#also james' final guess was frank cause hes stupid

[courfee]

@jilymicrofics | april 1 - prank | wc 100

“How the fuck do you wordle?” Lily looks up from her phone. “You put in a five letter word, click enter, and work with the information you’re given.” “There’s no other five letter words, this sucks.” “What was your first guess?” “Balls.” Lily stares at James incredulously for a solid minute. “Of course it was.” “Mhm, then adore, briar, kraut and wrack. Just one guess left.” “You got this one.” It’s another minute before James types again, then– “Fuck!” “You didn’t get it?” James shakes his head. “Out of all the words I thought you’d not get, prank wasn’t one!”

[simsadventures]

Only Mine: Chapter 10: The Question

Summary: You want spend precious time with Natasha, who you haven’t seen in a while. Then an idea pops into your head, and Bucky is more than happy to oblige, before he asks you some important questions.

Warnings: implied smut, phone sex (MUST BE 18+ TO READ THE PART BETWEEN WARNINGS) fluff, swearing, mafia AU

Word Count: 3551

A/N: I feel like I haven’t updated in forever, so sorry for that. Not too much is happening here, I’m more preparing my ground for what is about to come next. Hope you’ll enjoy it nevertheless. Tell me what you thought, you guys! I love this series so much, tbh xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist

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It was not that you didn’t enjoy your time at the mansion. You surely did, but after a few days (because of course Bucky didn’t let you leave just like that when he had all things he needed at one place) you felt like you could use some alone time. Or, more specifically, time with your own friends.

Bucky acted as if he couldn’t speak English when you told him that you’d like somebody to drive you home and that somebody could presumably be anybody else but Brock. Even though he stayed clear of you the whole time you spent in the house, it didn’t mean you felt any better about the guy. You still remembered his sly comments, and it never ceased to make you shudder.

Bucky tried to list all the advantaged of you staying there with him, and although constant sex and not having to cook did sound pretty good, you knew you had to leave, one way, or the other. It was also the end of the weekend, and as much as you liked Bucky and spending some quality time with him, your boss would probably not be too happy about you not coming to work the next day.

But most of all, it felt like a century since you last saw Nat. You were used to be with her almost every single day, just sharing stupid stories from work, and having a laugh about the stupidity of some people. But because you spent so much time with Bucky, you just didn’t have the time for Natasha. And you were feeling like the worst friend in the world.

Bucky’s protests were loud and clear, but your resilience was stronger, and so it was Sunday afternoon, that you finally managed to make him budge, and he actually let you leave the mansion. Not without a long and very steamy goodbye though. He insisted it was either a hot shower sex, or you not leaving his house ever again, so…

It was Peter who drove you back, and even though Bucky wanted to accompany you, he had some pressing matters to attend to, and, to be quite frank, you didn’t mind one bit. You enjoyed your time spent with Peter, because he was just such a sweetheart, and you wanted to get to know him better.

“I don’t want to pester you, Peter, and if you don’t feel like answering my question, you totally can stay quiet,” you said, while his eyes were glued to the road, probably because Bucky told him that if there was a hair wrong on your hair when he next saw you, Peter would be responsible.

“I’m an open book, Y/N. Ask away!”

“Alright. I was curious, as to what such a sweet boy, and so young, on top of it, is doing with Bucky’s gang. I mean, sure, you’ve got the power, and I bet the money ain’t that bad either, but you seem so smart, and I just wondered what made you decide for this line of work, really,” you mused, and waited for his reply.

You knew you were being nosey, but you just couldn’t help yourself.

There was a silence in the car while Peter thought about his answer, and you didn’t rush him.

“Uhm, well, my uncle used to work for Bucky’s father, he used to be his accountant, and because he and my aunt May raised me, it was one of those things that were almost given, you know? I tried to go to university, but it just didn’t feel right. So I quit and asked Bucky if I could help him out, and he took me in. Also, I wanted to help May. She is an amazing woman and after losing my uncle, I just wanted to help her out a bit, you know? And going to university, that would just drain her completely, and I didn’t have the heart to do it.”

You listened to him intently, your heart tightening in your chest for him. You could see he was ok with his fate, but, somehow, you weren’t. You wanted more for this sweet kid, and even though you didn’t really know how to achieve that, you made a mental note to try and help him and his aunt so that he could pursue a better career. Or at least one where he wouldn’t have to face death almost every single month.

Before you knew it, Peter was pulling over in front of your building. The street lamps were already lit, the dim light they were emitting setting a warm feeling in your heart. The sun was down, and only a few orange and pink clouds were giving away the beauty of the previous day. You kissed Peter’s cheek, which even in the hardly lit car caused him to blush so hard you could actually see it, and you giggled slightly.

You bid him goodnight and getting out of the car, you pulled out your phone from your purse, dealing Bucky’s number. He made you promise to call him as soon as you got home, and you knew you would have caught hell weren’t you to call him immediately.

He picked up in seconds, and you had to laugh in your head. He was such a softie, even if he never admitted it.

“Already missing me, doll?”

You could almost see the smirk on his stupid face, and you shook your head, unlocking the front door.

“Oh, that’s how it is now, huh? I thought you wanted me to let you know, but I guess I was wrong, bye, Buck!” You hollered, even though you had no intention of hanging up on him.

“NO” Wait! I was just joking! I’m glad you called, doll, you know me. I was just teasing you, that’s all. I’m happy you’re home and safe. Was the ride ok, or should I take care of the youngling?”

“Don’t you even dare tell him anything, joke or not. He’s mortified of you, and I don’t wanna be the reason you’re making him uncomfortable. The ride was perfect, and you should be glad you have such a sweetie amongst your men!” You told him, imagining him rolling his eyes at your comments. He always did this when you talked to him about his line of business.

“Right, because it’s such an important trait for a mobster, to be a fucking sweetie. Imma have to remember that one when I hire more men. If you’re not a sweetie, you can’t fucking work for him. You wanna kill him? Sure, but do it sweetly.”

You snorted out a laugh just as you entered your apartment and breathed a sigh of relief. You missed this little place. Your little safe haven.

“You’re such a dork. I’m just saying that he can actually act human, not like I can say that about all of your guys,” you took a jab at Brock and Bob, but continued right afterwards, not wanting to give him a reason to get angry again.

“Anyway, I’m gonna go, I think me and Nat are gonna have a glass or five, and then we’ll go to sleep. Hope you have a good night, babe,” you almost whispered, walking further in the apartment and spotting Nat sitting on the sofa, smiling at you with two glasses of wine ready. How she knew you were coming, that was a mystery to you.

“Don’t think I didn’t hear what you said there! Be safe and text me when you wake up. Night!”

You wanted to laugh at him for being such an overprotective boyfriend, but he already hung up. Bucky couldn’t make a friendly phone call, and that was why you always rather either texted him or spoke to him in person. His telephone persona was just too stiff for you.

“Hey there, stranger! I almost thought you moved there and that I had to look for another roommate!” Nat smiled at you sheepishly, and you stuck your tongue out, which made her laugh.

“Not my fault my boyfriend wants me all to himself,” you said, shrugging your shoulders, and Nat had to roll her eyes at you.  

“Your boyfriend is a mafia boss, of course, he wants you to himself, babe! Anyway, how is life going in the mafia paradise, huh? He’s been treating you well, I hope. If not, I’m gonna go and kick his juicy ass!”

You wanted to take a sip of your wine, but Nat’s comment made you spit it out like a hippo, and your hand wasn’t fast enough to cover your mouth which made the white wine sprinkle everywhere on the sofa.

“You can’t say things like that! I could have drowned, for Christ’s sake! Anyway, a juicy ass, huh?” You smirked at her.

The rest of the night went similarly, you two were talking your hearts out about everything that has happened since you two had a proper girls’ evening. By the time it was 1AM, you were both giggling messes, slightly drunk but definitely happy.  

And it was in that state that an idea emerged in your brain. You bid Nat goodnight and went to your room, picking up your phone and dialling the only important number.

—-

Bucky was already asleep when his phone started vibrating next to his head. He wanted to ignore it, thinking it could wait till morning to deal with the world and with the person being so rude as to call him so late at night.

But when he saw who was calling him, he sat up straight and didn’t hesitate in picking up.

“Doll? What’s wrong? Where are you? Should I come for you?” He was distressed, just the mere thought of you being hurt made him want to vomit. He could gut a person with his bare hands, but he couldn’t stand the thought of you suffering.

He heard a little giggle escaping your mouth, and your heavy breathing and his brows furrowed.

“You could come alright if you know what I mean,” he heard you say seductively, and his face was now wearing a look of utter confusion.

Warning, smut starting

“What? Y/N? Are you- are you drunk, doll?” He asked, his hand on his face as he tried to breathe through his slight panic attack.

“Maybe, maybe not. But I miss you, James, and I thought we could have a little fun, what do you say?” You were whining, and before Bucky knew what was happening a strangled moan left your lips, and the sound went straight to his groin.

“Doll, are you doing what I think you’re doing?”  

“Depends. What do you think I’m doing, James?” The way his name rolled off your tongue would be enough to get him off. He loved it when you called his name, all sweaty, with puffed up lips, parted enough he could kiss you deeply whenever he liked.

He growled as a response, and he heard you moaning again. His dick was already standing proud, just the thought of you making it all excited and ready for action. Bucky sighed and lied down, keeping his sleeping pants on, just freeing his aching cock.

“You’re teasing me, Y/N, that’s what you’re doing. So stop it, and tell me exactly what you’re doing to that pretty pussy of yours.”

He could hear the sudden intake of breath on the other side of the line and had to smirk at your reaction. He could have you gasping even if he wasn’t there to perform his magic

Few seconds passed before you regained your composure and actually started talking. Bucky was just intently listening to the sounds leaving your mouth, imagining what you looked like at the moment, and each image his mind created was hotter than the previous one. But he knew no matter what he imagined, the reality was ten thousand times better, and he seriously hated himself for letting you go home. He could’ve been balls deep inside you by now.

“I’m picturing you with me, James, the way your beard scratches along under-boob, and the way you suck on my tits when you thrusting deep inside me, hitting all the right spots as you go,” you said quietly, and Bucky could tell you were biting your lip, trying to stay as quiet as possible. But because you were a screamer, he knew you wouldn’t be able to keep that up for long.

Bucky would be lying if he said he wasn’t turned on by your little sighs and moans, and just the whole idea that you got drunk with your friend, and the thing you wanted to do at 1 AM in the morning was to call him and have phone sex with him.

“Yeah? And how does that feel, baby?” Bucky asked you, his voice strained from the effort of not coming right there and then.

“Oh, yeah! You feel amazing, James. So good and ohmygod… so sooo deep! Ooooh,” you were muttering and moaning, and Bucky couldn’t help it but let a moan of his own escape his lips. He could hear the whimper coming from your bed, and he swore under his breath. You would be his death, Bucky was sure of it.

The rest of the phone call was filled with both of you moaning and encouraging the other to speed up, to do it harder, and it 6 minutes, you were both hissing and groaning, coming together just as if you were actually sharing a bed.

Warning ending

For a moment, all that could be heard on the line was panting, both of you trying to calm down your hearts, and come down from your bliss.

“Well,” Bucky said when he regained his composure, “that was something else, doll. You alright?”

He could hear your sighs, and he could only imagine the blissful expression on your face right now.

“‘M fine. Tired, but oh-so-good. I’m sorry if I woke you up, I just needed to hear your voice.”

Your voice indeed sounded exhausted, and while Bucky cleaned himself, he mumbled on the phone, grinning like an idiot.

“Never apologise for wanting to have sex with me, phone or not. And if I ever tell you to stop, or to quit it, please, just kill me. Go to sleep, Y/N. You’re going to work tomorrow, and you should get at least some rest before you do so.”

You just hummed, and Bucky was pretty positive you were already drifting off, tired and satisfied. He smiled at the phone and mumbled a low goodnight before he hung up and went off to sleep himself. And all he could dream off that night was you being curled against his side, safe and sound.

—-

The whole day was a nightmare. Not only did you have a slight hangover in the morning, and your head felt like it would burst into flames any minute, you also came a bit late to work, which didn’t help your situation at all. Not that your boss minded too much, but still. You hated it when you were late.

By the end of the day, you wished you could be at home, taking a hot bath with your favourite scented candle, and let the whole day disappear from your mind.

But, obviously, Bucky had different plans, when it came to your evening, because as you got out of the office, there he was, standing like a statue surrounded by his men.

Kate and the others looked like deers in headlights, just standing there, confused and slightly terrified, with their eyes looking like they’d fall out if they moved. You just nodded their way and rolled your eyes at Bucky and his dramatic entrance into your personal life. He just HAD to come there.

You could feel all the eyes on you as you walked towards the black SUV and the infamous man standing in front of it. Only Nat knew about your relationship, and you thought you’d have a bit more time keeping in secret. But obviously, Bucky’s plans differed from yours and oh boy, would he hear about that one!

You didn’t even spare him a look, giving a small smile to Peter and Sam who were next to Bucky and you got in the car, shutting the door right behind you. You crossed your arms in front of you, clenching your jaw.

You didn’t even know why you were this mad. At first, you thought it was because you didn’t want to be seen with Bucky, his reputation preceding him. But then you realised that you didn’t care about that anymore. Sure, he was a gangster and he, without a doubt, did some things you wouldn’t even want to know about, but when he was with you, and with people he cared about, he was this amazing guy who would do anything for his people. And that’s what you valued the most.

It was that he didn’t even tell you he’d come and very obviously show everybody who you were seeing. It was your privacy as well as his, and you hated that he just made this decision without consulting you.

When he finally got in the car, he immediately turned to you with his eyebrows raised. You huffed out a breath and turned to face the window, not ready to have this fight just yet.

“Would you share with me, what the hell was that all about? Don’t I fucking deserve a kiss, picking up my girlfriend from work? What you so pissed about?”

You didn’t even answer him, not wanting to cause a scene in front of his men. Sam may have been his best friend, and Peter was still a kid, but you knew better than to lecture him in front of them. You just shook your head and waited till you got to your apartment so you could have a civilised conversation with him, which you knew wouldn’t happen in the car.

When Peter pulled over in from of your building, you said your goodbyes to the two in front and nodded at Bucky to follow you. He didn’t even question you, probably curious and pissed as hell you were still not speaking to him.  

Once in the apartment, he followed you to your room, closing the door behind the two of you, and once again, raising his brows at you.

“You gonna tell me what’s got your panties twisted or should I fucking deduce it somehow?” He was pissed, alright.

You turned on your heel, facing him with a furious expression.

“Did I ask you to come and pick me up from work? Or did you just DEDUCE that was something I wanted and just fucking acted on it?”

His expression was blank, but you knew that a million thoughts were running through his mind.

“You still on about that bullshit that I’m not boyfriend material and people are gonna judge you? Thought we got over that! Thought you were ok with being my girl,” he raised his voice at you, and you flinched at his tone, but you weren’t about to be intimidated by him. No fucking way!

“And have you ever asked me to be your fucking girlfriend, when you’re running around like a macho, acting as if we were a solid item, huh?”

Bucky was stunned. He told you you were his, and all of that, but he never thought you’d actually want him to ask you to be his girlfriend.

He smirked and took a step closer, you taking one step back. You were not ready to make up just yet.

“I didn’t know it was required, doll. If only I knew, I would’ve asked a lot sooner! I told you you were my girl and you didn’t protest, so I took it you were fine with that. But if you’re not, fine. My beautiful, amazing Y/N, would you do me the honour and be my official girlfriend? Please?”  

Well, that please really did that for you. Bucky, and pleading, you wouldn’t get anything better out of him, anyway.

“Since you’re asking so nicely, James,” you accentuated his name and smirked at him, earning a chuckle from him.

“You can be so fucking difficult sometimes. Why didn’t you say so in the car?”

“I was worried we would actually fight and I didn’t want to undermine your authority in front of the guys,” you smiled sweetly at him, and let him pull you in a hug.

“I’d spank your cute ass if you did that! Oh, and I came because I had another question on my mind. Is it a good time to talk to you about something else, or are you still pissed at your boyfriend?”

You swatted his chest lightly.

“What is it, my amazing boyfriend?”

He kissed the crown of your head and pulled you even closer.

“My birthday is coming up, and we have this tradition, that always on my birthday we organise a ball in some specific theme so that we can gather around looking dope as fuck and having a lot of kinky sex. Which, I hope, will be with you this year,” he added quickly, seeing your face turning red.

“Would you come with me, as my date?”

/Next Chapter >

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[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 114: The Lion and the Serpent

Frank groaned, already missing the towel bed back as he lay on the cold floor once more flat on his back. His leg was propped up uncomfortably on a chest, and it was only after his head stopped ringing did he realize it wasn't his whole body shaking, just that.

He jerked quickly away with a startled yelp, drawing Alice and Lily's attention at once. He watched carefully, but they were in an open office with no obvious danger in sight, the two girls circling around a desk to get to him.

He didn't recognize it, but found himself unsurprised who did when the explanation came.

"I didn't even know Madam Hooch had an office," the older Black was tapping his chin and circling curiously on the spot. "Where in the castle would that be?" They were on the ground floor he was certain, bright sun streaming in through a window that directly showed the Quidditch pitch's entrance, but none of them really paid enough attention to her when she was refereeing to notice if she came and went from any door in particular down here.

"I've heard of it at least," Frank grumbled, now eyeing the chest in understanding, everybody knew the Quidditch balls were in here in between games to stop with tampering, and were returned here after practice so teams couldn't do anything in the meantime. It was probably the bludgers trapped inside that gave him a fright.

He smiled at Alice and Lily and told them, "did you know this is probably the most guarded office in the whole castle, even better than Dumbledore's. I once heard a Ravenclaw tried to sneak in here for her team to get at those, and no matter what she tried, she couldn't get in."

The younger Black came out of an adjacent door stretching, a bed beyond him showed this was also her room compounded.

"I've never heard that," Alice laughed.

"But I believe it," Lily rolled her eyes as she looked around in exasperation.

"Must be a Quidditch chapter!" Potter hooted in delight, shouting the summoning spell first. The chest went zooming across the office, Potter yelping in shock and ducking just in time as it sailed over his head and crashed into the wall behind him. Frank was now even more grateful he'd moved when he had the chance or he would have gone with that thing.

He tried to pry it open, but the lock on it would not give. Muttering in disdain, he went circling around the desk and went rummaging through it with no care for some keys, throwing things pell-mell in his wake.

"And here I thought this was the one place you'd show some restraint," Lily sighed as she spoke to him and had to dodge a magazine lobbed near her. "Madam Hooch is the only adult in this place you lot actually use her title for."

To everyone's utter disbelief, he ignored her and abandoned the desk to go into the room instead.

Every eye in the room turned to Sirius for explanation, and he quickly scrambled to hide his face wasn't as shocked as everyone else's, muttering audibly about body snatchers as he followed and keeping the building shame to himself.

How had he not realized the last time he'd talked to Prongs something had been on his mind? Sure he'd been distracted by having some fun with Moony, and then Longbottom just confirmed he was an arse, plus the mess with Regulus and Peter, not to mention the entire mess that was this future every time his name came up, but still, it bothered him greatly if James had somehow fallen through the cracks by not even registering if his best friend wanted to talk about something during all of that!

He walked in the room brazenly, determined to put Prongs in a headlock until he told whatever his problem was, but he'd already found the keys in a side drawer next to the bed and was trying to skip past him just as fast.

Sirius seized the back of his robes and kicked the door shut instead.

"The hell Padfoot?" James yelped in surprise, turning to him in genuine confusion. "Quidditch?!" It really would have been all the explanation needed under other circumstances, even he'd been distracted from Evans when one of their games was coming up, but Sirius wasn't buying that this time.

"Sure that's the only thing on your mind? I know there's not space up there for much else, but I'm just checking," he frowned, still casting his mind back to try and place when this could have started and still kicking himself violently he really couldn't say the last time Prongs had spoken up what was on his mind.

"I, err," he met his eyes uneasily and still glanced longingly at the door. "I was, just," finally he huffed and put it as bluntly as he could. "I was trying to give everyone some space, thought that's what you wanted."

Sirius looked stunned stupid, and James found himself just as confused as him now.

"What on Earth gave you that impression?" He demanded, glowering back at the door with a now familiar look that made James exhausted just recognizing it.

"You, you idiot," he said quickly. Sirius opened his mouth to protest so James continued with a halfhearted shrug, "I get a lot's been going on with you lately, I've been dead through all this so it's not like I know how it feels to be hearing about this future version of me, and you've been talking to Moony about it 'cause, he's alive, I guess, and I'm glad you two are friends again, honestly, but ever since you two have been talking to each other again," he stopped and rubbed at his temple, thinking that had come out all wrong.

Sirius wished a pit would swallow him whole already. Was he just cursed to ruin everyone's life? He really hadn't considered any of that at all!

The two were interrupted by a tentative knock on the door, and then it opening anyways and Remus shoving Peter inside.

Sirius had half a mind to kick the two out, he clearly needed to have a chat with his best mate, but Remus quickly intervened by smiling at the two and saying cheerily, "oh good, we weren't interrupting."

Peter laughed awkwardly, still eyeing the door like he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be in here. Just because they didn't want to kill him now didn't make him automatically think he was invited back just like that.

James tapped the jangling key ring against his hip with nerves as he realized this was the first alone moment they'd gotten in a very long time, and they all just stood there awkwardly now. He was really starting to believe nothing was going to be the same anymore, and he looked miserably at the door and tried to stammer some half-hearted excuse to leave.

Sirius startled him by throwing his arm over his shoulder like old times, and then tightening around his throat in that choke hold that meant he wasn't going anywhere.

"Look, I'm sorry Moony and I didn't share our brilliant idea to try and get those others to relax around him by making a few more furry little jokes in front of them," Sirius said honestly, bouncing on his toes a bit and making James squirm all the more uncomfortably under his arm.

"Our?" Remus frowned at him, but Sirius ignored him and kept going.

"It, err, was a bit spur of the moment, and look, we really should have, but look, we-"

"It's not like I disagree," James nodded now that he understood, finally wrangling out of his grasp. "Just, I'd have liked a little warning."

"Sorry Prongs," the two said together, Remus adding, "I just, I saw an opportunity and went for it before I chickened out."

"Don't be ridiculous Moony," Sirius snorted, "you'd rooster out, and even then, it certainly wasn't a full moon, you had too much energy."

He stopped with a remorseless laugh as Remus shoved him. James smiled at the display as he told himself that whatever had happened, he was glad for it. If things had changed enough that Remus got through to him but he couldn't anymore, well, it's not the first change that had happened, and probably wouldn't be the last. He'd adjust...

Peter laughed in surprise at the idiots again, and then Sirius lunged without warning and snatched the keys away from Prongs, darting for the door himself now. James pounded after him shouting profanities, and the two barely had time to get out of the way of the door as the two began pushing and shoving each other, laughing madly by trying to get back to the trunk first.

James finally tackled Sirius to the floor, and the two went rolling around for several minutes before he came up victorious with the keys once more and finally retrieved his prize.

Sirius just grinned and threatened to release the bludgers on him if he didn't get started.

Remus stayed leaning against the door jam with a fond smile as Prongs read out The Lion and the Serpent, and wasn't even surprised when Peter wandered back over to Regulus and the two began smiling about the feeling Harry carried of his pride in the DA group.

He still winced internally as the root of the problem definitely hadn't been solved, they hadn't even seemed to realize Peter hadn't gotten a word in, again, but they weren't looking traitorously at him anymore as he went off. He didn't know if that marked a good thing that they had faith he'd come back if needed, or if he really wouldn't try to be a part of their group anymore. He seemed like he still wanted to be, having knocked and all, but Remus wasn't any better just shoving him like that, he scolded himself far too late. Would an apology just sound dumb so long after the fact?

Sirius finally seemed delighted to fix one problem right now though, as he stayed attentive at James's shoulder, trying to read with him and the two chatting loudly about the brilliance of Hermione's coin system.

As talk of Quidditch was built up and the two were louder than ever, she turned back to Frank and the three of them continued their much quieter conversation.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it darling, and you apologized right away," she squeezed his hand once more, "but I know you've been uneasy from him since all this came out, and it seems like he's trying a bit now. Can't you do the same?"

"It's not that simple," he wasn't even sure how he had to explain this to her, it still baffled him he seemed the only one with this problem. It's not like he'd been the only one in that cage, the mad animal having to be pinned down to stop from killing them, yet they'd gone back to acting like that never happened, that it couldn't happen again before all this was up. "Telling myself that and still doing it just aren't," he waved his other hand vaguely, but turned to watch him again. Seeing him now laugh along at Ron's inept yet impressive Quidditch save of accidentally kicking a Quaffle across the field into a goal post was the most normal thing anyone could do, but he doubted this would be the first thing his brain thought of if any of them had copious amounts of blood while in his vicinity again.

"I think Alice was right before though, maybe it would do us some good to, talk to them more," Lily paused with an eye roll as Crabbe and Goyle were announced as the new Beaters for the Slytherin team and the boys were mocking this. "At least, maybe when they stop being idiots about this game later."

Both of them watched her in surprise, she certainly hadn't agreed moments ago when Alice had said such a thing.

Lily just shrugged, waving vaguely at Lupin as well. "Couldn't hurt, maybe we've had them pegged wrong all this time, I know they've surprised me more than once during all this."

"I, yeah I guess," he sighed. "What are we even supposed to talk to them about? I'm with Lily, you know neither of us are the biggest Quidditch fans," he needlessly informed Alice.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll come up with something," Alice answered him with a beaming smile, leaning forward and planting a kiss on his cheek, before standing up properly and now sitting on the desk, joining the others in their disgusted shouts of this new low by the opposing team of making a full song about the Weasleys' life just to mess with them while the game was in full swing.

Lily and Frank exchanged an exasperated look, but still decided they'd wait for a better opportunity and began discussing games they wished they could be playing in a much more normal volume, like Gobstones. No one ever almost died playing that. The two did stop in outrage when Malfoy lost the game, and continued further insulting Harry now, even dragging Lily into it with more crude language.

She pursed her lips and couldn't say she blamed Harry or George attacking Malfoy, she'd curse anyone who called her that. She'd mostly forgiven Regulus for once doing the same, especially as he hadn't ever since that one time, and he'd only technically laughed along rather than out right saying it. She'd caught Sev even laughing at some cruel jokes before looking apologetically at her and changing the subject, insisting it was just force of habit from having to pretend around the others in his year.

Regulus's moment with his brother back in their house, each expressing they didn't want the other dead, was honestly the first step any of them had seen he'd even been willing to change. More than her own best friend had ever made, he wouldn't even say with any force he'd stop hanging around that awful lot.

The dragon bogies really hit the wind when McGonagall dragged the two up to her office for a telling off, but even though however much of that was deserved varied per person, Umbridge's arrival and banning Harry and the twins from said sport met a deadly silence from all.

"Well that sucks," Frank finally spoke into the heavy air.

Lily gave a nervous kind of laugh beside him, still watching all of them as if she expected someone to blow up any second.

"As if we didn't have reason enough to kill her before all this," Lupin said with an ugly scowl, then shot a guilty look at him, and Frank almost wanted to laugh at himself; Alice had been right already, he agreed with him. He still hadn't quite gotten over his fear of what this woman would do to Neville and the rest of the DA if she found out about that, but it would likely be the same if not something crueler as this woman carving up Harry's hand, and now stepping in from his own head of house and dueling out such punishments as lifelong bans.

Potter finally kept going with that same cold, calculating look in his eye Frank was now all too familiar with, but he'd help along with any plan these guys came up with to keep this woman from ever entering their school, let alone getting as far along in life as she had when they got back.

It was only in the last line of the chapter did any good news seem on the horizon, Hagrid was finally back.

[with-love-anu]

Desiderata: Little Things

PART: 6

WORD COUNT: 1.9K

PAIRING: Sirius Black x Reader

SUMMARY:  You had been best friends with James, Remus, Sirius and Peter. Read your journey of love, friendship and jealousy through your wonderful years at Hogwarts. Enjoy!

SERIES MASTERLIST

The following month went in a blur. You worked with the marauders every free time you could put together to plan the club. James had got the permission form from McGonagall and you were currently arguing over the club name.

“Gryffindors are the best”

“Brave Hearts”

“Anti Slytherin”

“Pureb-“

“Guys stop it!” you shouted. You knew they weren’t doing it intentionally. There was always a bit of house rivalry in the boys but you always managed to tune it down. Right now it really wasn’t helping that Sirius and James were suggesting names which shouted “Gryffindor and Proud”, when you were aspiring for high goals like unity and strong bonds between people of all kind.

James and Sirius glared at you. You glared back.

“Why what is so wrong with these” James asked.

“After all it will always be Gryffindors in the end who would be brave enough to stand up against what is wrong” Sirius said staring at you.

“I want house unity. That is final. If houses don’t stay together I am not going to be a part of this.” You told them, your tone sharp daring them to say anything. This shut them up.

“Fine. You suggest something then.” James huffed.

You looked around and saw Remus rubbing his head, clearly frustrated. You thought about it. You wanted it to be catchy and meaningful.

“The Sheild.” You said out of the blue. (A/n: Avengers fan? Totally!)

“The Sheild?”

“Yes, I mean think about it. We are doing this to build a shield around the people we love.”

“Makes sense” Sirius said scratching his head.

The others pondered over it for a while then gave in their consents. You packed up your things and left with the marauders to submit the form to the very formidable head of house.

“Come in.” McGonagall’s voice came as you knocked the door.

“Professor, we wanted to submit the form for a new club.”

McGonagall looked up through her glasses and studied you all briefly. She laid out her hand and Remus gave her the form. She studied it for a while and then looked up, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Are you all serious about this?”

“Very much professor.”

“Well then! I hope to see your group succeed. I don’t want any kind of disruptions or fights. Keep that in mind.”

You smile widely and saw your boys having similar broad grins.

“Thank you so much Minnie. I knew you love me much to deny anything to me.” Sirius said winking at her giving her his famous flirt expression.

You mentally face-palmed. Did he have to do this? You looked at your deputy headmaster guessing her expression praying she wouldn’t change her mind.

“We are very very sorry Professor. You know how Sirius is. We won’t take much of your time and will be leaving now.” James said saving the situation.

As you all rushed out, you yanked Sirius’s ear (who gave a series of- “ow ow ow ow”) and pulled him to the next corridor. The others followed.

“Damn it woman! My ears hurt and they would probably be red” Sirius pouted.

“Really?” You glared at him. “I know you love me Minnie” you said mimicking his voice.

“I DO NOT talk like that”

“Yes. Yes you do.” You told him. “Oh darling!” you added with a fake drawl. “What is a pretty bird like you doing here? Girl, you’re sweet as honey. Your eyes are so beautiful, I get lost in them.”

The boys sniggered.

“Hey don’t forget the famous- ‘You’re more beautiful than the moon and the stars’ “ James said with a dreamy expression on his face.

“You’re the prettiest creature on the face of earth.” Remus said exaggerating with his hand gestures.

Sirius glared at you all and placed his hands over the right side of his chest.

“Hurt! Right to the heart! How dare you call yourselves friends?” Sirius feigned hurt.

You snorted and moved his hands to the mid of his chest.

“Your heart is in the middle, dumbass! Although I am not sure whether it exists.” You said rolling your eyes.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and puffed his cheeks. Pointing his finger at you he said, “You young lady are a mean… a mean… “ Sirius clenched his fists hunting for the right word. “A mean young lady.” He huffed out.

You rolled out laughing and no one could contain any longer. They all barked out and bent over in laughter.

“A pretty young lady who is cute when she is mean.” Remus said in a flirty tone wriggling his eyebrows. Sirius’s smile faded.

“Aww Remus… such a gentleman” you said with a fake posh accent. You cooed at him and placed a hand on his cheek flirtatiously. You missed the big scowl that formed on Sirius’s face. He interrupted loudly,

“Y/n don’t you have to meet Lily?”

“Right! I completely forgot” you said leaving.

“Ask her whether she would go out with me anytime soon.” James called after you.

“No. Bye.”

Sirius and Peter started going towards the grounds with James and Remus a little behind.

“Do you think he bought it?” Remus asked quietly.

“He looked like someone puked all over him” James whispered back.

“I just hope he realizes it before Y/n loses all hope.” Remus sighed.

***

You met Lily in the common room. She smiled on seeing you.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Just some extra credit work for charms. You know I suck on those” Lily replied. “So, I wanted to ask you; what do I have to bring to the study group today?”

“Just notes from class and personal write ups if you have done any.”

“okay.”

You spent the next hour telling her about the different people from your study group. She might as well catch up; you thought.

“Isn’t Sebastian the hot boy of the Ravenclaw house? The one girls swoon over?”

You giggled. You very well were aware of the fact that Sebastian was good looking and also knew that he hated it. Hated that out of all his qualities, the one people always referred to be his looks. 

“The very same.” You told Lily.

“Well, he’s handsome. Is he dating someone?”

“Not that I know of”

“You know,” Lily said quietly “I always thought you two were a thing.”

“How so?” you asked raising your eyebrows. If it was anyone else you would probably have denied it as soon it was mentioned to wade of any kind of rumors that might be building. But, it was Lily and the two of you were quiet frank with one another. Lily had become a very close friend.

“Well, just the two of you always seemed… I don’t know… close?! Like whenever I see you both you guys are giggling and whispering and doing you know! Coupley things? And I have even seen you two flirt a lot.”

You laughed. “Well, we joke-flirt. Nothing’s ever happened… Okay… so we both kind of have the same sense of humor sometimes even Sirius and the boys don’t get. We also tend to agree on a whole lot of things. He teases me and is affront about his opinions and I happily return the favor. We don’t take offence on one another; which I am certain most people would; if we say things like that to them. That’s just how we’ve always been. I don’t even know what to call this, a weird flirty rude relationship?”

Lily giggled. “I think you two would look cute together.”

“Really? Are you going to play matchmaker?”

“Well look at it my way. It would be a simple relationship. From what you tell me, I think the two of you already know what the other wants in a relationship.” You nodded and Lily continued. “So, it would be nice you know, lesser fights over stupid issues.”

You sighed. “I just don’t think I am ready to see him that way and if it doesn’t work out I don’t wanna lose the friendship.” That was only part of the question why. The main reason was that Sirius had made it difficult for you to like anyone else. You always ended up comparing them with him. It was like he would do things people do when they love loved the person. He would bring you chocolates and trinkets just because he saw them at a shop and thought of you. He would always have an arm around you during classes, breaks, quidditch matches; of course when he wasn’t flirting. He would call you his best girl every now and then; even in front of his girlfriends. It confused you. Not that you didn’t like it but you always ended up wanting more.

You both picked up your things and moved towards the library. Most of them were present and you settled down as Lily introduced herself.

“Am I late?” Sebastian said as he settled down on the chair beside you.

“No. you’re not”

You all talked discussing and completing the week’s essays one by one. This was the benefit of the group. You learnt magic throughout the week and took care of homework on Sundays. It helped you stay free minded and love what you learnt.

“I really can’t do this spell” Sebastian said pouting.

“Yes you can” you said giggling taking in his despaired form.

“I have tried everything and this just doesn’t work” he huffed.

“Lemme…” you took his hand in yours performing the spell on the cup infront of him.

Sebastian’s eyes widened as he saw it transform into a perfect little turtle.

“Oh!” Sebastian said as he noticed the wand movement he missed before.

“Y/n” he called out.

“Hmm?”

“Y/n”

“Yes?”

“Y/n”

“Seb.” You smiled at his game.

“When did you become so good at transfiguration?”

“James taught me.”

“So basically, you come back to school having this completely new and trendy look; which I love and by the way has caused all the boys have a crush on you; and you better yourself in the one subject you weren’t *perfect* before?”

You raised your eyebrows not sure how to reply. “Not all boys!” you said shaking your head.

“Okay; well a huge portion.”

“And you’re implying that…?”

“It’s only time before you become one of those…” Sebastian said narrowing his eyes putting on a conspiracy face.

“One of what?”

“You know… one of *those*” he said wriggling his eyebrows.

“Ahh…” you drawled. “Strong independent women who no need no man?”

“Exactly!” he said with a sad expression. He was too good an actor. “and then you will not see me, the sweet boy who loves you with all his little heart?”

You stifled a snigger wanting to play along.

“Aww… I will always love my old man!” you cooed.

“Hey! Who are you calling old?”

“Did I say old? I meant a mature wise man who happens to be very handsome and…”

“And?” Sebastian asked raising an eyebrow.

“hot” you said with a low voice.

“There are children here!!!” Alex said loudly earning a shush from the librarian. You all laughed.

“Guys!” you said remembering about the shield. “Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys!” you said until you had everyone’s attention. You told them about the club crossing your fingers that they’ll join. There was silence for a while.

“Count me in!” Ruuhaan spoke out.

“Yeah me too!” Lily said enthusiastically.

Soon enough everyone agreed.

“So, we would really appreciate it if you could bring others too who may be interested. Remember, next week, Friday at 4.” Remus said.

You couldn’t stop smiling when you went to bed that night.

[tessatechaitea]

Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child

Darkseid pees out of his eyes.

"It's 2020 and Frank Miller is still doing 'Not' jokes" is the only review of this comic book you probably need.

The Joker and Darkseid are cumming in their pants over the engagement in the election cycle. I guess people who want to stop terrible politicians from making the country a living hell for a vast number of the population are simply falling into their trap! Stupid people who want a better world! Can't they see that the only way to defeat The Joker and Darkseid is to disengage from the circus of election cycles and simply live their own life without any concern for others? Doesn't the electorate know the best life to live is the life that leads to Ayn Randian defenses of their own selfish needs? Just shut up and take what they give you, you dumb fucks. I should probably finish reading this story before I continue to jump from conclusion to conclusion about Frank Miller's point. His ultimate point might simply be that the children will save us all! Or that it doesn't matter if the children change the world or not because the adults will all be dead by then so who fucking cares? Supergirl Lara confronts Darkseid by blasting him with her heat vision. He dies multiple times or something but doesn't somehow. He applauds her rage the way bad guys always do and then calmly sits down to tell all of the children a story. He's going to be sensible and rational which means it will be the truth, I think. Obviously if you have any emotional attachment to your beliefs, they're garbage beliefs. Until you can squeeze all of the humanity out of yourself, the things you believe won't hold up in rational debate! So divest yourself of your rage, children! It will only make you more logical and intellectually stronger! But also divest yourself of your joy and your despair and your other emotions I can't think of! There must be more, right? While Darkseid is distracted regaling everybody with his tale of the anti-life equation, Superboy sneaks up behind him and takes over his Omega Effect. He turns it back on Darkseid and Darkseid disintegrates into non-existence. Unless he was transported back in time. I don't really know how his eyeball lasers work. Darkseid doesn't stay dead for long. He returns as the Omega God, as the end of everything, as the final death of everything on Earth.

But maybe later, I guess?

Batwoman beats up some Jokers and shuts down Trump's ability to broadcast to Gotham. It makes Darkseid angry enough to return for some reason. Probably a metaphorical reason. Or an analogical reason. I think maybe my attention span is seriously slipping! And right when I'm getting to the part that's probably going to explain what the fuck is going on in this comic book. Superboy destroys Darkseid by calling him an old fart. Also maybe a little bit by blasting him with a new super power: neutron vision! Darkseid has now had his powers stripped so far back that a human bouncing a rock off of his head makes him bleed. But still he thinks, "I will manipulate these fools with my lofty words!" But then Greta Thunberg clenches her fist at him and Batwoman says, "You have no power here! We're thinking for ourselves now!" And then that's the end somehow. Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child Rating: I can't comprehend what I just read. Maybe the point was that we shouldn't comprehend what other people want us to comprehend? Maybe it was an anti-propaganda story? Maybe it was just terrible writing pretending to be art? It's so hard to tell because it's trying so hard to be complex! Is it's complexity real or a facade? I can't tell! Maybe I should stick to easier things to understand, like James Joyce's Finnegans Wake or Alan Moore's 1300 page novel, Jerusalem, which I finished. Maybe that's Frank Miller's problem. Maybe he just didn't have enough pages to really get to the point he was trying to make. But then if he did have more pages, how many would he waste by simply repeating the same things over and over again? For those of you who haven't read this (or Superman: Year One), he does that a lot. Not in the good way that Tom King and Gertrude Stein repeat themselves. Just in a way that makes you think, "I got it! Superboy is right in Darkseid's brain." Maybe that's a poor example from this comic book because repeating that over and over works to show how painful Superboy's presence in Darkseid's brain is. But I assure you there were many other examples that I can't make excuses for. I just can't be bothered to dig back through the comic book to find them.

[danyka-fendyr]

As the Raven Flies: Part 7

Is she super late? Yes. Is she here? Finally. So I won’t say anymore, since I’ve been apologizing for how late this is the past couple of days. The good news is, I’m not queueing it so you can all tell me I’m trash immediately.

Taglist: @dreamwritesimagines @rhabakoli @disengagefrmreality @superwolfchild-fan

Wordcount: 1991

Chapter 7: In which, you have leveled up and unlocked the tragic backstory

Vivien’s ears were still ringing. Ringing, ringing, ringing. It was loud. Everything else was quiet, but the ringing in her ears was absolutely deafening, and to add to it, her eyes were swimming with tears so that she couldn’t see a thing. The panic of it only made her tear up more, breathing too fast. 

She closed her eyes, thinking about what Matt would say. “If you can’t hear, and you can’t see, what do you have left?” Touch. She could still feel.

James' arms were wrapped tight around her, body over top of hers. James. Was he alright? Was he hurt?

She struggled to turn over, but James was too heavy. Apparently, he realized her effort though, slowly, cautiously helping her up. He still had his arms around her, one over her shoulder and the other looped around her waist as she frantically blinked the tears out of her eyes so that she could see once again. She still couldn’t hear anything except the ringing, but she had once gotten a crash course in lip-reading from Jessica, and what James was saying wasn’t too hard to make out.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded her head. She looked him over, but he seemed to be fine. Even his stupid leather jacket was still totally intact.

“I can’t hear anything,” she said slowly, making sure to make the motions with her mouth obvious. “Can you?”

He shook his head back at her.

“Frank and Karen?”

He looked over his shoulder, and Vivien’s gaze followed his. Her worries were assuaged at what she saw. Frank had protected Karen, and it looked like most of the fallout and debris had missed them too. Whoever had set this bomb hadn’t done a very good job of it. Either that or they wanted everyone in the room to survive. 

What kind of mango brain used explosives as a scare tactic?

She steadied her breathing, waiting for the ringing in her ears to fade as she looked around at the wreckage of the kitchen. The explosion had been relatively small, but enough to pretty much take out the counters. The island and Vivien’s favorite bar stool were definitely toast, but on the bright side, they still had floors, walls and a ceiling. So that was something. The table they were sitting under had some debris on top of it, but it seemed like it was holding the weight pretty well. She tried to push back the thought that if Karen had been a foot closer to the kitchen she probably would have been blown to bits.

Slowly, she began to hear things again, dimly. Someone was crying quietly. Oh, wait. That was her. Probably the shock.

James’ was running a hand through her hair, mindlessly mumbling reassurances to her that broke through the ringing.

“You’re okay. You’re alright. Everyone is okay, Viv. It’s alright. I’ve got you. I’m not going to let you go, okay? We’re going to be just fine,” he whispered into her ear.

“Vivien? Vivien, are you okay?” Karen sounded shaken, like she had cried a little too.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright K. James prote-”

Frank yanked James up by his arm, slamming him into the nearest wall that didn’t look like it was going to potentially fall over. He buried his face into the sunny yellow paint, twisting his arm into his back.

Vivien screamed. “Frank!”

“Who are you?” Frank growled.

“I don’t know what you mean-” James stammered.

“I mean, who are you? Normal people don’t react to bomb threats that fast. So I’m going to need an explanation, otherwise, I’ll be forced to assume that you’re the guy who set us all up to explode, and that would be very, very bad for you.”

“Frank let him go!” Vivien pulled at Frank’s arm, but Karen pulled her back.

“He’s got a point, Vivien. I saw how fast James moved. It was...too fast.”

“If you hurt that little girl so help me you will wish you’d been blown up you son of a-”

“I didn’t set the bomb!” James yelled. “That being said, I do owe you an explanation. I wouldn’t mind it if you let me go first, though.”

“Yeah, not going to happen.” Frank scoffed, pressing him further into the wall while James choked on smoke.

“Frank, please. He saved me,” Vivien begged.

Frank deliberated, gritting his teeth. He gave James one final shove before backing off, but not too far. If James made a move Frank would make a much more dangerous one.

James started speaking. “You’ve all heard of Danny Rand, right?”

“Hard not to whe-” Vivien stopped herself. “when he’s so famous and everything. Wild, huh?”

“You’re a bad liar, Vivien. Which I guess is fitting, since you just started going by Diviner, right?”

Vivien’s eyes widened. “How did you-”

“Because Danny Rand is my uncle. Sort of.”

“Elaborate.” Frank crossed his arms over his chest.

“I mean, he isn’t officially my uncle, but he might as well be. He and my Dad were best friends, so when Danny went off to become a ninja, he shared a few tricks. So uhh...yeah. I guess you’re not wrong about me not exactly being a normal teenager.” James chuckled slightly.

“But you’re not a hero yourself,” Karen said.

“No. Always wanted to be, but Danny would kick my butt if I even tried.”

“I might still kick your sorry little-”

“Frank!” Vivien snapped.

“I don’t like people who lie about who they are.”

“He never lied. He just...didn’t bring it up,” Vivien defended.

“And why didn’t he?”

“Well it’s not exactly something I go around telling people. ‘Hey everyone, my uncle is that super mysterious ninja guy with a magical glowing fist, but no worries! I don’t glow!’“

Vivien couldn’t help but laugh a little, causing Frank to glance at her out of the corner of his eye and smile slightly.

“Alright, fine, But you knew who I was when we met, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Ice cream parlor didn’t seem like the appropriate place to bring it up though. Especially considering you might have tried to shove me into a wall, which would have made for an awkward double chocolate fudge scoop.”

“I would suggest you cut it out with the wisecracking kid.”

“From what I know about you, Frank, if you wanted to kill me you would have already done it 5 minutes ago.”

There was a pause, then Frank smirked. “Apparently you really did learn a thing or two from your uncle.”

“Nah. That one I figured out all by myself.”

“You do have a bit of a reputation, Frank,” Vivien said.

Frank scowled deeper.

“So let me get this straight,” Karen said. “Danny -as in, Daniel Rand Danny, as in Iron Fist Danny- is your honorary uncle and also trained you in martial arts or whatever magical bullcrap he does?”

“Yeah, that’s...close enough.” 

“You should head home James,” Vivien said softly. “We should all get out of here actually. I don’t think it’s very safe.”

“That’s an understatement,” Karen said.

“Where are you going to go?” James asked her.

“Well-”

“They’ll be coming with me,” Frank said.

“What?”

“You’re both still in danger. Until we get to the bottom of this, I think it would be best if you stayed with me.”

“Frank, I can take care of myself,” Karen said.

“Can you take care of yourself and a kid? Take it from someone who knows, it gets more difficult when you’re protecting someone else too.”\

Karen fell silent.

“Okay. But just until we find out who did this.”

“Whoever did this, it’s shoddy work. They’re either incredibly unskilled, or they weren’t trying to kill you. I’m guessing the former though.”

“Why do you say that?” Karen asked.

“Instinct, mostly. I’ve seen enough skilled setups to know the aftermath of one that isn’t. They spent too much time hiding it and not enough figuring out the proper way to set it off.”

Karen nodded, glancing over at Vivien. James had come to stand by her again, a hand gently set on the small of her back to keep her steady. She was swaying slightly on her feet, still a little pale.

“We can talk about this later,” Karen decided. “For now we should pack everything up and go. Frank, you should poke around now before the police get here because someone has surely called them already.”

“I’m going to take James home,” Vivien said.

“I’ll be okay, Viv. You should rest.”

She shook her head. “I want to make sure you get back safe. I can rest in the car. You up for driving?”

“Yeah.” James nodded. 

“Then it’s settled.”

She hugged Karen goodbye before they each went their separate ways, Karen to grab essentials they would take to Frank’s with them, and Vivien to take James home before catching a bus to Frank’s address which she now had on a sticky note in her purse.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Vivien asked again as James started the car.

“Yeah. Are you?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m alright. I just...I keep thinking about what could have happened to Karen if Frank hadn’t pulled her out of there.”

“Yeah, me too. It’s a lucky thing he rolled, otherwise they would have been sitting ducks.”

Vivien shuddered.

“So, make any enemies I should know about?” He tried to lighten the tone of the conversation, smiling at her.

Vivien went even soberer at that though, picking at her clothes and fidgeting in a thousand tiny little ways.

“Vivien? No offense, but that doesn’t seem like your ‘everything is all fine’ face.”

“Well my parents didn’t die on accident, James,” she snapped.

Immediately, she regretted it, staring down into her lap. James didn’t seem to mind though. If anything, he looked like he felt bad for bringing it up, however unintentional.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked, I-”

“It’s fine. Not like it wasn’t plastered all over the news. It’s not every day a couple gets murdered by their own son.”

“Still. It’s...”

“Crappy? Yeah. I know.” Vivien folded her arms over her chest, slumping down in the passenger seat.

James spoke into the silence. “Do you ever visit him?”

“In jail? No. I don’t want to.”

He nodded.

“You know what the worst part is?” Her voice cracked a little. “It’s the cameras. It’s all the stupid cameras. You just want to be left alone, but they never leave you alone. They ask you all these horrible, violating questions and then they point a camera in your face and they tell you to look their way and they scream things at you while you walk up the court steps. ‘Is it true you almost stabbed him? Is it true he didn’t kill you because you were an accomplice? Give us a comment on rumors that your parents were terrible people.’ It’s a circus, and it never stops.”

Vivien wiped angrily at the tears rolling down her face, gritting her teeth.

“Vivien, I...”

“Please. If I have to hear one more person tell me they’re sorry, or they don’t know what to say, or anything else, I’m going to scream.”

He just nodded again.

“You want to know the truth? The truth is that he didn’t kill me because I was a coward. The truth is that I hid just long enough to wait for the police to get there. The truth is that I did nothing to protect my parents. The truth, James, is that I should be dead right now. I should be...I should be...”

She didn’t know when she had started crying. Actually, she wasn’t really sure she had ever stopped. She did know that James was pulling over now, getting out of the car to climb into the passenger seat and hold her. He rocked her back and forth, not saying anything. And so, for a time, Vivien did nothing but cry.

[amarauder]

chapter thirty-one ❥ original

it’s a hate-love thing original version.

james potter x reader.

- the final chapter :)

James looked sadly at the Muggle bodies lying on the streets, and shook his head. He and many other Order members, including Y/N, had been sent to London to investigate the Muggle attack by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was the third attack that month, and terror ensued everywhere in the Wizarding world. They couldn't even trust anyone now—not even members of the Order. Who knows what unexpected person may turn out to be a spy?

"This is terrible," whispered Arabella, clutching the hands of Sirius, and shivering. It was early December, and very chilly.

"Worse, much worse," mumbled Remus, shaking his head along with James. "I can't believe Voldemort would be like this."

"Damn him," cursed Moody, stomping his feet, either from anger or from the cold. "Bloody murderer, he is."

Alice gave a small cry, and huddled close to Frank, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was still at the crack of dawn, and the teardrops that slid down her round, pink cheeks looked like frozen dewdrops about to slid off a leaf after a night of rain.

"Why would he do this?" said Y/N, her voice quivering. "It's barbaric, killing all these poor, innocent Muggles who don't even know that magic exists."

"We're going to stop him," said Jennifer with determination, as she yanked Gideon's arm closer to her own. "Don't you have anything to say, Gid?"

"Yeah, horrible," murmured the comely young man, scratching his head. "Fab"—he turned to his brother—"what do you make of this? I have an eerie feeling about this attack, somehow."

"It's a Muggle attack," replied Fabian, nonplussed. "What else is there to say? It's one of You-Know-Who's worst doings, but he has been doing these things for ages. What're you thinking about, Gideon?"

"Somehow," said Gideon slowly, "I think that this is an end and a beginning of something terrible."

"What are you on about?" demanded Remus aggressively.

"I mean to say that perhaps You-Know-Who—"

"Voldemort," corrected the young werewolf curtly.

"You-Know-Who might have some large plan to expunge all the people who are against him and his regime. Perhaps he has a plan right this second and is talking it over with his Death Eaters to get rid of the people of the Light—in other words, the Order. He may be planning to kill the Order members first before he moves on to other people. However, he could also go on to the most powerful Wizarding families in our world. They're the Bones, McKinnons, Longbottoms, us Prewetts, and the Potters."

James' eyes flashed, as he looked over at the young man. "Are you sure about this, Gideon?"

"I don't quite have substantiated proof, but James, he'll be after us soon!" Gideon's crystal blue eyes widened considerably. "You would suspect that You-Know-Who would be after us, after all the work we've done to go against him and the Dark Side. You know how he hates some of the old Wizarding families who aren't on his side. He'll do anything to either get those families on his side, or kill them. Now that he sees that nothing would make those families support him, he'd probably resort to the latter."

"Hogwash," said Remus aloud. "A bunch of crap, I say!"

"Lupin," gasped Jennifer, her hand fluttering to her mouth. "It makes perfect sense, why don't you get it?"

"Oh, you're only supporting him 'cause he's your boyfriend."

"You're not supporting him because you're just jealous that he is my boyfriend!"

"Jennifer, Remus," scolded Violet gently. "Enough of this already. This is a serious situation, and we'll not fool around any longer. It's time for you two to make up and let go of your past. If you don't cooperate, we may all perish in this war."

"She's right," said Jackson quietly, holding his girlfriend's hands.

"You—" began Remus, but he cut his thoughts mid-way. "Never mind. I'm sorry."

"So am I," agreed Jennifer stiffly.

"Well, then," said Lily awkwardly. "Er—what were you saying, Gideon?"

Gideon simply raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at the young wife and sighed. "Your family may be in danger, Y/N."

"I—" Remus stopped halfway through his sentence again, and refrained from speaking unless spoken to.

"Well, Gideon, then I suppose your family would be as well."

"Yes, I am quite aware of that, as well as the fact that there are many families that are plotting against our families right at this moment."

"Such as mine," added Sirius, finally joining the conversation. "My brother's a Death Eater."

Silence followed this statement, as the Prewett brothers looked his way. Fabian looked perfectly calm and nonchalant, but Gideon stared at Sirius as if he were a madman.

"You're kidding."

"Not. Is it that surprising, Gid? My family's always been supportive of the Dark Arts."

"Sirius, you know that your family aren't that loyal to You-Know-Who."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, but my brother wants to please Mother and Father, and he's blinded by Voldemort's stupid promises to all that join him. I won't be surprised if he runs away the day after he's recruited."

"He's still your family, Sirius," said Alice softly.

"Family? Ha! The Order is better family than mine ever was. Everyone in the Black family hates me, except for Andromeda. What does that tell you? My cousin, Bellatrix, has probably joined up already with the Death Eaters with her fiancé, Rodolphus Lestrange. Don't expect my family to not do anything to support Voldemort, Al."

"For Merlin's sake, Black, stop saying his name!" snapped Moody irascibly.

Sirius pointedly ignored the Auror, and took a deep breath, calming slightly from his sudden fulmination.

"So you're saying, Prewett, that my best friend and his wife are going to die, just like that?" said Remus slowly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Remus," said Gideon pleasantly. He still didn't notice the fact that Remus disliked him immensely. "Does it not make sense to you? May I care to elaborate—"

"No, no, that will be all." Remus didn't want to tempt him with another speech.

"He's already taken over much of Europe," said Fabian statistically, looking over a thick wad of paper. "Let's see now...some of Luxembourg, Germany, nearly all of Britain, France, and a small part of Italy. I hear he's moving toward Ireland soon."

"How do we know you haven't made all this stuff up, then?"

"What on earth? Why would you suspect me of such a thing?" Fabian looked at Remus in astonishment.

"You never know if a member of the Order is an ally or enemy."

"Then how do I know if you're not a spy?"

"'Cause, I'm not!"

"Remus," interrupted Violet soothingly, placing her small hand upon his shoulders. "Please don't start this again. It isn't like old times anymore; this is serious now."

"No need, Violet, I'm fine."

Y/N sighed, looking over at the young werewolf, who was currently in despair. She felt terrible for Remus, and her heart went out to him, but what could she possibly do? She couldn't say that she knew how he felt, because she really didn't. First he lost his girlfriend, and was now living under the same roof with her and her boyfriend. Now, he had to suffer more than ever during the full moon periods, and there was always the threat that Voldemort may convince him enough to join the Dark Side.

"Cheer up all, it's the holidays," said Arabella, feigning exuberance. "How about we all head down to Hogsmeade and look at the decorations?"

"You young people can go," muttered Moody. "I'm going back to headquarters. Merlin knows that we need at least some responsible members who are dedicated to the Cause."

"You know, I'm a very responsible member of the Order."

James groaned inwardly, and squeezed his eyes shut. Here we go again, he thought gloomily. Another bickering between Arabella and Moody is not something I want right now.

"Yes, of course you are," said Moody in a sarcastic tone. "Running off to God knows where every single second of your life—so faithful."

"Don't insult me, sir! You are no better, you ugly, you pathetic piece of—"

"Let's go," said Sirius suddenly, dragging Arabella by the arm and Apparating. Arabella sighed, and followed suit, and Remus, Jennifer, Y/N, James, Violet, and Jackson went as well.

"Ah, Hogsmeade, it's good to be back once more," said Y/N joyously, as she breathed the cold air, and touched the moist snowflakes that were falling.

"Let's go see Emmeline," said Sirius enthusiastically.

"Padfoot, you dolt, she's already graduated from Hogwarts!" James laughed. "She bought a flat in London."

"Darn."

"Now what?"

"Honeydukes," announced Jackson, when no one else would reply. Since there was nothing else to do, they all assented and entered the sweet shop, ready to empty their pockets of gold.

"James Potter, a pleasure to meet you once again," came an oddly familiar oily voice from behind them.

James narrowed his eyes, and turned around. "Snivellus," he hissed venomously.

"Severus!" exclaimed Y/N, her hand fluttering up to her mouth, as she clutched James' arm painfully.

"What do you want, Snape?"

"Ah, finally calling me by my given surname, are we, Potter? I guess those nickname days are over, huh?"

"I said, what do you want, Snivelly?"

"Why, I can't say hello to my fellow classmates whom I graduated with two years ago?"

"Oy, over here!"

They turned around yet again to see Emmeline waving her arms cheerfully. She was as pretty as always, with her brown hair framed over her pink cheeks. Around her arm was a handsome man with dark-brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hey, Em," said Lily.

"I thought you graduated from Hogwarts," said Sirius, puzzled.

"I have, stupid. Can't a girl visit Hogsmeade anyway? Oh, how rude! This is my boyfriend, Randy Smith." She gestured to the man.

"Related to Laura Smith?" persisted James.

"Yes, my deceased younger sister." His eyes clouded, and he looked over at James. "You're James Potter, aren't you? The most famous and youngest Auror at the Ministry."

"Oh, well—er—" James shuffled his feet, his face crimson. "I can't say most famous, but yes, I am an Auror at the Ministry."

Emmeline grinned. "Grown modest, have we, James? Well, Dumbledore sent me the letter asking me to join the you-know-what, so I'll be at you-know-where tonight."

"Excellent," said Arabella. "So, how long have you two been an item?"

"Three months," confirmed Randy, his arm tightening around Emmeline's waist. "Best three months I've ever had in my whole life."

"Em, can we talk?" asked Y/N in a strained voice.

"Yes, of course." Emmeline followed Y/N to a small corner, puzzled. "What is it, Lils?"

"What happened to Kenneth? Have you given him up?"

"Oh, Lily." Her eyes turned glossy, as she wiped the sleeve of her robes on her nose, sniffling slightly. "I would never give Ken up, no matter what. Kenneth was attacked that day so long ago at Hogsmeade, remember? So he was brought to St. Mungo's for treatment. They had already buried Laura Smith. I frequently visited Ken at St. Mungo's, but a month later, they had told me that his condition was extremely critical. He died a few days later."

"Em, I'm so sorry that I brought that up." Y/N hugged the younger girl tightly, as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

"It's quite all right. You should have known sooner or later. That's when I met Randy a little later, and we began dating. You see, I don't love Randy, poor boy, but I respect him. However, Ken will always be in my heart, even if he was a fling at Hogwarts, because I did truly love him."

"Yes, I know you did, Emmeline. Now aren't you glad that I let you have that small break during the prefect meeting on the train?"

Emmeline laughed, her tears dissolving. "Well, duh! I may have been a complete ditz back then, but hey, I was good with the guys."

"Shall we go back?" Y/N offered, taking the girl's hand in her own and squeezing it comfortingly.

"We shall."

"What am I going to tell him, Bella?"

Y/N clutched her stomach as if it was going to fall off any second. Her e/c eyes inspected her best friend carefully, as she continuously smoothed down her thick, light/dark,  h/c hair with her other hand. One small s/c finger wrapped a strand of hair around it, as she chewed her hair thoughtfully.

"First of all, Y/N, take that hair out of your mouth. Secondly, just tell James the truth: you're pregnant."

"Do you even know how he's going to take that piece of information, Bella? James will freak out, and maybe he won't even want the baby."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, why wouldn't he want the baby? James is a very paternal sort of person, though I really can't see how at this moment. However, you know that he loves you and would never leave you."

"I'm not sure if he does anymore."

Arabella dropped her hands that she had unconsciously been holding up in mid-air, and stared at Y/N, open-mouthed. "Of course James loves you. You remember how he chased you back in our fifth year, constantly asking you to go out with him. He tried so hard just to gain your friendship in our sixth year, and finally had your heart in seventh year. Now you're saying the boy doesn't love you anymore? You're paranoid, N/N."

"Still, if James finds out..."

"Find out what?"

Y/N jumped up, and looking around, saw James come into the house, a hand running through his black hair. He grinned at his wife, and waved merrily, raising an eyebrow at the worried look upon her face.

"Why the long look, Y/N? Are you hiding a naughty secret from your dear husband? You know that's not very nice of you."

"A secret? Certainly not!"

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Tell me when you want to, love. I'm going to fix something to eat. Boy, it's already two days before Christmas Eve, huh? Time sure flies." He went to the kitchen, humming to himself.

"I can't tell him," said Y/N sadly, watching him leave.

"If you won't, I will."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"Arabella Figg, you will not tell my husband that his wife is pregnant. That's so unromantic."

"Well, you're the one who won't tell him, so do you expect to go up to him when your water breaks one day and say, 'Hey James, give me a ride to St. Mungo's, I have to get my baby delivered'."

Y/N laughed despite of herself. "You're right, I'm being ridiculous. However, I won't tell him just yet."

"Then when will you tell him?"

"Christmas Day. That'll give him an extra gift, won't it?"

"That's the spirit."

"You know what else is ironic?"

"What?"

"Alice is pregnant, too."

Arabella squealed so loudly that James came bounding out of the kitchen, his hand flying involuntarily to his hair.

"What the hell, Bella? What is it? Death Eaters? Voldemort?"

"Alice is pregnant!" she squeaked joyfully. "Can you believe it? Oh, now we know what she and Frank have been doing, locked up in their bedroom all the time..."

"Ugh, stop, Bells," scolded Y/N, groaning. "You perverted individual."

James smiled. "That's great. I'll have to congratulate Alice and Frank the next time I see them. Frank must be really proud, now being a father. Wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl."

"James, if we ever had a baby"—Y/N hesitated—"would you be mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be?"

James looked at his wife wonderingly, as she paled visibly. He frowned. What was wrong with YN? She had been acting very strange lately, not her usual laughing self and sulked every day, looking out of the window flaccidly even at meetings. He had a fleeting thought that perhaps Voldemort was taking over her brain, but he vetoed the idea at once. Y/N was too strong for people to take over herself.

"I don't know. Maybe you don't want a baby."

"Of course I want a baby...especially a boy. Then I'd name him Harry."

"Why is that?" (A/N: Even though I didn't mention this, Dumbledore had already cleared the memories that Lily and James, as well as anyone else had of the future. Also, let's pretend the headmaster doesn't know about the future either.)

"I don't know; it just sounds good in my ears. 'Sides, my grandfather was named Harry Daniel Potter. So if we ever have a boy, we shall name him Harry James Potter. It's a tradition for Potters to name their sons after relatives, especially with their middle names be the first name of their father."

For the first time in a long time, Y/N gave a true smile. To see James so worked up over planning the names of their future children gave her hope that perhaps he wouldn't disown her when she would tell him that she was pregnant. James' hazel eyes were shining as he excitedly chattered on about the Potter history, and how their children would be all he and Y/N would teach them.

"I love you, James," she whispered, hugging him.

"My, what brought this on?" However, he was pleased, and kissed her forehead softly.

"I'm just really happy, that's all, and I do love you."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not who you used to be: that little H/C haired girl with a terrible temper and a sharp tongue—L/N."

Y/N laughed. "I'm still a h/c haired girl, and I have a temper and a sharp tongue. Don't think I changed that much, James."

"Oh, but you have. You used to be so pushy when it came to boys, that no boys would go near you. I was the only one brave enough."

"Yeah, right. That was because you threatened to hex them for eternity if they ever went near me."

James blushed, and scratched the back of his neck, feeling ashamed. He had never realized that he had done such terrible things back at Hogwarts, cursing people whom he didn't like at first sight, especially Snape, and showing off every day with his Snitch and his hexing abilities. Sadly, many people had looked up to him because he was "Mr. Perfect". Only he, his friends, and Y/N knew that he truly wasn't perfect, but only she had the nerve to tell it to his face.

You know you deserved that, said a nagging voice in his mind. If L/N didn't tell you to stop being a kid and grow up, then you would've still been that arrogant berk. Seriously, you have a cold heart, James Potter.

His eyes widened, and he looked over at Y/N pleadingly. "Do you think I should be in Slytherin?"

"What?" Lily looked up in surprise. "Why?"

"'Cause I used to hex people all the time back at Hogwarts, and that's a real low thing to do to anyone and anything."

"Oh, James, you're a true Gryffindor. Everyone goes through a period where they show off to get attention. Yours was just much longer because you really did have something to show off."

"Thanks, N/N." He grinned. "If we ever do have a kid, I'll make sure he or she'll be just like you."

 "Where's my wand?" screeched Sirius, looking around the room.

"It's right in your hand, you dolt," replied Arabella, giggling. "Oh, let's open the presents now, please?"

"Not until everyone arrives, Bella," admonished Y/N, peering over to the brunette through the tinsel on the Christmas tree.

"Why couldn't your parents have used Floo Powder?"

"They're Muggles; you can't expect them to be so comfortable with the Wizarding ways, can you?"

"My Mum is."

"She's a Squib, and Squibs still know everything about the Wizarding world; they just can't perform those things with a wand."

Arabella thought about it for a moment. "You're right, I guess."

"I'm always right, aren't I?"

James grinned from where he was standing, eating a piece of toast. "See, Padfoot, I told you we Potters are never humble. This is what you get for marrying me, Love—now you're confident too. It's not egotistical; it's simply knowing what you're about."

Y/N snorted, "Who said I wasn't before? Besides you're not that egotistical Jamie."

"Isn't that a little too nice?" said Sirius dubiously. "I mean, come on, I've known Prongs longer, and he really was a bit conceited."

"Yeah, I don't think my intentions were that angelic."

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're trying to be modest? Puh-lease, James, that is so not your area of expertise."

"Well, I thought I was good at everything." He grinned in a cocky manner.

"Hey, guys," said Jennifer cheerfully, coming in with a tray of hot chocolate and chocolate-chip cookies. "You all hungry?"

"Am I!" exclaimed Sirius, bounding for the food. He grabbed a cookie and munched on it enthusiastically. "Thanks, Jen."

She smiled. "Always the same, aren't you, Sirius?"

"Where did you come from?" asked James, helping himself to a cookie as well, though more calmly than his best friend.

"Floo Powder. I didn't feel like Apparating then knocking, so I decided to get here from my fireplace. Say, where's Gideon and Remus?"

Jennifer and Remus had recovered their old friendship a few weeks ago, and now they were as close as ever. Their friends knew, of course, that they were still in love with each other, Remus being a little more obvious than his ex-girlfriend was. Jennifer claimed lately that she was in love with Gideon Prewett and adored his twin brother, Fabian, but the girls knew that she was lying, though they admitted that she was quite talented in that area. Jennifer was still in love with Remus, though she denied it constantly to her friends.

"They're not here yet," replied Lily, "which is why Bella and I are going to take this chance and tell you to admit it."

"What're you on about?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know, Jen. You know you love Remus."

Jennifer nearly dropped the tray that she had been holding. "What gives you an idea like that? Our relationship is over, and there's no vestige of it at all. We're starting over with friendship, like when we were kids."

There was a snort after her comment, probably from Sirius. No one truly believed the veracity of her denial, of course, since it was too obvious that Jennifer pined for Remus even when she was with Gideon.

"Liar," mumbled Arabella, standing up from where she was sitting and brushed back her brown curly locks. "I'm going to get Violet and Jackson. They're probably doing a naughty deed back in their apartment."

"No," said Y/N a bit louder than intended. "What if you walk in on them doing that 'naughty' deed? That would be so humiliating, not to mention disturbing."

"Oh, how could I have forgotten? Watching Violet and Jackson having s—"

"I have everyone's presents," interrupted Jennifer, a faint blush upon her cheeks. "Shall I put them under the tree?"

"Please do, Jen."

A few hours later, after everyone else had come and presents were opened, Y/N was debating on how to tell James about the baby. She was biting her nails through the Christmas dinner while everyone else was laughing and gaily chatting about their plans for that day, and only James and her friends noticed her peculiar behavior. However, only James didn't know why she was behaving such, so he sat there, worried, while Sirius was knocking him off his chair every five minutes, being drunk and all.

Y/N stood up, unable to bear it anymore. She had to tell him, no matter what his reaction would be.

"James, can I talk to you?"

She wants some kind of divorce, thought James, panicking. I must be a really bad husband to her.

"What is it, Y/N?" he questioned anxiously. "What did I do? I promise to be a better husband from now on!"

"No, James, it's not you. I—I don't know how to say this."

"You're cheating on me." His voice was flat.

"WHAT! You know I'd never, dear. No, it's just that I'm—pregnant."

There was a pause and then silence. James' jaw dropped as he stared at his wife incredulously. However, he thought of her odd behavior recently and how Y/N had no energy for many things. Also, she had been constantly talking about "Harry" and if they had a baby, what they would do.

Suddenly, he broke into a wide grin. He was a father...a real father! He knew that his dad would be proud of him. He was a father now, someone that his kid would look up to someday.

"I'm a father!" he exclaimed loudly, and all the Order members got out of their seats to watch Y/N and James' tender kisses.

Emmeline Vance smiled from where she sat in her stately attire. She had a sad smile now, not the seductive one she flashed in her Hogwarts days. Kenneth Hughes had changed her life, even though they had gotten together in the most unexpected way. However, the cruelty of life had taken him away from her, and now she was no longer that flirting and prissy little girl she was back in her schoolgirl days. She no longer wore those cut-off robes down to only her knees but had an austere and prim adornment. Nevertheless, it had not vetoed her passion for life and her spirit. Perhaps she would have been a good Gryffindor after all. After all, though her own love life was lost and would never be recovered, she was still a hopeless romantic and softened whenever she saw a touching moment between a couple in love...especially Y/N and James. The latter did not know how much inspiration they evoked for the people of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds, and how they would in the future.

"Padfoot, really," said James in a panicking voice. "Come with me. I need someone to take Y/N to St. Mungo's." (A/N: Is that where they get the babies delivered? Well, it's going to be now!)

"Why would you want to go to St. Mungo's?" murmured Sirius sleepily through the flames in the fireplace. He was in his own apartment, and Arabella was sleeping in the next room. "You sick, Prongs?"

"Y/N's baby is coming!"

"WHAT?" Sirius scrambled to his feet, now very wide-awake. "Well, why didn't you say so, Prongs? I'll get Bella."

He hollered for his girlfriend in her room. "Bella!"

Arabella groaned, and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Why the hell are you calling me up in this hour, Sirius? It's only seven o'clock and a Saturday. Go back to sleep, will you?"

"Y/N'S BABY IS COMING!"

Her reaction was quite similar to her boyfriend's. She hurriedly dressed into a navy blue pair of robes and Apparated to the Potter Estate along with a half-dressed Sirius.

"We can't have her Apparate," she said gravely. "It'll kill her. So will Floo Powder. So now what do we do?"

"Call Violet," advised Y/N, breathing heavily. "Oh, James, what do I do?"

"Calm down, N/N, we'll think of something."

So Violet and Jackson, whom were both already awake by then, Apparated to the Order headquarters. Both were very composed, unlike the other four best friends, who had been in frenzy before that.

"You're right that Apparating is out, but Floo Powder is the only other way," said Violet.

"But—"

"James! Listen, we don't have time to drive all the way there. We're Flooing, and that's that."

So they had gotten Y/N to the hospital, and she had been in labor for quite a few hours. Remus and Jennifer had arrived soon after Y/N and the rest of the group, and they were all waiting outside the room where they could hear Y/N's faint screaming inside the room.

James was twiddling his thumbs, and looked around him nervously. His eyes rested on a tall and very comely young man, looking up at the ceiling. When the man turned his face to him, he gasped.

"Frank?"

"James?"

"What're you doing here?" asked Sirius. "You hear about Y/N and her baby?"

"No, I'm here for Alice," he replied, puzzled. "What...Y/N's having her baby, too?"

When they nodded, Frank grinned. "I guess our kids are going to be born on the same day, hey, James?"

James nodded, feeling slightly calmer. At least there was someone who was in the exact same position as he was in at the moment.

Sirius smirked, "So, I guess my Halloween Parties do work wonders, huh?"

"Jamie here's been worried all day," said Arabella as she shoved her ridiculous fiancé. "Woke us all up at seven in the morning."

"We've been here since six," put in Frank, sighing. "Poor Al...you two decide on a name yet? If we have a boy, it'll be Neville after his grandfather. If a girl, then Jackie."

"Harry if it's a boy," confirmed James, "and we don't know the name if it's a girl. If it's a boy, he'll be Harry James."

"Harry James Potter," repeated Frank, and said it to himself several times. "Harry James Potter—I like it! That name will be his most prized possession for the rest of his life, that will. Maybe others will like it so much, and tell it to their friends so that everyone will know him!"

Little did he know that that statement would come true.

A few more hours later, when Frank, and everyone else, except for James who was too scared and in mental agony for his wife, were asleep on the chairs, a kind-faced Healer came out of the room where Y/N was and tapped James' shoulder.

"Are you the young husband of Y/N Potter?" she queried softly.

James gulped nervously and nodded, "She's not hurt, is she? B-"

"You have a son, sir. You may come in if you wish."

He hurriedly complied and went in the room. There, Y/N was fast asleep, her dark/light h/c hair framed over her s/c face. Next to her in a small bed, a small baby was sleeping. Though he was only an infant, he already had a very small patch of light black hair. James grinned. Harry already had his hair. The baby suddenly woke up and started to cry, waking Y/N up in the process. In closer inspection, he saw that the baby's eyes were a bright, brilliant e/c...Y/N's eyes.

Tears came to James' own hazel eyes as he smiled at Y/N, who gave him a weak smile in return.

"He's beautiful," he whispered softly. "Harry James Potter. He's got your eyes, Y/N."

"He's got your hair and nearly all your looks," replied Y/N lovingly. "He'll be the replica of you when he's older, James."

"I hope his personality, however, is exactly like his mother's. I learned from my mistakes, but I don't want little Harry here to be the bullying prat I was at school."

"Harry Potter. It's a wonderful name, dearies," complimented the Healer kindly. "You are the famous young Auror, James Potter, are you not? The son of Daniel and Sarah Potter, our most elite Aurors at the Ministry?"

James blushed and grinned. "Nah, we Potters aren't that great. It's sort of a tradition for us to become Aurors because we've always had 'nothing to fear or lose'. My grandfather came up with a quote for our family: 'Us Potters have always been bold, smart-alecks, but nothing can take away our spirit.' I do hope that my son can carry that out as well, as a legacy to the Potters before and after us."

"Well said, Mr. Potter. Who knows, maybe your son will become a famous Auror like you and the rest of your family someday." The Healer smiled indulgently at James and then looked over at Y/N. "Dear, you're the talk of us Healers here at St. Mungo's. We've always admired you from the first time we saw your picture in the Daily Prophet. You and your husband have always been a source of admiration for most of us in the Wizarding world. We all know that you will do great things in the future."

Y/N smiled politely and nodded. However, she wasn't so sure on the inside that she would be brilliant. Everyone seemed to think that she and James were the most wonderful Aurors in the Ministry, and would do great things in the future, but what could she do? They were just a bunch of young kids, fresh out of Hogwarts for only a few years, in love. Maybe she, James, and little Harry were destined for great things in the future, but she'd never know now.

By then, everyone came into her room, and she squealed with joy at the knowledge that Alice gave birth to her baby boy, Neville, as well. It was a memorable moment, with all the friends standing around a tired but exhilarated Y/N and the Potters' newborn son. It seemed as though the happiness would never end.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

The year of 1980 passed by quickly, and by then it was September of 1981. Sirius and Arabella were married in the June of that year, and Harry was already one year old. However, the events around them were not that cheerful. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters were dominating all of Europe, and moving on into the West, into the States, where the Wizarding community was extremely powerful, even more so than in Europe. Of course, more power attracted Voldemort.

The Order was getting frantic. Nearly half of their members were dead or captured. Gideon and Fabian were both dead, killed by Death Eaters. They had been brave and loyal to the Order, fighting until the end. Jennifer had been in a state of depression ever since the incident because even though she hadn't been deeply in love with Gideon, she liked him very much, and he had treated her well. Others among the dead were Marlene McKinnon, whom the Death Eaters had killed along with the rest of her family. Dorcas Meadows and Edgar Bones were also killed, the former murdered personally by Voldemort.

However, the most dramatic change in their lives was the fact that Voldemort was now after Y/N and James. No one, not even Dumbledore, knew really why, except for the fact that it was something about a prophecy. Sirius, of course, had been made the Secret Keeper, because James trusted him with all his heart. However, many of the Order members were doubtful. Trust a Black to keep a secret such as this? Preposterous! The Blacks have been known to be supporters of the Dark Arts, not the Light. Nevertheless, James held a firm foot on his decision, and everyone soon relented. However, no one knew that Y/N, James, and Sirius changed the Secret Keeper to be Peter. Remus didn't even know, because Sirius didn't trust him anymore. He was a werewolf, and werewolves were easily influenced...who knew if Remus was really on their side.

So they had chosen Peter, since he was the other best friend that Y/N and James could rely on. No one suspected Peter to be anything but loyal to the Order. No one suspected that Peter's loyalties were already divided.

Y/N and James were now living in Godric's Hollow. It was the safest place for hiding, and Voldemort would probably never suspect it.

"I don't know, James," said Y/N quietly. "There's something I can't put my finger on. Maybe we shouldn't have changed Secret Keepers."

"What could possibly possess you to say that, N/N? You don't trust Peter?"

"I don't know, James," she repeated. "It's a feeling I have. About something that's going to happen soon."

"Maybe you're just worrying too much."

"You think?"

"You need a break, Y/N. You've been tiring yourself at the Ministry too much. Live a little. Look at the beautiful fall landscape outside. There's nothing like fall in England, huh? Today's Halloween, we should celebrate.

"Except for the fact that we can't even see our friends often anymore, and we can barely go outside for fear that Voldemort would pop up any moment and kill us along with poor Harry. I'm scared, James."

James sighed, and looked away. "So am I, Y/N. So am I."

Silence followed, and it was only shattered when there was a piercing cry from baby Harry from his crib. Y/N hurriedly went to him, and picked him up gently, humming a soft lullaby in process. James watched his wife and son tenderly from the corner of his eye and held out his arms.

"Let me hold him."

Y/N handed him Harry, and he rocked his fragile son like he was a piece of glass. Harry gurgled and looked up at his father with large E/C eyes that sparkled brightly. His small hand went up to the growing tuft of black hair on his head, and squealed.

"Look at him!" exclaimed Y/N, laughing. "Already like you, James, messing up his hair like you used to do when you were at Hogwarts."

"Nah." The father shook his head. "I don't think Harry's like me at all, Y/N. There's something about him that I can't just put my finger on. I actually feel myself vibrate whenever I hold him, and I feel a sense of power radiated from his body. This boy will grow up to be powerful, N/N. I can feel it. He may look like me, but he has your personality, and that's something that Harry's blessed with. Having my type of personality is something he'd hate me for when he grows older."

"You aren't that bad."

"Oh?"

"You aren't an arrogant, bullying toerag anymore, that's for sure. Why else would I have married you? I wouldn't have looked at you twice if you didn't change and start to actually grow up in our sixth year."

"You were rather harsh on me, though, I have to say. You hated everything about me and were suspicious whenever I did a good deed. By Merlin, it was as if I was the Devil himself."

Y/N was quiet for a few moments before she spoke. "I have that feeling again, James."

"Love..."

"No. I have to tell you this. I feel as if we'll get killed and won't be together again. However, I have a feeling that Harry will live. We will die, but Harry will live and thrive in the Wizarding world once more, and defeat Voldemort."

"Oh, so now you're like Trelawney, that old hag?"

"James, I'm serious. I know it sounds complete ludicrous and fantastic, but it's a strong feeling that I just can't shake off."

"You could've at least spared off the part where we're supposed to die. I'm only twenty-one, and I have my whole life ahead of me. We're the famous pair of Aurors at the Ministry, and everyone knows and respects us. I'm not about to have my life ended by some insane Dark wizard who's going to take over the world."

"What if it's true, James? What if we do die, but Harry miraculously lives?"

James looked thoughtful for a moment, as he rocked Harry back to sleep again. "Harry will be a hero, then. He'll be popular as soon as he steps onto the grounds of Hogwarts, though many people might fear him. He'll be kinder and more considerate than I ever was, and wouldn't be cocky, arrogant, or cruel. He'll grow up to be exactly how I'd want my son to be." Tears came to his eyes as he said this.

"No one will watch him, though."

"Plenty of people will. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and your friends, not to mention the rest of the Order."

"James, what happens if those people can't watch him?"

"Then Harry will have to raise himself up without us. Y/N, why are you brooding about this? It's not like this is really going to happen."

A loud knock interrupted James, and Y/N clutched her husband's arm fearfully, her heart pounding loudly.

James hands were shaking, "Who's there?"

"You know."

"You know who?" James replied back, feeling a deep hatred for Peter develop.

"Correct."

"Y/N, take Harry and go! Go! Run! It's him! I'll hold him off—"James took one final look at the love of his life, knowing this would be the last time.

The door flew wide open, revealing the skeleton-like body of Lord Voldemort. He laughed harshly, and his red eyes scrutinized the scene.

"James Potter, we meet again," he said softly. "I remember you as a boy at Hogwarts. Rude, arrogant, just like your parents. However, there needn't be any reason for you to be anymore. I will make this death quick and painless, shall I?"

"As long as you don't touch Y/N or Harry." James said bravely.

"Avada Kedavra!" roared Voldemort.

James' eyes widened, as his body turned stiff and fell to the floor with a thump. His expression was a mixture of fear and also of determination. Though he did not want to, he had been prepared to die.

Y/N screamed as she held Harry tighter to her chest. No, it couldn't be. She looked over at her husband's dead body, as tears ran down her cheeks. James Henry Potter, the man she had known ever since she was eleven, was dead. Her love, the light of her life besides her son, was gone.

Memories of her Hogwarts days flashed in Y/N's mind as her heart shattered. The first train ride to Hogwarts...she and James glaring at each other...getting Jennifer and Remus together...dancing with James...laughing with James...James proposing...James kissing her...

It was all too painful. Though they did not like each other many times in their life, they were still in love. Now, James was gone. She stared at his face, her whole body shaking. If Voldemort would kill her, she would be prepared for it.

"Please," she whispered. "Not Harry, not Harry!"

"Stand aside now, girl, stand aside—"

"Please, not Harry! I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl."

"Take me, kill me instead."

There, she had said it. She wanted Harry to live and flourish. She didn't want him to die at the hands of this man. Y/N wanted to see her baby boy grow up, marry, and be happy, and she would risk her life to see that happen.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Y/N's body landed right next to James'.

Hagrid wiped away tears as he saw the scene. The Potter's hiding place at Godric's Hollow was completely destroyed. The house was torn down, all their belongings broken. Y/N and James' bodies were lying next to each other, their hands almost intertwined, where baby Harry was crying softly.

"There, there," he whispered, picking the small bundle up into his large arms. "Yer going't be all right, little fellow."

He looked over at Y/N and James' bodies. "Y/N, James, how could this have happened? You two're the greatest wizard and witch I's ever known."

Hagrid then looked at Harry and gave a small smile. He looked just like his dad, but had his mum's eyes. He also had both of his parent's strength and will to fight.

"Yer going't be a great wizard someday, 'arry," he said gently to the baby, who had stopped crying. "Yer parents were good people. Greatest people I's ever known. They were in love, and they never gave up n'matter what happened."

He stared at the Potters' bodies once more. "Ye can fin'lly rest in peace now, Y/N an' James."

Hagrid flew off on Sirius' motorbike with Harry. Memories of a bygone period gently floated into the still dark atmosphere, an era both terrible and wonderful, and disappeared into the night.

tags: @theredheadedwinchester

masterlist

a/n; hope you all enjoyed this fanfic! thanks for reading it! 

[thundercaya]

Could you please write some Dollmads? understand if you don't want to😊

James Madison supposed he might be the only person in the world who didn’t like going on vacation. He was certainly the only person in his family who didn’t. Some vacations were necessarily worse than others, but while he was glad he wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death like on their winter trip to the mountains, James was still not enjoying his week at the beach.

James was seated in a beach chair with a useless umbrella attachment that was currently shading a spot a couple feet away from the chair. He was wearing swimming trunks only because he knew his family would mock him if he wore pants to the beach, but he also had a t-shirt on, and no intention of getting in the water. Instead he was penning a letter to his best friend, Thomas Jefferson. He could do this just as well in the hotel but his parents refused to leave him there, as if that were the worst way he could spend the vacation. At least he wasn’t trying to sneak off with older boys and get drunk like Frank did on their spring getaway.

A shadow fell over James and his first thought was that it was one of his siblings, but when he looked up instead he saw a girl around his age in a sport swimsuit, a cover up tied around her waist.

“Hi,” she said. “Can I borrow your pen when you’re done with it?”

“Uh, sure,” James said, hoping she wasn’t going to do something like write her number on his arm. “Give me a minute.” He finished up the letter then handed over the pen.

“Thanks!” the girl said. She took the pen over to a nearby picnic table where she began drawing on a beach resort brochure.

James stood up from his chair and headed over to her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a treasure map for a bunch of kids that look like you. Your brothers and sisters?”

James glanced over his shoulder to where the other kids were playing at the edge of the water.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “You don’t have to do that, though. If they’re bothering you I can tell them to leave you alone.”

“It’s no bother,” the girl insisted. “It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”

James supposed that at one time he would have enjoyed a game like that. “I guess.”

The girl smiled at him. “Glad to hear that! I need you to hide the treasure.”

“What?”

“This map is going to take a while. I’m sure they’ll be eager to start by the time I’m finished. So you need to go hide the treasure.”

“What treasure? Hide it where?”

“Some pretty shells, I guess. Some good rocks. I’m sure you can find them. And I’m putting the X behind the third lifeguard tower, so bury them there.”

“Hold on, I can’t bury them behind a lifeguard tower. The lifeguard will see me.”

“So?” the girl shrugged. “It’s not illegal.”

“What if he asks me what I’m doing?”

“Tell him?”

James had no response for that, just like he had no idea how this girl he’d just met had roped him into her plan without even exchanging a proper introduction.

“What’s your name?” James asked finally.

“Dolley. And the little you’s said your name is Jimmy.”

“Ignore them. It’s James.”

Finding the shells was more of an ordeal than James was hoping. There weren’t very many good ones in the dry sand so he had to get his feet wet. He kept checking over his shoulder to make sure none of his siblings were sneaking up on him, but they seemed to be entertaining themselves by burying Ambrose near Dolley’s picnic bench and pestering her about when the map would be ready.

Once James had gotten a decent haul, he made his way over to the selected lifeguard tower. He hoped none of his siblings would see him burying the treasure, but then again the final location would be obvious enough once they had the map in front of them, and clearly the journey was more important to the kids than the destination, or else why bother Dolley for a map at all? When James arrived back at the table, she had already finished up.

“Is it ready?” Nelly asked, holding the map. “Can we go?”

“Yeah,” James said. “Go ahead.”

The kids took off immediately with the exception of Frank.

“Well?” James asked “What are you waiting for?” He was hoping to talk to Dolley.

“I’m not doing a stupid fake treasure hunt. I know you put the shells behind the lifeguard tower.”

“Well, you’re the only one old enough to look after Billy, so you have to go anyway.”

“You’re old enough, too.”

“I have to watch our bags. Just go with the kids or I’ll tell dad you made up botany club so you could hang out with the stoners after school.”

Frank bristled, then Dolley put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Why don’t we all go?” she suggested. “The kids can all carry their own bags and pretend they’re supplies. We can make up challenges for them as we go along. It could be fun.”

Well, James supposed he could talk to Dolley just as well on a treasure hunt as at a picnic table. “Okay,” he said. “Frank, help me carry the bags until we catch up.”

Frank wasn’t as disinterested in the journey as he let on, coming up with most of the challenges. The kids seemed to enjoy them even if they were rather simple things like walking backwards to avoid making eye contact with mermaids who turned people into stone or walking in each other’s footprints to avoid traps. In fact they were so into the game that they don’t seem to care when James and Dolley settled at a nearby picnic table.

“So what did the lifeguard say when you buried the treasure?” Dolley asked.

“He just told me that if someone else dug it up first, he wasn’t going to stop them.”

“That’s fair. I think we’ll be okay, though. Did you get enough for everyone?”

“I got as much as I could carry, but trust me, they’ll probably still fight over particular ones.”

“I hope I didn’t cause you too much trouble by indulging them with their treasure hunt.”

James shrugged. “It’s fine. They always find something to fight about regardless, and I didn’t have anything else to do once I finished writing my letter.”

“Is that what you were writing?” Dolley asked. “That’s cool. Not a lot of people write letters these days.”

“My best friend and I exchange letters pretty regularly. It was his idea. He’s kind of extra, but it is kind of fun to get stuff in the mail so I don’t mind.”

“Maybe you could send me something sometime.”

That would have been a good time to ask for some kind of contact information, but James couldn’t seem to find the words to do so. After too long of a silence he said; “So are you here with your family?”

“My mom and my sister. They’re doing a spa day today, but it sounded boring to me so I just decided to have a beach day by myself.

“I wish I could have gotten some time for myself on this vacation,” James said.

“You’re not in charge of all these kids the whole time you’re here, are you?” Dolley asked. “They’re sweet, but I’m sure they’re a lot.”

“It’s only for today. My parents always set aside one kid-free day in their vacation, but even when I’m not in charge I am expected to participate in family stuff.”

Dolley smiled. “Do you think if you asked your parents they’d let you hang out tomorrow without an entourage?”

“Today’s actually our last day. We check out in the morning.”

Dolley’s smiled dropped. “Oh. That’s too bad.”

As predicted, the kids had a bit of trouble dividing the treasure, but with a quick run back to the water, James and Dolley were able to grab enough nice shells to appease them all. They were wrapping their hauls in their respective towels when Mrs. Madison appeared.

“There you kids are,” she said. “It’s time for dinner.”

There was some grumbling from the kids, who would rather remain playing, but they knew better than to actually argue with their mom and so said their goodbyes to Dolley.

“Oh, who’s your new friend?” Mrs. Madison asked.

“This is Dolley,” James said. “She helped me entertain everyone today.”

“Well, that’s very sweet of you, honey,” Mrs. Madison said to Dolley. “I hope they didn’t bother you too much.”

“Not at all,” Dolley assured. Turning to smile at James she said; “I had a great time today.” James smiled back automatically, then his eyes flicked over to his mother, who had a knowing smirk on her face.

“Jimmy, baby, did you still want to get your own dinner tonight?” she asked.

“Uh….” James began, having asked his mother no such thing, but trying his best to pick up the baton she was passing him. “Yes, if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine, baby. Just don’t stay out too late.”

“Aw, how come Jimmy gets to stay out?” Sarah asked.

“Because Jimmy took care of you today and deserves a break. Come on, babies. Let’s go.”

While the others made their way back to the hotel, James turned towards Dolley.

“So… did you want to go to the hot dog stand?”

It was a bit chilly in the evening, though the sun hadn’t yet set. James regretted ordering a cold drink with his hot dog, though he was glad that Dolley had let him treat her.

“I’m really good at finding treasure,” James had insisted. “I can handle paying for a milkshake.”

They talked about school mostly. What classes they were talking next year and where they wanted to go to college. James was thinking Princeton and Dolley was hoping to find out what the other coast was like.

“It’ll probably get lonely being away from your family and friends,” James said. “You have to make sure you stay in touch. Maybe you could write letters?”

Dolley laughed. “I’ll probably just text them. But if you wanted to write me letters, I’d gladly accept them”

James pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and ripped it in half. “Here,” he said, sliding one half over to Dolley along with a pen. “Give me your address and I’ll give you mine. And if we go away to college, we’ll trade dorm addresses.”

Dolley grinned, jotting the address down. “I’m glad you think we’ll still be writing then. That’s over a year from now.”

“It’s always good to think ahead,” James said. “I like having a plan.”

“Planning is good,” Dolley agreed, sliding the pen and paper back to James. He started to write down his own address as Dolley continued. “But sometimes I prefer to be spontaneous.”

James looked up to ask her what she meant when suddenly she crashed her lips into his. He dropped the pen in surprise, but it was just as well, since once he caught up to what was happening, he laced that hand into her hair.

“Hey, no hanky panky,” the hot dog guy said.

James pulled away from the kiss, face burning.

“This place is literally called Hanky’s Hot Dog Hut,” Dolley retorted.

“Hey, I just work here,” the guy said. “If you want to make out, try under the pier like everyone else.”

James didn’t think that was such a bad idea.

[themarginalartist]

Can I ask what are your headcanons for the studio staff pre-disaster? Like how they interacted with each other? I'm interested in a lot of your AUs but I think I'm missing some context that was stated outside of fics. Sammy, Norman, Shawn, Susie, Allison, Henry, Thomas, Joey, Wally and all the rest! What's your crew like?

Ya know I don’t think I’ve fully laid out the staff dynamics of any AU or family dynamics… Just bits and pieces. Soooooo…. guess I better do that lol

Mostly the dynamic is the same general feel across AUs. The biggest difference in staff dynamic really is Listen, You Come Into My House since it’s not as tied to canon. I mean, it’s sorta close but I take a lot more liberties there. Norman in Sweet Dreams is a big outlier tho, he is my sweet projector child and I love him dearly.

Sweet Dreams for the Devil—Joey Drew: Childhood friend of Henry. He actually was a reasonable nice guy! But then an “event” happened and things started to change with him. This lead up to the argument with Henry causing Henry to leave the studio. But he and Henry used to hang out all the time, they built the studio together on their dreams.

Henry Davis (the last name I went with cause yeah…): Middlest of the Davis siblings Was the lead animator, pretty much everyone looked to him for direction, even Jack and Sammy would have him come down to listen to new songs. Joey did the publicity stuff so Henry didn’t have too. A lot of Henry’s falling out with Joey also had to due with the fact Henry’s older brother Riley and Henry himself were drafted.

Riley Davis: The oldest of the Davis siblings. He worked with Thomas and Wally as part of the maintenance crew before being drafted. He loves his brothers a lot, and enjoys hanging with Thomas and Wally. Even though Wally plays way too many pranks for his liking.

Avery Davis: The youngest of the Davis siblings. Worked the closest with Joey, managing the company image. Did not end up drafted for the war. Joey as he got worse treated him more like a secretary of sorts. He also was one of the few Joey had working on his “pet projects”.

Sammy Lawrence: Good friends with Jack, but both preferred working on what they did best in private. Wally bugged him a lot, mostly because usually it was right around a major deadline that Wally would do something stupid (which is Sammy’s opinion). A bit of a rocky relationship with Susie initially, she had tried to become… more than coworkers, but Sammy is married to his work, and his wife Melody. He has two kids Gloria and James, 9 and 7 respectively.

Norman Polk: Was hires directly by Joey as a replacement for the old Projectionist who was rather ill. Norman had been living on the streets prior, but is able to rent a small apartment after beginning to work at the studio. At first Sammy hates him because he makes a lot of mistakes surrounding his job when he starts. But eventually Sammy realized what he was doing and they smooth out their relationship, Sammy takes Norman under his wing a bit. Norman also is friends with Wally, Norman’s 18 and Wally is 20, and Wally is full of schemes. Wally taught Norman about how to navigate the vent system. Henry didn’t really get to know Norman too well.

Susie Campbell: She had a bit of a crush on Sammy but after realizing he was taken she kept to herself. She was always about personal gain anyways, and set her sights at trying to get Joey to give her more money and status at the studio. There weren’t many other female employees and she didn’t feel like making nice with any of them. Henry left shortly after Alice Angel was introduced.

Allison Pendle: She was hired after Henry had left. (Honestly tho because we don’t have a tape from her I don’t really want to add too many connections to her)

Jack Fain: Sammy and Jack occasionally went out for drinks but Jack was as married to his work as Sammy was. He didn’t really interact much with Norman however, since Norman usually wandered around with Wally when Sammy didn’t need him to do anything.

Thomas Connor: Totally a prickly grouch. While good at his job most people preferred dealing with Wally over him. Hated Bertrum with a passion and wished Lacie would stop complaining for five minutes. Was alright with Wally though. But did tell Wally to stop roping Norman into his schemes.

Wally Franks: Liked to play pranks on anyone he could get away with doing it. Especially loved to get Norman in on it because Norman was like a ninja, able to sneak up on anyone. Never pranked Henry or Joey though, that was a bit too dangerous. Henry found Wally’s antics amusing and liked hearing his opinion on what was going on around the studio.

Grant Cohen: Kept mostly to himself in his office. Wally liked to prank him the most. Hated the amount of work Bertrum and Joey had him doing.

Shawn Flynn: Head of merchandise but usually ended up taking the work on himself. Hated when anyone pointed out flaws with the plushies or other things. Drinking buddies with Thomas after running into each other one night at a bar.

Lacie Benton: Could complain for hours. Most of the staff members had a pool going for when she’d actually quit. Worked closest with Bertrum but were by no means friends.

Bertrum Piedmont: Hahahahaha no this man had no bond to anyone at the studio. They were all beneath him.

Listen, You Come Into My House—Henry: Was friends with Joey, but they didn’t meet until they were in their 20’s. Got drafted, but after the war just didn’t have that creative spark anymore so stayed away from the studio. Henry knew everyone at the studio before he left though.

Norman: Ended up quitting before shit got real bad. Was really good friends with Sammy and Jack.

Sammy: Friends with Jack and Norman, while liked his alone time at work, was way more relaxed outside of it. Was not married in this AU.

Susie: Not an evil binch in this AU! (Was written before ch 3 came out so she was pretty off base huh?) She and Allison would switch off playing Alice, they sounded incredibly alike, to the point where only they could tell who recorded what, and even they got muddled sometimes. Susie had a bit of a crush on Sammy, but nothing came of it since everything went nuts.

Allison: Friends with Susie. (Again we don’t know anything so… not too much I got for her there)

Jack: Friends with Sammy and Norman. Tended to get lost in thought on lyrics a lot.

Wally: While fond of pranks and jokes it was all to try and cheer people up. He would make excuses to see people that he hadn’t chatted with in a while. Hung out with Grant a lot (mostly because of how stressed the guy was) and Shawn.

Thomas: Grumpy but also a bit of a father figure to Wally. He taught Wally a lot of things.

Lacie: Another grump but also was very motherly, if you weren’t feeling in top shape she always had some sorta home remedy for you to take.

Shawn: Also another friend of Wally. Tended to get antsy about details.

Bertrum: …I honestly haven’t really planned him out, but definitely will be a much more toned down version of the canon version. Less I’m going to kill you Joey Drew and more you fail to see my brilliance Mr. Drew how dare.

Joey: …again I haven’t planned him out. But he’s friends with Henry. After Henry left he got more stressed out and stuff which caused most of his relationships with the staff to be strained. Joey also was overly curious about many things, things one should generally be more fearful than curious. I’m still tossing ideas around about him tho so nothings final about him.

Pretty much every other AU is some mix of these two tbh…

[sueboohscorner]

A 'Villain' is Born! #Gotham S3 Ep15 "How the Riddler Got His Name" Spoilers, Recap, & Review

Great, green garment, Batman! Gotham has returned after a long, long hiatus, much to the delight of fans of the show. Even the title alone is sure to catch anyone’s attention: ‘How the Riddler Got His Name’. Along with the title of the spring premiere of season 3, you might catch something else: The original tagline for the first part of season 3 was Mad City, aptly named after the Mad Hatter himself, Jervis Tetch, played with a somewhat perverted view of childlike innocence that the villain is mostly known for by the Australian actor Benedict Samuel. However, the tagline has changed into Heroes Rise. Now, it’s no secret that I myself tend to lean towards the villains, but we have seen many badass bad guys grow and thrive in the city of Gotham, but now it’s time to see just what our heroes will do to combat said villainy. Remember: a good villain inspires change. A villain acts. Heroes react.

Well, to use a cheesy line, the episode started out (literally) with a BANG! We first see a professor in his laboratory. Now, why should we care about this guy? Because Edward Nygma does, that’s why! (Played by Corey Michael Smith) He manages to tie up the professor and what does Ed do? Ask the poor egghead riddle after riddle. Unfortunately, the professor was not smart enough to match I.Q.’s with Edward. Nygma becomes enraged and almost saddened by each wrong answer to his riddles, until Edward basically smart shames the professor and then, well…… BOOM! You may be asking “Why would he do that? What’s his plan?” Calm down, and I’m going to get to that; I’m just giving you a spoiler recap for starters.

Speaking of villainy, we also see our favorite group that works in the shadows, the Court of Owls. You remember Bruce Wayne’s clone? (Played by David Mazouz) Well, guess what? The Court has been training him to become the perfect imposter of our hero Bruce. We see that Kathryn (played by Leslie Hendrix) declare that the clone’s training is complete. We also see a new character, Frank (played by James Remar), who turns out to be Jim Gordon’s uncle. Yeesh. Talk about a family history; Jim’s father was a decorated veteran and cop, and now we see that Jim’s uncle has been a member of the Court for who knows how long? Apparently, Kathryn wants Frank to reach out to Jim and ask him to join the Court. But if he can’t convince him….. use your imagination.

Back to Edward, still living in Dahl Manor, we see that he has been losing sleep and he has been taking pills. What kind of pills? My best guess is some form of the hallucinogenic drug. Why? The audience has seen, throughout the seasons that Edward does tend to see hallucinations, much to Ed’s chagrin. This time he’s taking pills to see visions whenever he needs to. And who he might be seeing in his head? Why, his ex-best friend, Oswald Cobblepot. (Played by Robin Lord Taylor) Yeah, it turns out that Edward is still in need of guidance to become more of who he is; more of a villain (his words, not mine). In Edward’s mind, Oswald is soaking wet, has a crab or two crawling on him, and is covered in scum. That would make sense, because the last time those two saw each other, Edward shot Oswald point-blank and pushed him into the cold waters by the docks. Literally, most things in Gotham go down at the docks. So Edward imagines his dead partner and summons him whenever he needs someone to talk to or some guidance. It would be more heartfelt if Edward’s mentality weren't deteriorating before our eyes. What Edward wants now in his life is to feel whole, complete, to figure out just who he really is. Nygma’s conclusion to that answer is to find the brightest minds in Gotham and see who can match his own intellect. To each their own, and all that. Mirage Oswald keeps fighting him on every step, saying that the way he’s going about this in a completely stupid way. Then Edward gets an idea for another contestant: Jim Gordon (Played by Ben McKenzie). Now, I like Jim, I really do, but come on. He is intelligent and strong in his own right, but I don’t think he would last a few rounds with Edward Nygma.

Edward sends a singing telegram to the GCPD, where Captain Harvey Bullock (Played by Donal Logue) is still cleaning up from the big hoopla that was left in Jerome Valeska’s wake. Lucius Fox (Played by Chris Chalk) informs Bullock about recent killings that have been going on in the city as of late. He takes note that each victim is either artistic or very intellectual. Fox is interrupted by the singing mentioned above telegram, telling them about the next possible victim. The card, of course, has a puzzle on it. The puzzle turns out to be a location: a chess tournament. Of course, Lucius Fox figures it out in less than a minute, and he, Harvey, and other cops from the precinct are on the move.

If you’re wondering about Jim, don’t worry. He’s just taking some time off to go on a hunting trip with his estranged uncle Frank. What could go wrong?

At the chess tournament, we notice that Edward Hazen overlooking view of the event.  Again, he summons Oswald.  Edward’s attitude towards his hallucination of Oswald is not necessarily bitter.  That may seem strange, give in their last encounter, but we see that Edward does not hold much malice towards Oswald.  In fact he still regards him as his best friend.  Of course there is tension, but Edward does not really care for that at the moment.  However the hallucination of Oswald is still fighting Edward at every step in turn that he makes.  Edward even thanks Oswald for coming, to which Oswald replied that he did not have much of a choice.  Edward is not too surprised when he sees the GCPD come in, but he is surprised to see Lucius Fox.  You could consider it a delightful surprise.  Ed activates an electrical device that is rigged to every chessboard in the building.  No one is safe for the then move or not.  But that does not matter, Edward has found his intellectual match.  Lucius Fox.  And he is already solved another riddle, a phone number leading to the person responsible.  Edward Nygma.  The phone call consisted of another riddle.  Which leads Lucius to a grim answer: the belly of the beast.  Which literally means that he had to cut into the belly of one of Edward’s victims for his next clue…..ew.

We take a minute to focus on Bruce and Alfred (played by Sean Pertwee) as they continue their training.  Knife throwing training, which is freaking awesome in my book.  But Bruce is clearly distracted in it interferes with his training.  Alfred calls him on it, and what is on his mind is Selina Kyle (played by Camren Bicondova).  Long story short: Selina’s mom turned out to be a garbage human and Bruce kind of knew about it, but did not tell her.  They had kind of a messy breakup.  Bruce tells Alfred that he received a note in the mail recently from Selina asking him to meet up with her.  Bruce knows that his training is really important, especially after what happened with Jerome, but he can’t get her out of his head.  So Alfred suggests that he takes her up on her note.

While Bruce is wandering the city, he comes across Sonny Gilzean and a bunch of his thugs.  They start messing with him until Selina arrives.  As it turns out, she did not send that note to Bruce.  And then she storms away. Sonny and his guys start beating up Bruce at first, but the rejection from Selina seemed to take its toll on him and he fought back, and kicked major ass, I might say.  As he turns to go back home, he encounters his clone, who drugs him unconscious as he plans to take his place.

We go back to Bullock, who is speaking at the police officer’s graduation ceremony. Until, uh-oh, Edward shows up and knocks him out.  All the while, Mirage Oswald insists that there is no Edward without him.  Edward admits some truth about that statement, but he will find something new in something better to replace Oswald with in his heart.

We see Lucius and Lee (played by Morena Baccarin) examining a dead body, cutting open his stomach, to reveal a police badge.  That match belongs to Harvey.  Lucius knows where Harvey is and he immediately leaves for the ceremony. To the young cadet’s remorse, Edward replaces Harvey as speaker.  He throws a grenade into the crowd, but not before giving a riddle.

Lucius finally meets up with Edward who has Harvey tide up in a chair which is suspended over a stairway. Edward gives Lucius three chances, three riddles, to save Harvey.  Fox gets the first two riddles wrong, but the last one he got absolutely right. Lucius also finds out that Edward killed Oswald Cobblepot, their mayor. But, we get a thumbs up from Edward while still making Harvey fall to his death.  Lucius manages to catch him in time, only to find that the green suited man was gone.

On Jim Gordon’s end, he and his uncle have a long talk.  Franks says that he came back to Gotham to patch things up. Then he comes clean about the Court of Owls, and how they are a secret organization that really pull the strings in Gotham.  He reveals that he and Jim’s father were members of the Court and that that originally wanted him to join as well. But Jim’s father saw how much of a threat they were to the city and try to fight back.  Frank reveals that the Court had set up a car accident that would cause Jim’s father his death.  French had to prove his loyalty, so the Court sent in a way for years to an unknown location. Jim is of course, outraged by this and is unsure whether or not to believe his uncle.

After saving Harvey, he, and some GCPD members go out and try to find Edward in the Dahl Manor.  The only thing that they find is a portrait of the mayor with a big, bright, green question mark on its face.

 After a long day, we see Lucius get into his car.  Edward was waiting for him in the back seat with a gun.  Instead of completely submitting to the threat, to Lucius psychoanalyzes Edward.  He sees that everything that Edward has done is some sort of act and he questions him about it.  Nygma states that he feels like there’s someone inside of him, someone that could be feared, and someone that could replace Oswald.  Lucius turns to Edward with a concern to look on his face and tells him that if there’s any part of him, that is still sane, he needs to get help.  Edward seemed shocked at first.  But he shakes it off and says…

“I am the Riddler!”

And he knocks Lucius unconscious.

We cut to inside a house filled with plants.  We see a bed with someone in it.  Hey, guys too, Oswald is ALIVE!!!!!!  To and apparently he was rescued by Ivy Pepper.  He wakes up and says one thing:

“I just remembered, there is someone I have to kill.”

The final moment that we see in the episode is Edward at the docks where he shot Oswald.  He has one final conversation with his hallucination.  To Oswald says that no one will ever be afraid of anyone called the ‘Riddler.'  Edwards says that he did a value their friendship, but now he will pull it Oswald behind him.  He dumps his pills into the water.  He stands up straight placing a bowler hat on his head.  The last thing that we see is a green suited man, Edward Nygma, no, the Riddler walk away.

Overall I did love the episode.  It was really nice to welcome Gotham to back on Monday nights.  It was so great seeing the characters come back and it was so great to see their next step or their journey in a pre-Batman Gotham. It does my heart good to see the actors bring more and more to the characters that we to all know and love to the table.

Things I liked:

Every single scene that Corey Michael Smith was in, he is now the Riddler, to and he loves every single minute of it. The Riddler is someone that a lot of us know even if we don’t read the comics.  He is flashy, showy, intelligent, incredibly vain, and absolutely arrogant.  Smith has already begun to take on to the Riddler, and already he is showing much potential, and he will certainly make his mark as the third person to ever be a live actor for the Riddler, and I can’t wait.

I always love me some Harvey Bullock. That should go without saying.

The relationship between Edward and Oswald as it continued seemingly after death.  The illusion of Oswald said to Edward that he really isn’t talking to the real person.  That he just imagined something that is already in his mind, but he just won’t face it.  It shows that Edward really did respect Oswald and that he did see him as a teacher for him.  Edward knew that he couldn’t just turn away from Oswald after he shot him.  He needed to figure out who he was without Oswald.  And the conclusions that Edward reached as he trudged through his epiphany was really enjoyable to see.

LUCIUS FOX, BABY!!!!!!!!  A lot of people know only about Alfred taking care of Bruce.  But Lucius Fox has just an important a role in Bruce’s life.  Sometimes I see Alfred as the bright side of Bruce’s brain, and Lucius is definitely the left side.  As a singular person, Lucius Fox is absolutely not one to be trifled with, especially when it comes to intelligence.

Poison Ivy saving the Penguin? AWESOME!!! 

Bruce Wayne KICKING ASS!!!!

Alfred’s Shepard’s pie

Things I didn’t like:

Lee Thompkins. Don’t like her. Never did from the beginning.

8 out of to10!

Well done, Gotham. Well, freaking done!

Until next time, stay weird, Gotham

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 84: The Second Task

James almost landed on his feet this time, stumbling forward madly in what could have been anything from icy slush, to mud, to quicksand, it was so shocking and repulsive to his bare feet, and quickly found himself face first with a solid block of water. He blinked dazedly several times as he rapped his fist against this new oddity, it didn't even come away wet, then screamed as his eyes adjusted through the murky swill to the sight of the four dead bodies.

He scrambled backwards so fast he found himself tripping right over someone and ruined any pretenses of clean that bath had given by now being covered head to toe in muck like everyone else, heart hammering out of his chest, unable to find his wand, and still looking right at them.

Sirius was trying to get madly to his side, wandless as well and feeling more naked for it than if his boxers had somehow vanished in between jumps this time, but finally getting unsteadily to his feet and hurrying over to Prongs to see the exact same thing. It was a horrifying sight to behold, and looking quickly down to see James uninjured and tangled up, nearly naked with Smith wasn't even distracting him.

Nobody else even looked down to notice the same yet, all eight of them were transfixed at the four floating figures tied down to a crude statue of a merperson carved into a boulder.

"Are they really-" Lily began in a quiet, broken voice, eyes on the little girl, she had to be younger than Regulus...

"N-no!" said Black's voice was shaking too much to even poster at his usually superior nature. "This, this must have something to do with, aha!"

He lunged forward for the book, held down by the blunt end of a trident so half buried in the muck as well as them, and pulled the now dirty blue binding free, instantly flipping it open to reveal the new chapter title, The Second Task.

"So, they had to come down here and find, people?" Frank started rubbing at his chest to get feeling back in it, now leaning against the barrier for support. "That's what they meant by recovering something taken? I bloody hate this tournament."

"I'm long since past," Alice promised, shivering in more than cold despite the mud clinging to her skin. "Mind getting off of me now Potter?"

"Eh?" He glanced down and seemed to realize he was keeping her pinned down, and dutifully rolled off with a quick uttered apology. Then his already pale visage went ever worse as he did a quick look around and didn't see his clothes anywhere, with his wand in it! Oh bloody hell, what happened to the shit they left behind, did they ever find out?!

"Here," James very suddenly found himself with Sirius's pants in his face. "Thought you idiots would like those back."

Sirius did not care that thanks to his brother he now knew what his sock tasted like, he quickly shoved his hands into every available pocket before coming up with Prongs's wand, looking over to see him doing the same with his own.

"You two really are idiots," Peter repeated as he watched Prongs get dressed. "What if he hadn't thought of that eh? And after Regulus went through all that trouble with his shoes?"

"We were having some bleeding fun for once," James scowled, his voice only slightly muffled by his shirt. "Maybe if you lot had joined, we all could have gotten zapped out of there at everyone's convenience!"

"That's all this is to you, isn't it? Fun," Regulus shook his head in disgust.

Neither of them answered, as they did not feel the need to explain themselves to him. Sirius huffily put his pants on and purposely turned away from him to go back studying the no longer dead, but still really, really dead-looking four.

"So, that's Ron and Hermione huh?" He said purposefully loudly to Remus. It was admittedly a guess, but not a wild one, considering the amount of times they'd been described. "Ron's taller than I pictured. Not hard to see why Harry's got a fancy for Cho though, she's a looker, eh Prongs?" Her's was much more wild in said guess, but if Ron and Hermione were down here, logically these were people the champions would care about.

"Eh," he barely cast another look at the girl with long dark hair, he was straightening his shirt and watching Evans, who was now studying the nearest merperson's house with great interest as it sank in for everyone where they must be. Beneath the Hogwarts lake.

It was far too dark down here to get a sense of anything too far from their little bubble of air, but what they could see was admittedly attention-grabbing. The seashells acting as a sort of roadway, the tangled seaweed much shorter than they'd have thought leading to the fun question of what they used to keep that cut down here, and even the houses were something few wizards had ever gotten the chance to see in such detail. The one closest to them was thatched together very cleanly, with no front door apparent.

"I don't understand why we're already at the second task when Harry has no idea what he's going to do to get down here," Frank was frowning heavily at the four victims still. "I'd have thought we'd get a whole chapter dedicated to that at this point."

"I'm not complaining, the sooner this is over, the better," Regulus muttered under his breath as he kept going through Harry's classes, his friends of no more clue than them how any of this was going to work out.

Remus' robes were now dripping with muck and water, he still wanted to kick Sirius for the impromptu bath, but he was frowning at him for a wholly other reason as instead of putting the Bagman jersey back on, he was flipping it this way and that with a frown.

"You don't have to keep showing off Sirius, you swimming around nearly starkers did that plenty," he reminded.

"This turd's been bothering me," he said off hand, before dropping it into the mud and crossing his arms. "Offering Harry all that help, avoiding the twins, something's up with him."

"So, what, you're going to run around shirtless now?" He laughed. "It's February up there Sirius, you'd die of frostbite in minutes."

"You'd keep me warm, wouldn't you Moony," he grinned, uncrossed his arms and leered at him, the scars visible on his chest courtesy of Remus making him wince and try to avoid looking at him.

"Your knackers would fall right off," Remus shot back, very proud he barely had a change in expression.

"You'd keep me warm," Sirius repeated, quite the opposite now with a salacious grin.

Remus was saved the tongue-twisting issue of responding to that by Sirius himself, but in the future. His return note to Harry was more than distracting enough to draw everyone's attention.

"Why do you want to know the Hogsmeade dates?" Evans actually asked of him.

"To take a stroll around, obviously," he rolled his eyes at what he clearly thought was a stupid question.

"And you don't find that the least bit dangerous?" Longbottom asked as if checking his sanity, which clearly slipped a few degrees when he answered.

"Nah, I know that place like the back of my hand. Honestly, can't believe I haven't met up with Harry in there yet."

Potter was now picking mud out of his nails without a care in the world, but at least Lupin and Pettigrew were looking at him with slight concern. It was good to know they weren't all insane, Regulus decided.

He continued on with more build-up instead, including a lesson from Hagrid over baby unicorns and another pep-talk from the gamekeeper. He couldn't help but sympathize heavily with Harry when he didn't ask for help because he was too afraid of disappointing Hagrid, if that wasn't the story of his life in the shortest words possible he didn't know what was. Bolstering quickly past that found the eight of them all laughing in surprise at Ron's response to this challenge.

They all looked affectionately at the redhead floating behind them, his absurd suggestion to just shove his head in the lake and ask for, well himself back was ludicrous, but seeing him here in person really put a funnier spin on that. They were all equally eyeing Hermione with great interest. Her bushy hair was hardly subdued by the deep water, it was almost strange to see her without a book in her hand, even in this place, as that's how they always pictured her in their head.

Frank and Alice would readily admit it was a blessing and a curse not to see Neville down here, to even have the image of how he'd look like this for even a second, while also getting to admire him in the closest thing they would get to see in person.

"Do you think, if we'd ever been in the hospital wing while she was petrified, we would have seen her then?" Alice asked.

"I imagine so," Frank shivered in further unease, thinking they'd look even more dead with their eyes open and glassy.

It was a shame, Lily thought, that they couldn't watch all of this happen in real time regardless, while they stayed hidden away or something. She'd have liked to see Harry ageing before them if that had been the case, but now it seemed she may not even get to see a picture of him at this rate, let alone in the flesh.

As the twins led Ron and Hermione away to McGonagall, presumably leading them down here, they all began looking even more anxiously at his friends. What would happen to whomever Harry was down here to grab if he couldn't accomplish this task? This tournament was still years above him after all, and these two wouldn't be in real danger if he couldn't win at a game, right?

Then Dobby was shaking Harry awake, and the poor kid was having to rush down to this tournament, fearing for his best friend's life while swallowing a what exactly? None of them had heard of gillyweed!

James couldn't stand the tension anymore, he ruffled up his hair, the wet and mud causing a hilarious mess as he suavely turned to Evans and told her, "you know, I'd still come down here and get you even if I didn't have magic to hold my breath for an hour."

She gave him a sour look for joking at a time like this, the boy really had no bounds.

This remark did have the effect of getting someone else's attention though.

"What do you mean it'd be Evans down here?" Sirius Black whined like a kicked puppy. He came over and gave his friend a good prod in the side to make sure he had his full attention.

"Oh come on Padfoot, we all know the merpeople would have murdered you out of sheer annoyance, even if you were asleep. At least I have a chance at getting her out in time," James Potter more than happily teased him.

Lily was watching all of this with a single raised brow and complete disbelief this idiot thought she needed anyone's help, he knew better than anyone what she was perfectly capable of. So then it really was just a show, one her, Alice, and Frank found themselves sucked into. By the time Harry had eaten the odd plant, gotten into the water, and found himself past the grindylows, almost all of the tension had been sapped out of them.

Now Harry was actually down in the village, the first one to do so, and honest fascination as first Krum showed up, transfigured into a shark! James could have kicked himself he hadn't thought of that one, he really had been worried. Then Cedric with something odd, like a fishbowl on his head, they'd never even heard of that one. Then Harry decided enough was enough, he wasn't going to leave the poor little Fleur junior girl down here and took matters into his own hands, dragging her and his best mate up.

It was nice to have the chapter end on such a happy note for once, Regulus decided, as Harry was awarded high marks for his act of bravery, even if he should have realized they wouldn't have just left the kids down here to die, obviously, he'd known that all along... the errant thought didn't stop his eyes from lingering on the four one last time as he warned the others he was almost done, their gaunt faces and the meaning they held leaving him with a sinking feeling heavier than the mud they were still standing in. It was obvious who Sirius would have down here, whom everyone around him would be able to really answer in an instant they'd pick. It was an obvious answer to everyone, except him.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 36: Dobby's Reward

Her ears were still ringing, vision blurry and unmanageable, but still Lily forced herself back to her feet, staggering into something very solid, stone-like. She froze, breathing so harsh it was hurting her chest as she fumbled around now realizing it was true and continued darkness rather than a lack of sight on her part.

She had to keep calm, she kept telling herself. Whatever was beneath her fingers didn't feel human, or snakelike for that matter, but the cold marble surely was one of their group only paralyzed and not truly dead! She was the only one proficient enough in potions to reverse-

"Lumos!" A now all too familiar voice spoke quietly from right behind her, Potter's wand revealing a solid stone wall icy smooth to the touch under her grip, the ceiling hanging low enough over their heads they could reach up and touch it. Small comfort though it was, it helped that the place was dry and stale, small and isolated, the opposite of the endless void like place from before. She turned quickly to the boy holding his wand aloft, eyes quickly scanning their surroundings. She couldn't blame him, though there were no snakes in sight, this place still seemed far too likely to hold more danger. There was nothing distinctive at all about the place, no clue where on earth they could be, and they didn't care, as she did another careful count. There were only seven people present, counting herself.

The Black brothers were still shaking from wet and fright as they sat up carefully, Lupin hovering over them both. Alice and Frank were assisting each other to their feet and keeping their wands aloft. The place was so bare, there was no way she could miss him, yet, "where's Pettigrew? Where's Peter?"

"Here," came the small voice from right behind Potter, still half crouched on the floor and remarkably pale, almost blending into the background. Lily did a double take, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she stared at him, hard, and not entirely in relief, though it was there that he hadn't died back in the Chamber. She swore he hadn't been in this room a second ago.

"Good man Pete!" Potter declared, his voice shaking no matter how hard he tried to hitch a smile onto his face and beam around at everyone. "We all survived, I vote we not go for round two!"

"There is a first time for everything," the elder Black groaned as he took Lupin's hand and let himself be hoisted to his feet, then returned the favor and offered the same to his kid brother. He didn't take it, and hadn't yet moved to more than flip over and rest on his backside, chest still heaving as painfully as hers was.

Potter clapped his friend on the shoulder and helped him to his feet, still giving him a relieved smile Lily couldn't shake. Perhaps he hadn't noticed his friend at first either? She just couldn't shake the idea-

"So where are we now?" Frank demanded, bending down and peeling the book from his shoe.

It was a fair question. Certainly nowhere they recognized, and nothing at all to indicate an answer. The only thing of note was a very sturdy door behind them the couple and even they had no urge to try at this point. Merlin only knew what was on the other side, and for now there was nothing in here trying to kill them, so they'd take it.

"Who cares," Lupin groaned, hand still on his friend's back as he kept massaging his ribs. "We're not in the Chamber anymore, can we just enjoy this moment." He slumped back against the wall himself and closed his eyes like he was ready for a nap.

Smith returned with something and Longbottom began reading, but Sirius wouldn't even be distracted by whatever Dobby still had to do with this as the chapter title indicted. He crouched down next to his brother and quietly asked, "hey, you okay? You took a nasty hit."

Regulus didn't answer for so long Sirius started to grow worried before he finally got the answer, "it's all a lie."

"Err, yeah, most things in life tend to be," Sirius agreed with baffled chipper, anything to get his brothers eyes to focus, but they weren't. Longbottom had already read through Ginny getting to reunite with her parents and Dumbledore awarding Harry and Ron for this stupid stunt. Everybody was sinking to the floor in exhaustion and looking relieved to just be able to do that for a moment. Yet Regulus still had a look upon his face like at any moment he'd turn his head and find his death.

It wasn't until Dumbledore mentioned Harry likely having some of Voldemort's powers in him that Regulus reacted again, and all he did was flinch and pull his legs into his chest, like the little kid hiding up in the attic refusing to come down until Sirius had promised their parents had stopped fighting.

Sirius could barely fathom himself what all they'd heard, that everything they'd ever been told about the Dark Lord was false. The man, the mortal who claimed to be more, was in fact trying to purge the world based on a big fat lie. Sirius would have laughed under any other circumstances, but apparently his little brother didn't seem to be finding it as funny.

He tried to imagine it from the kids point of view, but the problem was he'd never given in to believing such a thing as what their parents had wanted of the world, what Regulus had readily adopted. He was only fourteen and everything he'd ever known had been shattered, and Sirius was helpless to offer anything because he no longer knew anything about this boy. He knew more about his three best friends than his own brother.

Turning instinctively to them for help, he saw that Moony really was fixing to fall asleep, barely keeping his eyes open and slumped against the wall like he was. The sky above must be housing a moon not long after it was full. Even not having experienced the change with it would cause his friend to feel the exhaustion it should have. James was watching him with a puckered brow and clear worry, but was also taking the time to engage Evans while she was in a sociable mood, apparently living through a life or death situation had put her in a better mood towards him. She hadn't sprinted to the opposite side of the room yet at least, even if she was keeping an arms distance from him and he didn't seem likely to increase that. Peter still looked shell-shocked, which Sirius couldn't blame him for. Wormtail deserved bloody two hundred points to Gryffindor and more for what he'd pulled, he hadn't needed to see the act to hear what was going on and what gave them the chance to get out of that place.

Lucius Malfoy and Dobby arrived back on the scene as some kind of distraction, and that all made a sickening kind of sense as the little house-elf made it perfectly clear what was going on. Sirius was forced to watch again as Regulus recoiled into himself, and he refused to just sit around and let his little brother dwell on all things pure-blood going on around him, so he spit out the first question that came to mind as loud as he could, "speaking of things hiding in plain sight, exactly who was carrying around Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and not sharing such a thing? I mean, I'm not criticizing the use, but come on, that's a rather significant detail to share don't you think!"

Silence for a moment, as everyone looked at everyone else waiting for the crack, until finally the last person Sirius expected to spoke up, "it was mine."

"Where did you get that? Without me knowing about it?!" Sirius demanded of his kid brother.

"Father bought some for me over the summer in Knockturn Alley," Regulus murmured without looking at any of them. He said nothing more, and Sirius bit down on his lip to stop himself demanding more of this explanation. Like why he was carrying it around with him today ( yesterday?) during class.

Alice sensed the awkward silence lingering, and really she didn't want anybody else to ask what else was being hidden on their persons, so cleared her throat awkwardly and spoke up, "well, I think I've sussed out where we might be. I'd hazard a guess this is where Dobby sleeps. Makes sense doesn't it? The Malfoy's would have him down in the dungeons when he wasn't running their house. We seem to pop up wherever something's happening in a person's life to do with the story, apparently it doesn't always have to be Harry."

Nobody argued the point, it made as much sense as the rest of this mess. Lily's hand tightened along her wand in frustration as Malfoy took out his loss of not being able to murder an entire school and a little girl out on Dobby. The chapter title still lingered in her mind, distracting her from everything else now. Dobby may have gone about it in the wrong way, but he certainly did deserve a reward for all he'd tried to do in helping Harry!

Then he got it, and they all worried that somehow Harry had made things incredibly worse. Freeing a house-elf was not in fact a reward at all to those creatures, but the truly baffling part was Dobby's reaction. He actually seemed happy! It made no sense to any of them, from reputation and whispered stories any other house-elf would be having a nervous breakdown. Dobby was all but cheering. None of them could really complain of the development, when it possibly saved Harry's life from a vengeful Malfoy. They all suspected that little critter was going to make another appearance though, how could he not after such an event?

The last really eventful thing was the all around cheer of Hagrid being rightfully returned, and Percy acting like an idiot all year because of a secret girlfriend of all things. Frank reached the end, back to Harry having to go with those bastard Dursley's again, and all anyone could really hope was that they wouldn't be sent to Privet Drive again.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 19: The Worst Birthday

While they had finally begun to accept, even anticipate, but still never quite get used to that soul wrenching feeling of being pulled through time and space because another chapter had finished, they'd taken that last one with a grain of happiness it would be their last!

Then they all groaned in misery to find themselves not back in their Potions class, not even back at Hogwarts, but back at Number Four, Privet Drive!

"What the bloody hell!" James howled in a temper at once, pulling his wand out and reducing the nearest bush to leaves and roots, then turning his wand on the next without thought.

"That should have worked, we should be back at school," Remus agreed, massaging his abused rib cage and genuinely not understanding why they'd still be trapped out here.

"Maybe, maybe we just got sent back to where we first teleported," Alice tried to offer, going to the back gate and trying it with actual hope again. It refused to swing open, Frank tried to hop it and found this impossible.

"Argh!" Lily snarled, running her hand so hard through her hair she came back with strands in her nails. "This is the last place I wanted to wind back up at, even if this bloody cycle had to continue!"

"I'm sure you're not the only one," Regulus muttered.

With a heavy sigh, though all feeling rather resounded to the fate they'd clearly be stuck like this longer, they began searching for the stupid bloody book, though honestly with no idea why. It shouldn't have anymore to say.

This was a spacious backyard, neatly mowed ruler straight and trimmed hedges all along the back fence, though now with the exception of a few smoldering and threatening to set the whole place alight. The sunlight above already made this a blistering heat of day, the grass dry despite it's clear care, even the garden shed was highly polished on the outside but seemed to gleam threateningly. James was distracted at once by stepping inside and losing track of what he'd been looking for in favor of studying all these odd tools, though this time refrained from touching anything with his fingers still sore.

Peter chose to scale the side of the houses decorative vines for a view, was unsurprised to find he couldn't get very far when on the slanted roof and couldn't even cross to the front of the property, but caught his eye on something he hadn't quite been looking for.

"I think I know what the problem is," he told them as he fished out of the gutters a book of pure green, only the little silver two on the spine distinguished it from the leaves. "We seem to be flashing through the rest of Harry's years."

"Please tell me that is a miserable attempt at a joke," Sirius groaned as he sagged onto the nearest bench, still rubbing at his bruised throat.

"Well, I've found his second year, so I'm guessing not," Peter sighed, making himself comfortable up here and reading out the chapter title to prove his point. Given where Harry was, he imagined all of the kids birthdays were the worst, but wasn't looking forward to finding out about this one in particular.

James hoisted himself up there with him for kicks, and the others just settled themselves resignedly in the grass. Evans went over to the concrete patio, but chose to ignore the chairs and instead crossed her legs on the warm ground and tied her hair up in the evening sun. Frank and Alice lounged against the wooden fences, holding hands and just hoping this one went by without anything closer to alive foliage beneath them. Remus sat himself beside Sirius on the bench and tipped his face back to the sun, closing his eyes and wishing he were back at the lakes edge rather than this place as his friend began.

Sirius couldn't help but notice how much he'd filled out this year, from the thin gangly teen. Not quite as much as the rest of them, Remus' health would always be rather stunted, but the warm light on his face actually highlighted the light brown of his hair rather than the few gray bangs he had, the scarring more shadowed than prominent for once. He grinned at just how relaxed Moony managed to appear during all of this, though his good mood wasn't destined to last.

It certainly didn't start much fun at all, no one wanted any further reminders of what those Dursleys constantly did to Harry, putting him down like this all the time. The argument was stupid, no way could they get rid of his owl, and the Marauders in particular were being restless for not even being able to wreck the Dursleys things in retaliation for it all this time. They suddenly weren't even sure if what they'd done to the inside of the house was still there, did the effect they have on the place they were in remain like it did to them?

"If they think magic is that bad a word, I've got some real headliner news for them," Sirius scoffed.

"You do need to keep in practice, you haven't had a chance to use them on your parents in ages," Remus agreed with a small smirk that dimmed the sun. Sirius couldn't help but lean in closer, grinning just the same, happily escalating this with details of what he would like to give them knowledge of.

Peter couldn't help shifting uneasily closer to James as Harry reflected back on all he'd learned of his previous year, as if they'd forgotten. It was as much news to them as learning of this boy's potential existence! He envied Padfoot and Moony down there, trying to chat their way through this bit!

Prongs, to his credit, tried to brush it off by plucking some leaves out of the gutter and enchanting them to float down on the others. He had the first few batches float down in the shape of a heart to land around Evans, who completely ignored him, which was just a tiny bit of improvement over shooting a hex back. He then spent the remainder of this recap trying to shoot them up unsuspecting noses, muttering all the while for Peter alone it was actually a shame Snivellus wasn't here, his was the largest target.

Peter managed an appreciative titter, James always had found every way to make things seem better, even helping along to ignore his own death sentence.

"Rotten, filthy Muggle, locking that kids things away," Regulus grumbled as he watched his brother and friend on the bench. The two had been quite chummy lately ever since they'd made up, leaning so close together they looked as likely to brush hands as Longbottom and Smith over there. Regulus had almost hoped for just a second Sirius would pull his head out of his arse and remember to agree with him back in this place what a waste the whole species was like he had last time.

It was clearly not going to happen, the two conspiring over there for possible further torment of them or anything else Regulus just hadn't a care to listen to. He burnt an incoming leaf to cinders and thought Potter should count himself lucky he didn't turn the spell on him next.

"I think at this point they don't even know Harry has a birthday," Alice scoffed in disgust of these people treating a kid like that. "I've heard of happier child hoods from-" she cut off when something went whizzing into her mouth, and she spat a leaf out in disgust.

"You arse Potter," she snapped, having already batted away three of them and quite done with his antics, ready to raise her wand in retaliation by now.

He merely hooted with pleasure and wound up for another one.

"You do realize you're only helping the Dursleys, cleaning that out for them," Frank pleasantly called back, at least causing him to freeze in his actions before finally lowering his wand and muttering in disgust.

"Thank you," Alice sighed, leaning back and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Maybe we should spend the rest of the time reading around these places, there must be a way to continue to throw that logic at him."

"One can only go so far in tutoring before it ends with beating their head against a desk," Frank disagreed.

"Also sound advice for him, so there's really no down side," Alice concluded lightly.

Lily couldn't help but crack one eye open curiously as Vernon announced it an important day, not that she could ever delude herself by now thinking he'd actually grown such a thing as a heart, let alone a brain about what should have been important that day. It didn't stop her wondering what he could deem important and how she could make sure it never happened for that disgrace on the animal kingdom. A ruddy business deal? She closed her eye again and tried to pretend that Pettigrew's nasally voice was non-existent again, just trying to enjoy the sunshine and not relate to how miserable Harry was feeling. How alone he seemed to feel all the time at this place, and it was all his own family's fault- no! She couldn't think about that now, or she'd burst into tears in front of these people, most of whom she couldn't stand. Sev wasn't here, so she'd just have to tough it out on her own and refuse to let her mind revisit her own summers in a place disturbingly similar to this one.

Those leaves were actually helping, though she'd never admit it to Potter. If she concentrated very hard, she could just be back in her forest, surrounded by trees, waiting for the world to return back to normal at school, just like Harry, where her real friend was...at least while she could still hang around with him, when he wasn't also trying to chat up with so many other terrible people, and she just couldn't understand how he-

"They what!"

She sat up so fast she created a mini-whirlwind of the leaves around her and barely noticed, wand drawn on Lupin's outraged face. "Hermione and Ron forgot his birthday? That's ridiculous, they'd never, not after all they'd been through!"

She almost would have laughed at his personal offense to this if she didn't honestly agree, and had to backtrack a bit to really hear what she'd been trying to block out, and then couldn't even blame him for the outburst. Merlin, no mail all summer, what had gotten into Harry's friends?

"Surely we're missing something," the elder Black pacified, looking more confused than anything. "Hermione wouldn't have an owl most likely, and maybe Ron's parents have to use theirs too often to let him borrow it..." the excuses were flimsy at best and they all knew it. It truly made no sense, and the swell of pity around all of them for this poor kid having no one to acknowledge his birthday, even worse humming the tune to himself! Even her home had never gotten so bad!

"Oh good, I needed a distraction," Potter said from above in an all to familiar tone, but for once in her life Lily couldn't even blame him. She detested the little birks attitude of taking his problems out on others, like her friend, by hexing anyone he felt like. Yet in this instance, she got it. She wanted to curse Dudley to, for being the embodiment of all Harry's troubles! She'd restrain herself of course if the little ponce was put in front of her, drawers dropping or not, but it was almost as much a revelation to her to feel empathy for Potter as to still wonder what Harry had seen in that bush.

Then the real jaw dropping moment came in for everyone else, that poor kid nearly getting his head bashed in with a frying pan. Regulus couldn't give it a second thought but for a bit of empathy, maybe that kid would learn to keep his mouth shut like he had. Instead he remained focused on the inconspicuous, lone little bush behind his brother, the only one Potter hadn't destroyed upon first arriving. Regulus had well learned his lesson from the last book, and he wouldn't again let himself be so easily distracted as everyone else so clearly was, throwing all kinds of abuse around about all the chores Harry was to do. Regulus would have thought at least Sirius could blow the whole thing off as well, they may not be doing chores at their own place but the treatment wasn't unfamiliar to the two, but no, he was just in much of a temper as everyone else.

It was pathetic getting so worked up over something that wasn't even happening, leaving Regulus alone to wonder what had almost happened to the young Potter in that bush. Another attempt at return of the Dark Lord? If so, should he even say anything about it, but instead actually try to find a way to help it along. After all, if this future did happen, if he found a way to help someone so powerful in fact gain another strength in a sooner return to glory, maybe he could stop little boys from ever again feeling afraid in their own home, because there wouldn't be any fear left. The Dark Lord would make everyone an equal, and filthy Muggles like this would be a thing of the past.

Pettigrew finally warned that the first bit of this ending was nigh upon them, and Regulus did all he could to brace himself for whatever good that wouldn't do, admittedly as intrigued as anyone by the final line telling him he may not be far off. Who would be in Harry Potter's bedroom in a place like that?