet so broken.

And cupped in her hands was a heart, shattered and full of pain.

Annabelle wanted to scream, she wanted to rage, she wanted to slide down the wall and cry, to hide away from the world and the pain it wanted to inflict on everyone in its wake.

She hated her visions with a passion. So much hurt and fear and anger came because of them. She remembered the stones that would be thrown in her direction, the names she would be called because of what she said.

The terror whenever she would get one and would be forced to decide what she needed to do. Tell or keep her mouth shut.

The reactions when she did tell someone.

Witch. They called her. She should be burned at the stake. They threatened her.

Until it happened and fear would be shown in her direction. The terror was almost palpable and they'd keep their distance until they seem to forget, and the circle would start up again.

Witch.

How they were so right yet so wrong at the same time.

She made her way into the Gryffindor common room, drawn to the large couch next to the fire, which was still burning, and removed her robes as she sat down, curling up and drawing her robes around her like a blanket.

She stared into the fireplace, wishing she could clear her mind. Sometimes, the fire would warm her, soothe her. Listening to the pop and crackle of the wood burning beneath the flame, letting it carry her away to a world far from here.

Other times…it came with the smell of smoke, the screams of terror, the wind rushing around her as the flame flickered at her fingertips, reminding her…

"Annabelle."

Annabelle jumped at the sound of his voice, drawing her robes tighter around her frame as she looked up at the edge of the couch to see him standing there.

"Garreth!"

The concern gave way to a sheepish expression as he held up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry." His voice was low. His red curls were mussed, his robes thrown haphazardly over his sleepwear, and she frowned.

"What are you doing up?" she found herself asking.

Garreth stared at her for a long moment before he frowned.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

Annabelle shook her head, confused when Garreth sighed. "May I sit?" He gestured to the seat where her feet were. "It's a little awkward standing and talking to you."

Annabelle just stared at him, unblinking, for a moment before it dawned on her, and she felt her cheeks heat up.

"I'm sorry." She pulled her feet closer to her. "Of course, have a seat." She fumbled with the robe, wrapping it around her a little tighter as Garreth sat down on the space left for him and he sighed heavily.

She watched him carefully,

"So, why are you up?" he looked at her.

"I asked you first."

That got a ghost of a smile from him as he tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at her. She merely stared back at him.

"Home sickness," he slowly admitted. "The beginning of the term usually has me feeling a little…unconnected from my family. As weird as it sounds." He gave her a self-conscious chuckle.

"You miss your family, that isn't weird." She sighed deeply. "They must miss you too."

"My younger sister hates it when I must leave to go to Hogwarts. She always wants to sneak into my bag so I can bring her here." Annabelle smiled at the image.

"How old is she?"

"Six. She will be turning Seven in October and she already has asked for her present. For us to come back home for her birthday. Including our older brother and sister."

"Yes, I have met them, briefly. Frederick, who is in Seventh Year and Gwendolyn, in sixth year. Both are Gryffindor because that's what Weasley does."

"Fred and Gwen, yes." He raised his index finger into the air. "And don't call them by their full name unless you would like them to pull rank," he warned her. "That's right only belongs to our mother." She smiled.

"I think I remember someone calling Gwen by her full name and got a leg-locking curse in return." Garreth chuckled at the memory as he nodded.

"Some Slytherin fifth year at the time. I think he tried to make a move on her. She was not highly receptive to his…attention if I remember correctly."

"Are you close to your younger sister?" she asked, lifting her arm to rest her elbow on the armrest and cupping her chin with her hand as she watched him.

"She's the baby. I was the first one to see her after she was born. She was so small, so loud." He grinned, clearly lost in his memories that it made her heart pang. She wondered what it was like to have a family, a sibling, to have someone to care about, someone who was a part of you.

"What's her name?" she found herself asking.

"Chloe." The love was clear in his voice.

"That's a beautiful name. It stands for a green shoot on a plant or flower. It's a symbol for blooming."

"You know your names." Garreth looked at her and she blinked as she came out of her thoughts then gave him a sheepish grin.

"I like finding out the meaning of names. It's always interesting to know if the person reflects their name."

Garreth let out a low hum as he nodded before he looked at her.

"My turn. Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep." She sighed heavily. "It's always like this when I come back to Hogwarts. It takes…a little adjustment."

"Noise?" he questioned, and she laughed, softly. He had no idea how close he was. She shook her head.

"Coming from a non-magical household to a magical castle," she explained, giving a truth as close as she could without giving anything away.

Only Cressida and the Professors knew she lived in an orphanage. Professor Fig suspected what went on in the orphanage, but he never asked her, and she never told him.

Cressida knew more.

Garreth made a noise at the back of his throat, and she glanced back up at him again. "It can take a little adjustment getting used to all the magical things around me."

"You never speak of your home."

"It's not an interesting conversation." She gave him a small smile, returning her gaze to the fire.

"I don't know. Seems like you are an interesting person." That made her cheeks heat up as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to see him tilting his head before she returned to the fire.

She couldn't let him get too close. She tried hard to keep her distance from her housemate. Cressida managed to squeeze her way past Annabelle's walls before she could fully get them up, but she couldn't let Garreth gets too close, no matter how tempting it was.

"I can assure you that I am not interesting." Silence descended between the two of them, the only noise was the sound of the fire crackling when Garreth broke the silence.

"You know, it's a shame you never took Care of Magical Creature in our third year."

What? Annabelle blinked at the fire as she mulled over Garreth's words then glanced at him, even more confused when she saw the grin on his face.

"I was more concerned about controlling my magic." She gave him a suspicious look. "Adding in magical creatures didn't quite seem like a good idea at the time."

"I'm just saying you missed out on a really good class."

That made Annabelle curious about what he was talking about, and he smiled. "Especially since I know you like Diricawls."

That surprised her, and it must have shown because he smirked. "I saw those drawings. Those were good, by the way." She felt her cheeks heat up. She never knew that he had seen her drawings.

Clearing her throat, she refocused her attention on Garreth.

"Alright, tell me."

"So, it was our first class and Professor Howin was introducing us all to the wonderful creatures that we would be learning and caring for." He was grinning and being dramatic that she bit her lower lip to stop the smile from crossing her lips.

It only served to encourage him, flashing her a brilliant smile that made her cheeks heat up and her chest flutter.

"She said that diricawls were the creatures we were going to learn about as they are a harmless creatures. So, the class was going along great until one of the diricawls decided it didn't want to go back into its pen and hopped up onto Professor Howin's desk…and gave this look to Leander."

"Oh, that look." She knew the look. It was a defiant look, the challenge, the dare to come and capture it.

She always liked seeing that look. Sometimes she wished she could mimic that look.

"So, Leander, being Leander," that made a giggle slip out before she caught herself, cupping a hand over her mouth. He brightened, "Decided that he would be the one to capture the diricawl."

"Oh…no." She had a feeling where this story is going.

"Snuck up behind it, all stealth-like – commenting he was like a cat." She covered her eyes, "And he pounced, swift like toward the diricawl…which disappeared."

Annabelle tried her hardest not to let the laugher slip free, her hand dropping from her eyes to her mouth, meeting his dancing green eyes.

"So, he fell, face first into the mud – of course," that made Annabelle smile at the image, "Then the diricawl reappeared on his back and let out this bloodcurdling scream, Leander started screaming then the whole class is in an uproar, screaming and yelling that Professor Howin was trying her hardest to calm everyone down. Didn't work so well as the other diricawls thought it was a good idea to join in the screaming."

Annabelle pulled up her robes and buried her face into the fabric, muffling her laughter at the image of their classmates flailing around. Poor Professor Howin. The professor had her hands full with Poppy Sweeting and her love for the creatures, never mind the entire class acting up.

She could only imagine the expression on Professor Howin's face at the sight, could imagine Poppy's expression and she, briefly, wished she had been there for the class.

It took a moment before Annabelle managed to calm herself down, she pulled her robes down from her face to see Garreth's pleased smile and shook her head, fondly, at him.

"We eventually got the diricawls back into their pen. It did take Poppy calming them down and bribing them with food. They weren't too happy with the rest of us." Garreth chuckled as Annabelle wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

"And Leander?" She managed to ask.

"Oh, he hates the things. Refuses to have anything to do with them." He grinned and Annabelle burst into fresh laughter, dropping her head back into her robes.

It took a moment to control her laughter, to get her breath back and she pulled away from the robes, meeting Garreth's happy expression.

"I shouldn't have laughed. Poor Leander," she admitted with a sheepish smile.

"I am sure he would be happy to hear that," Garreth grinned. "He does have a hard time living it down. As a certain Slytherin likes to remind him occasionally."

"Is that the one who tends to…flirt with him? Cassie?" she asked, cautiously and he shrugged.

"Who knows when it comes to them. They are either flirting or fighting. Sometimes it's both at the same time."

That made Annabelle smile as she thought back on seeing Leander and Cassiopeia Black. The two of them have always been at each other's throats since her third year – although Cressida told her that it had been their thing ever since they first met each other in their first year.

Prewett and Black don't get along, Cressida had told her. It was a family thing, especially considering that the Black were of pure blood superiority. But she had never seen the attitude with Cassie.

The Slytherin girl was…aloof. If she was in the company of someone, it was Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt, her fellow Slytherins but Annabelle always saw her on her own, keeping to herself.

Annabelle found herself admiring Cassie. The way she held herself, the way she walked, talked. Nothing fazed Cassie. If anything happened, she would just look at it with thinly veiled interest before she would move on.

She had seen people attempting to surprise Cassie, play tricks and pranks only for Cassie to deflect it quite masterfully and walk on.

However, when it came to Leander, there was something about the tall redhead that made Cassie stop in her tracks, stand to her full height and fire back insults, a fire to her spirit, to her eyes, even her lips.

Even Leander was different when it came to Cassie, not backing down. He was usually a sweet boy, stumbling over his words and unconfident in himself when she spoke to him but with Cassie, there was nothing of that boy.

"Sometimes it takes the right person to bring you out of your shell," she found herself saying, glancing up at Garreth. "She…seems to come alive when she's around him." She frowned and shook her head. "I am probably not making any sense-"

"You're right," Garreth gently interrupted, and she met his eyes curiously. "I got to know her through our potion classes. She's not as closed off as one would think considering the way she acts. But when Leander is around, it's like he just…"

"Draws a spark from her," she finished, and he nodded with a grin.

"Thought he would totally kill me in my sleep if he ever heard me saying this." She grinned. "I mean it, I can see my headstone now, 'smothered in sleep for gossiping'." That made her laugh again.

"He's not that mean." She protested.

"It sure feels like it sometimes," Garreth muttered under his breath, drawing an eye roll from her then she nudged at his thigh with her bare feet when Garreth wrapped his hand around it, drawing it onto his lap.

"You know how Leander is." Her eyes followed his movement, wiggling her toes when his fingers trailed over the tip of them then she met his green eyes. "He comes off as brash, but he does care for you. And he won't smother you in your sleep for gossiping about him." She smiled. "More likely to drop something in your drink."

That made Garreth laugh, ducking his head forward, causing his curls to fall and she watched, mesmerised by him. She had always been drawn to the fiery red curls, and how they would shine in the sunlight.

But here, against the glow of the fire, he seemed to radiate warmth, his hair taking on a golden glow that she found it hard to take her eyes off him.

"But when he's around her…" Garreth trailed off.

"He's more confident in himself. It is like she makes him forget what it's like to be nervous. He acts like the man you know he could be if he wasn't so unconfident."

"We are so dead in the morning." Garreth mused with a nod. "He's not even going to bury the bodies."

Annabelle laughed as she pushed her foot into his hand, enjoying the way he ran his fingers over the top of her foot. She wiggled her toes, drawing a smile from him as he tapped the tip of her big toe and glanced up at her.

"Can I ask a question?"

"You already did." She smiled at the look he was giving her. "But you're welcome to ask another one."

"Feisty." He had an amused smile playing on his lips and she rolled her eyes.

"You don't know everything about me, Garreth Weasley."

"I can see that." He chuckled as he shook his head before he tugged on her toe. "You never mention old friends." She licked her bottom lip. "You joined us in our third year, and you took to Cressida quickly."

"I think you will find it was actually the opposite," she corrected him, "She took to me quite quickly. Actually, now I think about it," she brought a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "She pretty much declared me as her best friend."

Garreth was laughing as she smiled, enjoying his laughter. She loved-liked! Liked his laughter. It always made her smile, feel warm, safe – if a laugh could do that, it would be Garreth's – and not so alone.

Like she would be. Cold. Alone. Shunned.

Witch.

"I was just wondering about your old school, the one you went to before you came to Hogwarts."

You should burn.

"Was it like Hogwarts? A big school?

Or maybe you should drown.

"No." She came out of her dark thoughts, her memories.

She would never have to go back there. She was in a new place, a new school, with new people.

But come the summer…heat wasn't the only hell.

"My school was small. Nothing fancy like Hogwarts. We'd get to leave when school was finished. We never stayed there."

Garreth made a noise of wonderment. She knew that the students of Hogwarts didn't know much of the non-magical world. How things were different there than it was here.

How people couldn't protect themselves with magic in the non-magical world. Even so…those who did have magic still couldn't protect themselves.

Not if they wanted to bring down the wrath of the Ministry for daring to break their rules. Rules that non-magical did not know.

"And the students? Did you make friends?"

Stones thrown.

Curses.

Taunting.

It was hard to look back at the memories. Hard to see the faces. They'd blur together, morphing into one.

"No." She shook her head. "People didn't want to be friends with someone who could make weird things happen just by being there." She swallowed nervously.

That was the wrong thing to say as Garreth frowned and her nerves flared.

"Weird things? I thought your magic didn't manifest until before our third year?"

"Not…exactly," she murmured as she looked away from him toward the fire and maybe that was the wrong thing to do as it brought back even more memories.

The flames licked the fabric, rushing up and surrounding the windows.

The screams as they fought against the door, the lock clicking defiantly. The pounding of fists against the wood

And her…just staring at the flames.

"My magic would flare up. Mostly when I was," Tormented, "Upset. Once I knew what was happening, or at least understood that I was the reason, I found a way to…control it."

The implication was clear in the silence before his breath hitched and she looked at him to see the horror in his expressive green eyes.

"You…supressed your magic?" he sounded incredulously, and she slowly nodded.

"I know."

"You could have…" he trailed off.

"I know." She sighed, giving him a look. "Professor Fig told me everything. After he gave me into trouble for supressing my magic. But there is something you need to understand. Not everyone in the non-magical world is…ready for what we can do. And not everyone is accepting of it."

She fell silent as she picked at her nails, frowning as she tried to push back her memories of the orphanage. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about it, not while she was too close to him.

He was easy to talk to, easy to confide in. She felt he could understand her, that he wouldn't judge her so it would be so easy to tell him the truth.

However, she knew from experience that no one is who they seem. And no matter how much she wanted to, it was safer – for both of them – for her to keep her secret deep within herself.

"It must have been weird when someone showed up to say you were a witch."

"It was your aunt." She smiled sadly at the memory.

"Aunt Matilda?" he asked, surprised and she nodded.

"She had been the one task to track me down. She took me to a little park down the way and explained the situation to me. Said it was unusual for a student to be found later in the years of Hogwarts – although I think the new Ravenclaw might have me beat there."

"But I thought Professor Fig was the one to meet you? Aunt Matilda never said anything when I saw her that summer."

"She suggested Professor Fig after we had our conversation. Professor Fig was in a better position to explain the situation. It took some time, but it eventually was resolved, and I was able to come to Hogwarts. He was the one to take me to Diagon Alley to get my wand and things and I stayed with him and his wife until it was time to come Hogwarts. Mostly because they had to teach me two years' worth of classes."

"And your home? Did they understand?"

"In a way."

There was nothing she could say that would describe how they had reacted, how they had treated her.

Knowing that she was going to Hogwarts, knowing that she would be away from the orphanage for a year was the hope that she clung to, shining brightly amongst the darkness and the pain.

She knew Garreth wanted to ask her more questions. She could see it on his face. He had the most expressive face she had ever seen. He was never good at lying. Something Leander like to exploit whenever Garreth had gotten up to something and was trying to hide it from his best friend.

Both sat in silence for a long moment when the clock chimed softly, and she looked up before she sighed heavily.

"We should go to bed. Even though it is the weekend, no doubt our friends will want us up bright and early to get a start on the day."

Garreth groaned at the thought, and she couldn't help but laugh at the sound. It was a break in the mood that had descended over them.

"At least Cressida will be nice to you in the morning. Leander, on the other hand, will probably drag me out of my bed by my ankle."

"I don't know about Cressida," Annabelle hummed under her breath, "She has been working on her spells and I'm pretty sure she might have perfected her aguamenti charm." She pulled a face. "I think she is trying to add flavour to it now so she can sneak drinks in the library."

Garreth gaped at her, and she smiled. "Cressida hasn't quite learned her lesson about annoying the Librarian. I do wonder how Madam Scribner survives both Cressida's spell work and Sebastian's frequent attempts to break into the Restricted Section."

"I am surprised that the Librarian came back this year after the trouble she had last year," Garreth grumbled.

"Maybe it only made her more determined to protect the library."

"Then good luck to her. O. and N.E. on the line, and with our year having the exams…well, we all know how hectic our year can be."

"Not to mention you and your affinity for potions." She glanced at him from under her eyelashes with a smile.

"And you and your affinity for flying. I thought Madam Kogawa was going to turn you upside down for that stunt you pulled."

That made her laugh aloud, bringing up her robes to muffle her laughter as she shook her head. "You also gave Professor Black some grey hair if I remember correctly. I think I heard him mumbling about needing a mirror."

That made her laugh harder at the image as she reached out one hand to slap Garreth on the shoulder as he chuckled.

"It wasn't that bad of a stunt," she protested as she pulled her robes away, giving a hiccup that made Garreth laugh harder, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't know. Cressida was certainly upset with you afterwards," Garreth remarked as he grinned, amusement dancing in his eyes as she held her breath, trying to get rid of her hiccups.

"Don't. I think I still have the scars from her lecture," she breathed out slowly, testing herself.

"Not literal ones I hope." Garreth's eyes scanned her, and she scoffed, fighting down the blush that threatened to fill her cheeks under his gaze.

"She's not that bad. Despite your best attempt to rile her up."

"Me?" His hand went to his chest in mock despair. "I do not know what you are talking about my dear lady."

"Oh no, don't you try and charm your way out of this." He arched an eyebrow at her, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

"You think I'm charming?"

"And you're deflecting the conversation." She nudged at his hand again with her foot before pulling her foot away before he could grasp it. "And we really should go to bed before your aunt comes in because someone decided to blab." She glanced at the portraits around them and Garreth blanched.

"Good idea." He stood up first, stretching his arms over his head and her eyes locked onto the bare skin of his stomach that was revealed when his nightshirt rose with his movements.

She bit her bottom lip when she noticed a trail of dark red hair dipping beneath his night trousers before swiping her tongue over her bottom lip and clearing her throat when his shirt dropped back into place, darting her eyes off to the side to pretend she hadn't been watching him.

A hand came into view, and she stared at it for a moment before lifting her eyes to meet his green ones then slipped her hand into his, letting Garreth pull her up from the couch, her feet sliding into her slippers, his other hand catching her robe as it slid down her body.

Her breath caught in her chest when Garreth slowly straightened to his full height, and she found herself staring into his eyes.

"Here," his voice sounded hoarse, "I'll help you put this on." He opened the robe and she swallowed nervously, acutely aware that she only was wearing a thin nightgown that tugged tight in places.

Annabelle slowly turned around and slipped her arms through the sleeves, sighing when he pulled the robes over her shoulder then slowly slid his hands down her arms as he leaned in.

She closed her eyes when his scent washed over her then his fingers gently tugged at her hair, pulling it free from the robes then lightly glided down her back.

"There we are." She swallowed nervously before she turned around, tugging her robes close and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you." She leaned in. "Such a gentleman," she teased, trying to break the tension between them and he smile.

"Anytime." With that, they made their way up the stairs, reaching the landing that split them up to the fifth years' rooms and they turned to face each other, and Annabelle found herself unwilling to pull away from him.

Garreth seemed to be feeling the same way as her as he looked down at her with a look on his face that she couldn't quite describe but she knew they needed to make the parting quickly. Every moment spent lingering was a moment closer to being caught.

"Hey." She drew his attention and gave him a smile. "Thank you. For telling me about your first day in Care of Magical Creatures." She shrugged softly. "It was nice to take my mind off things. And I promise not to tell Leander what you told me."

That got a sheepish smile in return.

"Thank you, for sharing with me a little bit of your history." His smile turned softer, genuine. "I won't tell anyone, even my aunt."

"Thank you." Gathering her courage, she pushed herself on tiptoes and pressed her lips against his cheek, feeling the start of a stubble and it sent shivers down her spine before she pulled away, dropping back onto her heels, glancing up to see Garreth was looking at her lips before he raised his eyes to meet hers.

"Goodnight," Her voice was low, almost hushed and he swallowed.

"Goodnight."

Annabelle pulled away from him, drawing her hand from his as she stepped up the stairs, never taking her eyes off him.

"I will see you soon."

That got a smile from him as he watched her.

"I'll hold you to that."

With a smile, Annabelle turned around and made her way into her room, softly closing the door behind her so she didn't wake up her roommates and with a small twirl, making way over to her bed, her cheeks hurting from smiling and she placed her hands over them, feeling how warm they were.

She was as giddy as a lovesick girl, but she found that she didn't care. She had spent another night talking to Garreth, getting to know him better and opening a little more to him and she wondered if it was a possibility for them, in the future…

Cressida's sleepy voice, commanding spells, brought her out of her daydream and her smile faded as the reality of her situation dawned on her.

This wasn't a good idea.

He was the nephew of the deputy headmistress, who was keeping a close eye on both him and her.

She was an orphan, who was a freak growing up for her ability to see the future, tormented by those who were supposed to protect her.

Her heart heavy, sinking deep into her chest she let out a sigh as she reached her bed.

No. She couldn't give herself hope like that. She pulled back the covers, kicked off her slippers and removed her robes, hanging it over the nearby chair and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers over as she turned onto her side.

She knew what she needed to do, despite what she wanted to do, no matter how tempting it was.

Annabelle will do what she did best. Shove her feelings down deep. Keep up her walls and survive.

She could only be friends with Garreth Weasley, nothing more.

Pushing down the lump that formed in her throat, she turned her face into her pillow and allowed a tear to slip free.

It was better, for all of them.

The End

[coffee-imagines]

Wrong Houses Pt 2

part one

Pairing: Draco x weasley!reader

Warnings: none

A/N: I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for this but then I got an idea and got excited so here we go :) I’m glad a lot of you liked the first part. Also can we talk about how iconic Molly’s howler to Ron is in the movie?

Summary: After a letter home an unexpected surprise arrives during lunch

———————————–

You’d started crying the second your face hit your pillow, the feelings from the past five years hitting you all at once. You felt overwhelmed, your body shaking when your cries turned to sobs. There was no way you could go home now, not after what Ron had told you. You felt like a bother to your family, and inconvenience that they had to deal with because of your differences. The sound of footsteps made you hide your face deeper into the pillow and try to calm your shaking, thinking one of your dormmates had come back to get something.

“Y/N.” Draco’s voice filled your ears, his hand softly touching your back. You couldn’t bring yourself to speak, knowing you would only cry harder. “I’m here, it’s okay.” He assured you, helping you sit up before he pulled you in for a hug. You clung to him, crying into his neck while he whispered reassurances in your ear and rubbed your back. It had taken a while but you finally stopped shaking, your tears falling silently, hitting Draco’s neck and sliding down wetting the collar of his shirt.

“I don’t… I don’t want to...” You stuttered out, trying to find your words but Draco shushed you, playing with your hair to try and calm you down fully before you tried speaking again. You took a few deep breaths, closing your eyes trying to focus on Draco instead of everything else. “I don’t want to go home.” You whispered in his neck. “I don’t ever want to go back home.” You sniffed, hugging Draco tighter.

“You don’t have to. My parents actually like you. I’m sure if I write a letter home my mom will let you stay with us.” Draco explained and you nodded, pulling your head away from his neck. Draco’s heart clenched when he saw your tear stained face, the complexion of your skin almost matching your red hair, your nose even redder and your bottom lip still quivering. “You’re going to be okay.” Draco reassured you, leaning down to kiss the tears away. You closed your eyes, and a small smile made its way on your face when Draco softly kissed your eyelids.

“I’m going to write a letter to my parents. They should know I’m not going to come home.” You explained softly and Draco nodded in agreement. 

You took a deep breath, reaching over in all of your belongings to get a paper and a quill. It took a while before the quill touched the paper. You were trying to find the right words to say. Writing the letter didn’t make you happy, it hadn’t been like you really wanted to leave your family, but at this point you felt like it was the only way it would make them happy and stop worrying about how you turned out. There wasn’t a day that went by that you didn’t feel guilty about how everything had turned out, and you refused to spend the rest of your life being reminded of something that was out of your control.

Molly and Arthur Weasley,

I know I don’t normally write home, but I have something important to tell the both of you that just can’t wait. I have suspected that I have been a disappointment to this family since my first day here at Hogwarts, and according to Ron’s words my suspicions are correct. It hurts to think that I have ruined the legacy of my own family and not been sorted into what we perceive to be the correct house. Although I’ve also upset everyone with my relationship with the Malfoy’s son, that I won’t apologize for. I refuse to apologize for something that makes me happy, but I will apologize for the mistake that was made by me being sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor like the rest of the family. 

I unfortunately cannot change the past, but I will take it upon myself to change the future and not continue to burden everyone in the family with my presence. I will hopefully be staying with the Malfoy family, but if not then I will find another way. I no longer feel like I am a part of this family, and although I haven’t for a while, being called a disappointment to my face is where I have to draw the line. It doesn’t bring me any pleasure writing this letter. It pains me that I will have to leave my family, because although I care about all of you greatly, I guess that doesn’t go both ways. Any of my things that Ginny can use she can have, but the rest I will give to the twins to sell in order to help them with their plans for the future. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the child you wanted and I’m sorry that things had to turn out the way they did. I will miss all of you greatly, but I understand if you don’t feel the same toward me.

Good wishes always, Y/N Weasley

Your hand shook while you wrote, the words coming out in shaky lines, some tears falling onto the page that made the ink smear. You sniffed and bit your lip to keep yourself from balling all over again, squeezing your eyes shut when Draco placed his hand on your back.

“Don’t touch me.” You whispered softly and shook your head. You were trying too hard to keep it together, but you knew if he tried comforting you you’d only break down again and let it all out. Draco’s hand moved away from you and you let out the breath you were holding. Clearing your throat and wiping your face you stood up, grabbing an envelope you folded the letter silently before slipping it in. You wrote everything you needed down on the front and you turned to Draco. “Come with me?” You asked, your eyes soft showing how much you’d actually been hurting, but your face almost looked as though you hadn’t been crying, the only thing giving you away was your puffy eyes.

Draco nodded and stood up, walking as close to you as you allowed him. All the way to the owlery you would move a bit away anytime Draco brushed against you, walking in silence. You had nothing else to say, wanting to forget about everything with your family, you even went as far as thinking about changing your hair a different color so you wouldn’t resemble any of your family members, but you knew you couldn’t. A small pit formed in your stomach when you watched the owl take off with your letter, but you took a breath and brushed off the feeling, finally grabbing Draco’s hand when you both walked back to the Slytherin common room.

That night Draco had sent an owl home to his mom about your situation, asking if you’d be able to stay and start living with them for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. The following days you’d avoided your siblings like the plague, especially Ron. You were lucky enough to only have one class with your brother, and you both sat on opposite ends of the room. You’d felt his eyes on you during class, but you never looked in his direction, wanting to put as much distance between you and your family that you possibly could. You wanted to get used to them not being in your life anymore, and not living with you anymore. This had been the only time you were happy to be a Slytherin, being in different houses making it easier to not see them. The only time you had to actually see your brother’s were at Quidditch games, and you were glad that those were the only times, knowing you wouldn’t have been able to handle anything more.

Everything had started taking its toll on you, every day you would be mentally exhausted, a heavy weight seeming to hold you down. Draco wasn’t the only one who had noticed this, your entire house could see it, and it only made the rival between the Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s thicken. Slytherin’s had always stuck by their own through anything and you’d definitely proved how much you belonged in your house over the years, shocking even the people who had thought the hat had messed up your first year.

You were resting against Draco’s side, picking at the food on your plate. You’d lost most of your appetite, usually eating when Draco would be with you, but today had felt different. It had been hard throughout the past few days, and the second you’d gotten up in the morning you felt more exhausted than you ever had before. You smiled softly when Draco started playing with your hair and you finally decided to start eating when you felt your stomach grumble softly. You kept your head on Draco’s chest while you ate, wishing you’d been able to stay in the common room with him instead. Owls started flying overhead but you ignored them, not expecting any mail to come from home since it never did.

“Ronald Weasley!” Your mother’s voice filled the great hall making your head shoot up from your plate. You watched in amazement, your family owl flying over and sitting on you after dropping a letter in your hand. “How dare you speak to your sister that way! I am absolutely disgusted! I want an explanation sent home and an apology to your sister right this instant! If I hear anything from her about you again I’ll have you brought straight home!” Your mother yelled in your brother’s face and your face turned red in embarrassment. The howler turned to the rest of your sibling but you drowned it out, looking down and opening the letter that had been dropped in your hands.

Y/N,

Don’t you even think about leaving. Your father and I care about you dearly, and we do not agree with what your brother has said. We will have a discussion as a family when you all come home for the summer. Let me know if they give you any more trouble.

Love, Mom

You smiled down at the letter in your hand. Although short, it had everything you needed to hear in it. You were pulled out of your thoughts when you heard all the Slytherin’s around you laughing, pulling your attention to the Howler that had barely finished scolding all of your siblings. Ron had been walking across the hall almost in shame, almost every student laughing to themselves at the scene they had just witnessed. You watched anxiously, wondering if he was going to come over and make your mother’s words seem like nothing. The rest of the Slytherin’s watched with you, surely making Ron’s nerves way worse because of all the eyes that had been on him. You’d been surprised to even see the teachers watching the scene before them.

“Y/N listen.” Ron started, rubbing the back of his neck, his face already red. “I’m sorry for being a prat. I was upset and shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” He explained, your attention averting to the sea of red hair that had been making their way over. “We all don’t care that you’re in Slytherin. It’s just weird to us, and we need time to get use-” He continued but you cut him off.

“Five years isn’t enough?” You asked softly, biting the inside of your cheek. You felt overwhelmed, feeling too many things at once made your bottom lip threaten to quiver.

“We don’t mind it.” The twins explained and Ginny agreed next to them. You knew they hadn’t cared, but hearing it seemed to make you feel a bit better. You turned your attention to Ron, waiting for his explanation.

“We used to do everything together, then we came here and separated and I didn’t like it.” Ron explained, shocking you. “I know I should have talked to you about it instead of pushing you away all these years but I never knew how. I just wanted my sister back, but instead I pushed you away and hurt you instead and for that I am sorry. Really.” Ron apologized, making you nod slowly.

“Thank you.” You whispered, looking down at your lap trying to think. “I need time.” You explained looking back up to Ron.

“How much?” He asked hopefully, and you bit back a smile.

“I’d say about five years.” You tried saying seriously, but you and your other siblings ended up laughing at the look on Ron’s face. They turned to walk away and you nodded to Ron, knowing the both of you would most likely talk later that day.

“My mom said you can come stay with us whenever you need to if you still want.” Draco explained breaking the silence, holding a letter you hadn’t noticed before. 

“I don’t think I will just yet.” You smiled, watching your sibling walking back to the Gryffindor table turning and kissing Draco’s cheek softly.

———————————–

Tag list: Let me know if you’d like to be added

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[btsinwonderland]

A Drop of Poison - Ch. 10: Memories

A Loki fanfiction!

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Full Chapter List

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You woke at the howl of the wind outside. It was still dark out and you glanced at an old wooden clock on the wall; you had only dozed off for an hour or so. It was just two hours past midnight, and though you wanted to return to your dorm room, it was too dangerous to venture outside without the invisibility cloak.

Professor Laufeyson had shifted back onto the pillow in your sleep, and there he slumbered perfectly still but for the rise and fall of his bare chest. He laid on his back with one hand above his head, underneath the pillow. The way his face was so calm made you smile. There was no mask, just a gentle expression.

You lifted yourself off the bed to find the washroom. All the professors had private washrooms in their quarters, so your search ended after a quick dash up the staircase. When you completed your trip, you returned to Professor Laufeyson’s bedroom.

One passing glance at his desk made you stop. There was a drawer you opened before that intrigued you when you were searching for bandages. You walked over to the desk and your fingers hesitated above the handle. It was not good to snoop and you should be going back to bed. With him. You gulped.

Any sleep that you felt before now evaded you. Your arms and legs felt sore from branches whipping you in the forest. At the time you felt nothing since there was so much adrenaline in your body, but after that your body ached. And amidst the pain, any dreams you remembered from the last hour were filled with bright yellow eyes and bloodstained teeth. A shiver of fear ran down your arms at the thought of the beast. There was no way you could sleep now.

You opened the drawer and once again, an ethereal pool of silver and white faced you. You gazed at it in wonder and crouched over the drawer, trying to get a closer look. For a moment, you thought you saw faces floating in the bowl. As you looked closer still, something pulled your mind into the pool and you were no longer in Professor Laufeyson’s bedroom.

A kitchen faced you, with glossy wooden counters cut from fine lumber and large candles aflame on the countertops. There was Headmistress Frigga, looking years younger, in a yellow dress with her hair down. She paid no attention to you at all, as if you were not there. For a brief second, you wondered if you were back in the book Spells for the Common House Cat. But this felt different...

A young boy sat at the counter. He could not be a day over six, and tapped his hands on the surface excitedly. “Mother, I’m hungry!”

“Just a moment, precious, let me whip you up a nice salted caramel shake, hmm?” She said and twirled her want in a circle. A medium-sized glass, filled to the brim with a brown looking milky liquid, appeared in front of the boy. His black hair shone in the candlelight and his eyes glinted.

Then, another boy, slightly younger than the first, with bright blonde hair, ran into the kitchen. “Mother! Mother! I want a shake too! How come Loki always gets a special drink and not me!”

The boy, Loki, laughed at his brother and took the glass with both hands. “It’s because I’m clearly Mother’s favourite, Thor.”

Frigga turned away from the boys for a moment as they argued, but you saw her expression. It was filled with pain.

Before you could observe any further, you were whisked away into another place.

You were in an empty classroom, and for a second you thought you were back in Hogwarts. But the colour of everything was slightly off, and everything looked hazy. You gasped when Professor Rattowl burst through the door of the classroom and dragged a lanky black-haired boy into the centre of the room.

“Sit down, you scoundrel!” Rattowl said with an awful scowl.

You walked around him to see the boy. His hair was down to his shoulders and incredibly messy, as if he had gotten into a scuffle. It was Professor Laufeyson, though he seemed a year or two younger than you at this moment. His expression was one of youthful arrogance. He threw daggers at Rattowl with a careless sort of glare.

“I clearly won that duel,” Loki said, a smile creeping up on his lips.

Rattowl looked as if he might actually strike him. “You, boy, are a curse to this school! You’ve injured one of our best students with your dark magic! The only thing left of your terrible father’s legacy!”

Loki nearly stood, eyes aflame. “Do not speak of my father with such insolence! Odin is your minister and a hero!”

Rattowl scoffed at Loki. “Are you truly such an imbecile to think that the great Odin Borson is your father?”

“You’re lying!” Loki hissed.

A woman entered the room with a glass full of a brown drink. It looked similar to what you saw previously, but a little more chunky - as if she made it in haste. “Here love, drink this, it’ll make you feel better.”

Loki eyed the glass. “I don’t want anything.”

The woman and Rattowl looked at each other, and an understanding seemed to pass through them.

“Drink it, boy!” Rattowl yelled. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Loki, whose body thrashed against the chair and then stiffened. Loki emitted the glowing green light from his hands, struggling against the pressure that held him down.

The woman force fed him the drink as he sputtered and coughed, nearly choking. She kept whispering, “I’m sorry, love” as she poured it down his throat. The green light of his magic faltered and eventually fizzled away the more he drank.

You recoiled at the horror of the whole thing and even tried to push the woman away, but your hands merely went through her form.

Rattowl threw a tan handkerchief at Loki when the woman left. “Your so-called father is here. Clean yourself up before you talk to the Minister, boy.”

A couple minutes of silence and solitude passed as Loki sat in the chair, alone. You saw his eyes well up and the most heartbroken expression on his face. Tears stung your own eyes as you felt waves of despair emanate from him.

The door creaked open, and you glanced at the hefty form of Odin arriving. You looked at Loki, who had now wiped away his tears and put on a mask of such stoicism that no one would believe he was nearly sobbing seconds ago.

The door shut with a bang as Odin slowly walked towards Loki. His single eye was shrewd and unfeeling.

“What am I?” Loki said, his eyes were sunken in and red as he slowly stood.

“You’re my son.”

Loki glanced at his hands and though they trembled, he emitted a weak orb of green light that flickered out in seconds. He looked up at Odin, eyes steely. “What more than that?”

Odin paused for several seconds. The silence dragged on. “During the Great Battle, we defeated the Dark One. In the rubble of the castle, we found a child. A small child, left to die. Farbauti’s son.”

“Farbauti...the Dark One’s son.”

“Yes.”

Loki looked at Odin with eyes that were wide and similar to a child that lost its mother at a supermarket; hopeless and frightened. “Why? You were knee deep in the blood of dark wizards. Why would you take me?”

“You were an innocent child.” Odin stood with his chin held high, as if he were the only man in the world that knew the burden of it all.

Loki shook his head. “No, you took me for a purpose. What was it? TELL ME!”

“I took you in to show the wizarding world that mercy was a better path than revenge. There was enough bloodshed, and with you we could prove that dark magic is a choice, not something passed down through blood.” At the last sentence, he looked at Loki squarely in the face, as a warning.

“And you just happened to become Minister of Magic a year later? S-so I was just no more than a tool for your promotion, locked up until you might have more use for me?”

Odin frowned. “Why do you twist my words?”

“You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn’t you?”

“You’re my son. I wanted only to protect you from the truth.”

“W-what, because I’m the son of the monster that parents tell their children about at night?” Loki said as he staggered back and nearly fell, trying to sit down on the chair. Tears welled up in his eyes and he looked hurt beyond recognition. The pain was raw and unyielding.

However, in a matter of seconds, it dissolved into anger. How quickly he switched to a more comfortable emotion than pain. You looked at Odin, who now clenched his jaw and fists, confirming to you that this habit was something Loki picked up from his father.

“You know it all makes sense now, why you favoured Thor all these years! Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never truly love someone with the blood of the Dark One!”

Odin winced and held his chest, beginning to convulse. Loki stopped, anger vanished, and ran to his father who fell to the ground.

“Help! Somebody help!” Loki shouted, tears in his eyes.

Rattowl stormed in and threw Loki aside. “What did you do to him!”

You cried out for Loki and just as soon as you stepped towards the poor teenage boy, now crumpled on the floor, he disappeared in a swirl of blue and grey.

Once again, you were taken away, and then landed in a very unfamiliar place.

It was a room with black tiled floors, walls, and ceilings. There were two large boxes of seats at the end of the room with a tall bench in the middle. In the centre there was a tiny podium surrounded by piles and piles of papers and files on various desks riddled around the room.

Odin sat atop the centre bench, above everything, with a mallet beside him. He looked furious and his visible eye blazed with anger. The centre podium was empty while the surrounding desks and tables were occupied with witches and wizards typing on typewriters and writing in notebooks fervently. The boxes along the side walls were filled with several witches and wizards, all speaking at the same time, whispering and gasping.

“Order! We will have order!” Odin roared, mallet hitting the bench once. The group silenced immediately.

The floor beneath the small podium opened up and there emerged Loki, slightly older and more deranged looking. He rose from a pedestal on the floor, wrapped up in chains from his feet, to his hands, all the way to his neck. The skin under his eyes was purple and bruised looking from lack of sleep; he had a cut on his lip as if someone had punched him; and his clothes were burnt and charred in some spots. He looked a complete mess.

Loki gazed around the room and laughed. His laugh only faltered when he glanced at Frigga near the back. He turned towards to Odin. “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.”

Odin looked down at him from the bench. “Do you truly not feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is death, destruction and ruin.”

“I went down to the muggle realm to rule - er - manage them as a benevolent god. Just like you.”

“We are not gods, we are born, we live, we die just as muggles do.”

Loki leaned forward. “Give or take a bit of magic.”

“All this because Loki desires power?”

Loki stopped smiling and nearly growled the words. “It is what I was meant for!”

Odin glowered at him. “You were meant to die! As a child, cast out in the ruins of a broken kingdom. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me.”

Loki was silent at Odin’s remark and his mask returned. It was cold as he received the sentence from his father.

“You will be sent to Azkaban for your crimes, Loki Laufeyson, for the disturbance of a muggle gathering; revealing the existence of magic to muggles; endangering muggle lives; and…” Odin paused to take a breath, “for the murder of Ministry auror, Tyr Reyja, with the use of the forbidden killing curse.”

You felt like your head was going to split open. “No more, no more!” you said, clasping your ears.

You were sucked out, and you yelled as it felt as though your mind was being ripped apart.

You slammed back against the wall and fell on the floor as you checked your surroundings. It was Professor Laufeyson’s bedroom, and you breathed a sigh of relief. You shut the drawer with your foot and slowly got up, though your head was swimming. It was similar to the book, but you recalled Heimdall discussing the Pensieve: a well of memories for a wizard to file away for their personal review at their leisure.

A part of you felt ashamed at what you saw, but your heart mostly ached for him. You rose and walked over to the bed. His gentle face reminded you so much of that little boy waiting for his mother to give him a meal. The last thing you saw was the murder sentence. It hung over you like the poisoned tip of a sword. The man you saw now did not seem like a murderer, though he was extremely unpredictable.

You laid beside him, and he stirred at your movements. His eyes slowly opened, and he caught you staring at him. “Should you not be sleeping?” He said dreamily.

“I-I was having nightmares about Fenris.” That’s partially true, you thought guiltily.

“Oh, don’t worry about that shaggy beast,” he closed his eyes and grabbed your waist, dragging you right up against his body. You turned to face away from him as your heart pounded loudly in your chest and he encased your body and wrapped his arm around you, just above your chest. His warm breath blew against the back of your neck and your insides quivered. “You’re safe now,” he whispered, and you felt his lips brush your shoulder as he spoke.

Butterflies flew up your throat, and you stiffened. But being in his arms, and feeling his warm body gripping you, made you feel...surprisingly happy. It was not a feeling you were familiar with, but as your heart raced, you gradually fell asleep and, suffice to say, had much better dreams.

------------------- Post chapter comments

I definitely was going to schedule this for Wednesday but messed something up, so you get it one day earlier! lol. Enjoy ;)

[harrysweasleys]

save a life // d.m

Summary: You know what I always thought would be so cute if the reader is a Weasley and dating Draco in secret and he gives her an amulet and if the person wearing it gets hurt instead of dying it turns into a sleeping spell and during the Battle of Hogwarts she saves Fred and ends up on the floor instead and Draco rushes over and just loses it and then he sees that you're still wearing necklace and kisses you and it's angsty but with a happy ending sorry I'm a sucker things like these

Warnings: violence, language, blood

Word Count: 5.1k

A/N: so i changed up the request a tad, sorry about that, but nonetheless it’s pretty much what the request wanted! my requests are still open but i’ve got a long list to get through so sorry for the wait. xxx (gif not mine)

-

“Draco, I can’t accept this, it’s far too expensive,” Y/N’s mouth was agape as she stared down at the necklace in the little black velvet box. The charm on the end, which Y/N immediately recognized as a Protective Amulet — which they had studied in DADA — was glistening brightly, showing off its worth.

“No, it wasn’t,” Draco replied, placing his hand on hers before gently kissing her knuckles, “Besides, this can save your life, therefore it’s priceless.”

She looked up at him, still stunned speechless. She knew that Protective Amulets were rare, nearly impossible to find as they were in such high demand at this time of crisis, and she had never in a million years expected to receive one.

“What about you? You need to be protected too,” Y/N raised an eyebrow, closing up the box and placing it in her pocket, keeping it safe and away from the prying eyes of passing students. Her and Draco, although public with their relationship, tried their best to keep it as private as possible. She hated the attention they always got for being together.

“Don’t worry about me,” he brushed her off, “You know I’m in a very different position than you are.” He tapped his left forearm as a reminder that he was, in fact, fighting a very different battle than she was. When he showed Y/N the Dark Mark for the first time, they had spent the entire night crying, wrapped up in each other’s arms.

She knew it was coming. Hell, anyone who knew about Draco’s situation knew it was coming. But it didn’t change the shock and heartbreak that Y/N felt looking down at the dark ink permanently etched into the pale skin of her boyfriend. She hated looking at it. It was a reminder that Draco had no control over his life, that his entire legacy was built for him, that this was the reason he didn’t sleep nights. He was just as terrified as she was.

“You’re still dealing with You Know Who,” she pressed on, tossing a strand of her ginger hair out of her face, “If anything, you’d need even more protection. You know I always worry about you, I hate not knowing if you’re okay.”

“Love, it’s okay,” he smiled softly, sadly even, placing a hand on her shoulder and gazing into her brown eyes, “Don’t you worry about me. I can handle my end of the fight.”

Y/N squinted her eyes at him, ready to keep pressing the subject, but decided against it, “Fine. Thank you, though. It’s beautiful.” It truly was beautiful. The red gem in the centre caught her attention right away, the way that it almost seemed to glow under the bright lights.

“I’m glad you like it,” Draco said softly, placing a light kiss on her forehead and interlacing his hand with hers, “Now, should we get a move on to dinner so we can make it in time for pudding?”

Y/N grinned, placing a light kiss to his lips — which he gladly reciprocated — before the two of them made their way into the Great Hall. Draco waved ‘bye’ before making his way over to the Slytherin table, and Y/N made her way over to the Gryffindor one, sitting between her siblings.

“What’d he give you?” Ginny asked, peering over to her sister with a pressing look on her face. She had clearly watched the encounter between the two of them outside the Great Hall, making Y/N’s cheeks flush a light pink.

“A necklace,” Y/N grinned shyly, helping herself to come potatoes, “Protective Amulet, actually.”

“A what?” Ron’s mouth was agape, “Where the bloody hell did he manage to find one of those?”

Y/N shrugged, placing her fork down and taking the little box out of her pocket, making sure no one else was looking, and opened it up. Ginny and Ron looked awestruck, while Fred and George seemed to be too busy paying attention to their food to notice the commotion. Y/N placed the necklace proudly around her neck, letting the Amulet dangle between her collarbones.

“Damn,” Ginny nodded approvingly, “That little squirt has some good taste.”

Y/N giggled, admiring the way the candle light reflected off of the gems. She wasn’t one for fancy jewellery, having even told Draco not to buy her any once they started dating, but this felt like more than a show-off gesture. Him giving her something that would save her life felt like the biggest gesture he could possibly give her, one that really showed how much he cared.

When they started dating about a year ago, it was as if a fire had spread throughout both of their lives. Y/N’s family — her father in particular — were in no means ‘fans’ of the Malfoy family. In fact, although Arthur Weasley denies it, his dislike towards Lucius Malfoy grows exponentially by the day. And Draco’s family on the other hand loved to call Y/N and her family ‘blood traitors’ and ‘disgraces’ as well as making sure the fact that they were poor was very much a topic of conversation.

Both their parents were still iffy about the entire concept of their kids being together, but Y/N’s siblings had learned to accept it, much to her gratitude. Ron took longer than the rest, having dealt with Draco’s bullying first hand for five years now, but he eventually came around as long as they didn’t ‘flaunt their love’ in front of him on a daily basis.

“I reckon he didn’t get one for the rest of us, then?” Ron asked, glaring at Draco on the opposite end of the Great Hall while picking at the chicken legs on his plate.

“If you were his girlfriend I’m sure he would, Ronald,” Ginny replied, chuckling at her brother’s reaction. Y/N laughed as well, her hand still playing with the jewel around her neck as the dinner plates vanished, filling the table with multiple assortments of puddings.

“Always the best part,” Ron shoved his fork in, filling his plate to the brim.

Y/N looked over to the Slytherin table, catching Draco’s eye, and smiled widely at him, pointing to the necklace she was now wearing. He smirked at her, winking and shooting a thumbs up, going unnoticed by everyone else, but causing her entire body to flutter.

— —

“What do you think life will be like after the war?” Y/N was twirling a strand of Draco’s hair, overlooking the grounds of Hogwarts as the two of them sat comfortably in the fresh air of the Astronomy tower. They had used this location for most of their private moments, using it to talk about anything and everything. And of course, it was a good makeout spot.

“Peaceful, I hope,” he replied, gazing up at her quickly before turning back to watch the setting sun. Their sixth year hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. Voldemort had returned, Dumbledore was missing constantly, and with Snape as the new Defence professor, Y/N Weasley was worried their education wasn’t preparing them well enough for their eventual battle.

“Do you think we’ll win?” she asked, pulling her hand away from his hair and turning to face him with a more serious expression, “By ‘we’ I mean anti-Voldemort people. You know, the good guys.”

Draco, although his parents were forcing him to join the ‘dark side’, was still secretly fighting alongside Y/N. She had helped him overcome the urges that came with his newfound Dark Mark, and promised him she’d stick by his side no matter what. He was prepared to leave the Dark Lord’s orders if it meant keeping her safe.

“I do,” he said softly, sitting up, “I think that once the war happens, we’ll be prepared enough to take him down.”

Y/N smiled softly, brushing her hair out of her face, “Dad says he thinks it’ll happen soon. Everyone at the Ministry is in a frenzy. And Fred and George are basically the only open shop in Diagon Alley, no one wants to go out anymore. The entire Wizarding world is in a panic.”

Draco sighed, gently placing a hand on her cheek, his other hand twirling the Amulet necklace she was wearing, “Love, I can’t promise everything will end up being the way it was before, but no matter what happens, I am not leaving your side. And as long as you wear that—,” he pointed to her Amulet, “—you’ll be by mine as well. And that’s all I want. You.”

“I love you,” she grinned, pulling him in for a tender kiss, “We’ll get through this together, yeah?”

“Of course, my love.”

— —

The war had come.

As another wall came crumbling down mere meters from her, Y/N dodged out of the way, her wand still gripped tightly in her hand.

She had been preparing for this for two years now, ever since Harry had emerged from the Triwizard Maze with Cedric’s lifeless body. They had prepared for this when Dumbledore’s Army came to life, all of them training constantly to fight back against the dark forces that were bound to come.

But, as Y/N gazed around the crumbling Hogwarts, watching some of her friends die before her very eyes, she realized that nothing could have really prepared her for this.

“Petrificus Totalus!” she shouted, the Death Eater that was standing in front of her now tumbling down the staircase as stiff as a board. She watched him fall for a long while before deciding to take off down another hallway, gliding against the wall to avoid being seen. She had intelligently decide to wear all black clothing to believe she’d be well hidden, but completely ignored the fact that her bright red hair gave her away instantly. It wasn’t her best moment.

“Y/N!” Hermione and Harry came barreling around the corner, frightening her nearly half to death, followed by Ron, Percy and Fred shortly after.

“Oh, thank Merlin, it’s you guys,” she hugged her brothers quickly, noticing the deep cut on Ron’s cheek and the blood coming from Percy’s hairline. She herself had a few deep scrapes and bruises as well, the blood smeared across her face and hands. Some of it hers, some of it not.

“Why are you all alone?” Harry asked, eyes darting around the corridor with full alertness, “We should all have backup.”

“I lost Ginny after a chandelier came crashing down,” Y/N said, her voice shaky with adrenaline, “We took off in opposite directions.”

“Is she okay?” Harry’s eyes were wide, the panic evident in the way his head snapped violently towards her.

Y/N grinned softly, clutching her wand tightly, “She’s safe, Harry.” He let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head slightly.

“Snape’s dead,” his voice was quieter, almost regretful.

Y/N felt her heart drop. She was never fond of Snape — he hated her and her family to his very core — but he was still someone she had looked up to, “Oh, that’s awful. An awful way to go, in the middle of a war.”

“Where’s Malfoy?” Ron asked, looking out the window that was facing the grounds, green and red flashes blasting in countless different directions.

“I—I don’t know,” Y/N admitted. She had seen him not ten minutes ago, he had arrived with his parents looking very sunken and gloomy, but they hadn’t had a chance to speak two words to each other since the battle had begun. She was worried for his safety, but she figured no one was really after him. Students didn’t know he was a Death Eater and Narcissa would protect her son until her dying breath.

Her heart sunk thinking about him. Since the end of their sixth year, things had been weird. She didn’t blame him, he had insane pressure being thrust upon his shoulders. His parents wouldn’t let him leave their side and Y/N’s parents would let her leave the house or even send Owls. She had pretty much lost all contact with him.

After the summer holidays and after Y/N attended her older brother Bill’s wedding, she had not spoken a single word to him.

Were they even together anymore?

“He’s here, though,” she spoke up once realizing she had been silent for a while, “I saw him.”

Hermione nodded understandingly, placing a hand on Y/N’s shoulder. Hermione, who had been falling for Ron since third year, was the only person Y/N really confided in about her relationship. She didn’t even tell Ginny much. The only reason she confided in Hermione was because she knew about her feelings towards Ron. They often had late night chats about boys and their futures — those chats were some of the best moments in Y/N’s time at Hogwarts, really.

“Look out!” Ron shouted, but it was too late. Y/N was sent flying backwards, crashing into a stone pillar, violently hitting her skull and spine. She could feel the blood oozing out of the back of her head, her eyesight becoming insanely fuzzy, but she opened her eyes in time to see Fred hex the Death Eater, who went flying out a broken window.

Y/N’s eyes started to droop again, and that’s when she noticed the Amulet sitting on the ground in a tiny pile of rubble. It was no longer on her. Panicking slightly, she cleared her throat, blinking rapidly to regain her proper vision.

“Fred—,” she croaked out to the closest person, lifting her hand to point down at it, “Can you get it for me? The Amulet?”

Fred picked it up, rushing over to help his little sister stand up. After she was on her feet, still reasonably dizzy and lightheaded, a bright green flash had flown by, blinding them all for a good moment.

“Avada Kedavra!” Y/N ducked down, her heart skipping a beat. Someone was going to die. 

Fred’s hand — that had been linked with her own — was now gone. The spell had hit him right in the middle of his chest and he was sent flying back, his body lying limp on the floor in a heap of broken stone.

Y/N thought she was going to vomit. She rushed over, letting Percy and Harry deal with the Death Eater, and picked up Fred’s head, resting it in her lap. His hair was standing on end as if he had been electrocuted, and his skin felt hot to the touch, but it didn’t stop her from attempting to shake him awake.

“Freddie?” she asked, her voice still trembling but this time due to the fact that she was holding back tears, “Freddie, please wake up.”

Ron was slumped against a wall, his eyes red and his breathing irregular as he watched Y/N try to wake up their brother. Hermione was comforting him, leaning her head against his shoulder, also trying to keep her emotions in.

Y/N couldn’t take her eyes away from her dead brother, whose eyes were still open wide, a faint smile on his lips that had been there before he got his with the blinding green flash.

“Fred, please wake up,” Y/N cried softly, ignoring Percy leaning down next to her and holding Fred’s limp hand in his own. She shut her eyes, letting the tears flow freely. The feeling of loss was horrendous. She was never going to hear Fred talk, or hear another one of his stupid jokes—

“Reckon I better thank the Slytherin git.”

Y/N’s eyes shot open, looking down at Fred, whose face was now in a painful grimace. His eyes were still closed but he was breathing. His eyelids flickered open and he coughed violently, dust and bits of stone coming out of his mouth.

“Fred?” Y/N dropped his head, placing her hands over his chest to check for a heartbeat to make sure she wasn’t imagining things, and thankfully, there was one, “Fred, you’re alive...”

“Do I have Harry’s scar?” he asked, eyes opening slightly and his infamous grin making its way back onto his face as if he hadn’t just died, “On my forehead, do I have one now too?”

Y/N, too shocked to do anything, glanced up at his forehead, “No.”

“Damn,” Fred muttered, still coughing, “That’s rather unfortunate.” Y/N couldn’t believe he was still alive. But as she looked down to his hand, which was now open, she could see the bright glow of the Protective Amulet glistening brightly. Fred had it. 

“It saved him,” Ron muttered, his eyes wide as he leaned off of the wall, walking over to see his siblings, “Y/N, you had him pick it up for you and it saved him.”

Y/N was still speechless. Her own heart had regained its beat, but her head was still spinning, and the feeling of wanting to vomit was probably even stronger now than when she thought he was dead.

Fred carefully made his way to stand up assisted by Ron and Percy, while Y/N still crouched on the floor next to where he had been laying, her eyes glued to the floor in shock.

“You good, little sis?” Fred asked, sticking his hand out to help her up, “I’m the one who nearly died but you’re the one who seems to be on the verge of passing out.”

“I need to go see Malfoy,” she stood up hastily, rubbing the dirt from her hands onto her pants before pulling her brother into a bone-crushing hug, “Believe me, I’m thankful you’re alive. You have no idea. But I need to go see him.”

“What a roller coaster,” Ron ran his hand down his face, shaking his head before pulling Fred in for a hug as well, “George will have a laugh.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll find his twin brother almost dying hilarious,” Hermione scoffed, crossing her arms, “Y/N, why do you need to go see Malfoy? Isn’t he, you know, not on our side?”

Y/N shook her head vigorously, eyes wide, “He’s always been on our side. He had a weird way of showing it, but he’s never been evil,” she leaned over to pick up her wand off the floor and proceeded to place it in her inside coat pocket, “He’s been forced by his parents to become dangerous. I need to go help him.”

“But why now?” Percy asked, eyeing his little sister with what could only be seen as suspicion. Percy had been the only vocal sibling about his dislike towards Malfoy. Working alongside the Ministry for so many years now, he had heard horrible tales of Lucius Malfoy and tried to keep his youngest sister away from that family the best he could. Unsuccessfully, of course.

“Because he saved Fred, Perc,” she replied, her voice firm, “Well, indirectly, but still. He helped me. I need to go help him.”

The rest of the gang was silent, no one wanting to argue with Y/N — the fire in her eyes was burning bright and there was no way they would attempt to put it out. She was determined, and no one stops a Weasley.

“Do you want backup?” Harry asked cautiously, “Just incase his parents are around, that is.”

“No,” she shook her head once more, “I need to go alone.”

And without another word, she bolted down the nearby staircase, careful not to step on bodies and trying her best to avoid tripping on large chunks of rubble. The school that she had been practically living in for seven years looked unrecognizable. Walls were blown away, blood was smeared on the floors, unfamiliar bodies littered the corridors, and the constant flash of spells reminded her of a violent thunderstorm.

She continued rushing downstairs, luckily avoiding any encounters, and barged into the Great Hall, where she did indeed find Draco. His hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lip was quivering. He was naturally very pale, but he looked even more ghostly under the faint light and the fact that he was surrounded by at least a dozen Death Eaters.

Her heart caught in her throat as she noticed all the eyes in the room now locked on her, Draco’s as well.

“Well, well,” Bellatrix Lestrange’s cackling voice reached her ears and she could feel her fingers begin to shake as they gripped her wand even tighter, “It’s another Weasley, is it not?”

Y/N locked eyes with Draco, who seemed even more panicked now that she was in the room. He nudged his head towards the door, silently telling her to leave, but she shook her head and stood her ground.

“Bella, don’t intimidate our guest,” Lucius Malfoy’s voice reached her ears and she grimaced. He had never liked her, and she doubted he would play saint right now.

“My name’s Y/N,” she said weakly, ignoring the laughs of the Death Eaters who were thrilled by her discomfort. She only recognized a few of them, having heard from Draco who they were, but some were unfamiliar, and the uncertainty of the situation she was in was starting to settle in her chest.

Lucius chucked, running a hand through his greasy blond hair, “Yes, yes, I am familiar with you. Draco, this is your little... girlfriend... is it not?”

Draco’s eyes were wide and he shook his head, tossing his hair back and forth aggressively, “No. We broke up.”

If Y/N wasn’t already devastated, she was now. Was he being honest, or was it just to get Lucius to leave her alone? The coldness in his eyes told her that it was true, but the way he was silently pleading her to leave the room also made her believe he was just trying to keep her safe.

“Ah,” Lucius nodded his head, holding his wand and twirling it through his fingers, “Then why are you here? You’re hardly Death Eater material.”

Y/N froze on the spot, having no idea what to say. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open, and her entire body trembling in both fear and adrenaline.

“Isn’t it clear?” Narcissa Malfoy emerged from behind her husband, her face fierce but her eyes showing the same uneasiness as her son, “It doesn’t matter why she’s here. It matters what we do with her.”

Lucius’ smirk widened as he faced his son, “Ah, yes. Draco, would you do the honours?”

Y/N took a step backwards, wishing she could leave but knowing there was no chance of that now. Draco’s face fell and his lip opened to speak, until he was cut off by his mother once more.

“I highly doubt we should do this here. I’ll escort Draco and Miss Weasley out, we will do this privately,” Narcissa demanded, glaring at her husband, “This is a war, but have some respect for your son, Lucius.”

Narcissa approached Y/N, who was still standing rooted to the floor, face pale and hands balled up into fists so tightly that all colour had left her hands. She knew Narcissa was more fond of her than Lucius, but she didn’t think that she would be the one to force Draco to kill her.

“Come with me,” Narcissa whispered in Y/N’s ear, grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of the room. Y/N was being pulled around so quickly she didn’t have the chance to look at Draco, who was following in tow with tearful eyes.

“In here,” Narcissa pushed Y/N into a dark classroom, pulled Draco in behind her, and shut the door forcefully. Y/N was holding back hot tears, reaching into her jacket slowly to pull out her wand, prepared to defend herself if ever she was going to be attacked by one of the two people in the room with her.

“No need for that,” Narcissa snapped quietly, “I’m not going to make Draco kill you.”

Both Y/N and Draco’s heads snapped up to face her, their expressions nearly matched.

“I’m not a horrible person,” she scoffed, “I know you two need a moment. I will stand guard outside this door.”

With a swift movement, she was outside, the door shut behind her. Y/N and Draco were alone in the room, heavy breathing being the only sound either of them could hear. It felt strange being alone with him, they hadn’t really interacted or been together in such a long time. A lot had happened, and by the looks of it, Draco wasn’t exactly doing any better.

His hands were clenched around his wand, fingers white, and his eyes glued to the floor.

“The Amulet saved Fred,” Y/N spoke up first, wiping away the tears that had threatened to spill, “I wanted to say thank you for giving it to me.”

“You could have been killed,” Draco snapped, taking a seat on top of one of the desks, running his hands through his hair and then down his face, frustration laced into his features, “You know how dangerous this lot is.”

“Yes, I do know,” Y/N replied softly despite the bubbling frustration she was feeling, “But you helped me. I needed to come try and help you.”

He shook his head, locking his eyes with hers, “I gave that to you to save you. I don’t need you to return the favour.”

Y/N had gotten used to his insane stubbornness, but she was beginning to get irritated. They were in the middle of a war, this was hardly the time to get into an argument about a necklace.

“Draco, please, let me help you,” she placed her hands on his, and thankfully, he didn’t pull away like she expected him too. His hands were hot, the feeling of his skin touching hers making her entire body relax.

“How? How can I just leave them?” his voice was no longer accusatory, but gentle and vulnerable, “I want to, believe me, but I can’t. It’s too dangerous. And they’ll know you were involved.”

Sitting next to him on the desk, Y/N wrapped her hand around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug, not thinking twice. He relaxed against her touch, resting his head against her shoulder and letting his hands fall around her waist. It was an awkward hug, considering they were sitting down, but Y/N loved it nonetheless.

She leaned into him, running her hand through his matted hair and placing her forehead against his shoulder, “It’s going to be hard, I know, but I’ll be by your side. I just want to save you the way you saved me.”

She was extremely cautious of pressuring him too much. Draco had spent his enter life being pushed into things, ordered around. When they had started dating two years before, he was careful not to let her see too much of who he was. But when he opened up, Y/N jumped at the chance to make sure he knew she would always be there. She reminded him every second of the day that all she wanted to do was help him. Watching him become a Death Eater was the hardest thing she had ever gone through — she couldn’t imagine what it was like for him.

If she wasn’t currently giving Draco her undivided attention, she would have missed the way he nodded his head softly, mumbling a quiet ‘okay.’

“Okay, good,” she pulled away from him, flashing the best smile she could muster despite the weight on her shoulders, “Your mother is outside this door. She can help us. She can tell the others that you killed me or... performed the Cruciatus curse, no?”

“I guess she could,” Draco replied, standing off the desk and standing in front of Y/N, “She told me I could make up my own mind. And I’m doing just that.”

Y/N felt her heart swell. She hopped off the desk too, linking her hand with his. He smiled softly down at her. It didn’t reach his eyes, but she could tell he really did appreciate what she was doing for him. He had never been able to actually get help before, but now that she was standing here in front of him, he couldn’t leave her.

“Come on,” she started leading him towards the door, but as she tugged on his hand, he stayed still, “Draco, what—?”

“Are you wearing the necklace?” he asked softly, eyes scanning her neck.

“Yes,” she replied, reaching under her shirt and taking it out from where she had placed it back on while running down to the Great Hall. Despite the dark room and the tense atmosphere, the jewel still glowed brightly.

Draco looked at it, his eyes softening, and pulled Y/N to him, pressing his lips against hers like she was his life source. Their lips moulded perfectly, as if everything around them ceased to exist. The distant screams could no longer be heard, and the darkness in the room seemed comfortable.

They pulled away from each other hesitantly, both of them having new found determination in their eyes.

“I think I’m ready,” Draco presses his forehead up against hers, his hand reaching to fumble with the Amulet, rolling it between his fingers, “I love you so much. And I didn’t mean it when I said we were broken up, you know.”

“I know. And I love you just as much,” Y/N replied, placing a quick kiss on his cheek, her heart soaring, and pulled her wand out of her pocket. They laced their hands together once more, walking towards the heavy door and pulling it open, ready for what was to face them.

Narcissa, looking slightly more frazzled than before, looked between them, then down to their interlaced fingers.

“I have to go,” Draco’s face was set, all trace of vulnerability he showed in the room were now gone. Y/N squeezed his hand tighter, supporting him. He squeezed back as a silent thank you.

Narcissa nodded, “I understand. Be safe, Draco.”

Draco nodded, turning to face Y/N, and proceeded to run down the hall with her by his side. Not in the direction of the Great Hall, but towards the battle, where both of them could save the place and people they grew up with. As they reached the courtyard unscathed, Draco pulled out his wand.

“Together, yeah?” he asked, clenching his jaw and gripping the wand in his hand, his other one still linked with Y/N’s.

“Yeah, together,” Y/N replied, lifting his hand to kiss his knuckles, “Let’s go win a war.”

[arbysfightcam]

I forgot who did this originally so if anyone figures it out I’ll be sure to give proper credit!!

Who wants an in-depth Q&A? Me.

I tried to make it as ambiguously as I could so that it wasn’t tied to one DR. I have like 3 immediate ones, but 7 or 8 in total.

1. What color is your hair? Is it long or short?

Long! I have long hair irl and I like my long hair!! It’s about waist length or longer. I want to try short hair in my dr though! My hair is naturally blue because I had blue hair irl (on the underneath) and I really liked it! My hair is also naturally wavy hair (2b and thick)

2. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

Introverted extrovert! I guess you could say ambivert but I lean more on the introvert side. I am quiet and shy once you first meet me but I become quiet the social butterfly once I open up! I also consider myself an introverted extrovert because my social battery tends to get low but I have to be around people to get my fill of entertainment.

3. Whats your favorite color?

Blue! Royal blue I guess.

4. Whats your eye color?

Hazel! From far away my eyes look brown but up close you can see the green.

5. Favorite food?

Goulash! It’s always been my favorite food.

6. Who is your closest friend?

My friend, who I will refer to as Lee for now. She’s a shifter just like me irl and I try to incorporate her in my DR(s).

7. If you have one, love interest? If not, name another friend you have!

Bungou Stray Dogs: Osamu Dazai and Chuuya Nakahara

Genshin Impact: Albedo

8. Any pets?

I’ve posted him on my page before but at the moment they’re privated (as of 03/03/21). I will forever always have my Orange fluffy cat named Jack in my DRs.

9. If you're in a reality with superpowers, what's your power(s)?

Bungou Stray Dogs: Not a power but a genetically modified suit. It looks similar to the “molded” in Resident Evil 7. Yes it’s meant to look scary. The branch of government i worked in has a scientific facility work on these suits to combat any ability-user. (There are ability-users in Bungou Stray Dogs) It’s relatively strong, incredibly agility, has retractable claws, and damn near impenetrable skin; but the downside is that it works similarly to Childe’s Foul Legacy (Genshin Impact) form—the user can only stay in it for so long until their body either succumbs to death or they run out of energy.

Genshin Impact: Anemo Claymore

10. What is your theme song, or just a song that reminds you of yourself?

Oo i havent thought of this. I’ll have to get back to it.

11. Did you keep your CR name, or use a different one?

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dr. Lynn Jones

Genshin Impact: Aegis Jones

Streamer DR: Lynn Jones

12. "Strangest" place you've wanted to shift to?

Hm. Also haven’t thought of this one. Probably one where I have short hair originally.

OH OH I REMEMBER I look up to Oliver Sacks greatly (a psychologist) and I either wanted to shift to be him or shift to meet him! He died in 2015 so I can’t meet him here.

13. Favorite subliminal you've used?

I don’t use subliminals, at least not very often, but even then I don’t have a “favorite” one.

14. Do you use guided meditations?

I use two! I don’t use guided meditation very often. I listen to music.

Ten minute guided meditation

Guided meditation for reality shifting

15. When was the last time you decided to shift?

Last night in a drowsy state – no I didn’t shift I fell back asleep

16. Do you know anyone personally who knows about and/or supports shifting?

My friend Lee who I mentioned earlier! We didn’t talk about it before until she randomly sent me a tiktok video about it one day and I went “!!!Hogwarts!!!”

17. Why are you shifting? If you feel comfortable sharing, that is.

At first I wanted to shift because I wanted to visit other realities and learn about them, I do still but I now want to shift to meet the people I either look up to or find comfort in.

18. Would you ever try group shifting?

YESSSS Lee and I shared a script just for that. She hasn’t had time though because they’re in college.

19. If you have yet to shift, what are you most looking forwards to?

Meeting people! Probably just experiencing the realness of the other reality too.

20. If you have shifted already, what's been the best part?

Doesn’t apply yet!!

I guess whoever wants to I guess? I don’t really like tagging people myself

Questions at the bottom in one paragraph for easier copying

1. What color is your hair? Is it long or short? 2. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert? 3. Whats your favorite color? 4. Whats your eye color? 5. Favorite food? 6. Who is your closest friend? 7. If you have one, love interest? If not, name another friend you have! 8. Any pets? 9. If you're in a reality with superpowers, what's your power(s)? 10. What is your theme song, or just a song that reminds you of yourself? 11. Did you keep your CR name, or use a different one? 12. "Strangest" place you've wanted to shift to? 13. Favorite subliminal you've used? 14. Do you use guided meditations? 15. When was the last time you decided to shift? 16. Do you know anyone personally who knows about and/or supports shifting? 17. Why are you shifting? If you feel comfortable sharing, that is. 18. Would you ever try group shifting? 19. If you have yet to shift, what are you most looking forwards to? 20. If you have shifted already, what's been the best part?

[just-dreaming-about]

SHOW YOUR FEELINGS #2

I was just in the mood for a second round of these two.

WARNINGS: Smutty? Just a little in the end. THINGS GOT INTENSE WITH SEXUAL TENSION SORRY.

(NOT MY GIF)

It took Sirius three years and cancel their marriage to finally talk to Gadea like a real person although she continued to show her characteristic indifference to his jokes and attempts to flirt.

-Be careful, Padfoot -James had said- Or sooner than you think you'll be engaged again. 

Nah, marriage was not his thing. He was sure about it. But at the same time he stopped flirting with others girls... 

-I'm bored, that's all! -he replied while Remus was just smiling. 

But he was often up late at night thinking about her. How many times had he seen her today? Had he been the one to make her laugh in history class? How many classes did they share together tomorrow? He had to make sure to make her angry tomorrow again, he never tired of seeing her angry.And this is how they finished their sixth year: they were still arguing about everything yes, but now there was also some complicity between them or at least he felt that way. They were no longer strangers who had once been engaged but they also could not say they were friends. There was this little connection between them that neither of them dared to name it but both were comfortable with the dynamics of their new and much more relaxed relationship.  Of course she didn't show her feelings openly, it took him a long time to get to know her and she wasn't exactly making it easy for him. He had to watch for any signs, any small gestures that gave her away, like her eyes widening a thousandth of a second at the surprises before she regained her indifference and began to analyze the new situation or her hands playing with the edge of her sleeve she was thinking of say something and didn't know if it was a good time to say it or her lips only lifted a little when he flirted with her and then she looked away to change the subject... And suddenly, just after the final exams Sirius found a new emotion in her that left him completely captivated by her.  She blushed.  It wasn't planned, he was just casually hanging around with the marauders after their exams and saw her exists the exam class with her things under her arms and a proud expression on her face. Not caring about his friends' comments, he ran to her and jumped over the small wall that separated the courtyard from the hallway to walk beside her.

-So?  -So? -she repeated without looking at him and without stopping or slowing down just because he walked beside her.  -It’s written in your face, you passed right? -The exam has just ended, Black. They won't give us the results until next week.

But she had this proud smile that gives her away.  The voices of Gadea's friends, all Slytherins, called her at the end of the hall, and that's when they stopped. It was as if no one wanted their worlds to collide: the world of blood-purity and social status and their own where they could speak without restrictions. She would prefer stayed at their own world.

-You know, those idiots don't value the amazing and stunning witch you are. They should appreciate how incredibly smart you are. 

He was looking at those prats already, crossing his arms and frowning at the looks they gave him.  She couldn't control herself and flushed bright red in front of him. She pretended that she was angry and insulted him and ran out of there like a storm. He had seen her blush other times: from rage after being the victim of a joke, from excitement at a new challenge, embarrassed because she had caught him with some girl in the hallways -something he was not very proud of now- but that way of blushing for him... Because he had caused that reaction in her! He had said the compliment and he had made her blush. He was so proud of himself even if he didn't planned it.  He couldn't see the end of his friends' teasing after this. They just saw how quickly he managed to make her run away angry about something. Little they knew what had just begun in front of their eyes. During the last days of class Sirius found himself for the first time not wanting to finish the course. James thought he had a fever and Remus even offered him chocolate to bring him to his senses. On the express back to London, Sirius and Gadea collided in the middle of the hall. She just wanted to go to the bathroom, he was running away from another joke he had made with James.

-Have a nice summer, Sirius -she said a little awkward, almost like she was embarrassed. 

It was the first time she called him by his name. Usually she called him Black or idiot or other things like that. 

-You too, Gadea -he grinned broadly to her. 

That summer was one of the best in his life. The Potters were his new family, James was like his brother, even Remus came to stay over several times and they made Godryc's Hollow's nightmares reality while having fun around the city. For James the end of summer was the worst in the world, for Sirius it was an opportunity to see Gadea. They hadn't written to each other during the holidays, he hadn't heard from her since the last time he saw her saying goodbye to some Slytherins and dragging her suitcases out of the station. Alone. He hoped with all his heart that the marriage issue had settled and she was free at last. He wouldn't say it out loud to James or Remus. The three of them made it to the station willing to start their last year at Hogwarts. They had to take advantage of that last year and make it unforgettable.  Little does he knew how unforgettable would start their year.  There were many people at the station, that was not new, but as they dragged their suitcases they could see that many people were beginning to gather in the same place and from the center of that crowd there were screams. The three of them, together like always, made their way through the crowd until they only had a couple of people in front of them who had to look over their shoulders to see what was going on. And there she was. She was already wearing her perfectly flawless Slytherin uniform. Her hair had grown during the holidays. But something was wrong. Her blue-gray eyes staring at the ground, her lips pressed together in a fine line, her cheeks red in anger, her shoulders trembling and her fists closed.In front of her a couple, definitely her parents. The woman looked very much like her physically but with the man she only shared the color of her eyes. He was angry and was creaming as she tried to calm him down because they were making a scene in front of many people.

-You ungrateful girl! Your mother and I have tried very hard to give you the life that we didn't have and this is how you thank us? Your egoism has no limits? Think about your family, the legacy we have left you, you are throwing it to the ground betting on the wrong broom. Do you want to risk spending the best years of your life studying something that will ruin you instead of taking advantage of the path we have opened for you? Damn ungrateful, you should show more respect for your parents!

It was as if she had sensed Sirius's presence in the crowd and just as he stepped forward to take her out of there, she looked at him. Her eyes reflected a rage and pain so deep that he had never seen in anyone and hoped he would never see it in her eyes again. Her gaze was enough to stop him in his tracks and he thought that he wouldn't like to be in that man's place when the girl's eyes fixed on him.

-Show more respect? To the persons who treated me like I were less than an object? I am just one more chip on your perfect chessboard, dispensable if that means you will get what you want. Neither of you know me at all! Am I betting on the wrong broom for wanting to study? I am the best witch of my course, leader of the dueling club and you do not even know half of what I can do! -You insolent girl, take your words back!-Never! -I have to repeat to you why you should respect your father!?

To everyone's surprise, the man stepped toward her threateningly and raising his hand. To everyone's even greater surprise -except for Sirius- she didn't back down. In one swift movement she held the wand in her hand and an elegant twist of that wand was enough to hurl the man forcefully many meters away from her, over people and into the students' suitcases.

-Gadea! -her mother scolded her, looking at her between surprise and angry.She looked at her mother with the same swagger she showed in class when she won a duel without batting an eye. From the way the woman looked at her, Sirius thought it was the first time she had realized what her daughter was capable of.

-I will be the best witch you have ever seen, mother. Don't be shocked when your hist'ry book mentions me. You will swallow your words and come to beg me for mercy.

Without further ado and with a smooth wand movement, which at first her mother feared was a spell against her, her suitcases rose from the ground and followed her into the express but she stopped before entering.

-And don't expect me to come back this summer.

With that the fight was over and people began to dissolve, going back to their things and chatting about what had just happened. Sirius turned to look at his friends, the three of them still surprised at what had just happened.

-I have to go with her -he said frankly and his friends nodded to him.  -Go. We'll take care of your things -said Remus. 

With a grateful look he ran to the express and looked for her. In every compartment he looked in there were students from all houses and all ages, some even talking about what they had just heard about the Salaverts, others about what awaited them in this new course. But she was not in either and the train was already starting to move to Hogwarts and he was getting anxious. Finally, in the last compartment, just behind one that was completely empty, there was one with the window curtains drawn as if someone didn't want to be disturbed. She had to be here. So he tapped lightly on the door, leaning one hand on the window to prevent himself from the train moves and to gather strength on what might be found on the other side of the door. He have never been so nervous. He ran a hand through his hair to remove it from his face and called again.

-I don't want anything from the cart, thanks -her voice sounded calm which surprised him more than if he had caught her crying.  -It's me. Sirius -he said nervously and then added- Black. 

The door opened a few seconds later, revealing a quiet Gadea who was trying to untie her green tie.

-Are you aware that you are the only Sirius from Hogwarts? -she asked walking in the compartment to let him in. 

Still fighting with the tie. 

-I'm glad you find me unique and irreplaceable -he joked instinctively closing the door behind him.  -Stupid -she mumbled getting anger with the tie.  -Let me, you'll hang yourself -he said taking her by the shoulders to make her turn so he can undo his tie.

They were so close that he could smell the sweet fragrance she was giving off and his hands worked carefully so as not to touch anything other than her tie or hang her. He had to bend down a little because her head came to his chin.

-Why are you here, Sirius? -she whispered. -To be honest? -he was whispering too and she could smell chocolate for some reason- I was worried about you. But I should already know that you can get your own ass out of problems.

She smiled proudly and looked at the ceiling, letting him work. She didn't need to ask him how much he saw, he saw it all. She was worried that he thought she was fragile or that she needed protection but he didn't think that and that relaxed her. His hands worked fast and he quickly untied the knot in his tie, tugged on one end to finish taking it off completel, and set it on the seat to his right.

-That's it, it won't bother you anymore. You're welcome -he smiled and looked at her eyes.  -Thank you -she was still whispering- For the tie... and for coming. You didn't have to.

He was silent for a moment, looking at her as if determining her emotional state, but she wasn’t going to cry, she felt too free and rebellious and fulfilled right now to worry about crying.

-But I had to -a smirk started to form in his face- I had to take care of my fiancee.

She rolled her eyes, when would Sirius leave that stupid thing? They were no longer engaged! But she smiled too. 

-I don't need anyone to take care of me. 

He laughed because there was the cocky-bossy-proud Gadea that he had missed teasing all summer. 

-I know, but I want to be as close as possible to see how you become the best witch.

And she blushed again. She didn't know how he had this incredible skill to made her blush and look like he wasn't even trying. She knew for his smile he was just being sincere: he really thought she could become a great witch. It was like her heart was trembling for a moment too because she was feeling a lot of things at this moment. Embarrassment, nervous, excitemet, happyness, proud, she even had this feeling of not wanting to let him down. And of course the relief. Relief? No, it was something else but she didn't know how to name it. It was like all this time something was tide tight to her heart and suddenly he work with the knot like he did with her tie and her heart can beat freely now. He believe her. He believe her dream.  He really think she can do it.  And now she noticed how lonely she had been feeling all those years. She thought that she only needed herself, her hard work and nothing else. And now that she finally had someone in front of her who was as hopeful that she would achieve her dream -and without asking for anything in return- she didn't know why but that made her want to cry. But she didn't cry. She wanted but didn't. And then the train gave one of its shakes.  He was pushed back as she fell forward. The train continued its course without caring about the bump they just passed or that Gadea Salavert's life was about to change again. His back had hit the door, his head had found the glass in the most painful way. Then when he thought that nothing else could happen to him, Gadea managed to hit him so hard in the stomach that he twisted in pain. He squatted forward, holding himself and trying not to vomit in Gadea's shoes. The girl for her part began to apologize but he couldn’t speak or he would surely end up vomiting the chocolate he had stolen from Remus. When the pain subsided enough to take a deep breath, he let the girl's hands trespass the curtain of his hair looking for his face and let her soft hands lift him to be at eye level, looking at him worried and scared. Her stormy gray-blue eyes staring at his gray ones.  Damn. He was so fucked now.  He should have known. Confuse love with hate and interest with simply wanting to tease someone was too cliché even for him. But in his defense, she was the smart one. She should have known it too. When you spend your whole life without feeling anything especially pleasant and suddenly a person is responsible for making you feel a thousand things with just a look, a phrase or a smile... 

-You know -he whispered, licking his lips- I could kiss you right now. 

For her part, she said nothing, there was no hint on her face that could warn him of what she was about to do. But for some reason he wasn't surprised that she was the one taking the initiative. If it had been otherwise, she probably would have thrown him out of the compartment window with her best spell and he would have to end the journey to Hogwarts crawling. It was a fiery kiss. In fact, it was like they were fighting to lead the kiss. She cheated. Her hands tangled in his hair and she tugged on it inadvertently, causing his moan and her consequent victory. They stopped for air, taking a deep breath and looking each other in the eyes. She seemed to be challenging him to say something. He laughed loudly and as openly as he always did but this time she joined him in laughter. And he took advantage of the distraction. Now was she who was against the door and her surprise made it easy for him to lead this second kiss. He didn’t give her any truce. As soon as she recovered from the surprise and returned the kiss, deepening it and gaining ground, he made sure that his right hand slipped underhi her shirt -grasping her bare waist feeling her smooth skin shamelessly- regaining control of the kiss and of the situation.

-I could get used to this -he whispered and smirked against her lips gasping hard. 

-Don't screw it up, Black -she scolded him, gasping but frowning too. 

-Yes ma'am.  

[danyka-fendyr]

The Thing With Feathers - 1

Chapter One: He Stuns You By Degrees

Okay guys, so here’s the deal with this fic. Right now I’m releasing this first chapter on Tumblr and by tomorrow it should be posted on AO3. However in the future it will be the opposite of that, getting slightly earlier AO3 releases than Tumblr releases. For purposes of my desire to make pop cultural references, I’m disregarding the fact that the original books are set in the 90′s. I’m really excited to release this one since I worked really hard on it, and I’m even more excited to make it my first fic ever posted on AO3. I hope all of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Taglist: @dreamwritersimagines @rhabakoli @alwaysadreamingoptimist

Wordcount: 5.3k

Warnings: PTSD and mentions of war

There were two days in Hermione Granger’s mind that stood out as the happiest days of her life. The day that she realized Harry and Ron were in fact her friends, and the day the wizarding war ended. Today, she was fairly certain she was about to add a new day to that list. The day she became a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She pulled her planner out of the small beaded bag she still carried everywhere with her, a remnant of a war she had yet to truly stop fighting. She didn’t bother shuffling through it, simply summoning the planner she needed. Her compartment on the train was empty, so she reasoned that now was as good a time as any to go through her schedule for the day.

She was meant to visit Hagrid for tea before the banquet in the Great Hall, truly fortunate timing given that she doubted anything had changed about his cooking since her last visit, and therefore she would not be eating much. Next on her schedule was to drink 4.7 liters of pumpkin juice until she bled the stuff. She had fond memories of the sugary drink from her childhood and fully intended upon indulging herself tonight. In fact, where was the trolley witch?

Speak of the devil. A rustle at her compartment door caused Hermione to look up, an expectant smile on her face. It quickly fell away when she was greeted by someone who was most definitely not the trolley witch.

Dark, expensive looking wizard’s robes. Sharp, unnervingly keen blue eyes. And to top it all off? That shock of white blond hair, longer now then it was in their school days, falling into his eyes a little. McGonagall had warned her of her fellow new professor, but she had not been prepared for the reality of the thing.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen Draco since the war. She had seen him at his trial, and then she had seen him frequently at work. She had taken up a job at Flourish and Blotts for a while after it reopened, but while Malfoy had frequented the store, he had never approached her. He hovered creepily in the potions section before spending his limitless fortune on yet another book on the same subject.

Still, sometimes she caught him watching her with a haunted look in those eerie grey eyes, and as the months had drained on and summer had faded into fall, she had not only grown accustomed to his presence but had also found the flashbacks came less and less the more she saw of him. She gripped the ledge of the window now, imagining to herself a dull throb where the words had been carved. She believed phantom pain to be the technical term.

She expected him to say something. Something rude, specifically. Instead, he refused to meet her eyes. He merely mumbled something about how all of the other compartments were full and proceeded to take a seat as far away from her as he possibly could.

Now, Hermione knew they had a history. Knew that better than anyone, had it carved into her arm, a perfect parallel to the brand on his. That being said, she couldn’t help being a little insulted. Shouldn’t she be the one cringing away from him? Where was all that infamous Malfoy swagger now?

For months, he had all but stalked her in the shops. She had at one point had cause to ask her manager to let her work in any section but the potions section. For the first several months of her job, she had found herself frantically retreating to the back room just so she didn’t have to make eye contact with a former Death Eater she had only barely found the nerve to testify for and save from his own teenage stupidity and horrific family legacy, and now he didn’t even have the nerve to speak to her?

“You know I don’t bite. I hex, but I don’t bite.”

The tone in which she said it implied that she might make an exception on her no biting policy just for him.

He looked startled that she had even deigned to talk to him at all, as well he should. He certainly had no right to it. It gave her an odd thrill to startle Draco Malfoy. He looked like a frightened puppy, those blue eyes flung wide for just a moment. And he defied her expectations again. Instead of the cool swagger she had expected, he looked…reserved?

“Apologies, Granger. I just thought…you might want your distance.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Am I supposed to genuinely believe that you were just trying to do something nice for me?”

His eyes flitted to her left arm. Just for a moment, but it was long enough.

“I suppose you have reason enough not to. I assure you though, I have no desire to fight with you. I think we’re a bit past that, don’t you?” He managed a strained smile that rang false in Hermione’s eyes.

His calm infuriated her. She should be the self-righteous one here. She should be the one spouting out placations about their schoolyears and how they had grown and matured. Of all the people to try and teach her some kind of lesson, he was perhaps the one with the least right to.

“A bit past what, Malfoy? This?” She pulled back the sleeve on the arm he had been staring at earlier, watching him flinch back. “Just because you and Narcissa didn’t go to prison doesn’t mean we’re friends. It also doesn’t mean you can’t still go there. How do you think Mummy dearest will look after a few months in Azkaban?”

It was a low blow. She knew that. Even in her anger she hadn’t meant to fight that dirty, even in her memories of thrashing on a cold tile floor and blood, blood everywhere, so much of it, scars that would never heal, she had thought herself better than this. Somehow, the thrill of pleasure she got when he rose to her challenge made it all worth it.

“Alright then Granger, you want to be 16 again then fine. I suppose not much has changed, has it? You’re still pining after the Weasel, aren’t you? Tried to murder anyone with a flock of birds lately?”

Hermione stiffened. She hadn’t anticipated that he would be as familiar with her weaknesses as she was with his. She didn’t look at him when she admitted the unpleasant but unavoidable truth.

“Ron and I…are broken up.”

It had happened shortly after her 19th birthday. They had continued making public appearances together for the last year, but they had been gradually easing off, trying to avoid the media frenzy that would be just openly coming out with their split. Rita Skeeter would certainly have a field day with that one. She might as well tell Malfoy now though. They had been planning to announce it soon, using her new, distant position as an excuse.

That taunting yet comfortingly familiar smirk spread over his face as he leaned back in his seat, kicking his feet up on her side of the compartment. “Finally got tired of him, did you? Realized you were too good for him after all?”

Unwittingly, in trying to rile her up by insulting Ron, he had hit on her other sore spot. The fact that she had not actually broken up with him.

She grit her teeth. “Other way around actually. He broke up with me. Are we done discussing my love life now?”

Malfoy nearly fell out of his seat from his precariously perched situation, the shock evident on his face.

“Wait, he broke up with you? Has he finally lost his damn mind?” Surprisingly, Malfoy burst into laughter. “I mean, I always knew he was a bloody fool, but now he’s just reached new heights.”

Blessedly, the trolley witch really was the interruption at the door this time, and if she was surprised to see Hermione Granger speechlessly staring at an abundantly amused Draco Malfoy, she did not comment on it.

“Treats, dears?”

Hermione perked up at this, all anger forgotten at the promise of a chocolate frog. As a child she had never had much money for the candy that Harry and Ron so wildly indulged in, and entirely too much self-discipline to do so anyway. Now though, her 20-year-old self had considerably more funds and less will-power, and she wanted candy. Lots of it. She probably looked downright gleeful, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Then Draco Malfoy did something entirely unprecedented. Something heartstoppingly, shockingly, terribly unprecedented.

Maybe it was the look on her face. Maybe it was an overwhelming sense of guilt. Maybe it was some deep, innate, Malfoyish need in him to be a show-off at all times.

Whatever the reason, it was Hermione’s turn yet again to be unpleasantly surprised when he said, “We’ll take the lot.”

“What about the kids?” She stumbled out a protest.

“We’re the last compartment in the train Granger. Surely you’d noticed.” He raised an eyebrow.

She had, in fact. She had chosen this compartment intentionally to avoid everyone, former classmates included. Most students who had chosen to go back for an eighth year had done so the year directly after the battle. However, others were not so lucky. Many of the Slytherin students had been wrapped up in messy trials, and consequently found themselves having to take something of a gap year. A few of the students who had lost family members in the war had also taken time off to grieve, and Hermione dreaded seeing their hollowed-out eyes and potential accusatory glares. Unable to face all of it, she had chosen to avoid it for as long as possible, selecting this compartment for that purpose. Something Malfoy had managed to make her forget with his outlandish declaration.

“I…yes, of course. But…we’ll?” There was a healthy dose of skepticism launched into the word.

“Unless you didn’t want anything?”

Was he…teasing her? Not maliciously, not to be nasty. No, actual, good-natured teasing.

Unfortunately, she never got to find out, as the trolley witch named her price and left them with their candies.

“I figured if I can’t win your allegiance with my good looks and charming personality, maybe I can buy it,” he joked, offering up one of the very chocolate frogs she had been dreaming of.

Wearily, she took it. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Of course not.” He nodded amiably, and again Hermione got the sense of being handled with kid gloves.

She scowled. “I’ll accept this chocolate frog on one condition.”

He had the nerve to look amused. “Which is?”

“You have to eat an acid pop.”

The smirk fell off his face.

“Come on Granger, can’t you just eat the candy and be happy?”

“Nope. I will only accept this strange truce on the condition that you eat an acid pop. It’s a simple request Malfoy.”

“You want me to burn a hole through my tongue to get you to be civil.” Waves of disbelief came off of him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you not know the charm to heal an acid burn?”

The mocking lilt to her voice worked exactly as intended.

“Of course I do,” he said, already reaching for an acid pop.

The look on his face the moment he stuck it in his mouth was worth 5 years’ worth of truce. She had never seen someone be so dramatic before, and she had been friends with Harry Potter. She couldn’t and wouldn’t stop the laugh that burst out of her upon seeing his exaggerated agony.

He pulled it out almost immediately, working the healing charm on his tongue.

“Merlin, Granger, you’re a sadist.”

There was no malice behind the accusation.

“It’s true. I hide behind this bookworm façade, but get me alone and I’m a whole different person. Sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me.”

Malfoy choked on the pumpkin pasty he was trying to enjoy. “What?”

Hermione was laughing again, entirely against her will.

“It’s a, a Muggle song,” she managed to gasp out.

“That’s what Muggles call music?” He stared at her, baffled.

“Oh, I can already tell this year is going to be great.”

“I hope so.” He sobered. “Did you…want to talk about it?”

Green wallpaper. Bellatrix’s face, manic and cackling. Screaming stretching into eternity, echoing through the halls, bouncing off the chandelier.

She opened her mouth to say no, opened her mouth to say something terrible again, but she saw his face first. He was unusually pale, even for such a pale boy as him, and he had that look in his eyes. The look from Flourish and Blotts. It wasn’t just apologetic. It was horrified.

Marble floors. Unforgiveable spells. And a boy with a face whiter than paper, mouth open to do everything short of beg his aunt to stop.

“I hope we can be civil this year, Professor Malfoy. I doubt we will ever be friends, but I’m sure we can manage civility.”

Despite her best intentions to maintain a brave face, she curled in on herself, resting her head against the compartment wall. She was set to stare out the window for the rest of the ride, and Malfoy seemed more than content to allow it, not pushing the issue any longer. He seemed to lose interest in the candy quickly, letting her know she could have as much of it as she wanted before falling back in his seat.

She didn’t think he meant to fall asleep. He couldn’t have if he knew what was going to happen. Regardless, he did fall asleep, and the screaming started soon after.

The first thing Hermione did was cast a silencing charm around their compartment. The last thing either of them needed was the entire train rushing down here. Then she crossed the carriage to sit across from him, intending to wake him. But he was…saying something. Perhaps it was torture to leave him like this, but hadn’t she been tortured? And she wanted answers now.

“Don’t hurt her! Please, please leave her alone. Aunt Bella, please..”

Hermione froze. She needed to wake him up. Right now.

She did it the fastest way she knew how, casting aguamenti, spraying water in his face and causing him to splutter awake. She performed a drying charm as well, barely thinking before waving her wand.

He panted, blond hair hanging down into his face, elbows resting on his knees. He looked like he might be sick, back and chest heaving with every breath.

“You were having a nightmare,” she said, like he might have been oblivious to it.

“Yes, thank you for that information Granger. Somehow it managed to escape me.”

She almost felt relieved to hear the bite in his voice. It was like getting the old Malfoy back, not one that walked on eggshells and had to be goaded into...well, goading her. It was truly a strange world they were living in.

“Oh, ever so sorry for not leaving you to your night terrors. I thought about it, but the screams were just a tad grating.” She glared at him.

He returned with just as much fire. “I think you’re getting my little nap and your dreams mixed up, Granger. Just because you scream my name in your sleep doesn’t mean we’re all so loud on our own time.”

“Funny coming from a man who takes every chance he gets to use my name.” She smirked triumphantly.

He lowered his voice, leaning forward and causing her to remember her venture over to his side of their compartment. “Does that bother you, Granger?”

His breath fanned across her face, warm and improbably smelling of mint, which it certainly shouldn’t have after all that candy. She almost asked him if he used a charm for that before remembering herself and recoiling.

“The only thing that bothers me is covering for you,” she snapped, crossing back to her side of the compartment before undoing her silencing charm. “Next time take some dreamless sleep, or aren’t you the potions master?���

He stared daggers at her but didn’t respond, settling back into his seat. He still looked shaken, but Hermione was determined to ignore him for the rest of the journey. It wouldn’t be much longer now anyway.

The rest of their trip did prove to be fairly uneventful, much to her relief. Their carriage remained blissfully scream free and before she knew it they were both at Hogwarts. Hermione breathed in the Scottish air on the platform, glad to be home. 

When preparing for the trip to Hogwarts, she recognized that she could have apparated into Hogsmeade, but she quickly realized it was easier to arrive with a sea of students. Hermione Granger alone might have attracted attention, but Professor Granger and her students had earned a certain amount of respect. Funny how helping save the world got you mixed reviews but professorship earned you rights. She suspected Malfoy had similar reasons for traveling so. Not that she cared.

Hagrid gave her a jolly wave as he rounded up the first years, and she waved back before hurrying over to the thestral-drawn carriages in the hopes of finding a good one. A breeze whipped through her bushy mess of curls, pulling them into all sorts of new shapes as she tried to hold them back with her hands.

Upon arriving at the carriages, Hermione was filled with a sense of dread. Harry and Ron would not be able to ride with her this year. She gnawed at her lip, unsure of what she wanted to do until she was presented with a rather clear sign. A sign that was heading right towards her, red hair bobbing up and down through the crowd.

“Hermione!” 

Arms flung themselves around her waist, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She returned the hug, more than happy to have a friend here. Ron may have given her up, but that didn’t mean his family had.

“Ginny. Did you want to get a carriage together?” Hermione asked, pulling back after a moment.

“Yes. You can tell me about the last year, I’ve barely seen you since you announced you were taking the gap year.” Ginny linked arms with her, dragging her towards one of the smaller carriages, just the right size for the two of them. “Done much reading?”

“I am happy to say yes,” Hermione said, laughing.

While everyone else who had taken the year off was now returning for their belated eighth year, Hermione’s situation was...unique. She had thought about returning for her eighth year the year after the war, but quickly realized she couldn’t do it. The memories of the girl who walked those halls as a student and who she was now were so incongruous she couldn’t bear it. Instead she had taken her NEWT’s mere weeks after the war, against the advisement of everyone in her life, including Headmistress McGonagall, but who was going to stop her? When Hermione Granger marches through the doors of the ministry demanding a NEWT’s examination weeks after saving the world, you don’t deny her. 

“Should you be heading up with the students?” Ginny asked as Hermione stepped into the carriage. “What with your professorship now and everything.”

Hermione smiled. “I shouldn’t, but I’m doing it anyway. I was hoping to see you and maybe some of the others.”

“I still can’t believe the ministry made us repeat a year. I mean, I can because the Carrows weren’t winning any professor of the year awards, but still. How does the Battle of Hogwarts count as experience for all the seventh years but not anybody else?” Ginny slammed the carriage door behind her as she finished getting in behind Hermione.

“Oh please.” Hermione rolled her eyes, seeing right through her. “You’re delighted to be here. You’re more than eager to see your favorite professor.”

Ginny blushed, freckles disappearing in the red blooming over her cheeks. 

“I’m more eager for the feast tonight,” she retorted.

“Oh definitely. I’m dying for some pumpkin juice.”

“Of all the things I didn’t anticipate you missing, pumpkin juice was probably at the top of that list. Who knew it could be so addictive?” Ginny threw herself back in her seat, red hair billowing across the dark upholstery. “Do you think we can convince the Thestrals to go any faster?”

“Worth a shot,” Hermione joked.

She felt a sudden surge of fondness for Ginny. They had both changed so much in the last year. Hermione had found a new lack of enthusiasm for the rules, and if she was honest, a lack of enthusiasm. It often felt as though the color had leeched out of her life after the war, and most days she simply didn’t have the energy to care about anything that wasn’t essential, which included other people’s opinions. Disillusionment with authority had partially carried her through the last year. 

Ginny, on the other hand, had learned that freedom and independence weren’t the same thing. Hermione had watched her learn to rely more on the others in her life as she dealt with her own grief, the loss of Fred sharp and heavy in her heart. The one thing that hadn’t changed was their friendship, despite Hermione’s breakup with her brother. Some time after that awful seventh year, Ginny had become Hermione’s best friend, and she was rarely unconscious of the gift that was. While she would have spared Ginny her pain if she could have, it was an undeniable relief to have someone uniquely able to understand. Their losses were not the same, but pain is rarely particular in its forms of relief.

They chatted more on the way to the castle, and Hermione realized that this was probably the most she’d been able to talk to Ginny since the breakup. Ginny had gone directly back to school after the war, citing her need to stay busy as a reason, as well as the fact that she was already a year behind thanks to Minister of Magic Shacklebolt’s decision that 5th years and above were to repeat the year they had studied under Death Eater watch. Hermione hadn’t seen her over the holidays either, as it had simply been too awkward for her to show up at the Burrow, especially with Harry gone all the time. She had taken up residence in a little flat in Diagon Alley and abandoned nearly everything except for her work. Ginny had stopped by sometimes when she went to visit George at the shop, but it just wasn’t the same.

“So Minnie gave you her old job?”

“Ginny! Don’t let her hear you calling her Minnie, she might just give you detention for a week.” Despite her scolding, Hermione couldn’t hold back her smile.

It had been quite an honor to have McGonagall herself ask her to work as the new Transfiguration professor. She had been trying to find an adequate replacement for quite some time now, Hermione knew, preparing to transition her focus solely to being Headmistress of the school. Of course, knowing who some of her fellow professors were put a damper on her pride.

“Did you hear Malfoy is the new Potions professor?” Ginny wrinkled her nose. “Can’t believe they’re even allowing him near children.”

Hermione shook her head. “Neither can I. To be honest I thought McGonagall would be more strict than this.”

“Yeah. This feels more like a Dumbledore move,” she agreed.

“You never could tell what he was going to do next.”

“One day he was asking for socks for Christmas and the next he was sending my boyfriend out as a human sacrifice. What a wildcard.”

Ginny sounded almost admiring, and Hermione had to laugh. She remembered that Ginny had grown up with a whole household of wildcards, notwithstanding Percy. She had had a healthy appreciation for the unconventional instilled in her at a young age.

“Look!” Ginny said, excitedly pressing her face to the glass. “The castle!”

Hermione found herself just as eager, and she joined Ginny at the window, both of them acting like a pair of first years witnessing the architectural behemoth for the first time. It was just as Hermione had remembered it. She felt a sudden stab of longing and she found herself tearing up a little, almost feeling as though she was coming home. 

At last they arrived, but Hermione was reluctant to part ways. 

“I’m popping down to Hagrid’s for a few minutes for tea. Did you want to come with me?” She offered.

Ginny glanced between Hermione and the castle. “I would, but…”

“You have someone you need to see.”

Ginny smiled slyly. “Yes, I do. See you at the feast?”

“See you at the feast,” Hermione agreed. “I should be back in time to see the Sorting.”

“Topping.” 

Hermione watched for a moment as Ginny headed through the doors of the castle, losing her in a sea of black, before heading down to Hagrid’s hut. She picked her way through the grounds, breathing in the late summer air. It was quite a warm night, and the walk to Hagrid’s was pleasant, though not long.

The moment her fist met the door, she heard Fang’s barking, and she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. That smile only grew wider when Hagrid threw the door open, drawing her into a hug.

“‘Mione!” She could hear the tears in his eyes before she could see them. “Oh it’s so good to ‘ave you ‘ome.”

“Hagrid,” she wheezed, “I can’t breathe.”

“Oh, sorry ‘bout tha’,” he said, letting her go.

As she suspected, his black eyes shown with tears and his hair, even wilder than hers, was beginning to grow wet with it. Oh dear. Somewhere between greeting her and letting go of her he had started crying in earnest.

“Hagrid, what’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

“I just, I missed you lot so much, and it’s so good to have you back. You know, ‘Arry comes by sometimes, but it’s just not the same, is it?”

Hermione felt that familiar ache in her chest. No, no it was not the same.

“Oh Hagrid, it’s alright. Perhaps we should head up to the feast now, if you’d like, make sure we’re in time for the Sorting.”

“Good idea ‘Ermione, very good idea.” 

Hagrid nodded, pulling out of the doorway and allowing Fang through to bestow a healthy amount of slobber onto Hermione’s...everything. She didn’t mind though. She had missed him too, and a few quick charms fixed the state of her robes.

“Shall we then?” Hagrid asked after blowing his nose into a large polka dotted handkerchief. 

“Yes, we shall.”

They made the trip back across the grounds, Hagrid managing to pull himself together before they had to enter the Great Hall. Hermione felt a sudden lurch of nerves in the pit of her stomach. She had been here a thousand times before, sure, but never as a professor. Walking up to the head table, she found herself searching for the one pair of eyes she knew could reassure her in this moment. She found another set entirely, however.

Ice blue eyes met hers in a cold stare, but as soon as he realized it was her he was looking at he seemed to effortfully turn it to something more neutral. As though aloof was the best he could manage in the presence of a Mudblood. Not that she cared.

She used the energy she might have spent being indignant with Malfoy to carry her up to the head table, taking her seat next to Hagrid and a chair that was, as of yet, unoccupied. It didn’t remain that way for long. Moments before the Sorting Ceremony was due to start, the body belonging to the pair of eyes she had been searching for earlier deposited itself into the chair next to her.

“Hello Hermione.”

Harry Potter grinned at her, his eyes a reassuring, familiar green, so far from the pale blue she had settled for earlier.

“Professor Potter.” She gave him a cheeky wink. “I see the rumors are true. You have successfully broken a curse that’s been around longer than you’ve been alive.”

“We’ll add cursebreaker to my list of titles.” He chuckled. “I’ll start signing all my letters, ‘Harry Potter, Hogwart’s Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, The Boy Who Lived, Breaker of Curses.’ That won’t make me sound arrogant at all, will it?”

“I think it rather works for you. They should give you the Order of Merlin, First Class, throw another one in there.”

“I’ve missed you.” He smiled at her, and in that moment Hermione felt more at home than she had in months.

“Well,” she said primly, wiping at her eyes. “You wouldn’t have to if you’d come around more often. Gin’s been dying to see you, you prat.”

“Always scolding.” 

She could hear the warmth in his voice though, and knew that he felt, if not the same, then similar to her.

“Sssshhh, they’re bringing in the first years.”

And indeed they were, tinier than Hermione ever could have remembered them being. Of course, she had seen a fair few of them in her last weeks at Flourish and Blotts, coming in to get their school supplies, but it felt different seeing them now all dressed up in their robes and waiting to be sorted.

“Are there fewer of them?” Hermione asked, brow furrowing.

In fact, the whole hall seemed emptier than she remembered it. Certainly emptier than it should have been, even given the...casualties.

“Fewer muggleborns. A lot of the parents are still being cautious. Can’t blame them really, considering the last time Voldemort was dead he didn’t really stay that way.” Harry sighed.

“They’ll come around,” she reassured him.

He just nodded, eyes trained on the fresh generation of junior witches and wizards before them.

Hermione’s eyes, though, were on the hat, and so she was ready when it began to sing.

Through ancient magics lost long ago

The Founder’s made me, friends turned to foes

My purpose being a simple one

To tell you which colors to don

Which house in which you each belong

But first I sing this simple song

As I do every fall

So now I shall remind you all

That even when friendships seem to fail

There are some bonds that still prevail

Should we stand all united

We may find all wrongs are righted

In the light of this new day

House colors seem to fall away

So though I must pull you apart

I hope you’ll heed the wisdom I impart

Gryffindor blood runs red and true,

Ravenclaw skies are clear and blue,

Hufflepuff gold will prove the strongest of metals

and Slytherin emeralds will prove to have mettle

In differences there is strength

But love and loyalty go the greatest lengths

So let go old wounds and let the past heal

Or you may find danger most real

On that ominous note, the Sorting proceeded quickly and, thankfully, unremarkably. Hermione and Harry lead the applause for every student, regardless of house, and when it was over McGonagall stood.

“A few words before we begin our feast this year,” she said, clearing her throat. “Firstly, I would like to welcome our two new professors. Professor Hermione Granger-” Loud applause lead by Ginny. “-and Professor Draco Malfoy.”

Draco’s name was met with a hushed silence, and a few quiet boo’s rang out before McGonagall shot them down with a stern look.

“As always, I expect new faculty to be treated with the respect and consideration deserving of their position. Any who disregard this will find themselves meeting with hasty consequences. I wish you all a very good year. Let the feast begin!”

And with that, Hermione’s first year as a professor at Hogwarts began.

[hogwartsambientfeverdream]

Midnight Moon Secrets

At long last, Saturday was here. Lily had vary little sleep last night. It felt like Friday night would never end, like the sun would never rise, like the moment of sleeping close to Scorpius would never come. She was used to him hugging out woth their family on holidays, butthat was different. No parents, not a lot of people. Rose came to pick her up with the invisibility cloak around 20.00. The sun had set for some hours now, and the full moon had finally started revealing. The boys were already by the lake setting the tent. The night passed quite lovely, they cooked soup and they boiled some herbs that Adrianne gave them. They were all playful with eachother but Lily clearly caught a glimpse of Scorpius looking at her, at multiple times. Her heart was racing and she was a bit more reserved than usual. Albus noticed it. He always does... Things are now quiet. Lily sat by the lake shore and looked up to sky in awe of how beautiful the moon was by that spot. This was her first time camping with them and now she understand perfectly why everyone insisted that the view of the moon is always better this way. But it isn’t just that. It’s also the castle standing next to the moon as if they are telling secrets to eachother. She could see all the lights from the windows of the castle, starting to disappear one by one slowly. People were going to bed. The castle was finally getting silent.

She could smell the water, the trees, the bushes. She could feel the energy of the moon. She looked to the mountains far away and started thinking of the next weekend already. It was their first trip to Hogsmeade this weekend and also Halloween. Adrianne stayed inside to prepare her costume and also because she was a little bit afraid of things like these...  She began dreaming of things again. Things that she hopes would happen. Her walking side by side with Scorpius and accidentally but not really accidentally touching his hand, finding a way to be alone in the crowd and looking him in his beautifully melancholic grye eyes and kis.. “Hey you! Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”, Rose appeared from the bushes interrupting her thoughts. “Mind if I join you?”, she said smiling gently. “Sure”, there is plenty of room here”, Lily answered. Rose approached her and sat down next to her. She folded her legs and leaned forward to put her head to her knees, admiring the amazing view. She took a deep breath of calm satisfaction and smiled. That was probably Lily’s favourite thing about Rose. Her gentle little smile. She was never the loudest or the funniest of the family. Definately not like Albus. She was always very smart and quiet but very reserved, never letting it show up front. She was not shy, but she didn’t like to show off. Her smile though. That was what made her unique. You could always tell of the way she smirks, what she was about to say or do... For instance, Lily swore that Rose would start talking about the view and how calm she feels..

“You know, I am really going to miss this!”, Rose said while looking up to the castle. “The view?”, Lily answered satisfied with her guess earlier. “Hm”, Rose smiled gently and nodded negatively. “No, not the view, but the scenery itself. Me being part of it. Being a student running around in the corridors...”, she said and suddently her smile turned melancholic. “When you enter Hogwarts you believe you have so much time ahead of you and that at one point you will have experienced everything there is to experience... But honestly I don’t feel that way yet... I still haven’t been to every part of the castle, haven’t read most of the books in the library, haven’t walked all over every corner of the forest. I feel I need more time, you know... I am definately not done with this place and it frightens me that in a few months I must leave...” “I thought you said you wanted to leave and travel after Hogwarts... You know, like James”, Lily said a little confused. “Yes, of course I am going to do that... But for completely different reasons.. Not becaused I am tired of this place and I want to distance myself from it, but because I want to see what I can achive on my own you know... Not by my name or with the help of my family, but entirely by myself”, Rose answered inspired. “What do you mean? You have achieved a lot on your own. Yeah, I mean ok our family legacy sure is huge and sure is very recognizable, but your years here are your own.. right?”, Lily said being utterly baffled by Rose’s words. Rose smirked in a very sweet way once again. “Well, you see that’s not entirely true... I mean, sure, my achievements as a student are mine because I study hard and because I am interested, yes. But socially, I am a Granger-Weasley in Hogwarts. Sure, I have very good relationships with all my Ravenclaw roommates, but not really friendships... People respect me because of my name, not because of who I have proven to be to them. People want to get to know me because of my family’s legacy, not because of my interests necessarily. I have no close friends outside our family, because we take it for granted that we are all friends inside our family, and since everyone treats us as offsprings of historical figures and not as people, we stick with our family circle. I want to leave, because I want to meet people who want to know me, Rose, and not the daughter of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, the war heroes... I want to live experiences outside the cultural realm that has been shaped by our parents.” Lily finally understood. But at the same time she felt a little sad... “Well, what about, Scorpius? He is your friend, and at some point you two were pretty close... He is definately not our family...”, Lily asked. “Oh Scorpius...”, Rose said and took a deep breath. “Scorpius is Albus’ best friend, not mine. I am only friends with him because of Albus”, she said as she turned her head to look at the tent.

The light was still on, and they could both hear giggles coming from inside it. “Scorpius and Albus are made for eachother... Have no doupt about it. Scorpius is a shy gentle boy with a very sheltered upbringing due to his parents past and also being an only child, while Albus is a very extroverted and confident person who was raised to be free and do whatever he feels like it. What makes them different is what draws each person to the other.”, Rose said while looking at the tent in a very gentle but sad way, Lily noticed. “They are just meant to be together one way or the other, and the rest of us are just people that they may love or befriend regardless of their own relationship.”, Rose finished her sentence and turned to admire the castle again. Lily was temporarily confused. Rose spoke about her brother and Scorpius as if, somehow, sometime, made her feel uncomfortable... But why? They were always inseperable... Was it because of these two all along? She thought that they were all very good friends... It has always seemed like it,at least. Sure, Albus and Scorpous were always together and their friendship always insired her, but Rose made it seem like it them and no other person... Which is not true of course... Her, Adrianne and Hortansia were always welcome in their inner circle...  “Did I make you feel sad, love?”, Rose turned to Lily and looked at her with all the sweetness of the world. This face right there, reminded her so much of her aunt coming to hug her when she was little and afraid of the thunder...  “No, no... Not at all... I like talking with you... It feels like I am talking to an adult but at the same time equal, you know... James and Albus always talk to me as if I am a toddler...”, Lily answered. “Yeah, they do that sometimes...”, Lily laughed. “I am sorry for all that, it is just that I get very emotional when thinking about leaving Hogwarts.”

“Speaking of leaving Hogwarts soon, I an counting on you to watch out for Hortansia, right?”, Rose smiled. “I know she is doing perfectly fine without any help, but she always feels safer when family is close.” “You didn’t even need to say this out loud Rose.. Hortansia is like my sister! Like you are, too.. Don’t even mentiont that again!”, Lily smiled at her with warmth. “I feel a little bad that she didn’t come tonight, though..”, Rose said... “No, don’t even think about that! She loves sketching by the moonlight. She always does that when there is full moon.”, Lily reassured Rose. “Does she really does that here, too? I thought she only did that at home...”, Rose smirked... “Yeah, she does! Every time...”, Lily answered while smiling. “I really love her sketches.. We both agreed to have small tattoo one day made by her. You know, a sisterhood same tattoo... It was her idea.. And I think it’s really cute!”, Rose said proud of her talented little sister. “That’s a brilliant idea!”, Lily said in awe. She always wanted to have a tattoo but maybe when she gets a little older. James said that the older the better.. “Well, sounds like the boys have stopped fooling around! I think it’s time to get some sleep”, Rose said while getting up. “Are you coming?” “No, I think I want to enjoy the moonlight a little longer.”, Lily answered as she lied down in the rocky shore. “Ok, but don’t be late, ok? It’s getting cold out here!” “Ok, i’ll come in 10 minutes or so...” , Lily smiled as she closed her eyes “Ok then, goodnight Lily”, Rose said, as she disappeared behind the tent. “Goodnight!”

And just like that, she was alone again. She felt the moonlight on her face as her previous thoughts came back. This time though, she was a little troubled. Why was Rose telling all those things about the boys? They never seemed strange to her that way, she doesn’t really want to agree with her, but Rose knows them so much better! They ‘ve been together in Hogwarts for so many years before she came. They are also the same age... Lily was so confused... She always trusted Rose’s insight. She is very smart, but not like James or Albus smart... Rose is mature... Her brothers are very quick to understand a situation and to read right through people, but Rose does something more. She is not fooled by first impressions... She maturelly evaluates the situation and her conclusions and opinions are always far more deep and well-thought-out.  In this case, she does want to listens on what she just told her, but if she does her instinct tells her that Scorpius is suddently out of reach... Up until some time ago, she thought things were pretty simple... But now, she suddently felt a huge weight in her stomach... What did Rose mean? Suddently she felt the moonlight gone. Puzzled, she opened her eyes.

“Hey there!”, Scorpius said calmly with a little smile on his face. “Were you asleep?” “Oh hi! Um, no no no, I was just daydreaming...”, Lily answered. He scared her standing like that with the moon behind him...  “Aren’t you cold?” “Well, not really... This jacket is quite warm, surprisingly...”  “How about taking a walk, then?”, Scorpius smiled and reached his hand for her. Lily took his hand and stood up. His face was so serene under the moonlight, his hair even more pale and glowy and his grey eyes even lighter and and more otherwordly. Scorpius was like an beautiful spitirual entity this evening and Lily was shaking from awe to his presence.

They walked by the shore, so as not to lose the moonlight and their path back to the tent. They started chatting about mundane matters while taking long pauses to enjoy their walk and the smell of the woods and lake. Lily was just happy to be near him. He took her hand and into the woods. Was that a move by his part? Was that a good moment for her to make her move? But what is a good move? What is she supposed to do? “Hey Lily?”, Scorpius asked, looking at her.. “Huh? Sorry I didn’t catch that..”, Lily said fully embarrassed. She really needs to stop sinking into her thoughts like that. “I asked, what were you talking about with Rose before? You both seemed so absorbed..”, Scorpius smirked and repeated his question. “Oh, well you know.. We mostly talked about her.. Rose expressed her anxities and her plans..”, she answered as discreetly as possible. “I didn’t know Rose had serious anxities aboout finishing school...”, Scorpius stared into the distance confused about his ability to connect with people he considers his friends. “Well, everyone has, right... I bet you do, too.. Even though some of them are burried very well, I think we all have..”, Lily looked at him. “Hah, you definately are all grown up talking so maturely...”, Scorpius answered trying to avoid the attention.. He does very well have those, and he hoped that they were burried as well as Lily hypothesized. “What about you, then... What are your anxities?”, he asked her trying to turn the tables. “Hah, well I don’t know... I thing my main concern is not hurting the people I love..”, Lily answered trying to hide her main one, which is trying to understand if she should confess her feelings or not... But she did gave a true answer, either way. She does fear hurting her loved ones, and she would do anything to not do that. Even if that meant that she might need to bear some hurt herself. “What about you, though?”, she asked knowing very well that he tried to dodge the subject earlier. “Me?”, he turnedd and looked at her intrigued. “Yes you..”, Lily answered very decisively. “Hah, I am not avoiding the question, am I? Well, I don’t know.. To tell you the truth I have never not have anxitites and concerns... You have to understand my upbringing was quite protective and even sometimes sheltered... My father is a very kind and loving dad, but he never talks about his past. Which, as you know, is the past that it is... When the conversation goes there, he just stops talking... As if he hasn’t accept it or hasn’t come to terms with it properly, even after all these years... And my mother is very protective of him, he always defence him when I ask him to tell me... I guess, he is afraid of giving me the wrong paradigm... So, I don’t know, even if I do notice that, I cannot avoid noticing that this behavior has creeped into mine. I am constantly trying bury things deep down but because I know that this is not a solution, I never bury them as deep and they are always in the surface trying to come out... But at the same time I don’t really let them...” Lily was looking at him fascinated. She never knew anything of what he just shared... Does Rose know all that? Does Albus? But what are all those sentiments trying to come out? Is it his feelings abour her? Or something else? “So, what is it?”, she asked surprised by her own courage. “What’s what?”, he asked her afraid of her reading right through him. “You know... All those things that you are trying to bury...” Scorpius was so afraid.. She knows! She knew all along! How does he tell her? He looked at her decisively... Well, if this is the moment to do so, he might as well go for it... He took a deep breath, and...

“Wait!”, Scorpius grabbed her arm and stopped walking abruptly.  “What is it?”, Lily said surprised. “Didn’t you hear that? There is someone in the woods! We are not alone... Stay quiet!”, Scorpius said and tried to walk slowly as to detect if indeed someone else is there. These camping nights in the woods were always dangerous! They were always very carefull not to get caught. They would rarely leave the tent for long walks without the cloak... But now... He got so distracted by Lily that he completely forgot to take it with him.. He always really liked Lily, as his best friend’s little sister, but now things were different.. He feels a different kind of fondness now.. He likes talking to her, he feels calm...  They walked quietly for a while, alarmed as to hide quickly if they detect anything... But their luck this time was not there...

As they were carefully walking, they suddently noticed some light. They stopped walking! And there they were... Three students wearing black cloaks and some bizarre wolf masks. They couldn’t hide this time... They were right in front of them...  Neither of them could recognize who these students were... One of them was holding a shovel, the other one a package and the third one, the shorter one was looking at them, with their piercing light green eyes! They were certainly frightening! They noticed Lily and Scorpius right away!  The rest of them finished their job and turned to Lily and Scorpius too!  “Oh look! It’s young Bellatrix and handsome Voldemort! Look at them what a cute couple they are!”, the person with the pagkage said, laughing! “Hahaha!!! They could even have a cute evil child together someday!”,  the person with the shovel said laughing, too “Well, it’s a pitty they are in the wrong side this time around....”, the first person continued The student with the piercing green eyes was standing there quietly still looking at them and smirking... “What is this garbage you are talking about? What is this?”, Scorpius said evidently bothered by their remarks but mostly confused of how confidently these people didn’t try to hide or run away...

“Well that’s obvious Malfoy,  isn’t it?”, the person with the piercing green eyes said, smirking “What is?”, Scorpius asked confused and suddently having the worst feeling about this... Is that student...? “Yes, you handsome smart boy... I am what you just thought I am... And as for the other thing, the obvious reason why we really don’t care about you happening to bump into us is because if you say anyhting to the professors you are practically admiting your own mischiefs... And here lies the catch.. You don’t know who we are, but we certainly do know who you are! So keep your pretty little mouth shut and we are happy to cover for you and your Bellatrix impersonator girlfriend...” “You are an idiot!”, Lily said angrily “Well maybe, but so are you for walking around like that with no cover...”, the green-eyed student said... “So? Are we clear? It’s a win-win situation... You never saw us, and neither did we... Goodnight children..”

And just like that, still confident and smirking, they all turned around and started walking to the forest. They noticed two more wolf-masked students waiting for them. And they didn’t even seem to hurry all that much... This is what baffled Scorpius the most! Walking all giggling and laughing and not even trying to hide or be discreet... “See you in Halloween!” One of the taller students said laughing while Scorpius and Lily stood there watching them disappear into the woods... “What did they mean? What did you understand about them?”, Lily said quietly “I think the person who was talking is a Legilimens... You know, being able to hear people’s thoughts”, Scorpius said while still staring at their shadows in the distance. “Who are they?”, Lily asked “I have no idea... Besides the person with the green eyes and I think I saw deep wine red hair, I didn’t even notice anything else that could lead us to the others... The point is who they are, though, but what were they doing.. And what did they mean by that Halloween thing?”, Scorpius answered... “I think we should head back and try to get some sleep... Tomorrow morning we can discuss it further with Rose and Albus”, Lily said  They started walking back quietly... This time, noone was talking... They were both deep into their thoughts. Scorpius wass still thinking about their earlier conversation, besides what happened... Lily, on the other hand, was thinking of what the wolf-masked students said... They called her Bellatrix, they implied that she looked like her... But why? Bellatrix almost killed her mother... Where did they see the comparison? Is it because of her wearing black clothes and gothy accessories? This is stupid, Lily thought.  They kept on walking quietly... The moon was leading their way as if to help them. When they reached the tent they both went straight to bed bearly even exchanging any words. Scorpius closed his eyes, but Lily was still looking at him. What was it that he wanted to say to her earlier? And does this connect with what Rose told her earlier?

[gottagobuycheese]

Tag Thingy

Thanks @silent--sonata for indulging my terrible sleeping habits XD

(fyi this will probably be unnecessarily long and rambly, so it’s going under a cut (EDIT: whelp the song list got a little out of hand, I’d apologize if I were even remotely sorry)) 

Rules: Answer 17 questions & tag 17 people you want to get to know better  

Nickname: Cheese (or Lactose Wedge, or Dairy Product of Unspecified Origin and Purpose)

Zodiac Sign: Gemini! 

Height: 160.5 cm/5′3″ (Bubbles I refuse to believe you’re actually that much taller than me) 

Hogwarts house: Somewhere between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff allegedly, both of which I’d be honored to get sorted into, but honestly I’d just be stoked to get sorted at all 

Last thing I googled: I think it was something along the lines of “how to speed up audio playback in GarageBand,” but but my train of thought was derailed before I actually looked at any of the results so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (and on a related note, thanks again for the magical audio editing @imperiousheiress!)

Song stuck in my head: The end credits to Legacy of the Wizard (which is SUCH a jam, thank you for enlightening me @jessicafish) Following and followers: 227 (goodness just looking at that number is stress-inducing) and...104?! When the HECK did you all get here??? I think just last summer I was happily floating about in the 50′s. Anyways, to anyone I have not said hello, hello! Hope you enjoy your stay, and I am sincerely sorry if you expected Quality Original Content, or even just regularly scheduled other people’s content. Sadly, neither of these things tend to happen here. 

Amount I sleep: During the school year it’s usually anywhere between 30 minutes and 6 hours (DON’T EVEN START BUBBLES YOU HAVE NO RIGHT), usually landing in the 3/4 hour ranges if I’m smart about it, but now that I am on Unofficial Break, it’s usually at least around 6 hours (except today was 3 because Avatar is an excellent show and the weirdos in this house have regularly scheduled breakfast at 9-something every morning). Sadly my sleep schedule can only be forced to tolerate normalcy for so long before careening back in the other direction, so we’ll see if this is just a blip or if we’re back to normal mid-Atlantic Ocean hours!

Lucky number(s): I wouldn’t say these are necessarily favorite numbers, but I do like 2 and 9. But come to think of it, second attempts at Official Things do tend to go better for me than first attempts, so maybe there’s some merit there after all! Dream Job: Don’t think I’m really cut out for dreaming anymore, haha (unless you are a theoretical future employer in which case I am Extremely Full of Ambition and Passion). The bed-adjacent metaphor has been made, and not to brag, but I can sleep on pretty much any surface. Currently studying my Not Favorite aspect of STEM (was there ever a favorite or did I just like being good at things sometimes) and learning how to People™ properly (and also learning a gazillion convoluted drug names like what the heck dude, did you just fall asleep on your typewriter coming up with these), so I’ll take whatever place hires me and pays me enough not to depend on my parents for everything, I suppose. In an ideal world, that would entail a job where I could make friends, and even more importantly, a job where my shortcomings would not cause Massive and Irreparable Harm, but I don’t think this line of work really meshes with that last one, so I guess I’ll either have to get my shit together™ extremely soon or fake my death, adopt an alias, and flee to a completely new place with no ties whatsoever before trying to get another, less high stakes job. 

(Though I guess, less cynically, I like helping people well enough? And stories are fun! Maybe there could’ve been something with that. Not that there still can’t be, mind, but there’s still a long way to go between Here and There)

Wearing: Black shorts. Navy t-shirt. Brown some-specific-kind-of-jacket-I-forgot-the-name-of jacket. Is it summer? Is it fall? Am I in middle school? Who can say, but they are COMFY so sadly I have no cares to give

Favourite song(s): way way WAY too many to list here, and I do not have them all organized in a handy playlist separately, but to name a few (and these are not necessarily the MOST favorite okay, it doesn’t mean I don’t love stuff not on this list, it means you can’t force me to pick between my children and I am going to find at least one quick thing from a few things I like before I need to hit post and go back to looking like I’m being studious, and also things I think you should listen to right now, but for everything I’ve linked assuming I mean the whole OST), here’s a spam of links in no particular order: 

LoZ Wind Waker - The Great Sea (aka the epitome of optimism) 

Undertale - NGAHHH!! (I was about to link more but then I realized it’d be the whole soundtrack lol) 

LoZ Breath of the Wild - Hateno Village (Night) 

A:tLA - Peace (bad call BAD CALL NOW I HAVE EMOTIONS) 

Legend of Korra - Final Scene/Ending Theme (MISTAKES WERE MADE MISTAKES WERE MADE) 

Kung Fu Panda - Oogway Ascends (I feel like I’m taking you on a whole little album journey now XD) 

PMD: Explorers of Sky - Dialga’s Fight to the Finish (aka the Gotta Shower Fast song) 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Pursuit ~ Cornered (aka the HURRY UP AND PACK UR SHIT YOUR FLIGHT LEAVES IN THREE HOURS song) 

Apollo Justice: A New Trial Is In Session (very underrated soundtrack imo) and also Apollo Justice: Telling the Truth (because these two are very closely associated in my head and it’s getting harder and harder to narrow things down so maybe I should stop lol) 

Your Name: Katawaredoki (in which I am forcibly thrown heart first into the bedroom of my second apartment at approximately 12-something A.M.) 

Digimon Adventure 01: Butterfly (MASSIVE 90′s childhood anime feels, and also Last Summer Before Everything Went to Shit feels (on a general scale I mean, not personal)) 

Pokémon: Lugia’s Song multitrack cover by Jordan Moore (would that I could have a talent of that musical talent) 

Pokémon the First Movie: Tears of Life (great now I’m on a Pokémon music spiral GUESS IT’S CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA HOURS NOW) 

PMD: Blue Rescue Team - Farewell and Run Away/Fugitives (you CANNOT make me choose between these guys okay, my brain WILL explode, and whoops now I want to link the whole ost) 

Palette by A Dear Friend (wink wonk) 

Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire - Fortree City (wow talk about mood whiplash)

Detective Conan: Main Theme (I can’t find the specific version since there are so many, but it’s a Good Theme) 

Super Smash Bros.: Brawl - Opening Theme 

Pokémon Colosseum - Relic Forest 

Song for Lindsay by Andrew Boysen Jr. (oh great now it’s time for marching band feelings I guess)

Mt. Everest by Rossano Galante 

Deltarune - Field of Hopes and Dreams and A Town Called Hometown (orchestrated) (aka the Lots of Work To Do song) and You Can Always Come Home and Don’t Forget (hey guess what I wrote a bunch of fake extra verses for) (also it looks my pathetic attempts at narrowing things down are getting even more pathetic so I’ll wrap up soon XD) 

 Guild Wars 2 - Fear Not This Night (never actually played this myself but my friend got me addicted to the music) 

Lord of the Rings - May It Be (Enya) (aaaand now I miss choir, THANKS BUBBLES) 

Lion King - Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Multilingual) by Travys Kim (aka how I remembered how fun these things are) 

Original Song by Anonymous  

(The urge to add all the other songs I’m not adding is so strong but I’ve got so much work to do so just assume I mean all Nintendo music from any game I’ve played, all Ghibli movie music, every musical I’ve ever heard, and even more) 

Random fact:

Apparently as early as the 17th century, you could guess that a child would have a shortened life span if their foreheads tasted salty. Yes, there is a specific reason, and yes, you may already know what it is, and thankfully no, that life span projection no longer holds true, assuming access to Modern Medicine! 

Favourite Authors: Okay I have not read enough various books of enough various authors to be able to answer this, so I’m just gonna go with a few books instead. They are not necessarily all-time favorites, but I enjoyed reading them very much at the time and more often than not go back to them for comfort reads: The Martian, any of first three Harry Potter books, and The Rise of Kiyoshi. (That last one’s not really a comfort read but I am drowning in Loving Kiyoshi juice so here we are)

Favourite Animal Noises: Certain kinds of birds (UNLESS it’s some ungodly hour of the morning and you’re trying to sleep)? Ooh, and crickets! 

Aesthetic: A slob, but like...a comfy slob. An incredibly disorganized hermit who is happy to mill about in the uncontrolled entropy. (Are we talking about what aesthetic I give off, or what I like to look at, visually? Because I like space, and water, and mountains, and forests, and forests ON mountains, OOH and forests on mountains at night where you can see space, perhaps reflected in a body of water. Or just water, idk. Different things are pretty to look at at different times)

WELL THAT ONLY TOOK FOREVER SORRY FOR THE OBSCENE LENGTH 

@pachelbelsheadcanon @averybritishbumblebee @shingeki-no-korra @sailorlock @yeswevegotavideo @soultheta @queenerdloser @ifeelbetterer @rogueofdragons @peppervl @amadness2method @mutalune and anybody else who wants to do this! This isn’t seventeen, and I don’t know if any of you have already done it/been tagged, but I hear people moving around upstairs so that means this break is over XD. And ABSOLUTELY no pressure to actually do this, this is pretty much just me wishing you well! (and YOU of course, my dear reader! I hope everything’s going all right, or if it’s not, that it does soon)

[theprogressofspring]

Good day, @bloodyhellharry aka Vitoria told me to come to you to receive some thoughts about Regulus. By all means, share them if you wanna

First of all, thanks to Vitoria for the referral! She and I talk often, and I appreciate her confidence and interest in my opinions. :) I hope I don’t disappoint. 

Secondly, I am so behind in my messages! The rest are mostly about Peter, so I tend to get caught in a Passionate Feelings Spiral about him! If anyone reading is still waiting for me to answer their message, please know I haven’t forgotten you.

Regulus gives me plenty of feelings, and I plan to explore them more practically in my very long (and overdue for an update) fanfic, The Life Cycle of the Common Rat. So I don’t want to give EVERYTHING away, but here are my general feelings about Regulus:

Regulus is the second of two male children in not only a wealthy family, but a family whose members have influenced society and politics for generations (an heir and a spare!). As far as we’re told, Sirius and Regulus are the only male children in the Black line–the rest are female cousins who would marry into and perpetuate other pureblood families.

Because of this, Mr. and Mrs. Black would have wanted their sons to marry other pureblood witches, have their own sons, and perpetuate the Black line. This was expected among ALL families of their status and social class. The Blacks took this particularly seriously; Mr. and Mrs. Black were second cousins, and I suspect that Sirius was likely expected to marry one of his three female Black cousins. To them, this was normal. 

Even without the Wizard-Nazi sympathizing, this would chafe any teenager. (Look at any wealthy/royal family–there’s almost always visibly rebellious behavior.) 

Because Regulus was the second child, he spent most of his life expecting Sirius to marry, propagate, and manage the family home. Regulus would, of course, be expected to marry and have children himself, but it wouldn’t be nearly so urgent should Sirius do his job and get there first. After that, the pressure on Regulus would be considerably less. 

Sirius was, make no mistake, the favorite and most treasured son in the Black family. Handsome, brilliant, talented, charming. The model of an upcoming socialite/political mover and shaker. A Gryffindor, yes, not ideal, but the Black heir nonetheless.

Regulus was…also there! Not as handsome, not as outspoken. But clearly smart and observant, and appreciated well enough. In fact, I rather mightily suspect that Regulus was pretty much a secondary concern until Sirius decided to abandon his family “responsibility.” I suspect he idolized and resented Sirius in equal measure.

It’s a pretty common (and unfounded) fandom belief that the Black family was physically abusive to Sirius, if not both children. I am disinclined to agree.*

In fact, there is no reason for us to think that Sirius had any reason to consider problems with his family’s beliefs until he arrived at Hogwarts and was exposed to other people, classes, and ways of life. To quote Vitoria: “If you read Sirius as anything other than a guy who never had to deal with consequences until he got himself arrested then idk whats this book u read,” and I quite agree.

Obviously it sounds a lot like this is a post about Sirius, but I promise this foundation is necessary to understand Regulus!

There’s a phrase that I think sums up the historical circumstances of multiple sons in a wealthy family rather helpfully: “One to the land, one to the war, one to the church and pray for no more.”

Sirius was the eldest son and heir, and due to his rebellious nature and—eventually—a righteous hatred of pureblood supremacy, he abandons his family home at age 16. He’s burned off the tapestry.**

Until this point, Regulus was probably planning to live a life pursuing the magical hobby of his choosing and quietly bribing politicians to do the stuff he wanted. The simple life!

But Sirius’s disownment thrusts Regulus into the spotlight. Unlike Sirius, Regulus takes his duty to heart—or at least works to maintain the peace. All of a sudden, after sixteen years of being the second son, Regulus is now the sole heir. But, oh dear, there’s a war on, and his family has indicated exactly where their sympathies lie.

The second son goes to war.

I admit that I am speculating now, but imagine that you are the head of an old, wealthy family that is nevertheless fading in influence and prestige. You have two sons who are the only hope of carrying on your storied family legacy.***

Then one day, your first son and heir apparent not only abandons home, but makes it clear that the family legacy is something he wants no part of. Soon after, you find out that your second son—the one you didn’t expect to have to rely on for an heir, especially not while he’s still a teenager—has put himself on the front lines of an increasingly brutal war. Of course, you knew about the movement and quietly support the cause, but you are aghast at the idea of sacrificing not only one of your sons to it, but the LAST REMAINING HOPE to continue the family.

This is why, despite the fact that they were pureblood supremacists, I think the Blacks were absolutely horrified that Regulus became a Death Eater, and would never have encouraged him to do so, especially once it was clear that Sirius wasn’t coming home. 

Maybe Regulus had the wrong idea entirely—maybe he thought his parents would be incredibly proud of him for doing the OPPOSITE of what Sirius-the-Traitor did. Imagine his surprise when his parents weren’t exactly overjoyed. Maybe it made him think twice, and more critically, and planted the initial seed that would eventually flower into his self-sacrifice.

I do not think it is a coincidence that Mrs. Black was driven to the absolute edge of her wits with grief, or that both parents died shortly after Regulus’s own death and Sirius’s life sentence. There was no longer any possibility of reconciliation or future heirs. The House of Black was ended.

*Although I fully acknowledge the emotional/mental abuse of impossible expectations combined with likely significant emotional withholding.

**I don’t think Sirius was burned off the tapestry as soon as he moved in with James at 16. I don’t think he was disowned until after he came of age, accepted money from Alphard, and decidedly didn’t move home, then joined the Order and condemned the DEs/pureblood cause, but I have no strict canon evidence of that. 

***There are no other living Blacks as far as the books are concerned. Alphard didn’t have children, and we know of no other male Blacks who could carry on the line, plus, interestingly, Sirius remained heir to Grimmauld Place instead of the estate passing to Bellatrix or Narcissa.

[veritas-roleplay]

THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES...

There’s something weighted about this day. February 20th, 1980 is nothing exceptional on the surface— it’s a colder winter than usual, and the fog clinging to the air seems to be more a commentary on the state of the wizarding world than on the weather itself. The world has dulled and fallen into a state of uncertainty, and no one knows what the next day will bring. But, at a glance, nothing is abnormal about this day. Night has fallen, and the waxing crescent of the moon hangs low in the sky over Hogsmeade, outlining the silhouette of Hogwarts in the distance. But the village is quiet.

Albus Dumbledore walks through the streets of Hogsmeade without any real hope or expectation for the meeting he’s about to step into. Sybill Trelawney isn’t someone that he has any real interest in meeting, especially since the position she hopes to obtain at Hogwarts isn’t one that he even wants to continue. But Trelawney is a name that means something, that is respected and even revered. It’s been generations since the famed seer Cassandra Trelawney, but a name is a name, and a name has power. And so he enters the Hog’s Head to interview the potential new professor.

She is as unexceptional as he had expected her to be. There are more important things to be focusing on— the work of the Order, the search for a way to destroy the horcrux— but this, instead, is what wastes his time.

                                       “Thank you for meeting with me,              but I’m afraid that we don’t think you’re the right fit for the position.”

It’s a blow that hits harder than he’d anticipated, and brings a reaction he never could’ve called. The young woman’s freezing was what he’d initially taken for heartbreak, but then she speaks, and it’s not as she had before. It’s not the ramblings of a mediocre and crack seer, it’s true, and haunting. And it will change everything.

              "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…

                            born to those who have thrice defied him,

        born as the seventh month dies…

               and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,

                             but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…

                                                    and either must die at the hand of the other

                          for neither can live while the other survives…

           the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord

                                          will be born as the seventh month dies...“

Outside, Severus Snape listens. Parts of the prophecy are caught before he is chased from the building by the angry barkeep. He hurries to relay what he’s heard, foolish in his desire to pass the information to Lord Voldemort, and be rewarded for his troubles. But inside the room, the future has been set. The prophecy is Sybill’s saving grace, though she is the only one who ends up happy at the end of the meeting. Albus Dumbledore leaves the Hog’s Head with a new Divination professor, and the turning point of the war in his hands. It’s odd, that the fate of the entire wizarding world will be decided by a child, an infant. It is a burden that should not be placed on anyone.

And it is one that Dumbledore places squarely on the shoulders of Lily Evans and James Potter.

                                       The final pieces are set that night.

An emergency meeting of the Order is called together the night of the prophecy. They gather together in Fhionnuisce, the stronghold of the Order, to discuss what the next steps are. There is hope. There is one last thing the Order can do to win the war. 

It has been two years since anyone has heard the name Regulus Black. He is the last person they are expecting to hear about that night, and he is the last person they are expecting to see. Older, more exhausted, longer hair, but still distinctly a teenager, Regulus has never looked more like his brother Sirius. Everyone in the room turns to see how his brother reacts to seeing him again. Sirius is frozen, staring at Regulus like someone’s playing a trick on him. Dumbledore is the one to break the silence. 

                                ��           “Tell them everything we know.”

So they listen. They listen to Regulus tell them all he knows of the Death Eaters, listen to everything he knows about Voldemort, listen to his quest to obtain and destroy the horcrux. At the end of it all, there are questions. At the end of it all, everything has changed. 

                                                      “We should destroy it.” 

Minerva McGonagall is the first to speak. She is usually silent in Order meetings, never the loudest voice in the room, but this time, she’s not backing down. She looks to James and Lily-- students she had mentored through the years, her best and brightest, her legacy. 

                                           “It is the only way to protect them.”

No one disagrees with her. It’s nearly dawn when the members of the Order of the Phoenix gather in the yard of Fhionnuisce. Regulus places the locket in the center of the circle. Albus Dumbledore holds out the sword of Godric Gryffindor-- it seems only fitting that Regulus should be the one to destroy it, after sacrificing so much to find a way to defeat Voldemort. Regulus takes the sword, and holds it out to his brother Sirius. 

                                                “We should end this together.”

It happens very quickly. Sirius stands in front of the horcrux, sword of Godric Gryffindor in hand. With a nod, Regulus speaks the words to open the locket, words it had taken him years to find. There’s a horrible scream as the spirit of Voldemort erupts from the locket. The sword swings.

                  The horcrux lies broken on the ground, nothing more than a necklace. 

Miles away, things change. Severus Snape stands before the Dark Lord and gives him the news about the prophecy. The Death Eaters are summoned that night too for a secret meeting at the safe house Drusilla. There’s only one child the prophecy could be talking about-- the child of Lily Evans and James Potter. 

                                “Nothing matters except that the child is--”

In an instant, Voldemort falls. It’s been years since he separated himself from the horcrux, but a part of him has still been struck down. When he comes back to consciousness, the Death Eaters are divided. Some think he has fallen for good and have fled, others wait for someone to step up in his place. It’s impossible not to wonder if any of them really believed in the cause anymore, or if they ever had at all. Loyalty means nothing. Self-preservation is the only thing that those that have survived care for.

Those still most loyal to Voldemort take up the hunt. The horcrux is destroyed, but Voldemort still lives-- weaker, closer to destruction, but even more reckless and violent than before. The war is not yet over. In fact, it has only just begun. 

By the end of the war, hardly more than a year later, only a handful of the original members  of the Order of the Phoenix will have survived. All that will be left is a photograph, and the stories that those survivors carry.

A little over two years ago, Veritas opened its doors for the first time. Nine people playing a total of fifteen characters on a journey that would last from 1978 all the way to 1980. We’ve grown since, into a thriving community full of talented writers and forty characters, and come so far since that first opening day. These past two years have been filled with many things— plot drops, events, joy and grief, laughter and tears. This has been an incredible and unforgettable experience-- you have built something amazing here, and we never would’ve made it to two years without each and every one of you. We would like to thank new and old members, those that have been with us from the beginning to those that have joined us for these last few thrilling months. It has been an honor and a pleasure to write with all of you, and to be your admin these past two years.

I am here to announce that Veritas will be closing its doors today after two amazing years. You are more than welcome to continue writing, but the main will no longer be updating after today. From here, the journey is your own to take on whatever course you wish, or to turn towards a fresh and exciting new chapter.

Personal life has made it too difficult for me to keep this place up and running, but being your admin has been nothing but an incredible experience. To write with so many talented people, to learn so much and grow alongside you, and to make lifelong friends has all been possible because of Veritas. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude and my pride towards all of you. You have made Veritas an experience that I know personally, I will never forget.

So thank you. Thank you for joining us, for writing with us, for laughing and crying with us, and for making Veritas everything that it was and more. And thank you for two incredible years as your admin.

Admin Emily

[ailynyaxley]

            i am strong but also destructive. i’m restless and harsh and hopeless.              though i have love inside myself. it’s just that i don’t know how to use love.

AILYN ZANELE YAXLEY really is the spitting image of ANTOINETTE ROBERTSON, right? For someone only 26 years old, AILYN has been forced to endure so much. Yeah, that PUREBLOOD has been scraping by at the sanctuary since JULY, 2028, working as a HISTORY TEACHER in the DIVISION OF CIVILIANS. SHE is a CIS WOMAN and is known to be INDIFFERENT and SECRETIVE but also INTELLECTUAL and ADAPTABLE. Best of luck surviving through this.

LINKS – pinboard, stats. playlist. CHARACTER PARALLELS – elle woods (legally blonde), allison reynolds (all for the game), michaela pratt (how to get away with murder), sun bak (sense8) TRIGGER WARNING – sexism, alcoholism, abuse, trauma, death (all have a trigger warning in-text too)

pre-outbreak

sexism tw || ailyn was born as the first child to andre and thandi yaxley, the first granddaughter to corban yaxley (who, at the time of her birth, was still rotting away in azkaban). she was wished for, kind of ----- her parents didn’t wish to raise children together, but did wish to have children so they could further their legacy. and then, of course, there was the fact that ailyn was a girl, which was a bit of a disappointment for andre yaxley, who wanted his firstborn to a son, because --- well, he’s instilled with traditional values that make no one happy (except him, i guess). || end of tw

andre yaxley is not a good man. he grew up in the shadow of his father ---- a successful death eater, who pulled the strings behind a ministry coup once, filled with a bitter wish for justice for him, angry that his father is imprisoned when he was so good at what he did, constantly hoping that the day will come where he can prove himself to be as good at scheming, plotting and cruelty as his father

spoiler: he’s not. he’s a useless piece of stale bread.

alcoholism tw || ailyn is raised in a web of lies. her father had inherited the once successful family company and had let it go bankrupt due to his incompetence, the shame that followed the family name and again, his incompetence, but did not speak of this: every day, he’d kiss his wife goodbye and go to work. but his workplace was the pub, and his work was drinking more beers than good for a man. her mother, who acted as if she was happily married to andre yaxley, smelled of other lovers when she came home from shopping or tea dates with friends.

ailyn is a smart child, an observant one, and figures out all the lies her life is built on quite early on in life. she learned how relative really truth is, how easy lies come. she confronts her father once, when he’s intoxicated and half asleep, and he tells her that he doesn’t have a job any more, that all the money they have comes from his parents-in-law, and he’s angry and disgusted and ailyn thinks he’s angry with her at first, but later understands that he just hates himself. (she would too, if she were him.) 

abuse tw || but while he is mostly angry at himself, he does sometimes direct his anger towards his wife, towards his kids. mostly verbally, sometimes physically. || end of tws

her brother is born when she is five. he is a boy, and her dad prefers him, and she would like to say now that she never cared about her father’s useless opinions, but she did, and she hated it. but she loved her brother, even though he wasn’t as critical as she was, and kept truths from him because of it. 

hogwarts rolled around, and ailyn was sorted in slytherin, though she was nearly a ravenclaw. she would have thrived in both, to be honest, but the sorting hat saw her ambition and self serving nature and thought her a slytherin more. she didn’t care either way. at hogwarts, she kept up her family’s façade, pretending that they were indeed like many other old pureblood families --- rich and thriving, despite controversy. 

she was bitter, though, didn’t want feigned success and richness, wanted something to be really proud of -- not just those fucking lies. ailyn’s hunger for her own success was born then. 

hogwarts was where she learned --- where she learned about her own power, and her lack of it. because here’s the thing: ailyn isn’t a good witch. she’s no good at wand waving and spells and any kind of practical magic besides potions. she understands magic --- delves into the theory of it and understands the tough texts --- and writes stellar essays, but when it comes to charming or transfiguring things, she’s shit. and honestly, ailyn has always had her doubts about blood purism but never pushed herself to actually doubt those ideals (because that’s what she was learned, and sometimes she’s scarily indifferent, and it puts her on a pedestal, and she didn’t mind that for a while), but when she sees that she -- a witch with so-called pure blood -- is no good at magic when others with so-called lesser blood are ten times better, she understands: it’s fucking bullshit.

she’s vague about her stance on it, mostly keeps her feelings hidden under layers of eye rolls and cynicism --- part of her is scared of word getting back to her parents, she supposes. another part of her likes being vague, too. an enigma. 

ailyn also found her love for history at hogwarts. not because of binns, of course --- she wishes she could kill a ghost multiple times during her years in his class --- but because of the work she does herself. obscure parts of history are devoured by her in the library. she learns about muggle history, shamelessly, intrigued by the ethics and morals of humans. 

ailyn might be a shit witch, but she’s very, very intelligent. she’s booksmart, able to read tough books with ease, able to write stellar essays and retain a lot of information at once. she likes learning theoretical stuff, likes getting her head dirty rather than her hands, and it’s because of that that she keeps passing her classes. 

besides, she thinks that it’s more valuable to have a good set of brains than to be good with a wand.

after graduation, ailyn got an administrative job at the ministry, just to make a bit of money, not because she wished to kickstart a career there. she started interning under a historian, and once she had made enough money from her job to have a bit of a safety net, she moved out of her parents house.

and then she didn’t look back. she didn’t cut ties, not really, but she started sending letters less frequently. her relationship with her parents had only worked when she had been dependent on them, and now that she was no longer, she no longer had any interest in being close with them --- she hated her father, thought her mother a coward, knew that they didn’t care about her, not really, not as they should. and so a wedge grows. ailyn shows up for family dinners every now and then and keeps in touch, but she focuses more on her own life, her life outside of her family.

ailyn gained the title of historian when she was twenty two, and started writing essays, starting doing research, comparing patterns in muggle and wizarding history, writing for magazines and reveling in her own success. she builds her own life, in her small apartment in cardiff and does what she loves, and does it well. 

outbreak

ailyn is working on her first book when everything goes to shit. she is in talks with obscurus books about a publishing deal, and is working on her first draft --- it’s a dream come true, and then everything goes to shit.

sexism tw || a bit of background on her family: her father and brother rejoined the death eaters, her father so fucking desperate to live up to his own father, her brother in his turn desperate to make his own father proud. ailyn isn’t even asked to join as well, because she’s just a girl, and she’s a bad witch at that. she doesn’t care. she doesn’t even want to join, anyway --- the death eaters are stupid, just as blood purism, and she doesn’t care that her father underestimates her because of her femininity. let him underestimate her. || end of tw

cardiff is overrun when she’s at home. she barricades her doors, her windows, everything, thinks that she can survive in her small home, sit it out, but it doesn’t fucking end --- there’s no government to fix this, no one is coming, no one is fixing this --- and ailyn is terrified. she can’t stay at home, but where can she go? 

away. and eventually, hogwarts. she travels by foot -- and sometimes by car, or another muggle vehicle -- with a small group, made up of muggles and wixen alike. she doesn’t dare apparate, because she was never very good at it and she’s unable to get in the right headspace to even try. besides, she feels a sort of loyalty to the people she’s with. which ... is odd, because ailyn has always only felt loyal to herself, and maybe her brother, and maybe some of her friends --- and yet it feels good, amidst all the bad, so she sticks with them. 

trauma and death tw || ailyn isn’t built for an apocalypse. of course, no one really is, but her weapon of choice is wit and words, and she can’t fight inferi with those. and so she fights with a bat, at times, rather than a wand. it’s not an easy journey --- of course it’s not --- and ailyn sees things that traumatise her; death and decay, and the inferi in general, and she’s not sure how she’s able to keep moving because she’s not built for this, she’s not, she’s not

she arrives at hogwarts in july, and has to prove that she’s not a death eater --- which she does with an eyeroll, even if she understands. she’s filled with trauma and grief, but she’s not the only one at least --- which is a strange comfort, but a horrible thing, too. she’s not sure how to deal with these emotions, though, because they’re overwhelmingly real, and before she was always able to choke her feelings down and ignore them, but now she shakes with them at times, and she doesn’t know how to talk about them, or what to do with them ---- theyre just there, these traumas and memories and feelings, and she can’t do shit about them. end of tws

ailyn becomes a history professor, teaching kids and teens, an infinite times better than binns ever could have. and she loves that. she finds comfort in that, that she can still do something with her passion. she returns to the library with warmth in her heart --- that’s the only good thing about this, she supposes, that she has unlimited access to the hogwarts library again (ye - she is a nerd)

it’s all ... a big learning experience, mostly. a way for ailyn to learn about the danger of her own indifference (which is fading more and more), a way for her to learn how to be compassionate without feeling like she’s weak, a way for her to open herself to people she wouldnt have looked at twice before

the circumstances suck though lmakldfhsjdf

personality & details

ailyn is a true neutral, powder pink lipstick lesbian who will drag your ass through the mud while speaking to you sweetly with a :) smile :). she has a mean streak and her nature isnt necessarily malicious but she can be when she chooses to. this streak most often shows itself in front of people that ailyn thinks lesser of/people that annoy her

she’s just … tired. tired of humanity and all the people around her and the ruckus theyre causing. ailyn just wants people to Chill Out and use their heads in stead of whatever’s motivating them ( their genitals, hearts, stomachs, whatever ). she feels very … Genius LMAO because she’s such a realist and she thinks she has the world all figured out when, obviously, she doesnt.

ailyn is very sure of herself, incredibly confident — sometimes too confident ( though she’s of the opinion that girls can never be to confident ) and in turn she can be condescending and haughty. she’s self aware, though, about most things. she knows where her strengths and weaknesses lie and has made peace with it, even knows that she’s arrogant and harsh, but doesn’t care much.

ailyn is hyperfeminine, believes in lethal femininity and the colour pink. very much elle woods in that sense — she loves fashion and make up and velvet high heels and looking good, but has a ready mind that she’ll apply to reach her goals at any given moment in time. will Not be underestimated because she’s girly (or, well, youre free to underestimate her, but you’re wrong and she cant wait to let you see that). a firm believer in the matriarchy. lover of womanhood.

she also … just thinks lowly of men a lot. like — her dad’s a deadbeat idiot alcoholic broke dude and he Sucks, and then there’s people like grindelwald and voldemort and a long string of ministers, prime ministers and presidents that just proof that men shouldnt be in power to her LMAO. her interest in history is mostly just ailyn sighing at the deeds of men and how they continue to disappoint her.

LOVES greek mythology and medusa is her #1 fave

emotionally constipated but less so than usual???? whew

she’s .... a nerd ... .... we stan

tbh she can be quite charming and fun to be around but she also can be all sharp edges and iciness ... depends on the mood, and who you are

idk i just love her and she’s ... rly living up to her potential here whew!!!

[wandlores]

Spilled Ink

Pairing: Theodore Nott x Pansy Parkinson Words: 2,278 You can also read this on AO3. This is for the anon that sent a request in for this pairing MONTHS ago. I’m sorry it took so long to get to, but I hope you enjoy it. This is one of my favorite drabbles I have written in awhile. 

Theodore Nott remembered the first time he ever saw Pansy Parkinson as clear as day. It was as though his mind was a library, and he would search every shelf and find a story about her. There was never in a time in his life where he didn't remember Pansy. She was his first memory; the first story he ever read and couldn't put down.

He was four years old. His mother was still alive and his father was still an asshole. He had to visit Charles Parkinson for official Death Eater business, though Theo had no idea at the time. Priscilla Parkinson greeted them at the front gates with Pansy in her arms. Her blue green eyes were the first thing he noticed; he even told his mother later that day that he thought they were so beautiful and unlike anything he had seen before. She smiled and told him he should tell Pansy that one day, because they would be seeing a lot of each other. That maybe it would make her happy. But Theo was always too shy, until his eleventh birthday right before they left for Hogwarts.

They were lying down in the field behind his family's estate. The sun was setting and the warm summer breeze was blowing thru her recently chopped off hair. Pansy was still five inches shorter than him and had her crooked teeth, but every time she looked into his eyes, he got distracted by the colors in her's. She was laughing about something he had said and turned her head to face him as he said his next words. He had planned to say something sarcastic about Draco Malfoy and how her parent's were already arranging their marriage, but instead, his subconscious thoughts spilled onto the grass like the ink on the pages he loved so very much.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen," he told her, "Have I mentioned that before?"

But she didn't take him seriously. They were only eleven years old. She snorted and playfully bumped his shoulder and told him to knock it off. He never complimented her like that again until they were fourteen and Draco yelled at her at the Yule Ball in front of everyone. She had run out of the Great Hall trying to hold back her tears, but Theo could sense her vulnerability from a mile away when others could not. She had told off Draco for his insolence before she turned and run away from the others. God forbid, she could never show her true emotions. She was much like him with how they were raised. It was only his mother who ever encouraged them to show emotions like every other kid, but she was long gone now. She had been long gone for a year at that point. Death was never fair.

Theo remembered telling Tracey he would be right back as he dipped out of the Great Hall. He knew instantly where she would go; it was their favorite place. A secret small cave by the lake that no one else had ever found. They could hardly fit in it anymore, but that didn't stop them from trying. They liked to pretend they were still eleven years old after their sorting when they found it.

Her pink dress was soaked from the snow falling around them, and her enchanted-on makeup was running down her face. Black smudges were around her eyes, but they still shined bright in the night light. Theo tried not to stare into them for too long.

"I-I'm so stupid," Pansy choked out, "I'm a jealous petty girl. He barely looked at Daphne and I-"

Theo sat down next to her as she fell into his arms. As the snow fell, he covered her up with his cloak and let her cry. He remembered that being the first time he ever felt like beating someone up for her, and Theo never had violent tendencies toward anyone. He couldn't understand why Draco would even look at Daphne with Pansy in the room, for she was all he could ever see.

"You're not stupid," he told her, "You're the smartest person I know, and the most beautiful, too."

She gave him a small smile as she cried, but he still held her. He held her for what felt like hours.

He never told Pansy he went and talked to Draco later that night and threatened that if he ever hurt her again, there would be consequences. Draco never tested Theo after that either. There was a secret understanding between them when it came to Pansy.

Then there was their first fight when they were fifteen. It was over their fathers'. Theo refused to see his any longer, and Pansy was trying to convince him otherwise to continue the Death Eater legacy. He made his decision a long time ago, even before he knew he had made it. It was written in history. It wasn't until later on that Theo realized she only fought so hard for him to be involved so she wouldn't lose him. He was the only stable thing in her life, with her vacant father and abusive mother. They made up a day later when Theo found her crying in the corner of the library. Not a word was spoken, but she fell into his arms and he closed his eyes trying to memorize the feeling of having her back. He would never lose her again. He swore that to himself again and again.

When they were sixteen, Theo's father came after him. He had been living with Blaise, whose mother was gone just as much as his dead one. It was as though she didn't exist. But his father came bursting thru the Zabini Estate's front gates threatened to kill him if he did not initiate himself with the Death Eaters, but it was Pansy who came and saved him. She cursed and hexed his father until he left and never returned. That was the first night Theo ever cried in her arms. He had always been her rock, but she had become his.

And now that Pansy was engaged to Draco Malfoy after the war, he couldn't handle it. Not when she was supposed to be with him. Not when they fought through everything together. You were supposed to marry your rock; the person who kept you grounded and allowed you to be yourself. He knew Draco never loved her; he never had in the way that Theo had. Their upcoming marriage was strictly political, even after everything that happened during the war.

It took all his courage as he slipped thru her window at her estate that night. Her parents were now both dead and it was all her's, but he had done this many times before. It felt natural to him, but Pansy didn't expect it that night.

She woke up suddenly to the sound of him closing her window, and she instantly grabbed her wand.

"Lumos," she whispered.

When she saw it was him, he watched her exhale. She put her hand to her chest and that's when he saw the ring. He swallowed down the lump in his throat.

"Theo, what are you doing here so late? Why didn't you owl me?"

He moved to sit next to her on her bed and avoided looking into her eyes until he composed himself. He could feel her staring at him with concern, and she gently put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He took a deep breath and bravely looked into her eyes. The eyes he remembered from all those years ago; the first thing he ever thought was beautiful.

"I-I came here to talk to you about Draco," he said calmly.

"Is everything okay?" She asked worriedly, "Did something happen to him? The trial was supposed to go well-"

"Oh, he is fine," he reassured her quickly, "Don't worry about him. This has more to do with me than him."

Perplexed, she lifted up her right brow and scooted closer to him on the bed.

"Then what is it?"

He closed his eyes as he contemplated on what to exactly say, but these words were already written in history. Just like all his decisions before. They were on the pages of the novels his destiny already wrote for him. This was his path, and this was his story. It was their story; he just wasn't sure how it was going to end.

"I've been in love with you my entire life," he said, "Ever since the first day I met you."

Speechless, Theo heard her sharply intake her next breath. She moved her hand that was on his shoulder onto her lap, and he watched as she looked down at the floor. He could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes, but she pushed them back. It was the first time in years she wouldn't cry in front of him. She locked her jaw as she tried to keep it together.

"Why-why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked him, "Why are you waiting until now?"

"Because I tried to be selfless," he whispered, more to himself than her, "But I am not selfless, Pansy. I'm selfish. I want you, and I need you, and I can't lose you. If you marry him, my whole purpose will be-"

He didn't finish his statement, but suddenly he felt her grab his hand. She was rubbing his knuckles softly with the pad of her thumb. She wasn't looking up at him, but she whispered back, "You are selfless. I am selfish for not seeing earlier and not realizing. If I had known-"

"If you had known, then what?"

"Then things would be different, but it's too late now."

Without his permission, he felt a tear slip down his cheek, and he felt her wipe it away. He couldn't look at her, he wouldn't. He knew he would be trapped in the page of this story forever if he did.

"I'm sorry," she told him quietly, "I'm sorry."

He nodded to nobody but himself as he stood up. He didn't look back at her as he climbed thru her window and out into the night, but he heard her quiet sobs as he shut her window.

Theo didn't leave his estate for weeks. Now that his father was also dead, he had the place with himself. He never minded being alone before, but now all he could hear were the ghosts of his past and the spirits of what could have been of his future if he had acted sooner.

He couldn't take it anymore and did something stupid. He went back to the field where they were those many years ago when he first tried to express his feelings in his own way. No eleven year old would say that to his best friend, he thought, she was so naive. But he was so naive to think that she would even notice that fact at eleven, too. He was mad at her, but he was also mad at himself. Why had he waited?

He sat down in the grass and brought his knees up to his chest. He put his head on his knees and cried. He cried for his mother, he cried for the father he could have had, he cried for Pansy, he cried for all that he had lost. He could have been crying for hours. He had no idea, but then he suddenly felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He knew his face was lined with tears and his eyes had to be red, but he looked up anyway. For once, he didn't care who saw him that way. Theo was surprised to see that it was Pansy. She looked down at him with those eyes he saw every time he shut his own. They were full of love, loss, and regret. She didn't say anything as she sat down and took his hand, and that's when he realized Draco's ring no longer occupied her left ring finger. He rubbed her left hand soothingly and looked up at the sunset ahead of them.

"What happened?" He asked her quietly, "What did he do?"

"He did nothing," she responded quickly, "I just decided on a different path. A path that was written here in this field so many years before."

Theo turned his head to look into her eyes once again. She cupped his face with her hands as she told him, "I remember. I remember the day you told me my eyes were the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. Do you remember that?"

"Yes," he answered quietly, "How could I forget?"

"I was so stupid to not see-"

"We were eleven."

"But we have never been eleven at heart. We are old souls, you and I."

He smiled slightly as he studied her face. Her teeth were no longer crooked, but her eyes were the same. Her hair was long and flowing, and she had grown up into the soul she had always been.

"I love you too," she suddenly said, "I should have said it back."

He nodded, but not to himself this time, but to her. Then he did something he had been waiting to do since that day in the field so many years ago. He kissed her, and she kissed him back. And if the universe was fair, their story would just end here, because nothing would ever get better than this. Theo wanted his story to begin and end with Pansy Parkinson. It was written in the stars.