#also i do know that not all mummies were uniform but like considering. she would almost definetely have her heart in her chest

[tellytoys]

okay one thing about g3 cleo is that i like that they acknowledge that her organs are in canopic jars but like... her heart would still be in her body. literally for the reason they state in the show is why mummies would keep their hearts in real life

[futurequibblerjournalist]

I really really hope it's alright if I ask like,,, a 2n1

So 1st of all if Charity is like as obsessed w her friends as you make it sound,, do u think she's ever introduced them to Igor or vice versa?? If so what do you think it was like??

And for pt2 electric boogaloo LOL um I would really like to hear about your Avery :33 I hope thats alright

Aghhhh sorry for so many words and like,,,, anons,,,, you're literally flooded Nd I feel so bad for making more AGHH but I just love your blog

-Weed Anon LOL 🍃

Tw: talk of alcoholism and eating disorders further down.

You can ask all you'd like I promise I'm loving all the questions!! I feel very Debbie Ryan tucking hair behind her ear knowing you like my blog so much vjfnbjgnb

I don't think there's a universe where Charity doesn't introduce Igor to her friends. Perhaps a little sooner than she should sometimes too. I think they all react quite differently too.

Wilhelm would be all “oh my god you’ve got a boyfriend how exciting!” and then seconds later he’s all “is he really good for you though? Such a violent brute, if I were you I’d be worried he’d hurt me! What a horrible thought!” We’ve already established that Wilhelm and Igor do not get along and Igor would hate hate hate to have to be near him.

Aurora would be excited on her behalf but it would be very lowkey. She also doesn’t get the whole congrats on relationships sort of thing but she’d be happy that Charity is happy. I’m not sure how they’d react to each other, honestly I don’t think Aurora would say a whole lot to him but she’d have a little chat with Charity later on.

Severus already knows Igor, they’ve got a weird kind of friendship in a similar way as to how Severus and Charity has a bit of a weird sort of friendship as well. Severus got assigned to be Igor’s little transfer student buddy when he first got to Hogwarts and the two just sort of chill around each other tho Igor does annoy Sev more times than not lmao (I also have thoughts about these two in the context of shipping them soooo if you ever wanna hear about that ask me about crownest lmaooo). I’m not sure he’d care all that much but perhaps he might be in the group of surprised people because like,, look at them lmao

I don’t imagine Bruce to be particularly close with Charity so I don’t see him getting directly introduced though I do see him sharing a dorm room with Edmund and Edmund being the little complaining bitch he is would totally mention it. He’d probably be in disbelief at first and second he’d be a bit jealous because anyone with eyes can see that Charity is gorgeous though I doubt the feeling would last

Edmund is an interesting case. Charity thinks they’re besties but in reality Edmund has a fear for women and he would really just like to avoid Charity. She just doesn’t let that happen. Edmund also does not care for Igor. He thinks he’s stupid and obnoxious and loud and it’s incredibly unfair that Severus now shares a room with him after being assigned as his little Hogwarts buddy because Severus shared a room with Edmund first!!! (My all time favourite Sev ship is Sev and Edmund and with crownest also being a thing sometimes,,, well, let’s just say Edmund sometimes had a lot of reasons to not like Igor). Edmund’s main reaction to being told they’re dating is just “and I should care.. why??” Charity would giggle and say he’s silly and pat his shoulder and Edmund would wiggle off to the Slytherin showers like some worm while considering if he should burn the part of his uniform that she touched.

Look at this super fun sexy segue into the second question. Very mindful very demure.

My Edmund is to put it lightly a little bitch lmao. There’s so much to him. He’s a homophobic homosexual who’s engaged to an equally homophobic lesbian. He’s afraid of women and yet considers himself so much better and purer because he’s abstained from being with one for so long.

He grew up an only child in a Jewish home and he is a complete mummy’s boy. He copied his father in every way possible and he’s the spitting image of the man except for his mother’s light hair and her eating disorder. He dresses like he’s from a time twenty years ago and he speaks like he’s from the 1800s. He calls his fiancee a church bell and probably also a hedge-creeper. He wore round glasses and his hair slicked back like his father’s and his body is riddled with beauty marks. Picture Harold Lloyd with beauty marks and you’ve got him honestly.

He thinks he’s better than everyone else. Like the slippery little snake he is he constantly manages to escape trouble. His father has taught him that you are only as powerful as those you associate with and Edmund sticks to that so much!! This is seen in canon with how he evades getting thrown in Azkaban by claiming he was under the imperius case and getting away with it. Only when Voldemort rises again does he return to him because now power is once again within reach. It’s unknown whether or not Edmund escapes the second war without getting captured but I would not be surprised if he did.

It’s also noted in canon that he had an evil sense of humour seen with how he and Bruce tormented Mary together to the point of Lily bringing it up to Severus. In his adult life he’s cowardly and weak and slightly incompetent though I don’t think these are his only traits. I think those are just the ones that come out when he’s in a situation where he’s under pressure. Interestingly both Sirius and Lily have spoken about him with less disdain than they have for his remaining friends which makes me assume they does not consider him as much of a threat and perhaps more so a bother which honestly I think is so funny.

His favourite subjects in school were Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and he was an obnoxious know it all when it came to both. He’s got the most horrendous unreadable cursive writing that he got from his father and Slughorn curses to himself every time he’s got to correct his homework. He would carry around thick books everywhere he went and the fact that this kid was considered popular in any capacity is wild, but he had an aura of confidence and entitlement that allowed him to get away with much more than he should have been able to.

He was a whiny child, always sticking to his mother’s side rather than playing with other children despite his father having plenty of friends with kids he could have played with. He’d rather drink tea with his mummy or play in the pool with her. He hated getting dirty and still does and would come crying to his mother after getting a paper cut as if someone had chopped off part of his finger. He remained close with his mother for all of her life but their relationship was tainted by her alcoholism as he grew older and realised what was going on. Still, he named his first daughter after her.

And then there’s his relationship with Severus and his homosexuality of course which is,, oof that’s a whole other bag of worms. Maybe we’ll come back to that cause oh boy I’ve done it again this is so long lmao. Maybe once I’ve found a shipname for these two we can come back to them I can’t keep calling them emofaggot and calling it a day lmaoooo

Thank you so much for the asks and the kind words!!

[all-my-love-for-harry]

Show off.

summary: artemis likes to show his daddy off and harry takes every opportunity to make his son proud.

word count:

based on these requests:

"for the single parent series, could there be one where harry and the reader go to artemis’ school for like parent teacher interviews or like harry goes for a school father’s day kinda thing? thanks!"

and

"wait so what about artemis like showing his daddy off🥺 cause that bb just knows how awesome his dad is and he wants everyone to know it"

and

"For my shy little boy can you write something were parents go to schools to talk about their jobs and Artemis chooses Harry and introduces him as his that and harry gets all mushy and happy to talk about his job and tells funny/cute stories about Artemis and Y/n while they were on the road with him. Please."

and

"hi I love my shy little boy series! could you write something about Artemis calling or telling his friends at school that Harry’s his dad or like Harry attends Artemis school event??"

a/n: hi! sorry for taking so long, i haven't been inspired lately but here we are again! hope you enjoy!

you can find more of my shy little boy here

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･:

November, 2019.

Starting on a new school has never been easy, especially if school year has already started and you’re the last one to join. Making the decision of putting Artemis in another school wasn’t an easy one, but surely the most practical one. After moving in with Harry, Artemis’ school ended up too far from home, so his parents made the decision to choose another one that was closer to their house.

It was hard at first, the poor boy would cry trying to convince his mummy to let him stay, sometimes faking having the flu or a headache. Y/N would sigh and try to explain to him how he had to put on a little effort, she understood it was hard for him to leave his teacher, his friends, a routine he was already used to. However, closing off and refusing to talk to his classmates didn’t make things better.

Slowly but surely, Artemis started to accept the changes. He started talking to a few kids, opening up to the idea of making new friends. He’d talk about what he liked, disliked and, of course, he’d talk about his mummy and daddy.

“My daddy says we treat people with kindness!”

“My mummy packs me breakfast every day.”

Those were some of the things he’d usually say to his classmates. However he held back a little when it came to talk about Harry, having his mummy explain to him before how not everybody had the best intentions when it came to them, so sometimes it was better to not say too much. But Artemis couldn’t help it, he loved his daddy too much.

One day, he was at school sitting beside one of his friends, a little girl named Allison. The teacher had giving them permission to use the last minutes of the class to do whatever they wanted, and Artemis was coloring a book next to his friend.

"What's your daddy's name?" The girl asked.

"Harry," He smiled. "Harry Styles."

Much to his surprise, the blonde girl let out a high-pitched laugh while shocking her head. “No, he isn’t.” She stated. “Harry Styles’ a rock star. That’s what my mummy says.”

Artemis furrowed. At this point, he was well aware what his daddy’s job was, but to him Harry’s always been a normal person. The man who dated his mummy and now was his dad too. “He is!” Allison just shook her head again, making her pigtails move as well. It frustrated the boy how she seemed to not believe him, when he was obviously telling the truth.

So he crossed his arms across his chest, pouting. The teacher has noticed the little disagreement the kids had, and she secretly took the girl’s side. It had been a little over a month since Artemis had arrived to the school and she was yet to meet the boy’s dad, as Y/N was always the one who picked him up. Soon enough, the parents of the children started to show up, and the classroom became emptier.

There were a few kids left besides Artemis that were still waiting to be collected when Harry showed up. He was excited to meet his son’s teacher since he wasn’t able to before, he’s been pretty busy since the album release was approaching therefore his time was being consumed by meetings and last minute trips to the studio. He walked down the hallway with a big smile on his face, looking down at all the small humans with their parents. He must admit, if there was one thing he didn’t like about Artemis’ new school, it would be the uniforms. The tiny, navy blue polo his son had to wear under the long sleeve shirt with the logo of the school embroidered on his shirt was a little too formal on his opinion, but it was part of the rules.

Harry’s smile grew at the sight of his son waiting for him. “Daddy!” Artemis was the one who spotted him first, getting up from his chair and running towards him. “You came!”

“Of course I came.” Harry said, his hands ran through the mop of curls Artemis had. “Go for your bag, I’ll say hello to your teacher.”

Artemis did what his daddy told him, and when he passed next to Allison, he made an ‘I told you so’ expression. “Told you I wasn’t a bloody liar!” The little girl opened her mouth in offense, but to be fair she didn’t believe him when he told her.

“Hi, I’m Artemis’ dad.” Harry offered the teacher a smile as they shook hands. It was still surreal to him introducing himself as a father, and it never failed to put a smile on his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier, things have been a little hectic at work and I’ve been out of town.”

“Uh, It-it’s okay. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Styles.” The woman in front of him was nervous and he was sure she wasn’t aware who Artemis’ father was. “I don’t know if you’ve received the email yet, but we’re having a small gathering with the parents on Wednesday so they could come talk about their jobs to the kids and stuff.”

He nodded. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll talk to my girlfriend about it but you’ll see either of us here.” He gave her one last smile before he took Artemis’ hand in his. “Let’s go, baby. Say bye to your teacher.”

“Bye!” The little boy waved to her before turning his attention back to his daddy. They walked outside of the school at to his car, Harry listening closely to what Artemis was telling him. “Allison didn’t believe you were my daddy!”

“She didn’t?” He asked as he lifted Artemis to put him on his car seat. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“She said her mummy told her you were a rock star or something.” He shrugged. “But you can be both right? A rock star and my daddy?”

“Of course I can be both!” He exclaimed, kissing the top of his head.

//

Harry carried Artemis’ backpack inside while the small boy ran towards the living room, in look for his mummy. “She’s in her office, mate.”

“Is she working?” Harry hummed in confirmation.

While Y/N was working in her office, Harry helped Artemis clean up before they started lunch together. When the food was ready, she finally came out of the room and went to find her boys. “Hello, darlings.” She said.

“Mummy!” Artemis ran towards his mum and gave her a hug.

The family of three ate happily, conversation never dying down because of the small bubble of joy that couldn’t stop talking with his parents. He’d talk until he became too tired he had to be put down to his afternoon nap. Harry was putting everything in the dishwasher when Y/N came back down, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

“I met Artemis’ teacher today.” She hummed in response. “She uh, did she tell you about the parent thingy?”

“What?”

“You know, where parents go talk to the kids about their jobs.”

“Oh, I didn’t think they’d do that.”

“Have you gone to one?”

“Yeah, last year at Artemis’ old school. It was fun.”

“It’s on Wednesday.”

“I think it will be good if you go.” Harry turned around to see her, thinking she wasn’t serious. “What? You don’t think so?”

“No, no. It’s not that. I just thought you’d want to go.”

“I’m sure Artemis would want you there, your job is more interesting.” She joked, making hum frown.

“That’s not true.”

“You’re right. But i still think you should go."

//

Taking a deep breath, Harry entered the classroom. He has has a little wardrobe crisis trying to decide what should he wear to the event. He didn't want to be too formal, quickly deciding that a suit wouldn't be the his first choice. But he didn't want to be too casual either, his job might not require a tux and a tie but showing up in sweatpants and a hoodie wasn't a choice either. So he settled for a pair brown slacks that he paired with a white button up shirt and some gucci loafers.

He wanted to make his son proud so he has also prepared for any questions the kids might have. He didn't consider his job to be more important than the others, but the children would probably be interested when a man with an unconventional job walks in.

There were already a few parents standing in one side of the classroom when he arrived, and a man was in the middle of explaining what he did for a living while standing in the middle of the room. Harry immediately spotted Artemis sitting on a chair, however he was looking around the room trying to find his daddy.

When his hazel eyes met Harry's green ones, the little boy smiled widely, glad he was finally there. Harry made him a sign, silently telling him to pay attention to the other parents until it was Harry's turn.

It had been fifteen minutes since he arrived and he was finally next in line. Currently, a middle aged woman was explaining how she was an accountant and trying to make numbers sound interesting to a bunch of five year olds. Nonetheless, Harry clapped when the woman finished talking and that encouraged the kids to clap too.

The teacher made him a sign and Harry stepped in the middle of the room. "Hello, my name's Harry."

"That's my dad!" He heard Artemis exclaim from his seat.

"That's right." He chuckled. "I'm uh, i'm a musician, which means i make music for a living." He started saying. "We all like music, right?" The children cheered. "I love music, and the reason why i do what i do is to try and make people feel something through my music." Harry was actually trying to make it interesting, so he decided to add a twist. "My job also makes me travel the world constantly."

"Have you been to Japan?" One boy asked.

"I have, yes. I like to learn from the countries I visit, and Japan is one of our favorites. Right, pal?" He looked at Artemis for confirmation. "Last time I was there, I took my family to this beautiful place to eat. Unfortunately, they didn't have forks and we had to eat everything with chopsticks. My... girlfriend didn't know how to use them, and in one wrong move she sent flying a piece of sushi to the table next to us, can you believe it?!" The kids laughed.

"What else do you do?"

"I tour the world, and bring my music anywhere I can. Have you ever been to a concert?" Some kids nodded and some others shook their heads. "Well, concerts are a lot of fun, you'll see when you get older. One time i forgot my passport at home, and couldn't get on my flight. I had a concert to give!"

"And what did you do?"

"Artemis here delivered it, right son?" The curly haired boy nodded shyly at his dad.

"Where do you get your inspiration from?" One little girl asked, raising her hand before speaking.

He smiled, not expecting that question from a child. "From life, honestly. As you get older you try and find a way of expressing yourself and art is very important. You see, there's a lot of ways we can comunicate without having an actual conversation. It can be through a painting, or a poem, perhaps even dancing. I chose to do it on a song. What i write about? Things that makes me happy. And what makes me happy? Well, that's easy. My family."

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

taglist!

@myfavfanficsever @odetostep @la-cey @cock-a-doodely-doo @awkwardbullfrog @mellamolayla @moorgannn @bagtan-serendipity @awesomebooklover17 @finelineribs @sunnybusiness @beanholland @sweetenerstyle @cronias13 @vhsharry @maisley @seasidecrowbar @stylesfics-xx @autumnpauley20 @fineline-hs1 @stephaniemalvie @immajustreadwritereblog @jadert15 @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @abundanceofsoph @harrysthicccthighs @megaprincesscakes

[aworldinsideaperson]

A Well Kept Secret - George Weasley (Part One)

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Food mentions, talking about food, one night stand (no smut) having a child, getting pregnant, being pregnant,

Summary: A one night stand with George produces a child and a secret.

Trope Series: Secret baby.

A/N: This one is going to be in two parts (possibly three we will have to see) but I just started writing this last night and couldn’t stop so here it is. 

@izzytheninja​ @youto-believein​

It was a chilly evening in the Fall of 1997 when it all started, two lifelong friends meet in a London pub for a drink or two to take the edge off of their worries and fears as war wages around them. A red haired man sat beside a girl He’d known for the last nine years, they were nearly three drinks deep as their fingers brushed. With a soft intake of breath they looked to each other, her eyes wide as she stared up at him; his eyes had trained on hers as his tongue slid over his lips then dropped to her parted lips. That’s when he knew it was over and his life would never be the same. Little did he know how one night of pure bliss with his schoolyard crush would change both their lives in the ways that it did.

It was only one night. It was only supposed to be one night no matter the feeling that had arisen as they kissed on her bed that night and whispered “I love you” in the dark. The world was far too dangerous to start anything more than that one night and so they kept it at that though it was hardly a surprise to anyone when their glances to each other were lingering or their goodbyes just a touch too long. It was eight weeks before Y/N realized something was off.

The missed period. That’s what did it for her. The most obvious of symptoms but now as she looked down at the stick waiting for an answer things fell into place. She was sick to her stomach so often her diet consisted mostly of crackers the last week, she was exhausted though she had chalked it up to the stress of the current situations the suddenness of it started to make sense. Her mind ran through a checklist of symptoms her mother had claimed during her second pregnancy and with each check mark left her mind became more certain and as the timer went off and her eyes focused on the results she wasn’t as shocked as she should have been.

She was having George Weasley’s baby.

With a hand pressed to her stomach her mind raced. The Weasley family were targets, and England wasn’t safe. So with a single letter owled to her parents Y/N was packing her bags and was off to the states.

She settled into a small town in Missouri. Hermann, population now 2,401 with one on the way. With her life’s savings she paid cash from a tiny shack of a house in the center of town and tried to live her muggle life. At only 19 she was receiving dirty and pitying looks alike as he stomach started to grow beneath her waitress uniform.

At 29 weeks pregnant she received the news, a letter from her parents proclaiming the fall of Voldemort and the end of the war, they begged her to come home. As she looked down at her swollen stomach she hesitated and wrote them a single word response. No.

She had planned to return to London, her home for her whole life, but fear continued to stop her. Voldemort was gone, the Weasley family had lived, George had lived, her family was safe, but the thought of showing up so many months later after no words to George frightened her beyond any unforgivable curse. And so she did it alone. She gave birth to their son alone. She held a first birthday alone, and then a second, and a third all alone. Each year as his birthday drew to a close Y/N wondered if she should write to George, if she should tell him of their son, tell him about his big brown eyes and thick red hair; to tell him of all the mischief their three year old caused. And every year she remembered that it was meant to only be one night. The night had been filled with passion and confessions of love but she not only had to worry about rejection for herself but for the small boy that crawled into her bed when the wind was too loud and begged for just one more bedtime story before she turned out the light. He thought his father was gone, that he had loved him and wanted him but that now he was gone. She couldn’t put her son in a position to be rejected. Not by his own father.

And so she stayed. She stayed away from England, away from her family, away from George. Until an owl arrived on her doorstep 2 weeks after Graysen’s third birthday, an envelope at its feet. With a sigh she took the envelope inside and tore into it, inside was an invitation to her sister’s wedding. It read...

Please join us for the wedding of Alexa & Dawson

The First of September, 2001 at six o’clock in the evening

Dawson’s Family Home

Painswick England

Reception to Follow

Also inside the envelope was a letter, a plea from Alexa to come home, to “Bring Graysen and come home. Just a few weeks. Be my maid of honor and let me meet my nephew.” And so, filled with guilt, Y/N booked the plane tickets and a week later the two of them flew to London.

**********

Leaving the safety of the home she had built made Y/N’s blood run cold, on edge every time she left her parents house, every flash of red hair was a Weasley in her mind and every time it wasn’t she’d breathe a sigh of relief. Until the day the air caught in her lungs as a tall red haired man spotted her across the street. Identical to the one that played in her mind all the time.

He raced across the street and threw his arms around her, barely taking notice of the small red haired boy holding tightly to her hand. “Y/N!” He exclaimed. “How long has it been?”

Y/N used her free hand to pat him on the back. “Almost four years, it’s good to see you Freddie.” She pulled away, her eyes darting to her son, standing at her feet looking up at the man with curiosity. It was then that Fred looked down too and in that moment he realized her long kept secret and she knew it.

“And who’s this?” His voice tentative as he looked between her and the boy.

“This is Graysen.” She smiled and crouched down beside him, the two of them now looking up at Fred. “Graysen, this is one of Mummy’s friends from school, can you say hello to Fred?”

With a glint in his eyes a grin spread across his face. “Hello Fred!”

Fred now too crouched down to a closer height. “Well hello to you too Graysen,” Fred held out his hand and Graysen grabbed it. “How old are you?”

Graysen smiled and jumped up and down. “I just turned three in July!”

Fred faked a shocked face. “Three in July? You’re awfully big for three.”

“Mommy said I got it from my Daddy.”

Fred mumbled under his breath. “I bet you did.”

Y/N gave him a smile and picked Graysen up. “Well we best get going, I have to pick up my dress for Alexa’s wedding, it’s in two weeks.”

Fred nodded. “Right, well I’ll let you get back to your errands, but only if you agree to come to dinner at the Burrow tonight. You spent so much time at our house during breaks Mum will be thrilled to see you.”

“Oh Fred I don’t know I wouldn’t want to impose.” She said, shaking her head vigorously.

“You wouldn’t be, you’re invited. Please come, bring Graysen and your partner.” He insisted, looking to the little boy.

Her voice became small, “Actually it’s just Gray and I.”

“All the more reason to come then.” He was certainly persistent on the matter.

Y/N smiled softly at him, “You’re not going to accept no are you?”

He shook his head, “Not this time.”

“I’ll be there, six as usual?”

“Mum does like to keep a tight meal schedule these days.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Perfect.” With that the two parted ways and Y/N regretted coming home.

**********

Fred strolled into the shop, two paper bags in hand, each filled with food from their favorite muggle dinner in London. Walking up to his brother and setting the food on the counter Fred narrowed his eyes at his brother. “George?” He began, “You remember like 4 years ago, there was a night you didn’t come home?”

George turned from his brother as the corners of his lips turned up at the memory.“Yeah, why?”

“Where were you?”

George rolled his eyes and sighed. “I told you before, I’m not telling you, I was safe that’s what matters.”

Fred rolled his eyes too and mumbled under his breath. “I don’t know if you were as safe as you could have been.”

George turned to him in confusion “What do you mean?”

Fred shook his head. “Nothing, just make sure you’re ready to go by six, you know mum doesn’t like us being late.”

**********

At half past five Y/N sat in front of her parents' empty fireplace, Graysen playing on the floor in front of her as a million thoughts raced through her mind, how could she have said yes? How could she have agreed to dinner with the family of her son, a boy they didn’t know existed, that they didn’t know was theirs. She had considered leaving him with her parents but Fred has specifically invited the two of them and so as the clock struck quarter to six she wrapped Graysen up in her arms and the two of them apparated to the Burrow. Placing Graysen on the ground and holding tightly to his hand Y/N knocked on the front door three times.

When the door swung open Molly Weasley stood on the other side, face bright and smiling and she pulled Y/N in for a hug and ushered her into the home.

It was as bright and warm as it had always been, filled with noise and people.

“Who’s this?” Molly asked smiling down at Graysen looking around the magical house in wonder.

“This is Graysen, my son.”

Molly looked at her with wide eyes, “Your son?”

“Yes, he’s why I left the county.”

Molly gave her a smile and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You did the right thing dear, it wasn’t safe.”

“I know, but I should have come back sooner.” Her voice was soft and filled with sadness.

“What’s done is done, now come, we’re all sitting down to dinner.”

Walking into the kitchen felt so normal, she’d taken so many meals here in her youth it felt so natural to take the seat she’d always held, right beside George, though his seat seemed to be empty.

The table filled, Aruther and Molly at the heads, Ginny and Harry, Hermione and Ron, Bill, Fleur, even Percy and his wife had joined the fray tonight but the twin’s seats still remained empty at six oh one when there was a loud crack and the two cackling gingers appeared.

“Sorry we’re late mum, one last customer and all that, you know how it is.” Fred smiled as their laughter died down and they looked to the table.

When their eyes locked the room went silent. Y/N and George just stared at each other, until Graysen pulled on her arm for her attention. That’s when George looked to the small boy beside her and his heart soared then sank. Silently he went to his seat, the one beside Y/N, just as it has always been back when they were younger. Though this time they stayed nearly silent as they filled their plates and ate, Y/N keeping a close eye on the boy next to her as he fed himself small spoonfuls of the concoction he’d made of his plate.

“So Y/N,” Fred spoke. “You introduce Georgie to your son?”

Y/N swallowed and shook her head. “George? This is my son Graysen.”

George leaned around her to get a good look at the boy, the red hair and the big brown eyes, there was no doubt that he was a Weasley. “Hello Graysen, it’s nice to meet you. I’m George.”

With a full spoon still in his mouth Graysen attempted a smile and waved his little hand in George’s direction. The normal conversation resumed and George turned to her and asked. “How old is he?”

“He just turned three.” She stated, her eyes trained closely on her plate.

“He seems like a sweet boy.”

“He is, he’s adorable and an absolute terror at times. His tantrums have been known to shake walls.”

Arthur chuckled, jumping into the conversation. “You know, the twins were like that too when they were young, thought they were going to bring the whole house down once or twice.”

Y/N smiled and stayed silent, the rest of dinner focused entirely on the food in front of her and keeping Gray’s mess contained to his plate. Dinner was cleared and everyone ushered themselves into the living room, Graysen and Victoire sat in the middle of the floor playing, everyone else sat around them on couches and chairs. It was all polite conversation until Fred turned to her with a mischievous smile, the same one his twin got, the same one that Graysen got, the one that indicated a terrible, terrible, idea.

“So Y/N,” Fred began, “Who’s Graysen’s dad?”

Y/N tried to smile but the panic was clear on her face. “Wow, right to the hard hitters.”

“Shouldn’t be a hard question.” His tone flat, no hint of laughter in his voice. And so the interrogation began.

“You don’t know him.”

“Is he a wizard?”

“Yes.”

“Come from a big family?”

“No just him and his one sibling.”

“A twin?”

“No.”

“Parents names?”

“Mark and Anna.”

“What happened to him?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Did he go to hogwarts with us?”

“Yes.”

“Gryffindor?”

“Yes.”

Fred paused his rapid fire and his eyebrows rose. “Really?”

That was when it dawned on her, she’d slipped. There were only four Gryffindor boys their year. Fred knew it wasn’t him, and there was only one other redhead. “Fuck.” Y/N stood up quickly, picking Graysen up in her arms as she walked swiftly toward the door. “I’ve gotta go.”

George stood up after her following the two of them to the door. “Y/N wait!” He shouted but without a second thought a crack filled the air and she was gone.

George stormed back into the room, his eyes full of rage. “I can’t believe you!” He yelled his anger directed at his twin as the rest shuffled from the room.

Fred huffed. “Why are you angry with me? I was just asking questions about his father.” A sly smirk on his face as he leaned back in his chair.

“Because you know it’s me and you pushed her anyway!” George grew more angry by the minute.

“I did that for you! Do you really think she was going to tell you when she’s kept it from you this long already? No!” Fred now stood, face to face with his twin.

George choked on his words, clenching and releasing his fists as he tried not to attack the man before him. After a moment, his breathing calmed and his voice steadied. “That’s not a decision you get to make for her or for me. Now I have to go fix this and I’ll be lucky if she lets me in.” And with that George turned and walked out the door.

[yellowsuitcase]

Betwixt; Draco Malfoy: Chapter - The Job

Introduction(please read!)

First and foremost, warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter, but as a forewarning this story will contain mentions of sexual assault as well as swearing/strong language, and smut.

There are some characters in this story that are mine, however, the majority of them are based off of characters in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. I do not support JK Rowling.

This is a Royalty AU, magic as seen in the Harry Potter series does not exist within this universe.

This series is also being posted on Wattpad @Tonix27 and it is currently In progress / Completed

I plan to create a Spotify playlist for this story, when I do it'll be posted in my masterlist for Betwixt.

Cover and Beta work by @10amnoodles​ on Instagram and Twitch

Please do not repost. There are trends on Tik Tok of people taking sections of writing from their favorite fanfics and posting them, I do not want this done with my work. However, you may post a screenshot of the fanfic's cover with the summary.

A/N: First chapter of the series I’ve been working on! I’m so excited for you guys to read this!!!!

Summary: To make ends meet after her mother's death, Y/N, a young mom, living within the kingdom of Sithrawl, lands a job at the castle working for the Royal Family, specifically for the prince, Draco Malfoy. What starts as a way to make money for her son quickly turns into an unexpected romance between her and the prince. Y/N soon finds herself stuck between her responsibilities as a mother and her longing for  love and adventure

Warning(s): Swearing

Word Count: 5.9k

Credits: @10amnoodles​ Check her out! her artwork is incredible and this series wouldn’t be happening without her :)

Directory

I shut the rickety door and leaned against it, the weight of my body keeping it closed. A deep sigh left my lips, and I relaxed my shoulders, finally feeling safe. It was silent in my home. Jasper must be asleep. I pushed myself off the door and crept around the corner. The wall was cold to the touch, and I was surprised to feel an indent underneath my fingertips. I pulled my hand away to see a long crack embedded in the plaster. There were already so many in this damn house, not to mention the little holes in the roofing and the lack of insulation. It was getting colder every day.

Sighing to myself, I made a mental note of the new damage and peeked into the bedroom. There he was, his dirty blonde hair cast over his eyes as he slept. I put my hand on his shoulder and gently shook him, waking him up. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. Upon seeing me, he jumped up. “Mummy!” he said excitedly. My heart swelled as I took my boy into my arms and hoisted him onto my hip. 

“How are you, my love? Hungry?” I ask. He nodded eagerly. I chuckled lightly at his toothy grin. He was always hungry, but weren’t all six-year-olds? Luckily for him, I managed to get some bread for free down at the market. Mrs. Weasley, the kind woman at the bakery, has been sneaking me food for the past two weeks. And although I was grateful for it, I was also ashamed. I would’ve been able to pay for her tasty treats, but my family’s funds had been stretching thinner and thinner ever since my mother passed. 

She died on the first of October, just as the cold was setting in. It wasn’t sudden; she’d been sick for a month or so before finally laying to rest. I had tried to take up her old job. She worked as a maid for a relatively wealthy family, the Greengrass’. However, when I knocked upon their door, a middle-aged woman dressed in my mother’s old uniform answered. That had told me everything I needed to know. Since then, I’ve been scouring the village for potential work. I’d managed to get a few odd jobs here and there, but nothing long term, and I needed to feed my boy. 

“What did you get today, Mum?” Jasper questioned. I turned to him and kissed his forehead. 

“Just some bread. Is that alright?” I asked hopefully. He’d never been the type of kid to complain, but I knew that, as he grew, so did his appetite. Bread was quickly becoming dull. Sooner or later, he’d voice his distaste for it. To my surprise, Jasper smiled and squeezed his arms around my neck, giving me a tight hug. “Yep!” he replied cheerfully. My anxiety quickly faded away. I kissed his cheek and sat him down at the table. 

“Did you do anything fun today?” I asked as I began slicing the loaf. Jasper hummed, thinking to himself. 

“I pretended to be a cow!” he declared, looking proud of himself. Jasper had always been quite the fan of cows. His favorite activity was trotting around the house, mooing. In my opinion, it was the cutest thing ever, but I may be a bit biased. 

“Did you? And how did you do that?” I asked, eyebrows raised. Jasper smirked and puffed out his chest. “I ate grass!” he announced loudly. I shook my head in bewilderment. “You ate grass?” Jasper nodded proudly. “Yup! And look,” he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a bundle of green grass, dumping it onto the table. “I saved some for you,” he finished, pushing the greenery towards me. I did my best to hide my grimace and gently placed his plate of bread in front of him. “That’s...wonderful, uhm, sweetheart, it’s not good to eat grass. You could get sick,” I said quietly, trying to deliver this news gently. A frown appeared on Jasper’s face, and he dropped his head, his eyes now staring at his lap. 

“Oh, Jas, it’s alright. I know you were only playing, but humans can’t eat grass,” I said while taking my own seat at the table. He reluctantly looked up, his pouty lips on full display. “Come on, love, eat some of your bread. The sun is going down, and I don’t like washing dishes in the dark,” I spoke sternly, trying to get him to eat. He sighed but picked up his bread and shoved it in his mouth. I made sure he didn’t choke since he had a tendency to take bigger bites than he should. I gnawed on my own piece.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. It was nearly nightfall. Who would be at the door at this time? I quickly got to my feet as the person knocked again. “Who’s that, Mum?” Jasper asked, his mouth full of bread. “Finish your bite before speaking, Jas. And I don’t know, let’s find out.” I approached the door, brushed off my dress, and turned the knob. Standing outside was Ron Weasley, the bakers’ youngest son. 

“Ron? Come in, come in. What’s going on?” I asked, a bit concerned he was here to tell me his parents wouldn’t be able to give me food anymore. The ginger-haired boy rushed past me and into my home and eagerly slapped a flyer onto the table. “Look,” he told me as he pointed to the parchment. I gave him a skeptical look but walked over to the table and picked it up. 

The Malfoy family is seeking a servant to the young prince. If interested, arrive at the castle at dawn on the 19th of October.

SALARY: 4 galleons per hour

The person selected to be the Prince’s servant will furthermore reside in the castle.

As I took in the information on the flyer, Jasper took the parchment from my grasp. He held it out in front of him and stared at it intently. I considered berating him for taking what doesn’t belong to him, but I chose not to, and instead, I turned to Ron, who had an enormous grin on his face. “Ron, you can’t be serious…”

“It’s perfect! It’s four galleons an hour, and if you’re working dawn till dusk, that’s roughly eleven hours. Forty-four galleons a day, Y/N. You can’t pass this up. You’d be mad not to at least try,” he told me. I wasn’t quite sold, “Yeah, that sounds like a dream, but what would I…” I paused and held my hand up to Ron, signaling him to give me a moment. Then I faced Jasper. “Darling, put your plate in the sink and go wash up; I’ll be there soon to get you ready for bed, alright?” I instructed him. His pouty lips returned. 

“But I wanna know what’s going on!” the boy insisted. He dropped the paper, crossed his arms over his chest, and promptly glared at me. I held back my laugh at his attempt at intimidation and put a hand on my hip. “Do as I say.” Jasper sighed but slid off his chair and trod off to the bathroom. I turned back to Ron. “If I live at the castle, how can I take care of Jasper? I can’t just leave him here alone; he’s only six, not to mention he’s ill,” I explained as I picked the parchment back up again. Ever since Jasper had turned four, he started having trouble breathing. There had been times where I was unsure if he’d survive through the night. Ron knew about this, but he wasn’t budging. “Y/N, the castle isn’t far. You could sneak out at dusk and spend the night with Jasper, no problem.”

“With all due respect, Ron, I don’t think it’ll be that easy. I’d have to get past people in the castle, the guards, and who knows who else?” I said, shaking my head. My eyes drifted to the flyer in my hand. A servant to the prince. What did that even mean? There was a serious lack of detail in the advertisement. My lip curled in distaste. The Royal Family was known to be quite the arrogant bunch. Malfoy, their surname, directly translates to ‘bad faith’. They didn’t treat their citizens well; nearly every town outside of Orton’s walls was neglected. Totbury, my town, especially.

Nevertheless, the Malfoy’s knew that, despite treating their people terribly, people would scramble for the chance to land this job. Simply based on the look of the family’s servants, they weren’t looking for people like me. If they found out where I live, they’ll surely dismiss me.

“Y/N, you’re underestimating yourself. That castle has numerous secret passageways, just find one of those, and you’re all set. And even if that doesn’t work, then you just make an excuse. Say the Prince himself sent you into the city, what are the guards going to say to that?” Ron argued. I threw him a look of confusion as I put the flyer down, my eyes lingering on the young prince. “How would you even know about secret passageways?” I asked. Ron cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t believe they exist?” he asked incredulously. I scoffed and walked over to the sink. 

“Ron, they’re only rumors. I’m sure they have a couple of lesser-known corridors, but not a secret passageway. That’s absurd,” I began rinsing off the plates and silverware, “And besides, I wouldn’t get chosen. Have you forgotten who I am? They’re not going to hire a peasant from Totbury, Ronald. I mean, have you seen the sheer amount of guards that line up around the Prince? They won’t let anyone touch him, so what makes you think they’d let me be his personal servant?” I asked, not really expecting a legitimate answer. However, it seemed as though Ron had all the answers that day. 

“That’s easy, just lie. Say you’re from Orton. The population is big enough that they wouldn’t know the difference. And it’s not like the King and Queen even leave the castle. I bet they couldn’t tell the difference between a Sithrawliean from a Perwenese,” Ron claimed. Perwen was the neighboring kingdom to Sithrawl.

“That may be true, but even if I lied, I don’t look the part. I’ve got maybe two dresses, and they both have holes in them. They’ll see right through me,” I pointed out yet another problem with Ron’s plan while I scrubbed the chipped plates in my sink. He remained silent for a moment but then snapped his fingers. 

“You’re about the same age as Ginny, aren’t you?” he asked, eyes looking hopeful. Indeed, I was around his sister’s age. I told him so, and he smiled. “Then you could borrow one of her dresses, in fact, I think Mum just bought her a new one!” he suggested excitedly. Once I put down the now clean plates, I dried my hands and spun around to face Ron. 

“I’m not taking Ginny’s new dress; that’s ridiculous,” I replied. Ron opened his mouth to retaliate, but I interrupted him. “Look, I appreciate you looking out for Jasper and me, but I can’t...I can’t just lie to the Royal Family. And I don’t want to leave my son at home all day.” 

“But haven’t you already been doing that? You’ve been scouring the streets for weeks looking for a job. I just thought that maybe this would be a good—”

I cut him off, my patience lost. “Yes, well, you thought wrong! I’m not going off and living in a lavish castle while my child is all alone in this shithole. It’s unfair to him, and I’m not doing it. End of story.” 

Ron’s previously bright smile had faded into a regretful frown. He nodded his head and looked at the floor as if he was afraid to look me in the eye. I began to feel guilt seep into my stomach. He was only trying to help, and here I was giving him a hard time. Nice going, Y/N.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for suggesting it. I’ll just...get going, and don’t worry, I’ll tell Mum you say hello,” Ron said solemnly as he headed for the door. I held my tongue and walked him out, waving as he strode down the road. When I closed the door behind him, I let out a heavy sigh and ran my hands through my hair. There was no need for me to have acted like such a pain, but alas, the apology Ron deserves would have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I need to care for my boy.

--------

{The next morning}

--------

I woke with a start, sitting straight up in my bed. My back was drenched with sweat, and my skin felt hotter than hell. I had no clue as to why I'd woken up in such a state, but I didn't have the energy to care. Slowly, as to not wake Jasper, I lifted the covers and slid out of our bed. As I got to my feet and walked into the kitchen, I noticed the sun wasn’t even up yet. I stepped closer to the window and peered out, looking for the town clock. When I spotted it, I saw that it was roughly half-past five. Dawn wasn’t until seven.

Exhausted, I rubbed my eyes lightly and turned around. There on the table was the flyer. I stepped towards it and lifted it up. “...arrive at the castle at dawn…” My head turned towards the window once again. If I got ready now, I could make it. But did I dare? I’d have to find someone to watch Jasper. Does Ron’s offer even stand now? I supposed there was only one way to find out. I rushed to the bathroom and quickly turned on the water in the bath. A slow stream trickled out of the spout. 

“Come on,” I whispered. As if the universe had heard me, the water pressure grew stronger, and the tub began to fill. Anxiously, I stripped my clothing and jumped inside, despite the lack of water. We always kept a wooden bowl by the bathtub, so I reached for it and dunked it under the faucet, letting it gather enough liquid before I dumped it onto my head. The temperature was less than ideal, but I made do, and within fifteen minutes, I was out of the bath and drying off.

Quickly, I threw on my dress, slipped on my shoes, and ran out the door, but not before kissing a sleeping Jasper goodbye. He’ll be okay, I assured myself. The Weasleys were luckily only a few blocks down, so I hustled down the street and up to their door. Yet, once I found myself on their cozy porch, I was unable to knock. My fist hovered above the wooden door, decorated with fresh winter flowers. It’s now or never, a voice in my head whispered. Somehow, I found my courage and rapped my knuckle against the firm wood.

After only a few moments, Mr. Weasley opened the door. “Y/N? What brings you here so early? Has something happened?” he asked initially. Then he saw my wet hair and my shivering frame. “Good heavens! Come inside, you’ll freeze,” he exclaimed, motioning for me to come towards him. I scampered in, and Mr. Weasley shut the door. I could tell he was bursting with questions, but I filled him in before he could speak. 

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley. I’m here because yesterday Ronald stopped by and told me the Royal Family was looking for a servant. And well, at first, I wasn’t going to apply for it, but now...now I wish to,” I spoke softly. The man stood tall as he processed this information. 

“Well, that sounds grand. But if I may, why are you here?” he questioned. Before I could tell him, Ron entered the foyer from around the corner. “Y/N? You’re here, have you changed your mind?” he asked, his voice sounding hopeful. With a bit of lingering hesitation, I nodded my head. “I have.”

Ron smiled brightly. “Brilliant, wait here,” he instructed before he headed into a different room, leaving his father and me by the door. Soon enough, however, he emerged with a green and white dress. It was paired with a leather brown underbust corset. Although simple, it was perfect. “That’s beautiful, wow. Are you sure about this?” I checked with Ron. He nodded and motioned behind him. 

“Ginny’s awake; she’ll help you into it,” he told me. Right on cue, a sweet young girl with long red hair strolled into the foyer. She waved at me softly, and I waved back. 

“Splendid, off you go then. Ginny, find her a towel to dry her hair, won’t you?” Mr. Weasley asked his daughter. She nodded, took me by the hand, and dragged me into what I assumed was her room. The Weasley’s home looked bigger than the rest in Totbury, but I never suspected that one of their children would have their own bedroom. I was led to the center of Ginny’s room. She shut the door and quickly began helping me out of my day dress. 

“Are you nervous?” she asked immediately. Her inquiry caught me off guard and reminded me of the butterflies in my tummy. I scrambled for an answer as she wrapped my hair in a dark brown towel.

“Of course, I am. I’m leaving my son alone all day,” I told her finally. Ginny smiled softly as she laid my dress on her bed, leaving me in my undergarments. She knew I had dodged her question but didn’t mention it.

“We can have him stay with us today if you want. It’s really no problem,” Ginny offered. This wasn’t the first time the Weasley’s had said they could watch Jasper. While it was very kind of them, I never took them up on it; I couldn’t. My mother never gave me over to another family when she went to work. She would always tell me, “Don’t go outside. I’ll return before nightfall.” And that was that. I stayed put and waited for her to come home. Sure, it was a lonely childhood, but she did what she had to do to provide for me. Now, I wanted to do that for my own child, but it was becoming clearer to me that I wouldn’t be able to do things like my mother. If I get the job, I’ll be in the castle, I won’t be able to come running if something happens. Deep down, I knew the safest option for my boy was to let him stay with the Weasleys.

“Are you sure?” I asked. Ginny smiled and nodded her head. “Of course. He’ll be safe and sound while you do what you need to do.” I gnawed on my lip as she slipped the dress over my head and onto my body. 

“I really appreciate this, you know? Things have just been… difficult lately, and I’m trying to do right by Jasper, but I’m still figuring out how, if that makes sense,” I said to her, not really knowing why I was suddenly confiding in her. Ginny was only a year younger than me, twenty-one. We’d never talked much growing up. Better late than never, I suppose.

“You’re doing great, Y/N. Don’t be so hard on yourself, seriously,” Ginny said gently while she began tying up my corset. I took a moment to admire myself in the ornate mirror in front of me. I was now adorned in an ankle-length, deep green dress. It was significantly nicer than any piece of clothing I’d ever owned. 

“Where did you get this, Ginny? It’s so beautiful,” I asked. Ginny shrugged as she pulled and adjusted the fabric, seemingly her final touches.

“I’m not sure. Mum never said where she got it. But it’s gorgeous on you.” I felt my face flush as I stared back at myself in the mirror. I looked unfamiliar. Hesitantly, I gave Ginny a little twirl, feeling a grin creep onto my lips as the skirt flared around me in a perfect circle. I felt young. I felt new.

“Thank you for lending it to me. Hopefully, everything goes well, and I’ll make enough money to buy you many more dresses such as this one,” I said, smiling at Ginny. Then I caught sight of a nearby window. The sun wasn’t in the sky quite yet, but the darkness of the night was beginning to lift. “Speaking of which, I’d better get going. I’ll be back before nightfall to get Jasper; he should still be sleeping at home,” I rambled while heading for the door, Ginny close behind.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go fetch him. You’re right though, you’d better get a move on; sun’ll be up in an hour.” I nodded and tore the towel from my head, letting my semi-dry and now wavy hair fall to my shoulders and back. The other Weasleys lifted their heads as I rushed to the door. I quickly waved goodbye and said my thanks as I ran outside, the chorus of their farewells barely reaching my ears. I was already several paces down the street. 

Luckily for me, I knew my way to the castle. Once I reached my teenage years, I’d often sneak through the woods and journey to the capital. And when I got near enough, I’d take a right and go the long way ‘round. That way, I could get up close and personal to the walls of Orton. I couldn’t see anything, of course, but I loved to sit my back against the cool stone bricks and simply listen to the hustle and bustle. As a young girl, I often daydreamed of what life might be like within those walls. Now, I may get the chance to find out.

The trip was just how I’d remembered it, although a bit shorter. First, I’d walk straight between the long stretches of farmland. Sometimes I’d even get to see livestock. But after that, the land would transition into dense forest, filled with various wildflowers as well as a little creek. Once through there, one found themselves at the start of a cobblestone road leading straight to the gates of Orton. That’s where I was now. The sun was beginning to pierce the sky, and I didn’t feel ready. Then I thought of Jasper, and my foot moved forwards, the other following after it. Soon enough, I was face to face with two tall men dressed in silver armor. Behind them, cast iron doors concealing the city beyond them.

“State your name and business,” the man on the left said. His eyes wouldn’t even meet mine. Bile tempted to spill into my mouth, but I swallowed it down and did as he asked.

“Y/N of Orton. I come to find work, specifically for the position at the castle,” I said in a tone as confident as I could muster. The guard raised his eyebrows. 

“I’ve never seen you or heard of you. You certain you’re from here?” he asked, jutting his finger towards the doors. I nodded firmly. Fake it till you make it.

“Yes, sir. I haven’t been home in many months as I’ve been looking after my cousin in Totbury. He’s been very ill, and I’ve been afraid to leave his side. Yet, I fear I am without much money. Hence why I’m here now.” I looked at the men, trying to gauge whether or not they detected my lies. I’d only just cooked up that tall tale fifteen minutes ago, and I didn’t have anything past that. My fingers squeezed each other behind my back as I waited for them to reply. One looked to the other, who shrugged, then they turned back to me.

“Very well, welcome back,” he said. My sigh of relief was covered up by the loud creaking of the doors as the men pushed them open, revealing the awaking city. I quickly walked through them before the guards could change their minds. Mother of God. I couldn’t believe I was actually here. But I knew I didn’t have time to explore, I had to get to the castle. Hardly anyone was outside their homes yet, so I took off running, my worn shoe soles slapping on the cobblestone. I didn’t know my way, of course. I was simply going by the spiral at the top of a tower. I could see it from the city streets, so I rushed through the city’s twist and turns until arriving at a long stone bridge. It led all the way to a tall archway, beyond it, the entrance to the castle. 

I did my best not to break out into a sprint and instead speed-walked across it, wondering why there was nobody else in sight. I didn’t have time to ponder it further as I had already made it to the entrance. I told the guards here the same thing I’d said to the ones at the gates. They let me in seconds after I said I was there for the job opening.

The beauty of the castle stopped me in my tracks. Candles flickered above me in the high-hanging chandeliers, their light shining on the polished wooden floors. Gold framed portraits decorated the warm stone walls. Everything was so clean, so elegant. My eyes had no idea where to look. Get a hold of yourself. You’re not here to look around. I scanned the foyer but realized I had no idea where to go. But then a soft voice startled me.

“It’s up the stairs and to the left, dear. Better hurry. The Prince is almost done with his breakfast.” I turned around to see a short old woman with stark blonde hair. At first glance, she reminded me of my mother. She smiled when she saw my face. “Go on, wouldn’t want to be late now,” she ushered. I hastily nodded my head as I hurried up the steps, taking a left just as she had told me. I was now facing a long hallway, at the end of which were open doors leading into a large room. As I drew nearer, I could see a long line of people, all with their hands behind their back and chests puffed out. Intimidation tickled my skin. They all looked so proper.

Trying to push away my thoughts, I stepped into the room, which I realized was the throne room, and claimed my place beside a young woman. She looked to be around my age, as did many of the women. I quickly noticed that there were only women here. That’s odd. Surely at least some men would wish to be the Prince’s servant. Although, I suppose it’s not the same as being his right-hand man or advisor. My thoughts were interrupted by a loud toot of a trumpet. I turned to my right to see a well-dressed man with a silver instrument pressed to his lips. He played a little tune before lowering the trumpet.

“His Majesty, the King, and her Majesty, the Queen.” The man stepped aside, and two figures entered the room. The man was tall, had blonde hair, and a pale, pointed face. His eyes seemed to pierce my soul when he made eye contact. He carried a black and silver cane with him as he walked. The woman at his side looked just as unnerving as her husband. She, too, was tall, although not as tall as the King. Her hair was long and blonde, just as pale as her skin. The slimness of her waist was rather alarming, and her eyes were ice cold. 

The couple took their seats on their respective thrones and turned towards the door. The previous man spoke again. “His Royal Highness, Prince Draco.” The man of the hour, Draco Malfoy, strutted into the room. A perfect combination of his parents, his skin was cool white, nearly the same as his platinum hair. His high cheekbones and pointed chin resembled his father’s, but, unlike the King, Draco’s hair was cut short, a few stray strands hovered over his forehead. When he took a seat next to his mother, I could see her eyes soften as she looked at him.

The trumpeter exited, leaving the Royal Family alone with the line of girls in front of them, save for a few guards. The King cleared his throat and rose to his feet, clutching his snake-headed cane as he did. 

“In a few moments, my son will choose his new servant. I trust you will all be respectful and do as you’re told. If the prince dismisses you, then you leave. If the prince asks you a question, you answer it truthfully. And finally, if the prince chooses you, you will be led to your living quarters and will immediately begin your training. The prince will be taking the throne in exactly two hundred and thirty days; he is a busy young man, and we cannot waste any more time. Do I make myself clear?” he asked. Nobody said a word. “Good. Draco,” he called, motioning to us. 

The prince stood up from his throne and made his way down the marble steps. He stopped a few feet in front of a girl a couple of people down from me. He stared at her for a few seconds before waving his hand and saying, “Dismissed.” The girl didn’t move, she looked confused and a bit shocked. Draco scoffed. “Weren’t you listening to my father? If I dismiss you, you leave. The door is to your right; run along now,” he ordered. I watched in disbelief as the girl bowed her head and rushed from the room, tears in her eyes. “Daft cow,” Draco muttered. Anger began to stir in my chest. What an absolute prick. Christ, I knew the Malfoys were a cold bunch, but I never thought the crown prince would be this much of an arsehole.

He continued going down the line, dismissing girls left and right. It didn’t seem like he had a particular order. No, he was merely kicking out the girls who didn’t please his eye. I knew this because he’d tell them what he didn’t find appealing as they left. 

“Big nose.”

“Thin lips.”

“Too tall.”

“Repulsive complexion.”

He dismissed and dismissed until only three girls remained, including me. He stopped in front of a black-haired woman. She wore a cream-colored gown. It was much fancier than mine and contrasted beautifully with her dark skin.

“What’s your name?” Draco asked. The woman replied that her name was Alyssa. “Hi, Alyssa. Tell me, what makes you want this job?” It was silent for a few moments before the woman answered. 

“My mother suggested it, Your Highness.” Draco clasped his hands behind his back and studied Alyssa’s face and body. His calm demeanor was frightening, to say the least.

“So your mother wants you to have this position, but tell me, Alyssa, do you want this position? Or are we just wasting our time here trying to fulfill the wishes of a woman who isn’t even here?” he seethed. Alyssa stuttered but shook her head and insisted she, too, wanted the job. I could tell from his face that Draco didn’t buy what she was selling, but he didn’t dismiss her. Instead, he shuffled his feet until he stood in front of me. My heart started pounding in my chest, but I kept my head up, my mother’s words echoing in my head. “Don’t be afraid to make eye contact.”

Draco said nothing for nearly an entire minute. He only stood still, eyes never leaving mine. It felt like a staring contest, but without the playful energy. I could see now that his eyes were grey. They looked empty like they were searching for something. I narrowed my own, trying to figure out why they looked this way. It seemed as though this upset Draco.

“What’re you looking at?” he spat. I quickly replied. I could practically feel his anger, and I did not want to add to it by being slow to respond.

“Nothing, Your Highness.”

“Liar. Try again, sweetheart.” Perceptive. Or perhaps just angry. Whichever it was, he now left me with a decision—another lie or the simple truth. I weighed the options in my head; neither seemed favorable.

“Your eyes,” I replied. Draco raised an eyebrow. I took this to mean he wanted me to elaborate. “They’re grey.” Upon hearing this, he rolled them.

“Brilliant deduction,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. “But why were you staring at them so...intently?” he questioned me further. However, he seemed afraid almost. Like he didn’t want to hear my answer. Regardless, I shrugged.

“Well, they appear sad and honestly, vacant.” I could feel the entire room tense as I spoke. Behind Draco, I saw The King jump to his feet, his wife’s hand on his arm in a feeble attempt at holding him back. 

“Guards…” he started, but then Draco lifted a hand, halting his father as well as the guards who’d begun to take a few steps forward. 

“That won’t be necessary. Send for Olive. She can show her to her new room,” Draco spoke gently. His voice was even and firm, and yet, nobody moved to fulfill his request.

“Surely you’re not picking her, son?” The King asked, desperation evident in his voice. It was easy to see that he disapproved of this decision. Draco, whose eyes still hadn’t moved from mine, adjusted his hands. They now rested on his thighs, fingers intertwined.

“You’re from Orton, yes?” I nodded, not trusting my voice. “You’re healthy, no deathly illnesses?” Again, I nodded. “And you want this job?” This time I decided to speak.

“Yes, Your Highness, very much so.” I curled my toes, hoping my conviction was enough. The smile that stretched across Draco’s face hinted that it was. However, his next words confirmed it.

“Perfect. Yes, Father, I have picked her. Now can somebody please fetch Olive? I don’t quite know why nobody did so even though I specifically remember telling you less than two minutes ago,” he said fiercely. Within seconds, a guard rushed out the door to do as The Prince had ordered. The two girls beside me took this as their cue to exit as well. Alyssa looked gutted, and the other girl seemed relieved. I felt a bit sad to see them go, but my thoughts of them were overridden by the increasingly uncomfortable feeling growing in my stomach.

The distress in the air felt thick, almost suffocating. It seemed that the vacant man standing in front of me was quite the threatening presence. While this let me know I should tread lightly when in his company, it didn’t instill fear. Yes, I had been intimidated and afraid when I initially walked into the Malfoy’s throne room, but once I’d gotten a good look at the youngest of the bunch, those feelings dissipated.

His eyes told me all I needed to know. Draco was nothing but talk. He was closer to a boy than he was a man, and more importantly, he had no guts to do anything substantial. Sure, words could hurt, but when it came down to it, they were nothing more than words.

As I was led to my room by Olive, the kind older woman I’d met at the doorway, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. 

Taglist (I used my All Draco Works taglist for this, if you DO NOT want to be on this taglist for Betwixt, please let me know!): @beiahadid​ @pastelpuffbar​ @cutie1365​ @dracoxmgg​ @lumlfy​ @sambucky8​ @emilianamason​ @raplinethereal​ @DixieTheMorab24 @xoxohollands​  @prongsandprancer​ @ch0kemedracomalfoy​ @avlauriaa​ @purpleskymalfoy @mariah-can-dream​ @drxcomvlfx​ @sydnee-kom-spacekru​ @dracosgoodgirl​ @voilawind​ @gloryekaterina​ @anchoeritic​ @ragxsxragxs​ @exoticlizard @dlmmdl @siriusblklftv​ @Writtenbyadramaqueen @amourtentiaa​ @keidensu​

[birth-fic-lover]

A snowstorm baby

For Kim it has been the coldest winter she had exprenced for a long time, she cursed herself for staying in this old flat. It’s single glased windows held no heat and the boiler was always breaking, it happened once again one day as she was getting ready to pick her daughter Mia up from school. Kim called the plummer, but unfortunatly she couldn’t get here till tomorow. 

As Kim walked she worried what she would say to her daughter, there was snow due and she didn’t want her daughter to get ill from the cold. As Kim waited for the kids to be let out she saw Alexia, the mother of her daughters best friend. Kim had known her since the girls started school together, they had natrally got on like a house on fire. Kim actualy didn’t mind picking her daughter up from Alexia’s house for playdates or when took forever to get ready as her and Alexia had some great chats about life.

Alexia is the known lesbain but Kim never see’s her part of any of the school’s LGBTQ+ groups or with a partner, which some may find suprising considering she has a daughter and was also heavly pregnant at the moment. As they waited they casualy chatted, Kim decided not to metion about there lack of hot water. She didn’t want Alexia to feel like she has to take her and her daughter Mia in, especally in Alexia’s condision. 

Alexia stroked her mountious belly as the children were releaced into the playground, “have a good evening” Alexia said.

As Mia joined Kim, she explained that the hot water was out again this evening. “Oh no” Mia said loudly “but what about my shower? I don’t wanna be all wrapped up all evening!”

Kim was about to reason with her when Mia’s best friend ran over to ask about the homework, of course little girls beimg little girls Mia instead told her best friend about the heating who ran to her mummy. Alexia then came over, “would you like me to take Mia for the evening? She’s due a sleepover at mine anyway, it may be her last chance to sleep at my house for a while”. Alexia held her belly as if to highlight the reason why.

Kim felt bad but Alexia made a good point, “well if it’s no trouble. You take the girls, I’ll drop by with Mia’s stuff.”

The girls cheered and Kim smiled to herself, she was glad her daughter wouldn’t be suffering tonight afterall. She put together a bag with a fresh uniform for the next day, as well as wash stuff and pj’s. She decided she would sort herself out once she returned home.

When Kim rang the doorbell she was greeted by Alexia who was covered in little flour handprints all over her belly, she just laughed. “Come on in, the girls were making mini pizzas and as you can see they got distracted when the baby kicked.”

Kim couldn’t help but smile, “I should get going, I still need to make dinner for myself and wanna get home before the snow gets thick”. It had been snowing since she had left her house with Mia’s belongings.

“I was thinking about it and you might as well stay over too, save you having to come back here. We all just got an email, school is closed tomorow as the snow is going to be so heavy. I’ll be honest I’d be suprised if your plummer comes tomorrow”.

Kim was tempted, “I’d have to go all the way back for...”

“You can borrow some of my stuff, you look like my size.. pre pregnancy of couse. It will be nice for that stuff to be used again haha” Alexia said winning Kim over.

“Okay, okay you win” Kim said coming inside, she joined the girls who were eatting there pizzas. Mia enjoyed her evening having a sleepover whilst Kim and Alexia had a nice pasta dish and chat, both single parents apprecated the grown up time. “I assume I’m in the guest room like I was for new years?” kim asked before blushing, that new years had been fun. The girls enjoyed counting down and Kim had been taken aback when Alexia gave her a bit more then a peck on the lips but never questioned it. 

“Oh unfortunately this little guy has already moved his stuff into that room, but you don’t mind bunking in with me do you? I don’t have any spare blanket and anyway you don’t wanna be on the sofa” Alexia said smiling.

Kim nodded and maybe it was her imagination but at that point it seemed to be Alexia goal to get the girls washed, teeth brushed, story read and tucked in for the night. Soon we were sitting on top of the covers of Alexia’s bed watching tv, Kim was suprised how normal it felt. It was so nice as Kim would occationally watch Alexia’s shirt ride up as she lazy rubbed her globe like belly, at one point Alexia caught her and smiled. “Sorry, this time of night I love how calm he is. Have a feel” she offered Kim, “He will spend the rest of the night wide awake keeping me up with him”.

Kim hesitated and Alexia not wanting to push the matter continued talking, “I can now feel the head right in my pelvis, makes climbing those stairs”. To Alexia’s suprise Kim nodded and found herself rubing Alexia’s low hanging belly gently. At first running her hand along the bottom, then slowly pushing her fingers back up along the top near her breasts. She stopped as she realised what she was doing, this was not meant to be getting aroused as she felt for the baby. But to Kim’s suprised Alexia said softly “oooohhh that really felt lovely”, Kim suposed both of them must not get much attention. 

Kim was right, Alexia practically had to hold in a moan of delight. She hadn’t been touched for so long, so just that touch made her nipples became hard beneath her maternity bra. When she noticed they had risen and could be seen though her shirt Alexia then got up to use the bathroom. 

She got changed and on her way back passed Kim some clothes to sleep in, as she goes and gets changed in the bathroom Kim takes the chance to take a breather. She knows that she has always classed herself as straight but she can’t stop thinking about Alexia, but she assumes that Alexia wouldn’t be sharing these feelings. Alexia has a daughter and a unborn child to think of, Kim has her daughter. Kim puts the soft nightdress on, she is suprised that Alexia would pick this for her. 

As Alexia waited for Kim to return she felt an as an odd sensation within her womb, but she put that down to the arousal she was feeling for Kim. She knew that Kim was a forbidden fruit and she knew better the to go after a straight girl, but this was all just a bit of fun. She couldn't help image those were blushes of attraction.

While in the bathroom Kim notices all the birthing supplies, from the look of it Alexia was having a home birth. Even a clamp for the cord and a at home fetal heart monitor. Kim tried to remember how far along Alexia was, would she be due soon?

But as she joins Alexia in the bedroom Alexia seems to be taking her all in, before hiding her glance and looking down. Alexia turns off the light as soon as Kim is in the bed, after a moment she asks “mind if I remove my nightdress, I’m not used to all this body heat in my bed” dispite it being the middle of winter.

Kim is glad for the darkness as she blushes, “of couse, this is your home”.

Alexia clicked her lamp on and took off her clothes, Kim couldn’t help rolling over so she could catch a glance of Alexia’s naked chest. Her firm milkfilled breasts hung from from her chest like 2 ripe fruits, her nipples were erect Kim assumed from the slight chill in the air. Without any clothes Kim could see her orb like belly in it’s full glory, she thought about the donor who didn’t even know how lucky he was to have such a beautful woman carrying his seed.

Kim then wondered if it was an anonymos donor or someone Alexia knew, maybe Alexia used the same donor as last time. Suddenly Kim was wracking her brain to work out if Alexia ever mentioned using a known donor or not. But then Kim caught herself not liking how much she suddenly cared. 

Still she found herself watching the rise and fall of Alexia's breasts, she had forgotten to rub lotion over the curve of her bump so was now doing so. Kim wondered if Alexia knew what she was doing to Kim as she feely lay there naked stroking her soft skin. As Kim shuffled she realised she was wet between her legs, again she blushed. 

She looked over and Kim saw hard her nipples were, she wondered if it ment Alexia was aroused too. "You don't have to be embarrassed" Alexia said "we don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but if you would like to have a bit of fun... then".

"I can't" Kim said "I don't want things to get awkward if I'm.... I don't want the girls to not be affected by my.."

"Relax Kim, it's a snow day. A one off day, I know that because we are not used to the snow we may find it an exciting adventure and I won't judge how you play in the snow". 

As she finished talking Alexia felt a tightening inside her womb stronger then before, but just wrote it off as a braxton hick. She thought about telling Kim but just then Kim sighed,"what if I don't want it to be a one off?"

Alexia leaned over and kissed Kim on the lips, "why don't we see how you feel after the snow day before you think about moving to colder climates."

"Stop saying your snow when you are actually so hot" Kim said before kissing Alexia, both ladies slid down the head board and Alexia lay on the mattress Kim on top. They passionately kissed, Kim's free hand exploring Alexia's belly. The baby kicked against Kim's palm, awoken by it's mothers racing heart. Kim's hands explore further down the sides of her body, stroking her butt there breasts pressed against each other. As they sat up Alexia removed Kim's nightdress, then moved her hand downwards. "Oh wow you were wet".

"Yes" Kim whispers "I'm wet for you". She started kissing her neck then down to her heavy sensitive breasts, she slipped her lips over one of her nipples. Alexia let out a soft moan, spurred on Kim swelled her tounge around. Whilst she put her hand over the other breast squeezing the nipple between 2 fingers and pulling at it. Kim found it wonderful she swapped to the other breast, Alexia's moans increased.

After a while she moved her mouth away from her breast, Kim started kissing her way down to her belly. She made a fuss of Alexia knowing that she would appreciate soft kisses across her gravid belly. "I thought this belly would make me less sexy" Alexia moaned, "but thats certainly not the case".

In response Kim slide her hand down and started to stroke Alexia's folds, she then slide a finger tip inside her. "May I?" Kim asked.

"Ohhh" Alexia moaned "you may". Kim then slide two fingers inside, she had always had a fantasy of pleasuring a woman the way she had never been. She started pumping slowly at first, then sped up feeling Alexia’s inner walls react. "Ohhhhh" Alexia moans holding her belly. "No no carry on, it's just been so long" Alexa reassured. But she felt the tightening again, she knew it wasn’t a ushal sensation for her. But this may be her only chance and tried to hide the ache she felt.

"I could always use my mouth?" Kim offered lowering her head and licking and sucking her clit, Alexia moaned and her hips thrusted along her breasts beating her belly like a drum with each thrust that Kim's fingers were still doing. Both ladies felt Alexia building up, her walls contracted and she gave a long moan her belly hardening as she came.

As Kim removed her fingers Alexia pulled her closer still on her back, she held Kim close no words spoken between them. Alexia put her hand on her belly, Kim joined in caressing the mountain that was now her belly. It was so full of life, she knew it shouldn’t but it turned her on. “Do you want me to...” Alexia started to offer but Kim shook her head, all this was turning her on enough. Alexia caught on and said “do you want to feel me down there again?”

Kim didn’t need to be asked twice, she slipped her hand between Alexia’s thighs reached down and began massaging the clit slowly but with lots of pressure this time.

"Gaaaaaah hoo hoo" she moaned unsure if it was from the plesure or another tightening, her breasts rise and fall as she tries not to explode from the sesations. But then suddenly the sensation grew into something worse and a contraction gripped her hard. “Gaaahhhhhhhh ohhh stop stop” she said cluching her belly. 

“Oh my god are you okay? Did your waters break?” Kim asked looking for fluid.

“No hoo hoo but I’m in labour” she still felt the pain, Kim held her until Alexia relaxed, she remebered that Alexia had looked like she was having a homebirth from the stuff in the bathroom.

"Do you want to call your midwife?" Kim asked her. Alexia nodded and Kim got her phone to her, but the snow had got heavyer. Alexia could tell that her midwife was doubtful she could make it, and said she should go to the hospital once she was more dilated. 

Alexia agreed but knew she wasn’t going anywhere, the snow wasn’t safe to drive in. Plus she wanted a homebirth, so that was what was going to happen. She climbed off the bed and made her way to the bathroom, Kim followed "is there anyone you want to call, I’m happy to watch your daughter.”

“Let the girls sleep, hopefully when they awake there will be a new member of the household to enjoy” Alexia said as she started filling up the birthing pool she had already set up in her on suite bathroom.

“You’re not thinking of doing it by yourself?” Kim asked wondering how much she could convince Alexia this wasn’t wise.

“My midwife won’t come because it’s not safe on the roads and it’s gonna take forever, I’m not risking my unborn child by going outside” Alexia said simply. She wondered how much Kim would fight her, but Kim seemed to just take a second and then started helping her set up and fill the pool.

Alexia then felt her next contraction, she tried to hold it in not wanting to wake the children. “What do you need?” Kim asked both about the pool and the pain Alexia was in.

“Gaah just stay by my side” she said reaching out to her, Kim was more then happy to do so. Over the next 2 hours Alexia contractions got worse, but Kim was there holding her and swaying the pain away when needed. 

“Who would of been here if I wasn’t?” Kim asked couriously.

“The midwife, I kinda only have my daughter and my son when he arrives” she said softly, Alexia rubbed her belly whilst Kim was silent. She started to sway again trying to get the pressure off her hips, but then her grip on Kim tightened her other hand supporting her belly. “Naaaaggggghhhhh hee heee naaaaaghhhhhh” she groaned as her contractions were getting more intense, she just wanted to start pushing. 

Alexia’s laboring belly was so tight, it looked like it was about to burst. Kim was shocked how watching Alexia go though such a moment made her so attractive, but she was so powerful going though this without even gas and air.

Alexia found herself wanting to sqaut, Kim got on her knees to join her. Alexa’s belly hung low, heavy with her unborn child who’s head was pressed right upto the entrance to Alexia’s birth canal. Alexia could feel it, she checked her dilation wishing her water would break soon. “I’m at 8cm, 2 more till I can push”. But the sqauting did help at least.

Kim held her, “your my hero, I was a wussy when my mia was born”.

“hooooo I bet you were” Alexia teesed as a contraction hit and she held onto Kim. She then finally felt the pop she had been waiting for and her water broke, as the fluid hit the floor she felt the urge to push. “Naaagggghhhhhhhh” she moaned, she was not wasting any time.

“Should I help you in the pool?” Kim asked, but Alexia ignored her. As she pushed she felt the head begin to move down into the birth canal easily. She could tell here body was ready to eject her son. 

“I can’t move outta this sqaut” Alexia said once the contraction was over. Kim nodded and comforted her, until Alexia felt the urge to push again. “NAAAGGGGHHHH” Alexia moaned loudly, she was glad they had closed the door to both the bedroom and the en suite so hopefully they wouldn’t wake the girls. As she pushed Alexia felt herself progressing, she spread her legs wider to componsate for her son being fully in her birthcanal.

Kim moved her position so she would be able to guide the baby out, on Alexia’s next push her folds parted and a tear drop gap was present. As the baby decended out of her Alexia was sure this baby dispite being early was huge, she felt the buldge between her legs growing. “Gaaaahhhh nnnaaaggghhh” she moaned as the baby crowned, she thought she was going to die from the pain. “ohhh god OHHHH I’m so scared”.

“No you got this Alexia, come on you are so close” Kim encoraged, and with that Alexia kept pushing till the head popped out. Kim thought she was going to rest but Alexia kept pushing till the shoulders popped out and the baby felt into her hands.

But at first the child didn’t cry, Kim saw the cord round his neck, with quick shaking hand she removed the cord from her neck. The colour flooded back into the baby’s face, then he let out a cry. Alexia put the baby though her legs and onto her deflated belly. She looked up at Kim and something in them both knew this wouldn’t be the first birth they would expreience together.

[maraudcrsmap]

Home // Draco Malfoy

Chapter 1: When We Were Young

Going back to Hogwarts was something Evelyn Clermont looked forward to every year, but this year things seemed off. She just played it off as something that comes with getting older. The newness and excitement was not the same as coming into your first year. Getting sorted and making new friends. It's just regular school now. Though, she had heard the rumors going around about Voldemort growing his army. Many people weren't allowing their kids to come back, saying it was too dangerous.

Nonetheless, she found an empty seat and was the first one among her friends to be on the train. Blaise and Pansy soon took their seats but they were still waiting on a certain someone to show up. The train was getting ready to leave and the three made eye contact with each other, not sure what to do. Then she spotted him coming down the aisle. As he took a seat next to her she noticed he wasn't dressed in his Slytherin uniform, but in an all black suit.

They all settled in, ready for the long train ride ahead of them. Evelyn was getting ready to ask Pansy if they had any classes together when darkness overtook the train car. Evelyn started to panic and screams filled the car. The darkness quickly disappeared she noticed Draco was not next to her. He was standing near the door, looking around.

"What just happened? Blaise?" Draco inquired.

Blaise looked around, trying to figure out what had happened too. "Don't know."

Evelyn heard a loud thud and saw a bag had fallen from the luggage rack, Draco eyed it, like he knew what was going on. Pansy then reined everyone back in.

"Relax guys, the lights just went out. We will be at Hogwarts before you know it."

Draco huffs and throws the bag back onto the luggage rack, settling back into his seat.

"Hogwarts. What a pathetic excuse for a school. I think I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I thought I had to continue on for another two years." Draco stated, twisting the ring on his finger.

Evelyn and Pansy made eye contact, confused as to what he meant.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Evelyn questioned.

"Let's just say I'm not going to be wasting much of my time at Hogwarts next year." Draco snapped.

She just looked over at Pansy, rolling her eyes, Draco could be so dramatic sometimes. The thing with Draco and Evelyn is that they have known each other since they were babies. Draco's parents and Evelyn's are best friends so naturally so were their children. Evelyn had always had a slight crush on Draco, but never acted on it. Not wanting to ruin their friendship, considering he has never shown signs of liking her back. When they were younger the two were inseparable. Then when they started at Hogwarts you would never not find the two of them together. She misses those days, often thinking back on them.

Recently Draco has been distant, over the summer she had seen him maybe twice. Those two times she saw him he wasn't very nice either, he was very short with his words like he had something better to be doing. Though, it was so uncommon of Draco to not tell her what was going on in his life. She wondered if she had done something wrong to make him mad, but knew there was nothing that she could have done. She had barely seen him.

The train ride was a quiet one this year. It had been raining and there was condensation on the window. Evelyn drew a smiley face with her finger, then wiping it away with her sleeve. Peering out the window she could see the lights glow from Hogwarts in the distance. Soon enough they had arrived and everyone got up to exit off the train, except for Draco.

"Are you coming?" Evelyn asked.

"Go ahead, I'll be right behind you. I want to check something. " He stated, pulling the blind down as she exited the train.

Pansy, Blaise, and Evelyn made their way towards the carriages, but not before having their stuff searched by Filch. He took an awful long time going through Evelyn's suitcase.

"Um, what is the reasoning behind this? We have never gotten searched before?" She questioned, annoyed with Filch touching her personal belongings.

"Security." Filch answers. Just as Evelyn was about ready to say something back, Snape appears from the shadows.

"Clermont, Zabini, Parkinson. Nice to see you all again. Filch, Miss Clermont has nothing dangerous and I am sure Zabini and Parkinson don't either." Snape stated.

Filch huffed and slammed the suitcase shut, loading it onto the back of the carriage. Snape turns his attention back to the three students.

"Where is your missing link?" He questioned. Evelyn noticed he seemed quite concerned considering it was Snape.

"He said he was checking something on the train." Blaise said, getting into the carriage.

"Alright then. You three go on. I will make sure he makes it to the grounds."

Pansy and Evelyn got into the carriage. As they pulled away Evelyn turned around to see Snape looking around, she wondered why he was acting more strange than usual.

"What is with Draco? He is acting very strange." Blaise questioned.

"Hell if I know. I barely saw him all summer. Also what is with the suit? Didn't know we were dressing like that for school now." Evelyn stated, clearly annoyed.

As they reached the grounds of Hogwarts, Evelyn hoped Draco would be in the carriage behind them or at least the one after that, but he was no where to be seen.

"He will make his way Evie. Come on lets go eat." Pansy said, leading her inside. As everyone sat down to eat Draco had made his way into the Great Hall. Evelyn had saved a seat next to her for him, but he sat at the end of the table with Crabbe and Goyle. Then she noticed a bloody Harry Potter enter the room. She could piece two and two together, but didn't want to. She focused her attention back on Draco, she knew something else was going on, not just some silly issues he has had with Harry over the years. Pansy noticed her looking over at him. "Evie, he's just being moody. Mummy and Daddy probably wouldn't let him do something so he's taking it out on us."

Evelyn filled her plate with food, but it was not nearly as interesting as trying to figure out what was up with Draco. "Yeah, but he seems different. Don't you think?"

"Not really."

She knew he seemed different. She loved Pansy, but she wasn't very observant. The whole night she watched Draco out of the corner of her eye, hoping he would get up and come sit by her and tell her what was going on, but he never did. In fact he left dinner early, Evelyn wanted to chase after him, but she stayed put, listening to Dumbledore's speech. Hogwarts had gotten a new Potions professor, while he wasn't actually new. According to Dumbledore Professor Slughorn taught years ago. Professor Snape was going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, which stunned almost everyone. Then Dumbledore continued with his speech.

"Now, as you know, each and everyone of you was searched upon your arrival tonight. You have a right to know why. Once there was a young man who, like you, sat in this very Hall. Walked this castle's corridors. Slept beneath its roof. He seemed, to all the world, a student like any other. His name? Tom Riddle."

The room went silent.

"Today, of course, the world knows him by another name. Which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I am reminded of a sobering fact. Each day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle. But in the end, their greatest weapon remains...you."

Evelyn looked over at Draco, who wasn't even paying attention to Dumbledore's speech.

Dumbledore begins to speak again and her attention goes back to him.

"Just something to keep in mind. Now, off to bed. Pip pip!"

Pansy and Evelyn rise, heading back to their dorms. "What a welcome back speech that was."

Pansy agrees, "Way to scare all the first years."

As Evelyn lay in bed that night she wonders what she is in store for this year at Hogwarts.

[peachesandcreamsthings]

Sand Pit and Summon · Mythical Lives

⛱ Genre: Fluff. Angst. Fae!Jimin. Devil!Taehyung. Witch!Yoongi. MythicalCreatures!AU.  🧙🏻‍♀️ Word Count: 4.5 K ⛱ Warnings: Bullying. Physical and Verbal Abuse. Blood. Cursing. Inaccurate representation of Witchcraft. Please do not read if it makes you uncomfortable. Please read with caution. 🔮 Author’s Note: The second installment of Mythical Lives is finally here! Took me a while to find the will to write this as this is heavier compared to the stories that I usually write, but I made it! I hope you enjoy it. Comments and Feedbacks would be greatly appreciated💜

Jimin sighed for the nth time that day, he was currently at school and it was almost lunch. Bored out of his mind, he zoned out. Charming spells did not seem as interesting as it usually was to the young Fae and all he wanted to do was to go home and nap until dinner was ready or even hide in Yoongi hyung’s bedroom. Jimin turned his gaze away from his desk to the classroom, his classmates were all sitting in pairs, with him as an exception. Some of them were paying attention to Mrs. Merlin, while others were busy playing with their seatmates. The young Fae frowned at the fact that he had to sit at the back of the class alone with no one sitting next to him. Mrs. Merlin said that it was because he had transferred to the school in the middle of the semester. Jimin felt lonely— he wanted to have someone to sit next to him too, but being the timid young Fae that he was, he couldn’t speak up.

The bell finally rang and Jimin sighed in relief, at least it’s closer to the end of the school day. Jimin stood up and brushed off his uniform. He braced himself for the busy wave of young creatures as he stepped out of the classroom. Being small due to his Fae nature, he hated walking through the hallway during lunch time as it was one of the busiest times in school— packed with young mythical creatures who attended the same school as him, not to mention how aggressive they could get due to their empty tummies. After finding a gap, Jimin managed to throw himself in the busy hallway. He tried to pick up his pace before he could get trampled in a sea full of young creatures. However, his pudgy legs could only keep up for a few moments until he tripped. Jimin whined— irritated at the fact that he tripped again as it was a common occurrence for him to trip or slip while trying to navigate the busy hallway.

“You alright?”

Jimin whipped his head to the voice to find an older boy, crouching with his hand stretched out for Jimin to take. Relieved, Jimin nodded and took the hand as the boy pulled him up.

“Thanks, Yoongi hyung.” Jimin mumbled.

“That’s okay, Dimminie.” Yoongi smiled, showing his gum and dental brace— the culprit to his slight lisps. He then took Jimin’s pudgy hand and wrapped it in his own, guiding the younger boy to escape the sea full of young creatures.

Jimin huffed as they exited the hallway, heading to the playground where it wasn’t as busy as the hallway or the lunch room. The younger boy tugged on the older boy’s hand, leading him to the swings.

“Have you had lunch?” Yoongi asked, concerned for the younger boy’s wellbeing. Yoongi has known Jimin for years and he knew that the young Fae was quite fussy when it came to food.

Jimin shook his head, and sat on the empty swing. “Not hungry.”

“You need to eat your lunch, Diminnie,” Yoongi huffed, sitting on the other swing next to Jimin with his lunch in his hands. “That’s how you grow!”

The Fae whipped his head to the side to face the older boy, his face full of surprise, “I can grow if I eat my lunch??”

Yoongi nodded, before handing him the other half of his sandwich. “Here, you can have some of mine. It’s bacon and eggs sandwich.”

“Mummy said that I won’t grow as tall as you cause I’m a Fae…” Jimin said, still confused as he took the sandwich from the older boy’s hand, “Thank you, hyung.”

Yoongi winced internally, knowing that Jimin’s mother wasn’t really lying but he didn’t want to hurt his younger friend’s heart, so he lied instead. “That’s not true. You’ll be as tall as me when you turn eight, trust me.”

“I trust you!” Jimin said cheerfully, his eyes glittering with innocence as he started to dig in on the food in his hands. “Can I come over after school?”

“Of course, Diminnie.” Yoongi mumbled, his mouth full of bacon and eggs sandwich.

Taehyung whimpered at the sight in front of him. Living in Hell seemed fun to other young mythical creatures his age, but he hated it— The sight of people suffering, hearing their screams, the heat, the barren land and the eternal fire— it didn’t suit him. Taehyung loved the human world— he loved the flowers, the blue sky, and the bakeries. He had never experienced it himself but he knew all these from the story books smuggled into Hell by his older sister who had been working with the witches in Beaumont, a small town closest to the Portal.

“Move, boy!” A man roared as he shoved Taehyung to the side, causing the young demon to whimper at the shrill of the man’s voice and the rough impact of his action, as the man guided a bunch of sinners to their final destinations. “Scram!”

Taehyung immediately stood up and moved as soon as he heard the Demon. Tears pooled in the young demon’s eyes as emotions flowed in his system. He clenched his fists and jaw as he picked up his pace, letting his little legs to carry him away from the Demons. Taehyung couldn’t understand why such a place existed in the universe and he couldn’t accept the fact that he was a part of it. Years and years of constant harsh criticism from his dad for not being the young demon that he could be proud of and also the torment he received from the fellow young demons crossed his mind and it made him feel trapped and isolated. I hate it here, I hate it here, I hate it here, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hat—

“Taehyung?” A voice called out softly.

The young demon snapped his head in the voice’s direction, losing his train of thought. He looked around only to find himself standing in front of his older sister. “Oh…”

“You alright?” The older demon asked, her voice filled with worries at the sight of her younger brother. She then pulled him into her arms as soon as she spotted the tears that pooled in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Taehyung sobbed as soon as he was pulled into his older sister’s embrace, he circled his arms around her neck and hid his face on her chest as he continued crying. “I… I hate it here.”

“Oh, Tae…” Taehee softened at the revelation as she rubbed his back.

This wasn’t the first time that Taehyung had a breakdown over this matter. His sister knew that he hated being here— he hated the way their father treated him and he hated the bullying that was caused by his fellow young demons. Taehee wished that there was something that she could do to help but unfortunately her father was too stubborn to listen and she knew the young demons were just a bunch of little meanies due to their evil trait.

“Taehyung, listen to me,” Taehee put her younger brother at an arm’s length, her voice strict, making sure that he would be looking into her auburn eyes. “I know that this is hard, but I promise you that once you’re my age, you can escape Hell. You can work with the witches and you won’t have to come back to Hell unless it’s necessary. I promise you that.”

The young demon nodded at his older sister’s statement and sniffled as he felt better after the reassurance that Taehee gave him.

“So until then, I need you to be strong and I need you to hold on.” Taehee said cheerfully as she wiped the tears sliding down his cheeks. “Promise?”

Taehyung hesitated. He wasn’t sure that he could be strong enough to go through the torment that was caused by his father and his friends. Gnawing on his bottom lips, the young demon’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know…”

The older demon clicked her tongue at her younger brother and booped his nose, “Come on, I promised you that you’ll get to escape and work with the witches when you grow up.”

“That’s what I ask in return for my promise, Tae. I don’t break my promises.” She continued, “And you know that nothing is free in life, right?”

Taehyung nodded, knowing that fact well enough as it had been drilled into his head by his evil father as soon as he was able to talk.

“I can… try?” He said, still unsure whether or not he could fulfill his promise. The younger knew how important promises were and hence he would only promise someone when he was sure that he could fulfill it.

“I guess that’s good enough, for now.” His sister snorted and straightened up after matching to her younger brother’s eye level. She then gently took the younger’s hand, before wrapping it in her larger one. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

Jimin winced at the slam of the door as he sat on Yoongi’s bed while the older boy left the room to ask his mum for some refreshment for the both of them. Looking around, the young witch’s room wasn’t as messy as it normally would, the young Fae assumed it was because the older was reprimanded by his mum. Still, books were scattered on his desk— some opened and some neatly stacked in one corner, and being the curious little Fae he was, he glanced at the messy pile. Jimin knew that Yoongi didn’t like anyone looking at his books. It’s witchy business, the older boy said once. However, the fact that his hyung was so secretive about his witchy business made him want to know even more. Yoongi never kept any secret from him, afterall. Biting his lips, Jimin started to consider his options— he could take a little peek at one of the books while Yoongi was away or he could be a good little boy and respect his hyung’s wishes. Maybe if the older boy is in a good mood, he might be able to show Jimin a few little spells he learned in school.

After considering her options, he figured that being a Fae meant that he could probably charm his way with the older boy. Hence, he stood up from the bed and headed to where Yoongi’s desk was located. The young Fae paused and sharpened his senses to avoid being caught by the young Witch. Once Jimin was sure that Yoongi was nowhere near his room, he then turned to the spell books. He traced the letters on the front page of each book, trying to find one that was interesting enough for him. Potions 101. Nope. How to Use your Broom. Boring. Spell books. Meh. Mythical Creatures 101. I’ve got one of these. How to Take Care of your Altar and Ritual tools. Ugh, he had to learn how to take care of them too? That sucks! Herbology 101. Huh, Namjoon hyung would ace this subj— Aha! Demonology 101. There it was— the book that caught Jimin’s attention, sitting on the bottom of one of Yoongi’s book piles.

Carefully, the Young Fae started to flip the pages. The first of the few chapters were mostly about Demon, their origins, and their history. Fascinating, Jimin thought as he briefly scanned through each paragraph. The curious boy’s pointed ears twitched once in a while as he read while he listened for Yoongi hyung’s arrival. Jimin kept on flipping each page carefully to avoid it being ripped, only pausing when he found something that interested him. How to summon a Demon— Chapter 13. Huh, this is interesting.

What you would need:

Chalk

Sigil of said Demon

Spell to summon said Demon

Offerings

Step 1: Draw a magical circle around you to protect yourself.

Step 2: Wear Sigil of the Demon you want to summon.

Step 3: Relax and clear your mind of any thoughts.

Step 4: Start chanting the spell to su—

“Dimminie, what are you doing?” Yoongi stood in the door, with a tray full of snacks and juice in hand before gasping. “Is that one of my textbooks??”

Jimin froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Oh no, he thought. “H-hyung, I-I’m sorry!” The young Fae exclaimed, “I was uh… I was just looking at the pictures, promise!!”

The older boy squinted and tilted his head, suspicious of his friend’s action. “What did I tell you about those textbooks?”

“That they are dangerous and I shouldn’t touch them…” Jimin mumbled, feeling guilty for not listening to his older friend.

Yoongi sighed and walked to his desk before putting the tray full of food down. He then faced the young and charming Fae, eyes searching for any emotion on the younger’s face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Jimin said while he pouted, knowing well what Yoongi was doing as it was one of his habits, “ I’m okay. I didn’t see anything bad.”

Yoongi breathed out in relief, knowing that the younger didn’t get to see anything horrific that was written by his great great great ancestors. He knew that there were some nightmare inducing topics in some of the books and Yoongi didn’t want Jimin to see any of it.

“That’s good.” The young Witch said softly and took the book out of Jimin’s hands. “I don’t want you near those books, okay? It’s for good reason, trust me.”

“I’m sorry, hyung…” Jimin looked down, disappointed that Yoongi wouldn’t let him anywhere near those goddamn textbooks but also guilty for not listening to him in the first place. It’s just books, why won’t he let me read any of it?

The older boy nodded and grinned as he gestured to the tray, “I got you some of your favourite snacks. Let’s have some before I take you home!”

Jeongwon smirked at the weak boy crouched on the floor with his hands covering his head, satisfaction filled his whole system. He sneered as he heard the boy whimpered, “You’re weak. It’s disgusting.”

“P-Please stop…” Taehyung winced as he could feel the impact of Jeongwon’s actions. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to heal from all the injuries this time.

“Why should I?” Jeongwon snickered and with a snap of his fingers, Taehyung started to convulse helplessly. “You’re useless, ugly and weak. The Dark Lord would be offended to see such a weak Demon existed in his realm.”

“Oh wait, you don’t even deserve to be called a Demon.”

Taehyung gasped, his whole body felt like it had been thrown into the Eternal Fire. He couldn’t do anything to fight back. Jeongwon was 7 years older and stronger, he knew how to control and use his power to his advantage. The younger demon regretted coming to school today— he should’ve begged his sister to take him out of Hell. Taehyung screamed in agony, aside from feeling the burn, he felt like his body had been torn and ripped into pieces repeatedly.  Dear Lucifer, please end my life. I don’t want to be here anymore, he begged. The boy cried and gasped. He would rather be gone from this realm than to stay here for another minute.

“Come on!” Jeongwon roared, his patience running thin. He wanted to have some fun, and yet Taehyung wasn’t willing to fight him back. This is getting boring. “Fight back, you coward! Use your power.”

“N-no, p-please!” Taehyung groaned and coughed. He could feel his body slowly giving out and at that moment, it seemed like it was the easiest thing to do— to give up.

The older demon sneered and snapped his fingers again, causing the torture to stop. Taehyung breathed a sigh of relief, grateful the torment had finally stopped, although the boy knew that Jeongwon wasn’t done.

“You’re so boring, you know that?” Jeongwon crouched in front of Taehyung. “And ugly— I mean look at those horns! They’re so tiny!” He laughed, mocking the younger as he tugged on Taehyung’s horns roughly, causing the latter to whimper.

Jeongwon hummed, as he stood up and circled the weakened boy, deep in thought. He looked at his environment— an empty cottage, located in the forest just behind the school. He was aware that no one would be able to interfere with what he was doing as no one would ever enter the forest since it was known as a cursed forest, which Jeongwon knew was a lie the elders created to scare young demons. Should I leave a scar? Or should I transport him somewhere? I’m sure I’ll be able to transport him with what I’ve learnt from class. Maybe I should do both! And more! Yes, that is a great idea and I am sure that Father will be proud of me.

The older boy kneeled in front of Taehyung and took his chin, forcing the younger to face him. Taehyung cowered in fear, but he was too weak to get out of Jeongwon’s grasp. He could only shiver in fear and avoid Jeongwon’s deadly stare. He wasn’t sure what the older boy was going to do— He could only hope that this will end soon and that he wouldn’t have to feel all the pain anymore. This wasn’t the first time that Jeongwon had done this to him and he knew well enough that this wouldn’t be the last time.

“Look at me, you coward.” Jeongwon spat, forcing Taehyung to look at him. “Look at me and remember this: You. Are. Worthless. You. Are. Disgusting.” The evil boy closed his eyes, preparing himself to inflict pain to his victim. He cracked his neck and took a deep breath, before looking deep into Taehyung’s eyes. Jeongwon smiled evilly, causing Taehyung to shiver from the sheer menace and wickedness. Being a Demon suits him a lot, Taehyung chuckled internally, feeling bitter and defeated.

Jeongwon traced a line on Taehyung’s face with his finger, from his forehead through his left eye and down to his cheek. Taehyung screamed from the pain, it burned him to no end, and it felt like he was being stabbed with a sword. He screamed and screamed and screamed. He had never felt anything this painful before. He thought that scraped knees were the most painful, but he was wrong, and it was far worse than being abused by his own Father. The pain was excruciating for the six years old boy to handle. Taehyung cried and screamed, and it didn’t help. He started crying blood and made the wound stung even more. He started to lose the sight on his left eye from the impact.

“No, no, no, please! I c-can’t… Please…” Taehyung begged the older boy— his hands stretched out trying to find Jeongwon, or anything to hold on to, “Please stop… I can’t see.. I-It’s dark!”

Jeongwon chuckled darkly.

“Goodbye, Taehyung, you weak bastard.” He said before snapping his finger for the last time.

Jimin gaped at the sight in front of him. It was messy, blood everywhere— on the sand, on the pit, on him, on the boy in front of him. His eyes widened in horror. It worked! It worked but what did I summon? Wait, I mean who! Oh my Goodness, why is he bleeding??

The young Fae looked around at his surroundings. The playground was empty as it was dusk— everyone had gone home and he was the only one there, squatting in the Sand Pit and trying to Summon a Demon— following the instructions from Yoongi hyung’s textbook. At first, he wasn’t sure if drawing stars and hearts as the Sigil, and cookies and milk as offering would suffice when it comes to summoning a Demon— but it seemed like it was working, since a boy whom he assumed would be a Demon as he had horns on his head, appeared not long after Jimin chanted ‘Open Sesame’ repeatedly.

“Okay… Think, Jimin. You need to help him!” Jimin stood up slowly, panicking at the bloody sight in front of him. The young Demon seemed to be unconscious so Jimin wasn’t too worried about the boy attacking him, but still, he was concerned and beyond sad to see a boy around his age to be in this condition. The young Fae started to breathe heavily, anxiety and panic flooding his system. Uhh, what do I do? What should I do? What would Yoongi hyung do in this situation?? Should I get someone? Oh no, no! What would I say if they ask where this boy came from?? I can’t tell them I summoned him!

“Oh, gosh!” Jimin jumped up and down, his mind and heart were all over the place. He then kneeled next to the young Demon and started to gently brush the sand away from his face. Jimin gasped as he finally noticed a gaping wound across his left eye. He had never seen anything this gruesome before and he couldn’t believe that someone was mean enough to inflict pain to others. Before Jimin knew, tears flowed down his chubby cheeks. He was filled with anger and sadness. He was angry at the person who caused this Demon boy pain. He was sad to see the boy suffer. His heart was broken at the sight of the unconscious boy. “Oh.... What did they do to you…?” He questioned the young Demon sadly, still carefully brushing the sand away.

Jimin realised that at times like this, the only person he could only count on was Yoongi. He knew that the older boy wouldn’t be happy at him for summoning a Demon, but he couldn’t care any less. Jimin would gladly receive the silent treatment from the Witch as long as they could save the boy’s life. The young Fae scrambled to his feet, his pudgy hands shoved into the pocket of his dungarees. After finding the crystal that was given to him by Yoongi, he then covered it with both of his hands. Jimin closed his eyes, as he murmured wholeheartedly, “Please, help.”

The young Fae could feel the crystal starting to warm in his tiny hands after rubbing it for a while. I’ll be there soon. You’re doing great, Diminnie. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard the older boy. It’s working. Jimin snapped his head down as soon as he heard a groan. He could see the boy was in excruciating pain with his face all scrunched up.

Jimin gasped and scrambled to his knees, kneeling next to the boy, “Hey, hey. You’ll be okay. What’s your name?”

“W-where am I?” The boy asked as he came into consciousness, his voice hoarse.

“You’re in Beaumont. You’re safe. I’m Jimin, what’s your name?”

The boy could only groan in response. “N-none of your b-business!”

“Diminnie!!” A voice yelled from the corner, causing Jimin to tear his gaze from the young Demon. Yoongi was breathless— it seemed like he ran straight to the playground near his house as soon as he heard Jimin asking for help.

“Dear Lord!” Yoongi gasped as soon as the bloody sight unfolded in front of him.

“Hyung, please, help…” Jimin cried as he gestured to the young Demon, “I d-don’t know… I t-tried to s-summ—”

The young Witch walked slowly into the sand pit, his eyes glued to the injured boy. He was horrified, but he tried to stay calm for the sake of Jimin and to not freak the Demon out. “We don’t have time, Diminnie. We need to help him.”

“Here, take my jacket, put it around him.” Yoongi said as he took his jacket off, handing it to Jimin before continuing softly, “Can you get up? Let me help you.”

“W-who are you?” The boy questioned harshly, he tried to get away but his whole body was in pain. He couldn’t get away. “Why should I t-trust you?”

“I’m Yoongi. Min Yoongi. I’m a Witch.” He softened, before pointing to the young Fae. “He’s Dimin. Park Diminnie. He’s a Fae.”

“Please, let us help you.” Yoongi begged the boy, his voice desperate. “We can’t leave you like this. I promise I won’t ask you for your name.”

The injured boy froze, tempted at the offer but still wary of the strange boys who were so willing to help him, despite the fact that he appeared out of nowhere.

“You know what, I don’t care.” Yoongi snapped, his patience running thin and his emotions running high. “I’m going to take care of you. Come Diminnie, get him up.” He continued, before lifting the injured boy up as he worked with Jimin.

“We’ll take him to my house. My mum can help.” Yoongi explained as they started to walk out of the playground to the streets.

The injured boy choked out as they helped him walk, one boy on each side, “So this is Beaumont huh?”

“Uh-huh!” Jimin replied, sounding too cheerful compared to the situation at hand. “Welcome to Beaumont!”

His cheerful greetings caused the young Demon to chuckle, “Thanks. I wish I wasn’t covered in blood, though.”

“Don’t worry about that, boy.” Yoongi smiled softly, “We’ll help you get cleaned up, and we’ll help you heal.”

“We sure will!” Jimin nodded, excited to help his new friend.

The walk from the playground to Yoongi’s house didn’t take long. The three boys were busy talking to get to know each other— Jimin was busy to explain what Beaumont looked like as the young Demon wasn’t able to see. The young Demon was busy asking questions, wanting to know more and more about Beaumont and its residents, while Yoongi was just listening to their discussion fondly. As soon as they got to the young Witch’s house, they were welcomed by his mother.

“Oh, dear!” Yoongi’s mother shrieked, before ushering the boys inside, “Here, bring him to the kitchen, Yoongi. Up on the table, Yes.”

Taehyung groaned as he felt himself being gently hoisted to the table with the help of strangers. He felt too weak to question what was going on so he gave up and let whom he assumed as Yoongi’s mother to help him.

“Jimin, I think it’s time for you to go home, love.” The female witch gently coaxed Jimin as her hands were busy preparing tools and herbs for Taehyung, “Your parents are going to be worried. It’s dinner time, isn’t it?”

“B-but Auntie!” Jimin protested, his eyes glued to the young Demon. “He’s my friend! I wanna be there for him!”

“I know,” Sehee smiled at Jimin. “He’s in good hands, though. You trust me, don’t you?”

“I do, but—”

“He’ll be okay, Jimin. Don’t worry.” Yoonseok, Yoongi’s older brother, said as he entered the kitchen, washing his hands and ready to help his mother. “Go on, go home. You can come and see him after school tomorrow.”

Jimin sighed, “Fine,” He said while pouting. “Bye, Auntie Sehee, Yoonseok hyung, and Yoongi hyung. Bye, Demon friend.”

After saying their goodbyes, Yoongi finally turned his gaze on the wooden table. He cringed, knowing well that they would have to get rid of it after this. Oh well, he thought.

“Ready, boys?” Sehee smiled widely at her two sons in front of her as she put her rubber gloves on. “Let’s save our new friend here, yeah?”

Yoongi and his brother could only sigh at their mother’s excitement. Here we go again.

[tomo-tron]

My experience growing up as an Artist (and trying to get a job)

Buckle up, it’s a long one.

I’ve never really thought about doing an actual written blog entry on here before as I’ve normally not really had much to say and prefer to talk about my work. But I thought it could be helpful to share my personal experiences of trying to get work post-university from the perspective of an illustrator/artist. This could be helpful to you if you’ve just graduated, are thinking of doing a course at uni or are currently freelance and are wondering how to get your first break in a full-time art job. Emphasis on could. 

So for those of you who’ve never met me (which is pretty much 99%+ of my followers), I’ve always drawn characters from games and comics etc. If I saw a character that blew my mind as a kid, I drew them. I had a big, lined, A4 notebook and drew in with biro pen. I drew in class when I wasn’t supposed to. I drew in my weekly planner for lessons (where you were supposed to write homework and deadlines etc) and then got into detentions because of them where I was even made to go through and cover them all up using paper and glue...Art at secondary school DID NOT help me. At all. A lot of schools don’t understand/recognise the games/comic/entertainment industry (or at least seemingly prestigious ones from the north where people make money by farming and/or settling into a mundane plane of conformative existence revolving around having kids way too early and peaking before you’re 25 before forever there after living in a bubble safely tucked away from the rest of the world and society). To be fair, schools have to cover a potentially very broad spectrum and kids don’t always know what’s best for them and where they want to end up. But sometimes kids DO know where they want to end up. To also be fair, my art teachers could see that fine art wasn’t my thing and that I was technically a good artist when it came to drawing, so they sort of gave me a lot of leeway when it came to work guidelines (one of my main teachers also looked and acted like Dean McCoppin from Iron Giant which was pretty much the best thing that could have happened there). 

Anyway, moving onto University. In the UK, 2011 was the year the university fees basically tripled...The work I did at that school didn’t really help me much when applying for places. No one I knew wanted to do anything similar. And there were no adults who had any idea what I needed to do to get to the places I wanted either. So I was on my own. Suffice to say I failed at getting onto a 3 year course (which I’ve always imagined was potentially due to increased demand just before the fees went up). The lecturer doing a portfolio review with me said I had “too many werewolves” and the less said about all of that the better. I think maybe there was two werewolves, done in the same style the point of which being that one was male and one was female and I’d tried to make that visually evident. However, I was offered a place on a 1 year Art and Design course (yay...). Ironically, the foundation course turned out to pretty much help me un-learn EVERYTHING that I had spent the last 7 years being told to do. Crazy right? It annoyed me that I had to spend an extra year there (though not from the social point of view and uni life) and straight after the course, I finally began a 3 year Illustration and Animation course. 

At 20 y/o (a year later than most) I started my 3 year course. I won’t say too much about the course itself as there’s a slight conflict of interest in regards to me potentially going back to lecture there soon. But in those 3 years, I gradually felt more and more comfortable to focus on producing work that I always felt I was supposed to be doing. Nothing great came out of my first year, the second year was arguably better/more professional and then finally in my third year I created a 26 page comic about monsters (which I drafted a good friend in to write the script for, bearing in mind he was on a course at the time too) which I called “Stubble” and it was the pinnacle of my artist achievements. It was a comic, but I had really developed these two characters from fairly in-cohesive and random creatures with rubber tire armour and boring shapes/silhouettes to these very much simplified, strange, stubble-y polar opposites of one another. So I figured that the ability to create characters and demonstrate that, would help get me into the games industry regardless, if I wanted to go that route. 

Then we had the end of year exhibition where we could showcase our final major projects. This got me noticed by a nearby toy design company in the area. It was exactly what I’d always hoped would happen, a job offer fresh out of university. They loved my work and I did a small-ish art test for them before being invited to a job interview that went really well. Their only major concern was my art style and whether I could adapt it appropriately for the sort of work they did. I was 23 y/o at the time, I was still no expert and hadn’t spent a whole lot of time doing product design on my non-product design based course (surprise surprise). I didn’t hear back from them for a while and because I’d never applied to salaried jobs before, I just thought it was the norm. I moved to London with my then gf and pretty much lost all motivation artistically when faced with the real world and trying to make ends meet in the most expensive part of the UK as a poor ass ex-student. Six months later, they got back to me. It was a no. They wanted to stress I was very much in the running along with 2 other applicants and choosing between the 3 of us had been the subject of much debate. So that sucked. And then not long after my long-term relationship fell apart which was a nice addition so I was back to square one at home with mummy and daddy and a seemingly useless degree. 

Thankfully, I had made some good friends who were still studying at my university and staying to live in the area afterwards to get work (they were all car designers). So at 24 y/o I pretty much begged them to let me move in with them so I could regain some independence and start again. I should probably mention that freelance work had been coming in post-uni in dribs and drabs. I was doing the work when I found it, but it was few and far between and not really helping me to create a uniform portfolio. I was applying to concept art and character art jobs where ever I could find them the whole time, despite really not having the portfolio to back them up because it was filled with irrelevant work such as cartoon cats I was doing for a legitimately crazy cat lady who was supposedly running a charity (but years later came to the conclusion she was more of an opportunist perpetually trying to reclaim her lost wealth and the life it had afforded her). I managed to end up working for Marvel and Lego which was weird. Though technically it wasn’t directly with either as the Marvel work was for a company who owned the rights to create licensed trading cards on Marvel’s behalf and the Lego job was outsourced to me through an agency that did media production and stuff for other companies. People always say to me “but the fact is you worked for Marvel and Lego”, and maybe it’s impostor syndrome speaking, but I don’t think they fully understand the way that kind of work...works (which is fine, but also perhaps trust the guy who’s been doing this for a living). I’d say I worked for Lego more legitimately than I did for Marvel.  

24/25 y/o and my confidence was taking a beating. I kept thinking how it was never meant to be this hard (getting a job). I’d been told by pretty much everyone I’d ever met, professional and otherwise, that I was talented and yet I wasn’t getting anywhere. Add to that the fact I was having to watch all my friends find work in their chosen fields easily and I’m honestly surprised I didn’t have/haven’t had a mental break down of some sort (especially after seeing how some people my age reacted to small periods of uncertainty). I DIGRESS, I started getting bolder with my applications and began sending them to places I thought were too good for me anyway and that would need me to be some sort of artistic veteran to even stand a chance at being considered. I’d mostly stuck to companies within the UK at this point, but I was having to move further afield because I’d exhausted what seemed to be every single games company the UK had to offer and felt like my work was more appropriate for what I deemed to be as bolder and more imaginative US companies. At the time, I was obsessed with League of Legends and had begun to learn about the company behind them, Riot Games. So I thought “fuck it” and I sent an application to their studio in Hong Kong despite being terrified by the prospect of moving there. And guess what?

They got back to me. 

Again, I don’t want to go into too much detail. But let’s just say I did another art test for this one. And then another. And then another. And then also another. I didn’t have a job, I was relying on my incredibly unreliable freelance work but pretty much prioritising the application process over everything else going on in my life. I was doing good work in my mind, quantity AND quality, the best of both worlds. I was pushing myself to get into a design frame of mind and applying my extensive knowledge of League of Legends to solve problems that I knew needed addressing in the best way I could. 

You can see where this is going. 

I didn’t get the job. I found out midday as I recall, which meant I had the whole day to wallow in self pity. But hey, I had a heap of new work for my portfolio. I was proud of it all for a few months at least and now I just feel like I have to include it in my portfolio because of how extensive it was and how much I threw myself at it. I realise now that quantity isn’t always the best thing. And I will never ever ever again draw that many iterations of a character in pencil with nice line work. It was a dumb way to work and it was slow as hell. You don’t focus on line work when you’re trying to develop ideas at an early stage, even if you’re trying to impress a big company. Part of the job is narrowing down ideas. But at the time I didn’t feel that it was my place to say what was and wasn’t good as I was trying to get in to a entry-level role and was expecting someone to make those decisions for me. I was the grunt, they were the overlord. Several months is a lot of time to exchange for a fairly simple lesson. Especially when you feel like you’re trying to play catch up in life and are now 2 years behind everyone else your age. But I’ve got to stress that I wasn’t an expert, I was still young and unlike most other people I knew, I literally had no one to advise me/ look to for tips. Which I think is something pretty much most artists go through at some point in their life seeing as we all end up pretty secluded. 

The thing is, I felt obligated to share the work I did from that application because it’s unfair to ask someone to invest so much (UNPAID) time and effort into something without letting them then use that to further their job hunt if you’re to turn them down. Art tests in general are unfair. Apply the idea of an unpaid test to most other areas of employment - marketing, banking (even bar tender jobs will pay you half the standard rate if they’re trailing you for the day) and people generally respond with something like “yeah I wouldn’t do something like that unless I was paid”. Because it comes across like you don’t respect yourself. And yet that is unfortunately the world we live in as artists. 

Moving on. Still 25 y/o going on 26, after posting pretty much all of that work on this very blog and whilst on holiday, I got an email from a guy called Ben saying he was from Riot Games and wondered if I wanted to collaborate on a comic together. I’d become accustomed to the word “collaborate” being synonymous with “free” so I was initially sceptical and didn’t think much of it. Instead turning my attention to the shrimps I was bbqing and jokingly telling my friends that some schmuck wanted to get free work out of me again. However, it began to become more real and eventually I understood that it was going to be a real job. Still freelance, but real. And for one of my favourite companies as well. I became one of 4 artists making web comics for Riot at the time and became pretty good friends with Ben. We made “Olaf Vs Everything” whilst the other horsemen of Ben’s apocalypse made “Crystal Quest”, “Academy Adventures” and “Punches and Plants” with him. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we had fun and did what we could with the limitations of the gig. Season 1 of the comic turned into season 2 and things seemed to be picking up. I was networking and making friends with like-minded artists across the world and suddenly didn’t feel so alone anymore.

I was super lucky to get invited to Riot’s HQ in L.A. along with a bunch of these other artists as part of Riot’s first Art Lab. It was a really crazy time in my life and didn’t quite feel real (sort of still doesn’t). I suddenly felt like I had something to back up my abilities to the friends and family around me and for once wasn’t a huge failure in my chosen field. It was a nice feeling and impostor syndrome definitely went away that week. 

That was over a year ago now, which is nuts. But I still know all these guys (and more). They’re a very talented bunch and for the most part, it seems like we’re all watching each other grow and actively try to get our dream jobs. Unlike the majority of artists I met at university, who seemed to only be in it for the qualification and have long since given up pursuing a career as artists. But don’t get me wrong, there were definitely some talented folks who made it work and some who really deserved to but I don’t think have done. Skip forward a bit and I actually started work as a part-time lecturer at my university in 2018, teaching the students taking the same course I did all those years ago. Working with the lecturer who 6/7 years prior had said my portfolio had too many werewolves in it (it’s some sort of running joke). It’s nice to see that they seem to be slightly more thirsty for knowledge than my year group was. The quality of their work is also a better I’d say. More diverse. And every single one of them has a drawing tablet in their first year (most of my year group didn’t get them until 2nd year, some never did). 

And now...

I spent the last few months actively sending out applications for concept art jobs again with my portfolio now containing my Artstation King Arthur competition entry in it (which has been helping me out more than I thought it would and you can see here: www.artstation.com/artwork/nQLePX). Side note - do an Artstation challenge if you can, they can be fun, push you and look great in your portfolio/cover letter. I found a job I really really really wanted that was nearby. It ticked all the boxes and almost seemed too good to be true. I did the procedural art test (unpaid of course) and had an interview. Everything felt good. Didn’t get the job. This time seemingly because of not being able to start immediately, despite the fact that all commitments I had had lined up for the next 2 months were completely cancellable. You can’t make this stuff up. So from now on, I will habitually write in capital letters on my cover letters “I CAN START IMMEDIATELY, I DON’T EVEN CARE IF I HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE STREETS IN BETWEEN WORK DAYS UNTIL I CAN FIND ACCOMMODATION, I’LL MAKE SURE I CLEAN MY TEETH BEFORE I COME IN AT THE VERY LEAST” as well as potentially screaming the word “IMMEEEEEDIATELYYYY” at any future interviewers upon hearing a “when can you start” related question. I would advise you to do the same. Well maybe not exactly the same, but y’know, just make sure they know you can start immediately. Bums in seats. Being able to start sooner = more important than being a good fit (sometimes anyway, so take that into consideration). 

I’ve mostly spent this past year realising that if I ever want to have a moderately “normal” life (aka having disposable income) then I had to give up doing comics in favour of concept art. I’d already felt that way for a long time, but this year I’ve actively avoided committing to big comic projects because they simply aren’t worth the time and effort in most cases. And to note, I did have a completely separate portfolio of comic page samples I sent out to publishers in an effort to up my game and I got absolutely no where. I’m not trying to dissuade any one else from succeeding where I’ve failed by any means. But you have to be prepared to fail a lot and if you can deal with that then by all means you should try. But for me, I really don’t like the prospect of taking a huge backwards step at this point in life, and by that I mean moving back home where it’s rent-free. Perseverance is an admirable trait. Persevering despite overwhelming odds. And though there is a very big difference between quitting and knowing when to quit, I think artists more so than any other profession don’t really know how to quit. Which is a pretty brave thing in most cases. Meanwhile, with each year that passes I feel like I can relate more and more to episodes of the Simpsons where Bart and Lisa were all grown up and the major difference between the two career-wise. I love (ew grosss) my younger sister, don’t get me wrong (and don’t tell her) but she’s starting to make me look bad ahah. 

Next month I’m going to be doing a crash course at Escape Studios in London learning how to model/sculpt and animate a character of my own design in roughly 4 weeks. I’m hoping that broadening my skill set to 3D will increase my employability. It will at the very least mean I can eventually apply to character art jobs and stand a chance. However, after that course I am potentially going to look for part-time/full-time work in an unrelated field of work because I don’t really have a choice. 

I will keep looking for the concept art/ character art job out there that I know I’ll be good at. Because I’m in this for the long haul. And if you are as well, then I wish you the very best of luck and hope that something I’ve written here may help you out. 

Your hairy neighbourhood friend,

- Tom

[boneshine]

Close Call

Pairing: Benjamin Clawhauser / Chief Bogo

Rating: M

Summary: Bogo confiscates Clawhauser’s phone in order to make him more productive at work. Established relationship. Post-Movie.

Warning: NSFW! Details under the cut!

Part Four/Five

--

Warning: This is a NSFW story, although the adult content does not really begin until Part Five. That being said, this is still an M-rated story, so read at your own smut-loving risk.

--

The bed was warm, the blankets soft and plentiful as they wrapped around Clawhauser’s peacefully snoozing form. His paws kneaded at the air; a quiet purr nestled in the back of his throat. He was roused a bit at the sound of a door opening and shutting, but he drifted slowly back down into his dreams as the silky warmth and the scent of wheatgrass and his lover’s musky cologne kept his consciousness at bay—

EEGH EEGH EEGH!!!

The wailing, strangled beeps of Bogo’s alarm clock stabbed into the feline’s ear, his body jerked back and flailed, his world twisting around him as he fell off the bed.

“ACK!”

His heart pounding, head aching, Clawhauser could still hear the tell-tale chuckle wash over him.

“Works every time.”

Eyes squinted open in irritation, the cheetah’s frazzled form struggled to climb back into the bed, immediately deflating and flattening back into the sheets, his face slowly becoming more and more acquainted with the pillow as sleep tried to coax him back. “Vin-n-n-cenpphh…”

“Good morning, Ben.” He didn’t even need to look to know that Bogo was already up, showered, dressed in his uniform, fur groomed, and impeccably ready for the day before the cheetah had even opened both eyes. A hoof ran down his back, making the smaller’s round body instinctively raise itself in an arch at the welcoming touch, only to flop back down in exhaustion. “I said ‘good morning’, Ben. That means you need to actually get up.”

“Ugh…”

“On all fours, at least.”

Clawhauser’s ears perked. “Ooh.”

“Not like THAT.”

“Aw.”

The feline grumbled but heard something slosh in front of his face, the scent of berries filling his nose. His tail curled as his eyes open to spot a bowl of cereal in Bogo’s hoof, already poured and ready for him. “Lucky Chomps!”

“Indecipherably nutritious.”

He sat up and snuggled back into the pillows as he heaped spoonful after spoonful into his mouth with glee, stopping only to give his boyfriend a big milky kiss on his cheek. “Thaaanks, honey!” he chimed.

Bogo wiped his face. “Finish up and maybe we can get to work on time?”

“Three more bowls and I’m right behind you.”

--

The morning, while early and vastly unpleasant due to said earliness, had left Clawhauser in a considerably better mood. It wasn’t every day that he got to spend the night and the morning with his beloved Buffalo Buns, lounging with cereal and the occasional lingering touch from him as he stumbled around to get ready for work. However, as they drove in to the precinct, the cheetah recalled with a growing annoyance that he had another boring day without his phone ahead of him.

How did I forget that my boyfriend was such a jerk? I’m such a sucker for morning cuddles…

It didn’t help that Bogo seemed to recall it as well, and the expression on his face was a smug, amused contrast to the normally-bubbly feline’s pout.

“Don’t look so glum, Ben,” he spoke as they strolled to his desk, “It’s just one more day, you know.”

“It’ll be the worst day of my life,” he groused, climbing into his seat and already sulking.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. You’ll have much worse days than this.”

“… Gee, I really appreciate that!”

Bogo smirked. “Maybe this will help you change your outlook.” He leaned in, dangerously close considering it was a public space, and Clawhauser looked around uncertainly before he was drawn back to rich brown eyes and that handsome face. “I’ve decided to add something to our little bet.”

The feline sputtered. "More rules?! Wh—Vinc— Chief, I'm already chained to my desk! What more can you ask for?!"

"Nothing like that. It's a perk, really. And since you'll be tethered to your desk the rest of the day, I thought that perhaps some incentive will help keep you on track."

“Incentive?”

A warm hoof landed on his paw, trailing up his arm to graze the edge of a flickering ear. All the while, that salacious smirk only grew as he stared into wide eyes.

“Think about it. What motivates a Clawhauser?”

“… Doughnuts.”

Bogo’s smirk fell. “And… what else… ?”

It took only a second, and the cheetah’s mouth fell open in understanding. “Oh-h-h-h!” Another moment, and his eyes sparkled. “Ooo-o-o-o-o, I’m gonna get some--!” he squealed, muffled as his mouth was immediately covered with a hoof, the buffalo now glancing around suspiciously.

"Not outside of the office," he grit out.

Clawhauser couldn't stop a giggle, prying off his hoof from his grin. "Save the magic for the show, right?"

“There will be no show.”

“You’re such a prude at work, you know that?”

“I’m professional.”

The younger quirked a furry brow at him. “Mm-hmm… Okay, Mr. Shoulder-Touch-and-Ear-Grope-and-Sensual-Whispering-and--”

“Clawhauser.”

“… Sex-Promise.”

--

Of course, he took the incentive. Why wouldn’t he? It would be at least a decent reward for the hell that his boyfriend was making him go through.

Besides, it would only be six more hours, right?

The feline’s bored gaze was trained on his computer, holding back a sigh as he refreshed the page for the hundredth time to see if any new reports had popped up to deal with. Sadly, nothing. And he had five hours and 15 more minutes to go and he was literally going to go insane--

“Um, Ben?”

The cheetah jumped, blinking from the screen daze as he leaned over the desk to see the familiar face of a bunny staring up at him, gasping. "Judy!" Boy, was he glad to see her, obvious by his wide and excited smile. A distraction! And also, his dear friend! But mostly, right now, a distraction! "How's it going, my bunny from another mummy?"

"Fine, fine..." Judy seemed to hesitate, a rare expression on her velvety visage. "It's just that... I haven't gotten a text from you since the Molencia call." Her ears tilted back in worry. "Did I upset you somehow?"

Aww! Cute! Cute! Cute! "No, no! Of course not, cutie-- Judy," he corrected quickly at her narrowed look. "You're fabulous as always. It's something completely out of my control, believe me. I'm being punished. Bogo confiscated my phone to teach me a lesson."

"Oh." The bunny blinked and cracked a small smile. "Is it a... good lesson?"

"Huh?"

She wriggled her eyebrows. "You know... the kind that some couples do... I've heard..."

The implication in her tone was not lost on him, and his skin immediately burned under his fur. "Whaaat?! N-No! He's just trying to teach me to focus on my job! O-M-Goodness, Judes! Where did that come from?!"

Judy giggled. "Hey, I'm a bunny. I come from a family of over two-hundred siblings. I know this stuff."

"I thought that you didn't like to use those stereotypes!"

"... Nick MAY be influencing me more than I thought," she mumbled.

 Knew it! Clawhauser hid his own grin and covered it with an indignant huff. "Any-who, I'm stuck at my desk until the end of my shift..." He suddenly leaned over, startling the small rabbit. "So-o-o-o how's about you stay here and chat with me for a while? Maybe an hour or two? It's been a slow crime week, hasn't it? You can spare the time!"

His enthusiasm seemed to set her back. "Oh... Well, actually, I got a text from Nick about some 'former friends' that may be linked to that stolen car ring we've been working on." She grinned. "We get to be part of the stakeout! Six A.M. sharp!"

Bunnies were such morning creatures; it was almost nauseating. "Fan... tastic?"

"I know! So, I'm afraid that I'll have to cut our talk short. Like, right now," the bunny was already turned to begin leaving, her paw up in farewell. "Good luck, Ben!"

Panic filled the cheetah. "Wait! No! I can't leave my desk! Don't leave, Judy! I need to talk! Just stay a little longer, please!"

"Can't hear you, too pumped!"

"Judy, no! Judy, don't go through the door, no! I need contact from the outside world! No-o-o-o..." he moaned out and slumped against the desk as the doors slid shut behind her. "My bunny beacon of hope..."

"Clawhauser!" A voice boomed from above.

The cheetah jolted and gawked up in confusion. "What?!"

Bogo's expression seemed less stern, but he pointed to his door regardless. "In my office!"

The cheetah stared. Was he serious? "I haven't left!" he blurted out.

The chief rolled his eyes. "Just get up here!"

--

There was no hiding the irritated stomp the feline had and Clawhauser huffed as he walked into the office. "Let's get one thing clear, okay?" he started. "I want it on the record that this does NOT count as me losing the bet because YOU ordered me up here for who-knows-what reason and--"

As soon as the door shut behind him, he was pressed against it.

Soft lips covered his in a sudden kiss, a hoof grasping the back of his head like the shirtless hunk on his favorite romance novel cover.

Clawhauser's bewilderment immediately turned to joy, and his eyes sparkled before closing and returning the kiss with enthusiasm.

Surprise hanky-panky? Thanky!

The hot, heavy weight of his lover was pressed into his body and he purred wildly, paws kneading strong shoulders as the feline clung to the older male. Yes! This was a fantastic way to kill a few hours (which was NOT an exaggeration as he recalled other, ahem, 'meetings' like this) and to keep his mind off that stupid bet! After all that teasing his chief had done, he could use some relief. He licked at his boyfriend's soft muzzle, urging him to continue--

But Bogo pulled his mouth back, and used it to smirk at the dazed form, still pressing him against the wall.

"You'll get the rest tomorrow."

The words were like a splash of cold water and Clawhauser's pants faded as he blinked. "Come again?"

"Sorry. Not yet."

"... What?" A hiss.

The mounting anger on his lover seemed to please the buffalo. "That was just a taste. You didn't think I'd let you get away with more than that today? The bet isn't over."

"Wh-- You just..." Clawhauser's body squirmed frantically, fangs bared. "You can't keep DOING this to me!"

His paws were held and restrained by one hoof; his struggles worthless.

“I haven’t done anything to you.” The humor in the chief’s voice was infuriating. “And I won’t until after the bet is over. That’s the point, Ben.”

"No!” he hissed again, “No, this—this is unacceptable! Absolutely not! You already took away one toy! And THEN you have the AUDACITY to dangle my favorite one in my face and take it away before I get to play with it!" the smaller snarled and struggled to reach his lover's trousers, claws ready to rip fabric open, but they barely wiggled in the buffalo’s iron grip. "Just a quickie! It’s the least you can do!"

“Actually,” his body was lifted and twirled around to face the door, with a fond pat on his sizable rump to end the contact as Bogo returned to his desk, “the least I can do is nothing. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Until. The bet. Is over,” the chief hummed.

Several things ran through the feline. Anger. Indignation. Incredible horniness.

Oh, he was going to PAY!

His eyes were almost slits as he managed out, "I have half a mind to deny you for a week!" He bit back a growl, already at the door. He tried to adjust certain things before he swung the entrance open.

"The other half seems to disagree, then," came his boyfriend’s sly response.

"Oh, no! Believe me, the rest will follow when blood flow returns to my brain, you big buff jerk!"

--

It was the first moment of the entire day that Clawhauser was glad he couldn't leave his desk. He shifted and grumbled as his arousal slowly faded into a dull throb. It had been difficult enough trying to ease back down the stairs without alerting anyone to his 'condition.'

He is going to make it up to me so hard... Oh, cripes, hard... He cursed at himself, only to sigh as the landline rang.

Five. More. Hours. Left.

Hello, sex life? Sorry, you've been canceled.

[witcherislovewitcherislife]

My gift for @captainofthekryptonspacemarines for Steggy Secret Santa 2018

I am very sorry for how extremely late this is. It is difficult for me to write with a lack of motivation and I have been busier than usual these last few months. But I finally got it done. I really hope it was worth the wait and I hope you enjoy! :)

You said you enjoyed domestic life fics so that is what I wrote. Also, some there is some Star Wars stuff because you said you liked sci-fi. :)

The Perfect Gift

As a child, Christmas was always one of Steve's favorite days of the year. He and his mother had very little, they were already poor when the Great Depression came and then things just got worse. But his mother always made sure that Christmas was special. Every year she bought Steve a new comic book, replaced some old art supplies, and got him a chocolate treat. Steve knew that she had to take extra shifts on top of her doubles already as a nurse just to earn the extra money. And he would be eternally grateful for that.

Now, around a hundred years later and having a family of his own, Steve made sure to make Christmas for his family just as special as his mother had made it for him. Every year, the Rogers-Carter family would cut down their own Christmas tree. Peggy and their two children always loved to see Steve lift the tree up with ease and carry it to the truck (borrowed from Tony of course) and throw it into the truck bed.

Often, the two little gremlins that Steve and Peggy called their children would wrap themselves around Steve’s legs like monkeys trying to hold him back with no avail.

They’d take the tree to their home in the suburbs of Washington D.C. and spend the evening decorating it with various ornaments. Some store-bought and some homemade. Sarah, Peggy and Steve’s daughter and eldest child had her father’s knack for art. Steve and her would make various ornaments for the tree, ranging from little drawings to larger clay figures that Sarah loved to craft. Their younger son, Michael, got the job of choosing what would go on top of the tree. He always chose a small replica of his father’s shield over a star or an angel.

The day before Christmas, Auntie Angie (as Sarah referred to her) would visit and bake cookies with the children. Sarah liked to bake them in the shape of her mother’s fedora and Michael liked frosting them to look like his father’s shield. Michael liked to sneak their dog Dodger cookies under the table while he thought no one was looking, his little giggle giving himself away each time. Steve and Peggy usually noticed but never minded as long as their son was happy.

Peggy was always unsure what to get Steve for Christmas. Steve’s gifts were almost always homemade, putting his amazing art skills and creativity to good use. For their first Christmas together in the modern age, Peggy went the comedic route. She knew Steve loathed Captain America merchandise, having his superhero identity plastered all over items ranging from clothing, stuffed animals, and mugs to the X-Rated items for the more adventurous fans of his had always made him a bit uncomfortable. But for Christmas, she had bought him a surprisingly well detailed Captain America bobblehead and a Halloween costume of his original USO uniform. She giggled as he unwrapped it, joking to him about how he could finally dress up as his favorite superhero. The laughter the gift gave them both was a gift in and of itself. And as much as Steve didn’t like Captain America merchandise normally, he loved it coming from Peggy. He still kept the bobblehead on his office desk till this day and kept the costume in storage because he would cherish anything coming from her. Peggy had to admit that she rather liked some of the items though. She owned several articles of Captain America clothing, an adorable stuffed bear version of Steve, and one of her favorite mugs donned his shield insignia.

Nature did Peggy’s job for her on their second Christmas together. The sonogram picture of their first child was sure to take Steve by surprise. Steve ended up being open-mouthed and awestruck. Peggy being pregnant was the best news he had gotten since the news that she was staying in the modern day to be with him, timelines be damned. “Best gift ever,” Steve had said and she couldn’t have been happier.

The couple decided against getting presents for each other on their third Christmas. Deciding instead to focus on the new addition to their family. Peggy did break the rule slightly however, buying herself some lingerie to model for Steve.

“There was no rule against buying ourselves a gift, my darling,” Peggy said, stalking towards him slowly.

“From this angle it looks like this is a gift for me too,” Steve had replied with a wide smirk on his face. Finally getting to spend some one on one time with his gorgeous wife after months of only fleeting moments in between the cries from a hungry baby. Sarah always chose the worst moments to decide it was time to eat.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing you in this if I’m honest.”

“You’re a perv, Peg.”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The years kept going by and Peggy kept having to be creative come Christmas time. One year Peggy had gotten a new compass made for Steve. This time the compass opened to a picture of Peggy holding beautiful little Sarah. Steve absolutely loved it. The compass always pointing north and always pointing home.

Steve tended to go the homemade route. He liked to put his art skills to use and make something personal and unique.

A few years ago however, Steve got the chance to do something a little different. Tony Stark, with the help of Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne, and Scott Lang had finally unraveled the key to time travel using the Quantum Realm. They had wanted an excuse to monitor the effects a miniscule change could have on the modern day. How they were going to do that was beyond Steve. But since Tony was planning a trip back in time anyways, Steve enlisted his help in getting a nice gift for Peggy.

“You want me to do what?” Tony had deadpanned, a little baffled at Steve’s seemingly silly request.

“Like I said, I just want you to buy some lipstick from London. The brand she used went out of business ages ago and I know how much she misses it.”

“Couldn’t have been too good if they went out of business.”

“I’m serious, Tony. I’d really appreciate it. It would be the perfect present for her.”

“Fine! I’ll consider this assisting the elderly. But you owe me. You are coming to all my charity events from now on.”

“Deal.” And they shook on it, Tony adding after the fact, “Time travel is invented and we’re using it to get ancient lipstick for God’s sake,” Tony muttered sarcastically.

“Well if you want to go back and stop the Nazis and HYDRA be my guest.”

“That would have too many repercussions. Who knows what the present day would look like if I changed something so drastic.”

“Then stop complaining.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, if this causes the world to go to hell it’s on you.”

Tony had returned from the past safely with a case of “Victory Red” lipstick in hand as expected. A part of Steve was kind of hoping that this subtle change to the past had some positive present consequences but to no avail.

Peggy had been shocked by the gift and even more shocked by the explanation. Ironically she made the same comment that Tony made about time travel being used for such silly purposes but she would be eternally grateful for such a thoughtful and spectacular gift. Her years of experience in rationing were sure to come in handy once again. They were both pretty sure that Tony wouldn’t agree to go back and get more when she ran out. But they did both got a good laugh at the idea of sending Tony back in time to get more lipstick as if it was a simple errand to the corner store.

Other years Steve had drawn beautiful drawings and portraits for her. Peggy had a place for each and every one. On the wall of her office in Avengers Tower hung a large and detailed painting Steve had painted during the war. It was of the Paris skyline, the lights from the Eiffel Tower illuminating the sky. Steve had drawn it after the Liberation of Paris in 1944. It hung in a museum until Steve came out of ice. He had taken it back and replaced the one in the museum with a copy. Now Peggy had the original and cherished it every time she gazed upon it.

Steve and Peggy were amoken Christmas morning by Sarah and Michael jumping on their bed.

“Mommy! Daddy! Santa came! Santa came!”

Their children’s eager voices brought smiles to their faces, even if they weren’t particularly happy with being woken up at seven in the morning on a holiday.

“Alright alright gremlins, calm down a bit my loves.”

“Mummy, come on!!” Michael begged, tugging on Peggy’s arm trying to get her up so they could open presents.

“Sweetie, the presents will still be there in an hour.”

“Or two,” Steve added, trying to negotiate for some extra sleep. Christmas Eve was one of the few nights that they got all to themselves. The kids agreeing to go to bed early on the promise that Santa would come if they did. And Steve and Peggy were sure to capitalize on this opportunity, making love late into the night, or more accurately early into the morning.

“Please mummy!!” both the children said in unison, using their best puppy dog eyes.

Steve and Peggy both shared a knowing look upon realizing that they would get no more sleep.

“Fine, my loves. You can each open one present before breakfast. We’ll open the rest after.”

“Thank you mummy! Love you!!” Sarah and Michael both exclaimed before running out of the room excited that their favorite day had finally came.

“What about me!?!?” Steve yelled after them

“Love you too, papa!” They yelled back, their voices getting quieter the further they got away from the master bedroom. The children's response caused a chuckle from both Peggy and Steve as they rose out of bed.

“Make sure they open the Star Wars Lego set. That will keep them busy for bit.”

By the time Steve and Peggy made it down to the living room, the kids had already chosen a gift to unwrap. It was in fact the lego set. Peggy had a feeling they would go for that one as it was one of the bigger boxes under their tree.

“Share please, my darlings!”

Seeing their children playing together warmed Peggy’s heart.

Steve went to make breakfast while Peggy helped Sarah start building the Millenium Falcon.

Breakfast made by Steve was more of a feast. Steve’s super-soldier metabolism ensured that he always would need a lot to eat. And his children never having to worry about food was what made him proudest in life. Between growing up poor and then needing to ration, food was always scarce in Steve’s life before the ice. Knowing that his children would never feel empty bellies warmed his heart. He cooked a smorgasbord of eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon, and sausage for his family. Steve’s many years of Captaining were as useful in the kitchen as the were on a battlefield. Multi-tasking quickly so that his family could all enjoy their favorites.

After breakfast, the kids were eager to get back to opening their presents. Sarah chose first, choosing a long rectangular box to open.

“A lightsaber, papa!” Sarah burst out with excitement. Star Wars was her favorite right now. She wanted to be just like Rey. The lightsaber handle was made from genuine vibranium. Upon activation, the handle would project bright blue light like a hologram giving an authentic look to the prop. The lightsaber would also emit a low buzzing when you swung it. Sarah could barely hold the heavy handle but the smile on her face was brighter than the saber itself. She rushed off to her room to change into her Rey outfit. Steve and Peggy knew they had gotten the perfect gift for their little daughter.

All the gifts were opened by mid-morning and the kids were playing excitedly. Sarah still enraptured by her lightsaber and Michael engrossed in the newest Batman video game. Their dog Dodger was enjoying his new bone very much as well.

While the children played, Peggy and Steve snuck off to go get their main gifts for each other.

Steve gave Peggy her gift first. She had to admit his wrapping skills had gotten quite good.

“I didn’t have much time to work on this but I hope you like it,” Steve said nervously, eager to see what his wife thought of his gift.

Peggy unwrapped the gift carefully, opening up the small box to reveal a homemade comic book. The cover boldy read “THE ADVENTURES OF DIRECTOR CARTER AND CAPTAIN AMERICA”. Below it Peggy and Steve were drawn gracefully standing proud in the midst of a battle.

Peggy spoke slowly, in awe over how amazing a gift she had received. “Steve, this is incredible. My darling you are so talented.” Peggy added while flipping through the pages. The compliment caused a faint blush to rise to Steve’s cheeks as well.

“You really like it? I know comics aren’t really your thing.”

Peggy responded with action rather than words, firmly kissing Steve before whispering, “I love it. I love you.” against his lips.

“I am quite glad you put my name first as well, I must say.

“As it should be. You do wear the pants after all.”

“Sounds like you are just trying to get mine off,” Peggy teased back.

“Not while the kids are awake.”

Peggy giggled a tapped Steve on the chest, “Open yours. I hope you like it.”

Steve unwrapped the gift carefully. It was clearly a painting and he was eager to see what of.

“I wasn’t able to draw it myself obviously so I enlisted Maria’s help. Did you know she could paint this well?”

Steve in fact didn’t know that Maria Hill was a painter but he was glad that he did now. The painting was a recreation of The Incredibles poster but with their family. Peggy knew The Incredibles was Steve’s favorite Pixar movie, mainly because they reminded him so much of his own. Steve was Mr. Incredible of course, with Peggy as ElastiGirl, Sarah as Violet, Michael as Dash, and even had Dodger in place of Jack-Jack.

“This is outstanding Peg. Thank you so much!”

“You’re quite welcome, darling. I only wish I could have made it myself.”

“I could teach ya if you’d like. We should have some free time. I don’t think the kids will be bothering us too much for the near future.”

“Alright then, you better be as good a teacher as you are a husband.”

“We can start tomorrow. You know, I think the kids might be napping, I don’t hear them.”

Smirking wickedly, Peggy caught the slight tease in Steve’s voice. “Well then, maybe we should take this time for an afternoon fondue.”

The old reference caused a laugh from the both of them before Steve added, “You are never gonna let that go, huh?”

“Oh no darling, never.”

[finalproblem]

[Insert Obligatory Point of View Post Here]

Jumping right back into the middle of things: We’ve established that I think Mycroft was lying about Eurus being a secret Holmes sibling, and that everything we saw after the patience grenade blew up 221B was less than real.

Combine this with the hospital references in The Final Problem and the general, “whoops, we slipped into someone’s head without telling you” precedent set by The Abominable Bride and… For the moment, I think our most likely scenario is someone got hurt in the explosion and everything we see take place after that happens inside their mind.

Well, I say “someone,” but I mean Sherlock. It’s Sherlock.

I could play devil’s advocate and go through all of the characters caught in the explosion one by one, but it’s been a year and I’m in the mood to cut to the chase. So here’s an incomplete list of reasons why the Sherrinford / Musgrave adventure is happening in Sherlock’s head rather than anyone else’s.

We know he can do this.

Sherlock has the clearest precedent for being able to create an entire world with ridiculous levels of detail and mystery plots. He did that in The Abominable Bride. You were all there. You saw it.

(Note that TAB also includes a demonstration of Sherlock’s ability to invent an entire, detailed persona for someone he barely knows in real life. So there’s a convenient bonus power that’s perfect for this scenario.)

This isn’t his first pirate rewrite.

In The Six Thatchers, Mycroft explains that Sherlock tried to “fix” the Appointment in Samarra story as a child.

Mycroft: You wrote your own version, as I remember. Appointment in Sumatra. The merchant goes to a different city, and is perfectly fine. Then he becomes a pirate, for some reason.

And how does the Sherrinford adventure begin?

Sherlock escapes death and then he becomes a pirate, for some reason.

It’s the scenario he’s been expecting to play out.

In The Six Thatchers, Sherlock says he’s waiting for Moriarty’s “Posthumous revenge. No, better than that. Posthumous game.”

Then up pops Eurus saying exactly the things Sherlock had been waiting to hear.

It includes the “good” version of his bad dream from His Last Vow.

When he’s shot in HLV, Sherlock dreams a young version of himself into Mycroft’s office. Dream Mycroft calls him a stupid little boy and says their parents are very cross with him.

The end of TFP flips this earlier dream around. Sherlock and Mycroft are back in the same office, but this time Mummy and Daddy Holmes are also there. The parents are now angry with Mycroft rather than Sherlock. Mrs. Holmes calls Mycroft an “idiot boy” and says Sherlock was “always the grown-up.”

It’s easy to see this scene as being a subconscious reversal of the earlier dream. (Even if by the time it plays out Sherlock doesn’t seem to get as much of a kick out of seeing Mycroft called names as he might’ve hoped.)

He’s the only one who’d know about all of his dreams.

At one point near the end of the journey, Eurus tells Sherlock, “Deep waters, Sherlock, all your life. In all your dreams. Deep waters.”

Unless Sherlock got way more in-depth with Ella during his therapy session than she implied, no one but Sherlock would know that. Not to mention there was a cutaway to the waterfall sequence of his earlier Victorian dream and, again, we have no particular reason to believe the other characters know about that imaginary moment in enough detail to bother including it in their own dream sequence.

He’s dressed “Eurus” in the last thing he saw her wearing.

Several people have noticed this wardrobe connection—the first place I saw it mentioned was on Reddit ages ago. It’s probably my favorite hint that we’re in Sherlock’s head.

When Sherlock crashes John’s therapy appointment in The Lying Detective, therapist “Elsa” is wearing this white shirt:

Look familiar?

That’s the last time Sherlock sees Sian Brooke’s character before the Sherrinford sequence, and his brain puts her in the same shirt as part of her prison uniform. (John sees Elsa in a different outfit before the Sherrinford sequence, Mycroft isn’t one of the visitors to Elsa’s house, and Mrs. Hudson and Molly don’t have enough information about the whole Eurus thing for the Sherrinford sequence to be happening in their heads even if they did see the shirt.)

As I said, this is an incomplete list. But hopefully complete enough to consider the point made and allow me to move on to another post. ‘Cause that’s what I’m gonna do. 👋

[daphner20]

John Woodside

Forgiveness

Prologue “Today is the best day of my life,” said John Michael Woodside II joyfully. Am in grade 7 at the most prestigious Catholic High school in The Bahamas. St. Francis of Assisi, was the most competitive school to get in. There were almost a thousand entries, but only 100 applicants were accepted. John was in the top 5% with the highest score. He played soccer, baseball, basketball, and ran track. He also played the piano pretty well. Let’s see what they said “ he would be an asset to the school”. And the icing on the cake, I was an altar boy. My best friend Benjamin Hall, got accepted as well, this is so cool. John, didn’t think much of his life up to now. He was an only child. His father John Sr. , whom he loved fiercely, was his idol. His mother, (the prettiest woman in the world) whom he adore was his everything. His father, was quite a bit older than his mother (30 years). But they seem very happy. Most people called them wealthy, he knew they lived in a upscale gated community, he was chauffeur driven every where, and for as long as he could remember, he had travelled extensively, with his parents, ( his father had his own plane). He overheard, his father, telling his mom, that he was contemplating buying a yacht. “Time to go”, said his Father. “Do well, I am so proud of you”, beamed his Dad. “Thank you, daddy,” said John, as he hugged him, and kissed his mom. The first day of school, was everything, John, thought it will be, Benjamin, and I were in the same class. At recess, I heard my name on the PA system, to come to the Principal’s office. When I got there, my chauffeur, Mr. Lee was there.

He said , “there has been an accident.”

Chapter 1 John in his 12 years, never had to deal with anything distressing. Mr. Lee, didn’t offer any other information. We he got to the house, there were so many people there. He wanted to see his father, because Daddy will explain everything to him. However, it was his mom, who came to him. She was disheveled, no makeup, track suit and sneakers, this isn’t my mom. “ Where is Daddy?, I asked. “ Your father, is dead, he suffered a heart attack this morning,” she said sobbing. “ This can’t be, I just saw him this morning,” I said in disbelief. “I want to see him, this can’t be,” I shouted. ‘Its true Johnny,” she was openly sobbing. As I looked around, all the staff was crying as well. Then I knew, my daddy was gone, my heart just melted, and I just couldn’t stopped the tears. Suddenly, my father’s lawyer Mr. Campbell told my mom, that he needed to speak with her in my dad’s study. I noticed, that 3 men and a woman, entered, as well. I have never seen them in my life. About half and hour later, I heard my mom screaming, No! I can’t loose another parent I thought, as I burst through the study door. “Leave my mother alone,” I shouted. Then this man turned at looked with such hatred, “ so this is the bastard” he said cruelly. “ Stop it,” said my mother “ Stop what,” said the stranger, “ I am just getting started.”

“ What is your name?” asked the female stranger. ‘ John Michael Woodside the second,” I said proudly. “ Unbelievable,” shouted male stranger, “He gave his bastard his name.” “ Stopped saying that,” said my mother, “he is a little boy.” “ Do you know, who we are?, asked male stranger 2. “ No,” I said. The girl stranger, just starting crying, “he forgot about us,” she continued crying. Finally, stranger male 3, said, “ we are your brothers and sister. I am Jason, I am the second,, this is James, the third son, this is Jasmine our sister. And this is the eldest son, John Michael Woodside the second.” He pointed to the first stranger. I looked to my mother, for affirmation, she looked liked her worst nightmare had just came true. “ How come we have the same name, as our father,” I asked the first John the second. “That is not your name, he was not your father, and we are nothing to you,” he said angrily. Mr. Campbell, finally spoke, “Let us show some respect for your father. I know that emotions are raw, but don’t let us say anything we will regret.” “ Considering my father, never divorce our mother, from this moment on, I am now the head of this family.” John the first second said as a matter of fact.

Chapter 2 The day my dad was buried, it was dark and wet like my soul. My mother and I were not allowed to attend. The servants were, but not us. In one week’s time. My whole world was turn upside down. When my mom, meet my dad, she was 20 and he was 50. She was his junior secretary, at the Offshore Bank, where he was the President. My brothers were

28, 26, 23, and Jasmine was 18. With my dad being Catholic, he didn’t divorce their mother. My mom, got pregnant with me 2 years later. I was their love child. Because of the scandal, he was forced to retire, however, he took two thirds of the bank clients, and open up his own private trust company. My mom and I became his family. His children never forgave him or spoke to him again. So, in one week, because my dad didn’t leave a will. My oldest brother, became his heir. First decree, we were not allowed to attend the funeral. We were kicked out of the house. My name was taken from me. My dad’s name was never on my birth certificate, ( my parents were not married) so my name was John Michael Munnings. ( my mom’s maiden name) And finally, I never returned to St. Francis of Assisi. There was no provision for our future. My mother left all of that to my dad. I hated every thing and everyone. Things couldn’t get worse, don’t bet on it! We had no place to go, my mother didn’t want to keep me out of school, much longer, so she decided to return home. Because, we had little money, we had to take a mail boat to Orange Creek, Andros, that was my mom’s home. The boat took 10 hours, and we arrived at 5 am the next day. An elderly man, came to pick us up, in an old beat up truck. He didn’t say one word to my mom. He just loaded up our things on the truck.. I don’t know how long we were driving, but it felt forever. We pulled into a modest wooden house. I couldn’t see much, it was still dark. The old man, put our stuff in a small room, with an even smaller bed, and left. My mom told me to go back to sleep. Later that morning, mummy got me up. She told me she had to enroll me in school. This was another Catholic School, but it wasn’t like the one in Nassau. It had from kindergarten to grade 12. The average size of the class was 10 students. I could still wear my St. Francis of Assisi school uniform. Everyone seem friendly enough.

St. Thomas More, was the name of the school, it was a 20 minute walk to the house, everyone lived in the settlement. On the island, instead of towns, they were called settlements. When I got to the house, I was formally introduce to my maternal grandparents. Charles and Louise Munnings. My mother, looked exactly liked my grandma. My grandmother did all the talking. “Your mother, has brought shame and disgrace to this family, we will keep you, but she is not welcome here.” I looked at my mom, who was sobbing quietly. “Please Mummy, don’t leave me, “ I begged. “ It will only be for a short while,” Mummy said. “I will come back for you, and we will get our life back.” That night, as I lay on my tiny bed, I made a vow, I will never forgive my mother, or my siblings.

Chapter 3 “ Do you have your speech,” asked my Grandfather. “Yes sir,” I replied. I am the Valedictorian of St. Thomas More Prep. It’s been six years. I thought it was going to be 3 months! My mom, never came back. She got married, two years later, and guess to whom? Yep my oldest brother, John the second. He has truly taken every thing away from me. Life on Andros, was hard. Firstly, my grandparents who were devoted Catholics, had the mindset, church and work. My grandfather was a Catechist, and grandma played the organ in church. I took that role over when I became 15, 2 mass every Sunday, and the high seasons. My grandfather was a fisherman. He liked to say,” they were Jesus' s favorite people.”

So, for the last 6 years, this was my life: devotions at 5am, rain or shine; feed the chickens, rain or shine; (grandma sold organic eggs) ; school, rain or shine; mass rain or shine. After school, I helped Grandpa, with the nets and his boat. I asked God, that if I ever get of this island, may I never returned. My grandfather believed, that I will follow in his footsteps. I wanted to be an investment banker, like my dad. I wanted to make so much money, that no one will ever be responsible for my well being, only me. Unbeknown to me, my guidance counselor, Mrs. Smith had fill out several scholarship applications, and I got them all. Because I was 18. I didn’t need anyone’s permission or consent. Thank you Lord. As I walked down to the graduation ceremony, I knew my mother, will not be there, I haven’t seen or spoken to her in 6 years. My grandparents, never discussed her, and neither did I. I thought of my dad, and the last thing he said to me was “I am proud of you”. I have no more tears left. A month later, as I said goodbye to my grandparents. I was on my way to St. John's University, New York, on a full ride. I knew that I didn’t want to see this country again, or my family. “Thank you Grandfather,” I said as I shook his hands. “ Thank you Grandma,” I said as I kissed her cheeks. “Goodbye son,” they said in unison. Chapter 4 As I looked out on Central Park, from my penthouse, I had to pat myself on the back. You have made it. Forbes Magazine, had just listed me, as one of the youngest millionaires under 35 ( I was 32). It’s been 14 years, since I left Andros. I didn’t returned even when my grandma died 3 years ago. There wasn’t nothing there for me . I am living my best life. It’s 6am and my cellphone is blowing up, who is calling me? And from a 242 area code The Bahamas. “ Hello,” I said in my most annoyed voice.

“ Good, morning Johnny, this is Mrs. Smith from Andros, your grandfather, has been airlifted to the city on an emergency flight. He is at Nassau Hospital. He is asking for you, so don’t tarry. I came on the flight with him, so I will you see you when you get here.” Click. “Why me,” asked John, as he booked a flight, made hotel arrangements, and cancelled all of his appointments for the next week. As the flight touchdown in Nassau, the country of his birth, John heart was hurting. “20 years,” he muttered to himself. He hadn’t been back in 20 years. When he got at the hospital, Mrs. Smith, just hold him tightly. “ Go in John,” she said quietly. As I walked in the room, lying on that bed was not Charles Isaac Munnings. Not the imposing figure of my childhood. The man laying there was frail and fragile, he was hooked up to a lot of machines. He opened his eyes, and motioned me to come closer. “Forgive me,” he said weakly. “ No Grandpa, forgive me, I should have come back sooner.” “ No, son, unforgiveness, has robbed from me of a relationship, with your mom, my only child for over 35 years. When you came to us, it was like God was giving us a second chance. But we were so bitter and angry with Carol, that we couldn’t see that we were creating you to be like us. The greatest gift you can give your self, is a spirit of forgiveness. Johnny, my dear son, My departure is at hand. Forgive your mom, and your siblings. Forgive me and your grandma. Bury me in Andros, with your grandma. Now pray with me one last time.’ “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespassed against us.” Then my grandpa died. And after 20 years, as the tears flowed, I finally found Peace.

As I knocked on my father’s door, Mr. Lee open the door. “ Master John,” he exclaimed with genuine warmth.

“ Hello Mr. Lee, I replied, is my mother here?” He hesitated for a moment, “ Don’t worry Mr. Lee, it’s ok.” He pointed at my dad's study. As I entered the room, to my surprise, they were all there. My mom, John the second, Jason, James and Jasmine. The glass fell out of my mom’s hand. “ Johnny?” It was more of a question, than statement. “Yes, I said, “ Your father died today, here in Nassau, but he wants to be buried in Andros, because you are his child, I need your permission to release the body. I will take care of all of the arrangements. My mother, still a beautiful woman at 54, aged immediately, that is when she finally moved, and cried in my neck for eternity. “ John, forgive me,” she cried. “ Its ok Mum, the hand of The Almighty, has been with me, all these 20 years, what the enemy meant for evil, the Lord made it for my good.” I said. My grandfather left me, every thing he owned, one hundred acres of land in Andros. And now I own the largest commercial fishing company in The Bahamas. It has provided over 90% of employment in Andros. Plus grandma organic eggs, has become a house hold name. THE END

[analytic-chaoticism]

HIVESWAP: ACT 1 LAUNCH TRAILER And Press Kit Analysis

When I saw this video in my subscriptions on a humble Wednesday morning I thought the game dropped without warning on a school day and I was going to hypershit into the nth dimension and I’ll be discussing the Hiveswap press-kit exclusive screenshots so buckle up this is probably going to be a thicc bih

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEs-NlcRtU 

First, we have the thumbnail, which is great. In case anybody was confused (because I’ve seen a lot of confusion) Dammek’s beam is red, not orange, as in the red/green cherub dichotomy. I really like this piece it’s AesthetiqueTM (which is something I’ll say about this game a lot), I like how they’re just ogling each other as they hurtle through space and time, and I like how you can see Hauntswitch reversed behind Hiveswap. You just know in the Hauntswitch launch trailer we’ll get a reverse of this shot. 

Sorry that the following pictures all got compressed ew

Not much to this besides noting the sacrilegious Signless plush, which is great and I hope will be official merch one day. Just thought I’d point it out because it’s The BestTM and I’ll address now the fact that everything that was branded has been fictionalized (which would have taken a long ass time to change everything which accounts for some delay time) and I’m not sure if they were threatened with copyright or if they were just hedging their bets but that’s what’s happened. 

Oh hey look a mysterious fucking Nuclear MissileTM dropping from the fucking sky. Note that we’re working with a dark blue and light purple palette here (which will be relevant in a few frames). 

These monsters (which I call antiguardians) are either really easily startled (which makes sense because they legitimately don’t have eyes - note that the no-eyes trend has been bucked for animals and adults in Hiveswap so these things are legit just blind I think) or are just as scared as Joey as she is of them (or enemy varieties have different personalities and the T-Rex arm-leg beans are just TimidTM. I can see this one being the case and it’s cool and interesting so hopefully).

The return of the dark blue and light purple palette. We keep returning to these scenes of fear and destruction throughout the first half of the trailer, and @theenglishmanwithallthebananas and I are willing to bet the nuke from earlier was what destroyed Xefros’ neighbourhood, which would explain how everything got fucked up so quick and why he’s so scared in these sequences. 

hi,m., angery,, . 

Bye bitch. In case anyone was interested, the red and green stripes turn blue and yellow for some reason, and whether that’s a nod to trickster palettes or will be developed as colour imagery later is yet to be seen. Also this portal looks... amazing. The art in this game is phenomenal and I really really love the lighting it’s so high quality and everything is good and this portal design is rad.

The closest view of the weird neighbour mansion we’ve seen so far. I can’t say yet how prominently events on Earth will feature during Hiveswap (but for a cohesive narrative with the games playable in either order they have to affect each other somehow, especially considering how what happens on Earth has to be as important and predestined as what happens on Alternia), but we probably won’t see much of this for a while. Looks cool tho. And big. Real big. 

Every good game needs a good death screen. Now I won’t say that antiguardians can’t shapeshift, but all of the ones we’ve seen have flat teeth and don’t have mouths this big, which makes me think this is perhaps the first boss encounter of the game? A giant antiguardian? Maybe an upgrade on the centipede enemy. 

Xefros panicked, traumatized, and roughed up by the destruction of an entire fucking neighbourhood. I’m assuming that the cherub portal survived, if not all of Dammek’s hive - considering that his lusus is still around after this. I hope Xefros’ house was lucky enough to make it too if Dammek’s survived the blast, being across the street from each other and all. If it didn’t... that means bye bye sloth, which will make me real fucking sad (but doesn’t line up with concept art we’ve seen of the sloth walking with the trio, unless that’s been changed as we haven’t seen it in the trailers). Of course, this could be another neighbourhood, as we saw the destroyed areas in concept art from Dammek’s lusus’ back, meaning they already rode it somewhere. Who knows what this is. I just hope the sloth is okay. Please. Also I love Xefros’ hive???? so??????? let them be okay.

What the fuck is this Actual TesseractTM????????? We’ll come back to this later, but we will say now that it’s most likely that Joey finds this on Alternia after arriving at Dammek’s hive (considering it interacts with his doors). @theenglishmanwithallthebananas noted that it looks like a “perfectly generic object but useful” which is so true and thematically really interesting (and likely intentional). I can’t wait to see more with this Mystery BoxTM. 

In case anyone was confused like I was, Jude’s text is now light green and Joey’s light blue. This palette swap is the same as John and Jade’s and I love it. I don’t know when this change was made but I never noticed and I am here for it. There’s some gerbil tubes on the wall, so unless those are used for a transport system, the Harleclaires have more pets than Tesseract and

OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED THEIR DOG WAS CALLED TESSERACT AND

WHAT DOES JOEY FUCKING FIND

God fucking dammit I swear to God... If the likely plot-critical Glow CubeTM is actually called ‘the tesseract’ I’m going to have a conniption of fucking course this would happen. ANYWAY. Potential rodents, not just Tesseract and the pigeons. Also notice the captain mummy off to the right who survives to become one of Grandpa’s esteemed foyer couch guests. 

This is possibly an entry-level style of puzzle, where Joey dances hard enough to JiggleTM the environment and Make Things HappenTM. A cool use of her dancing mechanic I really like it. 

Y O U T H R O L L also???????????????????? why is Dammek such a fucking nasty boy? We’ll see how fucking FilthyTM it gets in the next frame but he really needs to do some dishes (I’m not sure how he affords them all as a bronze but he also has 1000000000000 guns so hey). I love his deercat lusus so so so much and I want to know how it feels having another of the same lusus taxidermied and used as a fucking sockrack in it’s son’s basement. This is the recording area from promotional art we’ve seen, Xefros and Dammek are cool and good moirails, Dammek needs to do his laundry as well as his dishes, the Bandcestors print exists in-universe, there are some references in the other posters I don’t get, and trolls eat giant bugs in stew which is gross and I’m absolutely not here for it at all. 

Look at all these dishes. And all these guns. Wow are there a lot of guns. I mean I guess rebels need guns but... that’s still a lot to just have lying around. Maybe he has a riflekind specibus. The same dark blue/light purple sky as the missile shot is seen through the window so we definitely know the missile is on Alternia, and we can see one of Trizza’s cool imperial drones skulking around ominously too. I really love their design. Other things of note here are a potential microwave and those cool headphones which curve out for his horns. How are those sold? Horns don’t all grow in the same spot, so are headphones custom made, or are there a set amount of standard areas that horns grow from and you can get different headphone styles designed for each? It’s attached to some sort of Walkman. 

My favourite shot from this trailer. I love Xefros’ room. The lighting is again, fantastic, and also really concerning. Pool balls on the wall, on the floor, in the lights... Obvious connections to LE and it makes sense if you consider Doc Scratch’s involvement. We know Xefros is a Sports BoyTM (we can see his helmet and uniform in the back there) and we know he’s a butler (nice to see the cutlery and proper cutlery position chart on the wall) and I was thinking that billiards is a real sort of refined sport which would align with his gentlemanly image and - if he’s influenced by Doc Scratch, a very gentlemanly aesthetic’d individually who likes to raise proper servants - possible outside interference. I love his little butler suit. His bunk recuperacoon is nice. I like how the UI changes between humans and trolls. I like the telekinesis button design. I like how he has a FLARP manual (FLARPing My Chemical Bromance please), and this writing is fantastic. It really speaks to troll society in a really succinct and witty way which is reminiscent of the earlier Homestuck style and will be great for exposition and I can’t wait to see more. Cohen seems really capable and I can tell the writing will be fantastic already. Also of note is the athlete poster who seems to play the same sport he does based on the gear, and the sexy poster by his recuperacoon. His recuperacoon is a cool shape too, it actually looks really comfy in that reclined upright position. That would be so good for me RN because I am sick and My SinusesTM are Not Happy With Lying DownTM. I absolutely love Xefros’ hive (I just adore those pink and blue trees, and also treehouse houses) so I can’t wait to see more. I really just can’t wait for a lot of stuff.

Rebelgram. I wonder how many messaging systems there’ll be in this game (if we want to count Prongle as messaging). I like the style and simplicity of this UI, as well as text option convenience. Speaking of, we see some rudimentary dialogue choices which I’m sure will get more complex and interesting as the story and relationships progress. Quirk wise, it seems Xefros uses perfect grammar with no capitalization besides ‘X’, removes ‘e’ from ‘ex’ pairs, and uses ‘X’ in his emojis for his horns. I’d like to note that ‘X;)?’ is probably Joey being confused about the use of the ‘X’ as me and @theenglishmanwithallthebananas looked into together last night and Joey could very feasibly be familiar with emojis considering the date of their invention preceding 1994. I’m excited to see more websites in-game, like troll!eBay, which will potentially make for an interesting mechanic. 

Dammek’s bedroom is a mess too. We can see another gun in the foreground as Joey climbs out of this vent (presumably from the basement), and another fucking dish stack. There’s a giant hole in the floor and ceiling from the cherub portal beam. His recuperacoon is fucking WeirdTM and... I honestly have... no idea?????????????? how you get in that or why it has so many oddly placed holes (and speaking of how it retains the sopor slime?). There’s a weird magenta box there and I’m really not sure what it could be. A drum set up the back there, and... are those more guns by the window? Really. Where the fuck did he get all these guns? Troll!eBay? More posters in here: Grubbels on the ceiling on the right, some more deercat lusus stuff. Troll!Judge Dredd. Troll!Robocop. I don’t recognize the two at the back, but I do know the troll!Anarky symbol (I feel like that might specifically be a Batman reference because of the antihero/gritty-inclined superhero theme going on here? Could very easily just be a normal anarchy thing tho). 

Here we see what I think is meant to be a troll!Terminator poster which I swear we saw in HS cuz I remember those horns but I might? be crazy. Another gun is held above the door, which is locked by a biometric bypassed by the tesseract (which goes dark in the next few frames). It’s too small to see because unfortunately these screenshots all compressed, but during this sequence, the cube emits some white sparks, as if the whole ‘lime green and probably really important’ stuff didn’t already make it look related to first guardians/the Green Sun. I’m not sure why it loses power here but... I mean it’s interesting. There’s also a model of a troll getting abducted which is of course A Very Funny CoincidenceTM. From all of these posters I’m getting a very strong Lawless Law, Moral Code, Violent Disestablishment And Vigilante Action vibe for Dammek, which makes sense considering he’s a rebel (potentially a leader??? with all these weapons and the infamy of the Grubbels? with in-world merch? how is that allowed?), and I’m sniffing some Mind on this boy, but obviously that’s super tentative bare bones. 

Wow this is beautiful. 

Fucking same.

So that’s the trailer! I figure I might as well also go over the presskit while we’re here: 

https://www.hiveswap.com/press-kit

None of the info provided here is new, but to recap: Hiveswap takes place in 1994 as a prequel to HS and the birth + arrival of the beta kids on Earth, who will get here in... two years. Enough time for Grandpa to pack up shop and ditch the wife (is Anna Claire still alive?). Every item combination is possible with unique flavour text (I can’t wait to extend the standard 4-5 hour play by testing everything), there’s at least one third wave ska song, frenemies is a possible relationship option (quadrants please and thank you), and Hiveswap and Hauntswitch will be playable in either order. Moving on to those good exclusive screenshots: 

So many dead animals. I find the bear/deer combination quite tasteful myself, as well as the bull head and hooves mounted above the fucking door. Wow that wolf, am I right? Really happy to see ‘play haunting x’ is still a thing, and I’m excited to see what recurring commands/gags pop up in these games. The rug coordination in this household is awful but I love it and the texturing on these things is fantastic. I’d also like to draw your attention to the corned of the shot, in the back corner above the arrow on the piano and behind the stair rails: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVEQ3v9RRR0

It’s this monster from the concept art in the asset reel that came out oh my God 2 years ago. Anyway, it looks lime green in the former screenshot, and if there’s one thing I know about exotic snake monsters (which we’ll get back to in a second) and Grandpa, this is probably a new denizen minion, and subsequently a hint at a new denizen design! Nothing else on Earth looks this cool, right? With the colouration and AesthetiqueTM I considered this being an Abraxas minion but Abraxas looks - from Jake’s browser - to be bird themed so that doesn’t quite line up, but the prospect of finding minions for more denizens and thus new denizen designs in the Harlehouse is really exciting to me. Basically this is all just Really Fucking ExcitingTM. Also trust me to focus on this one background thing.

Here we see the fight with the centipede antiguardian in the basement which we see later that Joey is in to turn the power back on:

I’m still really here for dance combat and this game’s beautiful art and insane attention to detail. Most of note for me here are the Typheus minion head and what I’m 100% positive is a Cetus minion head (purple narwhal AKA purple whale AKA Cetus). Although Cetus was never shown Rose’s browser showed a human woman head so if denizen minions can vary a bit from their denizens design then perhaps that snake on the stairs up there is related to Abraxas. I feel like of all the denizens to include a nod to, the one associated with the cherubs - so potentially a Yaldabaoth minion too? - makes sense. 

More messy rugs and I still love how ugly and tasteless it is. I also love this little blue lady corner with the tiger skin armchair by the French doors we’ve got here. There is so much illegal game in this house. 

God bless these family photos (pretend Joey is standing on those stairs a little more - I’m fine with the models not quite lining up considering it’s 2D). As we saw in the photo of Grandpa and the buffalo by the piano, it seems Joey and Jude specifically decorate Grandpa’s hunting photos. But I don’t think this is because it unnerves them:

Once again the art and lighting in this game is phenomenal. But Joey seems quite excited by all these dead things so no I don’t imagine the hunting bothers her very much. That’s funny to me because Joey wants to be a vet, so maybe the excitement is just standard for one of her dance cycles and she’s not actually normally very happy about all the dead things. I guess we’ll see. Note the katana below the orange cat. @Dirk next time Grandpa. It’s cool to see more nods to the alphas and the environmental storytelling is going to be great in this game. 

I like how Jude’s calling the antiguardians the cryptid vanguard and I almost want to do the same. 

I only just realized that we’ve seen all this gerbil tubing before but it’s what got me to freak out about Tesseract so I’ll leave that in there. I’m still not really sure how the combat system works at all from what we’ve seen but it looks interesting UI-wise and I really like the death bubbles that pop up at collision points. It’s a cool skull graphic I think we only saw once in Homestuck, and that one on the left looks a bit like the ~ATH face.

Also wow that bat thing has a manly chin.

I love Jude a lot. 

These theatrical encounter screens are still great.

All in all: WOW! SO MUCH STUFF! WOW! GREAT! I’M! E!X!C!I!T!E!D IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED. Hopefully you enjoyed my thoughts and I’ve pointed out some details or ideas you might have missed. I’m also sorry for being too lazy to edit out the YT bars on the trailer screenshots but hey whatever.

This game looks so fantastic and I can’t believe it’s going to be here in 13 days after I’ve waited for so long (since 2013) and I’m just... yeah this is going to be cool. 

Stay tuned for more Hiveswap theorizing and coverage, which will only increase by a Whole Fucking LotTM when the game actually comes out. Hopefully I’ll be hot on the scene the day it drops but that’s also a Friday so I might lose some time at school but we’ll see how it goes. 

For reference, I will be tagging Hiveswap spoilers as ‘HS spoilers’ and/or ‘Hiveswap Spoilers’ in the future. 

My Hiveswap theories are here:

Antiguardians: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/164851214030/hiveswaps-antiguardians-possibly-solving

Horror: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/158878144610/hiveswap-and-horror-possibility-of-scary-segments

Plot: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/155283894895/hiveswap-cherubs-fantrolls-first-guardians

The Handmaid/Doc Scratch: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/154670995195/the-handmaid-in-hiveswap-homestuck-ancestors-in

God Tiers: http://analytic-chaoticism.tumblr.com/post/151553862535/tentative-hiveswap-classpecting 

[aminorcontradiction]

Untitled Potterlock Fic. (Un-Beta-ed Draft)

I am unable to find a beta so I thought I’d just take the plunge and post the draft on tumblr instead. This is the first chapter to a fic I’m hoping will become a series. . . 

If you have an suggestions or questions, don’t hesitate to share them/ask! All suggestions are welcome. In fact, critique is what I need right now.

(Also, my apologies, I’m copying this from a google doc, so some of the italics may not be italicized. . .)

It’s easy to be overwhelmed when in Diagon Alley. There is something to look at within every inch of the crowded alley and it’s cobblestone paths. The newest racing brooms with their shining, polished handles gleaming in the windows of the quidditch supply store. The glamorous silver robes that look as if they’re sewn with string made of stars. The giant croaking toads in the large iron cages in front of the Magical Menagerie. Everywhere and anywhere in the alley, there is something fantastic to see.

And although Sherlock was used to it by now, unlike most things, Diagon Alley hadn’t stopped being interesting.

He had been there many times, of course. He and his family went every year around the end of August to buy Mycroft his required supplies for the new term at Hogwarts. Along with that, his parents were both wizards, so whenever they needed something, whether it be a new spellbook or some beetle eyes, they’d go to the alley, taking their excited youngest child with them.

It wasn’t as if Sherlock hadn’t ever gotten something of his own from the alley - he had gotten an assortment of things from the alley over time. It wasn’t what he was getting that was important to him. It was why he was getting it.

Sherlock had turned eleven in January, which meant, after all these years of watching Mycroft being sent off to go to Hogwarts, it would finally be his turn.

Sherlock had decided to go with Mycroft - his parents were busy at an expo for Mummy’s new magical theory book. He was disappointed they weren’t coming, but he supposed Mycroft being there was good enough.

Mycroft was 18 and well above the legal age, and they could have apparated, but sidelong apparation could be dangerous. He never liked taking chances when it came to Sherlock. So instead, they opted for the floo network and appeared in the small fireplace in the leaky cauldron, Mycroft after Sherlock.

Diagon Alley was as busy as ever. Witches and wizards bustled around in their brightly colored robes, many with children and teenagers rushing along behind them. Most likely, they too were buying their hogwarts supplies.

It didn’t take very long for Sherlock to gather the bulk of his supplies. There was none of the tedious pulling out and reading of the list - Sherlock had memorized it the day it arrived. First, they went to Madam Malkin’s to get his robes fitted and to purchase the other uniform items he’d need. They then went across the street, to Scribbulus Writing Implements, where Mycroft bought him an elegant new crow feather quill, and a bottle of instant-drying ink.

And it went on like that for a while. They went from shop to shop, buying Sherlock’s supplies, with Mycroft insisting on buying him a gift here or there, and Sherlock, unless intrigued, refusing. After about an hour and a half, maybe two hours, they’d ended up in Flourish and Blott’s with armfuls of everything Sherlock needed for hogwarts (and then some).

All that was left to buy was his wand.

Mycroft had been preoccupied in browsing the shelves of Flourish and Blott’s, so Sherlock told him where he was going, left his bags of supplies with Mycroft, and walked out of the shop and down the alley to Olivander’s.

When he pushed open the door, and the tinkling of a quiet bell sounded. The shop was small, with dim lighting and dusty shelves. There were only two other people inside - a boy with sandy hair, and a woman with matching hair, who was sitting in a small wicker chair off to the side of the room. The boy was his age, judging by his height, and by the fact that he was buying a wand in the first place.

They both looked over to him at the sound of the bell. The woman gave him a polite smile, showing wary chestnut eyes, and crinkling laugh lines. The boy smiled at him as well. He didn’t share his mother’s dark eyes, but rather, his eyes were a light cobalt blue, bright with excitement.

“Hello,” said the boy,

Sherlock wasn’t expecting the boy to greet him. Quickly, he stammered a quiet, “Hello,”

There was a quiet rustling from the back of the shop in the shelves, which could only be Olivander searching for a wand for the boy. It wouldn’t take long for him to find one, but this didn’t worry the boy. He seemed determined to acquaint himself with Sherlock.

“My name’s John,” he informed him, holding out his hand.

Sherlock stood for a moment, considering this. He was almost certain that the boy - John - would be joining him at Hogwarts. And as Mummy had always told him, better to make friends than to make enemies. That had proven to be very hard for him, seeing as everyone he had met had grown irritated by him within the first few minutes of knowing him. Perhaps John would be different.

“Sherlock,” he declared hesitantly, taking his hand and giving it a chaste shake.

“Are you going to hogwarts?”

I’m an eleven year old wand shopping in London. Of course I’m going to hogwarts, Sherlock thought. “Yes.”

“So am I!” John seemed quite excited, and he began to gush. “My mum went to hogwarts, she’s told me all about it. What house do you think -” he trailed off as Olivander appeared from behind the towering shelves of boxes, a single green box in his hands. “Bad timing. My bad,” John told Sherlock quickly, and looked a little embarrassed as he turned his attention to Olivander.

He set the box on the counter in front of him, carefully pulling off the lid, and reaching inside for the wand. “Try this one, Mr. Watson,” he told John. He then looked at Sherlock. “I’ll be with you in a moment,” he assured him, his voice wispy and quiet, almost dreamlike.

Sherlock nodded, and watched as Olivander gingerly placed the wand in John’s hand.

“This one is made of birch wood. 12 ¾ of an inch, with a phoenix feather core,” Olivander whispered. Or perhaps he said. His voice was so quiet is was hard to tell.

John took the wand and wrapped his fingers around it, then waved it in a nervous semicircle. There was no obvious outward reaction, but there were also no explosions, so that seemed as good a sign as any. Olivander looked unsure, and John’s mother looked as if she was expecting something to go wrong at any moment, shielding herself with her handbag.

Sherlock was trying his best to be unnoticeable, which was a challenge considering the size of the room. He knew it wasn’t his turn, so he tried to tune out of what was happening and into other aspects of his surroundings. For instance - the shattered glass that lie neglected in the corner. The glass was slightly tinted white, and rounded on the edges. A lightbulb, then. Judging by John’s mother’s current stance, he decided that John had been the one to shatter the lightbulb, likely accidentally, and it had been forgotten about.

In the short amount of time it had taken for Sherlock to come to his rather uneventful conclusion, he noticed the room had become. . . different. The once dusty feeling of the air in the shop had been replaced with a warmth, almost as if a fire had been lit in the shop, or as if the entire shop had been engulfed in a tight embrace. Sherlock turned cautiously back towards the counter.

Olivander wore a small smile. “Yes, it’ll be that one, then,” he declared, taking the wand from John carefully, and slipping it carefully back into it’s green, velvet lined box. He then took the lid and placed it over the wand, and set it back onto the counter.

“That will be seven galleons,” Olivander informed John, who automatically looked towards his mother. Luckily, she had put down her makeshift shield.

John’s mother stood, opening her purse and digging through it as she walked from the chair to the counter. She pulled out a small coin purse and began to look for the galleons.

John had turned back to Sherlock. “All of this’ quite exciting, isn’t it?”

Sherlock snapped his gaze from the exchange, and directed it towards John. He nodded.

“I can’t wait for the sorting. Maybe we’ll be in the same house!”

“Perhaps,”

John’s mother had finished paying Olivander, and had turned and ruffled John’s hair.

“C’mon, Johnny. We’ve still got to get your books,”

“Alright, mom,” John replied, glancing up at his mother and then back at Sherlock. “See you at school, Sherlock,”

And with a small wave and the soft tinkling of the hidden bell, he was gone.

And it was too late, but Sherlock couldn’t but agree. “Yes, John. I’ll see you at school.”

When Sherlock emerged from the shop, purple wand box in hand, Mycroft was standing by the door, waiting for him with his nose in a book. Mycroft glanced up as the door opened, and then closed his book, straightening his posture. Sherlock hopped down the steps, holding his wand box with a certain carefulness.

“Let’s go home, shall we?” Mycroft asked, and then looked back down at Sherlock. He was smiling. “Why are you so happy?” Mycroft teased, the slightest trace of worry in his voice.

“I think,” began Sherlock, uncertainly, “I made a friend.”

[pendragonfics]

Dating, Not Dying!

Aqua Profunda: Chapter One | Chapter Two

Paring: Obi Wan Kenobi/Reader

Tags: female reader, godparent reader, fluff, tooth-rotting fluff, alternate universe - swimming

Summary: It's a perfect morning before work until a flustered, breathless Luke appears.

Word Count: 1,437

Posting Date:  2016-06-10

Current Date: 2017-05-09

Dating a swimming instructor of the twins was hard at times. Especially when the both of you wanted to wait until  a proper time to tell your mutual friends Anakan and Padmé . It meant always creeping around with Obi, trying not to make a big deal in public, or if found by either one of Luke's and Leia's parent's, playing dumb that you 'just happened to run into him'. After six months of this business, be it paying an extra tip to servers where the Amidala-Skywalker family dined also not to tell them of your presence, or omitting lots of details about your newfound love life when at coffee with Padmé...and it was quickly growing tiring.

For the both of you.

It was the morning after a big night, and sitting at your poor excuse for a dining room table (who even had enough money for an apartment and a table?) with coffee and semi-burned toast when you had to get if off your chest.

"We have to tell them," you and Obi Wan spoke at the same time.

His eyes softened, "Thank the stars, I was getting sick of lying to Anakin that I can't go on blind dates with his friends anymore."

You nod, and agree. "I was wondering how long I'd have to keep up the facade."

Glancing to his watch, Obi Wan made a face. "Oh pfassk, I forgot I have a class to teach! I've got to haul ass," your bearded lover takes a gulp of what coffee is remaining in his mug, and kisses your cheek, "Oh, and before we go, when's your lease end?"

"Next month's when I need to renew," you perk up.

Obi Wan slings on his jacket, and grins. "Move in with me. You can consider it when I'm out - remember to return Ani's tool kit, too. He's getting desperate without it!" The door closes, and you're left giggling like a mad idiot. All of it was too much to process at once; this fling has turned into a bizarre love, and that romance has turned into something more concrete than you'd ever expected you, the busy godparent to get around in your life.

"Oh my gosh," you wipe your eye, and laugh once more. "Oh -,"

There's a knock on the door, a little knock. You'd recognise that knock anywhere, and your eyes widen. Quicker than your beating heart, you rush to the door.

"Aunty ______!" Luke gushes. "Some - something's wrong with Mummy - she won't wake up!" His eyes are brimming with tears, staining his school uniform collar.

Your face blanches. "Luke - where's Daddy?" you rush back in and grab proper pants and a jacket, and your car keys. "Where's Leia? How'd you get here?"

His poor little face only makes more tears rush out. "Leia's with Mummy, and Daddy's out on - on - on," he takes a deep breath, and gathering Luke in your arms, you lock the door behind you and rush down to the street to your car. "Work." he hiccups. "I ran here, _______."

You press the small boy to your side, and grabbing the car door, you place him in the passanger seat, and toss your phone over. "You know my passcode, Luke, just call Obi." you start the car, and drive as fast as you can legally to Padmé and Anakin's home.

"Obi? My old -,"

You nod, swerving the car around a motorbike running a red light through an intersection. "He's your godfather, right? Tell him to come to your house, okay?"

Moments later the car pulls into the drive, and Luke tosses you back your phone, "He's on the phone, ______. Mummy's in the bedroom - come on!"

The door is open, and rushing in, you hear Obi in your ear, “I’m on my way, ______. Is Pads okay?”  You shudder. You’d never expected the morning to be like this – you would never wish it on your best friend, or your godchildren to have a horrific morning. You rush, feel fast but it feels slow, and breaching the bedroom, you gasp. Padmé is limp, her pretty curls arranged by sleep in a mess, head lolled oddly to the side. “Obi, I think she’s alive. Luke, get the house phone, call an ambulance. Leia, clear a path to the front door, please.”

The twins nod, and run off to their jobs. “______ -,” Obi starts.

“I’ve got to call work in sick,” you tell him. “I’m going to hang up, call Ani. We need everyone here, Obi.” Your voice quivers through the instructions, and opening the blinds over Padmé’s bed, you shudder.

“It’s going to be okay, _______.” Obi reassures you.

You nod, and leaning over the bed, you push Padmé’s hair from of her face. The face of your closest friend, the one you’ve practically known since the both of you were in nappies and drank juice boxes – you’d never really thought of the great Padmé Amidala to have something so simple – mortality.

At this, you take a deep breath, and hang up the phone. “I hope so, Obi.”

Luke runs in, and hands you the phone, “I’ve got the ambulance on the phone, Aunty ______. They want to know things, and I’ve told them what Leia and me know what happened to Mummy when we found her.” You nod, and tell him to sit at the end of the bed with the phone until they come. “Is Mummy going to be okay?”

You blink, and just as you’re about to answer, Leia runs in. She’s not dressed for school; she’s in striped rainbow socks and a jean jacket she must have borrowed from her friend Han. “_______ can’t promise anything, Luke, but we’re a family,” she hugs her brother, too tight. You can tell the twins are afraid. “We’re going to get through it, I know it.”

You nod. “I’ve got to make a call to my work, okay, kiddos? Stay on the phone with the ambulance -,” there’s another noise of gravel, and peeking out the window, you add, “Obi Wan’s here, don’t worry.”

Leia frowns. “Why did you call Obi Wan?”

“I think they had dinner and more,” Luke whispers.

Twenty one hours later

You’re all around the hospital bed. It’s a little cramped, but the nurses and kind hospital staff managed to add extra fold-up chairs to the side of her private bed. But you and Obi Wan are holding hands, and Luke and Leia are sharing their father’s lap, and all five of you are watching the bed nervously.

“Would you all quit staring at me?” Padmé frowns. “The doctor said it was just a concussion, I’m fine.”

Anakin sets his jaw. “Now you’re fine, but what about tomorrow? I’m your husband, I’m allowed to worry about my beautiful wife,” he sighs.

“Will you be fine?” Luke sniffs.

Padmé nods. “I’m sorry I gave you all a scare…but it seems your Godmother and Godfather have something to explain, don’t you think?” Padmé asks her twins. Anakin nods in agreement, and suddenly, the Amidala-Skywalker family’s eyes are all on you and Obi.

You slip your hand from his hold self-consciously. “Well – we’re kind of -,”

“You’re a ‘we’?” Anakin pushes.

Obi nods. “Yeah, um, it started about six months ago -,”

Padmé’s eyes widen. “Six months?” she cries, the heart rate monitor she’s hooked up to creating a rhythm for a sick bass drop if there was a DJ in the room.

You and Obi Wan turn to each other, and together, you slip your fingers in between his. “We’ve been dating for six months since the end of the twins swimming lessons,” you and Obi chime, cautious not to make the family before you angered by the reservations of telling them.

“Do you love Obi?” Luke asks.

“What in the name of the stars?” Anakin mutters.

“Oh my goodness,” Padmé blushes.

“Are you going to marry Aunty ______?” Leia beams.

You and Obi laugh. “I love Obi. Lots and lots.”

Your boyfriend Obi Wan reaches over to Leia, and places her on his lap. “One day, sweet youngling. We’re going to move in together next month, first, though. You’ve got to start somewhere, you know.”

Padmé shakes her head in incredulity. “I can’t believe it! ______ _______, and Obi Wan Kenobi, dating! In love! Moving in! When did I miss this?” She grins. “I don’t care about missing out on all the little things, oh my goodness!” she beams. “Dating!”

You nod, and turn to Anakin. “And make sure your beautiful, powerful, amazing, great wife isn’t dying any time soon, okay?”

The tradesman nods. “Sure thing. Dating, not dying.”

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