#also 5 points to gryffindor if you can tell what line reveals that I like to write Jason best after Tim

[batboysandgirls]

Tim Drake x Reader - Explosions And Other Saturday Morning Activities - PART 4 - FINALE!

PART ONE HERE, PART TWO HERE, and PART THREE HERE! Title: Explosions And Other Saturday Morning Activities - PART 3 Pairing: Tim Drake x Reader Summary: You’ve made it out of Black Mask’s lair alive, and it’s time for you to have dinner with the batclan, including Bruce Wayne himself (who you still can hardly believe is Batman).  After the dinner, you know you’ll have to decide to make your move with Tim... or let him go.  But you’re not one to give up easily! Notes: Canon-typical descriptions of violence and injuries. Words: 5.4k Taglist:  @silentwhispofhope, @ashfromthesol, @oh-no-my-ravioli, @katelynkargol, @rhymeswithrason, @grincheveryday, @ivysfaves, @hanliz2211

You awoke in a very nice bed that was not your own.  You should be terrified, but the well of terror in your heart was empty.  Now, you were just tired.

You slowly sat up.  You were wearing a silk white nightgown, which might be the softest thing you’ve ever worn.  You were also laying a king sized bed, which might be the first time you’ve ever had a king sized bed to yourself.  It was a large bedroom, sparsely decorated.  There was an empty desk, a mostly empty bookshelf, and a dresser.  The dresser was against the far wall, and you could see your clothes folded and washed on top of it.  To your left, there was a set of glass doors leading to a balcony.  They let in an enormous amount of light, making the whole room bright.  It almost seemed like a dream, although you were pretty sure you were awake.

Looking around, nothing had clicked for you as to where you were, but, somehow, you felt pretty safe.  At this point, if someone was going to kill you, they probably would have succeeded.

You swung your legs over the size of the bed, and there was your phone on a side table.  You almost reached to check your messages, but you didn’t.  Instead, you walked out to the balcony.  The wind blew gently, and you took in the view of beautiful gardens.  You didn’t seem Gotham, and you couldn’t even hear it… had to be pretty far out from the city.

Huh.  Maybe this was a dream.  Or, since you were all in white, was it… no.  No, no, no.

(You probably weren’t dead!  You’d know!  Right?  You’d know if this was the afterlife… right?)

You turned back to the inside, and there was Tim standing in the doorway.  OH!  Thank goodness.  Tim was here… okay, so this must be Wayne Manor.  Pretty house, pretty gardens, way outside of the city proper.  Made some sense.  Still not sure how you got here, but that wasn’t much of a concern.

(You weren’t dead!  Hooray!)

“Tim,” you said, your voice coming out a little soft and a little hoarse.

“How are you feeling?  I was afraid you’d wake up confused about where you were.”  He walked over next to you, and you smiled.

“I first thought this all might be a dream.  Then, I thought I might be dead and this is what happens after.”

Tim raised his eyebrows, alarm on his face, and you laughed.

“But I saw you and thought—that’s right, Tim lives in a mansion outside of Gotham.  I’m alive.”  Tim looked like he was about to apologize, and you shook your head.  “No, no.  That’s just how my brain works.  I assume you guys took me back with you after you stopped Black Mask?”

“Yeah.  They were going to drop you at your apartment unconscious.  You passed out from exhaustion and stress apparently.  But I said you were my girlfriend, and they let me and Bruce take you home with us.”

“Do you think the police officers had read the Buzzfeed article?”

Tim smiled.  “Well, one officer giggled as I explained so I think she might have.”

“Our accidental celebrity relationship coming in handy, for once.”

“For once.”

The conversation lulled, and you found yourself gazing at Tim unabashedly.  He was looking out over the back gardens, thoughtfully.  He was so handsome, it was really unfair.  All you wanted to do was to have him hold you, to run your hand through his hair, to tell him how incredible he is.  But it wasn’t really the time.  And though you were pretty sure Tim did like you a tad, you weren’t sure if he was thinking of anything serious.  Fate had drawn you together once, and you’d been tangled together since then.

You were hoping the Black Mask incident would be the last of your brushes with Gotham’s heroes and villains, but your heart ached a bit at the odds that meant this would be the last of your brushes with one Tim Drake.  Would Tim really be interested in a random intern who had a few freakish experiences that drew you closer to him?  Would he have any free time to dedicate to a girlfriend totally divorced from his duties helping run Wayne Enterprises and from crime fighting?  Probably not…

For now, though, you took in Tim standing before you.  You let that be enough.

Tim finally turned to you.

“Well, I know Alfred’s made an amazing brunch for you.  You should eat something.  Then, you can just relax until we have dinner tonight.”

Dinner.  Right.  Dinner where Bruce Wayne, Batman, which is still weird, will tell you not to reveal the whole Batfamily’s secret identities and probably terrify you in the process.  You should be worrying about that.  Instead, you’re caught on something else.

“Alfred?”

“Alfred is the family butler, but he’s more than just that.  He is family.”

You nodded and slowly realized how hungry you were.  “Does he, um.  Does he make good pancakes?”

Tim grinned from ear to ear.  “The best.”

✹ ✹

“Maybe I was wrong earlier,” you said, mouth full of chocolate chip pancake, “Maybe I did actually die and this is some sort of heaven.”

“Wait, you thought you died?” asked Dick Grayson, eldest Wayne child and also Nightwing.  Of all the superhero identity matching you’d done in your head, that was a no brainer.  The butts were basically identical.

“A death joke!  She’ll fit right in,” Jason said.  Jason Todd, second Wayne child, also the Red Hood.  Just from this pancake brunch, he quickly was becoming your favorite after Tim.

(You weren’t sure what he meant by the death joke, but you smiled anyway.  That seemed to make him even more on your side.)

The youngest child, Damian, didn’t say anything to you, other than a few displeased huffs.  Odds were he was Robin.

Cassandra, who was around Tim’s age to your understanding, didn’t say much either to you, but her eyes and smiles were endlessly kind.  You weren’t sure of her identity… maybe she was just a normal person.  That would be lovely.

(Tim told you that Duke, another brother a couple years younger than him, was out “on patrol,” which meant that he was probably the Signal.  The lone daytime bat.  Wild.)

Bruce Wayne did not appear at brunch, but that was probably for the best.  You needed to work up the emotional strength to face Batman’s scrutiny tonight.

Alfred was working on that by fueling you with pancakes and calling you “Miss _____.”  You called him “Mr. Pennyworth,” and he kind of seemed offended by the formality—but you didn’t give in.

Tim was definitely watching you the whole meal, amused and a little pleased.  It was nice to know someone was paying attention to you, and nicer still to be able to tell they liked what they saw.  You regaled the group with a humorous retelling of the Wayne Tower accident, as well as some weird encounters you’d had as an intern.

After brunch, you returned to the room you’d been in, getting dressed in your somewhat tattered clothes from the previous evening.  You looked in the mirror, a little disappointed.

No, it wasn’t any insecurity about your body.  You thought you looked pretty good, generally speaking. It was just that you looked more put together in the nightgown these people provided than in your own clothes.  There were a lot of holes and tears in the fabrics from the glass exploding onto you.  You hadn’t gone ham on your outfit with a pair of scissors for fun, but it kinda seemed that way.

Someone knocked at the door.  You poked your head out and saw Cassandra standing there, holding a box.

“Hello,” you said, poking your head out.

“Hi,” she said, before handing it over to you.  “Alfred made these.  Adjusted my old things.  Should fit.”

“Oh!  Thank you!  Currently, my clothes are a bit, uh, compromised.”

Cass just smiled with a nod and vanished down the hall.  You put on the clothes and were delighted they fit perfectly.  Did Alfred take your measurements when you were brought to Wayne Manor?  That was a little weird, but very helpful.  It was just a simple black sweater and a pair of jeans.  No holes or rips or tears!  And you looked good.  Perfect.  You wanted to look nice for this dinner, so you could come across as professional.  Someone to be trusted with the batfamily’s secret identities.

(Not for Tim.  No, certainly not to look good for Tim.  Mhmmm.  Nope.)

You spent the following few hours getting a tour of the Manor from Tim, who did compliment your outfit, which was not notable or anything, and just hanging out with him and his siblings playing Scrabble.  The tour was cool, and Tim only blanched once when you asked where they kept all the bat stuff.

(“Um, Bruce didn’t kill me for having you find out my identity, but if I showed you the Batcave, he’s definitely freak.”

“So it’s a cave?  Must be under the house then. That’s pretty sweet.”

“...”

“Is that aspect a secret?”

“Just don’t tell him you know that.”)

As you walked the Manor and played in a Scrabble tournament with the Wayne children, your eyes kept meeting Tim’s.  You would both look away, but it was never long before you found the other’s gaze again.  It made your heart weirdly full but also made you weirdly nervous.

(This dinner is the last thing directly tying you to Tim.  It’s why you got lunch and the whole dating rumor started.  After Bruce Wayne gets his say with you, Tim doesn’t have a reason to reach out to you.  You could reach out to him, start something more, but does he want that?  That look when his bright blue eyes find yours… you hope it’s not wishful thinking to imagine he wants that.)

Duke showed up midway through the Scrabble tournament, but he got to join in.

“It’s round-robin style,” Tim explained as he spelled out l-u-n-a-r off your r-a-t-i-o, “You can join in with whoever finishes next.”

“Only Dick and I made jokes about the fact Robin is literally in the name of the playstyle, if you’d like to immediately hop on that train while you wait,” you added.

Duke laughed at that, and you definitely liked this kid, too.  Honestly, other than Damian being a little stuffy, this strange hodge-podge superhero family was quite wonderful.

Tim and Jason won the tournament, tied for most wins.  Then Damian, then you, then Duke, then Dick, and then Cass.

“Words are hard,” Cass concluded as you all packed up the boards, and you couldn’t agree more.

“Dinner is about to be served,” Alfred said, stopping in the doorway. “If you all would please head to the dining room.”

You felt yourself tense up a bit at that announcement, and, suddenly, Tim was right next to you.  He put a hand on your shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

“It’s going to be fine.  Our secret identities are much less secret than Bruce wants, but there’s not much he can do about you knowing.”

(You felt more tense about this dinner being over and having no excuses to see Tim than the actual meal itself.  But that’d be a bit odd to tell him that, probably.)

✹ ✹

Dinner began uncomfortably normally.  After you and the rest of the batkids sat down, Bruce Wayne entered and sat at the head of the table.  Everyone went quiet as he took his seat, and then he smiled at you.

“Hello, _____.  It’s wonderful to finally meet you.  How are you?”

This was not the “attempt to reveal our identities and we’ll make your life hell” angle you were expecting.

“I’m, um,” you said, “I’m quite well.  I slept great here.”

“I’m glad.  It’s been a stressful week, hasn’t it?”

You found yourself laughing a bit too loud and too long at that.  When you realized everyone was staring at you—

(Facial expressions.  Dick: “oh god, Bruce.” Jason: “lmao.”  Tim: “BRUCE THAT IS THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.” Cass: “The shirt really does look lovely.” Duke: “Don’t smile, it’s not that funny, don’t do it, Duke.” Damian: “Ugh.”)

—you closed your mouth.

“Um, yes.  Very stressful.  I’m honestly looking forward to doing intern-y stuff again, without my life being threatened.”

“Would you mind reminding me what your internship is like?”

So you began to explain your Wayne Enterprises internship to Bruce Wayne, which was very strange.  He was paying attention as you explained, asking some questions here and there.  Alfred brought out the first course, which was tomato and cheese soup, and, by the time everyone had finished it, you had exhaustively detailed your intern duties.  You snuck a glance over at Tim as Alfred took away your soup bowl and placed down the main entrée, fettuccine alfredo with chicken.  You were afraid he’d look bored or worried, but he had an easy smile on his face, almost like you were a good dream he was having.  That made your heart flutter a bit.

You fiddled with your pasta a moment before looking up to Bruce.

“Mr. Wayne, are we going to talk about the whole Batman thing, or…?”

You could see Tim’s easy smile fade a bit, and the table instantly became a bit more tense.  Bruce’s gaze was a little heavier now, and you held up your hands.

“Look, I don’t want to cause any problems.  I do not want to get involved in what is your little family activity.  I won’t tell anyone your secret identities.  I’m not even sure of Cass’s alter ego, honestly, but the rest of you—my lips are sealed.

“I guess I was thinking this dinner was going to be you grilling me on how important it is to keep all this secret and threatening to, like, pull my life apart if I try to tell someone.

“And I’m glad you haven’t done that!  Don’t get me wrong.  But, uh.  I was a little puzzled,” you finished.

Bruce Wayne put down his utensils.  He didn’t look angry, but he did look firm.

“_____, I want to make it very clear that, while I expect you to keep our vigilantism a secret, I invited you to dinner primarily as thanks for your help at Wayne Tower.  My only plan to mention keeping our identities a secret was to take you aside before you left, after dinner, and remind you of that.  I would not threaten you or your life in any way.”

“Oh.  Right...” was all you managed before looking sheepishly at your fettuccine.  You felt like the limp noodles before you.)

“I understand why you thought that.  The safety of my family is more important to me than any secret identity.  We’ve lost people before in this line of work—”

(You tried not to think of being eleven years old and hearing Robin had died on the news.  You tried not to remember being, what, fourteen, fifteen, and seeing the report that the female Robin seemed to have died in the huge gang wars.  Most clearly, you tried to not see the footage of the current Robin, his body bloodied, impaled a year or two ago.  Someone draping a blanket over him, and the reporter choking up on camera.  You tried not to think of those images.  You tried, and tried, and failed.)

“—and the most important thing to me in all of this is that Tim is alive because of you.  And I might have lost that fight with Black Mask save Nightwing and Robin coming to help.  We owe you a debt, as does Gotham.”

For the second time in the past twenty four hours, you felt tears well up in your eyes.  You sniffed and wiped them away, chuckling a little to yourself.

“Can I ask you something, Mr. Wayne?”

“Anything.”

You looked at him, his eyes cool like steel.  Set, determined.  “Does it ever go away?” you asked.

“Does what go away?”  Bruce didn’t even look confused or unimpressed at your remark, just ready to answer once he understood.

(You squeezed your hands together.  You could feel the scars from that day at Wayne Tower.  The superficial burns were not fully healed, they probably wouldn’t be for months.  And after you’d have these swaths of skin on your hands that were wrinkled, lighter or darker than the rest of your hands.  And you were going to see those scars every day.  For the rest of your life.)

You hoped he would understand.  “The fear.  The weight.  Of all of it.  Of everything.”

“No.  You can’t stop being afraid, and you can’t ignore the trauma and the pain you’ve experienced,” Bruce said. “But you can, and you will, heal.  You’ll learn to not let fear rule you.  To accept your past and your pain, to know how to think about it and feel about it without being sucked in.”

(You wondered how much he was speaking to your experience, and how much he was speaking for himself.)

“It’s not easy, it’s not linear.  But you’ll get there.  With people who care about you supporting you.  And if you ever need anything, and I truly mean it, anything, you let us know.  Because we will help you too.”

You weren’t sure when you started crying as he spoke, but you were also smiling.

“Thank you, Mr. Wayne,” you said, voice only a little hampered by the tears.

Bruce Wayne smiled at you.  Batman smiled at you.  “Call me Bruce.”

✹ ✹

You were thirteen years old.  You were walking in the Downtown Plaza after getting pizza for dinner with some friends.  The entrance to the Downtown metro stop was maybe two hundred yards away when a storefront across the street exploded, as did a couple other buildings around the Plaza.  Oh.  Oh no.  A bunch of gunmen ran out from it, grabbing people.  There was screaming and dust and smoke and you tripped on something and there’s a man grabbing your arm—

Someone takes your other arm, grabbing your hand, pulling you away from the man as a silver stick (?) came down hard on the man’s shoulder.  You leapt back, a vice grip on the person who pulled you away.  When you turned to see who it was, you almost jumped again.

Robin—the newest Robin, he’d only been spotted a few times—was holding your hand in his left hand, and a bo staff in his right.  The man who’d been after you was collapsed on the ground in front of you, and Robin, without letting go of your hand, tied the guy’s hands.  He collapsed the staff, stuck it on his belt, pulled out some kind of little cord which snapped around the guy’s wrists automatically.  Woah.

“Hold on, I’m getting you out of here.”  He put an arm around your waist, and grabbed a grapple gun from his belt.  You had no idea how he could see, but suddenly you were flying through the cloud of smoke.  Then, you burst out of the smoke and you landed on the edge of this dust cloud.

“T-thank you,” you managed to say.  Robin grinned at you.  He looked like he was almost having fun.  You guessed that made sense—superheroes liking superheroing!

“No problem.  You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m—” you gasped as you saw a silhouette in the smoke, towering over Robin’s figure. “LOOK OUT, ROBIN!”

Robin heeded your warning just in time, ducking down as a man swung a metal bat right where his head had been.  His reach was so wide it passed a few inches in front of your nose.  You leapt back as the man stepped out of the smoke, and you watched as Robin managed to strike him with the bo staff.  However, this guy was huge, must be close to seven feet tall, way bigger than the guy who grabbed you earlier.  He grimaced a bit as he got hit, but it was going to take a lot to knock the guy out.  The tight frown on Robin’s face seemed to confirm that was the case.

Since the giant man was occupied with Robin, you looked around behind you to see if there was anything you might be able to grab to defend yourself.  Or…  well, that seemed incredibly dangerous.

(But this all was pretty dangerous already, wasn’t it?  What’s a little more?)

There was a shattered piece of concrete a few feet away.  A piece of rebar from inside it had broken off.  You grabbed it, and there was the man’s back, turned towards you.  Well, shoot your shot.

You swung the stick right into the man’s groin, and, WOW, that man screamed.  The metal bat clattered to the ground.  Robin did some super fast jabs, and the guy collapsed.

“Oh my god,” you whispered.  “I can’t believe I just did that.”

“I’m very grateful you did,” Robin said, “But I should go rescue other people.”

“Yeah, no—I mean, no, or when—you—that’s probably—uh, yes,” you struggled to get out.  You cleared your throat and tried again.  “Um, yes.  You should.”

(Not that it really mattered, but GOODNESS, could your brain work for this once?  So you don’t sound like an inarticulate rebar-wielding madwoman?  Particularly in front of a very cool superhero?  PLEASE!)

Robin smiled at you throughout your efforts to agree with him, taking his grapple gun out again.

“Wait,” you said, taking his hand once more, “I just—thank you.”

He gave your hand a friendly squeeze.  “Of course.  Thank you.”  Then he let go and grappled off, waving to you as he re-entered the cloud of dust and vanished from your sight.

You felt a little star struck after all that, but you turned away from the cloud and started to walk home.  Life goes on.

✹ ✹

It had been a week since the dinner, and you hadn’t spoken to Tim.  He dropped you home after you finished eating, and you desperately wanted to ask him if he would like to go out sometime or if he wanted to get lunch with you again.  Instead, you said “Thank you” as the two of you exchanged very intense eye contact.  You didn’t see Tim at work, either, which was to be expected…  Different floors and all.

(It didn’t stop a part of you from being disappointed.)

You had tried for an hour to go to sleep and failed.  You mind was too awake.  It was a relatively nice evening out, so, at one in the morning, you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and went up to the roof of the intern housing.  The roof door was always open, and you let out an impressed breath as you took in the view.

Old Gotham was one of the prettiest areas in the whole city.  Wayne Tower, the Clocktower, the city cathedral, the GCPD headquarters… all within your sight.  You pulled the blanket a little tighter.  There was the distant wail of sirens, music from a club a few blocks away, but it still seemed quiet somehow.

(You knew why you were up here.  You knew.  Silly, stupid, and deeply sad.)

You didn’t see anybody, didn’t hear anybody distinctly.

(There was a part of you that thought, maybe, he’d happen to be swinging past your building, that Red Robin would stop as soon as he saw you.  He’d rush up to you and hug you tight.  It would be nice.)

You pulled out your phone.  Opened your messages.  Scrolled for a second to find who you were looking for.  It was worth a try, right?

You This is random but

You If you happen to be near Old Gotham tonight, I’m on my apartment’s rooftop

You I’d say I was stargazing or something but we live in a city, and I’m just staring into space and thinking

You Couldn’t sleep

You So if you want a break and some company, I’m around

You watched your screen for a second, eager to see if you could see the little “Tim-Drake Wayne is typing…” message to pop up.  It didn’t, not even after two minutes of staring as if you could will it into existence.  You put your phone away and just looked out again.  In many ways, Gotham was an objectively terrible place to live.  Like, you know, your workplace exploding and being kidnapped.  You’d always dreamt of moving away after college.  To another city.  Maybe Metropolis, New York City, Boston—somewhere.  But moments like these, alone on a Gotham rooftop with the city’s lights all around you, made you want to stay.  It was home, after all.

“Can I join in the art of staring into space?” a voice said from behind you.  You turned around and couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across your face at the sight of Tim.

“Oh, certainly!” you said.  Tim sat down next to you, removing his mask.  He looked tired, weary.

“Long night?” you asked.

“Yup.  Two burglaries, a mugging, and a bomb defusal.  All in an evening’s work,” Tim said, rubbing his eyes.  “You texted at the right time.  I needed a break.”

“Are most nights like this?”

“No.  Well, I don’t always patrol.  Sometimes I sit in the cave and work on a case, or I go out but just look for evidence.  That’s usually a little less hectic.  But when I’m out stopping crime normally, today is pretty par for the course.”

“When do you sleep?” you asked, and you raised your eyebrows as he started to chuckle.

“Sleep is…  not a thing I do with much regularity.  I try to get four hours in between patrol and waking up.  Sometimes, if I’m really exhausted, I take a nap later in the day.  It depends.”

“That’s deeply concerning,” you said in response, and Tim shrugged.

“Yeah, I know.  It’s on my to do list.  ‘Get a normal sleep schedule.’”

“‘Save Gotham (ongoing),’ ‘Get a normal sleep schedule,’ ‘Run a multi-billion dollar corporation…’ What don’t you do, Tim?” you said with a smile.  “My to do list is currently ‘My laundry’ and ‘Intern stuff.’”

“There is one thing I meant to do that I haven’t,” Tim replied.  You waited for about ten seconds, and he didn’t elaborate.  Um.  Weird.

“Uh, what would that be?” you prompted.  Tim looked… nervous?  He was looking at you, and something in his gaze made the whole situation feel a little less goofy and a little more intimate.

“‘Kiss _____,’” he finally said.  “That was the last thing.”

You smiled, and then you leaned in and kissed him.  At first, you just gave him a quick kiss, pulling back to see his slightly surprised but delighted face.  Then, he pulled you closer to him and you kissed again.  And again.  And again.  You ran your fingers through his hair, and his hands traveled down your back to your waist.  You were acutely aware of just how strong this boy was when your hands danced across his chest.  He was wearing this armored suit and still.  Like, damn.  You could feel that muscle.  The boy was as kind as he was smart as he was ripped, and he was making out with you.

(This was even better than your fantasies.  Real life is better.  Who knew?)

You weren’t sure how long the two of you sat there, letting out what could only be described as an enormous amount of romantic tension, but eventually, you stopped making out.  You just leaned your head on Tim’s shoulder as he wrapped your blanket around him as well.

If you looked closely, you could see the sixth floor of Wayne Tower across the street, where you’d stumbled upon an unconscious Red Robin about two weeks ago.  That day had ended with you both covered in dirt and blood leaning against each other.  With the stars above and blanket around you both, you had to say you preferred this current arrangement.

“Hey, Tim.”

“Hey, _____.”

“I really, really like you.”

“I really, really like you too.”

✹ ✹

bzfd.it/TimWayneGF-proof-twitter PROOF!  Tim Wayne IS Going Out With That Intern, And She Pulls No Punches

Despite repeated denials of a relationship, Tim Drake-Wayne, adopted son of Bruce Wayne and the crush of many young Gothamites, is definitely going out with Wayne Enterprises intern, _____ ______.  In an amusing tweet, ______ confirmed their relationship.

_______ @_______ me: should I say something about the #timistaken now that we’re actually going out tim: why me: because I’ve had so many things I wanted to tweet that involve you but couldn’t bc we weren’t public tim: sure I guess tim: wait what are you going to tweet 4:29 PM  •  7/26/__ 5K Retweets    20.2K Likes

But that’s old news now.  What’s fun to watch is her interactions with Drake-Wayne on Twitter.  Let’s just say she’s enjoying her newfound public presence.

_______ @_______ guys @timdrakewayne keeps a skateboard in his office at wayne enterprises and has used it to get across the street to get lunch four times this week 5:31 PM  •  7/29/__ 7.1K Retweets    30.2K Likes        __________ @_______        Replying to @_______ the cafe we eat lunch at is 180 feet away from wayne tower. he uses. the skateboard. EVERY   👏 SINGLE 👏 TIME 👏  5:31 PM  •  7/29/__ 896 Retweets    10.2K Likes

_______ @_______ me, frantically googling this morning: “should I be worried or endeared when my boyfriend texts me the title of a book he thinks I’ll like at 3:06 am” 8:02 PM  •  8/3/__ 1.1K Retweets    10.6K Likes        __________ @_______        Replying to @_______ Both?  Both.  Both is good. 8:02 AM  •  8/3/__ 302 Retweets    3.3K Likes

Tim Drake-Wayne @timdrakewayne I feel like twitter was a kinder place for me before my girlfriend started exposing me on main 11:03 AM  •  8/5/__ 5.1K Retweets    32.6K Likes        __________ @_______        Replying to @timdrakewayne  @ me next time 11:15 AM  •  8/5/__ 6.1K Retweets    15.8K Likes        __________ @_______        Replying to @timdrakewayne  also 11:15 AM  •  8/5/__ 321 Retweets    5.2K Likes        __________ @_______        Replying to @timdrakewayne  I love you 11:15 AM  •  8/5/__ 7.5K Retweets    16.8K Likes

They’ve got a great dynamic.  The couple was spotted seeing the new Star Wars movie together last weekend, which gives this last Tweet quote tweeting _____’s reply of “I love you” an extra special meaning...

Tim Drake-Wayne @timdrakewayne  I know @_______ 

__________ @_______ I love you

11:21 AM  •  8/5/__ 3.4K Retweets    11.6K Likes

You chuckled at the article Emily had sent you.  Buzzfeed was actually amusing for once.  You had no idea how they wrote that article so fast.  It was noon!  The last tweets were from a half hour ago.  Had to hand it to them for immediacy.  You slurped the last noodle of your lunch.  You were eating your at your desk today, some leftover pasta from the spaghetti dinner you’d cooked up for yourself yesterday.  No lunch with Tim today, you were both too busy.  Still, the banter on Twitter had more than made up for it.

Putting away your tupperware in your bag, you checked your phone before finishing your lunch break.  You tapped the home button to see your alerts and smiled softly.

(Oh, how much you loved this boy.)

MESSAGES                11:22 AM Tim Drake-Wayne: I don’t know if you’ve seen my tweet

MESSAGES                11:22 AM Tim Drake-Wayne: but that was a jest because in all seriousness

MESSAGES                11:23 AM Tim Drake-Wayne: I love you

(THAT’S IT!  The end.  This is so long.  I can’t thank you all enough for sticking with this fic, for all the support and lovely messages...!!  I hope you’ve enjoyed this.  If in the future you’d like to see more of my fics, feel free to follow me or maybe if you’d like to be on a general tag list for Tim fics of mine, reply or dm and I can do that too???  I’m new to reader inserts on here but people do seem to do that.  I have an idea for a fic about Tim and a reader who becomes a vigilante… one that involves time travel shenanigans… and some Jason fics too…  ANYWAY!!  I RAMBLE!!  Worse than the reader in this fic’s own thoughts.  Thank you so, SO much for reading!  All my love to you guys ♡ )

[libralita]

Fate: The Winx Saga Unedited Ramble

Alright so I finished the first season of Fate: The Winx Saga and it was pretty fucking dreadful if I’m being honest. Let’s get into it.

First, let’s talk about the production quality because it was lacking in some weird areas. The audio mixing was surprisingly bad in a few places. Most notability when characters were talking over the phone. Every time Bloom speaks to her parents over the phone the voices on the other end are so loud. And most of the time when a character is talking to someone over the phone, their voice over comes in a bit softer with a filter to make it sound poorer quality. The audio was crisp and loud. There was one funny scene where Bloom is on the phone with her parents and she’s outside and there’s a bunch of background noise and her parents are in a quiet house. When it cuts to Bloom’s parents with Bloom on the phone you can’t hear the background noise but when you cut to her you can hear the general outdoor sounds in everything. Also whenever pop songs could come they were so loud. I would always have to turn down my volume because they would be louder than the normal speaking voice. Now for the sets. They were fine? I guess. Generic castle. Generic house. Generic forest. Fine. The costumes were uh…really awful. Mostly because you have the cartoon to compare it to where you had fashion designers design the outfits and you could tell, all the girls were so fashionable. A lot of the outfits were crimes. Terra’s and Stella’s were especially god awful.

And now, I guess I’ll go through the episodes and point out the problems as I see them. Episode one, I have a lot to say because the problems of the show become evident very quickly. So, first the dialogue. The original show had lame slang, especially with Musa, but my god some of this shit was painful. The first instance is when Bloom accuses Sky of mansplaining, so first of all it’s really great to see my childhood icon being sexist. Great. I love it. Second, she isn’t even using the term correct because by definition it is a man must explain to a woman a concept that she already knows in a rude way. Bloom states before this that she doesn’t know what a Specialist is so it’s not something she already knows. The only line that got a snort out of me is when Bloom says “Gryffindor. Explains the judgement.” Now the roommate situation. They totally moved Terra and Aisha because they wanted more drama. Terra is a ball of anxiety and wants to be friends with Musa, Musa’s an empath and can’t deal. Bloom is naturally gifted and a bit of an…well the show wants us to think she’s a free spirt and a rebel but she’s an idiot. Aisha is smart but has to work for ever bit of magic she gets. (despite that one line where she saws she flooded her school because of a math test but whatever) Another thing is that they say guns don’t work on the Burned Ones but if swords do then guns do. It’s stupid.

A great theme of this show is that everyone needs to calm down. As someone who’s lived in a suite like with this with four/five other girls, you’re not going to be best friends with your roommates the first day. Calm down Terra. Back to bad lines. Speaking of calming down, Bloom’s mom takes away her door (Sidenote: Whoever wrote “Don’t you feminist with me. This basic bitch’ll break out her bullhorn and her dissertation and take your ass to school.” Needs a good slap) and so Bloom is so enraged by this that she…nearly kills her parents by burning the house down. Fucking brilliant. That is the thing that enrages her. That. Fucking moronic. Also Bloom’s parents are on the floor but there’s a clear pathway that they can just walk through that Bloom walks through. This could have been solved if you had Bloom walk through the flames because fire fairy Speaking of people needing to calm down Terra is just absolutely insufferable. Riven calls her fat and she her response is to choke him and when he calls her out on this she smiles at him saying “nice to see you again” or something. Fuck off Terra. Attempted murder not acceptable when someone insults you.

Alright, now to talk about Stella (and yes, we’re still on Episode 1) while I think Bloom and Flora were done the dirtiest, they massacred my girl. While I don’t think Stella is the most complex character, I discovered while watching this that I really like her in the original. I especially love the episode she gets her Enchantix and the episode she saves her father from Valtore’s spell. Both episodes are so beautiful and her character shines. She’s a bitch in this show. It explains why and I actually do feel bad for this Stella but my god, my Stella would never. Which might as well be the title of this show, Fate: The Winx Would Never Saga.

Few final problems for the first episode: First they call Bloom a changeling and that’s not what changeling’s are and it’s very distracting. Find a different word. Second, Bloom’s house does not look Californian and probably isn’t. Also if Bloom didn’t want to lose Stella’s ring, then she should have worn it on her fucking finger. Now onto episode 2.

So, another problem with this show is Beatrix, while she’s one of the most interesting characters on the show, the fact she barely interacts with the girls is stupid. They should have just put her and Bloom in the same room together. Then Beatrix could interact with all the girls. Problem solved. But no. However, I actually kind of dig Beatrix’s relationship with Riven, I remember liking it in the original as well when it was with Darcy. Maybe I just like evil couples. Oh and magic has changed. So now there’s five elements Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Mind. And you use emotions. And seeing Stella tell Bloom to think of negative emotions hurts my soul because I remember the episode where the girls go to Cloud Tower in season 2 and STELLA WOULD NEVER. Onto episode 3 and 4.

Okay so it’s revealed that Bloom was born in 2004 so that means these girls are 16, 17 in Stella’s case. To which I say bullshit. Now, onto Queen Luna. I don’t think she had any lines in the original series, however I will say QUEEN LUNA WOULD NEVER. I hate that Stella has a shit relationship with her mom. I hate that Queen Luna is queen of Solaria. I hate that she’s the Queen of Light despite her name being Luna because she should the Queen of the Moon because that’s how it worked in the original but no. It’s dumb and I hate it. Though, I will say that her treatment of Stella did make my heart hurt. New appreciation for this imposter Stella. One other thing is that Beatrix’s story is the most interesting. Aster Del was cool.

Episode 5 is when I realized that there were only 6 episodes of this series instead of 8 so…this is the penultimate episode and where shit gets real bad. I don’t like seeing Musa having sex, I think I was on my phone when Stella was having sex but seeing Musa with her bra just made my childhood weep a little. Also, how the fuck did Musa not know Stella was there? Also, I kind of like the scene were Stella opens up to Musa but I would have liked to see Musa say “I’m an empath, dummy, I know these girls aren’t judging you.” Speaking of stupid, Bloom. While Farah not telling you the truth about stuff was dumb, you breaking Beatrix out is massively moronic. And then the show decides to make my childhood weep again by having Bloom drug Sky. Thanks sho w, seeing this happen to my childhood OTPs is fucking great. And you know what? I try to hate this show but then it has a soldier facetiming Marco saying that the Batallion is dead and that she has a broken leg. Then she starts running away from the Burned Ones while hobbling with her “broken” leg and the camera stays on her. It’s…it’s a special show.

The show briefly mentions magical convergence and don’t fucking dare. And then…the characters brains magically go bye-bye. First Bloom is a ding dong for leaving the drugged Sky face down. Then Terra, Musa, and Stella are absolute ding dongs for giving Bloom back the key to break Beatrix out. At first I thought they were fine with allowing Beatrix to murder Dane and then Stella just fucking pushes her into the trap and it made it worse. You don’t fucking know that won’t kill her, you ding dongs.

Onto the finale. Aisha gets shit for being the only one who isn’t a ding dong. “Hope the brownie points will keep you company when you have no friends.” My soul. Bloom becomes really fucking confusing because she doesn’t trust Farah or the other staff but then she just randomly trusts Rosalind. And then she points this out that it’s weird that Rosalind wants her to trust her. And then Bloom goes to save her friends. Funny moment: Stella loses signal, she clearly needs to switch over to the plan that one soldier had where she could face time in the middle of a fucking forest with perfect quality. Then back to Bloom where she confronts Farah and says “What if Rosalind isn’t crazy? What if she had a reason to lie?” And she’s just…an idiot because she doesn’t see how that logic can be thrown right back at her with Farah.

Terra continues to be an ass to Musa. Like she just demands that Musa take away his pain and I understand the Musa needs to open up and get past her baggage. However, Terra does it in such a bitchy way that I would have probably slapped her. Also the show pretends that Terra was helping Sam when she did nothing but hold his hand while he writhed in pain. Also, also you clearly have sedatives in this world, fucking use them.

So Saul “killed” Andreas which is stupid on two fronts. Number one, Saul says to at least Sky that he died in a battle but no one ever questions which one. You’d think they’d find his body on the battle field. Number two where the fuck did Andreas’ body go? Did Saul not care? Fucking stupid. Also Andreas raised Beatrix. Interesting. A little…Mortal Instruments but I’ll allow it. Cool reveal.

Then…the things. Uh, while I’m glad that this show about fairies actually has fucking wings for one scene and they’re pretty cool looking with the fire and almost scale like. However…there’s no magical costume which is bullshit.

Finally, Farah’s neck is snapped and that just kind of the final blow to my childhood. So…overall. This was pretty shit as both an adaptation and just as a story. There were a lot of plotholes and stupid things.

[fencesandfrogs]

an abridged history/explanation of warrior cats if you didn’t read them as a kid and have questions (a primer)

welcome. i’m going to keep things to the point, this is not a plot summary, just, well, its a pandemic and people are seeking items of childhood comfort and its come to my attention that a lot of people didn’t read these books as kids and then they come up in conversation and they act shocked so! i felt compelled to write this.

[2.5k words, 10min read. section headers, no pictures. not a ton of helpful formatting. i don’t want to say don’t read this because obviously i wrote it and think it’s worth reading, but i’ll be honest, this is a lot.]

section one: about me

i was an avid reader as a child, most of which fits solidly into “stories for another time,” and some of which would necessitate me adding tags onto this post that are, well, not necessary. so i will skip over that backstory but for those aware of lexile scores, i had one that was too high for literally any book that was appropriate to give me. so reading in school was torture and reading for fun was excellent.

now because i was a first-ish grader and my mom was trying to keep the fifth harry potter out of my hands, she looked desperately for something else to pass to me. her friend, who had a daughter a year or two older than me, was into these cat books, and my mom was like “here honey you like cats” without thinking too much about it.

which is good, because as i’ll get into, it was a really good fit for me. but like a dozen books later she asked me about the plot and well. i think at that moment she realized that it might have been better to just let me read harry potter.

but yeah i continued to read them long past the recommended reading ages and still as a Young Adult will return to them for nostalgia, and also as i will get into, some really good books. (see a list of books for “morbidly curious but i don’t want to spend 56 to 168 hours reading this”)

i’m not fully caught up on the series but this is not a plot summary so that should not impact my ability to discuss this

section two: content warnings

these books (not this post) includes the following:

discussion of castration (1.1 series 1, book 1, i’m not including this on every item/discussion because this is a complicated series but i want to demo how up front some of this is)

teenage romance/sex/pregnancy (1.1ish-1.3 or 4, continues throughout the series quite a lot, comes up again in 3.4/5, 4.4-5, and a bit in 5)

death from childbirth (1.can’t remember which book, many others)

unwanted pregnancy (se super edition, or a longer one off novel, discussed in 4&5)

sex/implied, discussed, and very very very heavily hinted but never directly said/shown (1.1-3ish, se, other)

murder (constantly, 1.1, 1.4, literally every book, 3.5, i’m just listing the ones i remember off the top of my head that were particularly graphic)

disability/illness, esp. the debilitating and/or deadly nature of it (1.3-5ish, 3.1, but all of 3, 3.4ish)

dementia (1.3-5, i’ve heard in some of the later series?)

abuse (7/8 this is reported i haven’t read these books but based on what i know it’s def there)

child abandonment (1.4-5, 3.4/5, it’s also all over the place but i think those are the only major character incidents of it)

treason (1.3-5, all over the place)

the horror/tragedy of war (background, but pretty constant)

disagreeing with an integral religion/tradition (3, based on the series title, 8, and generally scattered)

the corrupting influence of power (1.4/5, possibly 7/8, others)

racism (1, 3-5, possibly others)

sexism (se, background)

patriarchal societies (se, seems to be somewhat softened based on what i’ve heard but i’m not entirely sure about this)

and more! but it starts to get stranger and this is enough to prove my point

basically everything that could go wrong does

oh yeah! child abuse also child abuse that’s a very major theme in the first series as well as during other points. and elder abuse in the first series.

okay i’ve made my point.

section three: the appeal

look. so. i think we’re kind of pastel-ify children’s literature based on movies. see, parents have to watch children’s movies with their kids, so they can’t be gritty and intense because a lot of parents will say “not for my nine year old! they can’t deal with treason!” and that seems to be bleeding into children’s literature.

but warriors is not that. it’s intense, it borders on “too gruesome for children,” and it’s from a time where kids books got to be serious and heavy and dark because they were about animals. which was great because i couldn’t find books at my reading level that weren’t too thematically difficult, so i got to read something below my reading level, but thematically too hard, so it kind of balanced out.

and then well. so. the series grows with the audience, but the books don’t grow in terms of like difficulty so new readers start deep into it and it’s a complicated thing, the fandom history is complex, but.

the appeal is that parents don’t usually read the books their kids read and so they see a book about cats and assume it’s fluff, and kids who are starved of complex content get to read hamlet-for-kids.

section four: worldbuilding/lore

oh yeah also there’s some really deep lore to explore. so there’s two bits of appeal.

i’m not doing a full world/plot summary, but i’ll explain some common elements here.

thunder/shadow/wind/riverclan: harry potter houses for cats (gryffindor, slytherin, hufflepuff, ravenclaw, except this doesn’t work for the last two but that’s fine because no one cares about them despite riverclan being pretty important in most of the books)

-kit/-paw/-star: naming conventions. everyone has a two part name. (we’ll use cinder as an example because i like the two cinders we know, even tho neither of them get to be cinderstar.) babies are -kit (cinderkit), then when they’re apprentices, which is like being a student, you know, elementary through high school, you’re paw, so cinderpaw. then you get an Official Name from ur clan leader (cinderheart). if you become clan leader, you get to be -star (cinderstar). i know i haven’t explained clan leaders bear with me. this is kind of important because i have the names burned into my memory so i cannot simply always call firestar firestar if he was firepaw at the time of the events i’m describing. it won’t be ambiguous, cinderheart/cinderpelt are a special case. if this is tricky for you it’s fine just only read the first part of the name.

clan (leader, deputy, medicine cat, elder): roles with in the clan. leaders literally have nine lives. deputies are next in line and chosen by the leader. leaders usually go through several deputies, because deputies don’t have nine lives. medicine cats are doctors. they also have an apprentice. those are all one per clan. elders are just retired cats. they’re not a special category per say, but i wanted to mention them.

warrior: adult.

warrior code: laws.

star clan: dead cats. this ties into the religion which is pretty important to the books but for the most part if you understand that dead cats get to give guidance and send their approval, you have the gist of it.

section five: so um, what the fuck

so we start with a cat named rusty who runs into the woods to join thunderclan and then his name is firepaw and we all forget that he’s named rusty except for like that one time it comes up again. bluestar is a great leader with some corrupt deputies but fireheart eventually takes care of it and becomes clan leader which is a big deal.

then a bunch of other shit happens and suddenly ashfur is possessing brackenstar and being (more) abusive to squirrelflight (who is on the outs with brackenstar anyway for lying about their kits jayfeather, hollyleaf, and lionheart because they’re actually the children of firestar’s other daughter leafpool who had them with crowfeather after she fell in love with him but he’s from windclan and she’s a medicine cat so that’s double illegal and apparently hollyleaf is alive even though she yeeted herself into a pit and died because she killed ashfur when he threatened to reveal this but couldn’t live with being the product of an illegal meeting and then it was all pointless because leafpool stopped being a medicine cat out of guilt anyway and jayfeather is just an ornery bitch about everything but especially all of this)

i’m not explaining any of that.

section six: i repeat: so um, what the fuck

so the thing about these books is they’re soap operas and dramas about cats and that means they get just as strange and chaotic as anything else in the genre. i think a lot of people like me, who read them as children, regard the series we knew as a child (usually either the first three or the first five, plus super editions) as something good and warm and comforting (despite being dark and gruesome) because they made us feel good.

they were also a breeding ground for young fandom because of all the the drama that exists and the nature of the books providing that.

section seven: super editions

the simple answer to what a super edition is has already been given (it’s a novel length one-off about a single character, and its usually either a side character - bluestar, crowfeather - or a event/perspective we don’t get to see - firestar, skyclan, greystripe - and they’re generally more mature)

my favorite super edition is bluestar’s prophecy. i read it at like 16, slinking into the children’s library with a stack of other ya fiction and a “children’s book” which dealt with unwanted pregnancy, grief, forbidden love, and more. still not sure why that’s in the children’s section.

section eight: about the drama

so there’s been a lot of fandom drama about these books. i can’t tell you about the nuances, because i am an old fan, so i watched but didn’t partake. the highlights reel that i can recall goes as follows (please note i will refer to characters by name without explanation. it’s fine. the point of this section is to convey the pettiness of this drama):

tigerstar: did he do anything wrong? (the answer is holy shit yes, this isn’t discourse, it’s okay to like a villain)

scourge: did he do anything wrong, also what color is his collar? (also yes, doesn’t matter)

was the new prophecy (2)/omen of the stars (3)/etc good? (yes, eh, no, yes, no comment, no comment)

should jaypaw or hollypaw be medicine cat apprentice (neither of them, but jaypaw’s employment opportunities are limited because he’s blind, so its gotta b him)

uhh a massive tangle around this parentage drama between squirrelflight, leafpool, brackenfur, and crowfeather, which i used as the crux of humor for how batshit the plots can get, so i’m not even going to pretend i can make it funny, but just know that it’s batshit and the correct opinion is as follows: no one is right, but squirrelflight has done the least wrong, brackenfur is an asshole to her where it’s unwarrented, and hollyleaf is an idiot

and the current drama centers around brackenstar and ashfur and is tied directly to the point above, which is why i’ve kind of given up trying to make jokes about this because this is the culmination of like 35 novels.

section nine: i feel like i need to have some conclusive point to justify writing all of this

but i don’t have one, because this was really an excuse to ramble about an old passion for like half an hour. i mean i guess i can say, like, i think younger fans are sort of embroiled in this drama they don’t really have context for, because i’m not kidding, the current drama centers around the grandchildren of our original cast.

it’s kind of hard to know why, say, mistystar matters if you don’t know that she’s the child of bluefur and oakheart and if you don’t remember the drama that surrounded that when bluestar was dying and tigerstar and leopardstar were ruling a combined shadow/riverclan.

(i really hope that’s intelligible i tried to lay the groundwork for it. basically, there’s a biracial kid in a very segregated society who becomes the leader of one of the clans. which is obviously drama, especially considering that that clan was part of a weird supremacy movement a while back.)

& you know? i really hope one of the new series gets to be like, a soft reboot. just. end the current drama and pick up again with the latest generation. a) we’re starting to run out of names, and b) i think that it’s kind of tipped over the edge of sane.

the series also used to be very low fantasy. the cat societies are reasonably close to feral cat colonies (the biggest detail is that toms don’t all have their own territory, but there’s honestly in-universe discussion of this and it’s basically a culture thing), and while star clan/religion is a real and legitimate thing, there’s also a discussion of its abuse and most of the early books don’t really use star clan/related ideas as a physical force so much as a plot device, barring, like, when a new leader gets their nine lives.

honestly, i’ll always adore these books for serving the role they did, and a lot of the series is fantastically well written. but the fandom surrounding it can be, uh, not great because 9-14 year olds don’t really have good brains to understand this.

also, i’m very sad that i can’t find the flash game that was for the great prophecy. it was not very fun, but i enjoyed playing it, so if anyone knows the url so i can search the internet archive for it, please let me know.

section ten: i’m morbidly curious but there are 56 hours of books to read, assuming a very fast reading pace, so is there something i can start with to experience this without dedicating 4 days to it?

yes, there is.

it’s called bluestar’s prophecy. it’s standalone, and i should have given you enough of a background on the lore that you don’t need to know anything else. i’ve already given away the twist in series 1 that it would spoil, so you’re all good on that front.

if you want more, or want the original experience, the first series is self contained and quite good. i’ve given the broad outlines of the plot, but trust me, there’s a lot of surprises and all sorts of things i skipped over because while i like it, it’s not exactly fandom primer material

i also enjoy firestar’s quest and skyclan’s destiny for super editions, but you’ll need to read the first series to understand FQ and FQ to understand SD, so it’s not exactly a starting point. also, SD especially deals with a very different set of themes as the other books.

also, if you were to, say, search “readwarriorcats” (no spaces) on duckduckgo, and then click on one of the first links, you know, not the official site, the one hosted on one of those free website things, you know, not wix, not wordpress, the other one, you would only find lists of the books with hyperlinks.

;3

[cyborgsquirrel]

Sanctuary: Chapter 17

Pairing: Wolfstar

Summary: The epic tale of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, from their first meeting until their happily ever after.

Link to Prologue

Link to All Chapters

Saturday, 25th September 1971, 7:55 am

Remus yawned as he followed Sirius, James and Peter up the stairs to the third floor. Sirius had woken him at the ungodly hour of six forty-five to get an early breakfast before the niffler hunt, and his body was protesting, although his morning chocolate-flavour nutrition potion had helped a little.

They approached classroom 12c and James took the lead, pushing the door open and walking inside. The room was vast with a stage at one end, empty of any furniture, and small groups of students of all ages were dotted around, chatting amongst themselves and waiting for the show to start. They weren't left waiting for long.

At exactly eight o'clock, the stage erupted with sound and light as multiple fireworks exploded in a shower of coloured sparks and words blazed to life on the wall in the same fiery letters Remus had used for his own message.

Welcome to Hogwarts' Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt

Everyone in the room turned their attention to the stage in rapt silence. The message faded away after a few seconds, and a shiny suit of armour clanked onto the stage and gave the audience a cheery wave.

'Good Morning, Nifflers!' it said. The booming voice seemed to come from inside the empty helmet. 'Many of you have taken part in the hunt in previous years, but for the benefit of our newcomers, I will go over the rules. You will work in teams of no more than four people. Each team will receive a list of items they must collect. All the lists are identical. The items are split into three categories. There are twenty items worth 1 point, which require no rule-breaking to retrieve. Six items are worth 5 points and will require some minor rule-breaking. Four items can only be gathered via severe rule-breaking and are, therefore, worth 10 points each. The deadline is four o'clock this afternoon. Bring whatever you have collected to this room, and your points will be calculated. Be warned, all items will be checked for transfiguration, and any team caught cheating will be instantly disqualified. There is, of course, a prize for the winning team.'

The suit of armour clapped its metal hands together with a metallic clunk and a wooden box appeared in the middle of the room.

'Take one sheet per team. Good luck to you all. Remember, don't get caught, but if you do, don't tell! Let the hunt begin!'

'Wait here,' James said before dodging through the throng of students to reach the box and grab a roll of parchment from the stack inside.

'He'd be a good chaser, don't you think?' Sirius said as they watched him.

Remus and Peter both nodded in agreement.

A four-man team of Hufflepuffs had grabbed their list and were heading out the door, and one of them called over his shoulder as they left. 'You might as well give up now. We always win this game. Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders.'

'You might be in for a surprise this year, Diggory!' James shouted back.

'How do you know his name?' Remus asked.

James shrugged. 'He's on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. I know all the players.'

Remus shook his head. 'And you call me a nerd.'

James laughed. 'Come on, we need to meet today's birthday person in twenty minutes, and then we can get started.'

They climbed the stairs back up to the seventh floor and hung around talking to Silas while they waited for third-year Gryffindor Frank Longbottom to show up.

After Frank had blown out his candle, they returned to their dorm to look over the list and make some plans.

James unrolled the parchment and placed it on the floor so they could all see.

Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt

One-point items - easy

A quill with a red feather - A muggle pen - A purple sock

A stuffed cat - A white flower - An orange hair-tie

A smooth white stone - A green shoe - A leaf from an oak tree

A photograph of Dumbledore - A paintbrush - A muggle coin

An essay with a 'T' grade - A pinecone - A pair of sunglasses

A battery - Lipstick - A camera - A pink hat - A blue button

Five-point items - detention potential

A trophy from the trophy room

A book from the restricted section

A saucepan from the kitchen

A telescope from the astronomy classroom

A teapot from the divination classroom

A broomstick from the broom shed

Ten-point items - highly dangerous

A tartan scarf from Professor McGonagall's collection of Scottish clothing

A medal from Professor Flitwick's collection of duelling prizes

A tool from Professor Sprout's collection of decorative gardening tools

A potion from Professor Slughorn's collection of rare potions.

All items will be returned to their rightful owners when the hunt has ended

'I have a purple sock and a pair of sunglasses,' James said, jumping up and dashing to his trunk to fetch them.

Sirius also went to his trunk. 'I have a paintbrush. And possibly a blue button. Yes, here.' He yanked a button off of a pair of trousers.

'Sirius!' Remus said, shocked at the wanton destruction of a perfectly good item of clothing.

'What?' Sirius raised his hands in surrender, one of them still clutching the button. 'I'll ask a prefect to spell it back on after the hunt.'

'Right. Sorry.' Remus was embarrassed by his overreaction and tried to change the subject. 'I have a muggle pen, by the way. My mum put it in my trunk because they're easier to write with.'

'Ooh, get it out. I've never seen a muggle pen.' Sirius darted towards him with the air of an excited puppy, and Remus jerked away instinctively. Sirius shot him an apologetic look but otherwise didn't acknowledge his reaction. Remus was grateful.

He rummaged around in his trunk until his hand wrapped around the thin plastic tube of his black biro. He pulled it out and handed it to Sirius, who examined it with fascination.

'Someone get me some ink. I want to try it out,' Sirius said.

Remus chuckled. 'You don't need ink. The ink is already inside it.'

'Inside it?' Sirius asked. He grabbed the list and made a tick next to "muggle pen." 'That's ingenious! It must save so much time not having to dip it every few sentences. Why the hell are we still using quills and ink when the muggles have these?'

Remus shrugged. 'I have no idea.'

Sirius took great pleasure in using the muggle pen to tick off the other items on the list that they owned before James called them all to attention.

'I think we should concentrate on the ten-point items this morning. We have a huge advantage over the other teams,' he said, brandishing the invisibility cloak. 'If our plans fail and we don't get them, we can make up for it by getting all the five-point items after lunch.'

'I think that's a good plan, James.' Remus hesitated, reluctant to argue with his new friends, but he ploughed on. 'But I can't come under the cloak with you. Maybe we should split up. I can collect some single point things while you work on the ten-pointers?'

'Nonsense. We're the magical mischief makers! We work together. You're going to be an important part of the plans. The distraction! We need you to keep the teachers occupied while we sneak in and steal their prized possessions. There's no point in us being invisible if they see doors opening and their things vanishing.'

They spent an hour in the dorm making elaborate plans for each of the four items worth ten points, plus additional back-up plans and emergency exit plans before they headed out to try their luck on Professor Sprout. She seemed like the easiest of the four.

As they traversed the school, they saw small groups of students dashing around, running up to people and asking questions before rushing off again. It seemed like most of the teams were focusing on the single point items. Good.

They reached Professor Sprout's personal quarters, and James wished him luck before disappearing under the cloak. They had all agreed it would be easier to sneak around if only one person was under the cloak, and it belonged to James. Peter and Sirius had been delegated look-outs and had taken positions at either end of the corridor.

Remus knocked on the door and waited.

Less than a minute passed before the door opened, revealing Professor Sprout. She was wearing muggle dungarees and a straw hat with her hair loose around her shoulders.

'Hello, Mister Lupin, I was just on my way out. Can I help you with something?'

'Oh. I'm sorry to disturb you, Professor. I didn't realise it was your day off. I was hoping you could talk me through some things about planting flitterbloom? I'm afraid I don't quite understand why it's necessary to line the seed tray with crystallised sugar before planting, or why we should water it with fizzy water? I want to do the best I can on the essay.'

'Oh, of course, dear. I can spare a few minutes. Do you have your essay with you?'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Good. Why don't you come in, and I'll have a look over it and see where you're going wrong?'

This might have been a worrying development. Remus didn't actually have any issues understanding the needs of flitterbloom seeds, and his essay was perfect. But James' planning had prepared them for this. The essay Remus held in his hand had been written right before they left the dorm, copied from his actual essay with a few key points changed.

Remus followed Professor Sprout into her personal quarters.

'Leave the door open, dear. It's the rules.' Remus smiled to himself. That made things easier.

Professor Sprout led him over to a seating area and told him to sit down. Remus glanced around and spotted a set of shelves along the entirety of one wall, displaying a vast collection of decorative tools. Professor Sprout had sat with her back to them, perfect.

Remus sat down and waited while she read through his essay, resolutely not looking at the tools and hoping James was nearly done.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something red disappear, but he kept his eyes on Professor Sprout, not wanting to draw attention to the tools. A moment later, he felt the air move against his arm as if someone was passing close to him. He was leaving, brilliant.

Professor Sprout lectured him for ten minutes before he managed to escape out to the corridor, and he hurried to meet his friends at the designated spot, two corridors away.

'Did you get it?' he asked as he entered the classroom.

'Did you doubt me?' James said, brandishing a garden trowel which had a handle encrusted with red stones.

'I would never doubt you,' Remus said with a grin. 'What's next?'

Sirius rubbed his chin. 'Flitwick is closest.'

James tucked the garden trowel back into his bag, and they made their way to Flitwick's quarters. Repeating the same method as before, Remus knocked on the door, but this time no one answered, and when he tried the handle, the door was locked.

James pulled the cloak off and signalled for Sirius and Peter to return from their look-out positions. 'Does anyone know an unlocking spell?' he asked.

'I only know the one we'll learn later this year, but I doubt a first-year spell is going to be enough to unlock a teacher's room.' Remus said. He took his wand out, anyway, and performed the unlocking charm on the door. Nothing happened. Either he didn't do it right or the lock was too complex for the charm.

'So… Plan 14.b then?' Sirius said.

'Is that the one where we steal a broom and use it to fly up to his window?' Remus asked.

Sirius grinned. 'That's the one.'

'Okay, well, let's find the nearest unlocked room and see if we can count the windows from it,' Remus said.

They were in luck. The room right next to Flitwick's was open and when Remus leant out, he was easily able to count the windows from the nearest corner.

'Flitwick's is thirteen windows right from the west tower,' he said, pulling his head back inside. 'Let's go.'

It took a good ten minutes to reach the Entrance Hall from the seventh floor. They were all hot and sweaty by the time they exited the castle and were glad of the cool breeze as they crossed the grass towards the broom shed. The place was surprisingly deserted. Remus had expected to find at least one other team attempting to gain an easy five points, but as they got closer, he noticed the door to the shed was ajar. Someone had already been there.

'That makes things nice and easy,' James said, skipping up to the door and peeking inside. 'No-one here. Check around.'

Remus, Sirius and Peter scanned their surroundings, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

'All clear,' Sirius reported.

James dashed inside and was back in seconds clutching a broom. 'Step one complete,' he said with a grin. 'Come on!'

They followed him at a fast jog towards the west tower, and once hidden in the shadow of the castle, they stopped to catch their breath.

'Right, I'll cover myself with the cloak. It'll probably flap a bit in the wind, but I'll be less likely to be seen.'

James mounted the broom, and Sirius draped the cloak around him, tucking the end into his socks to try to keep it in place. When he was done they could still see his shoes, but once he was in the air, they would be less visible. Hopefully.

James took off, and they watched his shoes soar into the sky, getting smaller and smaller before stopping briefly and then floating back down again.

James pulled the cloak from his head. 'It's locked.'

Remus frowned. 'I doubt he's put too much security into his window. Alohomora should be enough. I think I can cast it, but I can't fly a broom.'

Sirius suddenly jerked and started rummaging in his bag. 'Hold on, I've got a lock on my journal. We can all try.'

He pulled the book out and handed it to Remus. 'Show us what to do.'

Remus pointed his wand at the lock on the side of the journal and then twirled it anti-clockwise before bringing the tip back to point at the lock while saying, 'Alohomora.'

The lock sprang open and Remus glanced up through his fringe, nervous to see their reaction. Would they think him a show-off?

Sirius grinned at him. 'Well done, mate.'

Remus flushed at the praise and looked at his feet.

James, Sirius and Peter all attempted the spell on the journal several times, but none of them could get it to work.

'Urgh, I give up,' James groaned, flinging the book at Sirius after his tenth failed attempt. 'Are you sure you can't fly up there? It's just straight up and down, nothing fancy.'

Remus shivered as he remembered how it felt when he fell from the broom before, and that had been a much smaller distance.

'He can't, James. You saw what happened during flying lessons. If he fell from up there, he wouldn't survive,' Sirius said.

He would survive. But that wasn't the point. He didn't want to fall. Even if he did heal ridiculously fast, it still hurt.

'Well, we're just going to have to give up on this one then. Hopefully, we can still get enough points to win,' James grumbled.

Oh, Gods. Remus really didn't want to let his friends down. If they didn't win the hunt, it would be all his fault, just because he was too scared to fly. What if he could just sit and hang on, with someone else controlling the broom, though? Maybe he could do it then.

'Alright, let's do Slughorn next,' Sirius said.

But if he rode the broom with someone else, he might touch them. Infect them. He wouldn't infect them if he didn't touch their skin, though. If he was careful. His dad did it every month, and he wouldn't if there were any risk.

His friends were turning to leave.

'I'll do it if Sirius does the flying,' Remus blurted before he could talk himself out of it.

'What?' Sirius asked, staring at him as if he'd suddenly grown an extra head. 'You mean fly on the broom with me?'

'Yes.'

Sirius scanned his face. 'But, you'd have to touch me.'

'I know. If we both wear gloves, I think it'll be okay. Just don't... don't touch my skin.'

Frowning, Sirius stepped closer and leaned in to speak quietly. 'Are you sure? You really don't have to do this, Remus.'

He took a deep breath and nodded. 'I'm sure.'

'Okay.' Sirius stared at him a moment longer, his eyes darting from side to side as if searching for something. He appeared to find what he needed because he turned to James and said, 'I left my gloves in the dorm. Do you have yours?'

James shook his head. 'No, but I can run and get them.'

'I have mine,' Peter said, pulling them out of his bag. 'Thought we might need them for something.'

Sirius took the gloves. 'Nice one, Pete.'

Remus pulled his own Herbology gloves from his bag and slipped them onto his hands, noticing that they were shaking ever so slightly. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. It was going to be fine.

Sirius mounted the broom. 'Get on behind me.'

Remus did so, leaving a gap of two or three inches between them.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder. 'You'll have to put your hands on my waist to hold on and move a little closer or the broom won't be balanced. Are you sure you're okay with this?'

Remus nodded and scooted closer, closing the gap between them. He was breaking the biggest rule his mum had set, for something as trivial as a game. But he was taking precautions. So, it wasn't really breaking the rule, was it? He had promised he would be careful, and he was being careful.

Remus placed his shaking hands on Sirius' waist. He could feel the heat from his body even through the thick material of the dragon-hide gloves. His breath was coming in harsh pants, and he tried hard to regulate it. His heart was racing.

'It's okay, Remus. You're safe with me,' Sirius whispered.

Remus gripped him tighter to show he'd heard him.

'I'm going to drape the cloak over you, okay?' James said.

Remus nodded and James moved closer, draping the cloak over both their heads. It only reached as far as their ankles and didn't hide Sirius at all. Remus let go of him and took the edges of the cloak in his hands, before wrapping his arms around Sirius' waist, forcing the cloak to cover him. It was awkward holding on to Sirius like that while keeping his face away from his back, but it was doable.

'Ready?' Sirius asked.

'Yes,' Remus tried to say, but his voice came out sounding more like a squeak. He coughed and tried again. 'Yes.'

He felt a jolt as Sirius pushed off and his feet left the ground. There was no turning back now. They rose smoothly to the seventh floor. Remus kept his eyes on Sirius' back, not looking at his surroundings at all, and with Sirius' gentle control of the broom, it didn't feel like he was even in the air.

'We're here,' Sirius said.

Remus turned his head and moved back a little, letting go of the cloak and moving his hands to Sirius' waist. He would need to let go with one hand to get his wand. Why hadn't he considered that?

'I'm scared.'

Sirius turned his head to look over his shoulder and met Remus' eyes. 'It's okay, I won't let you fall.'

'Promise?'

'On my life.'

'Okay.'

Remus let go with his left hand, carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at the window, cast the spell, and the window clicked open.

'You did it!' Sirius said. 'Hold on tight. This is going to be tricky.'

Remus grabbed onto Sirius' waist again and felt the broom tilt forward as Sirius pushed down on the end to descend. He leant backwards to keep his uncovered face away from Sirius' back and kept his eyes on the back of Sirius' head as the broom headed towards the ground. As soon as his feet made contact, he slid off. His legs gave way beneath him and he collapsed in a heap.

'You okay, mate?' Sirius asked, dropping the broom on the floor and crouching down to check on him.

'Yeah, I just need a minute.'

'Alright, James and I are going to go back up. You did great.'

Remus nodded from where he sat with his back against the castle and his knees tucked into his chest. He wrapped his arms around his knees and bent his head down, hiding his face, and concentrated on breathing.

'I can't believe you did that,' Peter said, sitting down next to him. 'That was really brave.'

'Thanks, mate,' Remus mumbled.

Sirius and James returned victorious five minutes later, and they hurried up to their dorm room to store their prizes, keeping the broom hidden under the cloak.

They went for Slughorn next, and he turned out to be easy. Remus kept him talking at the door while Sirius snuck in under the cloak and grabbed a potion from the display.

McGonagall was going to be trickier. Not only would they need to get access to her personal quarters, but they would need to make it all the way into her bedroom. And they had only an hour left before lunch.

'The "I need help with my work" excuse isn't going to work on her. Remus is amazing at transfiguration, and she knows it,' Sirius had pointed out during their planning session

And thus Plan 18.a was born. The conversation had gone like this:

'Even if we manage to get in the door, we need her out of the room so we can get into the bedroom,' James said. 'What we need is a double decoy. We need someone in the office, and then we need a disturbance outside to draw her out.'

'Pete can be inside. She'll believe he needs help,' Sirius said. 'Sorry, Pete.'

Peter waved his apology away. 'No, it's true. I'm pants at Transfiguration.'

'But you rule at Potions. Can't be good at everything, can we?' Sirius said, patting him on the shoulder.

'Okay, but how do we get her out?' James asked.

Sirius shrugged. 'What if we stage an argument in the corridor and start flinging spells at each other?'

'We don't know any offensive spells yet.'

'Good point. Fine, we can just have a muggle fight then.'

'We'll have to make it realistic. We'll both get hurt,' James pointed out.

Sirius grinned. 'I'm game if you are.'

James grinned right back at him. 'Oh, it's on.'

'Awesome. That leaves Remus with the cloak to sneak in and grab the scarf,' Sirius said, turning to Remus.

He nodded. 'I can do that.'

And so, ten minutes after leaving Slughorn's office with a tiny vial of golden potion—which Sirius had eyed so longingly Remus was forced to take it from him, lest he drink it—they were in position. Peter was outside the door to Professor McGonagall's office, his actual essay on the theory of changing an object's shape in his hand. Remus was right next to him, shrouded by the folds of the invisibility cloak. James and Sirius were waiting around the nearest corner to begin their fake argument.

Peter knocked. A minute later, the door swung open, and Professor McGonagall stood there, looking down at him.

'Yes, Mister Pettigrew. Can I help you?'

Peter explained why he was there and McGonagall invited him inside, Remus slipped through the door after them and positioned himself next to the only other door in the room. A couple of minutes passed and McGonagall was deep into her lecture on transfiguration theory, with Peter looking bored out of his mind, when the sound of raised voices came from outside.

'Fuck you, Black!'

'Oh, that's an intelligent response. Great job, Potter. Big round of applause.'

'I'm gonna fucking kill you!'

'Not if I kill you first!'

That declaration was followed by a series of thumps.

'What on earth is going on out there?' Professor McGonagall asked, getting to her feet in a hurry. 'Sorry, Mister Pettigrew, please excuse me for a moment.'

As she got to her feet, Remus reached out and put his hand on the door handle, readying himself. The moment McGonagall disappeared from view, he turned it and slipped inside. A quick glance around revealed a good size sitting room with a single door leading off of it. He hurried over and entered the bedroom. Trying very hard not to think about what his professor did in this room, he dashed to the wardrobe. No scarves. Okay, drawers then, he thought, yanking open the top drawer of the five-tier chest. Nope, definitely not that one, he thought, feeling his face heat as he slammed it closed again. The second drawer down yielded results, though, and he pulled out a red and green tartan scarf with hints of yellow. Tucking it into his pocket, he shut the drawer and left the room. He listened at the door to the office and could hear McGonagall's loud voice still scolding James and Sirius for fighting like muggles in the hallway, so he slipped back into the room and Peter's worried face relaxed into a grin when he saw the door open and close.

Remus walked out into the corridor and found James and Sirius cowering before a red-faced McGonagall. He dashed to the end of the hallway, behind McGonagall, and pulled the cloak off, giving James and Sirius a wave, before darting around the corner.

They joined him a couple of minutes later. James was sporting a bloodied lip and Sirius looked to have a nice black eye developing.

'Gods, you two look terrible.'

Sirius waved off his concern. 'Did you get it?'

Remus pulled the scarf from his pocket and held it up with a grin.

'Then it was totally worth it. Nice job, mate.'

Peter arrived a few minutes later and was equally pleased to find their plan had worked.

'We've got fifty points, and it's only lunchtime. We are so going to win this,' he said.

'That's because we're awesome!' James crowed. 'Right, time for food. Remus, do you think the house-elves would mind if we joined you in the kitchen today?'

Remus thought about it. 'No, probably not.'

'Excellent, maybe we can get that saucepan at the same time.'

-o-o-o-o-

Sirius' eye throbbed in time with his heartbeat as he followed Remus down to the kitchen. It was nothing compared to what Remus had gone through so they could get into Flitwick's office, though, so he was damned if he was going to complain about it. James seemed to feel the same way about his split lip. Sirius was in awe of Remus' bravery, facing his phobia like that. He was incredible.

They reached a painting of a bowl of fruit, and Remus stopped, reached out and tickled the pear. The pear laughed, and the painting swung open. The kitchens were hidden behind a picture of food. Nice.

The smells that wafted out on the breeze made Sirius' stomach rumble. 'Merlin. I'm starving.'

'Good afternoon, Breen. My friends wanted to have lunch with me. Is that okay?' Remus asked a friendly-looking elf that had hurried over to them when they entered the room. These elves looked nothing like Kreacher. They all looked clean and happy.

'Oh. Of course. Master Remus. Your friends is most welcomes. Please sit down and we will brings you some food.'

'Master Remus?' Sirius said, raising an eyebrow at Remus and making him blush. Three times in one morning, he was on a roll.

They sat down at the small table, and Breen soon arrived with a tray of sandwiches and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. He hurried off again and, a moment later, returned with a small chocolate cake and four plates.

'Wow, this looks amazing. Thanks, Breen,' Peter said, and Sirius nodded his agreement.

'If it's not too much trouble, Breen, could we have a little fruit too?' James asked, and Sirius groaned.

'You and your blasted fruit, James.'

'It's good for you. Excuse me for wanting my friends to live a long time,' he huffed and crossed his arms.

The elf watched the exchange with wide eyes. 'It's no trouble. We have lots of fruit, masters,' he said before scurrying off and returning with a plate of cut fruits that smelled delicious. Okay, so maybe he didn't mind James' obsession with the stuff as much as he pretended to.

Once Breen had left them alone to eat, James leant forward and whispered, 'So, how are we going to get a saucepan?'

Sirius, who had just taken a massive bite out of a cheese and ham sandwich, just shrugged.

'Well, you're as much use as a chocolate cauldron. Remus, any ideas?'

'I think they'll notice if one of us disappears under the cloak.'

Sirius swallowed his food and said, 'What's through the other doors? Maybe we could go in one of those rooms, put the cloak on and come back.'

'One's the laundry, the other is the storage rooms,' Remus said. 'But they're both full of elves too.'

The laundry? Interesting. Sirius filed that away to think about later. 'Storage rooms?' he said instead. 'Anything good in there?'

'Not really. A lot of furniture and things.'

'You know. I reckon they might just give us a saucepan if we ask,' Peter said.

'That seems too easy,' James said.

Sirius shrugged. 'It's worth a shot. If they say no, it's only five points. We already have fifty.'

'Hey, excuse me?' James said to the nearest elf. 'I don't suppose we could borrow a saucepan for a few hours? We'll return it after dinner.'

'Oh. Of course. That's no problems at alls,' she said and fetched them one immediately.

'Thank you very much. We'll take very good care of it,' James said, taking the saucepan. The elf beamed at him and returned to her work.

'Well, that was easy. Great idea, Pete!' Sirius said, laughing.

'Fifty-five points. What do we have left?' James asked before answering his own question without waiting for a response. 'The trophy and the book will be a piece of cake. The telescope is going to be awkward, though. No idea how we're going to carry that through the school without being seen. And do any of you even know where the Divination classroom is?'

They all shook their heads.

'Let's get the book and the trophy and worry about the other two after that.' Sirius checked his watch. 'We have three hours left.'

It took them less than an hour to steal a trophy from the trophy room and a book from the restricted section of the library. Sirius had been tempted to take the volume he spotted on werewolves just to see how Remus would react, but decided that was too cruel and reluctantly put it back, opting instead for a much smaller and easier to carry book called Magicks Moste Ancient.

They had two hours left and were standing at the top of the astronomy tower, eyeing a telescope and wondering how the hell they were going to transport it back to their dorm. Well, that's what Sirius was thinking, anyway. He assumed the others were thinking the same thing, but for all he knew, they could have been considering the best way to capture a Cornish pixie.

'How many secret passages do we know about between here and Gryffindor tower?' Remus asked. Okay, so they were thinking about the telescope problem too, good.

'Only a couple that'll be useful,' James said. 'We'll have to do most of the journey in the open.'

'What about, instead of taking it all the way up to the dorm, we just take it to the third floor and hide it somewhere near classroom 12c?' Peter suggested.

'That would cut the journey in half. Great idea. But we still need to work out a way to carry it,' Sirius said.

They eventually decided to wrap the telescope in the cloak and carry it between the four of them as they walked closely together as a group. As an extra precaution, whenever they saw someone coming they would dart into the nearest room and wait for them to pass. It was a long-winded process, and by the time they reached the third-floor corridor, they had just forty-five minutes to find the Divination classroom, steal a teapot, grab the rest of their gains and get back to the classroom for the count.

'I think it's time to split up,' Sirius said as they hid the telescope in an unused cupboard. 'It won't take four of us to steal a teapot.'

'I agree. One of us should go after the teapot, the rest can help bring everything down to the classroom. The teapot thief will have to go cloakless, though. We need it to hide the broom.'

'I'll go after the teapot,' Sirius said.

James nodded. 'Good man. Remember, get back here by four, teapot or no teapot.'

James, Remus and Peter headed off towards the Grand Staircase, and Sirius went the other way, looking for someone he could ask for directions. He soon found an older student in Gryffindor robes and stopped her to ask if she knew where the Divination classroom was.

'Taking part in the Niffler Hunt, are you? How are you getting on?'

'Quite well, but there isn't long left. Do you know where it is?'

She nodded. 'Top of the north tower, through a trapdoor in the ceiling. Good luck.'

'Thanks,' he called over his shoulder as he ran off.

He reached the north tower in record time and stopped at the bottom of the steps to catch his breath. Eyeing the stairs, he started to regret volunteering for this mission. They spiralled upwards in endless circles and he made a mental note not to take Divination.

He reached the top, a hot, sweaty mess, and checked his watch. Half-past three. He climbed up the ladder and pushed the trapdoor open just enough to peek inside. The room was dim but appeared to be empty, so he pushed the door open all the way and climbed through. He glanced around and spotted the teapots, lined up on shelves on the back wall. He hurried over, grabbed one and put it in his bag. Success.

'Hello, young man. Are you lost?'

Sirius swung around and saw a very old lady with silvery-white hair emerging through the trapdoor.

'Err. Yeah, I was just exploring and wondered what was up here. What is this room? It's so strange.'

'It's the Divination classroom. I hope I'll see you here in a couple of years?'

'Um, yeah, maybe. I better go. Sorry to disturb you.'

'No problem at all, dear. Have a nice day, won't you?'

Sirius turned, made his way to the trapdoor and began to descend the ladder, pulling the trapdoor closed behind him. Just before it closed fully, the Divination professor called out, 'Do take care of that teapot, it's one of my favourites.'

Sirius snorted and shook his head. That was a nice touch, waiting until the last second to reveal she knew what he was up to. At least it seemed like she didn't mind. He hurried back down the stairs, getting dizzier by the second, and made it to the third-floor classroom with minutes to spare. James, Remus and Peter were waiting for him.

'Did you get it?' James asked eagerly.

'Merlin, James. Let him catch his breath first,' Remus said.

Sirius nodded but didn't speak. He was too busy trying to get air into his lungs.

'Come on, let's get inside. We don't want to be disqualified for being ten seconds late,' Peter said.

They entered the room to find they were one of the last teams to arrive. A team of Ravenclaws followed them in seconds later, and then a loud bong sounded and the words "Times Up!" appeared on the back wall of the stage in the same fiery letters as before. The suit of armour clanked back onto the stage and waved.

'Congratulations, Nifflers! I know you've all worked very hard to find all the items on your lists. Let's begin the count! Who wants to go first?'

'Let's go last,' James whispered to the others. 'It'll be more impressive.'

They all nodded in agreement. The count seemed to drag on forever. Some of the teams had collected a few of the five-point items. One team had even managed to get a decorative tool from Sprout. Diggory's team was looking very smug, having achieved forty-five points by collecting all the single point items and all the five-point items, except the telescope. No one had a telescope.

When everyone else had presented their collections, James stepped forward.

'Team name?' the suit of armour asked.

'The Magical Mischief Makers,' James answered, puffing out his chest.

Some of the older students watching laughed. They wouldn't be laughing for long, Sirius thought.

'And what do you have?'

Peter walked forward first, dumping out the contents of his bag onto the floor in front of the suit of armour.

'A muggle pen, a purple sock, a blue button, a pair of sunglasses and a paintbrush,' the suit of armour listed. 'Five points.'

Remus stepped forward and presented the trophy, saucepan and book, followed by Sirius, who produced the teapot from his bag.

The suit of armour announced the names of the items for the benefit of the crowd, finishing with, 'That's a total of twenty-five points for the Magical Mischief Makers.'

'Oh, we're not done yet,' Sirius said with a grin. 'We'll be right back.'

The four of them dashed out of the room. Remus grabbed the broomstick, and Sirius helped James pick up the heavy telescope and carry it carefully into the room to the most enjoyable sound of gasps of awe.

'How did they get that here without being caught?' someone said.

'Thirty-five points. It's an impressive haul but not quite enough I'm afraid,' the suit of armour said.

James rubbed his chin and nodded sadly before dramatically perking up and asking, 'What about if we add these?'

They each reached into their bags one more time, pulled out the last of their items and held them up. Sirius was holding the tartan scarf, James the jewel-encrusted trowel, Remus had the small vial of golden potion and Peter the gold medal from Flitwick.

There was a moment of stunned silence before the room went wild with hoots, cheers and clapping. All except for Diggory and his team, who looked about ready to murder them. Sirius took a bow and saw James doing the same out of the corner of his eye. They were so alike.

'Seventy-five points! Folks, we have a winner! Please return here after dinner to collect your reward. Your items will be checked for trickery in the meantime. Thank you all for taking part in the Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt. I hope to see you all again next year.'

Their prize turned out to be a selection of treats from Honeydukes, much to Peter and Remus' delight. Sirius spent the evening with his friends, celebrating their tremendous victory and relishing in the thought of the infamy it had undoubtedly bought them. Life was good.

-o-o-o-o-

A/N The line 'Hufflepuff's are particularly good finders,' is taken from A Very Potter Musical by StarKid Productions. If you haven't seen it, it's on YouTube and I recommend watching it. It's hilarious. XD

Chapter 18

[wiccastark]

Fighter | C7 | George Weasley

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |

Emilia

"THIS is mad. Who'd wanna be taught by me? I'm a nutter, remember?" Harry remarked as we walked away from the main part of Hogsmeade and towards a slightly dodgy tavern.

Snow stuck to our shoes as we walked and our thick coats kept us warm. I raised an eyebrow at the spot Hermione choose before nodding once I understood why she picked this place. It was the perfect place without drawing any unwanted attention to ourselves.

"Look on the bright side: you can't be any worse than old toad face," Ron stated which caused my eyes to roll.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry remarked sarcastically which made Ron remark back; "I'm here for you, mate."

"Who's supposed to be meeting us, then?" Harry asked Hermione who was leading us to Hog's Head.

"Just a couple of people," she answered as she opened the door to reveal a small, run-down pub.

"Lovely spot," Ron stated sarcastically as he looked around the pub with disgust.

"Thought it would be safer off the beaten track," Hermione admitted which I agreed.

We were least likely to encounter anyone loyal to Umbridge here than anywhere close to the main part of Hogsmeade.

It turned out that Hermione invited more than a couple people as over 10 people were now seated in front of the four of us. I was leaning against the brick wall behind the other three, who were seated, with my arms crossed over my chest.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hermione stood up and began to speak with an awkward tone; "Hi. So, you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" a boy, didn't really care to know his name, asked with an irritated expression.

"Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot," Ron snapped back which made the boy snap back; "So he says."

"So Dumbledore says," Hermione retorted back as Harry and I stay silent.

"So Dumbledore says because he says. The point is, where's the proof?" the boy asked and I was so close to actually punch him.

Proof? So, the disappearances weren't enough evidence of Voldemort being back? Idiots, honestly.

"If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory got killed..." Michael, Ginny's boyfriend, said which caused the air to become thick with tension.

His words caused Harry to stand up and snap; "I'm not gonna talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out now."

"Come on, Hermione. They're here because they think I'm some sort of freak," he whispered to Hermione and went to leave but Hermione tried to stop him.

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna's voice rang through the room which caused my lips to turn up into a smile.

Luna's question caused everyone to look at Harry for confirmation which caused me to speak for the first time; "Yes. I've seen it."

My words caused shock to fall on everyone's faces. "Blimey, Harry. I didn't know you could do that," Dean stated, staring at Harry in disbelief.

"And he killed a basilisk, with the sword in Dumbledore's office," Neville informed everyone with Ginny confirming it; "It's true."

"Third year, he fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron explained and there was a moment of silence before Hermione spoke; "Last year, he really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh."

"Wait. Look, it all sounds great when you say it like that... but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half the time. I nearly always had help," Harry explained as he looked over his shoulder at me as he remembered the times I had helped him over the years.

"He's just being modest," Hermione said as she didn't believe what Harry was saying; even though she had also helped Harry over the years as well.

"No, Hermione, I'm not. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there... when you're a second away from being murdered... or watching a friend die right before your eyes... You don't know what that's like," Harry's words made everyone realise that the danger he...we have been through the past five years was real and most of the time, we were lucky to be alive.

He sat back down on his chair and I placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"You're right, Harry, we don't. That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating..." Hermione, now seated, paused for a moment before continuing; "Voldemort."

"He's really back," Nigel, a young Gryffindor, spoke as he broke the silence that fell over us after Hermione spoke.

"What should we call it?" Hermione asked as she was now seated back a table and was holding a quill in her hand.

A smirk grew on my face as I spoke; "How about Dumbledore's Army?"

Everyone looked at me in shock for suggesting it which just caused my shoulders to shrug. "It's what Fudge fears. Might as well make it a reality," I explained and watched as Hermione wrote it at the top of a parchment.

Hermione signed her name first and I signed mine under hers before handing the quill to Ron. Everyone lined up to signed their names and now we just need to place to practice.

"Right. First, we need to find a place to practice where Umbridge won't find out," Harry said as we were now walking along the covered bridge towards the Clock Tower.

"The Shrieking Shack," Ginny suggested which caused my head to shake.

"It's too small," I told her; thinking about the training room given to me by Dumbledore but I went against suggesting it as I would have to explain why I had a training room to those that didn't know that I was a Protector.

"Forbidden Forest?" Hermione suggested which made Ron remark; "Not bloody likely."

"Harry, what happens if Umbridge does find out?" Ginny asked and when Harry went to answer, he was cut off by Hermione; "Who cares?"

Everyone looked at her in shock as she was...well a teacher's pet. "I mean, it's sort of exciting, isn't it, breaking the rules?" Hermione asked when she noticed everyone's shocked faces.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione?" Ron asked sarcastically which everyone to smile brightly.

"Anyway, at least we know one positive thing that came from today," I stated which made Harry stare at me in confusion.

"What's that?" Harry asked me which caused me to roll my eyes.

"Cho couldn't take her eyes off you, could she?" I asked him; winking at him.

Harry's face broke into a bright grin as I walked ahead of them with Hermione by my side.

"Right. Over the next few days, we should each come up... with a couple of possibilities of places we can practice. We've got to make sure, wherever it is, there's no chance she can find us," as Harry spoke, I could feel someone staring at us which caused my head to whip up to see the pink toad looking down at us...and she could hear everything Harry was saying.

The next day, she had put in place a rule that all student organisations were disbanded and anyone who didn't follow that rule, would be expelled.

God, I hate that toad.

[tmorriscode]

Companionate

(Ace!Charlie Weasley x Fem!Hufflepuff!MC)

Summary: Charlie Weasley doesn’t see the point in getting worked up over girls. Not when there’s quiddich and looking for that dragon he just knows has got to be hiding in the Forbidden Forest.

That’s ok. You’re too busy looking for the cursed vaults to get too worked up over blokes, anyway.

Or: how two clueless idiots fall in love and then take ten years to figure it out.

The masterpost of all my interconnected imagines is here. 

—

companionate - adj: harmoniously suited

1. Charlie Weasley never meant to fall for you. In fourth year when the other blokes were suddenly tongue tied around girls (or boys), he just didn’t see the point of it. After all, there were so many other things that needed his attention.

Like quiddich. Or dragons.

“I wonder if we could play quiddich with dragons?” You asked him one day during care of Magical Creatures. He paused right in the middle of searching for fire crab feed to stare at you.

You have a reputation. The half-mad sister of the mad-as-a-hatter Jacob (Y/L/N). Your bizarre sense of humor and penchant for trouble don’t help.

But Bill says you’re an alright sort, even if you are as obsessed with the cursed vaults as Charlie is with dragons.

But when he thinks on it, adding dragons to quidditch would actually be really brilliant. Even if the match would be extremely short and rather deadly.

“It would certainly make it more exciting,” he says.

He thinks the matter is dropped, until History of Magic, when you pass him a note. It had a set of silly rules for “Dragon Quidditch.”

He falls a little in love with you then.

2. “Oi Weasley! Tell that Hufflepuff spy to shove off!” Billingsley snaps at him.

Charlie shakes the rain off of his quidditch goggles and looks down at the stands. It’s the kind of wet, miserable Scottish winter day where even he doesn’t want to be out. (What was he thinking, scheduling practice tonight?) So he’s surprised to see a lone person sitting there.

Whomever it is huddled under a brolly spell, swaddled in a black-and-gold quilt that was probably filched out of the Hufflepuff dorms.

Charlie lands, shaking off the rain, and is surprised to see you sitting there, a muggle book in your hand. (“King Solomon’s Mines.” Not the same one, he thinks, that you were reading the last time he defended you from Merula.)

Suddenly unsure of himself, he scratches the back of his neck. “Bit cold for outdoor reading, yeah?”

You shrug. “I just needed to get out of my head for a while. There’s nothing to do in the castle, and I was going a bit stir crazy.” Your breath steams in the chilly air.

Charlie realizes that the only time he ever sees you sitting still is when you’re absorbed in one of the cheap muggle paperbacks your Mum sends you. You’re like a perpetual motion machine. It’s as if you’re trying to outrun your demons.

He hopes he never sees a day where they catch you.

He blames it on the cold when he shivers.

“How about I walk you back once practice is over, yeah?” He scuffs his toe on the stands. “You can tell me about this one.”

You raise one eyebrow. “Yeah alright. If you like, you can share the warming charm I put on my blanket.”

“Are you sure?” He asks. “I’m a bit soggy.”

“Sure. Besides,” Your smile turns mischievous, “I know how to sneak into the kitchens. You look like you could be doing with some hot chocolate.”

“Marry me,” Charlie jokes, completely deadpan.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to get in line behind my other suitors.” You wave to the empty stands, also completely deadpan.

If Charlie shows off his fancy flying a little more during the rest of practice, no one says anything. After all, as captain, it’s his job to set the right example for the team.

It’s not even like you’re watching, right? You have your book.

And after practice, when you say: “nice flying,” if he stands a little taller, what of it?

3. “Are you thinking of applying for the Ministry’s dragon division after Hogwarts?” You ask him over sandwiches in the great hall.

Charlie doesn’t answer right away, chewing on his dinner as he mulls it over. The ministry would be the obvious choice: His dad works there, and could probably help Charlie get the placement despite the family reputation.

But ministry work, even with dragons, just doesn’t stir his blood like the idea of working with the dragon sanctuary in — “Romania. If I can get on there, I’d like to study the dragons in Romania.”

You look surprised at that. “With the way you go on about your family, I’d have thought you’d want to stay close.”

He nods in understanding. “I love my family, don’t get me wrong. But there’s so many of us. And we’re in each other’s pockets all the time. I’ve been sharing a room with Bill from the moment Mum booted me from the nursery because they needed it for Percy. I just . . .”

You look at him like he’s grown a second head (which would be possible, if one of the twins was pranking him). You’ve been a neglected only-child since your brother vanished. The thought of needing space is as alien to you as the thought of breathing air might be to a fish.

As Charlie wrestles his thoughts into something you might be able to understand, one of the twins flings their mash across the aisle from the Gryffindor table. It lands with a squishy sound in his hair.

He ignores their braying laughter. Getting visibly angry is only letting them win. And why get mad when he can get even?

You have your hand over your mouth, your eyes wide like saucers.

Charlie gives you a lopsided smile. “Sometimes I think it might be nice to love my family from a distance.”

You reach for your wand while twirling the index finger of your other hand in the air to signal for him to turn around. He complies, and you set his hair to rights with a cleaning spell.

“Would it help if we put flobberworms in your brothers’ beds?” You ask once he’s turned back around.

There’s a splattering sound behind him, Charlie throws another look over his shoulder, to find that you’ve cast the shield charm, protecting him from behind. He feels warmed all over from the inside, like the time he and Bill drank a flask of firewhisky out in the shed.

“Any chance That I could take you with me when I go to Romania?” Charlie asks.

4. Charlie puts his head down on the table next to you in the library, hard enough to make a thumping sound. He repeats it a couple times, just to see if any brilliant thoughts shake loose.

Pince shushes him. Although he can’t see it, the old bat probably has a dirty look on her face.

“Alright there?” You run your fingers through his hair.

He lets out an inarticulate sound that could either mean “I really like that, keep doing it,” or “I just cracked my skull open and I’m too tired to scream.”

You pull the tie free from his hair, and card your fingers through the loose red locks.

“Feel free to stop anytime in the next five years or so.” His voice is muffled against the table.

Rowan and Barnaby look up from their study session across the way. Rowan lifts an eyebrow. Off your shrug, they put their heads back together and continue whatever discussion they’ve been having.

“What’s got you so down?” You ask.

He rolls his head to the side so that his cheek is pressed to the wood surface, staring at you while you continue to play with the ends of his hair. “Nothing too earth shaking.” His eyes widen as a new thought occurs to him. “Hey! You’re good at everything you try.”

“Thanks?” You feel your face heating up.

“What would you say to your team if you were a quidditch captain and you had to inspire them to victory?”

You lay your head down on the table, so that you can look him in the eyes.

“Since it’s me, and I’m rubbish at quidditch, my hypothetical team is probably hopeless. So I’d say: ‘Men, we’re going to lose today. But first, we get to kick the absolute bloody hell out of the other team!”

“If I’m ever captain of the Falmouth Falcons, I’ll remember that speech,” Charlie laughs. “So much about you is clear now.”

“Oh really?”

“For one, I know why you prefer dueling.”

“Well, dueling club also has the best uniforms. I mean: I had to polish André’s drool out of my boot leather.”

“It’s nice to know you’re not good at everything,” he says affectionately.

“You can be good at the things I’m not,” you reply. “Then we both have someone to lean on.”

The idea makes him feel like he just drank a pumpkin fizz: all bubbly inside. “Sounds like a deal to me.”

5. You’re not exactly sure when you fell for Charlie Weasley. It just seemed to sneak up on you.

Three years of laughing at the back of his head over his futile attempt to grow his hair each term, only for his mum to cut it all off every summer. Then suddenly he defends you from a bully, and you’re arse-over-teakettle for him.

It makes sense to you that he loves dragons. They say opposites attract. And in your mind, dragons are beings of fire and air. While Charlie is a being of earth and water: steady, calm, cool under pressure, and nurturing. His ready smile, cheeky wit, and good natured enthusiasm hiding the depths of his convictions the way sunlight sparking on the surface of a lake never reveals the water’s depth.

Your whole life, it seemed like everyone was looking to you for something. Mum wanted you to be safe, and hoped you’d find Jacob. Your friends wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing before you led them into danger. That you were confident that you wouldn’t be caught. Even that Gryffindor kid who sat behind you in charms wanted your help tutoring.

But Charlie never asked anything of you. Instead smiling and telling you: “we’ll figure it out.”

We.

For the first time since Jacob disappeared, you didn’t have to be the strong one. It was okay not to have answers. And you didn’t feel so bloody alone.

You think you fell a little in love with him then.

—

A/N:

*I wrote this as an exercise in developing headcanons about Charlie. A lot of what I’ve written helped me develop MC, and her backstory. But I hadn’t given deeper thought to everyone’s favorite dragonologist.

*I’ve decided that:

1. He’s very tactile. He likes to hold hands. Pet his hair like a cat and watch him melt.

2. He’s slower to act and deliberate in his actions (in contrast to many of his siblings with their infamous Weasley tempers). He waited till fourth year to get to know MC. Meanwhile Bill pulled a Molly Weasley and adopted MC on sight.

3. He has depths like a well.

4. He loves just being around his loved ones. They don’t even have to be Interacting. Just sitting together and not talking. If he’s sitting by himself and someone just came into the room because he was there, he’d feel loved. If he has the choice to sit by himself, or in a room where a loved one is, he’ll gravitate to that room.

5. He feels deeply loved when someone takes an interest in him. He’ll go on and on about the things he’s passionate about (dragons, his family, quidditch ). Often to the point that the listener’s eyes will glaze over. If you know as much about dragons as him, it shows that you like him enough to pay attention. He shows how much he cares by really listening to you, even on subjects he cares nothing about.

6. He was only pretending to be happy that Barnaby was along for the forbidden forest adventure. Not only is Barnaby a slytherin, but he’s also not that bright. (Punch a centaur? WTF, Mate?) When Charlie was saying “just follow my lead” I headcanon that he was eye-rolling the whole time.

7. Charlie is also very good at compartmentalizing, which is why he and my MC don’t become an official couple until 5 years post Hogwarts. He’s put her into the friend compartment, assumed that there wasn’t even a compartment for girlfriend. And then one day he found her in a compartment labeled “platonic life partner” and said to himself “I didn’t even know I had one of those.”

*Brolly is British slang for umbrella. So a brolly spell would be that unnamed spell that they used in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Since they don’t call out an incantation, It hasn’t yet got a canon name.

*King Solomon’s Mines was a Victorian adventure novel that is old enough that it’s probably up on Project Gutenberg. It created the “lost world” genre of pulp novels. The protagonist, Allan Quatermain was the forerunner to Indiana Jones. (The book is also what tv tropes calls “fair for it’s day.” Meaning it has less of the super sketchy great white hunter/yay!Colonialism type attitudes that were baseline for Victorians at the time.) There are several movies based on the book. One staring a young Sharon Stone and Richard Chamberlin doing a bad Indiana Jones impersonation (it came out in 1985, so MC definitely saw it on summer holiday).

In the book, Quatermain is leading an expedition in search of the brother of the expedition’s financier. The missing brother was an explorer searching for King Solomon’s mines. No idea why this book resonated with MC. 🙄

[undertheinfluencerd]

10 Times Luna Lovegood Was The Best Character In The Harry Potter Movies

Luna Lovegood is only in four of the eight Harry Potter movies and she was usually in the background. However, due to the source material and Evanna Lynch’s performance the character was often able to steal an entire scene.

RELATED: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Potter’s Luna Lovegood

Luna was always an outsider but never lets it bother her. On many occasions, Luna shows she is one of the best characters of the entire franchise.

10 ‘You’re Just As Sane As I Am’

Arguably Luna’s most famous line, this immediately explains everything about her. Harry is confused when he sees the winged horses pulling the carriages, especially as the others don’t seem to see them. When Hermione points out that the carriages are pulling themselves as always, Luna quickly tries to offer words of comfort to Harry.

Luna is reading a magazine upside down and is wearing outlandish clothing so the line is more ironic than comforting but it’s the fact she tries that is most important. Luna’s lack of self-awareness at this moment shows her to be one of the most eccentric Harry Potter characters.

9 Supporting Harry & Introducing The Thestrals

Harry and Luna’s talk in the forest is a rare and refreshing moment of quiet amongst the chaos. Luna takes this time to fully explain The Thestrals to Harry and why he can see them. This scene also shows a different side to Luna as she reveals why she can see Thestrals.

While most people were afraid of The Thestrals, Luna feels akin to them and sees their difference as beautiful. Although this conversation must have been emotional for Luna, she goes out of her way to support Harry, even telling him she believes his story about Voldemort. At a truly lonely time for Harry, Luna becomes a great source of comfort to him.

8 Interest In Casting A Patronus

When Dumbledore’s Army first meets at The Hog’s Head, many of the students are more interested in prying into Harry’s past rather than joining the cause. However, Luna interrupts this prying to ask about Harry’s ability to cast a Patronus. Luna seems truly in awe when Hermione confirms Harry is able to conjure a Patronus.

RELATED: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Harry Potter Patronuses

Unlike her peers, Luna has little interest in gossip and actually wants to help Harry. She seems determined to improve her own abilities and it’s heartwarming to see her actually cast a Patronus in The Room of Requirement later on.

7 Fighting In The Department Of Mysteries

At the climax of the fifth movie, Luna finds herself heading to The Ministry. Luna suggests The Thestrals when the group are struggling for a mode of transport; her ability to solve problems shows that she is a true Ravenclaw. Despite only knowing Harry and the others for a short time, Luna is happy to accompany them to save Sirius (who she’d never met at this point).

During the battle in the Department of Mysteries, Luna demonstrates her new skills and is able to take on one of the Deatheaters. Even after being hit in the face, Luna is able to successfully use Levicorpus to take out her attacker.

6 Comforting Harry After Sirius’ Death

Unsurprisingly, Sirius’ death hits Harry hard but Luna is able to offer words of wisdom in his time of need (she wasn’t sorted into Ravenclaw by accident after all). Luna isn’t upset or annoyed when her possessions are taken and is actually able to see the funny side.

Luna tells Harry how sorry she is about Sirius but it’s her line about the things we lose coming back to us in the end that seems to comfort Harry the most. Luna stays loyal to Harry until the end and this is just one example of that loyalty. In typical Luna fashion, she skips away from Harry, unaware of how much her small act of kindness has comforted him.

5 Saving Harry On The Hogwarts At Express

At the beginning of The Half-Blood Prince, Luna is handing out Quibblers in another one of her unusual outfits, complete with her iconic Spectrespecs. As the students are leaving the train, Harry is attacked by Draco and left stunned under his invisibility cloak. Harry was all set for a long and uncomfortable trip back to London until Luan came to his aid.

It’s ironic that Luna is able to save Harry after seeing wrackspurts through the Spectrespecs. Luna’s stories of strange creatures are often laughed off by those around her but after seeing wrackspurts swarming around Harry, she’s able to save him – and even fixes his nose for good measure.

4 The Lion Headdress

As Gryffindor prepares to face Slytherin on the Quidditch pitch, Luna appears in the Great Hall with a brand new accessory. In one of Luna’s most inspirational scenes, she is seen wearing a handmade Lion Headdress in support of Gryffindor which is especially sweet considering she’s a Ravenclaw. Most other Ravenclaws probably wouldn’t care about this match but Luna goes above and beyond to support her friends.

Luna also obliviously asks Harry about what he’s put in Ron’s cup which is actually instrumental in his plan to improve Ron’s confidence. Of course, Harry never really puts the Liquid Luck in Ron’s cup so it’s actually Luna’s apparent mishap that leads to him feeling more confident on the pitch.

3 Her Unique Dance Moves

While Bill and Fleur’s wedding turns out to be quite a dramatic affair, at least Luna had a good time. Despite the later chaos and being bitten by a garden gnome, Luna is seen happily dancing with her father at the wedding.

Their style of dancing is rather unusual and certainly provides some comedy in one of the darker movies of the franchise. Many of Luna’s characteristics seem to come from her Dad so it’s not surprising that they have the same dance style, particularly one that’s so unusual.

2 Calling Dobby ‘Sir’

One of the most dramatic things to happen to Luna is when she is kidnaped by the Deatheaters. At some point after Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Luna is taken to Malfoy Manor and locked in the basement along with Ollivander and Griphook. Eventually, the golden trio is also brought to the Manor and Dobby turns up to rescue them.

RELATED: 10 Most Disturbing Moments Harry Potter Fans Can’t Forget

Seeing Dobby after so long was a rewarding moment, even if it did lead to heartbreak and it was amazing to see him alongside another fan favorite like Luna. Of course, Dobby spent most of his life being disrespected and abused so it was heartwarming that Luna referred to him as ‘Sir’- and Dobby seemed delighted by it too.

1 Directing Harry to Ravenclaw’s Diadem

While Luna doesn’t get a lot of screen time in the final movie, she actually proves invaluable in the quest to defeat Voldemort. By the time Harry returns to Hogwarts, he is aware that there is a Horcrux within the school but doesn’t know what the Horcrux is. After Harry’s rather vague description to the members of Dumbeldore’s Army, it is Luna who steps forward and suggests that the Horcrux maybe Ravenclaw’s Lost Diadem.

Many of the other students don’t take Luna’s suggestion seriously but it does prove to be correct. Luna is also able to stand up to Harry when he refuses to listen to her later on which is the only time she really raises her voice in the series. Luna’s advice here proves paramount in the eventual defeat of Voldemort.

NEXT: Each Main Character’s Happiest (& Saddest) Scene In Harry Potter

[metalandmagi]

Hogwarts House Anime Recommendations: Slytherin

 Hello again!

It’s time for some more Hogwarts house anime recommendations! I was going to wait to work on this, but since it’s the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, I thought it would be a good time to post this one.

Hufflepuff recs

Ravenclaw recs

Gryffindor recs

This time it’s going to be some Slytherin anime recommendations! I tried to keep it varied in terms of genre, but a few are a bit similar in their descriptions. Anyway I think some of the most important traits that embody the Slytherin house are ambition, cunning, deceptiveness, and determination to reach one’s goals. So here we go!

1. Neuro: Supernatural Detective, aka Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

This anime focuses on a high school detective named Yako Katsuragi who is famous for solving every single case that is brought to her attention. However, it is actually her “assistant” Neuro Nougami who solves the cases and has her take the credit for them. Why? Because he is a literal parrot demon from another dimension who actually physically eats mysteries. Since he’s already eaten every mystery in the demon world, he’s moved on to Earth’s mysteries and has promised that he will help Yako solve the mystery of her father’s death. 

This anime seems like the retro, more colorful, not British relative of Black Butler….even though Neuro came out only about a year earlier. It’s both hilarious and dramatic at the right moments, and I recommend watching only a little at a time as most of it is very episodic. But Neuro himself is a great example of a Slytherin, never really doing something out of the goodness of his heart, but willing to make bargains and then turn on someone as soon as he needs to. He’s extremely entertaining to watch, and my dream crossover anime would be Neuro and Sebastian with their respective charges teaming up to solve a mystery despite the time period differences….either that or competing against each other to see who can solve a mystery first.

2. Girlish Number

This anime follows the voice acting career of the young newcomer Chitose Karasuma and her various co-workers and her quest to become famous without actually having any acting talent and not working to get better. It’s mainly a slice of life story about a very conceited, annoying girl trying to become a “famous voice actor” (as if that’s not an oxymoron). And it’s hilarious!

This show proves that you don’t need to have a traditionally likeable or perfect main character to actually be entertained and want to watch her go about her business. Chitose is very frustrating because she is a total asshole, but that’s why she’s so interesting to watch. She deserves all the bad things that happen to her, and even though she does grow somewhat throughout the series, she’s still the same person deep down by the end of the show. Furthermore, not only is she a total Slytherin, but several of her co-workers appear to be as well! This anime showcases many different kinds of Slytherins that steer away from the traditional “villainous asshole” stereotype. All of the girls have their own goals and personalities, but at their core their ambition is what drives them as characters. They can be standoffish or put on a fake personality in front of others, but overall they are not bad people. It’s a very different type of show to recommend for Slytherins, but it’s a good one nonetheless.

3. Monster

This is another anime that is a bit difficult to describe briefly and vaguely because it is so complex and detailed. Essentially, it is about a surgeon named Kenzou Tenma, who one night chooses to save the life of a young boy named “Johan” rather than operate on the town’s mayor. This decision ends up haunting him for years to come, because that boy basically turns out to be the Antichrist he is suddenly surrounded by mysterious murder cases with all signs pointing to Johan.  

I’m going to be honest here; I have not finished this anime, like not even close. BUT I really want to, and even less than 20 episodes in, I can see it is a great Slytherin anime. I feel like Tenma can sometimes toe the line between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but Johan is very much a Slytherin. While Tenma is the embodiment of determination, Johan is cunning and that dark sort of cleverness personified. This show is amazing at creating a psychological thriller vibe that makes you want to know what happens around every turn. Johan himself is one of the best anime villains I’ve ever seen, both utterly terrifying and eerily calm at all times with no real motivation other than to watch the world burn from above. At least, that’s the motivation from my point in the series. This anime is a classic that I am surprised isn’t talked about more with its masterful use of build up and detailed plot that takes place over many years. It reminds me a lot of Death Note, but with older characters that have less concrete motivations. And speaking of Death Note….

4. Death Note

I HAD TO! THIS IS THE MOST SLYTHERIN ANIME OF ALL TIME! HOW COULD I NOT INCLUDE IT? I DON’T CARE IF IT’S POPULAR, I DON’T CARE IF EVERYONE HAS ALREADY WATCHED IT! IT’S JUST THAT APPROPRIATE!

This is my favorite anime of all time, and it’s been that way for about 10 years since I first saw it. Yes it’s very flawed, but I could not make a Slytherin recommendation list without putting in this freaking anime. In case anyone is newer to anime, lives under a rock, or just hasn’t watched it for whatever reason, (stop what you’re doing and go watch it right now) this anime is about a highschool boy named Light Yagami who finds a notebook that was dropped by a shinigami. He eventually finds out that this notebook can kill people 40 seconds after writing a person’s name. Essentially, he starts off wanting to use the death note to make the world a better place, killing off dangerous criminals and so forth. But it is clear from episode one that this kid is not right in the head, and really wants to use it to basically become a god and control the world. He is pursued by the greatest detective in the world, who goes solely by the name of L. An epic psychological mystery thriller ensues.

I believe this is the most Slytherin anime to ever Slytherin. I might be throwing myself under the bus here, but I strongly believe that all three of the main characters, meaning L, Light, and Misa are hard core Slytherins. Light is the most obvious, but I can also make an argument for L and Misa. L is revealed several times to not be a really “good” person. He constantly lies about everything, from the percents he spits out to the gravity of certain situations and their possible repercussions. And Misa can also be cunning and very deceptive when she wants to be and is extremely determined to aid Light in any way possible because it helps her overall goal of being with him. Even going beyond episode 25- which seriously people you have to watch the whole freaking series if you want a good grasp of the anime and it’s overall conclusion- I even think Mello and Near are Slytherins. Yes, I’m in the minority and actually like the entire series (not just the first 25 episodes), but the way the story unfolds and all the characters interact is just dripping with deceptiveness and cunning plans that will keep you glued to the screen. I believe it’s the ultimate Slytherin anime.

5. Baccano!... And Durarara!!

What’s this? Another double recommendation? Yes, because I figured these two fit pretty well together considering they apparently take place in the same universe. Again both of these are very detailed and heavy plot oriented anime, so they’re a bit difficult to describe vaguely. These are also two shows in which I much prefer the dub over the subbed version. They’re both great, but I like having it dubbed for the sake of keeping character voices and narration sorted out.

With Baccano! I like the way it comes up when you google it: “A fantasy caper involving alchemists, gangsters and immortality is spread over several decades” except that I’d say it takes place in America over several timelines rather than just decades. Overall this anime tells the story in a very circular fashion, and it definitely is not something you’ll just want to have on in the background. In my own words...it’s about a bunch of wacky characters, some of whom are immortal, who do a bunch of stuff in the 1930s. It involves a train, gangsters, and multiple costume changes. But seriously it’s a great anime, and if you need to be convinced to watch it, just check out the opening song.

Durarara!! is very similar, in the sense of it’s style of storytelling being very circular, focusing on the POVs of multiple characters and being overall very confusing to watch the first time through. However, this anime takes place in modern day Ikebukuro and the timelines generally do not go between several years. Durarara!! is about….well a lot of people...but mainly about a mysterious “biker” named Celty who spends the series looking for her head. Yes her literal head. She is headless. And she’s awesome. Again, it involves many wacky characters, gang fights, otakus, mythical creatures, and urban legends of the big city life. Both of these shows are great examples of Slytherin ideals, not necessarily because of the characters’ houses (although there are definitely a few good Slytherins in there) but because of the actual atmosphere and deceptiveness laced throughout the stories. The characters are cunning, suave, villainous and heroic alike. Overall, they simply show that people are flawed. There can be some really screwed up characters out there, but at the end of the day, everyone has their own motivations and ambitions, and some people are not afraid to step on others to get what they want while also trying to be good friends.

+6 Bonus Tokyo Babylon

I also wanted to mention Tokyo Babylon, in case anyone hasn’t seen it. It’s sort of cheating, because this is actually a series of OVAs based on the CLAMP manga, but I thought I should put it in here anyway. It is another supernatural mystery/detective story that will rip your heart out in the end. The characters are very gay and also very Slytherin-esque. Against popular opinion, I would wager that the main character Subaru is an interesting example of a Slytherin, especially in the manga, in which he will flat out lie to people in incredibly emotional situations in order to do what he believes is the right thing. I wanted to include it because I thought that it shows how even sweet cinnamon rolls like Subaru can be cold and calculating when they need to be.

So those are just a few Slytherin house anime recommendations. I hope those are interesting for some people, and happy 20th anniversary of the book that started it all. 

[synthwanderer-archive]

I dare you to answer all 52 questions for Vaughn. 'cause he a handsome fella and I love him ok?... 😍 Thanks. Bye.

under read more cause its long!! and thank you!!!

Vaughn Zander

1. Which Fallout game are they from?

Fallout 4

2. Which faction(s) did they join and which did they destroy? Why?

joined the Minuteman, he is the General, joined the BOS, he took Danse’s rank after he managed to convince Maxson to spare him, also joined Railroad, he helps them sometimes, also he is an Atom Cat,  helped out the people of Far Harbor, Acadia and even the Children of Atom, destroyed the Institute and killed all Raiders of Nuka World

3. What is their S.P.E.C.I.A.L.?

11 ST, 6 PE, 5 EN, 10 CH, 11 IN, 4 AG, 4 LK4. Give us a summary of their backstory.

well…(still working)…he was born on 13 feb 2045, his parents, Ryan Hudson-Zander was a Brigadier-General, and Olivia Zander was a pharmarcist, as a kid, Vaughn was always fascinated about medicine and his big dream was to be a doctor. he also had a cousin, Vincent Hudson (belongs to @theartofblossoming), and they were like brothers, having fun and always took care of each other. Much later, with the support of his mother (his father never supported him) he managed to get into Harward Medical School in Boston. after he graduated, he worked for a short time in a small clinic (he also meet Nora in that time), but then his father forced him to get in the army as a combat medic. it wasnt easy for him, he did managed to save lives, but the fact that some soldiers didnt had any chances to live did affected him, he also was forced to fight in defense lines…also he learned how to use heavy weapons and a Power Armor. after finding out that his father and his cousin were killed on the battlefield, he signed off and got back home, also much later he married Nora and had a baby. Vaughn did got a job at a hospital, but then the bombs fell…

5. What’s their full name and does it have a meaning? Do they have any nicknames and how did they get em?

Vaughn Ryan Zander. 

”Vaughn” means little in welsh, the name “Ryan” never use it and “Zander” means defender of people in old greek. tbh…his first name is kinda ironic, he is actually tall and muscular…but the last name fits him…

nicknames? his cousin used to call him “Vonny”, Hancock calls him “Sunshine”, Piper calls him “Blue”, Danse calls him “Soldier”

6.What’s their sexual, romantic, and gender orientation? Do they feel comfortable telling other people?

cisgender male, panromantic bisexual. it was kinda problematic to reveal his own sexuality before the war (cause of his strict father) but now? he is total comfortable…

7. Do they have any mental illnesses? How do they cope?

he suffers from depression and anxiety, and he does tries to cope it pretty well (he does have bad days, but his friends support him anytime); when he has bad days, he usually sorts out his stuff, reads books, play with Dogmeat, listen to the music, talks with his friends, tries to help out people, also he tries to get more sleep.

8. Do they have any medical conditions? Is medicine/ treatment available for them?

umm…idk if this can be considered medical condition, but he was shot in left leg by Kellogg, and since then he has pains there…he kinda uses TOO MUCH Med-X to numb out the pain during combat…also he has a weak sight, even with glasses its difficult for him to see at distance., and his sense of smell is busted up, he was punched by a raider so hard that his nose can no longer smell properly (tho that is good in the Commonwealth, no?)

9. How much do they care about their outer appearance? What’s their “beauty routine”? How often do they shower/ bathe?

he does try to wash daily, he has a water purifier in Sanctuary so he takes showers almost daily…every morning he washes his face, and even found a toothbrush and toothpaste, so he takes care of his teeth…

10. What do they fear the most?

that he gonna lose his family and friends, and that all his efforts to help the people will be wasted…

11. Their biggest flaw? Do they recognize it as a flaw?

his arrogance…tho he keeps his arrogance down for his friends, when he is around BOS and even wth the Railroad he acts very arrogant…

12. What are they most insecure about?

his self-esteem is very low, so he does care what others might think of him…when someone believes in him, he feels better and he can do anything…but when someone doubts him, he feels terrible and wont do anything.

13. What Wasteland threat do they fear the most? (ex. Deathclaws, super mutants, raiders)

none of these? he is strong enough to handle every creature…except…BUGS! he is so afraid of mosquitos and bloatflies!

14. What’s their zodiac sign or which one do you think they relate to the most? 

Vaughn’s zodiac sign is Aquarius, him being “born” (created) on 13 February…but tbh idk about placements…(idk even for myself!) 

15.  What are their placements (if you know them)? (ex. Aries sun, Taurus moon, Aquarius Venus)

???????????????????????????

16. What’s their Myers–Briggs Type? (ex. ENTP, ISFJ)

he may be ISFJ

17. What Harry Potter house would they be in? (ex. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw)

Ravenclaw!

18. Which Pokemon Go team would they choose? (ex. Instinct, Valor, Mystic)

Mystic.

19. Out of the nine forms of intelligence (rhythmic, spatial, linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential) which one(s) are they really good at and which one(s) is(are) their weakest?

he is really good at: interpersonal, linguistic, logical, kinesthetic…and he is kinda weak at other forms 

 20. What natural alignment are they? (ex. Lawful Good, Chaotic Evil)

might be Neutral or Chaotic Good.

21. Do they have any hobbies? What are they?

cooking, reading, listening music, even creates medical supplies, collecting different stuff, sorting out his stuff

22. Do they have a favorite holiday? How do they celebrate it?

Christmas! he celebrates it by getting gifts for his friends, cooks for them and gathering everyone at the table.

23. What’s their favorite season?

spring.

24. Do they have a temper or are they level headed?

he is actually pretty calm, but if someone threaten his friends, he will react quickly and protect them, no matter what.

25. Do they express their emotions freely or hide their true feelings?

he does hide his own feelings pretty well, and sometimes he may seem very cold…tho Nick and Hancock knows his true feelings.

26. Are they a leader or a follower?

more of a leader, but he always listens to his friends, but he hates taking orders.

27. How do they come off to others? What first impression do they usually make?

that could depend on others’s attitude…he first is very cautious but friendly, but if the other person is harsh to him, he becomes passive-agressive, but if the other person responds well, he is very friendly and will help them. Vaughn is very sensitive on people’s tones.

28. Do they prefer to travel alone or with company? Who have they traveled with if any? Current companion if any?

always with a companion! he is never alone! he travelled with everyone (except Strong, X6 and Old Longfellow). his faves are Nick, Hancock, Danse, Preston, Piper, Codsworth, Dogmeat, Cait, MacCready, and Curie. current companion is Nick.

29. Would you describe them as selfless or selfish? Does it depend on the situation?

he is actually pretty selfless, always caring for his friends and protect them and will do anything for them, also he helps other people as long as he can.

30. What do they find most attractive in others? Name at least one psychological and physical trait. (doesn’t have to be romantic attraction)

kindness and the voice.

31. Do they flirt often? How easily do they fall in love?

he does flirt often, but sometimes he stutter while doing it lmao…and kinda easy? depends…

32. What’s their love life like? Are they interested in anyone or in a relationship?

he is already in a happy relationship wtih Hancock!

33. Do they prefer to solve things diplomatically or using violence?

he tries to use diplomacy, but if he fails, he will defend himself.

34. What is their combat style? What range do they prefer? Do they sneak?

he does prefer melee combat, and short range combat…he uses a Power Fist that can even destroy Power Armors or killing Deathclaws and mutants, and at short range he uses the Wazer Wifle, Kellogg’s Pistol, or very rarely,at long range he uses the Missile Launcher or Fatman. and nope, he cant sneak, he is always caught up!

35. What weapon(s) do they always carry with them?

Furious Power Fist, Wazer Wifle, Kellogg’s Pistol, Missile Launcher, Fatman.

36. Their most prized possession?

the Wazer Wifle and the wedding rings (he did modified his own ring and wrote Hancock’s name on it, while the other wedding ring he gave it to Hancock)

37. Their thoughts on power armor?

he hates it!!! loud noises, his left leg is suprasolicitated, cant see with that helmet, also did i mentioned loud noises??

38. Favorite armor/ outfit?

his old Vault Suit 111, and leather pieces of armor.

39. How’s their aim? Do their hands shake while pointing a gun?

what aim??? serioulsy his aim is so poor, he misses 11 from 10 targets…

40. What are their thoughts on having to kill on a daily bases in order to survive? Does it take a toll on them? Or do they shake it off rather easily?

tho he doesnt mind killing ferals and mutants, he does feel sorry killing humans, but he does it so that he can protect innocent people

41. Thoughts on death if any? (ex. Fear it, accept it)

he fears death, he wishes to live for a long time…tho i might resolve this, im gonna make him a synth

42. Do they move around a lot or prefer to have a place to call home?

Sanctuary Hills is his home, tho he didnt even touched his old house, so he made a new house made of concrete, with 2 floors, first floor is where his and Hancock’s bedroom is, the kitchen, the bathroom, and a place where their TV and jukebox are placed, also upstairs is Shaun’s room, with a small bookcase, a desk for studies, a small workshop, a bed and a dresser.

he also bought the Home Plate in Diamond City, sometimes he stays in Goodneighbor with Hancock, or stops in any settlement for a break.

43. What’s their favorite location?

Sanctuary Hills, DC and Goodneigbor

44. Their opinions on ghouls, feral and not feral?

he feels sorry for the ferals and he believes they need to be put out of their misery.

and with normal ghouls, he has no problem, he believes they are like normal humans…tho first time when he saw a ghoul he was kinda scared, but Preston explained how are they like and no need to be scared.

45. Do they scavenge for their supplies or simply buy them?

fuckin cheapskate would break his own back for some desk fans and other useless things than to buy them! tho he buys ammo and food.

46. Are they the type to get distracted and go off to an unknown nearby location or do they stay on track?

if he is on a mission, he does stay on his track…but if he is off exploring, he goes to investigate places (but only if his companion is close to him, he is very scared when he is alone!)

47. How do they sleep? Are they picky about where and how or can they sleep basically anywhere?

at the begining he was so picky! now he prefers to sleep where is safe, tho he still comments on the bed’s state, or sleeps on couch.

48. What’s their favorite radio station and song? (post-apocalypse)

DIAMOND CITY RADIO!!

49. What’s their favorite post-apocalyptic food? Are they a picky eater? Do they know how to cook?

call him Chef Vaughn! he loves to cook! even with these radiated food, he manages to clear them out and make a delicious meal. his companions loves what he cooks, and Nick feels sorry he cant eat lmao. he loves Deathclaw steak, ribeye steak, radstag steak, any food before the war (except Deviled Eggs - how can some eggs still be good after 210 years?), radscorpion ommlete, noodle soup…like everything, except meat from bugs. also he likes to give to the companions that leave Sanctuary often lunchboxes with food, like Hancock gets one, Piper gets 2 for her and Nat, Nick gets one for Ellie, Preston gets one, even MacCready gets one.

50. What’s their favorite beverage? Do they drink alcohol?

he likes to drink wine and beer, but he doesnt mind other drinks!

51. Do they have any tag skills?

umm??

52. Anything they like to collect? (ex. Unique weapons, Bobbleheads)

yep! he loves to collect books (whatever is still intact), magazines, legendary weapons or special pieces of armor, bobbleheads…umm…human bones…(he was a medic in the war so maybe he is still fascinated by anatomy and stuff like that). 

 53. Are they good at disarming traps or do they constantly miss them?

he does actually manages to disarm them!