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sweeethinny · 3 years

Note

He and Harry had a fight last week... James said he didn’t like him anymore.’’ Ginny looked at her mother, looking a little sadder now. ‘’Harry cried.’ Would you consider writing their fight and then James Sirius apologizing? I was (re)reading this today and I just love it

thank you anon! you can also read it on AO3, if you want :)

the last part, is the content of the letter that james wanted to send to Harry, i hope you liked it! <3 PART 1, i think? idk, but the fanfic that anon referred to

Ginny didn't quite know what was going on when she got home, exhausted from yet another tiring day at work, with sexist coaches who didn't listen to what she had to say in the interviews, and other journalists who didn't care about the ideas she had proposed.

She did not expect to feel so miserable when she agreed to work on the Prophet.

But either way, she was happy that Harry managed to cut the workload that month, spending more time at home with the kids, especially now that James was six and started going to school, Teddy had just gone for Hogwarts, Albus was at a stage where he just wanted to be with his father, and Lily had her teeth born and was in a bad mood.

They hadn't had much of a problem with James at school so far, he had adapted, made friends, done homeworks, and was well controlled with his own magic, occasionally exploding or making things fly.

Nothing too dangerous and that they couldn't fix.

In the last week James' classes were suspended when 7 of the 12 children caught lice, luckily James was not one of them, so the boy seemed a little anxious about the sudden change in routine.

But today it looked like a war had broken out in the middle of their living room. Lily was taking all the clothes out of the clean laundry basket, Albus was on top of the trunk where they kept some old things, with his knee shredded and looking like he was waiting to make a dressing, while Harry and James argued beside him.

Ginny knew that the combination of her and Harry would make children easy to explode, but she realized that James had an extreme facility in getting Harry off track, much more so than Lily or Albus did. Albus knew how to irritate his brothers, and Lily only irritated them with her loud crying and childish antics like throwing things, but James was at that stage where he challenged his parents to find out how far he could go. Teddy had been there, too, but it was with Ginny that he could do it most easily.

However James seemed to know exactly what to do to have an angry Harry.

'James,' Harry asked, eyes closed as if asking for patience, it probably wasn't the first time they had had that conversation.

'I just wanted to fly!' James shouted angrily, his cheeks red.

'And didn't I tell you that you couldn't do that?' Harry countered, running a hand through his hair. 'How many times have I told you that neither you, or Albus, could fly alone?'

'But Albus was there because he wanted to! I didn't tell him to follow me.' The little one looked as furious as his father, his arms crossed in front of the small body just as Ginny did when she argued with someone. 'Why can Lily fly and I can't ?!'

'I was with her, she was not alone, you know that very well. I said that we could fly later, and that I would go with you- ’

'But you worked all day, and then the night would come and we would not be flying! Again!'

'James... You could have hurt Albus! Or hurt yourself.' Harry pointed out, looking as alarmed as if it had actually happened. As far as Ginny could see from the entrance to the Living Room, only Albus was a little hurt, and he didn't even seem to want to cry or anything.

'Oh, of course, if something happens to the precious Albus, it's the end of the world!' James threw his arms up, as if giving up, and before Harry was able to answer him, he shouted; 'I hate you!' And he ran off, tears streaming down his face as he climbed the stairs as fast as he could, his little legs not helping him to be too fast, but Harry didn't follow him either, which helped James get to the room and slam the door.

Harry sighed, hands on his tired face, and Ginny was still a little paralyzed at the door, thinking about what had happened. 'Mum!' Lily shouted, now sitting in the empty clothes basket, making the other two look at her.

'Hello my loves.' Ginny smiled going over to Albus and kissing him on the cheek, realizing how scared he looked. 'Hi my love, how are you?' She preferred to act as if she had just arrived, looking at his grated knee, still a little dirty with grass.

'Fine, I just fell.' He smiled, the little children's teeth a little dirty from what looked like chocolate.

'It'll be okay,' Ginny promised, casting a simple healing charm and placing him on the floor, before of course, she kissed the small scar that remained. Nothing too serious, but it was a tradition that helped them to be less afraid of when they needed to apply potions or other healing spells that were stronger.

They were a Weasley-Potter, after all, they were always falling.

'Hi my other love,' She smiled at Harry, hugging him, but realizing that he seemed a little reluctant to speak. He just smiled awkwardly, kissing her forehead and letting her go to be hugged by Lily, who had managed to topple the basket of clothes to be able to crawl out and run into her mother's arms. 'And my other love.'

'Hi mommy!' Lily cried awkwardly, hugging Ginny back, and hanging from her neck so she could be picked up.

'And where's my other love?' Harry sighed at her question, waving his wand and causing all the clothes to levitate, to be folded, and to go back into the basket.

'Up there,' Harry murmured. 'Do you take care of them? I'm going to prepare dinner.' Ginny nodded, lowering Lily to the sofa when Albus asked her to play with him and the Lego castle he had won from Percy.

‘Mommy, come and play with us!’ Albus asked, seeming not even to remember the fight between his father and brother anymore, amused by the pieces and teaching Lily how to stack the blocks too - even though she seemed willing to just destroy everything.

‘I’m coming, okay? Let me just go and say hi to James, and I'll be back here, okay?’ She promised, crouching in front of them, drawing all the attention to herself. ‘No mess and fights, Mom will be back.’

'Daddy and James fought,' Al whispered, as if it were a secret.

'Bad James,' Lily added, crossing her arms as she could, to look like her brother.

'They are just stressed, and he’s not bad. Now, I'll be right back.' Ginny left the room and went up to the second floor, still listening to the conversations between Albus and Lily, and the sounds of pots and dishes, much louder than usual, and she imagined that Harry was more angry at what he looked like while fighting with James.

Ginny knocked on the door to their eldest son's room, the photo hanging next to her made her smile, a picture of when they went ice skating, a few days before Teddy received the letter from Hogwarts, he and James were smiling from ear to ear. ear, while she and Harry still needed to hold hands to keep steady and not fall.

She hated it when she or Harry lost patience with their kids, when they got carried away by the tantrum. They should have known that the best thing to do when it happened was to just get away, let the kids scream alone for a few minutes, before they came back calmer and managed to talk to them.

'Hi my love,' Ginny murmured, opening the door and entering James's room, it was colder than usual inside, and maybe he had done accidental magic for this to happen and he could be hidden under the covers. 'It's Mommy.'

'I don't want to say anything.' James' voice was muffled by the pillow and the covers, but she could still tell that he was crying.

Ginny sat on the bed next to him, her hand on what she imagined was his shoulder. 'I heard that you and Daddy had a fight, is it true?'

'He hates me.' Ginny smiled sadly, denying and sighing.

'He doesn't hate you my love, and hating someone is a very strong thing to say, I promise you, he is just tired, and you need to help him a little too.'

'But he wasn't going to fly with me, and I just wanted to fly.' James uncoveredlooking at Ginny with brown eyes wet with tears. 'He only cares about Lily and Albus, he doesn't even love me anymore.'

'James, of course not, your father loves you very much, which is why he was concerned that you might get hurt. You know you can't fly alone, it's very dangerous.' She held out her arms for James to crawl onto her lap as if he were still a baby - for her, he always would be - and put him against her chest, cradling her body a little from side to side to calm his crying. 'Dad was just worried that you would get hurt. Besides, you are the older brother, and Lily is still very small and needs help to do a lot of things, just as Albus still needs more help. You are my big boy already, and you have to help them, and not go flying without authorization.’

'But he yelled at me.' James sobbed, holding Ginny's shirt in his hands, hiding his face like he did when he was a kid.

'Look, what Dad did was not right, but you didn't make it easy either. Both are wrong… Dad is having dinner, go take a shower, okay? I promise that tomorrow we can fly together.' James nodded, still glued to his mother, like a sloth clinging to a tree trunk. 'I love you my baby.'

'Me too,' he murmured, without further tears.

[...]

Dinner had been… tense, to say the least. Proving that he was Harry's son, James spent the whole dinner in silence, sullen, without even looking straight up, just as Harry was, determined to eat the lasagna without saying anything.

If it weren't for Albus chattering, and Lily trying to imitate him, they would have eaten entirely in silence.

After all the children were in their beds, sleeping soundly, and the house was quiet for another reason, Ginny lay on their bed, waiting for Harry to get out of the bath. They hadn't talked much, and he didn't even want to go shower with her, so she just waited, sitting on the bed while pretending to read the last pages of the romance Angelina gave her. Of course, the words didn't make much sense in her head, she couldn't concentrate, but she had to hide her nervousness.

When Harry finally got out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, damp, messy hair, and still that sullen look, Ginny couldn't take it anymore; ‘Can you tell me what happened?’

Harry looked at her quickly over his shoulder, before entering their closet and disappearing, still in silence. Ginny can hear the drawers opening and closing, and then she can see Harry coming back from there wearing old shorts that almost didn't stop at his hip anymore. If he wasn't so sullen, she would try to ease the tension he carried on his broad, bare shoulders.

'He and I had a fight.' That was all he said, throwing himself on the bed next to her and covering himself, looking like he was about to go to sleep.

'It's not me you're mad at, don't be an idiot.' Ginny dropped the book on the nightstand, not turning off the lamp beside her, staring at Harry with determination.

He sighed, sitting up too. 'I was taking care of Lily, now that she is coming out of diapers it looks like she wants to pee every minute, and I asked him to keep Albus playing. They were in the garden, and James had already asked me to fly with him, but I was solving ten problems at the same time and making sure our daughter didn't pee on the couch, so I asked him to hope that later on maybe we could fly… But he is your son, after all, and he managed to break the lock on the shed and get a broom.' Ginny shouldn't laugh, she knew that, but she smiled, a little proudly. 'When I went down with Lily, I could only see Albus flying too, unbalanced, not much more than a meter from the ground, and James going up without control. There was no time and Al fell, but I had to make James levitate because the broom was very uncontrolled and he was unable to get it down.’

‘Harry…’

'It was my fault, I know, I shouldn't... I should have put a different lock on or I don't know, and,' He stopped, hiding his face with his hands again, denying. 'And I lost my temper because I had said that he couldn't fly alone, and Albus was crying on the ground and James looked scared when he realized he was too high... I shouldn't have screamed.'

'You were angry,' Ginny reminded him, realizing how sad Harry looked at this. ‘And worried.’

'But I should have known that when I forbidden him, he would try to do exactly what I said not to.'

'He's a child, Harry, of course he's going to do everything we say he can't.' She said what he usually said to her, when Ginny was worried about Teddy at Hogwarts after he spent two weeks without sending letters, even after she asked him to update them every week.

'He said he hates me, Ginny.' Harry finally looked at her, his eyes watering. Again, her heart broke.

‘Oh, Harry, of course not.’ This time, she didn’t wait for him to come to her embrace, as she did with James, Ginny preferred to hug Harry herself. 'He was just nervous.'

'I did everything wrong,' Harry denied, crying even more, as if he had held his emotions up until now, as if just inside their room was a safe place for him to finally let go. 'He didn't say it like it was nothing, I saw Gin, I saw that he was upset, he meant it.'

'He didn't want to, of course not..Look at me, no, no, Harry, look at me...He doesn't hate you, and you didn't do everything wrong, I probably would have done the same thing, you're just tired.' Ginny stared at him, forcing him to look at her too, her hands holding his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. 'You are the best father they could have, the best I could have chosen to be their father, you will see, tomorrow you will be calmer and everything will be fine.'

'I hate to fight with them.' Harry hid his face on her neck, tears wetting Ginny's skin, his hands tightening on her waist as if to make sure she stayed there, with him. ‘I don’t like them to cry because of me.’

'It's the side that nobody tells you about being parents, love.' She laughed softly, trying to calm the mood. 'But he doesn't hate you, I promise you that... I'm sure you are still his hero, and the person he loves the most in this whole world. You are not a bad father.’

[...]

The next morning, Harry got up first, he heard noises downstairs and knew that probably one of the children was already awake and wanting to make a mess. Passing through the rooms just to check, he saw that Albus was still asleep, and that Lily seemed far from waking up, but James' bed was empty, which wasn't too strange, since the boy seemed to still be keeping up with his early morning routine to go to school, even in that week of recess.

He heard footsteps as he approached the kitchen, an owl hooting loudly at the window, and low murmurs. ‘Stay still.’

'James?' Harry watched as his son tried to tie the letter to the animal's leg, which was trying to get away from him. James was on top of a chair, leaning over the counter, trying to pull Pandora’s closer.

‘Dad!’ Pandora flew away with his cry, without the letter, seeming to frustrate the boy.

'What are you doing? Who do you want to send a letter to?’ Harry was careful to move towards James, but he was happy when his son accepted his arms to come down. He still felt guilty.

'Hm... for you.' James looked at the floor, looking embarrassed.

'Me?' Harry knelt in front of him, staying in his line of sight. ‘Why don’t you just give it to me?’

'I thought it would take you longer to wake up.'

'I heard you coming down the stairs,' Harry said, looking into his son's eyes.

'Are you still mad at me?' James asked quietly, holding the letter tightly in his hand.

‘No, my love… I’m sorry for yesterday, I didn’t want to yell at you, I was nervous and I was worried that you might get hurt.’

'I'm sorry for flying without permission, and I didn't want Albus to have followed me for this either, I didn't see him.' James said. Harry felt so bad all night, unable to sleep in peace, conscience weighed down by having yelled at James, thinking about how sad he looked when he said he hated him.

'It was very risky, you could have been seriously injured.' The two looked at each other, Harry pulled his son close to him. ‘I don’t want you to do it again, okay? You can fly, but only with me or mom, never alone.' He whispered against the boy's hair, hugging him tightly, as if that alone could heal the pain he had felt.

'I didn't mean to say that I hated you, either.' James hugged Harry back, looking sly. ‘I don’t hate you.’

'I love you, Jamie. A lot.' He planted a kiss on his son's head, not caring for the tears that seemed to want to appear in the corner of his eyes.

‘Me too, Dad.’

-----

''Dad,

I'm sorry for yelling at you, it wasn't my intention. I don't hate you, I was just nervous, I'm sorry again.

Love you

James.''

#hinny #harry x ginny #next gen #james sirius potter #harry potter #ginny weasley #hinny headcanon #harry and ginny #next gen harry potter

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alindakb · 4 years

Text

How Love Hurts - Chapter 6.6 - by Alinda

Harry grabs his coat and walks out of the house. He can’t believe the letter he got only minutes ago. What is Ginny thinking asking him to do that? There is no way he could. Not knowing what the consequences would be. Harry is willing to give up everything for his kids, but he won’t destroy someone’s else life in the process. Hermione screams from down the hall, but Harry doesn’t pay any attention to her. He has to talk to Ginny, make her see that she can’t demand this. Doesn’t she know him at all? Or does she just really not want him to ever see his kids again?

Harry apparates as soon as he is out of the house and lands in the alley close to his old home. The little cottage he’d bought when he found out Ginny was pregnant. It was the place where all three of his kids had been born. Where he made so many happy memories with them. Harry walks up the path that leads to the back door and into the kitchen. He stops in front of the door and looks inside. He spots the cabin where James once hit his head so bad they had to take him to St. Mungo’s. There was still a dent in the wood, no matter how many times Ginny had tried to fix it. Harry always said it gave the house character. Ginny didn’t agree and she’d let him know. Harry remembers the times that he had tried to hold onto the island in the middle of the kitchen while Ginny her hexes hit him over and over again.

Time passes while Harry deliberates in his head if it’s a good idea to step back into the house that had been his prison for years. He knows what Ginny wants. It was clear in the latest letter from her lawyer. And Harry will do it. He will become a prisoner in this house again. For his kids. He’ll do anything for his kids.

With shaking hands Harry opens the back door and steps into the house. His feet are heavy and he struggles to put one foot in front of the other. Hermione and Davis had warned him that this would happen. But Harry hadn’t wanted to listen to them. And now he will pay the consequences. It’s his own stupid fault. He dug his own grave when he took a chance on happiness. Uncle Vernon had been right, Harry didn’t deserve anything. He was trouble, a pain in the ass. He needs someone to set him straight. He’d always had. Why did he even think he could do this without someone telling him when he did something wrong.

Ginny walks into the kitchen when the door closes behind Harry. Her eyes widen when she sees Harry and she almost drops the tray with mugs she holds in her hands.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

Harry’s muscles tense up and he puts his hand in his pocket. His fingers fold around the small picture that’s in there. The one he carries with him ever since he cleaned out Grimmauld Place. When he took his personal possessions to store them in boxes in Ron and Hermione’s guest room.

“You’re not allowed to be here, Harry. You need to go before the kids see you. You don’t want to upset them,” Ginny says in a firm voice. She sounds so much like her mother at the moment. Only Molly always seemed to somehow intertwine her words with kindness. When Ginny utters them they are cold and painful.

“We need to talk,” Harry stutters. His eyes skim around the room. He’s afraid to look Ginny in the eyes. What if she makes him leave. What if she won’t listen to him.

“Well talk fast. We’re about to unpack some presents. It’s Christmas eve as you know.”

Harry nods. He knows. He’s been thinking of it all day. Of how last year he spent it with his four kids and Draco. He can’t stop thinking about how Draco had made fun of him for making hot chocolate from scratch. Or how his kids had laughed and joked around while trying to guess what each present would hold. Draco’s smile and glistering eyes have hunted Harry all day. Until the letter.

“I’ll move back in, remarry you, try to get my job back, I’ll do it all,” Harry spurts out. He almost trips over his own words, but if he doesn’t say it now he’s afraid he’ll pull out. “But I won’t involve Draco. I won’t betray what I had with him. You can’t ask me to do that.”

“And why not? It’s the truth, isn’t it? He drugged you, what else can explain why you suddenly left me, and are willing to crawl back into my bed now that he’s gone,” Ginny says. Her words hurt. Does she really think Draco drugged Harry and that he’s the only reason why Harry left Ginny?

“It’s not like that, you know it,” Harry tells her. He tries to stay calm, to not let his fear take the overhand. He should have taken Hermione with him.

“Still, I don’t see why you can’t tell the world that he used magic to get what he wanted. He’s death eater scum, nobody cares what happens to him.”

“I care!” Harry shouts. “I will always care, no matter how hard you try to push it out of me.” Tears well up in Harry’s eyes. The longer he stands here the more he wants to turn around and flee the house. But he needs to think of the kids. Of James that needs his father now that he told his family he’s gay. Albus that lost his best friend. And Lily who might need her father one day to cry over boys that will break her heart.

“Well if you care so much, then why are you here? Why come back to me?”

“I told you, I’d do anything for our kids. Anything you ask.”

“Apparently not,” Ginny shrugs. “You just said you won’t say the death eater drugged you.” Ginny shakes her head and turns towards the door. “I won’t be second choice, Harry. The public needs to know you want me, not him. And the only way to make sure they do is if you say he used a love potion on you.”

“They will send him straight to Azkaban if I make a statement like that. You can’t expect me to condemn his life so I can be with my kids.”

Ginny turns back around. Her eyes are cold and a shiver goes down Harry’s back. “Why not, it’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s a death eater, he supported Voldemort. Do you have any idea how many people are dead because of him?”

Harry swallows the lump in his throat. Draco paid for his crimes and he learnt, changed for the better. He’s a good man, a just man, and a loving father. “And what about Scorpius. You want that boy to grow up without his parents? Isn’t it enough he already lost his mother?”

“Probably killed by her own husband, That poor girl, falling for a maniac like Malfoy. I’m sure he’s what killed her.”

“Do you even hear yourself,” Harry says with a shaking voice. “ How can you say that. She was the mother of Albus’ best friend. And she was kind and loving. At least she believed in second chances.”

“So do I,” Ginny says. “Why do you think I’m giving you one? Just do what’s right for ones in your life and put that death eater behind bars.”

“I’m doing what is right. I won’t condemn a man to prison for something he didn’t do. I won’t pretend I don’t love him! I’ll move back in here, I’ll be your prisoner. I don’t care that my life is ruined, not when it’s the best thing to do for James, Albus and Lily. But I won’t ruin his and Scorpius’ lives in the process.”

“You don’t love him!” Ginny shouts. “He’s death eater scum. You love me.”

“No, I don’t, Ginny. I hate you.” Harry knows it’s true the moment he says it. He’s been standing up for her towards the kids, towards Draco. Only Harry doesn’t know why anymore. This woman destroyed him. “You’ve hurt me, over and over again. I’d let you turn me into a man that hates himself. And I hate you for it!”

Harry takes a step towards the back door when Ginny pulls out her wand. She lifts it and is ready to cast when the door between the kitchen and the hallway opens. Albus stops in his tracks when he sees Harry standing on the other side of the room.

“Dad? Are you okay?” Albus asks. Harry shakes his head. His body is shaking and tears are streaming down his face. He thought he could do it. Come back here and be Ginny’s punch ball again. But he can’t. He won’t. No matter how much he loves his kids, if he moves back here he will crumble apart. And what good would he be for them then?

“No, Albus,” Harry says. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I’d thought I would do anything to be with you all again. But I can’t.”

Albus smiles at Harry. “I know, dad. It’s okay. We know you love us.”

Harry’s chest warms up and he smiles back at Albus. He might never see him again until he turns seventeen, but Harry needs to get out of here. He needs to get a port key to France and beg Draco for a second chance. And he needs to find a way to love himself again. Something he will never do if he stays.

“He doesn’t love you,” Ginny yells. “He only loves himself and that dirt he decided to leave us all for.”

The hex hits Harry in the chest. He didn’t see it coming and he smashes into the cabinets. Another hex follows. Harry grabs the counter to stay upright. Blood is flowing from his chest. He pushes his hand back into his pocket to grab his own wand. Only it isn’t there. His pocket is empty. His wand is still on his bedside table at Hermione’s house.

“Mom, stop it!” Albus screams when another hex hits Harry in the chest. His world is spinning and he struggles to stay on his feet.

“You will remember you love me, or you will never love anyone again!” Ginny screams when she raises her wand again.

Harry’s skin slashes open and he struggles to breathe. His legs give out and he falls backwards onto the floor. Albus screams for his mother to stop in the distance. He sounds so far away. Another spell hits his skin and Harry’s body shakes. And then there’s pain, indescribable pain. Harry thinks he screams, but he isn’t sure. His eyes spin and the world turns black around him. He knows what’s going to happen now. He’ll be going back to Kings Cross and this time he won’t have another choice than to take the train. Maybe his kids will forgive him one day for leaving them. He didn’t mean to, he wanted to see them graduate, see them fall in love, get married, have their own kids. And then when he would be old and grey he would pass away. Not like this, killed by the wand of their mother.

Harry dreams of James. He can hear his voice. A single shout of Expelliarmus and then it’s quiet. The pain is gone. It’s all peaceful now. Like how it was to lay in Draco’s arms. If only Harry could have told him one more time that he loves him. His beautiful Draco. The love of his life.

Draco is the last thing on Harry’s mind before the world shuts down around him.

#HowLoveHurts #drarry #Harry Potter #ginny weasley #albus potter #domestic abuse #physical abuse #physical violence #AlindasStories

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theprodigypenguin · 5 years

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👀 (I hope it isn't closed yet, love you! 💙)

It’s an end of the year game so I guess it’s open till the end of the year (or until I run out of WIPs, ya know?). Thank you for the Raven-heart! This is from a Jeddy that I initially wanted to be one of those semi-cliche fuck-or-die fics, just to test my abilities and play around with their characters. Never got to the “fuck” part of the fic cuz smut and I have a bad relationship SO this is what I have to share~ This was also written back before I’d decided James was smol in my headcanon, so he’s semi-tall in the oof.

Most of what Teddy did was assess the properties of certain objects in order to pass them along to the more diverse segments of the Department. When something unusual came in, he had to figure out if it pertained to Love, Time, Death, or any other mysterious magic, or if it was harmless enough to send up to the top floors of the Ministry for the rest of the workers to deal with.

In the months he’d been working there, Teddy had seen it all. A teapot that had been tampered with that they’d sent up to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department, a Muggle broom that a young wizard had accidentally infused with magic because he wanted to fly already, among more dangerous items. Broken time turners that still had a bit of magic in them and needed to be disposed of properly, a vial of smoky green liquid that nearly made Harry vomit when he looked at it, and their most recent discovery.

They’d deduced that the item wasn’t dangerous or toxic in any immediate way, so Teddy’s supervisor had given him authorization to bring it home for further research and an order to get some rest and eat something other than caffeine. It was an unusual artifact, that was certain.

Like most of the relics stored in the Department of Mysteries, this one didn’t look imposing or dangerous at all. Found in the cellar of an old Death Eater who’d recently passed, sitting on a pillow of black velvet set into a stained mahogany box with a glass inlaid lid that allowed viewing of the item within without opening.

It was a deep scarlet red in color, roughly three feet in length, but folded carefully, a thin ribbon with lightly frayed ends. No, it didn’t look dangerous at all, but when Teddy set his fingertips against the box, he could feel the magic, the power, that made his fingers almost burn. They didn’t know what it was, what it was supposed to do, who made it or why. So Teddy had taken it home, grabbed every book he could on magic infused cloth and clothes, and settled down in his living room. That’s where he was sitting when the floo came to life, flames lashing up before spitting out five foot seven inches of Quidditch Chaser with a cocky grin.

“Evening Teddy!”

Teddy lifted his eyes from the faded pages of an old journal about weaving protective spells into wizard robes, greeting James with a smile of his own.

“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had practice today?”

“Mate it’s nearly midnight.”

“What?” Teddy slowly closed the journal. “What are you doing at my house at midnight? Did something happen? Are you okay? Is Harry okay?”

James just laughed. “Calm down, everything’s fine. We haven’t heard from you in days is all, and last time that happened you passed out in the middle of the Ministry, so dad and aunt ‘Mione asked me to come check in on you. Dad probably would have, you know how he is, but he’s been busy too. I said I’d stop by.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Teddy chided, setting the book down on the coffee table and trying not to feel endeared at the fact James was worried about him. “I’m alright.”

“Sure mate, I believe you,” James said, stopping on the other side of the coffee table with his hands up, “but that’s just me. Dad on the other hand sent me with a list,” and he reached down, pulling out a folded paper from the front pocket in his jeans and holding it up with his usual flare that had Teddy snorting.

“You’re kidding me.”

“Not even a little.”

“You don’t need to-”

“Stuff it Tedward, I had to sit through it while dad told me what to write down, you have to sit through it too.” James cleared his throat. “Item number one, have you eaten?”

“Please tell me this is a joke.”

“Should I mark it no?”

“I’ve eaten.”

“Have you properly hydrated? Those are the exact words he used, Ted.”

“Yes.”

“Have you bathed?”

“Yes.”

“Changed into clean clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Rested? He means sleep by the way, have you actually slept?”

“Yes.”

“Are you lying?”

“No, James gimme that.” Teddy stood and grabbed the paper from him, shaking his head at the list that had at least ten more items in it. “Guy blacks out one time in the food court and it’s the apocalypse.”

“You can’t blame them. I’m worried too.”

Teddy almost thought better of looking at James, but his curiosity won him over and he looked up from the paper to meet the intense brown eyes that always seemed to make it hard for him to breathe. Honestly, did this this idiot know what he did to Teddy?

“This job of yours is really debilitating, it drains you more than any job you’ve ever had before. You already blacked out once because you pushed yourself too hard, and the work itself is some of the most dangerous in the entire Ministry. We’re worried about you.”

“It only drains me because I’m not fully used to it yet.” Teddy was quick to defend, setting the paper on the coffee table and holding his hands up. “I’m getting better. I really like this job, Jamie, I’m doing good work and learning amazing stuff. Sure I may have completely lost consciousness while standing and slept three days straight because I hadn’t taken a break or even a nap in six days, but I’m much better at managing my time now, and my supervisor has been keeping an eye on me-”

“Yea, yea, yea.” James waved a hand, looking away. “I believe you, Lupin. So are you going to offer me some tea or coffee? Some snacks maybe?”

Teddy shrugged and turned. “Of course, make yourself at home,” he had a half smile on his lips as he made his way towards the kitchen. “You practically live here anyway.”

“I’d apologize but I’m not sorry!” James called after, and Teddy laughed.

“I should get you a key to the front door already. How’s your work been? How’s training?”

“Exhausting, but it can’t be worse than what your dumbass is doing.”

There was a pause as Teddy pulled down a tin of tea from the cupboard, setting it on the counter before going back for coffee mugs. There was a half pot of burnt coffee sitting to the side, but Teddy wasn’t going to send James home hyped off caffeine, and he himself needed to sleep soon anyway, it was midnight after all, so tea it would be.

“Just got the last pieces of my required uniform,” James picked up again, and Teddy hummed, even though James probably couldn’t hear him. “Still not crazy on the colors, but I guess they’ll do.”

“Just remember to keep an eye out when you’re playing,” Teddy warned. “The Falcons are famous for playing rough, and National games are more violent than Hogwarts anyway.”

“I already know that, Teddy, you don’t have to baby me about it,” there was a high to his tone, annoyance, but Teddy wasn’t surprised.

He was only eighteen, but James had developed a kind of complex about people noting his young age. He was technically an adult after all, he even had a job, and was searching for a place to stay so he could move out of his parents house and be independent. Teddy was proud of him, but his worry wasn’t spurred by a misguided belief that James was somehow still just a baby. Teddy just worried about everyone.

Still, it seemed like he must have offended James somehow, so he sighed, pouring hot water into the two mugs and thinking of what to say to apologize as he balanced them in his hands and started back for the living room.

“Hey, Jamie, you know I’m not warning you because I think you’re a kid. You’re young, but you’re grown enough,” Teddy started, eyes down to keep himself from spilling. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, okay? I don’t know what I’d do if something happened…”

“Ted…,” James’ voice was soft. “I know, Teddy. I’m sorry, I just… I know.”

Teddy shook his head. “Never mind that. How’s everything else been? How are Lily and Albus?”

James was starting a response when Teddy finally stopped and lifted his head from the cups of tea. The younger man was saying something about Lily getting in a fistfight and chopping her hair off before the Hogwarts semester, but Teddy didn’t hear him as the sound of water roared into his ears, and his tedious attempts to not spill any hot water became insignificant as he dropped both cups. One shattered on the floor, the second broke on the coffee table and soaked several important looking documents, but Teddy was focused entirely on James.

He was gaping at Teddy in shock, there was an open box on the table, and the red ribbon Teddy had been studying was hanging in James’ right hand.

“Ted, fuck, are you okay?! Did you burn yourself?”

“James,” Teddy carefully, slowly raised his hands, his posture cautious, eyes locked on the ribbon like it was an explosive. “Jamie. James. What did you do?”

“What?” James’ worry had faded to puzzlement. “Do?”

“That thing…”

“Oh, right, it was just sitting here-”

“James what have I fucking told you about touching shit in my house?”

James looked dumbfounded, morphing to a blend of irritation and panic, because Teddy never talked like that. “What are you going off for? It’s just some stupid ribbon!”

“That is an artifact from work, James, it’s dangerous!”

“Why’s it on your fucking coffee table?!”

“I was researching it to figure out what the bloody hell it was!”

“You don’t even know what it is?!”

“No, James, that’s why they gave it to me, to figure it the fuck out!”

“Well fuck, am I gonna fucking die?!”

“Why would I know that, you dumbass?!” Teddy took a sharp breath in, running his hands through his hair, staring at the ribbon hanging innocently between James’ fingers. “Okay don’t panic-”

“That’s exactly what you say to make people panic!”

“Can it! Let me think! Maybe you can just … just put it back, maybe it’s not as powerful as I thought. Maybe it’s just the box that’s magic infused and the ribbon is just… just a ribbon. Yea, this is fine, just don’t move, okay?”

Teddy shifted around, side stepping closer to the coffee table and reaching down to pick up the box, standing slowly as he lifted it.

“Okay, slowly, place it back onto the pillow.”

“Wait if the box is what’s magic should you be touching it?”

“We’re well past that, Jamie, just put it in the box.”

James inhaled shakily as he held his right wrist in his left hand like he was bracing against a spell, easing the ribbon down towards the box as Teddy raised the box up to meet him. They were both holding their breath, and when James had the last piece of the ribbon sitting in the box, they breathed a sigh of relief, looking at each other and laughing anxiously.

James cursed. “You prick, I really thought I might die for a minute there.”

Teddy laughed. “Actually I was worried about that too, but it seems everything is fine no-”

The universe didn’t even let Teddy finish before proving him wrong. The box in his hand seemed to burn, and he cursed as he released it, but when it fell and clattered against the coffee table, the ribbon hovered. It moved like it was possessed, both ends flinging out like it was a living thing. Teddy cursed colorfully in both English and Welsh as the strip of cloth that looked so silky smooth before wound around his wrist like a vice of course fraying rope that burned into his skin.

James was in the same boat, yelping as the ribbon wrapped itself around his left wrist and arm, winding tight around both of them like it was a Boa Constrictor, only letting up when they’d been yanked closer together. Then it stopped, but one pull at it told Teddy all he needed to know. They were stuck like this.

“Oh Merlin…”

“What?!” James yanked on his right arm, eyes wide and cheeks flush. “What happened?!”

“I don’t know, stop moving!” Teddy reached over with his right hand to stop James, flexing the fingers of his left hand that was bound to James’ right. “Shit, it’s not letting up.”

“Okay, I’m not freaked out by this or anything, but are we gonna die?”

“I… I don’t know. Just don’t panic.”

“No of course, why would anyone panic in this situation?”

“I told you to put it down, I have told you countless times that if you were going to visit, that you couldn’t just touch everything!”

“Well don’t just yell at me about it! How was I supposed to know?! It was a ribbon in a bloody box! I thought it was just a decoration!”

“James why in the name of Godric would I have a ribbon in a box decorating my bloody coffee table?!”

“You’re a weird guy, Teddy, I don’t know what you do in your free time, the oddities you might collect, maybe you like to display vintage ribbons, I’m not judging!”

“Would you shut up?!” Teddy snapped. “Just let me think!”

James listened, kept his lips tightly sealed as he glared anxiously at the ribbon around his wrist and arm. Teddy did his best to assess the situation, tugging at the material and sighing. Whatever this thing was, it had wrapped around his wrist before winding down his arm to his elbow. His left arm was now bound to James’ right, where he was in the same situation with the ribbon. It seemed magically stuck, it wouldn’t loosen or come away, even the ends that hung at their elbows wouldn’t peel up.

“Alright. There’s procedures we have to take when something like this happens,” Teddy explained, his right hand still holding the ends of the ribbon. “Come around the table, stand next to me so we aren’t leaning awkwardly towards each other.”

James shuffled on his feet to get around the table, standing shoulder to shoulder with Teddy and slowly sitting down together as Teddy continued to eye the stupid thing.

“Alright, are you in any pain?” James shook his head. “Is the material burning you or itching or-”

“There’s no pain, I can’t even feel it,” James insisted. “I just can’t move it.”

“Me either,” Teddy sighed, leaning back. James slumped back with him, unable to do much else, their arms hanging between them as they both stared dumbstruck at the wall.

Teddy could feel the back of his hand pressed against James, could feel the warmth of his skin, in fact it was almost too warm, but that probably was just him. Touching, being close to James like this, was something he tried to avoid. Teddy had a good handle on his self control for the most part, but he’d be lying if he said there weren’t moments he nearly grabbed James by the face and kissed him in front of everyone.

He could’ve been magically glued to anyone else and it would have been fine. Why did it have to be the one person he’d been crushing hard on since he was seventeen, left Hogwarts, and claimed he was going to be more famous a Quidditch player than his mum had been, with the air and confidence of a man who’d already won the World Cup?

“So what do we do?” James asked. “Got some scissors lying around this mess somewhere?”

“Jamie I really don’t think scissors are going to win this match.”

“Worth a shot.”

Teddy wanted to argue, but at this point what other choice did they have? Teddy knew next to nothing about this thing, so maybe all they had to do was snip it?

“They’re in the kitchen,” Teddy said, standing and hauling James up with him, stepping over the shattered porcelain tea cups. “Watch the cups.”

“Sorry about that tea.”

“There are more important things.”

The scissors didn’t work. In fact, when Teddy started to cut at the ribbon, the scent of burning metal overwhelmed them both, and he lifted the scissors up to reveal the ribbon had essentially eaten into and melted the blades.

“Scissors are a no go,” James muttered. “What about… wands?”

“You want me to try magically cutting this thing off? I could miss and cut you, or it could bounce off the ribbon-”

“Teddy what else are we supposed to do in this situation?!”

“Not freak out!” Teddy ran his hand through his hair again, then groaned. “Damn it. I’ve spent hours studying this stupid thing and I still haven’t got a clue what it is. We need to go back to the Ministry.”

“What for?”

“My boss might know more about this kind of thing. Magic infused cloth, and it… somehow is capable of binding people together. It doesn’t hurt, but it won’t let go. Merlin’s sake.”

“Dad’s gonna kill me,” James lamented, staring at the ribbon. “If I miss practice my captain’s gonna kill me too.”

Teddy could only sigh in silent agreement.

#end of the year wip game #jeddy #james sirius potter #teddy lupin #edward remus lupin #nico writes #nico answers anons #nico answers asks

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alternislatronemhq · 4 years

Photo

Congrats, ELLIE, you have been accepted to AL for the role of SEVERUS SNAPE (FC: aneurin barnard). HOLY CRAPOLY, ELLIE! This app was absolutely fantastic! I couldn’t pull myself away from reading it and was just seriously BLOWN AWAY. This is everything I ever could have dreamed for in a portrayal for a character as central to the plot as Severus is! You truly have a gift and I’m so excited you’re here! Please send in your blog (no sideblogs for first characters, please) in the next 24 hours and be sure to take a look at our new player checklist. Welcome home (once again), we’re so excited to have you join the family!

OOC

name — ellie. age — 20+ pronouns — she/her. timezone — GMT. activity level — i’m not a very fast writer tbh, but i don’t have any other hobbies or rl obligations to keep me from rp atm so i should be able to maintain more than 3 paras a week.

IC Overview

name — severus tobias snape. faceclaim — aneurin barnard, louis garrel, richard harmon. age — 26. gender — cis male.

sexuality — demisexual, biromantic. He lacks the terminology for it, and simply regards sex as yet another social endeavor for which he is ill-equipped.

patronus — doe. yes, it still works. no, he doesn’t understand why or how. he is most certainly not pure of heart. the memory he calls on to summon the patronus is his first dinner with the evans family, where mrs. evans piled his plate high with steak and mashed potatoes and peas, and lily snuck her broccoli onto his plate discreetly while trying not to make a face, and petunia was spending the night at a friend’s house across the street and too far away to ruin the lighthearted atmosphere. they joked and laughed and cleaned the dishes afterwards. it was the first proper family dinner he’s had in his life.

boggart — voldemort. Not, specifically, for the man himself although he is a rather striking figure on his own – but rather for what the man represents to snape. Voldemort represents how far snape’s ambition and thirst for power and knowledge will take him if left unchecked. He represents a hungry and gaping and greedy part of snape that will take and take and take, and grow hungrier and greedier still, uncaring. Losing control in such a manner – allowing himself to be led astray by a mad man and his mad men, doing their bidding and spreading pain and grief and loss, thinking himself so righteous and vindicated – the worst parts of himself, unvarnished, laid bare for him to see. Snape has long since discarded any illusions of himself he may have entertained before the war. He knows the parts that make him up. He knows what he does and why he does it. He knows how far he will go without an anchor — and he fears being unmoored and unrestrained most of all. Fears what he will allow himself to do, without a pragmatic set of rules and ethics to keep him in line.

IC In Depth

personality traits —

+Loyal: snape’s loyalty is difficult to earn, but impossible to lose. He has a thorough, comprehensive, all-or-nothing approach towards loyalty. You either have it or you don’t. All of him or none of him. He will give you his soul – his strength, his work, his honour, his dignity, his life, his word – or he will give you nothing. Thus far, the only people who have earned his loyalty are lily evans and albus dumbledore.

+Sharp: snape is clever and perceptive, his intelligence owed in large due to the many hours spent in his mother’s company as a child, listening to her stories and her theories and her careful instruction. She was not a pleasant woman, nor a kind mother, but she taught him the power of knowledge at a young age, and the sharp glint of intelligence in his eyes matched hers.

+Hardworking: say what you will about snape’s character flaws – of which he has plenty, and of which there is quite a lot to say – but his work ethic has always been and will always be impeccable, beyond reproach. He never does things by half. He is a hard worker who spares no efforts once he sets his mind to a task.

-Antagonistic: he holds firm to an unpleasant disposition and hostile countenance. It is his nature to be wary and suspicious and to hold others in low esteem until proven wrong. Snape takes most attempts at social interaction with a grain of salt, expecting mockery and insolence and responding swiftly in kind.

-Bitter: snape’s biggest motivator is spite. He’s a man of well-groomed grudges, what can he say? growing up in poverty with a bitter mother and an unpleasant father, both of whom were uncreative in how they let out their frustrations and rather liberal in tossing about blame for everything that had gone wrong in their lives, had left him with quite an armful of ill-advised coping methods and a less than stellar personality overall.

-Selfish: it’s not that he’s incapable of love and affection. He is demonstrably and regrettably capable of both. He has, as well, displayed a certain capacity for selfless action when it came to his precious few loved ones. Sometimes. But, well. Well. It’s not his default. He spent many years with his head firmly stuck up his ass, seeing and caring about nothing but his own interests and his own ambitions and dreams finally being realized — and nearly lost the only thing in his rather pathetic life that held any meaning whatsoever. And he is still selfish by nature. Even in the years since he’d come to dumbledore to yet again pledge his allegiance to yet another all powerful and all conniving old wizard – the irony of which was not lost on him, not for a moment, rest assured – selflessness is still an installed feature that he must think consciously of before implementing. And, most of the time, it is not something he chooses to do.

-Deceptive: if snape was the sort to keep count of such things – and, as a spy, he most assuredly is – he would truthfully disclose that, in every relationship he’s built in his life since he was old enough for hogwarts, there is a layer of deception that must be adhered to at all times. An intermingling web of lies and half truths and omissions that must be observed with careful attention, lest the whole thing unravel and spill out his doom. He’s a spy. At least now it’s become part and parcel of who he is. At least, he now has a quasi-noble purpose to attach to the rather sticky threads of which he is – secretly – fond. He can admit, if only to himself, that he doesn’t know how to build a relationship without some form of deception to maintain throughout.

character biography —

PROLOGUE.

he stands on his tiptoes over the wooden chair, stirring with the ladle in both hands. clockwise, clockwise, counter-clockwise…. let the ladle rest against the side of the cauldron for thirty seconds. the liquid is two shades off. he adds a pinch of powder, and the color adjusts.

mam’s sharp eyes follow his every move. she nods, stiffly. tension uncoils from his shoulders. “when you get to hogwarts,” she says, brusque, “you’ll be at the top of your class.”

it’s not explicit praise, told more like a command, really, but it’s close enough. emboldened, he asks, “will i ‘ave friends at ‘ogwarts?” he looks up. watches. “lots and lots o’ friends?”

mam blinks. the silence stretches. she pats his head, drops her hand down to his shoulder. “of course, sev. lots and lots. now help me pack everything away before your dad comes home.”

ACT I.

can a place be both hell and home?

well, if it can be — if it’s possible to love and hate a place with equal intensity, if it’s possible to feel like a jigsaw puzzle slotting into place at last and still look over your shoulder and jump at every sound — if it is, then to severus, hogwarts was that place. the home that was unsafe, the home with danger at every corner, the home with no way out. no way out but through.

it’s not s’pposed to be like this, he’d thought, eleven and still a touch naive. this can’t be right. but what did he know about homes and safety, anyway? was Spinner’s End not the same, except smaller and with less magic? did he not look over his shoulder and watch his every step just the same?

being a halfblood matters, more than he thought it would. and being a slytherin matters, but not in the way he’d thought. a poor, dirty, halfblood slytherin with a nasty attitude and an uncouth accent stood out like a rotten stink. hogwarts was magical and whimsical, but it was just a place, just like any other, and the students were just students, and the bullies were just bullies. and sev was still sev, wand or no wand. hogwarts did not fix him and make him better. it did not give him friends on a silver platter.

what it gave him, instead, was knowledge. yes, he spent years the target of relentless bullying, made more enemies than friends and few acquaintances who were in between, but the library was his home. He devoured knowledge with a single-minded intensity, filled with such joy at learning new concepts and spells that it made everything else he had to put up with worth the effort. He badgered his teachers relentlessly with increasingly complex questions, and often times concerning lines of inquiry, and experimented with new spells and potions early on — first with lily, then without — filling notebooks with ideas and information and half formed thoughts. At the age of thirteen, he’d begun working on his own grimoire, writing down his own potions recipes and his modifications to existing potions. All the great potions masters have their own grimoires, why shouldn’t he start his own now?

He isn’t sure when his views began to shift. Somewhere along the way, the facade he’d put on for his housemates began to seep through the cracks and into the boy underneath. it became so much easier to hate muggles and then muggleborns, to blame them for everything that went wrong in his life, to use this hatred as an outlet for all his frustrations he already had with his own life.

By the time the dark lord called, severus was well and truly indoctrinated. It didn’t take much to convince himself that this was the right thing to do.

ACT II.

He takes the mark.

Things… escalate.

They ask him to do terrible things, and he does them fastidiously. He does not feel satisfaction or pleasure when killing and torturing, though he hardly lets that stop him from doing exactly as he’s instructed, to the letter, and sometimes beyond. Vying for the attention and approval of the man who held his soul in the palm of his hand, indifferent to it’s fate, careless in his handling unless the little halfblood proved himself useful. And he did. He proved himself clever, gifted, loyal, ruthless. He worked hard to earn his place, knowing the alternative.

It’s not like he doesn’t know he’s in a genocidal cult. At some point, even the most indoctrinated could see what this was. The dark lord wanted servants to do his bidding, not allies to share in the glory and the power. The dark lord was strikingly clever, imposing and powerful, and stark raving mad.

But severus was marked. He couldn’t put himself at risk, couldn’t think of stepping out of line with his master’s mark upon his arm. The only way out was through.

severus was thorough. he followed instructions to completion, with a single minded focus. he did his work with a professional detachment, a nonbeliever in the guise of a devotee.

And then, he came upon a prophecy.

ACT III.

The dark lord’s fall is a gift that severus doesn’t know what to do with. He’d spent so long treading a worn thread like a tightrope over the brink of hell itself, that the thought of letting his guard down for even a moment sends his every sense screaming DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!

He feels like a man who’s been running full pelt, nonstop, like he was running his whole life and suddenly the ground is pulled from beneath him and he’s free-falling into nothingness. Lily is safe. Unhappy, but alive, and for that he is more grateful than he could’ve ever imagined.

But he is alive, too. And for all his plots and schemes, it didn’t occur to him that he’d make it to the other end of this war in one piece. Not since he turned spy.

The question mark hangs over his head all the way through the chaos following the dark lord’s fall. Severus, sitting through trial after trial, feels as though his ears are stuffed full of cotton and his senses are veiled through with fog. Only in the aftermath of his own trial, when dumbledore rests a hand upon his shoulder and grants him a proud smile does severus begin to hope.

Dumbledore saves him. He gives him a home, a job, a purpose. He guides him through the darkest hour of his life.

Even through the fog, Severus can see it: the headmaster’s true intentions. He knows he must be of some use to the headmaster still, that dumbledore is simply working to gain his true loyalty. That all severus had really done on that stormy night was trade one master for another.

But dumbledore, for all his machinations, is still a good man. There are worse masters to grovel to, as he very well knows. And lily is safe, just as promised. It’s only right that severus pay back his due.

ACT IV.

Once he finds his footing, severus gets busy. He integrates himself with the remaining loyal death eaters as seamlessly as possible, works to maintain at least civil relationships with high ranking order members — with a few notable exceptions — and begins to, brick by brick, build his life from the ground up.

The following years are filled with quiet self reflection. Severus grows more critical of himself, of his actions, of his beliefs. He pulls apart his motives and his reasons for joining the dark lord, inspects his role in the war unsympathetically, the impact he’s had on the lives of others. He does not like what he sees. but he does not look away.

He’s created violent and dark spells for the dark lord during his service. Spells with no counter, or a secret one. Spells the death eaters all knew and used. If he had died in the war as he’d come to expect to, these spells would’ve been his only legacy. His only contribution to the wizarding world. unparalleled violence.

This is who he is. This is what he’s done. He cannot undo it, he cannot be forgiven. but he can strive to be… better. And he does.

beyond the waiting and watching and listening, severus shifts the bulk of his focus upon his work. He creates and tests potions with the needs of the wizarding community in mind, puts his brilliance to good use. He follows a strict code of ethics, to the letter, holds himself to task when it is not properly adhered to. He takes responsibility for the things he releases into the world. He builds himself a respectable reputation in his fields of study, his articles and discoveries published in peer-reviewed journals and papers, his work talked about in academic circles with something like respect.

As the whispers spread and the death eaters prepare for their next move, severus shifts to a ready stance. He has more to fight for — more to live for, now — than he had five years ago. He is ready.

plot ideas —

oh, god, i’m SO excited to explore what snape post-war would’ve been like if he didn’t lose lily. what happened in the books is that lily’s death and his role in it sent him down a spiral of self loathing, guilt, and suicide ideation – and he wallowed in his grief and his guilt for the rest of his life. the trajectory of his life after lily’s death shifted to protecting her son and serving dumbledore. he stopped thinking of his own ends and started viewing himself as a means to an end, that end being the physical safety of lily’s boy (disregarding, of course, the mental wellbeing of potter’s spawn) and while there was growth in his own views over the years i can’t help but think it was greatly stunted by his own grief.

what i want to explore with snape is growth. realistic, nonlinear, steady growth over the years after the war, where he becomes more critical of both himself, his motives, his thinking, and the impact of his actions on other people and the world. he grew up a precocious child with no proper adult guidance, and all his life lessons he’s learned through first hand experience. and like any other 17-year-old, he thought he knew everything. He was reckless and arrogant, and he made terrible choices confidently, with no regard to the greater consequences. post-war snape is painfully aware of his own shortcomings, is trying to be better, not for the sake of being a good person but for the sake of proper self discipline and self control. he never wants to lose control of himself and allow his ambitions and his greed to take him to such lengths again. he wants to have a more positive impact on the world around him, even if he himself is still an objectively bad person, even if he himself is still selfish and deceptive and eaten up by greed.

so how can a bad person be good? by doing good things, even if he’s doing it for the wrong reasons. and snape is doing it for the wrong reasons, he’s well aware of that. He doesn’t have the intuitive grasp of right and wrong that lily always had. He can’t simply do what feels right, as that never turned out to be the right thing at all. Instead, he does what he calculates as having the most positive impact on the biggest number of people, regardless of whether or not it feels right to him. He acts in the interests of the greater good.

It’s a very utilitarian approach. Not dissimilar to dumbledore, who took snape in after the war and was more or less his mentor figure the years following. but unlike dumbledore, snape does not disregard or dismiss the individual lives of people he comes across, is very mindful of his own personal impact in the individual lives of the people around him. in canon, snape is horrified at dumbledore’s plan for harry. dumbledore asks him how many men and women he’s watched die, and snape’s response to that is ‘lately, only those whom i could not save.’ this interaction perfectly encapsulates the differences in morality between the two men. snape is capable of making sacrifices for the greater good and strives to work towards ending the war, making moral compromises towards that end. but his faith in the greater good is limited. When it comes down to it, snape is loyal to people, not causes. And often, since he’s made the conscious decision to become a better person, risks his life for the sake of others.

Another thing i want to explore with snape is his interpersonal relationships. Because, god. Come onnnnnnnnn. His two best friends are lily evans and lucius malfoy. For fucks sake. Lily who cut ties with him when they were 16 and whose husband he is partially responsible for sending to an indefinite coma, yikes, and lucius, for whom he feels the most straightforward affection and who he’s actually quite prepared to stab in the back when the time comes. And it will come, soon enough.

He has….. Complicated relationships. And complicated views on intimacy. He has a tendency to separate his feelings from his duty, which sometimes leads to him doing terrible things to people he cares about. Lying, stealing, manipulating, etc etc etc. it does not mean, to him, that he cares about these people any less. Regrettably, he cares too much, and can’t stop caring once he starts. It does not mean the people he cares about are safe with him. And i want to explore that, especially in his relationships with lily and lucius, as well as his fellow death eaters.

Speaking of the death eaters. Snape was already a high ranking death eater before the dark lord fell, and he’d worked very hard the last five years to integrate himself irrevocably within the ranks of the remaining death eaters. He’d observed their dynamics and worked to make himself seem as loyal and irreplaceable as can be. No doubt he formed many a bond with many a member, not all of them built on lies. And he would take special interest in the hesitant, wavering loyalties, poking and prodding to see how he can use them to further his own position within the death eaters ranks. There’s a lot of potential for inner-politics and sabotage within the DE.

extra —

Mockblog @ sevsnpe.tumblr.com

headcanons:

Snape had a thick manchester accent growing up that was very quickly packed away and replaced with ‘respectable speech’ a few weeks into his stay in the snake pit. When he’s angry or emotional he speaks very slowly and deliberately, his voice dropping in octaves and growing very soft and precise. it becomes very difficult for him to keep control of his speech. He slips on occasion when he and lily are alone.

Eileen sold wonderful ailment-soothing ‘tea’ for her neighbours. severus helped her brew these concoctions regularly as a kid, when he was still too short to reach the tabletop without standing on a chair.

Snape looks up to dumbledore and seeks his approval. It infuriates him to no end, that so much of his own decision-making hinges on the older man’s opinion of him, that he cares what albus thinks of him at all. But after the dark lord’s fall, snape was lost and fumbling, trying to make sense of the world, of himself, of his next steps. He desperately wanted to be a better man, but had neither the tools nor the guidance to do so. if albus hadn’t taken him under his wing, he doesn’t know where he’d be now.

he’s a heavy smoker. he picked up smoking post-war and is not in any hurry to quit. he can stop whenever he wants to anyway.

he maintains a private library in his rooms at hogwarts. he’s as possessive of it and as territorial as a dog. he’s accumulated a very impressive collection of rare books and journals over the years, and a long list of contacts in the private book collectors and book sellers circles to go with. a disproportionate number of his books are highly illegal and officially labelled ‘dark’.

the bulk of his focus, after the war, is split between two things. integrating himself further into the remaining circle of death eaters, and his own personal research into the mind arts, potions, and dark magic, which he conducts in his capacity as potions master and professor at hogwarts. he’s made several discoveries in potions study and published multiple articles in academic journals over the last five years, building himself a respectable reputation and body of works within his field. beyond the fact that such academic pursuits are his passion, his work gives him tangible proof that he is capable of positive contributions to the world around him. that he is capable of doing good, even if he himself is a bad person. his work and his growing reputation gives him something to look forward to after the war. it’s something unrelated to the death eaters and to lily, it’s something completely his own. he is very defensive and protective of his research.

Once or twice a month, snape visits muggle london and spends a few hours in a public library. It’s calming, reading books to simply pass the time. He won’t admit this to anyone, but the connection he has to the muggle world is something he’s learned to accept and even take comfort in from time to time.

#al:accepted #severus snape #harry potter rp #hp rp #marauders era rp

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a7xlizardqueen · 6 years

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TITLE: Aura Malfoy

CHAPTER: 2/?

PAIRING: No pairing yet. Eventually OFC/Remus Lupin, OFC/Sirius Black, OFC/Seamus Finnigan, OFC/Harry Potter

RATING: NC-17/MA – seriously, do not read this if you are under 18!

SUMMARY: I don’t like writing summaries. I’m not good at it. This is a canon-following story. I use both the books and the movies. Will be mostly set in the Golden Trio era, with memories and flashbacks from the Marauders era.

NOTES/WARNINGS: It starts out pretty tame. Follows to the plot of the books for the most part. There will eventually be violence, torture, mentions of PTSD, mentions of sexual assault, there will be smut, death, as I go along I will add more warnings. Again, please do not read if you are under 18, or are easily triggered.

-X-X-X-

Aura squeezed through the crowd in to Flourish and Blotts, Felis trailing behind her. Unfortunately that day the bookshop was playing host to someone that Aura had known when she'd been at Hogwarts, someone that she hadn't been fond of.

The extremely blond, and infuriating, man stood at the back of the shop, flashing his award-winning smile. Aura attempted to ignore it all as she headed for the shelves in order to gather the rest of the books on the list that weren’t Lockhart's. Apparently the new Defense teacher had a crush.

"It can't be Harry Potter?" Lockhart shouted suddenly.

Aura spun around just in time to see a small, thin boy covered in soot pushed up and grabbed by Lockhart, his eyes wide with surprise. Aura couldn't help but notice that his eyes, even through his circular glasses were exactly like his mother's. Everything else about him was so like his father Aura almost felt as if she were looking at James again.

Lockhart posed and smiled as Harry continued to stand there, looking none too pleased with having a camera in his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out again, waving the building into silence. “What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I’ve been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography, which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge," he paused to grin and give the crowd a chance to clap, "He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy!”

Aura had to shake her head, wondering whether she had heard correctly. Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be the DADA teacher at Hogwarts? What the hell was Albus playing at? He bloody well knew that Lockhart’s books were all a fiction, he’d been a very poor student when he’d been at Hogwarts, and was likely to be an even poorer teacher.

Gilderoy handed Harry a stack of shiny new books, which he took begrudgingly before he was shoved back in to the crowd. Aura lost sight of him for a moment before he reappeared at the front of the store, next to a little girl with red hair and a cauldron. She nudged Felis forward, slowly making their way through the crowds who were now lining up to have their books signed by Lockhart.

When Aura looked up again she caught sight of a man who haunted her nightmares, her brother Lucius. He stood in front of Harry, a blond boy with a surly look n his face at his hip. That must be his son Draco. The two of them were staring down their straight noses at Harry, now flanked by a group of other children. Aura stood still, her heart pounding in her chest.

"You must be Miss Granger. Draco's told me all about you, and your parents. Muggles, aren't they?"

Lucius sounded exactly the same; still as insolent and boastful as always. Another man approached the group. This one was rather meager-looking compared to Lucius' long combed hair and clean, crisp robes.

"Children, it's mad in here. Let's go outside," he said, no doubt hoping to stop the situation.

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius," Arthur Weasley said stiffly, yet politely.

"Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime," he said as he grabbed an old tattered book from the red haired girl's cauldron, "Obviously not. Dear me. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it."

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Lucius."

"Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower."

Aura took a deep, calming breath before approaching the group, "I see some things never change, big brother."

Lucius spun around quickly to find his younger sister watching him. He flinched at the sight of her face.

"Still can't look at your handiwork, can you?" she smirked.

"Aura!" Lucius exclaimed, his demeanor falling for a moment.

"Thank you for letting me know that our father died."

"You were impossible to find."

"You knew how to get a hold of me. Why don’t you go ruin someone else’s day?"

Lucius snarled and turned back towards the Weasley's, "Here girl, it's the best your father can give you."

Without another glance Lucius turned and stalked out of the shop, his young son Draco fast behind him.

"Well, Aura Malfoy," Arthur Weasley greeted, "We all thought you were dead."

"Yes, well, for a time, so did I."

"'Scuse me," young Harry said politely, yet disbelievingly, "But are you Lucius Malfoy's sister?"

"Yes Harry, unfortunately I am."

"How do you know my name?"

"My dear boy, everyone knows your name."

-X-X-X-

Later that evening Aura and Felis were sitting down to a supper of yorkshire pudding and chips in their little country cottage. After the bookshop Aura had rushed Felis through the rest of the list and taken her straight home. It had been a very long time since she'd been out in public and the stress was clear on her face. Of course Felis hadn't noticed this and was still extremely excited about her first trip away from the cottage.

"Mummy, who was that boy in the bookshop?" she asked as she took a bite of a chip.

"Which one?" Aura sighed impatiently.

"The dirty one with the glasses."

"That was Harry Potter, dear."

"Who is he?"

"He is The Boy Who Lived. Long ago there was a very bad wizard who wanted to kill Harry. His mother died in order to save him."

"That's sad. Did you know her?"

Aura thought back to that day on the train when she'd met the little girl with large green eyes and bright red hair, "Yes I did."

"So he doesn't have a mother?" Felis said, looking down at her plate.

"Nor a father."

"That's very sad. He could probably use a friend."

Aura smiled weakly and patted her daughter's head, "Yes dear, I'm sure he could."

"And that tall scary man is your brother?"

"Unfortunately yes. And that was his son Draco. Don't listen to a word he says, if he’s anything like his father he won’t be a nice boy."

"Did your brother give you that scar?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Aura sighed and looked at her daughter who had gravy running down her chin, still so innocent and curious, "You're far too young to hear that story."

"Yes mum," Felis looked down at her plate, disappointed.

"One day, I promise."

Aura stood from the table, picked up the empty plates and took them over to the sink. Felis' small voice called over from the table.

"Mum, why won't you tell me about my father?"

She braced herself against the counter, her stomach churning. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, "You don't want to know your father."

She turned back around and began to rinse the gravy from the plates. This was something she could have done magically but at the moment Aura needed the distraction.

"Was he a bad man?"

Tears slipped from Aura's eyes as she clutched the ring in her pocket that she'd taken from Gringott's earlier that day. After Felis had found it Aura found that she couldn't leave it behind. There had been a time when this ring had signified the happiest time in her life.

"Yes, he was."

-X-X-X-

The day had finally come. Felis ran excitedly through the train station as Aura pushed the trolley. As Aura caught up to her daughter, she found Felis standing between platforms nine and ten looking very confused.

"Well, where is it?" Felis demanded.

"Come here," Aura smiled, "and follow right behind me."

Aura stood right in front of the column between platforms nine and ten. Felis grabbed onto the back of her robe as she walked straight and went right through the bricks as if they hadn't been there just before. One moment they had been standing in the modern King's Cross Station, and the next they were staring at a classic steam engine in bright shiny red surrounded by witches and wizards both young and old.

Aura helped Felis struggle with her trunk and cage before she knelt down and began tidying her hair and clothes. Felis scowled as her mother attempted to pat down her unruly waves.

"Won't your hair ever stay in place?" Aura sighed, "Now, have a good time on the train and make lots of friends. I'll see you when you get there. And remember, don't listen to your cousin."

"Yes mum," Felis rolled her eyes impatiently.

"All right, get going then."

With a final wave and a smile Felis jumped excitedly onto the train and began to weave her way through the many other students. Aura stood watching her for a few moments before turning to leave, only to be faced with the smug smile of her brother Lucius.

"Do you even know who her father is?" he said in his pompous voice that sounded so much like their father's.

"Good morning Lucius," Aura said politely.

"Not that it really matters who's she is. Neither one is better than the other. The Dark Lord, or the man who betrayed you for the Dark Lord."

-X-X-X-

Felis smiled weakly and apologized profusely as she bumped and weaved her way through the crowd of students on the train. She'd been peaking into compartments for close to a minute and hadn't yet found one that wasn't full. Finally she caught sight of a familiar red head. It was the little girl from the bookshop.

She was sitting in a compartment with the brown haired girl she'd seen in the bookshop as well, who amazingly enough had curlier and messier hair than Felis herself. They were also sitting with a very shy looking boy who's teeth stuck out of his face, he was holding a toad. Felis poked her head in and cleared her throat.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course!" said the brown-haired girl politely as she stood to help Felis lift her trunk into the baggage compartment.

"I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger; and this is Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Felis Malfoy."

"So you're Draco's cousin then?" Ginny asked, curiously.

"Yes, but my mother said not to talk to him. Besides, he doesn't look like a very nice boy."

"No, he isn't." Hermione said, "I wonder where Ron and Harry are."

"They were right behind mum and dad and me. Maybe they found a different compartment?" Ginny shrugged.

"Your mother's Aura Malfoy?" Hermione asked and Felis nodded, "I swear I've read that name somewhere before, but I can't remember."

"I know who she is," Neville said quietly, "My gran told me all about her."

Felis glanced at the boy curiously, wondering how he could know about her mother when she herself barely knew anything about her. Her head began to pound as Neville continued to talk.

"She was accused of being a Death Eater. They found her hidden away in You-Know-Who's main base of operations. She claimed she was a prisoner, but no one believed her because she was in fairly good health. Well, except for the scar on her face."

"That can't be right," Felis objected, "My mother would never have been a Death Eater. She said that You-Know-Who was a very bad man who killed her friend. She said that her brother gave her that scar."

"Then why wouldn't she tell anyone about what happened? Why wouldn't she tell anyone about why she was there? Why wouldn't she tell anyone who the father of her mysterious child was?"

-X-X-X-

Felis had remained quiet for the rest of the train ride. Hermione and Ginny had tried to talk to her but she couldn't think about anything other than what Neville had told her. Could her mother have really been a Death Eater? Her whole family had been. But the mother she knew would never hurt a fly. She'd never seen her mother use her wand for anything other than cooking and cleaning and various other mundane spells. And if what Neville said was true, who was her father?

Felis' thoughts never strayed until the train had stopped at Hogsmeade Station and they began to depart the train. Hermione and Neville went off together as they were not First Years. It was already dark out so Ginny and Felis had to follow a lantern light held by an extremely large man.

"Ron told me about him!" Ginny whispered, "That's Hagrid. Apparently he had a pet dragon last year!"

Mention of a dragon, added to the mystical allure of their location, made Felis completely forget about the train. They followed Hagrid through a dark pathway that led down to a large lake. Her and Ginny climbed into a boat with a very blonde girl. As the boats began to magically drift away from the docks they rounded a corner and Felis finally saw the Hogwarts castle for the first time. In the dark, the castle almost looked scary except for that the windows glowed a wonderfully warm and comforting orange colour.

The boats continued to glide across the lake and Felis could have sworn she saw a large tentacle break the surface of the water. After a few minutes the boats came to a stop at another dock and the First Years all climbed out and began to follow Hagrid up a set of stairs until they were led into a small room.

"Wait jus' here. Professor McGonagall 'll be by shortly," Hagrid said in his pleasantly gruff voice.

Not more than a minute later a tall, severe-looking witch came gliding in to the room. She held her back very straight, and wore a tall black pointed hat, and green tartan robes. She looked down her nose, through a pair of square spectacles, at the group of First Years.

"You will follow me in to the Great Hall. Straight line please."

Felis could only presume that this was Professor McGonagall, as the woman had not introduced herself. She spoke in a tone that immediately had the First Years scrambling into a line and they hurried after her. There were many gasps as the group entered the hall. There were four long tables, each full of students in their house colours. At the end of the hall was another table, running perpendicular to the four, raised on a dais. There Felis could see Dumbledore sitting in a large, handsome chair.

Felis stared all around her. This place was the most stunning thing she'd ever seen in her life. The room was so large, it could probably have fit her little cottage home inside it a hundred times or more. The ceiling reflected the starry night sky outside as thousands of candles hung in the air above their heads. They came to an abrupt stop in front of the table at which Dumbledore sat. Professor McGonagall turned around with a piece of parchment in her hand.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Colin Creevey."

Felis barely listened as names were called out. She was still staring all around her and at the sorting hat who seemed to have a mouth somehow. She wondered if it needed to eat. She continued to ignore the sorting until she caught the eye of her mother sitting at the head table, staring at her with an expression of terrible fear.

-X-X-X-

Aura sat at the head table next to Madame Poppy Pomfrey. She'd arrived around mid-day in Hogsmeade before making the long walk up to the castle. Dumbledore had greeted her in the Entrance Hall and went with her up to the Hospital Wing to introduce her to Madame Pomfrey whom she'd never met before.

Now she sat waiting for Felis and the rest of the First Years to come through the doors into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. As much as she tried to smile and socialise with Poppy and the professors she couldn't help but feel dread weighing on her heart. She wasn't sure she wanted to be here when Felis was sorted.

Her thoughts were halted abruptly as the doors opened with a creak and the reassuring face of Minerva McGonagall appeared, followed by a group of intimidated looking children. Of course Aura wasn't at all surprised to see that Felis didn't look intimidated. She'd never been fearful in her life.

As Minerva began to call out names the pounding in Aura's head grew louder and louder. She prayed that they would call Felis by the name she'd given to Dumbledore.

"Felis Malfoy," Minerva called.

Felis stepped up to the stool without hesitation and threw the hat onto her head with such enthusiasm that she earned a few chuckles. Aura stared at the hat, willing it to speak, as the pounding in her head grew louder and louder. She found herself gripping her wedding ring, which she had hung on a chain around her neck, so hard that it began to hurt the back of her neck.

"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat called out after what seemed like an hour, and the entire Gryffindor table burst out in cheers and awed whispers.

Aura's breath left her all in one moment. She sat through the rest of the Sorting in a state of numbness. She was pleased that Felis had been sorted in to Gryffindor, like herself, but on the other hand that had been the same house that her husband had been sorted into. At this point she wasn't sure if Gryffindor was any better of an omen than Slytherin would have been. Aura was shaken out of her thoughts at the sound of Dumbledore's speech.

"I would also like to introduce some new staff members," Dumbledore called out, "Aura Malfoy will be joining Madame Pomfrey as a nurse in the Hospital Wing." He paused for the students to applaud, "And our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than Gilderoy Lockhart."

Aura held back a groan as she stood along with Lockhart. She tilted her head as the students clapped, however Lockhart did a fanciful bow, smiling stupidly. Soon after this the food appeared and Aura forgot for a short time all her fears. She'd forgotten how good the food was at Hogwarts and ate more heartily than she'd done in years. She also noticed that Felis seemed to be getting along quite well with a couple girls at the Gryffindor table which helped to waylay her fears a bit.

#harry potter #fanfic #aura malfoy #golden trio #marauders era #magic #hogwarts

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flamingjets · 6 years

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newt and theseus fanfic

Newt had just arrived back from New York and just got through his door at his house when a letter arrived by owl, an owl that belong to his older brother Theseus. Newt retrieved the letter from the owls leg and gave it a small treat as a thank you for delivering the letter. The owl hooted its glee and took off again and disappeared through the window.

Newt looked at the letter in his hand knowing full well what it was going to say and that his older war hero ministry auror brother Theseus was going to be very unhappy with what happened in New York. So to avoid the unhappiness of the letter Newt put the letter on the table and avoiding opening it by going into his case and caring for his creatures. Still feeling the affects of his torture by Grindelwald and the small injuries he had received he cleaned up the wounds even though the cut on his palm was the deepest one and needed more care. Newt knew the moment his brother saw it he would be furious. Fantastic. Maybe newt could attempt to cover it up with a bandage and say it was from trying to get one of his creatures back as he did in fact fall through a glass window trying to get his niffler back.

A couple hours later Newt emerged from his case and opened up the letter. He has gotten a request from the ministry of magic to appear and discuss what happened in New York and his involvement with Grindelwald. If he wasn't thrilled enough to see his brother he now had to go and see the minister to go over what happened. Newt remember with anger the last time he had to see the minster of magic after he returned from a trip, his travel permits got revoked, and now most likely they will be taken away again and possibly more restrictions. Great.

Newt cleaned up a bit because merlin forbid he show up with a dirty jacket and embarrass Theseus once again. Always a thorn in Theseus’ side and causing him trouble with his creatures and what he does in order to save his creatures. Newt knew his brother cared about him but rarely showed it in person where he was a lot colder toward him as where in letters it was clear he worried about his brother and often wrote telling him to be careful. In person Newt might as well be a bug since often his brother called him an annoyance and to try not to be himself. Newt looked around his apartment to make sure he had everything and that his case was safe and in not fear of it opening up he departed to the ministry of magic.

Newt arrived at the ministry and told the guard he had an appointment and was let through the door as he appeared in the massive main hall. To his surprise he was greet by Leta a woman he had feelings for in the past and the reason he was expelled from Hogwarts, he took the blame for her accidentally almost killing another student by a creature. Newt was expelled and it became a black mark on him as where only a few people knew the truth of what happened his former professor Albus Dumbledore being one of them. He had found out recently that Theseus and Leta had gotten engaged and it stung a bit but he was still happy for them. “Congrats on the engagement Leta.” Newt blurted out without thinking. “Nice to see you as well Newt. And thank you. How are you doing since everyone has heard what happened with you in New York.” Leta smiled as they walked together down the hallway. “I’m doing alright a few scrapes but nothing that won't heal. I was trying to save a young boy and failed.” Newt replied sadly. If everyone had heard about it which means he is in deep trouble. “I’m sorry Newt but from what I hear they might revoke your documents.” Leta warned Newt since it was what Theseus had off handed told her. “I figured that would be the case since the moment I returned my pass was taken.” Newt shook his head in frustration.

That moment Newt noticed Theseus walking toward them with a purposeful confident stride. Newt bowed his head a little as his brother approached. “Hello Newt I see you actually showed up when requested without having to be dragged here. Leta I have to talk to my young wayward brother.” Theseus looked over his brother as Leta nodded and put a hand on newt’s arm smiled and walked away. “Hello Theseus. You know I don’t like coming here based on the fact they all believe what I do is pointless and the last time I was here my permits were taken and now it would seem they will be again.” Newt looked up at his brother not bothering to plead his case since his brother never breaks the law except for the one time during the war but that was different.

Theseus took hold of Newt’s arm and guided him toward a a side hallway out of view of others and out of hearing range. “First of all I’m glad you are alright after what happened in New York. Hearing you went up against Grindelwald by yourself and come out alive was amazing by itself and finding out what happened through the ministry and not from you wasn't exactly fair since they never mentioned if you were badly hurt until they said you helped capture him and that you were on your way home. And dont for one second think I dont see that bandage on your hand and try to play it off and blame one of your creatures I know better.” Theseus calmly told his younger brother with a soothing voice that didn’t sound upset or angry. “And I’m sorry Newt but they will be taking away your travel permits that can’t be stopped.” Theseus said as he shook his head. Newt hung his head knowing it would happen as Theseus brought him to the door of the minister.

Three months later.

Newt hated not being able to travel he wanted to go see Tina and try to stop in at Jacob’s bakery to see how he was doing. But without his permits he was forced to remain in the city hating life. Newt was writing a letter to Tina when he got a knock on his door. He put down his quill and opened the door surprised to see an owl he knows only to belong to Dumbledore holding a letter. Newt grabbed it and opened it up and small ripped up pieces of a post card floated up and repaired themselves to show Paris and written on the card “Meet me in Paris Newt.” Signed with a D. Newt knew he couldn’t travel but that didn’t matter he grabbed his coat and his case and departed. Newt arrived in Paris and wondered the streets waiting for a sign from Dumbledore. Newt had put his case in a safe place so he could move faster when needed he stood next to a statue and looked over his shoulder and appearing next to him a single glove pointing to a building. Newt grabbed the glove and was apparated to the top and facing none other then Dumbledore himself. “Hello Newt wonderful view from here don’t you think.” Dumbledore smiled at him. “Hello professor why did you want to talk to me.” Newt asked confused on the reason Dumbledore wanted to see him. Newt had found out Grindelwald had escaped and could possibly be in Paris attempting to get followers. “Newt I have something to ask of you. Something I can’t do but I only trust you with doing. I can’t stand against Grindelwald. I can’t fight him as where you can.” Dumbledore explained. “Aurors are currently trying to locate him including your brother and Tina. Both are here in Paris to find him and bring him down. You got near him once Newt I know you can do it again.” Newt was shocked to learn Theseus and Tina were here looking for Grindelwald no wonder his brother didn’t reply to a letter or was around the ministry. “I will do it.” Newt agreed knowing this was his way to get close to Tina again. Newt had no idea what he was heading into and that hell was about to let loose.

A massive fight had broken out in the graveyard as aurors change sides to join Grindelwald and starting to fight against those who rejected the offer put to them by grindelwald. Newt had gotten the attention of the dark wizard as he watched credence and Queenie join him and watched Leta get killed by a counter attack after she attempted to take him down. “Mr. Scamander do you think Dumbledore will mourn for you?” Speaking directly to Newt knowing full well how Dumbledore feelings about this young man with special creatures in a case. Newt glared at Grindelwald as Theseus came up behind him “Don’t you dare touch my brother!” Just as grindelwald smiled and sent an attack toward Newt as he defended himself as he got knocked to the ground. Theseus jumped to his brothers side as Grindelwald sent another attack their way and kept them coming. Newt and Theseus barely kept the attacks away as they apparated out of the way and up into the graveyard just as Grindelwald summoned a curse to destroy Paris. The blue flames arouse in the graveyard and took out everything it touched and at that moment Newt and Theseus saw Flamel holding up a counter curse to prevent the curse from leaving the graveyard. Newt and theseus stood in front of him as they knocked back attacks from followers and cast a spell to knock them all back. Flamel told them to get out as Tina jacob and others joined them in escaping. When they thought all hope was lost a massive phoenix showed up and blocked the blue flamed dragon as the survivors were whisked away.

They appararted on a bridge outside a massive castle. Newt didn’t believe he would see it again or come near it. Hogwarts. Newt turned to his brother and the first time he was the one to hug his brother first. “I’m sorry Thee. But now we are on the same side.” Newt told his brother before he didn’t pick sides but with all that has happened he knew what side he was on. Walking toward the survivors from the other side of the bridge was non other than Dumbledore. Newt looked at everyone and everyone looked beaten broken and in shock. If Grindelwald wanted a fight then he was going to get one. Newt didn’t have a plan yet or even know where to start but hoping that his professor would be able to give them a light in the darkness.

#fantastic beasts #newt scamander #fanfic

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xx-thedarklord-xx · 7 years

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Pretty Good

@chaoticbong You sent this to me quite a bit ago and I am sorry for the wait! Don’t quite know if this is how you imagined it but I had a lot of fun with it! Longer than I thought it would be.

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“Come on!” Scorpius begged, pulling on Albus’ arm. “If we hurry, we might finish before they wake up.”

“Just because the sun is up, does not mean that I should be as well. It’s way too early for this.” Albus retorted, keeping his eyes closed, hoping his brother would go back to bed.

Scorpius scoffed harshly. “It’s noon not five in the morning!” Honestly, he didn’t even know how they were related, let alone twins. Albus was so different than him.

“It’s just that they both worked late last night and it’s only the first day of summer break. I wanted to make breakfast for them!” Scorpius continued, hoping to plead to the softer side of his brother. The one that Albus tried to pretend didn’t exist.

Albus sighed heavily, throwing his blanket off him in a huff. “I swear it’s a miracle you were placed in Slytherin. I think Hufflepuff was robbed of you.”

“It’s not nice to generalize.” Argued Scorpius. “You have Gryffindor tendencies, but you don’t hear me saying anything.” He barely withheld a smirk at the outraged expression on his brother’s face.

“Hold your tongue.” Albus barked, not bothering to change out of his Slytherin pajamas. “Besides, only other Hufflepuffs care about the generalization of Hufflepuffs.”

“I’ve got to be adopted.” Scorpius mumbled, leaving their bedroom and going down the stairs. “It’s the only explanation.”

“Are you speaking about me?”

Scorpius looked up to smile at Teddy, who was at the bottom of the stairs with a wicked smirk on his face.

“I’m the only adopted one here.”

“That remains to be decided.” Scorpius countered. “Albus and I just can’t be real twins.”

Teddy shook his head fondly as he ruffled the already messy mop of blonde hair. “I was there when you were born. Granted I was only four at the time, but I distinctly remember there being two babies.”

“Maybe my real twin got switched at birth.” Albus yelled from the inside of the bedroom, causing both Teddy and Scorpius to roll their eyes. “I should start a search party.”

“Be quiet.” Scorpius whisper yelled. “I don’t want to wake them up!”

“What are you up to?” Teddy asked, suspicion heavy in his tone. “I don’t want to have to clean up after either of you nor will I lie on the stand if a murder is committed.”

“What kind of brother are you?” Albus asked in disbelief, coming down the stairs, black hair neatly in place. “I would lie to the Wizengamot for you. It’s called brotherly love.”

“No.” Retorted Teddy firmly. “It’s called self-preservation. I refuse to be an accomplice to any of your schemes. The last time I covered for you, I was somehow evading the Canadian Minister at the yearly Survival Remembrance ball.”

“In my defense—.” Albus began, lie already on the tip of his tongue.

“—We aren’t doing anything bad.” Scorpius interrupted quickly. Not allowing his brother to blame him in what was no doubt a lie to cover his horrible plan to convince the Canadian Minister that the next Dark Lord was actually Mister Longbottom in disguise. That hadn’t ended well for anyone.

“I just want to make breakfast for father and dad.”

Teddy backed away with a haste that surprised Scorpius. “No way. Remember the Father’s Day debacle of 2012? I want no part in this.” He turned around and quickly fled.

“I don’t know what his issue is.” Albus scratched his head. “It was only a small fire.” There was an indignant pause. “And it only happened once.”

“Twice!” Teddy called from somewhere in the house. “Don’t forget when you tried to make tea for father when he was sick.”

“I thought we all decided that that didn’t happen.” Albus argued, folding his arms across his chest. It was an accident. Cooking just didn’t work with him. Somehow disasters happened every time he even bothered.

“It was water Al.” Scorpius whispered with a shake of his head as he made his way towards the kitchen. “You were boiling water.” His silence heavily suggested that this shouldn’t have happened.

“I resent your silent accusations.”

“If they were silent, then you didn’t hear them.” Scorpius pointed out, pulling out the requirements for pancakes. That was simple, right?

“Twin magic. I heard them all.” Albus countered, sitting on the table and watching his brother combine everything needed.

“You do realize that’s just a lie we tell people, don’t you? Twin magic has never been established as legitimate.” Scorpius worried about his brother sometimes.

“I knew it!” Teddy’s faraway voice could be heard, and it had Albus snorting.

“Are you going to help me or not?” Scorpius asked Albus, turning on the burners.

“Oh god.” Teddy whispered from his hiding spot behind the couch, hoping that they wouldn’t burn the house down.

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

Movement had Draco clinging to Harry and letting out a pitiful moan. “No. I don’t want to get up yet.”

Harry chuckled as he looked down at the blonde sprawled across his chest. “You don’t have to. I was just going to make breakfast.” He checked the time. “Or rather lunch.”

“Eh.” Draco mumbled dismissing this entirely. “They are old enough to make their own breakfast.”

“I think you have forgotten who our children are. I don’t trust them to make chocolate milk.”

Draco snorted, agreeing with his husband’s statement entirely. “Teddy knows how to cook.”

“Alright.” Harry conceded readily. “But the twins are picky and he doesn’t have the patience to make multiple things.”

“You are too nice.” This was said as if that was a horrible thing to be. “You appease them too much. Just make one thing and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to eat it. They can starve.”

“This is why I am their favorite.” Harry teased just to watch Draco pout.

“Lies, blasphemy and hearsay.” Draco rested his chin on Harry’s chest and smiled into green eyes. “You are only their favorite when I am punishing them.”

Before Harry could point out that Draco never punishes them, a skillful hand began wandering over his body.

“I can think of a better breakfast we can have before we have to be responsible parents.” Draco tried to be coy but his smirk was negating that.

Responsible wasn’t exactly a descriptor Harry would use when thinking of Draco but he was too distracted by a warm tongue making its way near his neck before an equally warm mouth began sucking a mark.

Before either of them could really begin anything, a pounding of their door had them both sighing in defeat.

“Hey!” Teddy rapped harshly, hoping they were decent. “Guys, we have to buy a new house.”

Harry traded a look with Draco before clearing his throat. “Why would we do that? What’s wrong?” He almost didn’t want to know. He knew without a doubt that it somehow involved Albus and Scorpius.

“Scorpius wanted to make breakfast for you both but he got Albus to help.”

There was a dreaded pause before they both jumped out of bed, barely putting on robes in the process as they ran for the door.

They had just made it to the top of the stairs before an explosion had them all reaching for the banister to steady them.

“When I asked for siblings, I thought it was implied that they would be normal.” Teddy whispered, not even wanting to go investigate.

“Well, that was clearly too much to ask for.” Draco replied, wondering why his sons were like this. It had to be karma. Not his but definitely Harry’s karma.

“I’m going in.” Harry declared suddenly, mentally preparing himself for whatever he was going to find.

“There’s that Gryffindor bravery coming in handy.” Teddy whispered before high fiving Draco when his dad smirked at him.

Harry had made it to the bottom before he realized that his husband hadn’t followed him. When he turned around to look expectantly at him, he wasn’t even surprised to see the incredulous expression on the blonde’s face.

“Draco.”

It was just horribly unfair that Harry was able to demand, beg and plead in the same tone. “Oh, alright. But I want this to be remembered for later. I am defying all common sense by doing this.”

Harry rolled his eyes, wondering if he had four children instead of three. “You want it to be remembered that you behaved as any rational parent should? Definitely Order of Merlin: First Class material.”

“I don’t like the censure in your tone.”

Teddy grinned as he watched his parents banter back and forth. They had always been like this and he was just happy that they never stopped. Marriage wasn’t as forever as a lot of people hope it to be. Most of his friends’ parents were divorced.

Draco poked Harry in the back when the man stopped at the closed door hesitantly. His husband was not going to back out. Not now that he had been forced to go along as well.

When Harry opened the door, he groaned loudly at the sight of what used to be their pristine kitchen. Some kind of lumpy liquid was everywhere, eggs were cracked and stuck to the ceiling, a horrible smell permeated the room, flour covered both of their younger sons, the table was broken in two and the fridge door appeared to be hanging on by sheer will.

“What the bloody hell happened here?” Draco asked in disbelief. “Is this a breakfast warzone? What the hell did our kitchen ever do to you?” He looked to the fridge and groaned. “The fridge was a casualty. Friendly fire.” That was one of his favorite muggle appliances.

Despite the situation, Teddy and Harry snickered at Draco’s reaction.

“In my defense—” Albus began, trying to find a plausible excuse that wouldn’t get him grounded.

“—I’m sorry.” Scorpius whispered sadly, interrupting his twin. “I just wanted to make something for you guys since you worked late last night.”

Harry’s anger dissipated at the positively miserable green eyes peering at him. “If you both clean this up, we won’t have to move.”

Teddy covered his mouth with his hand as his shoulders shook.

The mess of the room was still horrible to Draco. “The next time you decide you want to cook for us, wait until you have your own home and please make sure I am not there.”

Draco grinned when he was on the receiving end of Albus’ piercing glare that so resembled his own. The shade of grey was similar but distinguishable. He wrapped his arm around Teddy’s shoulders and pulled on Harry’s arm.

“If you both hurry up, you can come with us for breakfast. We are eating out.” Harry called over his shoulder.

“Hey Teddy.” Scorpius called out with a pleading tone.

“No way!” Teddy argued, flopping down on the couch next to his parents. “I’m not helping! I wasn’t the mastermind behind this disaster.”

“Remember on Halloween night, at Hogwarts, when we saw you—” Albus was cut off by the sound of Teddy sprinting up and running towards the door.

“I’ll help you. Because I am a nice brother and I just adore you both so much.”

Draco arched his brows as their eldest disappeared. “I wonder if I can dupe the twins into telling me what they have over Teddy.”

That had Harry snorting. “They won’t fall for it.”

“Yeah, but I can guilt Scorpius into telling me. He’s the kindest one out of all of our kids.”

“He gets that from me.” Harry pointed out, laying his head on Draco’s shoulder.

Draco ran his fingers through Harry’s messy hair. “Yes, he does.” Not even bothering to deny it. “But I refuse to take credit for any of Albus.” He felt Harry’s smile into his skin and nuzzled the top of his lover’s head.

“I think we did pretty good with them.” Harry whispered, lifting his head up and kissing Draco softly.

The sound of Teddy and Scorpius laughing at something Albus said had Draco smiling softly.

“Damn right we did.”

#Drarry #Domestic Drarry #Draco Malfoy #Harry Potter #harry x draco #draco x harry #Albus Potter #Albus Potter-Malfoy #Scorpius Malfoy #Scorpius Potter-Malfoy #Teddy Lupin #Husbands Drarry

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kiitkattie · 6 years

Note

Dudley, Harry, and Ginny with their kids: "We're hip. We're in the know." And/or Zoe and Al: " I burned your birthday cake."

i’m gonna do the second prompt first and do the first later

This birthday party was a disaster. Zoe was never going to cook again especially not when James Sirius Potter was in her family home. Said boy was currently leaning on the counter, covered in cake batter and looking rather pleased with himself. Zoe resists the urge to punch him in his stupidly smug face.

“Why are you in my kitchen, James?”

“Thought I’d help.”

Zoe’s eyes narrowed, and she gestured to the mess around them.

“You call this helping?!”

James smirks.

“Yes.”

Zoe nearly punches him, but draws herself back at the last moment. She breathes in deeply and exhales.

“I don’t know what you do in your kitchen, Potter, but here in the Evans household, we put the ingredients in bowls.”

James gasps, mockingly offended. She glares, and the older boy has the decency to look a bit embarrassed. She turns, rolling her sleeves up higher and goes to grab some cleaning supplies so that hopefully the cake will be done before Uncle Harry comes back with Albus.

Since they were still students, they aren’t allowed to use magic and her parents were muggles, meaning they were going to have to clean themselves. She thrusts a towel in James face.

“Clean, and maybe I’ll forgive you.”

James does what he’s told without a comment, probably realizing that Harry probably won’t be happy if he finds it when they get back. The two of them clean quickly, and Zoe can’t bring herself to stay mad at James the whole time. By the time they’re done, they’re back to joking with each other, and James says something about checking on Lily before leaving the kitchen.

Zoe runs a hand through her hand and gets started. The cake takes forever to bake and Zoe starts feeling impatient as the time goes by. Then she hears the door start to open and panics, quickly leaving the kitchen and shutting the door behind her.

“Uncle Harry!”

She rushes into his hug, his laughter filling up the room like it always does. Al is next to him and grins, the both of them crushing each other in their hug. Her father comes up and helps Aunt Ginny with her coat, something she’s obviously thankful for. It must have rained because her hair is slightly damp.

James saunters up and moves to give his mum a hug before giving his father one. The family makes their way to the living room, chatting about various things that Zoe isn’t really focused on. She’s nervous, and fidgety, but she refuses to show it. She snorts with laughter at the story about what Scorpius said in his letter to Al, and Al lightly punches her on the arm. She glances over at James and his eyes find hers. He glances at the kitchen then back to her and Zoe panics again. She forgot the cake.

Zoe stands and rushes to the kitchen. Even before she opens the door, she can smell it burning. With an alarming amount of swears, and her mom yelling “language”, she manages to get it out of the oven before it gets completely ruined. She stares at the pitiful excuse of a chocolate cake and lets out a frustrated whine.

“What’s wrong?”

Al’s voice draws her attention, but she sighs loudly and doesn’t look up.

“I burned your birthday cake.”

“You tried to make me a cake?”

“Yes and now it’s burned. Last time I try to do something nice.”

Al’s snickering and Zoe can’t even bring herself to glare. She must have burned it out with James beforehand or maybe it’s just because it’s Al.

“It looks… nice.”

“Don’t even try to flatter me, Al. It won’t work.”

Al smirks and bumps her shoulder.

“Hey, at least it still looks edible, right?”

“Shut up, loser.”

#ask #sensicalabsurdities #my writing #harry potter #harry potter oc #askbox

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coolveraverto · 5 years

Text

Fur, Feathers, and Fins (Chap 2)

HPFT

Chapter 2: “Have you never seen a goldfish?” I ask him.“They’re made of gold??” James asks seriously.

When I decided to work for Dad’s pet shop, I was relieved that it was in Diagon Alley and not Hogsmeade because in Hogsmeade, the weekends were full of teenagers poking their business in the shop, breaking this and that, teenage girls gossiping and whispering about you, etc etc. . . But what I never even thought of was the absolute horror of this: Back. To. School. Shopping.

Or, at least when it comes to getting a pet for Hogwarts it’s First Years adopting a pet to take with them to school. This is basically the one time out of the year, besides Christmas, when the shop is bloody busy and of course, OF COURSE, it is also happens to be James’ first day.

He is SO going to quit.

When I got to FFF an hour before opening, parents and their kids were already waiting impatiently at the door. A mum literally cursed at me when I told her we weren’t opening for at least another hour. Ugh.

Dad was refilling the water bowls for the kneazles when I stepped in.

“Good morning, Kit Kat!” He says brightly.

I grunt in response. “A woman just told me she’s going to Eeylops Owl Emporium instead.”

He rolls his eyes and scratches a kneazle under her chin. She purrs happily. “How bloody sad. It’s really going to hurt our business without her. . .”

I snort and grab the step stool to reach the hanging cages to check on the four owls we have in the shop. Eeylops may have like a billion owls but that is literally all they have. At least WE have a variety of different animals to choose from. Some customers have never even heard of ferrets before. It’s what really sets us apart from the rest. The pretty little owls hoot at me and I smile.

“When is Harry- erm, the NEW guy showing up?” Dad asks me as I slide the step up ladder back in it’s spot behind the cash register counter.

“I told him to be here at 8 when we open. Hopefully the crowd doesn’t scare him off.” I tell him.

“Nah. But a woman did pinch me in the arm because she thought I was trying to cut her in line.”

I nearly gasp at the sight of James standing in the middle of the shop. I didn’t even hear the bells chime above the door. Dad chuckles and shakes his head before walking up to James and sticks his hand out. James looks a bit nervous but smiles charmingly of course.

“It’s nice to finally meet our new recruit. It’s James, isn’t?” Dad says and I nearly sigh at him trying to act like he doesn’t know his name at all. He thinks he’s slick.

“Yes, sir. I’m so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you so much for hiring me Mr. Mackenzie.”

Dad laughs and waves his hand around. “Oh please! Call me Nolan. And no need to thank me. It was my daughter that hired you. She said you had something special.”

Oh my Merlin. Why did he just say that?????

James looks in my direction with a look of surprise. “You think I’m special Kitty? That’s so sweet of you.”

I try to play it cool but I am totally caught off guard by all of this. “Yeah, well. . . lets see how you do. You haven’t had your first day yet.”

“But I AM early.” He replies with a toothy grin.

I can’t help but smile back.

And then we’re just standing there. Smiling at each other. For like. . . a minute or two, until Dad coughs and I literally turn bright red. How bloody embarrassing. Dad is trying so hard to keep himself from grinning like a mad-man. I can just tell how pleased he is that Harry Potter’s son is working here with us.

“Kitty why don’t you show James around the shop and introduce him to everyone before we open. Oh and definitely get him a t-shirt from the office.” Dad tells me. I nod my head and make my way towards the back of the shop where the office is, James in tow.

I shuffle through the box of yellow t-shirts with Fur, Feathers and Fins embroidered on them. “Erm, what size do you think?” I ask him.

“I’ll try a medium.” He says and clears his throat. This feels so incredibly awkward. I throw him a medium shirt and as if things couldn't get ANY more awkward for me, James LITERALLY takes off his sweater and is shirtless. In front of me. In a closed door room. And he has abs. And he looks GOOD.

Merlin. Please help me.

I steer James towards the left side of the shop and decide to start with the easiest. The Goldfish. James stares at the tank with his mouth open.

“Have you never seen a goldfish?” I ask him.

“They’re made of gold??” James asks seriously and I almost burst out laughing.

“No. These little guys are a popular muggle pet fish. We have magical creatures and non-magical here. I can’t believe you’ve never seen a goldfish! They’re actually pretty tough to sell. Most kids want a pet they can snuggle.”

I continue babbling, explaining what we do to care for them and a little bit of facts to get people to adopt them and I feel like a loser, going on and on about cleaning the gunk off a fish tank, but James listens intently and nods his head like he really understands me.

We continue onto the three non-magical corn snakes, the one runespoor that is difficult to get adopted because the species was once popular by Dark Wizards but the one we have is the sweetest little guy ever, then I show him the four turtles, the five little bowtruckles that I adore, the seven toads that James definitely isn’t a fan of because he makes a face when he thinks I’m not looking, then the lizards. I introduce him to the rest of the kneazles and cats and Monty leaps into James’ arms. For the rest of the tour, Monty sits happily in his arms.

When we get to the ferrets I expect him to be surprised but he says how Albus has had one since he was eleven and that he actually got it from here which surprises me. We go through the rats, the puffskeins and the knarls which I favor a bit, I will admit it, then the guinea pigs. James stops short when we get to the snidgets.

“Wait, aren’t these-”

“Yep,” I interrupt him. “The Golden Snidget is modeled after these little guys. Way back when they actually used them during Quidditch matches.”

“Wow.” He says.

I nod my head. “They’re very rare but Dad knows a guy and so forth. Only someone incredibly special will be able to take one home, keep that in mind.”

James grins. “Incredibly special like me?”

I raise an eyebrow. “I never said INCREDIBLY. . .”

He gives me a sweet little smile and I nearly melt into a puddle. “Anyway, we have just one more stop. The peach-faced lovebirds.”

“The what?” he asks and I point to the two birds. He smiles excitedly at them. “Merlin, they are so adorable!”

“Yes, they live up to their name. These two are literally lovebirds. Can’t separate them.”

“Aw.”

“Don’t be fooled by their little bodies. They have BIG personalities. And the girl one bites sometimes.”

“Sometimes?!” He exclaims. “How will I know if she will or not?”

I suppress a grin and shrug. “That’s the joy of working with animals. You never know what will happen.”

“I suppose so,” he mutters.

I hope he isn’t regretting this. But the way he snuggles Monty to his chest gives me hope he will at least try this out. I show him the loo and the supplies closet where everything is for taking care of the animals and that’s that. Once we finish, it is officially 8 o’clock and Dad is unlocking the door.

James stands beside me behind the counter and it’s weird to see someone like him looking nervous. I nudge his shoulder and send him a small smile. “You’ll do fine. The first day is always nerve-wrecking. I’ve basically lived here all my life and my first official day I accidentally left the cage door to the ferrets open and one crawled up some old lady's leg.”

James forces a smile. “Hopefully I don’t do that.”

“Yeah,” I say wistfully. “You really shouldn't crawl up some old lady’s leg. Though it would put is front and center on the Daily Prophet.”

James roars with laughter and I feel a sudden twinge of happiness that I made him laugh like that.

“Don’t worry, you’ve had first day of work before. It’s not that different.” I continue, thinking about that article in the Daily that I read a couple years ago about James joining the Chudley Cannons, though I don’t know why he isn’t still now. . .

He immediately stops smiling and frowns, looking anywhere but at me. Ugh, great. Leave it to me to say the wrong thing and ruin everything.

“I’m sorry, did I-”

James shakes his head and I stop. He tries to smile but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “It’s not for me. Now where do you want me, boss?”

“Um. . . you can set Monty down here, he usually makes his way to the counter anyway, and um, grab the broom and sweep up a bit.” Wow does it feel weird telling James Potter what to do. And he actually does it!

I’m standing there basically stalking him while he sweeps near the guinea pigs for a bit before a customer comes up to the register. I get ready to see which little creature she’s got to take home when I realize she’s about sixteen and doesn’t have a pet at all. Her eyes are wide while she looks straight at me.

“Is that James Potter?” She whispers to me.

“Um, yes. Can I help you with anything?” I ask her. The girl SHRIEKS and turns back to a group of teenage girls basically hiding behind cages and watching James. “Guys! It is him! Oh my GOD!”

They all start giggling and getting all excited. And saying how hot he is, which I mean obviously he is. I’m pretty sure everyone is attracted to that guy. Even Monty is in love with him and he hates everyone. But this is just ridiculous. I didn’t even think this would happen.

I cash out a couple people who came in to buy pet supplies/food but I notice a few new people checking out James. He doesn’t even notice. Or at least pretends not to notice. He just continues working, once refills the water for the knarls and then (I can’t believe it) cleans up the vomit that Monty lovely left beside the counter. He sends me a boyish smile afterwards and I burn all over.

Towards the middle of the day and the crowds are dying down, Dad comes by to take my place at the register so I can take my break. I look for James so I can tell him how great he is at the cleaning and keeping up with it because believe me not everyone can do it with a damn smile like he has been. But when I spot him at the goldfish tank he’s talking to a middle-aged woman and a little boy who can’t be more than five.

Of course I eavesdrop on this.

“Sweetie, don’t you want something more. . . interesting?” The mom asks her son. He shrugs all shyly in front of James and James gets on his knees to be eye-level with him and smiles.

“Did you know that goldfish are very smart, despite how small they are?” He asks him.

“Really?” the little boy says.

James nods his head, very seriously. “They recognize people and will get excited when they see you. And you can train them!”

“Is that so?” The mom asks, clearly mocking. But James continues, “Yep! You can train them to swim through hoops, mazes, and even push a ball through a net! Isn’t that awesome?”

The little boy nods his head excitedly.

“Now, if I wanted to get an interesting pet, I’d want a goldfish. Blimey, just the name itself is pretty cool!”

The little boy tugs on his mom's hand and goes, “I want one! Please mummy!”

She sighs and looks up at James. “I guess we’re taking one home.”

James smiles brightly. “Awesome! I’ll get everything ready for you and I will meet you at the register.” He looks down at the little boy. “Do you want to pick your new friend out?” Which the boy does happily.

I watch the rest of the interaction and try not to interject, hoping James remembers everything I told him to do: Grab a bowl, fill it with the correct temperature water, use the net to grab the fish, secure the bowl with a lid, grab a pamphlet about Goldfish, and drop the food in a bag before bringing it all to the register. James does it all and if possible, better than anyone I have ever seen.

The little boy and his mom leave with smiles on their faces and I feel a sense of proudness. He did such a great job! I knew he had something special.

“How do you think I did?”

I jump and whirl around to find James smirking at me. I grab a cloth and pretend I was cleaning the shelves.

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. . .” I try lying.

He leans against the shelves and crosses his arms. I don’t know how but he looks even hotter doing so. “You’re a bad liar,” he tells me.

“I know,” I say lamely. “But you did really really great! I’m proud of you.”

James looks taken aback by my response and he uncrosses his arms and runs a hand through his messy hair. “Thanks. . . That really means a lot.” He says meaningfully.

I smile warmly. “Not everyone can clean up vomit and smile about it.”

“I was NOT smiling about the vomit,” he says with a laugh. “It’s hard not to smile while being around a pretty girl.”

My body feels like it’s up in flames and he looks down at me with a soft expression. His brown eyes flicker to my lips I SWEAR and I find myself looking at his damn lips and Merlin. . . I want him to kiss me. I don’t even care that we’re in a smelly pet shop, leaning against shelves, and Dad is standing just ten feet away at the counter.

The bell chimes above the door and the heat of the moment sizzles out just like that. I’m about to ask if he wants to take this one until whoever just came into the shop starts asking my dad if James Potter really works here.

We turn the corner and it’s Lily Potter, his younger sister, and Gavin beside her. They’re holding hands and my eyebrows basically fly into my hairline. I have NEVER seen Gavin hold hands with a girl. At least not in public. I’m shocked.

“Lils, seriously?” James asks her, a bit annoyed.

She grins widely at him. “Yes, bloody seriously! What kind of a sister would I be if I didn’t visit my big brother on his first day at work?”

“A great one,” he answers but he doesn’t seem all that mad about it.

Lily spots me after a moment and beams at me. “Hi! I’m so terribly sorry for the way I acted the other night. I’m Lily.”

“Oh. . .It’s okay. You just scared me, that’s all.” I reply.

Gavin sends me a wavering look and I cock an eyebrow at him. He shrugs back. We’ll discuss this later but from what it looks like, my best mate has finally decided to settle down.

“Lily has the tendency to scare people. It’s the red hair.” James jokes and Lily rolls her eyes about it. “Whatever. Anyway, James this is Gavin. I think you guys remember each other from Hogwarts?”

They both nod at each other like guys do sometimes. It’s kind of uncomfortable because I know that Gavin absolutely hated James when we were in Hogwarts. He used to call him Asshat behind his back. And James was always arguing with him about never practicing enough because he was always up late with some girl of the month. And now Gavin is dating Lily.

So: Awkwardness.

“We’re going to dinner at that new restaurant, The Tipsy Pixie.” Lily says and Dad chimes in, “Oh that place is wonderful! I recommend the kale soup.”

I peer a glance at him. “When did YOU go there?”

He gives me a weird look. “A couple weeks ago. I didn’t tell you?”

“Um, nope. Who did you go with?” I can’t help but ask. Dad doesn’t really do much of anything outside the shop and usually we go to places together. And The Tipsy Pixie is supposed to be a fancy place and I just cannot picture Dad there. At all.

“An old friend. You don’t know them.” He answers shortly.

Hm. Okay, then.

“We better get going, Lily.” Gavin tells her. She nods her head and tells James not to screw up too much and then sends me a friendly wink. Before they go Gavin says to me, “I’ll see you at home later.”

“Princess Bride tonight?” I ask him. We watch that muggle film like almost every weekend. It’s my favorite. Him, not so much but we’re best mates so he has no choice.

He groans in response before the door shuts behind them.

I chuckle to myself and James stares at me oddly. I touch my hair insecurely. “What is it?”

“You two live together?” He asks me.

“Yeah. We’re best mates.” I tell him. “I thought you knew that.” He did say how I used to distract Gavin during matches back at Hogwarts which is ridiculous and so not true.

“Erm, no. Actually, I thought. . . Nevermind.”

“What?”

He runs a hand through his hair. “I thought you two were together back then.”

“Well, yeah, we’re best friends. . .”

“No,” he says while shaking his head. “Together, together. In a relationship.”

“Oh Merlin,” I say out loud. “No. Definitely not. Just best mates. I can’t believe you thought that. . .”

He looks relieved. I don’t know why, but I’m hoping (praying and wishing, too) that it’s because he might have a thing for me. I know it’s probably stupid of me for thinking it, but a girl can dream can’t she?

Dad coughs and reels me back from my dreaming. “I hate to break the obvious chemistry bubbling between you two, but Monty just vomited.”

Oh my Merlin. Seriously, Dad?

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