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liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

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How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Nine: A hard night's day II

The common room slowly came to live and I vaguely answered the question as to where I’d been that night a couple of times but mostly ignored what happened around me. Until all four girls stood in front of me and ordered me to breakfast.

“Let me get dressed. I probably look like I feel. I’ll meet you in five minutes.”

“You promise?”

“I’d take an oath.” They left and I went upstairs. Looking at my closet I landed on black Jeans, a black and grey flannel and a black cardigan. I redid my hair into the topbun and put on some make-up after brushing my teeth. Just to cheer me up a bit I popped on my favourite ring.

I didn’t quite make my five minute promise but I got up to the Great Hall as quickly as possible. When I entered, though, I considered turning back around and asking Mimi for that toast and jam she had mentioned. They all sat at our table. Milla next to Remus and Peter, who bumped elbows with Nica. Nica talked to Blair who sat across from her and in between Chloe and James who stole some bacon from Sirius’ plate. Why?

I sighed internally and very slowly walked towards the Hufflepuffs. Maybe if I walked slowly enough they’d be done eating and I could not feel that badly. But since I didn’t move at the speed of a flubberworm, I arrived at the table before Peter had started his second course. I sat down next to Mag and across from Toby, keeping some distance between me and the Potter-posse and Crick.

“Morning, you look terrible!”, Magnus greeted me and won a slap against the shoulder.

“Charming.” He grinned at me and handed me a cup and the pot of coffee. “Thanks.”

I mindlessly grabbed a raisin roll and a chocolate muffin and started plucking them apart without really eating.

Nica waved at me.

“Huh?”

“Ugh, if you’re sure you don’t want to come to Hogwarts and spy on those two lovebirds?”

“I am. Got homework and detention.”

“Right! What d'you get?”

“Caring for the plans in the greenhouses one hour a day. Not too bad, actually.”

“You could do both tonight, you know”, Peter said trying not to spit out his sausage and fried egg.

“Not if I want to sleep at some point.”

“Sleep is for the weak! Live a little, Goods! So what if you don’t have all your homework? Nobody will die from it.” Hoarse voice, cheery tone, friendly, casual, not a trace of hostility. Was he kidding?

“Consider me weak then.” I pushed an enormous piece of muffin in my mouth and nearly suffocated.

“It will be so much fun though, shopping and following them around just the right amount”, Blair tried to change my mind.

“I hope you’ll have much fun. But I’ll sit this one out.”

“You’ve sat everything out, since the year started, Tea!”

“Was I talking to you?”

“No, but since we’re friends again, I reckon I can take an interest in your wellbeing again. You’ve spent five weeks in isolation, Black’s right, you should live a little.”

“Thanks for the input.”

“Have I done something?”

“No Crick, course not, sorry. I snuck off to the kitchens yesterday and fell asleep there, I’m just grumpy. Which is another good reason to stay here, by the way. Get some decent sleep.”

“No changing your mind?”

“None.”

The group went back to loudly planning how to spy on Remus and Milla which had those two groan, roll their eyes and giggle. I stayed out of most conversations and focussed on the destruction of yet another raisin roll. My untouched coffee had gone cold by the time the others got up.

“Coming?”, James held out his hand to help me off the bench.

“Sure”, I sighed and took his hand.

He held me back from the others a bit.

“You should have come with the others last night.”

“I was making up with Crick.”

“Before that I mean. You should’ve come outside with them.”

“To do what exactly?”

“Listen to Sirius explain.” I didn’t answer.

“He did explain all of it. Granted, it took him forever which is way too long, but he did. And I think you should have heard it. Maybe even before the others.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad he feels… Forget it. It’s fine.”

We arrived outside and pulled out our cigarettes while Milla and Remus waved and made their way to the village.

“This is going to be great!”, Sirius triumphed.

“It better be. We’d have one hell of a mess on our hands, if it isn’t”, Blair answered.

“Don’t be a spoilsport. It will be great, they will come back coupled up and we won’t have to listen to Remus whine about her anymore.”

“Does he do that?”

“What? No, of course not, never, don’t know why I said that”, he recovered very unconvincingly.

I took a last puff, threw the fag on the ground and went back to the foyer.

“Where do you think you’re going?”, Nica shouted.

“To bed! You are off in a minute anyways, aren’t you?”

“We’re giving them an hour head-start. Come back!”

“I’m knackered Chloe, I’ll have a lie-down.” Spoken and disappeared.

“All is not well with you.” Crick had waited for me.

“I’m really tired. Maybe some other time?”

“If you want to talk, I’m here, yeah? Even if some idiot breaks your heart.”

“Noone did. And I wouldn’t come to you with that. I’m not a sadist.”

“You could, though.” I hugged him a little longer than usual trying to express my gratefulness, appreciation and how bad I still felt, then I left him standing in the foyer and went to bed.

Felix had come up to the dorm and woken me up with a weird expression on his face, informing me that Sirius stood in the corridor waiting for me, bothering everyone who went in or out, asking them to get me for him. Groaning I got up and dressed again. I reckoned that I didn’t have a choice to avoid talking to him. After all I had just accused him of ignoring me for no apparent reason, it would be childish to do the same to him.

Breathing in and out two or three times I stood in the common room before opening the door and stepping onto the corridor.

“Goods, hey.”

“Hi.”

“You seemed…discontent this morning.”

“How late is it?”

“Just about lunch time.”

“Bloody hell, I slept for a while, then”

“Yeah, you did. I’ve been here four hours and most of your hosuemates proper hate me by now. Felix was really annoyed when I asked him to get you.”

“He’s thirteen, he’s always annoyed.” I tried a smile. It felt weird.

“Listen, you want to grab a bite and have a chat? I reckon I owe you one.”

“I’d rather not, Sirius. I’m pretty sure I know all I need to know. It’s fine. Kind of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, yesterday cleared a couple of things up.”

“It did?”

“Yes. Just leave it, yeah?” I turned to either climb back into bed or confront my mountain of homework.

“Goods, I want to talk to you, hold up!”

“You want to talk to me? You want to talk to me? I’ve wanted to talk to you for five bloody weeks. And I’ve tried and sensationally failed, haven’t I? Can’t always get you want.”

I knocked against the barrel.

“Goo…Jette! I’m an idiot, okay? I know. But you deserve a conversation.”

“Damn right! I deserved one first day back from Christmas. Or the day after that. But I didn’t get one. I got death stares and ignorance like I had bloody murdered someone.” I stepped back from the door and lowered my voice again as more and more of my housemates went to lunch.

“I’m sorry”, Sirius hissed. “Which is why I’d like to explain it to you.

“What’s there to explain?”

“All of it!”

“You okay?” Felix and Marvin had just climbed out on the corridor.

“Sure”, I answered.

“You don’t look it.” He turned to Sirius. “She hasn’t had an easy couple of weeks, right? And she’s not good with waking up. Don’t upset her anymore, mate.” He looked into Sirius’ face all earnest and protective and I didn’t think I either ever respected or loved him as much as in that moment.

“I really don’t intend to upset her. I’m trying to apologise and make things right.” What I saw of Sirius’ expression was melancholic.

“You’re a stellar brother, Felix, you know that? She’s lucky to have you.”

“She really is”, I agreed kissing Felix on the cheek and sending him away.

“He’s looking out for you”, Sirius sadly smiled.

“He better be. I’ve done enough of that for him for years. Should’ve seen him in his first year. Lost little idiot.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. Same thing with Reg…” The smile vanished from his face.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. But I am. So, please have lunch with me?” I sighed deeply. I contemplated for a moment. I walked towards the stairs.

“Thanks, Goods. I appreciate it.”

“Hang on! Should you not be in Hogsmeade spying on Remus?”, I suddenly asked when it occurred to me that he had so looked forward to that little mission.

“Oh, the rest are covering that. Thought this was more important.”

We went up in silence, both wondering where this talk would actually leave us. Sirius pulled me to the very empty Gryffindor table. It was the emptiest of all four of them, only first and second years, Sirius and I. My own table next to it was a little more populated. Obviously the snow and cold kept some people form the village. Most Slytherins were apparently battling the weather and most Ravenclaws had decided to stay in.

Staring at the bowls and plates in front of me I realised I still wasn’t hungry although I barely touched my breakfast apart from brutally mutilating it. Unwillingly I piled some salad on my plate and decorated it with a bit of chicken breast. Sirius took half the total amount of chicken wings and drowned them in ketchup. I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t. He thoroughly enjoyed his food and I forced myself to finish mine. When a third of his plate was cleared he looked up from it and turned to his left, facing me. His face was covered in ketchup, he didn’t care or didn’t notice. I handed him a napkin.

“What did you mean when you said that yesterday cleared up things? I mean it might have for the others because they didn’t know what you knew, but what on earth did it clear up for you?”

I bit my lip and hesitated. He jumped his shadow, I should, too.

“The girls said some things, when they wanted to come pick me up to go upstairs that just…made me understand things better. No need for you to repeat it.”

“Come again?”

“They said that you had told them all about it because there was no need to keep it a secret from your friends.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s that, then.”

“What?”

“Well, I took the hint. That’s why I didn’t join you guys.”

“What hint?”

“Are you serious?”

“Always.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Should’ve known better than to use that word.

“The way they found out is identical to the way I found out. Not asking for it but hearing it anyway. And you tell them all about it because they’re your friends.”

“Right…”

“Well, that told me all I needed to know.”

“I’m clearly missing something. Mind just telling me what you know.”

“Ugh…” I pushed my plate away and rubbed my hand over my face probably messing up my make-up.

“Do I have to?”

“Please. You seem to think that that means more than it does and I’d like to understand that.”

“It’s not that difficult: They are your friends, so you tell them what’s up when they hear about your housing situation. I’m not your friend, so you don’t tell me. I get that. So,I guess I can go?”

I got up and walked outside to the courtyard. Sirius caught up with me at the first of the icy steps.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“What else should I believe? When I found I seized existing for weeks.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what. Look, it’s fine, really. I don’t fully understand what I’ve done wrong but nobody can be liked by everybody and you don’t have to be friends with me to be friends with them. You just have to accept my presence. As long as you can do that…”

“Will you shut up?”, Sirius interrupted my babbling. “That is not true. None of that is true, yeah? You are my friend. I took a bloody punch for you. By a guy who’s built like a small mountain troll. I do not do that for people I dislike.”

“But…why… how…what?”

“I would have talked to you last night anyways, Goods. James, Remus and Peter set me straight. They were furious. Don’t ever doubt their friendship; I think they were ready to drop me for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Maybe not dropped me completely. The point is that I’m an idiot and you’re my friend. If you still want to be. Seeing how I’m an idiot…”

“Yeah, I want to be your friend, why d’you think I blew up at you.”

“Fine. Friends. Good Merlin. Thought that was obvious after we rescued you from Cricket…”

“So, did I but then you ignored me…”

“Said I’m sorry, haven’t I? Can you just let me explain?”

“Only if we go back inside, I’m freezing.”

He smiled and led me back into the castle and the prefect lounge. We didn’t talk on the way up. I didn’t know what to say anyways, I was rather confused.

In the lounge Sirius ignited the logs in the fireplace and I found some left over bottles of butterbeer.

“Nice!”

“I’m all ears”, I said after the first sip and gave Sirius my undivided attention.

“Right. Okay. Where do I start?”

“Where did you start yesterday?”

“Answering all the question the girls had”, he laughed.

“I have a question but I don’t know whether I want it answered.”

“Go for it.”

“When I realised you lived with James although your parents are alive and well I kind of assumed they… chased you out of their house. That right?”

“Sort of. I mean, you could say that. Look, I’ll go a bit far back in the story to answer that, yeah? That might be easiest.” I nodded.

“Here we go: My parents are pathetic, vile, racist people who love their so called blood purity and hate everything that isn’t a pureblood wizard or witch. I didn’t get that when I was young and I don’t get it now. And I’ve always let them know that I neither understand nor agree. When I was younger they didn’t make a big deal out of it, kept repeating their credo to me and hoped with all the traditional pureblood education I’d get the hang of it in time.

That changed when I started Hogwarts, got sorted into Gryffindor and befriended James, Peter and Remus. A bloodtraitor and two halfbloods were not who my parents wanted me to spend my time with. When I came home for Christmas they told me they were disappointed and expected me to use my position in Gryffindor House to spy on all those unworthy of magic so they could use that information in the Ministry to get unpure blood banned from Hogwarts. I refused. I told them I liked the blood traitors and halfbloods I knew and stuff like that. That’s when it started.” He paused and took a sip of his drink. He didn’t start talking again.

“The violence?”, I asked in a whisper. Truly, I wanted him to say no.

“Yeah”, he answered just as quiet. He took another sip of his bottle. “At first it was just a well-placed slap across the face and some yelling about how I was not serving my name. But the more they forced their views on me, the more I rebelled against them. Didn’t help that James and his family are normal purebloods who showed me how it could and should be done right. That made me even angrier at their ideals and twisted darkness. So, basically I escalated the rebellion and they escalated the repercussions. Slaps became punches, one became five and then ten and then don’t ask me how many, telling me I wasn’t serving my name turned into calling me a disappointment, a disgrace, a waste of space. You know…”

“I knew I didn’t want an answer to that question.” I felt a lump build in my throat and my eyes water. I usually wasn’t such a cry-baby.

“Oh, it’s no big deal…

“Yeah, it is! How could you even say that? It’s the biggest deal! They are your parents, they’re supposed to protect you and love you and tell you everything’s gonna be alright and be proud of you and support you. They’re not supposed to harm you, Sirius! Or break you down mentally. It is a huge deal.” While I spoke the lump in my throat grew and got audible, my voice cracked a bit. Sirius looked up at the sound of that.

“Woah, no crying! It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright! It’s amazing you’re not some whimp or an elitist arsehole or the worst person ever, fucking miracle that! You deserve so much better! Don’t tell me it’s alright! It’s not. Not even a bit.” By now tears were streaming down my face, clearly alarming Sirius.

“Goods… I don’t know what to do, now. The other girls didn’t cry. What do I do?”

I didn’t answer but leaned over and hugged him tightly. Sobbing like a toddler at the idea of the terror that he’d been through for the past five years. After a moment or two he hugged me back, rubbing my back, going “shhhhh” all the time.

“You know it’s not alright, yeah?”, I asked when I had calmed down enough.

“I know it’s not normal. And I know they’re wrong. But I am alright. Because I’m with the Potters now, and I got a family that actually functions and very good but sobby friends. So, please don’t feel sorry for me.”

“Of course I feel sorry for you!” Sirius let me go and pushed me away, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. I was confused. What had I done now?

“I knew it! This is exactly what I told them and they all went ‘no, she’s not like that, she won’t look down on you.’ And I believed it! I don’t need your pity!”

“I don’t pity you”, I forced myself to sound calm and neither shocked nor offended. “I am sorry for you.”

“Same bloody thing!”

“Not at all. You are my friend. I respect you and I care about you. That means I want you to be happy. I want you to be well. I want you to be unharmed. I want you to be as whole as possible. So, when you’re not happy, when you’re not well, when you are harmed, when you’re being broken, I feel sorry for that. Not because I look down on you but because I’m hurt on your account. You honestly think, I’d cry for you if I didn’t respect you? If I didn’t care?” I still forced myself to remain calm but it took all I had.

“You don’t think I’m a pathetic loser?”

“Sirius, why would I?”

“Cause you have such a perfect family. All of you. You all managed to be yourselves and believe in the right thing and make your parents proud. Why would you not think I’m an utter failure?”

“They are the failure! They failed you! And if you think any of us would judge you for what you’ve been through, then we have, too. But not you. Not you.” I closed the distance between us and forced him to look at me by pulling up his face with both my hands.

“You have done nothing wrong. And we all know that. You’ve stood up for what you believe in to terrible and horrifying people and you’ve come out a strong and kind person. We know that and we see that and we respect that, so much. But we still hurt for you. We’re still sorry you had to go through it. You got that?”

“I got that.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” I let go of him and returned to where he’d pushed me.

“Is that why you didn’t talk to me. Because you thought I’d judge you, I’d laugh at you?”

“Honestly, after that speech I’d rather not say…”

“As long as you don’t think it anymore.” He gave me a weak smile.

“Not anymore.”

“Good.”

“Want to hear the rest of it?”

“The rest of it?”

“Like how I ended up at James’.”

“Yes and no.”

“So, my parents had a dinner discussion about werewolves, one night. It was during the summer holidays and there had just been an article in the Prophet about how there is a German organisation that has set up a full-moon-camp for werewolves. If you’re affected you sign up and then they take care of you over the full moon. The idea is for families to not be as affected or whatever. Great initiative. Obviously my parents hated it.

They told each other how it would be a great idea to set the whole camp on fire on a full moon night just to ‘end that pest’. Now, I don’t know what you think of werewolves but I tend to think they shouldn’t be liquidiated for existence.”

“Agreed. Most days they are just normal people and when they turn, they’re not themselves anymore. I’ll be honest: I do not need to run into a werewolf during a full moon. There’s a reason they are classified as one of the most dangerous creatures, but I’m mainly sad for them. The people I mean.”

“Well, my parents would hate you. Even more. Anyways, I told them pretty much what you just said. Which… didn’t fly with them. And because they had spent the entire time I was with them by screaming at me and using me as their personal punching ball – don’t look like that! – they decided I would be given one more chance to return to their noble and ancient ideals. So, they made me. Literally. They made me do what they wanted me to do. Brought in a stray mixed blood dog and had me kick it.”

“When you say made me…”

“Imperius.” I had to find every last bit of strength to not cry again. There was a very good reason that curse was an unforgivable one.

“And when that didn’t have the desired effect they rounded the evening out with a Cruciatus. I was knock-out for about half a day, then I wrote to James and flooed over there. Never looked back.”

“Thank God for Euphemia and Fleamont. I’m glad you’re out of there.”

“So am I.”

We drank up our butterbeers without another word and silently agreed to go back out to the courtyard after a while. Before we opened the door of the prefects’ lounge I hugged him again. Practically buried my face in his neck, one arm around it, one around his waist. I didn’t cry, I didn’t say anything. I just stood there wrapped around him, trying to stop his hands from shaking, which hadn’t been still since he told me about his sorting. I hoped he’d understand what I was trying to convey.

“You smell like something very familiar but I can’t put my finger on it”, Sirius said after half an eternity. Difficult to say if I had succeeded in my mission.

“Coconut”, I answered.

“I like it.”

“Thanks.”

“You can let go now, Jette. I’m good. We’re good.” I let go and smiled at him. He opened the door and we left.

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #james & peter & remus & sirius #james potter #remus lupin #sirius black #peter pettigrew #harry potter #original character

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fandomlife-giver · 6 years

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Toxic Veins (Alucard X OC): Ch. 8

Warnings: Violence, Heavy use of Language, Death

Pairings: Alucard x OC

@redryderdesigns

Word Count: 4479

The black metal glistened in the artificial light, and I was sure the grin remained on my face as I held them up and looked them over.

"I take it you're pleased with the handguns?"

I looked back at their creator who was staring at me with a smirk. "Oh, that is an understatement and you know it." His eyes widened when I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. "Thank you, Walter. Really." He smiled and patted my back.

I glanced up once the lights in the room dimmed and flickered. Well, that's odd.

"Phyre!"

I pulled away from him and furrowed my eyebrows when I heard my name.

"Damn mansion is like a fucking maze! Phyre! Where the hell are you?!"

He stopped and looked into the room across from ours, then turned and he sighed when he saw me. "Phyre! Answer me when I'm calling you, dammit!" He ran in and grabbed me by the arm. I watched him curiously as he dragged me out of the room.

"Uh, Chet?"

"We need to get you out of here. The ghouls have already reached the gates, we don't have much ti-"

"Whoa, hold on!" I pulled him to a stop. "1. Why are you dragging me? 2. What do you mean ghouls? And 3..." I rose up my arm to shove my bloody rose in his face. "Check out these guns Walter made me. Nice, right?"

He rolled his eyes and moved my hand. "Phyre, the mansion is under attack." I felt my eyes widen. "There's an army of ghouls marching inside, now we need to-"

"What the hell, Brazer?! Lead with that next time!" I pulled my arm from his grasp.

"Where are they entering from?" We looked back at Walter, and Chet's face turned serious.

"From the main entrance, sir. They've shot down our men at the gates and are entering main control as we speak."

Walter nodded, then pointed at me. "And why is Miss Laurifer your main concern?"

He glanced at me. "Sir Integra ordered me to escape with Phyre at all costs." He looked back at Walter. "She believes they may target Phyre if they see her."

Every person's eyes widened, except for mine. "What gave Integra that idea?"

He shrugged. "I didn't ask and she didn't say."

"Well, if it does happen, I'd say we lead on that." He rose his eyebrows and looked at me once I said that. "Chet, they're ghouls, they will kill and devour everyone, maybe even Integra, and I will not let that happen. If there's a chance they will go for me, I say we take that to our advantage."

"Wait, you're saying you want to-"

"You want to use yourself as bait?!" By the growl that came from the back, I glared at Alucard.

"It's better than running and hiding like a coward while these men pay with their lives! I am not running away like a little girl holding mommy's hand when it can be easily avoided in the first place!"

"Captain." Walter's voice made me stop. "What is your men's position and how critical is the situation?"

He swallowed hard. "Our outside communication's been cut off and I've ordered my men to defend the conference room with their lives."

Walter hummed and looked back at me. "By the time your sacrificial plan would take place, they would already be dead. I'm sorry, but giving yourself up isn't an option." I clenched my jaw and looked away. "However, neither is giving up entirely."

I looked back at him. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

As he pondered, the phone rang and he looked down to pick it up.

'What's your position, Walter?'

"Miss Victoria's room in the sub-basement. I've already been brought up to speed on the situation. Outside communication's been cut off so I wouldn't expect reinforcements for at least 4 hours, maybe 5. In the meantime, our current forces have been ordered to defend the conference room with their lives."

'What do you recommend?'

I snickered as I leaned on the dresser next to Walter. "Well, for starters, you should fortify the door to the conference room."

'Phyre, why are you still here?! Where is Captain Brazer?'

"Present, and hello to you too. And yes, I'm all right, if anyone even cares." I glanced around the room, considering no-one has even asked if I felt better yet.

"Since Alucard, Miss Laurifer, and Miss Victoria are with me down in the sub-basement, I propose we divide into two teams. Alucard and Miss Laurifer will head upstairs, Miss Victoria and I will make our way towards the conference room."

I turned as I already felt Alucard's arm firmly around my waist. Wow, Count Chocula works fast.

'How will you manage? The hallway is full of ghouls.'

Walter smirked. "How did you manage to find Alucard's cell 10 years ago?"

'The air ducts, of course!'

"Seems to be the best option at the moment. We'll both be there shortly. Good luck." He went to put the phone back but stopped.

'Walter...These animals are eating my people. Show no mercy! Do not let them leave the grounds alive!'

He placed an arm behind his back. "By your orders then, Sir Integra."

Alucard smiled. "Oh... does Walter Dornez the Angel of Death ride again?"

I crossed my arms and sighed. "Man, I'm almost sorry I won't be able to see it."

Alucard chuckled and pulled me closer to his chest. "Almost, eh?"

Seras looked between me and Alucard. "Uhh...uh... " She leaned into me and whispered. "Come on, what are you two talking about?"

I smirked and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll see soon enough."

Walter laughed and looked at us. "Put the veteran and the rookie together, and you may as well have one normal soldier."

Alucard chuckled as he walked away with me still in his grasp. He looked back at Walter. "This could actually end up being fun."

My eyes widened as he walked towards the wall. "Um, what are you-- whoa, hey!" I tightly grabbed onto him as we walked through the wall.

Seras sighed as we disappeared. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it... if there are any normal people working in this bloody place...?"

°°°

I was frozen when we were back in the basement and Alucard laughed in amusement when I refused to let go of him.

"D-Did we just walk through a wall?"

When I looked at him, he only grinned. "Like, seriously, we just walked through a wall."

He frowned as I poked the brick wall in amazement. "Are you afraid?"

I looked back at him and scoffed. "Afraid? That was amazing!"

He smirked and walked over to his throne. Once he reached it, he stopped to lift me up, sit down, then place me on his lap. He sighed as he lightly stroked my cheek with his gloved finger.

"I remember when I first showed you my power. I was afraid you'd reject me, but instead, you were fascinated by it. Despite what I had become, you still saw something in me others didn't."

My brows furrowed. I did? "Well, I sound like one hell of a girl. So when exactly did I say this?"

He shrugged. "A few centuries ago."

What? I closed my eyes, shook my head and pushed away from his chest. "You're talking about Nica, aren't you?"

He looked at me curiously. "Of course, who else would I be talking about?"

I scratched the back of my neck and slid off his lap to stand up. "Look, Alucard, I'm not Nica. Okay, I'm not your wife. Just because she's my ancestor and I have her blood doesn't mean I'm her."

He stood up and snaked his arms around my waist. "You are my Queen. You are her. I can feel her when I'm around you, Phyre."

He can feel her?

I sucked my teeth and unwrapped his arms from me. "Well, glad I could bring you two together. It's what I live for!"

He frowned as I turned and started walking towards the stairs that led up. "Phyre. Where are you going?"

I didn't even bother looking back at him. "Suddenly, I want to have a chat with our intruders."

He narrowed his eyes. "Phyre, they can't see you."

I looked back to glare at him. "Yeah? Screw that, I feel like killing something."

°°°

Luke adjusted his glasses as he stood over the bodies of sliced soldiers and put the ringing phone to his ear.

"What?"

'Yo, Luke, what up? Can you hear me now? This is your brother, Jan Valentine, commander of the army of the undead Hellsing slayers. Oh yeah! Letting you know the first 2 floors are secure. Now all that's left is to take the 3rd floor, crash the round table conference and... kick the shit out of a little girl and a bunch of old people. Hey, you find that Manchester bitch yet?'

He sighed. "No, there's no sign of her yet. I feel I'm getting close, though. Just stick to the plan. Don't give them an inch."

He froze when he saw the girl near the end of the hall, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed as she chewed on a match in between her lips.

"Mmm...Hold that thought. I think I just found her."

He put the phone in his pocket and using his enhanced speed, he ran forward, nearly invisible to the naked eye, and as he was about to bring down his blade, he was stopped by her voice.

"It's funny when people try to be sneaky, but the only ones they are fooling are themselves."

PHYRE

His breath hitched when I spoke, but really, did he actually think it would be that easy?

My head turned to give him a bored look. "I was wondering when you'd finally find me. Heh, it's only been 22 years, after all."

*bang*

He screeched and grasped his arm where a large bloody hole now was present.

My eyes widened at the damage and I rose my bloody rose as I grinned. "Thank you, Walter."

He exhaled sharply and looked up at me. "So, you're Phyre Manchester. I've heard a lot about you and your ancestor Nica-"

I groaned loudly. "Seriously, the next time I hear that name, I am going to rip out someone's tongue!"

By the flick of the wrist, he was on the wall, unable to move his arms and legs because of the claws pinning him to the bloody surface.

I walked up and kicked his blade to the side, before staring at him curiously. "So which one are you? There's only so many vampire wannabes I can keep up with over the years."

He gritted his teeth. "My name is Luke Valentine, and I don't have time to entertain your sick self."

"Oh, I'm the sick one? At least I don't eat people." I picked up his blade and pointed it to his collar. "You're not the only one. Who else is here?"

"Ugh, just my imbecile brother, Jan."

I smirked. "Imbecile brother, huh? We might have something in common after all." I used the tip to tear open the first button of his suit shirt, making his eyes widen.

"While we're on the subject of brothers...you wouldn't happen to know the name of Lucan Laurifer, would you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You mean the vampire mercenary leader that kills his own kind for the price of a virgin? He's your brother?"

I bit my lip so hard, it drew blood. Mercenary leader? Wait... "Did you say, vampire?"

He nodded and I scoffed. "Interesting. Well, I think that's all I need."

With a smile, I brought down the blade and his curdled screams filled the air. "Don't be a baby, it's just a little slice of the throat." I used the blade to cut across my arm, purposely smearing blood on it, before clenching my fist and letting my liquid drop into his exposed throat.

Once it was done, I turned and walked down the hall. He tore himself free from my claws as his throat healed and his eyes narrowed. "What did you just do to me?"

I glanced back at him. "Well, there's no fun to just tell you. Let's just say once your dead, you'll still be useful when the time comes."

He scoffed. "You're not confident enough to kill me now?"

I stopped and laughed. "Oh, you think I meant me? No, it wouldn't be fair to have you all to myself. I'll leave you to the king."

I threw him his blade, which he caught with his good arm, while the other was still healing. "You're gonna need that." I pointed at the mirror right next to him. "He's in there and he's definitely gonna like you."

He glanced at the mirror, pushed the side and it opened to reveal a staircase that led down. He looked back, but I was already gone.

"Well, that's enough of that. Time to see what you can really do... Alucard." His eyes glowed red as he shut the mirror door behind him.

I waited, then pressed the button behind my ear.

"Chet?”

'Phyre. Where are You? We need to get you out of here.'

"Just hold on. Did you find anyone?"

'No...no-one. They're all dead. I just ordered my men to their death.'

I sighed. "Pull yourself together, Brazer. I need a favor.”

'What?’

"You know any mercenaries?"

°°°

Luke swung his leg towards the brick wall, pieces of it flew out as he entered in the dark room. "I know you're in here. Even when you're hiding I can feel your presence.”

Alucard smirked. "Why on earth would I hide?"

Luke gasped as the lights flickered on and minimal light provided to reveal Alucard sitting on his throne with his legs crossed.

"Don't dare mistake my patience for cowardice. Honestly, I was starting to get a bit bored waiting for you."

He watched as the blonde man strode towards him after his most annoying display, a blank look on his face as he just stared. He was already unimpressed by the vermin standing before him. He looked like any other vampire amateur he's had the pleasure of killing.

He bowed. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alucard. My name is Luke Valentine. I'm a really big fan of your work. Your name gets thrown around quite a bit, Alucard. The things people say. They tell stories of your amazing strength. How you glide through oceans of blood. They call you Night-walker, beyond human. A monster whose powers radiate with darkness that casts a shadow on darkness itself. Finally, I get to know once and for all if there's anything to you than a rumor."

Alucard smirked with a hint of a laugh by the blonde's words. He glanced at the hole that was still closing up, almost nearly gone. "What happened to your arm? Don't tell me someone got to you before me."

Luke's smile dropped. "I never knew how viciously insane Phyre Manchester was. He never told us her skills of a surprise attack.”

He smirked wider. "My delicate flower caught you by surprise? If my Queen can take you down so easily, then you're not making me very interested in entertaining you."

Luke kept a frown. "When I was human, I feared you -- the stories, anyway. And when I gave up being human, when I became this, I began to admire you. You, the first great pioneer of immortality. No matter what the rest of us do, really we're all just chasing your shadow."

Alucard scoffed. "That's ridiculous. You fool. There's no such thing as an immortal."

He grinned. "Yes, I know. And once I have your head on a stick, everyone else will know it, too. So now I get to kill you and my wildest dreams come true."

°°°

Jan laughed, then winced from Seras's hold on him as he looked up at Walter. "Me and my brother, we were designed with the sole intention of killin’ you fucks! You people are so fuckin’ dead and you don’t even know it!"

Walter was frowning. It was already irritating that the mansion was nearly destroyed, there were corpses everywhere, but the man's language was ticking him off.

"You’re in no position to make threats."

Jan laughed. "Dude, you must be going senile, Alfred."

Walter sneered but froze at the sounds of growling. Jan elbowed Seras, which sent her flying back, then flipped back to stand in front of a set of double doors that had just opened. "And now, for our next trick, check out Door Number Three!"

Walter and Seras looked in horror at Chet's men, Hellsing's guards, now walking corpses.

"My God! What have you done...?”

"Time to get this party started. Hah!" Jan raced forward, his legs like noodles racing as he went through the crowd of ghouls, that was until his arm was shot off.

The force sent him against the wall.

Walter and Seras looked back, and their faces lit up in relief at the sight of their favorite blood covered girl.

PHYRE

Damn, that guy really needs a cork.

I managed to clear the first and second floors, it wasn't easy, but I managed it with all my toes and the skin of my ass was still there, so I call it a win.

The power of my pistols was already clearing out Jan's little surprise, Integra's men dropped or blew up, but he still managed to break free.

Walter's eyes widened. "Stop!"

He rose his hand, and no matter how much I wanted to see him in action again, I stopped him from using his strings and we watched as Jan ran to the doors of the conference room.

"AHAHAHAHA!" He stormed through the doors but was met with the circle of twelve aiming their guns at him.

Integra smirked. "You made it." She rose up her gun. "Congratulations."

His smile fell. "Oh, fuck me..."

Hundreds of bullets penetrated Jan with holes going through his body, and once he collapsed, Integra's eyes widened.

"What?"

Integra gazed in defeat at her soldiers. "My men...They've turned all my men into ghouls...!"

I turned and glared at Jan, who laid moaning on the floor. I stomped over, picked him up and used my claws to pin him in place, even dug them in deeper than needed.

"Aargh! Ugh... Heh heh heh..." He glanced up at me with a lascivious smirk. "Hey, sugar tits! Why don't you give me one last request and blow me 'til my brains pop out!"

The only response he got was another bullet to the face.

Walter lowered my gun and frowned. "It's all over, boy."

His smirk stayed glued on his face. "Nice. Come on and kill me, limp-dick."

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you -- not until after you tell me who put you up to this. Then I'll put you out of your misery."

He scoffed. "Are you serious? You fuckin' pussy." He looked up at Integra as she walked over. "What up, bit-"

He didn't finish as Integra plucked the gun from my hand and fired multiple rounds into his chest. "We'll have no more of that. I'm pissed off."

"Heh heh heh..."

She clenched her teeth. "Who the hell are you people? What did you hope to accomplish here? Who's responsible for this? Start talking!"

"Heh heh heh... hah hah..."

I took the gun from Integra and shoved it into his crotch.

"Answer the damn question or the only time you touch yourself will be in your dreams."

He froze and there was a hint of fear in his eyes as he finally answered. "Come on sugar tits, you know... the ones who put the fuckin' chip in me, the chip that's sending the information letting them know we fucked up. They can hear us talking, every last goddamn word. If they know I'm standing here fucked up and dying about to tell you everything, you think they're gonna let me fuckin' live?"

We all backed up once blue flames ignited over his body. He looked down. "See? I so fuckin' told you! Well, since I'm fucked, how about I piss a little wisdom on you dipshits?" As he slowly burned alive, he flipped her off.

"HAHAHA! You can take this clue and shove it up your ass, bitch! Beware... the... Millennium!"

Once his body had fully disintegrated, Integra stared at his remaining ashes. "That's it...? Millennium...?"

I scoffed under my breath. "Sounds like a whole damn group of people. Five bucks say it's Nazis."

She turned at the sound of my voice and once she saw me, she pulled me into a hug. "Phyre, next time I tell you to get out of here, you do as I say!"

"Yeah, yeah. I missed you too."

I looked back at Walter as he looked at Integra and me in concern. "Are you all right, Sir Integra, Miss Laurifer?"

She looked down. "Yes, we're fine." She looked back at the bodies of ghoul soldiers "And as for them... please put them out of their misery, Walter."

Walter bowed his head. "Of course."

"Walter, you will belay that order."

I felt tense as Sir Islands, the head of The Knights of The round table, walked up. "The responsibility must fall... to their leader." He pulled out a pistol and held it out to Integra.

"Sir Integra, it's your duty."

My teeth clenched as I stepped in between them. "No! With all due respect, Sir Islands, that's going too far!"

His head snapped to me. "Sir Phyronela, hold your tongue." He looked at Integra. "This entire situation should have been prevented. Integra, your lack of preparation is an offense. And since this facility is under your command, the responsibility is yours. The fact that these men died and were reanimated as these creatures is entirely your fault."

My jaw dropped as Walter's eyes widened. "How dare you, sir!"

"Walter!"

We both looked at Integra as she took the pistol and walked over to one of the moaning ghouls.

He turned to Walter. "Now, Walter, see what you can find out about this "millennium." I expect you to work quickly and thoroughly."

He narrowed his eyes but still bowed his head. "Yes. Of course, sir."

"We will see them pay a thousand-fold for this horror."

ALUCARD

"Alucard"

I looked up at my master, who looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Are you listening?"

I only hummed in response. "Millennium, hm?"

She stared at me for a few moments. "That's not what I wanted to speak with you about."

That made me more curious. I rose an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what is?"

She stood up and threw something down on her desk, then reached into her pocket and placed something on it.

I leaned forward. It was a portrait of Nica and one of Phyre with a bracelet decorated with roses around it on top. "Your fixation on Phyre hasn't gone unnoticed. At first, I was confused as to why, but now...I think I know."

I hadn't realized how alike they were. They share the same beauty and innocence.

"I want you to stop."

My head shot up back to her as a smirk crawled up my face. "Stop what exactly?"

She held a cold look towards me. Oh, I've never seen her act this way before. It's very intriguing.

"Stop pursuing Phyre. She's had enough history with vampires and she doesn't need you breathing down her neck while she's here."

Breathing down her neck? Was that sarcasm or was she being serious?

I laughed at her either way and stood up. "I don't need to pursue her. She's already given into me.”

She scoffed and took out the cigar from her mouth.

"Then why did she completely ignore you after the events of last night?"

She ignored me? I guess I didn't notice. "How should I know that? Maybe she just wanted to wash all the blood off of her, though I wouldn't have minded cleaning her myself."

Oh yes, soap and water were nothing compared to my methods of cleansing her.

"Or maybe it was because you were too distracted by your own thoughts."

I turned my gaze away. How would she know? She doesn't know anything about the things I feel at the moment.

"What happened down there, Alucard? Why are you so distressed after your confrontation with Luke Valentine?"

My eyes narrowed as they glowed partially red.

Flashback...

"Come on, get up! Attack me!"

With a smile, I brought up Valentine's severed leg and said in a twisted tone, "You’ve only suffered the loss of your legs! Summon up your familiars! Transform your body! Heal your severed legs and stand!"

I began to squeeze his leg with a grin when he just sat there and did nothing! "The evening is still so young." The vampire flinched at the sight and sound of his leg crunching.

"Come on! Hurry, hurry, HURRY! Pull yourself together! The fun has just begun! Come on! HURRY!"

His eyes shook with fear as he let out a scream.

"Monster!"

WHAT?! I felt my eyes widen, a frown came on my face as my shadows swam back to my feet. "So, I see you for what you really are. You’re pathetic! Nothing but a useless sniveling lump of meat!"

With little courage he had left, he dared to scoff. "Shut up! You’re nothing but the Hellsing family toy! A dog for the Church of England, not even fit to call himself a vampire! Even Manchester will be more useful than you, you puppet--"

Manchester?! "Silence! What do you mean 'More Useful'?" He flinched at my voice and shut himself up, which made me growl. "Answer me!!"

His breathing sped up. "Why do you think we're even here? To destroy you? To rid of the head of Hellsing? As if. We're here to take the blood bag, Phyre Manchester, and deliver her to advance his plans. Killing you and Hellsing was just a bonus."

Take my Queen? Deliver her as if she were a bag of garbage!?! I sneered. "I’m a dog -- then you’re dog food."

I quietly growled under my breath but didn't look back at her. "It's nothing."

I felt her analytical gaze on me as I stood up and turned, but I stopped before I touched the surface of the wall.

"I don't care if she never speaks to me again, and your order will not be enough to stop me." I glanced back at her. "I will save her this time."

She watched me with surprise as I walked through the wall and she looked down after I did. "This time?"

#Alucard #hellsing ultimate #hellsing #vampire #vampire hunter

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noisinnocent · 7 years

Text

Northside Serpent Pt. 1 | Sweet Pea

A/N: This is my first ever fanfiction to be ever posted so don’t be too harsh?

Sweet Pea X OC

Plot: A hidden serpent from the northside balances what it means to be a serpent and valuing friendship.

WARNING A PART OF THIS HAS BEEN EDITED TO MATCH THE PART TWO BUT IT’S ONLY A VERY SMALL EDIT. THIS IS JUST A HEADS UP!!

I stepped up to the side up platform clutching my clothes. When I got my signal, I got up the platform and started the Serpent's Dance. I maintained a straight face, but my eyes wandered all over the bar watching the reactions of the other Serpents there. As I finished my dance, I ran down the stage and took the sheets I had prepared and wrapped myself in them. I looked at Tall Boy who nodded towards the bar. No one knew me, they just think I was some stripper dancing on that stage, but Tall Boy knew. I had done the three other initiations secretly with only Tall Boy and four other senior serpents, they had informed FP though. After I got dressed I headed towards the bar where Tall Boy was, and we headed to the back.

"That was the last initiation just need to get your Serpent Tattoo then" Tall Boy said. I simply nodded.

"Tall Boy could I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"If anybody asks my name is Fairy Queen, not Tatiana King. FP would also know me immediately."

"Sure, you being a Serpent is a secret. Your secret is safe with us. FP made sure of it before he went to jail."

"Where are you getting?" Tall Boy asks as I prepared to get inked.

"Just under the nape."

I took a day off from school just to relax and process everything that's happened to me the past few days. I had done my initiation right after class where I immediately headed to the White Wyrm. I had just gotten my Serpent tattoo. My Serpent Jacket was hidden in my closet. And I just became an official Serpent.

The next day I finally went back to school. Nobody cared that i was gone obviously, they were still hooked on the whole red circle thing Archie started. I had English for first period, it was the only class that had given us assigned seats.

"Oh my god Tatiana, where have you been. You were absent yesterday." Betty said, she was assigned to the seat next to mine.

"Look it was just one day okay? I was feeling a bit under the weather. It wasn't like I was gone for a whole week."

"But I know you. You've never missed school even once. Even if you were a bit sick or just a headache."

"Just let it slide Betty it's nothing."

When class ended Betty told me we should sit together at lunch. I just said yes and headed to my chemistry class where Archie then got called out by Principal Weatherbee and Sheriff Keller. I took that opportunity to sit beside Veronica.

"What was that all about 'Nica?"

"I don't know. I hope Archie is okay."

"Don't you think it's still about that Red Circle thing?"

"I think so. Again, the t-shirts were my idea."

"Maybe he's done something worse, for Sheriff Keller to actually go here." Veronica looked so worried and I just rubbed her back to help comfort her.

Veronica and I had the same class before going to lunch, so I was now walking beside her while she was standing out so much with her scoop neck red circle shirt. We got to a table where Betty was scribbling over a notebook looking very stressed.

"Hey Betty, what's that?" I asked taking one of the discarded papers as I sat down.

"I'm trying to decipher this cipher from the Black Hood." She answered and runs a hand through her hair, taking a short break.

"Well it's lunch time and I think you need to eat here." Veronica then gives her the sandwich she bought for Betty.

"Thanks V." Betty takes the sandwich and takes a bite. "This cipher is so hard, but it seems so familiar."

"Maybe I can help with this?" I asked. Betty hands me the cipher, a paper and a pencil.

I scribbled down the symbols trying to match them up with potential letters while Veronica and Betty talked. I had tried it for a while but decided to give up. For the Black Hood to make something as complicated as this he must be smart, I thought.

"I tried, and I failed. This is hard considering also the fact that I'm bad at deciphering things."

"It's okay T. At least you tried." Betty sighed.

"By the way I never asked you but where were you yesterday T." Veronica asked as she remembers my absence.

"Feeling sick but decided I'd go to school today."

"So, you're still sick?"

"A bit but I can't be gone too long, not when you guys are stressed out with this Black Hood guy and I'm doing nothing." Veronica side hugs me.

"Thanks T. You really are an awesome friend. I was thinking are you guys game for a sleepover at the Pembrooke later?"

"I can't. I'm heading over to Jug's we were going to hopefully solve this cipher."

"What about you T? You up for it?"

"Sure, just after my mom leaves so that I can spontaneously force her to let me."

After I got of at the Pembrooke I asked if Veronica was there and their butler, Andre, said she was out. I decided to call her to ask if we were still continuing.

"Hey 'Nica, where are you?"

"I'm at Archie's"

"What happened you sound worried."

"Some Southside Serpents were here earlier asking for a fight and they went to an open lot. Oh my god what if Archie gets seriously hurt."

"Okay just wait there and we'll go find Archie and maybe help him."

I hurried to Archie's running as fast as I can, getting soaked in the rain. I knocked at the door and Veronica opened for me ready to leave. She immediately went off and I followed her. We watched a while as the Bulldogs and Serpents fought. I wanted to step in, but I had a fear I'd get discovered so I stayed with Veronica out of sight. It got worse and I decided to run towards the fight, but I noticed Veronica take something from her bag and slowly walked towards the crowed as well. She raised her arm and revealed a gun. I run back towards her hoping to get the gun in time, but she fired it upwards. I looked back to the fight and saw they were shocked by the gun shot. I ran towards Archie and helped him up. I decided to glance at the Serpents who were just getting back from being shaken up by the sound of a gunshot. I met eyes with the eyes of the other serpents but I briefly locked eyes with the guy who had just beaten up Archie. He seemed to be notice me, but I had immediately run back to Veronica while helping Archie. I looked back, and I saw the Serpents runaway. Veronica then helped me with Archie.

We went back to Archie's place, but I decided not to stay as I knew they needed to talk. I was soaking wet and it was still raining. I debated whether I would go to the White Wyrm and just sneak on the Serpents if they were okay or I would go home. I decided on the latter. As I laid down in bed I remembered the rules I just broke. In unity, there is strength; no serpent is left for dead; and a serpent never betrays his own.

"You look like you didn't sleep at all." Veronica said as she walked beside me.

"I couldn't. Last night, I was- I just didn't expect that to happen."

"Well the Serpents would always want trouble, won't they?"

"I guess" I muttered. I was a coward. Maybe I wasn't a serpent after all, even after doing my initiation.

"Well at least we manage to stop them in time before they tried killing each other."

Veronica and Kevin were talking about some Nick St. Clair guy when Betty and Archie came in.

"Hey Betty, how'd it go solving that cipher?" I asked as she sat beside me

"We managed to solve it and cause a bit of a panic to the parents at the emergency town meeting. How 'bout your sleepover with V?"

"We cancelled. The rain was too strong, and Nica wanted to go to Archie’s, so I just stayed at home."

After a few days I got a call from Tall Boy telling me to go to the White Wyrm, I asked if I had to bring my jacket in which he answered that I should decide for myself. I ended up leaving the jacket behind but wearing a hooded jacket, so I won't be caught. I got to the White Wyrm and saw Jughead reciting the laws to Tall Boy. Is Jughead joining the serpents? Is his father letting him?

"What is the last law?" Tall Boy shouted

"In unity there is strength" Jughead shouted back

"In unity there is strength" Everyone shouted including me.

Jughead finished and went on to do his next task, retrieving the knife from the box. I mindlessly clutched my right wrist remembering where I got bitten. He managed to do it with ease though getting bitten at the same time. When all the crowd scattered to what they were previously doing I walked to the bar where I waited for Tall Boy.

"Why'd you call me here?"

"Thought you'd want to see FP's son do the initiation. Besides you haven't come in a while I was wondering what had happened to you."

"I just needed to finally understand what it meant to be a serpent. A serpent never shows cowardice. Yet here I am afraid to show my face to the others."

"Hey Tall Boy up for a game of pool?" A deep voice says behind me. Tall Boy nods his head.

"I'm gonna leave you here Fairy Queen."

I looked at Tall Boy as he goes to play pool. I noticed the guy who had asked him to play was the same guy who beat up Archie. I noticed him sporting a black eye. Despite being freakishly tall I'm shocked Archie managed to punch him that high. I didn't leave immediately as I thought I would. I got closer and leaned on a wall far from the most of them.

"You don't look like you're from here." A looked beside me and see a girl with pink pigtails.

"I know. Maybe because I'm not."

"So, you're a Northsider."

"I'm a Southsider, just doesn't go around here too much."

"Anyways, I'm Toni Topaz."

"Fairy Queen."

We shook hands and just leaned on that wall watching the others play. We did some small talk before she heads near the pool table and talks with the tall serpent. I decided not to stay much longer so when Toni looked here I waved goodbye. As I left I noticed the tall serpent watch me with suspicious eyes. Did he recognize me from the fight?

I saw Veronica, Betty, Archie and an unfamiliar guy talking, and I decided to head towards them. I then learn his name was Nick St. Clair the one Veronica was talking about before. He invites me to the party he was hosting at the Five Seasons in which I decline. Veronica then leaves with Nick and Archie goes of to the rest of the football team. Betty and I decided to go to Pop's for some milkshakes. We were talking for a while before she gets a call looking terrified, she runs out to answer it. I didn't follow her instead I went for her to come back. When she came back, she had a horrified look on her face. She sat in front of me sitting still and contemplated on her thoughts.

"Betty what's wrong?" I kept asking.

She finally answered. "You- you- you're a serpent," she says quietly.

"Who told you that?"

"Is it true T? That you're a serpent?"

"Who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter is it true that you're a serpent!" Her voice got louder, even silencing some of the booths beside us.

"It is. But you have to trust me, I'm not a bad person. You know me Betty."

"It's bad enough Jughead is hanging out with serpents. Then I find out one of my best friends is a serpent." She storms off and I ran after her.

"Betty, you know me I'm not bad. I haven't done anything wrong."

"You might not have done anything wrong right now, but you might. You're in a gang Tatiana."

"It's because I had to okay."

"Why is it because we aren't enough for you? Is it because we wouldn't do anything bad? Is it because we're Northsiders?"

"It's something more than that okay."

"Well it still doesn't change the fact that you're a serpent."

I went to the White Wyrm at night still wearing a hoodie. I went to the bar where Tall Boy was making a drink.

"What the fuck Tall Boy, how the hell did someone know I joined the serpents."

"Fairy Queen, what are you doing here?"

"Answer the damn question Tall Boy."

"Nobody knows except the people who saw your initiations."

"Then how the fuck did my Northsider friend find out that I was a serpent."

"I don't know. But I’ll beat up the person who told on you."

"That doesn't change the fact that someone else besides you guys know that I'm a serpent."

"Look why does it matter."

"I go to Riverdale High for fucksake. What do you think happens when people find the fuck out that I'm a serpent."

He sighs and hands me a drink. "This is the only time I'll allow you to drink- " I don't let him finish and drink the whole damn thing. Ignoring the burning sensation in my throat.

He leaves me alone and I think I needed just that. To be alone in my own thoughts. But Toni comes and sits beside me.

"What were you talking to Tall Boy about."

"It's none of your business."

"Wow. Sorry your highness am I not worthy of your presence. News flash you're in my territory. If you haven't figured it out yet I'm a serpent, and I don't appreciate being disrespected."

"Is something wrong here?" A deep voice says from behind me.

"I think I can handle it Sweet Pea." I hold back a laugh at his name. Sweet Pea, really?

I decided to storm off in case I get recognized but Sweet Pea managed to grasp my shoulder before I could leave. He turns me around and he looks into my eyes and I look into his. Like a light bulb just flashed he remember me instantly.

"You were with that Northsider who shot the gun."

"You're a Northsider? First you disrespect me then you lie to my face." Toni looked at me with an intense glare. But I'm not gonna hide away. A serpent never shows cowardice.

"Well I'm sorry for minding my own business. And is being a Northsider that bad."

"You Northsiders go blame everything that happens in your damn side of the town and blame us, and you think that's minding your own business." Sweet Pea spats.

"What's going on here?" Tall Boy asked as he approached us.

"Just a lost Northsider looking for trouble," Toni answered.

"Fairy Queen, look doesn't mean some Northsider finds out you're a Serpent you're gonna look for trouble here." Tall Boy then gets me from Sweet Pea's grasp.

"I wasn't. I'm just not in the mood and then they just started misinterpreting everything I've said."

"You're a serpent? But you've never done the initiation. I didn't even see you do the dance." Sweet Pea said.

"That misogynistic dance? Yeah, I've done it. I've done every initiation but the Gauntlet, but I don't recall girls requiring the gauntlet."

"She's a serpent. But it's supposed to be kept a secret and I need you two keep your mouth shut as well."

"And why would we do that?" Sweet Pea says in a challenging tone glaring daggers at Tall Boy.

"Because a serpent doesn't betray his own. Unless you want me dead Sweet Pea and that doesn't sit too well with the rules does it. I suggest keeping your mouth shut."

I notice him wanting to punch me, but I hold my ground.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of Sweet Pea development, it will be like this for a few parts if I continue. But don’t worry there is still interaction between them.

#sweet pea #sweet pea x oc #sweetpea #riverdale #serpent #northside #southside #southside serpents #fanfic

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jobsearchtips02 · 5 years

Text

Social media shames ‘greedy’ price-gouging brothers for selling $1 hand sanitizer for up to $70 each

Two Tennessee brothers who bought 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer and sold some of them for as much as $70 each to profit off the coronavirus outbreak say they have received death threats after being shamed on social media.

Matt and Noah Colvin of Hixson, Tenneseee, drove 1,300 miles across the state and neighboring Kentucky earlier this month after the first coronavirus death was reported in the United States.

Seeing a lucrative business opportunity, they filled a U-Haul truck with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packs of antibacterial wipes that they ‘cleaned out’ from various Dollar Tree, Walmart, Staples and Home Depot locations.

In total, they spent between $10,000 and $15,000 stocking up on the items which are now in demand thanks to the global pandemic that has killed thousands and will likely infect many more.

‘The bulk of it was purchased just driving around to retail stores in the Chattanooga area,’ Matt Colvin told WRCB-TV.

Matt Colvin is seen at his Hixson, Tennessee, home on Thursday after Amazon shut down his resell of more than 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of other cleaning products

Colvin and his brother, Noah, drove around Tennessee and Kentucky for three days and spent between $10,000 and $15,000 on the products as news of the first coronavirus deaths in the United States was being reported

Matt Colvin is seen with his wife, Brittany, and their son, Logan, at their Hixson home on Thursday

Matt Colvin then stayed at his home near Chattanooga, where he was expecting deliveries of boxes of even more sanitizer, cleansing products, and surgical masks.

Colvin told The New York Times that he began listing some of the products on Amazon – and was selling them at a considerable markup.

‘It was crazy money,’ he told the Times.

Colvin, like other online resellers, bought the items at the store for reasonably priced sums. A bottle of Purell hand sanitizer normally sells for $1 each.

On Amazon, he charged $20 for a two-pack set, according to the Times.

Colvin defended himself against accusations he was price gouging, saying that the cost of delivering it to customers as well as Amazon’s commission eat into profits.

He said that anti-price gouging laws in Tennessee and elsewhere are not suitable to the current digital age.

‘They’re built for Billy Bob’s gas station doubling the amount he charges for gas during a hurricane,’ Colvin said of the laws currently on the books.

‘Just because it cost me $2 in the store doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost me $16 to get it to your door,’ he said.

When asked if he felt badly about turning a profit by selling products that prevent the spread of a lethal virus, Colvin countered that he was just correcting ‘inefficiencies in the marketplace.’

‘There’s a crushing overwhelming demand in certain cities right now,’ he said.

‘The Dollar General in the middle of nowhere outside of Lexington, Kentucky, doesn’t have that.’

Colvin then claimed that he was simply running a business that was meeting consumer demand.

‘I honestly feel like it’s a public service,’ he added.

‘I’m being paid for my public service.’

Amazon, however, put a stop to it, pulling his items as well as thousands of other listings for hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and antibacterial wipes.

The online retailer warned its sellers that it would cancel their accounts entirely if they continued their price gouging.

Colvin was then left with a supply of nearly 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and thousands of packages of wipes and nowhere to sell them – at a time when store shelves were emptied out and people were frantically looking to buy them.

Colvin told the Times that after Amazon shut him down, he would look to sell the products locally.

‘If I can make a slight profit, that’s fine,’ he said.

‘But I’m not looking to be in a situation where I make the front page of the news for being that guy who hoarded 20,000 bottles of sanitizer that I’m selling for 20 times what they cost me.’

But the harsh backlash on social media prompted Colvin to reconsider. He said he would instead look to donate the products.

Thousands of independent and third-party sellers like Colvin have bought up large quantities of cleaning products and sold them online through platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other sites.

Those companies, however, are working to crack down on the practice.

After the Times posted its report on the Colvin brothers, social media users reacted with fury.

The avalanche of negative reaction prompted the Colvin brothers to pledge to donate the inventory they have to those in need.

The Colvins also deleted their social media accounts. Matt Colvin also posted a web site with the message: ‘The Hand Sanitizer in the NYT story is being donated to a local church and first responders tomorrow.’

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story.

Another resident of Hixson tweeted: ‘This morning I Tweeted I would make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin’s names by the end of the day.

Matt Colvin (pictured) said he has received death threats and pizza delivery pranks after The New York Times reported his story

Colvin has pledged to donate the leftover inventory to local hospitals or churches

Colvin and his brother drove around the Chattanooga area as well as neighboring Kentucky, cleaning out the shelves of stores as news broke of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States

The image above shows some of the packages of hand sanitizer that Colvin and his brother bought

‘I emailed the local newspaper this morning to reach out to him to do the right thing.

‘They contacted me and they have reporters on it.’

Others on Twitter who were outraged by the story doubted that the Colvin brothers were sincere about donating the unsold items.

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

Another Twitter user tweeted: ‘When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?’

One Twitter user said the Colvins’ pledge to donate the unsold items was too little, too late.

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote.

‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli.’

Shkreli is the former ‘pharma bro’ who became notorious for raising the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by more than 5,000% while serving as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, now known as Phoenixus AG.

He is serving a prison sentence after he was convicted of defrauding investors in his hedge funds and conspiring to manipulate the stock of Retrophin Inc, a biotechnology company he ran.

After facing the massive public backlash, Matt Colvin told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he is looking to donate everything.

‘I’m trying to figure out where to donate it to,’ he said.

‘I didn’t anticipate the magnitude of what was going to be happening now.’

Colvin agreed to speak to the Times and to get his story out because he believed he was among other independent vendors who were frustrated by not being able to sell their inventory.

Instead, he became the poster boy for profiteering off of the suffering of others.

‘The amount of hate has been unreal,’ he said.

‘It’s been a disaster. People are tweeting guillotines at me.’

Colvin told the Times Free Press that he spent much of Saturday searching for a public health agency or hospital willing to take the products.

He says he has even had people contact him who were willing to buy them.

The reaction on social media was fierce, with Twitter users scorning the brothers for failing to complete their price gouging operation

One Twitter user blasted the brothers as ‘conmen’ and ‘snake oil salesmen’ and suggested that there was a more proper way to ‘handle’ them besides ‘suing them in court.’

‘Too late, dude just ruined his entire life,’ the Twitter user wrote. ‘Now every time he or his kid Googles his name, he’s gonna come up as the Great Value Martin Shkreli’

‘Thanks for outing this guy and hurray for public pressure,’ one Twitter user wrote to the Times reporter who posted the story

‘When you are forced to do the right thing, is it really doing the right thing?’ one Twitter user noted

Other Twitter users doubted that Colvin was sincere about his pledge to donate the items

A Twitter user claiming to be a Hixson resident said she sought to ‘make sure everyone in my town would know Matt & Noah Colvin’s name’

Times reporter Jack Nicas noted that there were currently packages of toilet paper that were being resold on Amazon for $72.43 apiece

‘I’ve had a dozen serious offers to buy it,’ he said.

‘I just want to get it to someone who can get it to someone who can use it.’

Colvin said that he has been a full-time online reseller for the last five years.

His online shops sell products ranging from candy, kids’ toys, and dog treats.

Colvin tries to anticipate marketplace trends and consumer demand so that he knows what to offer the public for sale.

The brothers said that they never anticipated the situation becoming so dire that they would face such intense backlash.

After the harsh backlash, Matt Colvin deleted his social media and posted a website with a message pledging to donate the hand sanitizers to a local church and first responders

‘Did any of us think we’d be where we are right now?’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t be running around trying to get this stuff right now.’

The brothers managed to sell just 200 bottles of hand sanitizer before Amazon derailed their plans.

The Colvins said they just needed a few more days and they would have gotten rid of their inventory.

‘If Amazon had let us keep selling for four more days, we’d be done with it – it would be gone,’ he said.

Instead, the Colvins are being scorned publicly. Some have even gone to the trouble of calling pizza delivery services and ordering boxes of pies under their name.

‘I went viral on the web this morning and people have been playing pranks on me all day,’ he told one pizza delivery driver.

‘I’m sorry, man. Domino’s and Pizza Hut called first, so maybe let them know back at the store not to come here today.’

The Tennessee attorney general threatened to take legal action against the Colvin brothers if they bought up more medical supplies

As for the items, he said: ‘If donating the product stops the death threats, it’s worth it.’

The public outrage prompted the Tennessee attorney general to threaten the Colvin brothers with legal action if they kept on buying medical products.

‘We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it,’ said Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III.

The coronavirus outbreak prompted Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, to declare a state of emergency.

The declaration automatically triggers anti-price gouging laws that forbid vendors from inflating their prices during an emergency.

Just as news of the coronavirus outbreak was being reported nationwide, Tennessee also suffered casualties from powerful tornadoes which left some 24 people dead.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/social-media-shames-greedy-price-gouging-brothers-for-selling-1-hand-sanitizer-for-up-to-70-each/

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candy-corps · 7 years

Text

Down Where It’s Wetter

Minion belongs to dark-blue-mondays

Minion hadn’t really known what to expect when he arrived at the beach at dawn. Yes, Nica had agreed to the swim, but it had been so long since he’d swam with another fish. Unless you counted the ones he hunted in his tank…. But there she was, nervously swimming in circles in the shallows waiting for him. His face lit up with a toothy grin.

He’d left the suit on the beach and enthusiastically jumped into the lake. It too a minute to get used to real lake water in his gills instead of the filtered stuff. He didn’t have tastebuds or a nose but the sense of real complex flavorful water across his gills was like a human taking a deep breath of fresh mountain air. Immediately he had the urge to chase Nica, to nibble on her scales. But he was a polite fish above all, and so he simply swam lazily to where she waited.

She looked nervous and said something about the beach being dirty, but he assured her that he was fine. And he followed her out into deeper waters, curious to see where his prospective mate spent her time.

“And this is the … boulder” Nica explained, pointing at a random rock as she showed him around. “I use it for navigation” she went straight ahead, swimming to it and turning around. “Like - … Like - here is the … - Um, Azlariel’s place. He will not eat you“ she assured him right away, her fin moving up and then down in a calming motion. “And there’s my … “ Well … Home.

Minion swam behind her, careful to let her lead the way in the expanse of open water. It felt good to swim like this, away from tank walls and

“It is a lovely nest Miss Nica,” Minion said earnestly. “Well protected under the boat. I bet it keeps away predators” He looked up and saw the chandelier hanging from the bottom of the boat and flashed a toothy smile. He’d already seen the fish table in her heap of treasure and he assumed the diamond encrusted coin was nearby. It made him feel good that she had accepted his gifts. All morning he had been wanting to chase her through the water, perhaps nip a few of her flaking scales from her back….. but he was trying not to be too forward.

“Ahem, are there good hunting grounds nearby?” he asked, trying to cover his lustful thoughts.

Lovely. Oh thank, thank goodness. Nica sank in a pile of coins nearby, too relieved to stay upright.

“It’s open sea, silly - everything is hunting grounds. Well maybe not from that point … till over there” she admit, her eyes moving to one end of the pile to the other. She hated dead bits on her coins. “The rest’s off.”

Minion swam up and started doing lazy loop-de-loop circles in the water. He was showing off a little, but he thought it was better than just staring at her. “Well we could hunt anywhere, but I bet you know where all the best schools are,” Minion said, trying once more to flatter her.

She did know, Nica thought, glowing brighter. He was trusting her judgement. And swimming not bad for a landlubber fish -

“Weeeell … “ she admit, lifting off the ground again. They could try at a place she had in mind.

This turned out so much different from how she’d thought of. Minion wasn’t overly disappointed at her - at least he didn’t look like it … and it was so nice to swim with someone talkative. Sure there was Azlariel, but with him she was the one to do most talking, too.

“We could try over there” she guessed, again taking the lead and swimming away.

Minion swam excitedly after her. Soon they found a large school of perch and the pair occupied most of the rest of the hour hunting both alone and as a pair. He even got that chance to nip her a few times, though mostly under the guise of lunging for a fish that scampered away at just the right moment.

He couldn’t help but marvel at her. Clearly she spent much more time out in the wild than he did. Most of the fish he hunted lived in his relatively small tank so it took him a while to adjust to hunting in open water where he couldn’t corner them into a glass tank wall. But she was magnificent, her sharp teeth flashing as she bit and raced with savage grace. Soon his belly was fully and he was watching her chase down her last bites with half-lidded lovesick eyes.

So that was enough, huh? At least she was full. Nica grinned wide, very happy with their combo attack. They were being like sharks! Just … slower … and more chubby, too. “Better than the fishflakes home?” she couldn’t help but tease him, knowing well that both knew better. Minion could have any fish he wanted … when he wanted. Nica swam down to him and turned once around, her mood a little lighter. Hunting always cheered her up.

And made Minion … sleepy? She blinked once in slight confusion, his eyelids pretty low.

“Absolutely!” Minion replied, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. He was just having such a wonderful time and she was such a wonderful fish. They made a wonderful hunting pair. Just wonderful.

“Miss Nica?” he asked, high off the fish equivalent of endorphins, “Could I… I mean… if it’s not to forward…. I would like to make you a nest. In the sand.” And he started swimming in circles, forming the intricate layers and lines in the sand. It was a formal gesture; he didn’t actually expect her to lay eggs in it right then and now. But his instincts were driving him to show her that he would be a good mate that would make a suitable place for their young.

He what - ! Like … Was he really sure that was the time? Nica swam after Minion, panicking a little while he was drawing patterns in the sand. Oooooooh. What to say.

Did she feel flattered? Yes. Did she feel stressed? Maybe. Was she ready for any of that …

Probably not.

The pink fish sank down and watched from a sand dune while Minion was working. He was so enthusiastic that she didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop, though it was most certainly wrong of her not to. Where was the line here?

Minion took his time, making a careful and quite good-looking nest. When he was done he swam over to Nica, the pride apparent on his face. He was silent but his expression was eager to know what she thought.

Nica had looked carefully, smirking a bit as she saw the patterns emerge. Pretty. Not sparkly, but …

“Is anything you do not fantastic?” she had to wonder, swimming up to him to see the structure better from above. “Wow.”

Minion fluttered his fins bashfully. “I…. I don’t do everything fantastic,” he says humbly. “You should see me try to do our 10Q filings with the SEC….” He makes a face. He likes to help with keeping all the financials for Megamind Inc neat and tidy, but he’s not a fan of dealing with government bureaucracy. “Anyway, I’m glad you like it,” he adds sheepishly, unsure what to say next.

Well she didn’t even know what it was, and so it hardly counted. “I like it” she affirmed. Wasn’t that an equivalent of getting flowers - she could look at it and get to bite every creature that got close enough to harm it. Yeah …

Nica swam further towards it, keeping the height, and turned to face Minion. ”And I think you’re pretty great.” Her esca flared up, but then dimmed right after. She had to think about how disappointed he’d be in her when he’d know at what she was all bad at.

The tips of Minion’s bothra began to glow in soft warm pulses and he fluttered his fins with dizzy excitement. “T-thank you Miss Nica,” he sputtered. “I think you’re pretty great too. You’re an excellent hunter,” he added. “Much better than me.”

“ … That may be true” she admit after a while, keeping her body askance as she still peeked to the side. Her own body glowed brighter, but she still wasn’t convinced.

Because at the end of the day, wasn’t Minion a worse hunter because he spend so much time taking care of his companion. She did not. She wasn’t hip enough to be with Bruce because she wasn’t half seagull or something. Nica began to swim off, her fins moving slowly.

Minion’s heart sank when she started to swim away, but he mustered up his courage and quickly swam to catch up with her. She was glowing so he was pretty sure she wasn’t mad. “You have lovely scales Miss Nica,” Minion blurted out, unsure what else to say. And Harrison had told him that flattery was the key to wooing mammalian women….

Yes, that too, Nica thought, swimming askance again and then turning around herself one time - still swimming. Now that Minion followed though she raised the tempo She didn’t mean to swim away at all - just swim. She actually did a circle around the nest Minion’s been making.

“You and Harrison are real gret pals, eh” she wondered, peeking back at him.

Minion relaxed considerably when he realized she was just circling the nest, not trying to get away from him. “Oh yes, Harrison and I are bonded. We’re family,” he says proudly as he catches up.

“We came to this planet together and someone has to look after him. Sometimes he tries to survive on nothing but donuts and alcohol and he’s not very good with the financial details of the company. I make sure everything runs in ship shop shape,” he boasts, doing loop de loops to show off as he swims alongside her. “Have you found family here on this planet Miss Nica?”

“Well … ” First of all it always let her loose her trail of thought when he was calling her ‘Miss’ Nica. But it made her feel like a lady, which she liked, admittedly.

“There’s Azlariel… and Bruce .. Makkazzar … and Pandora” she listed. All the people close to her she really cared about. Next to the puppies, of course.

“Makkazzar is teaching my Harrison Sir self-defense,” Minion said proudly, now swimming around her in excited circles. He loves talking about the people he loves and assumes she will want to do the same. “My Sir says he might dress like he’s still a hobo, but he has a good heart. I don’t know the others however. Is Bruce a bat? I believe Wayne Sir once mentioned a Bruce that was a bat….”

“Eh - Uh, yeah of … sorts! We call him, uh … super bat” she remembered, chuckling. He liked that. It was just hard now to keep looking at Minion when he swam around her, but it didn’t stop Nica to try and swim against the swirl Minion was creating.

“You know, because …. there’s micro bats. And mega bats and … Well it fit” she finished, just talking when she could see him.

Minion couldn��t help but grin. Nica seemed to want to look at him and he figured that was a good sign. His fins fluttered with excitement. “Of course!” he says, eager to agree with her. “Family is very important. I have my Sir – Harrison – and his mate Wayne Sir and their spawn once he’s born.” There is no mistaking the pride in his voice. “And the cats, Helen and Bella. Have you ever met a cat Miss Nica?”

“Ehhh sure” she replied. She didn’t, like, land on Earth just yesterday. “The captain - eh, Makkazzar - he has a nice one. Maurice.” Yeah, this was the one cat she got along with. All else would get eaten for looking at her for a second too long.

It was kinda strange, swimming like that and facing another - she’s never met a fish in the wild who’d done for so long. She floated closer to him and pulled her right fin flat to her side - the one closer towards him.

Minion was also relishing the experience of swimming alongside another fish. He’d swum among other fish of course, but none with which he could have a conversation. “I’m not entirely fond of them myself,” Minion confessed, “but one of the cats, Bella, is some kind of magical cat. And she’s considerably more intelligent. She never looks at me as though I might be fun to bat out of a bowl.”

His little ichthyoid heart began to race as she came closer, almost as though she wanted to touch. He tucked his corresponding fin against his own body and let their sides bump. His sharp-toothed grin grew even wider. “H-how are you enjoying your swim?” he asked nervously, hoping she was having as much fun as him.

Was she enjoying it? It was safe to say that coming here was his best present he got her. Nica passed with what little impulse she got and a swam in a circle back around to meet Minion.

“Is great” she replied, just as if her smile and glow wasn’t telling him that yet.

“Oh,” Minion replied bashfully, suddenly unsure of what to say. “Well, we, uhhh, we can do this again sometime. Not just swimming but I could show you some places around the city…” he babbled, fidgeting his fins. Things were going so well and he had no idea what to do without Harrison to advise him.

“We could do that” Nica affirmed, swimming around Minion for once. “Though … it’s kinda nice to swim along.” When they were ashore, they’d be in their own suits again. Which yes, made her feel safe, but also detached … somehow.

“Well, um, actually, I was thinking we could go see a movie?” Minion asked, fins fluttering nervously. “There’s one coming out soon about a fish you see, Finding Dori. It’s actually a sequel to Finding Nemo which is about another fish and it always makes me blubber like a guppy. So…. perhaps you could accompany me to see it?”

Nica laughed. “Yeah, I‘d wanna see that.” More Minion crying than the movie, really, but that too may be nice. “I don’t think I saw it.” Naaah … didn’t ring a bell. She leaned to her side as she kept thinking about it. But … no.

“P-perhaps you could come over and we could have a movie night?” Minion asked shyly. Harrison and Wayne often watched movies together as part of their mammalian mate bonding. “We could watch it up in my Sirs penthouse or you could visit my tank. I have all sorts of waterproof screens in the water,” he says with a certain amount of pride. “I usually use them for work not movies but then we could swim together. And I have some delightful dried prawns that make excellent movie snacks.”

Free food. How could she say no. And why should she, really.

“Uuuuuuuuum okay. Should I bring something? I tried to do a movie night with Azlariel before. He didn’t like Pandoras human food too much but it was fun. And traumatizing.” They were watching some shark movie. The sharks didn’t win.

Minion quickly swims in front of her, facing her and blocking her from swimming forward. “I promise it won’t be traumatic Miss Nica,” he says solemnly. “And you can bring whatever you’d like.”

#Nica RP #Nica and Harrison's Minion RP

0 notes

navigatingnica-blog · 7 years

Text

Day 57

7/1/17

Well I spent a few days in Leon. overall, I think I can describe the city as having a large suburban feel. It was busy, but not too busy, kind of like suburbia. It also had just the basic necessities- a bank, a grocery store, a movie theater, some clothing shops, etc. I wouldn’t call it a big city, though. It was pretty, and in many parts had much prettier houses than Granada has. The cathedrals were breathtaking. The men were not nearly as forward as they are in Granada. However, it didn’t feel like home. Granada feels like home. It’s got that small town, conservative, charming feel. Leon is definitely more liberal. You can still see political murals on the wall (I think they still hate the States… whoops) and Sandinistas that fought in the last revolution are still running around telling their stories. Sandinista flags are flying high. The college kids are running wild at all hours of the night having parties. I did, however, really enjoy the fact that something was always going on. There was always someone to watch, a corn- on- the- cob stand to eat at, a trampoline to go jump on (okay, only if you’re under the age of 7), or the world’s nicest McDonald’s to go to. It was a good couple of days, but I’m glad to be back in my tranquilo little city.

So the overall reason I went to Leon was because I sponsor a child through Compassion International, and I had the amazing opportunity to meet her this weekend! Naturally, I jumped at the chance and started setting things up. It was truly such an amazing experience. The day started with meeting my interpreter (every Compassion visit gets an interpreter from the country’s headquarters to facilitate the visit). I’m glad I’ve had two months to brush up on my Spanish because getting to talk to and understand (as long as everyone speaks slowly) Alison and her community was so important to me. It made for a more natural meeting and I feel like she was able to let her guard down so quickly. We met at the place I was staying and then we set out for Alison’s barrio. When we got there, I was able to see Alison’s church, meet her pastor, meet her tutor, see the Compassion center that she goes to, and meet some of the other leaders who pour into her life. Finally, as I turned to go in to the Compassion office, I saw my little nugget start running towards me, arms as wide as they could stretch, with the biggest grin on her face. It was really special to me because I knew she was excited. She’s 13 and most 13 year- olds try to put on a “cool” act, but she didn’t care. She kept telling me “gracias” over and over, but really she was the one letting me come visit her so I was pretty thankful. Then I got to hug her mama and we were all able to take pictures under the balloon arch (yes, ballon arch!) and exchange gifts. Alison had known for an entire month about my visit, and ever since she found out, she worked really closely and really hard with her tutor to make the perfect gift. She constructed an adorable card stock paper box with fancy trim and a bow, and inside the box were bon bons (my favorite kind!) and fun stickers. After the exchange, we walked through her barrio to get to her house. I was excited to see that there were cobblestone streets in her barrio because I got her chalk and wanted her to be able to use it. When we got to her house, her two older cousins greeted us, along with her younger sister (12 years old). Ali gave me a tour of the house. She, her mom, and two sisters sleep in one room with two beds. Her grandfather sleeps in another room. Her cousins just wanted to meet me, but they live in a different house, so they were at Ali’s place waiting with her sister. Ali showed me that she’s been keeping all of the letters I send her and that she was so thankful I write her. I was also able to se that there were pictures on the wall from her kindergarten graduation, and pictures of her with her sisters when they were younger. I got to meet the family dog as well. Negrita. She’s black so that’s why her name is Negrita. After the tour of the house, we went on to the back “patio” (really just an area out back) and took family photos. The older sister wasn’t there because she was working, but that was okay. Once pics were done, we hailed a taxi and headed out for the lunch! I asked Ali if she knew of any yummy places, and we could go wherever since it was her day. Guess where she chose, y’all? McDonald’s! AND she was so excited when I said yes! Like literally jumping. She started talking so fast that at the point I had to stop conversing on my own and ask for the translators help. Basically Ali loves McDonald’s food, the toys, and her sister works there, and it’s in the city and she never gets to go to the city because she’s too little. So anyway, we started walking towards McDonald’s once the taxi let us out (we made sure to stop for pics, too) and I loved seeing this nug’s reaction to some good ole American fast food. They even let her pick out two toys so she could bring one home to her younger sister. When we were there, I got to meet her older sister. Apparently the job is a huge blessing because (1) money, but (2) most jobs in Nica make you work full time and McDonald’s really wants the kids to finish school, so they’re letting her go to school part- time to allow her to finish schooling. Also, they treat their employees very nice and even take them on staff retreats to resorts. It’s pretty fancy. Anyway, we ate lots of yummy McDonald’s and then got McFlurrys for dessert, then left for a taxi because it was time for the… water park! It’s not like an American water park, but it was still a lot of fun. It was kind of like a really big public pool area thing. Ali was pretty excited because she said she had been once with Compassion on a group event and loved it, and since she was getting to go with me it was even more special. We went to a nearby city called Telica and the water park had two really big pools, one kid pool, and two little kid pools. The two big pools had a waterfall and three water slides. All of us got in and started swimming around. I gave Ali a super short swim lesson because she said she kind of didn’t know how to swim. I quickly realized she totally did and told her that she was great, but we still stayed in shallow areas and areas near life guards. We took so many pics, even underwater pics (although I realized later that my life proof case wasn’t completely life proof… so now I have no phone) and I can’t wait to share them! I also brought my polaroid camera so Ali could have pics. Her mom borrowed her older sister’s phone for the day and took pics of us as well. Her mom was so excited the entire day, maybe even more than Ali! It was so precious. Once swimming was over, we went back to the city and said our goodbyes. I definitely want to come back next year and visit my precious girl again.

• A L I S O N •

• Casa •

• Basilica Catedral de la Asuncion •

• Lions in Leon •

• Happy McNugget •

• Entrance to the Water Park •

• Telica Water Park •

• Bravery •

• Silly faces •

• Fam •

This trip was amazing, and I learned more about Compassion and about Ali’s center than I knew before. For example, the money I pay each month helps fund doctor’s visits, dentist’s visits, and eye exams. My little Al pal needs glasses and she wouldn’t have been able to get them without me. Literally. She got them this year and I’ve been sponsoring her for about 8 months now, and that money helped pay for the glasses. Another fact about the center is that each child has a personalized binder with everything about them (down to a BMI chart to make sure they’re not malnourished!) and a few tutors must keep up with the binders. I was able to see report cards, letters that we’ve written each other, how long Ali has been with Compassion, and more. I truly appreciated how thorough Compassion is with everything. Her center has been established for six years, and that’s when she started. She said she had a sponsor, but then they stopped sponsoring her. That broke my heart because this girl is the sweetest little bubbliest thing ya ever did see, and I can’t imagine how devastated she was when she realized she lost her sponsor. I’m keeping her until she graduates from Compassion. What also broke my heart is that the center has 380 kids, and in the past six years they’ve had two other sponsors visit their children. One came to Leon, the other had their kid meet them in Managua. They said when I wanted to come meet Ali, they were overjoyed! So was I! Getting to see Alison face- to- face, her day- day life, meeting her leaders, etc. was so incredible. Overall, I truly believe that the work Compassion is doing is really good work and I feel so honored to be able to be a part of this project.

So my trip to Leon was successful because I finally met my wonderful nugget, Alison. Sorry for the long post, but I really felt like I had to type everything, and I still feel like I could have writhed so much more about it. Anyway, until next time!

Stay Salty & Shine Bright, Heather

#CompassionInternational #Esther414 #Matthew51316 #LeonNicaragua #SponsorChild

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theramseyloft · 4 years

Text

2/15/21 Loft Notes

Alex got right up on my foot this morning.

Lucy, Dio, and Reo are the first on me every day.

Alex got on my elbow for a second, went OH SHIT, WHAT AM I DOING!!! and hopped back down on my knee.

Huh.

Pippin just tread Indica.

Glaring at Pookie the whole time. Indica was gracious enough to still give his tiny husband a turn.

Vito remains an obstinate super bastard.

But Ginger got a few minutes to eat.

Indica and Pookie are trying to nest again.

Vito is vying for a spot on top of the retirement list too.

Pretty sure Nica and Ginger would have no problems on eggs without him constantly chasing them.

He won't let Ginger rest or eat or settle anywhere. How Dare Nica like him better!

Ginger isn't helpless, mind. He eats and rests and courts when ever Vito is distracted, but Vito isn't going to let them have a nest.

Nica and Ginger tried to claim the top center nest as it's the most defensible.

But Vito still got in, threw Ginger out by the scruff, and is very surprised that Danica refuses to join him.

There are no ladies who look like him but Nica.

He's really dead set on that meaning she is the only lady.

You see that a lot with birds raised in homogeneous lofts.

Nica's reclaimed her box and is dead set on not letting Vito in.

Pookie just went to remind them that "Nah, bitches, this is MY box!"

All boxes belong to Pookie!

He and Indica go home on the 24th.

I have only refrained from bringing them into quarantine because they are not bothering my nesting pairs.

Vito has had enough of Danica not joining him, so he's just chasing Ginger all over the loft

He's significantly larger than Ginger and knows it.

But an angry Danica is significantly meaner than him.

Leela had Vito's attention for a minute.

And now all the cocks are riled and crave violence.

Also Mj. There cannot be good chaos without Mj.

She's just threatening any other bird that wants lap or shoulder time right now.

Nica and Ginger are soundly in a box, and Vito is now menacing every one on the floor.

Leela has chosen now to remind everyone that she is a single lady.

Vito tried to surprise Cody in his box.

When that went badly, he just fucking tackled Tandy out of the goddamn sky on her way to her box.

And now we know where Pookie got his craving for chaos.

Pippin just dove into the box where Ginger and Danica were snuggling and reminded Vito which one it was.

Once again, Danica attacked Vito for intruding and left to join Ginger.

Vito tried to woo Tandy on the window sill, but she noped right tf outta that shit!

Nica has returned to her box and is calling Ginger.

Ginger joined her.

Vito is firmly uninvited, but trying to figure out how to join them.

Then got distracted by Tandy.

Who once again noped RIGHT tf out because he came in in full bully mode and she is ABSOLUTELY not here for that shit!

Aaaand he threw Nica and Ginger out of their box again.

Who are still together... Across the loft from him.

Nica is very done with Vito's shit.

Now he's straight up just attacking her.

And everything he can get his beak into.

Luxie is a lot lower on the list than Vito, Mj, and Liang now.

She can at least mom.

Farthing is DONE with Pookie!

Pookie tried to insist Farthing let him tread. Farthing straight up punched his face.

Pookie was reminded that Farthing is WAY bigger than him!

The rest of the flock will get real tired of his shit real fast.

Pippin and Cookie just changed guard.

So maybe there will be slightly less chaos.

Vito tried to woo Tandy again, who once more noped RIGHT tf out of that shit!

Vito is gonna have to change tactics if he wants any pleasant hen attention.

Holy shit, the sun is out and MJ took a turn on her eggs!

Indica immediately chased Thistle off of me.

Apparently, my shoulders and head belong to him and Pookie.

Let's see if I can get any of these candlings done...

Wukong and Suki's egg is fertile!

Satin and Sprinks first was, but died.

Danica's stress lay was not fertile.

Thistle and Mj's second is alive!

Jesus christ, I may end up swapping Betty and Vito on the retirement list if he don't quit his bullshit.

Just not letting Ginger eat or drink.

Also, attacking any bird he can get to, regardless of sex or demeanor.

The second he glances sideways at an established pair on eggs, I'm isolating him.

He's getting every cock in here defensive and riled up.

Whiiich just earned him Indica and Pookie's attention.

Unfortunately, temporarily isolating them makes problem cocks think they are master of their own territory, and they come back super aggressive.

That's how flock rank is achieved and why I prefer to bring in new blood as young as possible.

Ginger did get a chance to drink in the chaos.

And immediately offered to feed Nica.

Pookie has decided no one gets to tread on the floor today but him.

Alex landed briefly on my shoulder.

Vito has until Hoss weans to be less of a flock disruption.

If he isn't by then, Betty stays and Vito goes.

Or if, at any time before then, he starts shit with any of my nesting pairs on eggs.

This is why I prefer adding weanlings over adults for new blood.

Hens can fit in pretty ok. and so can some cocks.

But with cocks, it's a coin flip between making any attempt to fit in and being an absolute chaos-bastard.

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liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

Text

How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Five: December I

The last November week brought a couple of different things to Hogwarts. For one there was snow. We had escaped it for longer than last year but by now it was everywhere. Another thing was the first Slug Club meeting that was happening on Wednesday and the third were invitations to Slughorns Christmas Party.

And something that wasn’t brought to us necessarily, but crystallised, was that Blair, Nica, Chloe, Milla and I had become respected friends of the Potter-posse. Much to the sanity of one Peter Pettigrew our after-meal-smoke-dates had become a more than established thing that even the non-smokers regularly took part in. Apart from that we spent at least one night during the week and one on the weekends with them.

That development led to me leaning against the Gryffindor table that Wednesday chuckling to myself as I waited for the boys to join me for a smoke.

“Come on Evans, you know you want it! We’ll have an absolute blast. Just go with me!”

“Give it a rest, Potter! I will not go to that party with you!” Lily got up and rushed to class with Blairs big sister.

“That’s three times in two days”, Remus yawned.

“She’ll come around.” One had to admire Potter’s optimism.

“You feeling okay, Remus?”, I asked while walking over to our spot in the courtyard, snow covering everything around us. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and his feet more dragged across the white lawn than stepped.

“Yeah, great”, he yawned very unconvincingly.

“If you’re not, I’m here to talk, okay?”, I said and switched the subject. I hated it when people kept going on about me feeling bad when I didn’t want to talk about it.

Remus nodded with an exhausted smile that widened a bit when Milla asked him for a light. By now I was sure that Black was on to something. Remus and Milla were into each other. I didn’t know whether they had already realised it but it was clear to me. And Black. Who now again grabbed me and stole me away from the others. I grabbed my cigarette and blew out some smoke before I decided to look at him.

“She still hasn’t said anything.” He let out an annoyed groan.

“Neither has he. I nearly had him yesterday but then James ruined it when he brought in our invites for Christmas.”

“So, you’re all going?”

“Euhm… James, Remus and I are going, yes.”

“Pettigrew didn’t get invited?”

“No… So, we’re now trying to figure out how to smuggle him in.”

“Nica and Chloe didn’t get one either. Tell you what, I’ll take Pettigrew as my date if you invite Nica. Chloe’s going with Mag. You make my group complete and I yours?” He looked at me for a moment without saying anything. Then he nodded.

“Does it have to be me who takes her?” I snorted out a laugh.

“Not necessarily. But I figured Potter will ask Lily another one thousand times before he even considers taking someone else and I hoped Remus and Milla would either go together or really hit it off at the party. Can’t have any dates standing in the way of that…”

“Right… that makes sense…”

“On the other hand, Nica will freak out if Potter takes her, so if you can make that happen…”

“Deal. I’ll talk to James and get back to you on that front. You just say no to all the blokes that’ll ask you.” Yeah, Black, because I always have to run and hide from all my suitors. With friends as pretty as Nica, Chloe and Milla around me I usually faded into the background along with Blair. But I wasn’t gonna admit that to I-get-whomever-I-want-Black.

“Alright.”

“You’re all girls”, Potter found when we joined the others. “Why is Evans not going out with me?” He looked at all five of us.

“You mean that, don’t you? You really don’t know.” Blair stifled a laugh and then proceeded to explain that he didn’t show Lily any of the more caring, genuine and nice side that he had to him but rather played an arrogant baboon around her. There were a lot of “Yes, but”, “no, you see” and “you’re having a laugh!” exclamations from Potter but he continued listening and took note of what Blair said. The rest of us just enjoyed the show and let her talk. After all, her sister was one of Lily’s best friends and had some insight on what Lily actually thought.

“So, you don’t think I can convince her I’m boyfriend-material by December 21st?” He asked when we reached the foyer and had to part. Most of us were headed to Mugglestudies, while Chloe was turning to the stairs for Divination and the boys were expected in the dungeons.

Blair shook her head. Potter took a moment to think. “Do any of you still need to get in to that party?”

“I’m taken care of, thanks”, Chloe smiled.

“I didn’t get invited”, Nica said very quietly after a few seconds.

“Well, love, now you are. If you’ll have me I’d be delighted to take you Slughorn’s party.” Nica’s face lit up. “Sure, I’ll have you!” She subtly winked at Milla and me. She laughed and I hit her against the shoulder to shut up.

At the same time someone stepped on my foot and darted his eyes between me and Pettigrew.

“Now, since you’re taking care of us, is there anybody we need to take to the party?”, I asked while stepping back on Black’s foot in revenge.

“Peter!”, Remus smiled at his friend and pushed him forward.

“How ‘bout it Pettigrew? Think you can stand an evening with me?”, I notched him in the shoulder.

“D’you mean that?” His eyes were looking anywhere but at me. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“Of course, I mean that. It’s not like I’m desperately longing for some chap to ask me out and we’re usually having fun together, aren’t we? I reckon it’s gonna be only half the fun if you four aren’t all there. But if you don’t want to be seen out with some boring goodie-two-shoes I’d understand…”

“Shut up!”, he laughed at me. “It’d be great. Thanks.”

“Wonderful. That’s settled. Let’s go I don’t wanna be late.” We were pulled down the corridor by Blair.

I straightened out my blouse’s collar for one last time, pinned the prefect badge to it, checked myself in the mirror and then sat down on my bed. Milla was deciding between two different necklaces while Blair read through some of her homework.

“Why do I even bother?” Milla threw the necklaces back in her box and turned to us. “Shall we just go now?”

“It’s really early.” Blair looked up from her homework checking her watch.

“I thought a detour to the courtyard wouldn’t hurt.”

“Not like I got anything better to do”, Blair sighed and threw her homework onto her bed. In the common room we ran into Sian, Crick, Mag and Toby who all looked fairly fancy, too.

“You’re not trying to be early, are you?”, Sian asked wide-eyed.

“We were stepping out before actually going there.”

“Can we come? We’re just standing here.”

“Sure.”

“Jette!” I turned and scanned the room. An annoyingly tall, brunette thirteen year old ran toward me.

“Are you going? Can I please tag along? I’m the only one from my year”, he whined. Milla grinned.

“Course, little potions master. Come, come. But bring a jacket.” Felix hugged her, got his jacket and then all eight of us left the common room.

We forced them to go stand in the cold with us and were discussing our expectations for the evening. Felix was especially curious as he had never been before.

“It’s more boring than anything else”, Crick assured him. “We’ll sit down at a couple different tables, we’ll eat some rather good food and at some point Slughorn will show up and ask questions. In your case he’ll probably want to know whether you plan to make potions in the future. Sian and Milla will have to answer quidditch questions. Mag and Toby get interviewed about their families and those two”, he gestured at Blair and me, “are wildcards. Blair excels at all subjects, so Slughorn usually chooses one and with Tea he switches between pushing her to become an auror and a politician. Will be interesting this year since she’s a prefect now. I think he’ll push for politics.”

“Great minds think alike”, a familiar voice said behind us. Remus kept his distance but raised a hand at us. Behind him Potter and Black walked into view. Milla didn’t hesitate and waved them over.

“Why do you always have to hang out with these guys?”, Crick whispered in my ear.

“We’re not always hanging out.”

“They can’t be a good influence. They constantly get in trouble.”

“Remus is the best in his entire year and Potter and Black are killing it in Transfiguration and Charms respectively. You should know that.”

“Are you really defending them?”

“What’s your problem, Crick?”

He didn’t answer but turned to Toby instead. I watched Felix freak out a little as he got to talk to the most popular boys of the school while I tried to work out why Crick was so weird. For all I knew he liked the Potter-posse. They were in his year, he was the one who said Potter wasn’t himself around Lily, he had told us about how little most of them had to do to get great marks. And I knew for a fact that he loved most of their not too cruel pranks. He shouldn’t have any problem with us and them being friendly. But he did.

For me it was a quiet walk to the second floor where the dinner was held. I was still in my own head when we knocked at the door of Slughorns Office and were ushered to our tables by a houseelf.

The office was as large as always. I suspected some kind of charm was in play. Other offices were rather small. Four pretty giant round tables were dressed in green, red, blue and yellow respectively, silver utensils, plates and goblets on all of them. We took our seats – marked with little cards with our names on them – and waited for the party to be complete.

At least now Crick should return to his normal, lovely self as Potter, Black and Remus sat down at the red table where they found Lily and Mary from their year. Potter made some joke that had Mary smile and Lily sigh but he seemed to stick to Blair’s tips of not making too much of a show.

“Is it just me or does Remus look like death?”, Milla leaned over to me whispering. I shook my head.

“Not just you. I noticed it, too.”

“Did he work the nightshift?”

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe just caught a cold.”

“Huh.”

Crick’s estimation of the evening being rather boring was right. Given that a lot of my friends were there I had fun but I had liked it better to sit in the common room with them and chat there.

“Oh, the Hufflepuffs. Good evening ladies and gentlemen”, Professor Slughorn said importantly and sat down at the empty chair reserved for him.

“Now, Mr de Witt, how are you enjoying your first dinner at my little club.” Felix fiddled with his spoon. “It’s very nice, Sir. The food is great and I can even tolerate my sister’s presence”, he grinned.

“Careful”, I commented, grinning as well. The professor chuckled.

“Your brother shows a great talent in potions, Miss de Witt.”

“I know, Sir, puzzled me ever since he started school.”

“How so?”

“Oh, Sir, you of all people should know that I struggle with your subject. Until Felix started Hogwarts I blamed it on the genes, to be honest. I was convinced my parents couldn’t have been good at it, so I had no chance. But he proofed me wrong.”

“You’re joking, I hope. Both of your parents are healers at St. Mungo’s aren’t they? An E in potions at least is required for that profession.”

“Oh, Professor, do you have to destroy my carefully constructed excuse for not getting it?”, I playfully frowned at him and he laughed along.

“My most heartfelt excuses. But I’d say your marks don’t call for excuses, they call for just a bit more focus.” He turned back to Felix.

“I have two students in sixth year who are naturals in Potions just like you, Mr de Witt. Would you care for me to introduce you? I’d be surprised if you wouldn’t profit from their knowledge.” Felix said yes but looked as if he wanted to scream no. He followed Slughorn to the red table and got to shake Lily’s hand who smiled her friendly warm smile at him and then looked over to me. I lifted a hand. She kept talking a bit to Felix, then he was led to the green table and introduced to a boy with a giant hooked nose and very straight, shiny hair. I couldn’t decide whether he just had very straight, shiny hair or whether he still had to find out where the showers were.

Unlike Lily he neither smiled at Felix nor did he seem very interested in talking to him. Felix was quickly dismissed and came back to us.

“How did that go?”, Crick asked.

“That Evans-girl seemed really nice, she said I could ask her anything anytime. Said if I got bored in class and needed some extra project she'd come up with it. But the Snape-guy is not my cup of tea.”

Crick’s face darkened a bit. “He’s nobody’s cup of tea, I think. Or, even better, we”, he gestured at Felix, me, himself, Milla and Toby, “aren’t his cup of tea.” Felix didn’t seem to understand right away but after he watched our annoyed expressions the penny dropped.

“One of those elitists? Like what’s his face? Mulciber?”

“Yep. He doesn’t like you because you’re not supposed to be good at Potions. Because you’re not supposed to learn magic at all”, Toby hissed. He was a pretty quiet and peaceful boy, friends with Crick. Hissing was usually not in his repertoire. But then again, being a muggleborn student, he had received a lot of hissing and insults in the last couple of months. It figured that he got more defensive.

“Look, Lily is very smart, kind and a great teacher. Go ask her for projects. Can’t do anything wrong with that. But for your own good, stay away from Snape.” Crick shot me a weird look.

“Especially now, that your sister hangs out with Potter so much.”

“Why does that have anything to do with it?”, Felix took the words out of my mouth.

“Potter and Snape aren’t exactly friends. I’d say Snape’s on the receiving end of Potter’s plots more often than anybody else.” He switched from looking at Felix to looking at me.

“You remember that crowd chanting ‘ drop him’ last year ,right?” I did. I never really found out what had happened but I knew that some poor idiot had been levitated on his head.

“Potter and Black had Snape on his head and in the air. Lily tried to stop them and help Snape out but he insulted her and they haven’t spoken since. The whole thing didn’t help Potter in his mission, obviously, but I think it strengthened the mutual hatred between him and Snape. So”, he went back to looking at Felix, “it’s best to stick with Lily.”

Felix nodded, looking a bit confused. I reckoned my face looked just like his. Of course, I had known that Potter, Black, Remus and Pettigrew liked pranking their fellow students but levitating a person seemed less like a prank and more like something one would do to extract information. It seemed like the early stages of torture. Like what you might do when you don’t want to use the Cruciatus.

I shook my head. No. Potter was not somebody who would torture others or play with the idea of using unforgivable curses. The talk about bloodpurity and elitism just had my mind wandering to what they called ‘deatheaters’ in the daily prophet. And that Potter was not. And neither were his friends. We had only started talking to them because of the Mulciber-incident in which they had made their opinions on bloodpurity and deatheaters quite clear. I shook my head again and focussed on the conversation that had moved on to the Christmas party.

“Do I have to have a date?”, Felix asked.

“No, you don’t.”

“But if you’re thinking of showing up with one I’d consider Siobhan Johnston”, I commented. He frowned at me. “Oh god, don’t mention her. She’s a bit…obvious. And annoying.”

We all dove into Felix’ romantic life – much to his dismay – and were still discussing his options when we got back to the common room.

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #harry potter #james potter #remus lupin #sirius black #peter pettigrew

1 note · View note

liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

Text

How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Nine: A hard night's day III

Just when we were headed back inside to warm up, someone called for Sirius and we both turned around. James, Peter, Nica and Blair ran towards us.

“Looks like you two are on speaking terms again”, Peter laughed.

“We are”, Sirius answered. “How’s it going with Remus?”

“Last I saw he was intensely captivated by Milla’s lips.”

“Yeah!”, I screamed.

Blair came over and put one arm around my shoulder. “Seems like everything’s gone into best case scenario mode just before Valentine’s. Remus and Milla are snogging, Sirius and Jette are talking, Crick and Jette are talking, Magnus and Chloe buried their unspoken feud and I got a new lipstick.”

We all laughed as we walked back into the school. We snuck into the kitchens to ask Mimi for some hot chocolate, which she presented with cream and marshmallows and nearly cried of pride and joy when we told her that it was delicious. To my surprise the boys really knew their way around the kitchens although I had only ever seen Hufflepuffs down there. Most students from the other houses didn’t even roughly know where they were but what had I expected from the school’s master pranksters?

Chocolate drunk and Mimi thanked once more we found ourselves back in the corridor and still ninety minutes away from dinner. After a moment of discussion we went back up to the Great Hall, sat down at the Gryffindor table and Sirius and I were filled in on what the rest had seen of Milla’s date.

“Took us quite a while to find them, actually. We thought they’d hang out in one of the pubs or the tea shop. But no.” The gang had finally found them in Casparian’s Curiosities which was one shop none of us had ever been in. They only spotted them in there but didn’t follow, so, we didn’t know what they’d done in there but we were even more intrigued.

During the remainder of the day they ran into the daters every now and again and reported that the two looked very comfortable with one another, that they were smiling a lot and even held hands after lunch.

“I would have loved to see that!”, Sirius moaned.

“You didn’t have to stay here...”, I said with a slightly bad conscience.

“Yes, he did. You were not okay and it was his fault”, Peter shut me up.

“Yeah, he’s right. I’m glad we talked. And I reckon that I’ll get a chance or two to watch them be sickly sweet together.”

“ I’d certainly hope so. They do not get to put us through all of this and not end up together”, Blair commented while taking out Nica’s Queen in the game of chess they lazily played. None of them were really paying attention.

Half an hour into our conversation Crick and Toby had joined us. Up until now they had mainly talked to Blair and Nica but when we had exhausted the topic of our dating friends and fell silent Crick awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Black”, he said, causing all of us to look at him. “Don’t think I’ve apologised for messing up your face yet.”

“ No need to, really. You were upset and I could have chosen my words a little better.”

“Be that if it may, you were right to pull me away from Jette. I was out of control. So, sorry.”

“Sure, thanks.”

“She’s lucky to have you lot. You’re good friends”, Crick said, making a point to look at both, James and Sirius as he spoke.

“Okay, that’s it. Don’t get to ... mushy”, James demanded with a smile.

I looked on in awe as the four boys jumped into a discussion of their upcoming group projects on Offensive Spells for Defence against the Dark Arts like they had been the best of friends for the past five and a half years. How did I lose both Sirius and Crick within twenty-four short hours and get them back within just thirteen? How had they gone from barely accepting the other’s existence to being all chummy? I was obviously never going to complain about it but it did bewilder me.

Laughing and smiling and joking and speculating a bit more we had a lovely time until dinner. The appearance of cups and plates as well as students and teachers coming into the hall even surprised us a bit as it hadn’t seemed like we’d been there for an hour already.

For dinner we were joined by Chloe and Magnus who told us that they had cut their trip to the music shop short when they practically bumped into Milla and Remus who asked if they wanted to join them for lunch.

“Do you know why they were at the curiosity shop then?” Nica’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“ Yeah, really cute, actually. That shop has a lot of muggle stuff. Like the antique stuff. Don’t ask me about the details – I still can’t properly operate a telephone – but Remus knew that Milla loves those antique lamps and things like that. He thought she’d enjoy herself.”

“Did she?”

“By the looks of it. All rosy cheeks and giggles.”

Nica started dreaming up their wedding like she used to do with me and Crick. Fortunately, she had enough tact to never mention her liking me and Crick together after she found out about New Year’s, But with Milla and Remus on the right track, she’d found a new outlet for her romantic side.

We had just finished dessert when Remus and Milla came into hall, still wearing their coats, hats and gloves. Something was off. They seemed fine and happy but also had a weird electric vibe to them. Not the one you might expect from a first date, more like they were excited or nervous about something. Like they had a secret.

They sat down on both sides of James and ignored all of our inquisitive looks. Digging into their plates of blanched pumpkin and potatoes and Lasagna respectively they pretended to be too busy to tell us about their date. We all just kept watching them eat, hardly speaking. What was this? I exchanged looks with the girls and Sirius but none of us seemed to be able to make sense of the scene we witnissed.

Remus drank his chocolate mousse and stood up. “Mates, I need a minute...Mind smoking just the four of us?”

“What is going on?”. Peter wanted to know, voice shaking. He was made for harmony , not for conflict and I reckoned he was not ready to have two of his friends fighting again. After all Sirius and I had literally just made up.

“It’s nothing I just need a word, right? Let’s go!” He rushed out the Great Hall without checking if the rest followed him, which they obviously did immediately. All of our eyes rested on Milla who grabbed a pear pastry and whipped her head to the door. We followed her into the common room where she very firmly got rid of Magnus, Toby and Crick before leading us into our dorm.

“Last I saw you everthing seemed to be just great. How did you get to both needing to go into conclave with your friends?” Blair was clearly panicking. Milla blinked at her. Twice.

“Right, the date... That went well. We... eh... we are a thing now. Like a proper thing. Boyfriend and Girlfriend. But really there are more pressing matters...”

“What could possibly be more pressing than you being Remus’ girlfriend?”, I shrieked, just as happy as confused.

“Something else that happened today. Something he told me. Something I’m supposed to tell you. Can I do that, please?” We all nodded and looked at her.

“Okay...So...On the way back from the village we talked about how we both hoed that things with Sirius and Jette would work out and that they should be friends again and that it was stupid to keep secrets among people that you trust. Because it leads to situations like this, where everybody’s sort of pissed for nothing. Well, I said that. After last night I reckoned that Jette wasn’t too happy how Sirius told us no problem and gave her the cold shoulder.” I was very tempted to comment on that but bit my tongue because I needed to know where this was going.

“After I mentioned that, Remus got all weird and twitchy and quiet. I thought I’d done something wrong but I didn’t what so, I asked. And apparently it wasn’t me. And he just kept quiet. And I din’t like that, you know, because we had been a couple for like two hours and I’d already made him awkward and twitchy, which is not how things should go.”

“But...things are good now?”, Chloe asked a little hesitant rubbing Milla’s back.

“ I mean, I think so. No, they are. It’s just a little weird. But that’s fine, really, I’m werid, too. Different weird, naturally, but it doesn’t bother me. Just a lot to process.”

“What’s a lot to process, love? Think you left something out”, I calmly and slowly said while handing her her favourite teddy bear. She always said she only still brought it every year because her nan got it for her and she died two years ago, but we all knew that she couldn’t sleep without it. Lost in thought Milla played with the teddy’s ear.

“I did. Ehm.. Well, it’s ‘bout Remus and... his scars...you know, the ones in his face aaaand how he got them.” She took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling and talked without looking at any of us. “When he finally spoke again he said that I might be right. When you like someone you should be able to trust them. Especially, when they give you no reason to doubt their loyalty. So, since he more than just liked me and was probably going to spend a lot of time with me and get to know me even better he thought it was only fair to not have any secrets. None that mattered. And then he told me how he got the scars.”

“Merlin, if he got terrible parents, too, I’m gonna commit murder. Those boys have deserved much better!”, Chloe yelled with a passion I had hardly ever heard in her voice. Milla shook her head.

“No, no, his parents are great. He ... he gave ... he did it to himself. The scars I mean.” Now, she did look at each of us like that statement should have cleared everything up. It didn’t.

“Ugh, damn. He didn’t mean to do it to himself. He wasn’t quite himself when he did it. He... wasn’t himself at all. I’ll just say it, yeah. Otherwise this is never gonna work. Okay. There it goes: Remus is a werewolf.”

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #james & peter & remus & sirius #james potter #remus lupin #remus x sirius #peter pettigrew #original character #harry potter

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liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

Text

How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Five: December III

I had gotten off the nightshift on a Monday and only existed physically that Tuesday morning. My state was even worse than that fateful Saturday in November. Was I aware that people were around me and that they talked? Yes. But that was it.

“Jette!” I jumped.

“Yeah?”

“Please, drink the coffee. I’m afraid that you’re gonna die otherwise.” Was that Chloe’s voice? Chloe’s hand held a giant mug in front of my face. I was still contemplating whether I had the energy to reach for it, when another hand took it from Chloe. As I was not capable of moving my head to my left I had no idea who had stolen my coffee. There was a scent of leather and citrus, though.

“You know you have to go to classes, right?” Oh, leather and citrus, of course that meant Black.

“Huh.”

“I still got that pepper-up potion, if you want it.” He chuted a little closer and spoke into my ear: “I think you’d want to be up and awake, Goods, I got something to tell you.” His voice was a lot lower than normal. It suited him.

“Wha?”

He sighed. Then my coffee reappeared in front of my face.

“Just drink that.” I did. The listening and talking had made me even more tired and I needed caffeine. The first gulp I took was huge and wonderful. It warmed me up from the inside out, made me sit up straight, let the white noise become actual conversations around me and had me open my eyes fully. The second big gulp took away all residue of exhaustion. I felt amazing. I felt great. I felt like I could take on the world. It was wonderful.

“Black!”, I yelled in my most aggressive voice.

“Yes, dear?”, he chirped back, sliding across the bench away as far as possible.

“Did you just drug me?” A lot of heads turned our way and Potter, who sat on the other side of the table casually pointed at my coffee mug and then at my messy hair and prefect badge. That was enough for most of the heads to turn back to their breakfast.

Black kept his distance but dared to smirk at me.

“Technically, I didn’t. Pepper-up potion is not considered a healing treatment and it’s not on the list of explicitly forbidden potions to be taken on the premises or in classes. So, I wanna say: No, I did not drug you.” I whacked him over the head with Nica’s Daily Prophet.

“Are there any side effects to this thing?” Black shook his head. I looked at Remus. He shook his head.

“Ugh, thank you, then”, I said through my teeth. “I feel a lot better.”

“I’m here all week”, Black answered, closing the distance between us. “Can you please, eat something, so you don’t faint, have another cup of coffee and then run outside with me?” He wiggled around on the wooden bench and played with one of the spoons.

“What’s with you?” I reached for the scones and the apple syrup.

“I have something very interesting to tell you and I’d rather do it without your best friend present…”

“Ouh!”, I shouted way too loud and Black nodded. “Ouh!”, I made again and stuffed my face with two scones as quickly as possible. I grabbed a banana off the table to throw in my bag and got up. Black had already excused himself and left.

“Folks, that potion got me all energised, I can’t sit still. Meet me outside in a bit?”

“Sure!”

I accented my rushing to and out the door and turned to the foyer. Black leaned against one of the winged boars on the first step outside the doors.

“Finally!”

“Tell. Me. Everything!”

He took my arm and dragged me to our passage And out of the snow, already talking.

“Okay, so it’s nothing super huge but it’s news.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, spill it!”

“So, yesterday evening I can’t sleep and I go down to the common room thinking I just read a bit and then fall asleep there, right? But I haven’t even sat down and I hear a door and I hear steps and down walks Remus, right?”

“Right.”

“He sits down next to me and looks at me and he goes ‘Can’t sleep either?’ and I go ‘ Nah, can’t sleep.’ Right? And he asks me whether I’m thinking about Slughorn’s party. And I wasn’t but he didn’t want me to answer anyway, so I didn’t say anything, right? And just like I thought he just starts talking!” Black had to stop and breathe for a moment as he said all of that in pretty much one go.

“Okay, let me not be a twelve-year-old-girl about this. I’m Sirius Black. I don’t get girly.”

“By all means, take your time”, I laughed.

“Point is: Remus was thinking about Slughorn’s party and that’s why he couldn’t sleep. I asked him why that thing would make him lose sleep. He’s been to that party ever since second year. And he says that he was thinking about the fact that both, James and Peter had dates for the party – thanks again for that – and he didn’t.”

“You don’t either, do you?”

“No, but that’s no news. I don’t do dates.”

“Right, sorry. Continue. Remus was thinking he needed a date.”

“No, Remus said he was thinking that he needed a date. Look, he came up with a whole story about being the odd one out and the one nobody wanted.”

“Oh, Remus. He isn’t the odd one out.”

“That’s what I thought, too. At first. But then he got into how Peter was going with you and James was going with Nica and how I would probably end up hanging out with you girls and if I thought he could ask one of the other two, or if that would be weird.”

“Ahhhh”

“Ahh is right. Of course, I said that it wouldn’t be weird and that Blair would probably be delighted to be asked out.”

“She would”, I got sidetracked for a second and gave him an intense look to make him ask her but he ignored that.

“That was not what he wanted to hear. Obviously he wanted to ask Milla, right? So, he asked me if Blair came to my mind because Milla had some hot date nobody had told him about. And he wanted to sound casual and only mildly offended but there was panic in his voice. Panic, Goods!” His eyes widened and he gave me the brightest smile I’d ever seen him wear.

“You know what that means, right? He’s into her!”

“Sounds like it, yeah”, I grinned. “Now if we only could get him to ask Milla out…”

“Would she say yes?”

“I reckon she would.”

“This is so great!”

“I didn’t know that you were such a softie and romantic, Black.”

“Full of surprises, Goods, full of surprises”, he smirked, back to his mysterious heartbreaking ways.

“If you were not going to the Slug Party with Peter, I’d think you two were planning a date!”, Potter had crept up on us, his friends and mine in tow.

“Well, isn’t it funny you should say that?”, Black answered lighting Potter’s fag.

While those two got into discussing my secret talks with Black my attention went to Remus and Milla who found themselves standing next to one another once again, smiling and joking and flirting in that awkward manner that only they could manage. Milla saw me look over and stuck out her tongue. I was going to say something but a waving hand and blond curls distracted me. Never before had Crick joined our after-meal-dates. But there’s a first time for everything.

We greeted him and then all just stared at him, waiting to hear why he had followed us.

“Tea, can I talk to you, for a second?”, he asked after a weird quiet moment. I let him lead me quite a bit away from the rest of my friends.

“Toby and I were just talking about the Christmas Party”, he started when we stood at the other end of the passage. “ And I wanted to know whether you girls are gonna show up in a pack again or whether you need some gentleman to accompany you.”

“Oh, how sweet. Thanks, Crick! But I’m well taken care of.”

“Girls’ night?”

“No. I’m going with Pettigrew, actually.”

“Sorry?!”

“He didn’t get invited. Potter is taking Nica, so she can come, Chloe goes with Mag and I’m taking Pettigrew. That way we’ll all be there.”

“You’re too good of a person. Don’t let him take advantage of that!”

“I honestly don’t think he will.” We stood in silence a bit.

“You’re still going stag, then?”

“Looks like it.”

“Crick, would you maybe take Blair?”

“What?”

“She seems insecure, lately. Maybe it’s beause Chloe, Nica and I have a date to the party – however platonic – and Milla is this close to dating Remus. I haven’t talked to her yet but I think getting to go out with one of the most handsome guys in school would give her a boost.” I bit my lip while waiting for his answer. He didn’t give me one. Instead he walked back to the group and left me standing alone. When I ran after him I heard him explain that he had talked to me about Felix. Liar. He participated in the conversation for a bit and then turned to Blair.

“Blair, you’re going to Slug’s Party, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Do you insist on going alone or would you do me the honours of letting me take you?”

“Are you serious?”, she asked back.

“No, that’s him”, Pettigrew cut in and earned some smiles.

“Of course I am. What d’you think?”

“Sounds like fun.” Blair said a little faster than usual and blushed the tiniest bit. I could already tell that she would be happy and bouncy all day long. Crick was a good lad.

“Thank you. Thank you very much”, I whispered when he walked back to the castle for first period.

In the foyer I had Black assure me again that there would be no side-effects to the potion he had slipped me, then we parted ways.

The dungeons were as gloomy as ever, when we arrived for potions. Slughorn instructed us to turn to page 217 of our books and brew him a batch of Instaurabo-Juice. According to the textbook if brewed correctly the potion would be able to heal small and superficial injuries to the skin.

I partnered with Chloe and prepared the cauldron and the fire while she collected the ingredients. Potions was not my thing. I was a lot better at Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts. For some reason the science behind the brewing of potions was too much for me. It was all too precise. Chloe didn’t mind any of this and usually took care of the actual brewing while I prepared the roots and beasts to throw into the cauldron.

Once I had my violet flame going I filled the cauldron to a third with ice cold water and put it on the fire. Chloe gave me a nod and I started chopping up the mint leaves. Slowly but steadily I worked my way through arnica roots, Himalayan salt, cactus fig, silkworms, narcilan (which looked like ginger), garlic cloves, giant butterflies and fire ants. I chopped, cut, pulverised, quartered and strained, while Chloe grabbed what she needed, gingerly placed it in the water, moved her wand counterclockwise, clockwise and up and down and stirred the potion every now and then.

Halfway through the class I took a look at our cauldron, which now bubbled very happily in a pretty pale blue colour. According to my book this was absolutely right. After Chloe put in the twentythree fire ants one by one our Juice turned gelatinous. The instructions said to let it simmer for twenty minutes on a yellow flame. I pulled out my wand for the second time this class, charmed the flame into a yellow, cooler version of itself and turned to Chloe who was already checking with Milla and Joe and Blair and Nica. Milla signalled that she would need two more minutes, while Blair and Nica came over immediately.

“This weekend is Hogsmeade!”, Nica chirped. “Are we gonna go dress shopping or what?”

“I intended to wait for Milla to discuss that”, Chloe answered.

“Milla says we go dress shopping.” Milla had walked up and left Joe in charge of her potion.

“I need one anyways, I don’t think I have one.”

“What did you wear last year?”, Nica wanted to know.

“Pantsuit of my mums.”

“Why not wear it again this year?” Milla shot me an annoyed look. She had purposefully avoided me since I watched her and Remus in the courtyard.

“I’ve heard one shouldn’t recycle one’s outfits”, she snapped.

“What about you then, Jette, Chloe, Blair?”

“Sure, why not?”

We decided to have an early breakfast on Saturday morning and head to the village right after. There would be a lot of girls who wanted to get a dress that weekend and we wanted to be the first in our favourite shop. We had discovered it on our second ever weekend to Hogsmeade and fallen in love with it right away. It carried clothes that weren’t in style or trendy and it had everything from jeans to haute couture. The most amazing things.

And although there weren’t normally more than three other girls in the shop besides us, we knew that when it came to formal wear most girls would go there.

Getting up on a Saturday at six in the morning was not my idea of fun. I moaned and groaned and cussed while I took a shower, brushed my teeth and got dressed, but I made it to the common room by half past six. Breakfast was served from seven o’clock onwards and we had decided to be the first in the Great Hall and the first out the door.

The half hour in the common room was supposed to be spent on planning what we wanted to get and which options we had after Warrington’s Whimsical Wardrobes didn’t provide all five of us with a perfect dress.

We all wrote lists of what we thought we needed – dress, shoes, tights, accessories – and jotted down a couple of notes on style or colour because we knew that the employees of WWW knew how to work with those. At seven o’ clock sharp we stood in front of the doors of the Great Hall and watched how they opened for the first time that day. We were the only Hufflepuffs who had decided to get up this early, and, like on the mornings after my nightshifts, most other students who were present were first and second years who hadn’t discovered the beauty of sleep yet.

We all went for a quick breakfast of coffee and tea with marmalade toast but stuffed our bags with muffins, scones and raisin rolls. It took us less than fifteen minutes to leave the House table and report to Mr Filch to leave the grounds. He rolled his eyes at our giggling but let us go right away. We crossed the grounds, passed Hagrid’s hut, the greenhouses and the black lake, then reached the giant iron gates with the winged boars that cut Hogwarts off from the rest of the world.

From there we turned right and followed the badly maintained road that took us through a small forest and to the west of Hogsmeade. The landscape around us looked like a set for a Christmas film. White untouched snow on the ground, the few buildings we could see and the treetops. The sun was shining and made everything glisten and shine and we even spotted a family of deer on one of the fields. It was idyllic.

Snacking on our scones we arrived in the village. Hogwarts lay to its West but WWW was in the South-East. After the forty minute walk we were all longing for something to drink and since we knew that we would come past the Broomsticks we popped in very quickly got some pumpkin-juice bottles to take with us. Another ten minutes later we stood in front of Warrington’s Whimsical Wardrobes.

The building was one of the original houses and looked like it came straight out of a muggle fairytale. On the inside it was all white walls and ebony beams behind shelves or cupboards and tables made from dark wood. All the furniture was overflowing with robes, trousers and jumpers while the tallest wall in the back of the shop was decorated with layers and layers of dressrobes and dresses.

Dionysus Warrington scurried towards us through the mountains of clothes. “Ladies, ladies, you are so early!” He came to a halt in front of us, his giant strawberry blond moustache bobbing up and down.

“Good Morning, Mr Warrington”, Blair said extending her hand

“How often do I have to tell you to call me Dionysus, Blair? Or Dio?” His furry eyebrows met at the root of nose and he had raised his index finger at her.

“I’m sorry, Dionysus. Old habits…”

“How can I help you ladies this beautiful morning?”

“Well, Dio, Professor Slughorn’s Christmas party is next weekend”, Nica answered.

“Oh, and you were hoping that old Dio had some lovely dresses for you gorgeous lot?”

“Exactly”, Blair laughed.

Dio called for his employees, two women of his age and a young man probably in his twenties.

“Now, Gerda why don’t you help out Miss Blair, Trudy you take on Miss Nica, Blake will find Miss Chloe a dress and you two”, he pointed at Milla and me “will be all mine. Lists!” We all handed our parchments to our respective dressfinders and were complimented on being well prepared. My personal opinion was that we had just been trained well by Dio and Gerda over the last years. But I kept that to myself.

“Non-girly pink? Care to explain that to me Milla?” Dio gestured at two arm chairs and we plummeted into them.

“You see, I’d love something pink but I would like to not look like a four-year-old.” We answered a couple of questions about our wishes and then were treated to a cup of tea while Dio looked through his giant wall of dresses. On the other side of the wall Nica and Chloe sat in their own chairs while Blake got them tea and Trudy studied the wall. Blair and Gerda were nowhere to be seen.

When Dio came back he was hidden behind a mountain of dresses.

“To the dressing rooms, ladies”, he huffed and led the way.

Milla was drowned in some pale pink floor length dresses and a bit of pale purple. I was given a lot of black.

“Dio, I know that my list says simple and dark, but these all look a bit too funeral for me”, I shyly said.

“Thought you’d say that! Try this one first.”

He handed me a dark grey dress with a thin burgundy checker pattern on it. It was a mini cocktail dress that hit me just above the knees and came with a matching bolero. I instantly loved it. It was my colours elevated to Slughorn Party level.

“Dio you’re a genius!”, I screamed and jumped at him. “This is amazing! Please tell me that I can afford it!” Dio laughed his guttural sealion laugh. “Of course you can afford it, dear. Just put it back on the hanger and I’ll check you out when Milla is done, too.”

This was one of the best shopping experiences I had ever had. The first dress I tried on was the one I fell in love with. If only everything could be this easy.

Milla still sorted through her dresses.

“What about the lilac one?”, I asked watching her. One of the dresses in her pile was a very pale lilac and made out of satin. It was a structured minidress, looked like it would be very tight and too grown-up to remind anyone of a barbiedoll. Besides, I thought to myself, it would look amazing with her light blond hair and blue eyes.

Milla put it on her try-on-pile together with a powderpink long dress and a white one with pink flowers on it. Then she shooed me away.

Nica was trying on a wrap dress in mint green with a paisley pattern that made her eyes pop like I had never seen before. I gave her a huge smile and thumbs up but she waved her hand.

“It’s not sexy enough!”

Chloe looked at two dresses in the exact same shape, one being champagne in colour, the other gold. Both of them looked like she could walk a red carpet in them. She told me that she hadn’t tried them on yet, because she couldn’t decide which one she liked better.

“Start with this one”, said Blake and handed her the gold. “I think you’ll end up wanting the champagne one, so start with the gold so you can be sure of the other one.” He ordered her into the dressing room and she rolled her eyes while waving at me.

“Would you mind coming with me for a minute?” I hadn’t even noticed that Gerda stood next to me.

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Miss Blair doesn’t want to come out of the dressing room… I think she might be crying. I’ve raised three sons”, she nodded in Blake’s direction. “and I can talk to customers about insecurities but I have no idea how to talk to fifteen year old girls. Could you try?” Her narrow eyes begged me to help her out and I followed her to the very last dressing room.

She was right. Blair was crying. I could hear her sniffle behind the purple curtain.

“Blair? Are you alright, love?” No answer, only more sniffling.

“Okay I’m coming in there.”

I pulled the curtain back a bit and stepped into the spacious little room. To my left there hung a lot of beautiful floorlength flowy dresses, reminiscent of the flower power movement. To the right I saw Blairs jacket and her jumper and jeans hanging on the hooks. Right in front of me was the big mirror and in the right hand corner on the little wooden stomp sat Blair, her head in her hands, long dirty blond hair covering her face. She was in her underwear, a red dress lying on the floor.

“Love, what’s up?” I crouched in front of her.

“Take an educated guess!”, she hissed which was very unlike her. I thought for a second. I didn’t want to upset her more.

“It looks like that dress did something to you”, I said slowly. Her head shot up and I saw the traces that her tears had drawn in her make up. I reached out to hug her but she slapped my arms away.

“Why did I even agree to come?!”, she shouted. Again this was very unlike her. Even when she was annoyed she wouldn’t raise her voice.

“What do you mean, Blair?”

“I knew I would freak out as soon as I had to try on these stupid gowns! Especially, next to all of you stickthin dreamgirls!” She kicked the red dress further away and buried her head in her hands again.

I watched her as I processed what she had just said. I wouldn’t describe any of us as stick thin. Milla and Nica were athletic. All the rigorous quidditch training Sian put them through had defined every muscle in their bodies. Just last night I had complained about the fact that Nica had a very defined six-pack although she never explicitly trained her abs.

Chloe and I weren’t as athletic but we were indeed both on the smaller side when it came to clothes sizes. The four of us would raid each other’s wardrobes regularly when we felt that we had nothing to wear.

Blair never joined in that fun. She was by no means overweight but she did weigh more than we did and probably wore clothes two sizes bigger than ours. I never thought that this bothered her. Personally, I had never thought about the differences in our appearances. I loved Blair, whether she had wider hips than me, or not. But apparently, for her the differences in how we looked were a huge deal.

“Blair”, I started. “I had no idea that… Why would you feel bad trying on dresses?”

“Are you joking? I look ridiculous next to you!”

“No, you don’t.” I grabbed the red dress from the floor and held it up. “None of us could wear this dress, d’you realise that?” She rolled her eyes at me. “I mean it, Blair. None of us have the boobs to fill this neckline out. We’ d either look like little boys or run around with our tits out all evening.” I earned the smallest of smiles.

“But you actually have a chest. I bet you’ll look like a goddamn sexbomb in a neckline like this.”

I moved over to the other dresses and found one in midnight blue. It, too, had a deep V-neck but other than the red one it also had puff sleeves and a beautiful golden belt at the waist. The skirt was a-lined and had a single golden threat woven through it.

“Or this one! Really! I love how it looks but I could never wear it.” Blair rolled her eyes at me.

“Yes you could and you’d look great.” She still sounded very defeated.

“No, I wouldn’t. And I’ll prove it to you. Go get a cup of tea and I’ll try this one on.”

“It’ll be way too big for you.” Blair was close to crying again.

“Then, I’ll ask Gerda to find it in my size.” I pushed her out of the dressing room and into a chair. Gerda instantly came running to us and asked if she could do anything for us. I told her what we needed and she bustled about at the wall of dressrobes.

It didn’t take her long to find the dress and while Blair seemed to calm down slurping her tea, I took of my jeans, jumper and scarf again. The dress was absolutely gorgeous. But when I stepped back out behind the curtain I felt very uncomfortable. Blair screamed laughing when she saw that I had to hold up the dress with both hands and it still revealed my bra.

“Now you try it!”, I demanded, hoping to use the momentum of positivity. And she did.

“Blair, I told you! You look like one of these girls who only have to bat their eyes in order to be bought diamonds!”, I yelled ecstatically and I saw her smile.

“It looks better on me than you”, she admitted.

“Finally!”

Gerda padded me on the back and mouthed a thank you, while offering me another cup of tea.

“What would you like to do, dear”, she then asked Blair.

“I’d like to buy this dress, Gerda. It makes me feel good. Let’s not ruin that by trying other gowns.”

“As you wish!”

We both changed into our own clothes again. When I was putting on my shoes, Blair pulled back the curtains. “Jette?”

“Huh?”

“Can we not tell the others about my breaking down in here?” Her eyes were enormous.

“Sure. My lips are sealed.”

She hugged me tightly and for a long time, then I got to lace up my black boots.

We all had gotten our dresses for the party at Warrington’s, thanked Dio once more and left the shop before anybody else had entered it.

Blair was fairly happy for the rest of the day that we spent shopping for shoes, necklaces and Christmas gifts for our families.

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #harry potter #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #peter pettigrew

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liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

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How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Four: Patterns

I hated stairs. I hated floors. I hated walls. I hated windows. I hated chairs. I hated desks. I hated flitterbrick-nodules. I hated people. I hated life. Jasper who walked beside me – dragged himself beside me – was okay. Just barely. I wanted to die or at least go to bed but I had to first pad in to the Great Hall because prefects had to attend all meals. What a stupid rule! I hated rules. The fact that Jasper dealt with not having slept all night in a very similar fashion to myself offered a little comfort, which was why I had decided not to hate him on this awful, awful morning. Objectively it was probably a great Sunday morning. The wind outside wasn’t audible anymore which meant it died down and the stupid windows let in stupid sunlight that made me blink. The rest of the school would love this day. I was ready to commit homicide. Entering the Great Hall Jasper and I both groaned in mutual understanding that that was all the goodbye the other would get and scuffed to our respective tables. I purposefully kept a distance to my housemates and none of them were stupid or brave enough to close it. Still cursing the day and the world under my breath I checked my watch. It was barely seven o’clock. Who were these dumb people who already had breakfast? Why were they not in their beds sleeping? I was personally offended by their being awake because it felt like they disrespected the sacrifice I had just made so they could enjoy their time at the school. Granted, though, most of the students in the hall were first and second years who had not yet discovered the tragedies of stacking spells, 5000 word essays and drowning in tasks. They were still full of energy and enjoying life at the early hours. Poor babies, that would all change in no time. I found a fresh pot of coffee, took it and placed it under the bench. Mine. All of it. A table further I saw Annemarie McIntyre – who had been on the sixth floor all night – fall face first into her porridge. Her classmates laughed and I contemplated hexing them for the audacity but I didn’t have the energy to lift my wand. I didn’t even really have the energy to think straight. Taking a sip out of my big porcelain coffeemug I realised it was still empty and got angry that somebody put all the coffeepots far away before remembering that I had stashed one under the bench. God, I needed to get bed, and quickly.

It took me longer than I cared to admit to get the lid of the pot and pour the coffee but once I had done that and taken a sip – this time of coffee and not air – my hatred of the world shrunk a teeny tiny bit. In my peripheral I noticed somebody coming towards me and I hoped they had the brains to not speak to me. Slowly, quietly and carefully Chloe sat down next to me. I nodded to let her know I wouldn’t kill her. “And to you, too”, she answered in a low voice that hardly infuriated me. Chloe was very well trained when it came to dealing with me after an allnighter. As a token of my appreciation for her efforts I fished the coffeepot from under the bench and put it in front of her with a – hopefully friendly – grunt. She giggled. “Thank you. I know that was hard for you.” She filled her mug and got the basket with baked goods. Still carefully she placed two scones on my plate, that was still empty, and put a small jar of strawberry jam in front of me, before she silently got up to fetch some baked beans, mushrooms and tomatoes, that she loved for breakfast. When she came back I grunted again.

“You’re welcome. Least I could do after what you did for us.” Her voice had gotten back to its normal octave and she spoke quicker than normally. Although I didn’t want to be I was curious and managed to lift my head out of my hands and look at her. She looked back a moment, before realising that it was far too early to expect spoken language from me and answered my question without me asking it: “Yes, it was very nice and we might add the planetarium to the list of places one can comfortably sneak away to in order to … enjoy each other’s company.” My lips curled into what must have been a hideous smile because despite all of her training and years of experience Chloe laughed. Loudly. With a groan my had fell back into my hands, while Annmarie McIntyre placed hers into her porridge again. Chloe insisted I eat before I go to bed, which caused me some internal struggle as I was hungry but also tired and couldn’t find it in me to move to butter my scone or chew. She kept the coffee flowing steadily, shooed away all other people and instructed Magnus on what not to do around me, when he joined her for breakfast. He stifled his laughter, when he got to look at my face, which earned him some plus points but still made me growl at him. He was momentarily on the list of people I hated, that currently counted everyone but the angel that was Chloe with her heavenly patience and endless supply of coffee. At some point – I still hadn’t really moved – Magnus wished us good luck, kissed Chloe and left. I glanced at Chloe’s watch. Ten past eight. Wow. I had wasted more than an hour by just sitting here and hating life. An hour that I could’ve spent sleeping. I felt like crying. Moaning and cracking I sat up straight, which caused Chloe, who was at this point talking to Crick and his brother Jonas on her other side, to smile warmly. “Welcome back woont the living. You want some warm coffee? That iss till your first cup.”

“No, it’s not. You filled it up all morning.”

“That was mine, love. And Mag’s. And Crick’s and Jonas’. You hardly touched yours.

“Am I dying?” Chloe didn’t answer me but got a new cup, filled it to the brim with blackish goodness and put it in my hand.

“Thank you.” I could hear the whiney gratefulness in my voice and was mildly annoyed with myself. I didn’t like being like this but I couldn’t help it.

“No problem. How you’re feeling ‘bout the scones?”

“Generally or in this very moment that is cruel and dark?”

“Maybe you just try them after the coffee”, she chuckled.

In what must have been a sudden desire to die Crick came over put his arms around me from behind, kissed the top of my head, that was a mess after the knot had partially dissolved and whispered in my ear: “It’s not that bad. I know you feel like killing everybody but it’s not that bad. Lovely company, lovely weather, no classes…

“Are you suicidal?!”, I hissed and he let go of me kissing my head again.

“You’ll get through it.”

“What do my wandering eyes see? Signs of deep connections and care? A budding romance? The answer to all my prayers?” Wonderful. Nica was here. Just great.

“She already threatened to kill me, I don’t know whether you should go on singing like that”, Crick warned her and she laughed. More quiet than usually.

“Right, I totally forgot. Sorry, babe.” I grunted at her and took another sip of my coffee.

“Where on earth have you been?”, Chloe shouted at Nica without any regard for my fragile state. This was highly unusual and piqued my interest. I lifted my head from the table that I had placed it on when Nica had arrived and looked at them.

“What d’you mean?”, Nica answered. “You weren’t there when we got to the dorm. How are you asking me where I was?

“I was there until nine o’clock and no trace of any of you! When did you get back from the village?”

“Calm down, mum!” Milla spoke in an appropriate pitch and volume while she stroke my shoulder. Her way of wishing me a good morning. She and Blair sat down right across from me.

“Nica’s right, you don’t get to scold us for being late or breaking curfew. As far as I can tell you ignored it completely.” Chloe grumbled a bit.

“Nevertheless”, she then said audibly. “You at least knew that I was in the castle and that I was okay. I thought you got kidnapped by some psycho on your way back.” She lifted her chin and made that very stiff face.

“Mu-hum!”, it came from Blair in her toddler voice.

“I’m telling you you’re getting worked up over nothing. We got back from the village just in time, went to dinner directly and hung out with the boys a bit more”, Milla explained, smiling warmly and speaking in a very reassuring tone.

“What boys?”, Crick and Jonas had followed the conversation without much interest until this point but now they both sat up and stopped battling each other with the mini baguettes.

“Are you talking about us?”, a far too loud, far too awake and entirely too cheerful voice asked from right behind me. It was accompanied by four entirely too jolly expressions and four bodies that just plummeted down next to and across from me. Effectively entrapping me in this hell of a noisy, happy, awake world.

“Go away”, I moaned, head back on the table. I felt someone’s arm brush my hair.

“Whatf wif her?” Had Pettigrew just stolen my scone?

“Pettigrew, have you just stolen my scone?!”, I asked in a threateningly low voice that I was actually proud of.

The half of my breakfast that hadn’t yet made it into Pettigrews mouth fell out of his hand and landed on the table.

“She looks very mad”, he then shyly said more to himself than anybody else after he had swallowed.

“Yeah, mate, she does, doesn’t she?” Someone lifted the hood of my jumper and let it fall again.

“Go away”, I said again in the same voice I had used on Pettigrew still not ready to face those jolly faces again.

“Was your night again, huh?”, Remus had adopted the volume of my friends and spoke softly. I don’t think that I ever appreciated him as much as I did in that moment. I nodded while Chloe said: “It was. She doesn’t do well with allnighters.”

“So, no talking until ten? Or are there different rules in the weekends?”

“GO AWAY!” Potter had not picked up on the very sensitive ways of my friends and practically shouted at me with that cheery tone . I could hear his stupid grin and I hated him for it. Someone banged something warm against my hand. I opened the hand and found it was another mug of coffee. Merlin bless Chloe!

“Thanks”, I finally did look up – only at Chloe – and my voice was actually nice and grateful which surprised me.

“Wow, you look like death!”, Black shouted in a barking laugh.

“You are still here”, I noted.

“Look at the bags under her eyes. They’re huge!” In response to his insults I downed my coffee and burned my lips, tongue and throat in the process but felt finally capable of dealing with life again. At least for a bit.

“You. Are. So. Not. Living. Up. To. Your. Reputation.” With all the strength I could find I spoke calmly and looked at his irritating grinning face.

“Excuse me?”, he laughed.

“The whole entire castle goes on about Sirius Black the master charmer. ‘Oh, look out he’s gonna smooth talk you out of your knickers!’ No girl can withstand the flirting skills of Sirius find ‘em, love ‘em, leave ‘em Black. And what do I get? ‘You look like death.’ Very disappointing.”

Black’s dumbfounded face was pretty entertaining and to my annoyance the others noticed and laughed. Loudly.

“I told you she went back to hating us!”, Potter said, still snorting but with serious eyes.

“I don’t hate you, Potter”, I surprised myself, getting a strong sense of deja-vu and a round of very confused looks.

“At least not more than I currently hate stairs, students, school, teachers, breakfast and life itself”, I clarified.

“How do you not hate us?”, Potter looked at Black first, then back at me. I made a guttural sound I didn’t know I even could produce to express my unwillingness to answer that utterly dumb question. The message didn’t get through.

“Huh”, he notched me with a fork.

“Can we maybe do this when I’m not homicidal?”

“You really heard no girl can withstand me?”, Black’s crooked grin had returned to his marble-statue-pretty face.

“Again, can we do this when I’m not homicidal?”

“Well, I got some pepper-up-potion in my bag. Two drops in a cup of tea should do the trick”, he suggested non-chalantly.

“You want me to use doping to tell you what the girls think about you?”, I couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “You’re ego seems to be just fine.”

“Now, she’s lost it!” Crick looked me up and down.

“You feeling alright, Tea?”, he then asked resting his eyes on mine.

“Of course I’m not”, I chuckled, incapable of stopping to laugh. “I’ve never been this tired in my entire life and now those clowns wanna drug me”, I screamed, laughter reaching a high pitch I had never heard come out of my own mouth.

Crick turned to Potter and hissed at him: “Great, you broke her!”

“Did you just call her Tea?”, Potter responded unfazed and very curious. “I thought her name was Jette.”

“What’s it matter to you how I call her?”, Crick hissed again.

“ Whoah, calm down.” Jonas pulled his little brother back down onto the bench and raised a warning hand at Potter. I found the whole scene hilarious and nearly hyperventilated as I collapsed onto Chloe.

“You have broken her. This is not normal. Jette?”

“Eeh, eeh, eeeh, yeah?” I now actually struggled to breathe.

“Do you wanna go up to bed?”

“Of course I do! I’ve been begging you to let me go, remember?”

“Let’s do that then. I could use some extra sleep, too.” Chloe looked at our friends. “We’ll take a late lunch and then meet up?”, she suggested.

“Are you not gonna let us tell you about yesterday?”, Nica yelled as Chloe already dragged me out the Hall.

“Afternoon”, she shouted back and minutes later I got to fall into the softest blankets I had ever felt and was asleep before Chloe had even closed the dorm door.

♠♠♠

I looked at my watch. It was getting late. If we wanted to catch good seats we had to leave within the next five minutes. Most of the Gryffindors had already left and the Ravenclaw table was getting very empty, too. The Slytherins and Hufflepuffs took it all a little more relaxed but I knew that Sian and Irving had left for the stands about twenty minutes ago.

Normally, a match between two other houses wouldn’t cause my girls and me to hurry to get to it. But that fateful last Saturday had forged some weird kind of alliance between Nica, Blair and Milla and the Potter-posse. Chloe and I couldn’t escape it and had found ourselves just going with it, listening to the stories about pranks, Lily Evans, their general hatred for Slytherins and, of course, Quidditch.

I didn’t have a problem with it, Potter and his friends could be entertaining and friendly as long as somebody kept them in check and reminded them of their limits every now and again. Usually, that job was done by Remus, so much I had learned but he wasn’t friends with them for nothing. When he told us how in their third year they had covered all of their classmates in maplesyrup whenever they would walk through a doorframe for two days straight, his enthusiasm was unimaginable. I did actually remember those two days quite vividly, because Crick had been cursing continuously but I – as well as the rest of the school – had never found out who was behind the syrup attacks. While listening to him talk I made a mental note not to underestimate Remus – or Pettigrew for that matter – just because they weren’t as loud and egocentric as Potter and Black.

Within the last week – and after I had recovered from my night shift – a couple of patterns had developed that were probably going to stay throughout the entire school year. One of those patterns was that Milla and I took our after-meal-smokes with the Potter-posse, which was the reason for my current standing in the door and waiting. Obviously Potter and Black had already left the Great Hall to put on their robes and warm up for the match but Remus and Pettigrew had stayed behind enjoying a rather lavish breakfast. In fact, they were the last two Gryffindors even still present at the table and had at some point decided to join us at ours.

There they now joked around with Nica and Blair while Milla and I had told them thrice already that we’d prefer smoking and heading for the pitch. They nodded, said they’d be right there and continued to chat.

“This is getting ridiculous! Miracle Nica isn’t already sitting in the front row waiting for James to woo her”, Milla said, blowing her fringe out of her face and going back to our table. Without warning she approached unsuspecting Remus from behind, shoved both her arms under his and attempted to lift him. Given his height she failed miserably and nearly catapulted herself into a half eaten muffin but at least Remus and Pettigrew got the message.

One hand against Milla’s forehead to prevent impact with the baked good Remus politely smiled at the girls and said something I didn’t hear. Then he let Milla get back up and he and Pettigrew followed her to the door where they met me and we finally left.

“How come you aren’t in the seats since sunrise?”, I asked after we had reached our favourite spot under the passage. “I would’ve thought Potter and Black force you to start chanting ‘Gryffindor’ as soon as they enter the changing rooms.”

“I know you keep reassuring James that you don’t hate him but it doesn’t sound like you like him much”, Pettigrew commented ignoring my question. I was taken aback a bit by that. Was I not nice to him? I figured I treated Potter like I did anybody else of their little group.

“Doesn’t it?” Pettigrew shook his head.

“Well, I don’t think anybody will ever rival any of you for the title of best friends but I would consider all of you friendly faces. Including him. Maybe I’m just a little hung up on that ego of his.” I shrugged.

“He and Black both have a lot of that”, Milla confirmed.

“Is that not a good thing?”, Pettigrew pulled up his nose in a very unflattering manner.

“There always is too much of a good thing”, I explained. “Don’t get me wrong they have no reason to doubt themselves or have low selfesteem but every now and again they get obnoxious. It’s just too much…” I searched for the right word to describe what I meant but Remus found it for me:” Show.”

“Exactly!”, Milla agreed. “They like being the center of attention and it seems that whenever not enough girls look their way they put on a show”, she pointed at Remus, “just to get that attention.” Pettigrew still had that silly face.

“It’s not a bad thing by definition”, Milla said a little calmer. “But it creates certain expectations and reputations.”

“Like how you were upset that Sirius called you death?”, Pettigrew turned to me.

“Sort of. The way he uses his looks and sweettalking skills to get out of trouble or get favours has me expecting some sort of flirty comment all the time. He has the reputation of a lady’s man and in that moment he didn’t live up to it. Though, I will say that I probably couldn’t have dealt with any smoothtalking. At least he was honest, eh?”

“Where does that image actually come from?” Remus threw away his cigarette and nodded towards the Quidditch pitch. We could have easily smoked and walked over there but that was not part of the routine we had established and so we now had to powerwalk over in order to catch the beginning of the game.

“What do you mean? We just told you”, Milla laughed a little out of breath as we crossed the wet grass.

“Is it just that he can flirt?”, Remus answered. “’Cause he obviously does but nothing ever really comes of it. I mean have you ever seen him kiss a girl? He’s got the image of some serial snogger while I don’t even know if he…” Remus wisely interrupted himself not betraying his best friends trust completely. Milla and I grinned at each other, half surprised, half amused.

“The point is more that he could get at least two thirds of all the girls from third year and upwards to go out and snog with him. That’s obvious”, Milla answered his question and as he raised an eyebrow in confusion she added:” Not just to us but him as well. He knows what effect he has on girls and he plays that to his advantage. So, yeah, it might just be that he really knows how to talk a girl's index week. And he does. He really does.” I nodded.

We caught up to Nica, Blair, Chloe, Magnus and Crick who had passed us a little earlier waving and pointing at their watches.

“So, that reputation is why you think he’d want us to sing fan-chants long before the game begins?”, Remus got back to my original question that I had already forgotten.

“More or less. With their egos it wouldn’t surprise me if they wanted that. But then again, I’ve known all of you for about ten days. My idea of who you are might be off.” Remus laughed and held the door to the wooden towers of the quidditch pitch open, so first us five girls could walk through and then the sixth year boys.

“Think you have a shot, Pete?”, asked Magnus.

“That we have!”, Pettigrew beamed back. “James hasn’t let them off easy these past weeks. I’ve never seen Furling so focused.” It was dark under the tower and I walked in front of him but I heard the pride and a big smile in his voice.

“Better not tell Glassock that”, Mag mumbled. “She’s crazy enough as it is.” Their conversation turned to a homework assignment that Remus agreed to help Mag and Crick with and I stopped listening. At the stairs we waved at each other, Remus and Pettigrew taking their first row seats in the Gryffindor corner, us seven squeezing through the Hufflepuffs.

It took me about six minutes to get why Pettigrew was so confident in the Gryffindor victory. They. Were. On. Fire. The only change in the team had been the keeper, as their Captain Urlington had left school last year making room for Potter to take over. The new keeper was a girl I thought was in fourth year and although she was no match for Urlington she was really good.

Combine that with a team that had been playing in its current line-up for two years and a fanatic strategist as Potter in charge and you got yourself a nearly unbeatable squad. The formations they flew could have killed them if they weren’t executed with perfect timing and the chasers threw the quaffle in the most impossible ways. After those six minutes it was 30:0 for Gryffindor.

Magnus groaned a bit further down the bench and I saw that he watched Sian who got positively worked up over the topform of Potter’s team.

“That will not end well for us”, Mag whispered to Nica and Milla who both looked impressed and anticipating torture.

“You think?”, Milla asked sarcastically.

“Don’t worry”, Nica gestured for both of them to sit back down so she could watch the game. “I got all of his strategies for this game, remember? I’ve already given them to Sian.”

“And here I thought you just wanted to flirt with Potter”, Blair smirked.

“Well, I’m still determined to get him out of his robes, but Crick was right”, she shrugged. “He’s head over heels for Evans. More than some good old-fashioned fun won’t be in it for me. But that I want!”

Her last word was drowned out by the announcer and the crowd as Gryffindor scored yet again with a spectacular dive from Potter himself. The longer I watched the more I realised that Potter’s ego didn’t translate to the pitch. He played for the team and not for the glory. In several situations when he could have tried to score he passed the quaffel on to Bryant or Marchant who were either in a better position or ignored by the Ravenclaw defence. It wasn’t what I expected from him but it definitely helped the game. 60:0 Gryffindor.

“Oh, and there comes Clearwater, passing to Smith, back to Clearwater, he goes for it aaaaand Johnston gets to corners of the rings she shouldn’t be able to get to folks! Potter made a smart choice letting her guide those this year. That Siobhan Jonhnston is one to watch out for.

But the game continues ,now the quaffel is back with Bryant he builds up speed, ah there comes a bludger … but Black manages to protect Bryant! Bludger via Black to Midgeon aaand Ravenclaws Atila has to leave his post at the rings to not get hit… 70:0 for Gryffindor!” ze

“Furling gets some distance between him and Chimes, folks I think he’s going to crash into the grass, cover up your eyes if you have weak stomachs, oh god, there we go, prepare for impact…But no no no!! Furling is alive and well, spiralling up to his teammates the snitch in his hand! Gryffindor wins over Ravenclaw 320:80. Marvellous!

I’d say this was a worthy start to the season. We have a clear favourite for the cup this year and three teams who now know what they’re up against. Have a save trip home. I’m out!”

Nobody listened to what the announcer said. The moment Furling had the snitch all hell had broken lose. The Gryffindor block had erupted in triumphant cheers, the Ravenclaw block had fallen back onto their benches in despair and the Slytherins and ourselves had been clapping and cheering moderately, mainly to pay respect to the extraordinary performance by Gryffindor. The grass beneath the stands had turned scarlet and gold with all the fans congratulating the team.

We were trying to reach the stairs to run back into the warmth of the common room when a broom shot up from the pitch, carrying an exhausted looking boy with glasses.

“I told you it would work!”, he screamed and Nica sighed.

“Yes, you did, James. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“It worked! It worked! I’m the best Captain ever!” He flew a couple of loops before he landed back with his teammates to be carried on the hands of Gryffindor house to the changing rooms. I had to laugh at that. Was he way too arrogant? Yes. Did his ego deserve to be taken down a notch? Absolutely. Had he been a strategy-genius and possibly given Gryffindor the best start to a quidditch season in years? Yes. Yes, he had. And because of that I wasn’t even mildly annoyed by his cockiness.

A quick look at my watch informed me that lunch would be served in about thirty minutes. Enough time for a quick pit stop in my dorm to change into warmer, dryer clothes. Generally speaking, I liked the May and June matches a lot better than those in November and December. As an onlooker those warmer months just made for a more pleasant viewing. But the cool thing about the winter matches was the way you went into snuggle-up mode instantly after. I didn’t expect a single student to show up in normal clothes to lunch. It would most definitely be joggers and jumpers all over. Maybe one or two girls would wear tights with cosy dresses or long pullovers. But nobody would show up in jeans. We had just watched a November quidditch game. The unwritten rules dictated comfortable clothing for the rest of the day.

Dreaming about the fire in the common room and my ever so cosy Hufflepuff joggers I didn’t even realise that I started shivering. Only when an additional jacket was draped around my shoulders and I got a bit warmer I noticed how cold I had been. I looked up. Crick smiled at me.

“As cool as that coat might be I think it’s time you brought out the warm jackets.”

“Are you not freezing? I will not be held responsible for your tragically early death!”, I yelled while looking him up and down. He only wore a jumper now.

“I’ll be just fine. You were shaking like the whomping willow and that drove me nuts. This is better for both of us.”

“Thanks”, I mumbled, pulling his jacket closer.

“Got any plans for the rest of the weekend?”, he asked. We had made it out of the stadium and waited near the door for his and mine respective classmates.

“I don’t think so. There’s the obvious homework that still needs to be done but other than that I can’t think of anything.” Magnus and Chloe walked out, saw us and came to stand beside us. Both gave us a curious look. I ingored it.

“She was shivering like it was winter in the arctic”, Crick commented making Magnus smile and Chloe bite her lips.

When Nica, Milla and Blair finally showed up, accompanied by Sian, Joe and Irving, we followed the crowds back up to the castle. Nica snuck away from the heated discussion about the match that our team had and came to walk beside me, holding me back just a moment, grinning widely.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice”, she chirped.

“Sorry?”

“You’re wearing his jacket!”

“Oh, that. Yes, yes I do. I’ve told him to keep wearing it because I don’t wanna be the reason he freezes to death but he insisted… And it is rather better than before.”

“So cute!”, Nica cheered and I rolled my eyes.

“There’s nothing cute about it, Nic. He’s a good friend with a more reasonable approach to outer wear than me. Don’t make it something that it isn’t.”

“I can already see the invitations to your wedding. God, it’ll be so perfect!”

“There won’t be any wedding.”

“Why won’t you just admit it! You are made for one another. Just find the thirteen-year-old within yourself and go with it!”

“Nothing to admit, Nica. I’m over him. We’re friends and we care for one another. That’s it.” I could see by Nica’s epression that she didn’t believe me and so I dropped the subject.

I did tell the truth, though. My crush on Crick had just been that: a crush. It had started halfway through my third year and I had even told him about it at the last game of the season. He was very weird about it saying he didn’t know what to do or say. He saw me as a friend and didn’t want to hurt me. But I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

And just like that I was okay again. Not right away, I moped around for two weeks convinced I’d never be happy again, but before the school year had ended I was fine again. I’d come to the conclusion that I just needed him to say “no” and after he did I could move on. That summer holiday I met a rather greatlooking Frenchman in Orléans, who made any thoughts I might have still had on Crick disappear. By the start of fourth year everything was back to normal and it took Crick only a week to notice. We were both happy just being friends but for some reason Nica wanted more.

Ever since I had confessed my crush to her and the other girls she had planned our lives for us. Why she was so obsessed with Crick and me I didn’t know. Chloe and Magnus had never been annoyed with wedding dresses and babynames and they were actually a couple. Neither had Milla and Joe in the brief period of their mutual affection last year.

I sighed one last time and jogged to the rest of our friends to say my piece about the match. At the stairs to the big portal I gave Crick back his jacket and thanked him again.

“Anytime”, he grinned before he was pulled towards the staircase by a bunch of his classmates.

“Where are they going?”, Milla asked.

“No idea. But Chloe should know.”

We didn’t dwell on the mystery of the sixth years and ran down the modest staircase to the kitchens and our common room. Twenty minutes in front of the fire had warmed us up sufficiently, we quickly changed into the after-winter-quidditch-game-uniform of house branded joggers and jumpers, threw on some thick socks and comfortable shoes and went to lunch.

The Ravenclaw table looked sad and melancholic, the team still dripping from the rain, brooms lying across the floor. None of them were eating. The rest of their house kept respectfully quiet to not upset the team.

The Gryffindor table on the other hand was celebrating. As far as I could see the team hadn’t gotten to lunch yet but everybody else had walked up from the pitch together. Mud and puddles framed the table and the fan chants were still audible.

“Idiots”, Milla laughed looking the red table up and down, smiling and giving someone a thumbs-up. Someone had to have reacted because she rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue before pulling me on to our seats.

“Idiots”, she said again. “Can you pass me the spaghetti?”

We were just discussing pudding choices when the doors to the Great hall flew open and the Gryffindor table erupted in applause. The seven victorious players – all decked out in house branded sports clothes – walked into the hall as if they had defeated the huns. Bowing over to their table, blowing kisses into the masses. It was the most dramatic entrance I had ever seen anybody make and it was hilarious. I spotted Jasper at the Ravenclaw table giggling while I myself had to hold on to the table to not fall of the bench.

We joined the Gryffindors in their applause and got blown a couple of kisses ourselves before the team said down, let the cheering go on for just a moment more and then dug into their food.

“Can you please do that for us when we win our game?”, Milla asked still laughing, looking at Chloe, Blair and me.

“I mean we can try”, Blair answered. “But I think you need a certain Gryffindor disposition to get everybody that estatic.”

“As long as you try.”

I decided on chocolate éclair for pudding, stuffed my face with it and was pulled off the bench by Milla. Following Crick’s advice I had put dad’s leather coat back into the wardrobe and gotten out a wintercoat that was much warmer. When I had it on I padded the pockets and realised my case was still in dad’s jacket.

“Looks like I gotta scrounge from you”, I gave Milla an apologetic smile.

“Fine.” We pushed and pulled ourselves through and along the celebrating Gryffindors when a hand grabbed mine.

“What d’you think you’re doing?”

“Congrats on the win! That was excellent, Potter”, I answered.

“Why thank you, De Witt. Where are you going?”

“Outside.”

“Without us”, Black had turned around and looked up at Milla and me with big puppy eyes.

“Well”, I waved at their overflowing plates, “yes.”

“But what about our thing?”, Potter asked.

“We have a thing?”, smirked Milla.

“That’s what I thought.” Remus finished his treacle tarte.

“Hey, your Felix’ sister, right?” The new seeker sat next to Remus and looked me up and down.

“Yeah.”

“You have a brother?” I ignored Pettigrew.

“Why d’you ask?”

“Do you think he’d help me out in potions? I suck at it and Slughorn loves him.” It seemed she was a third year, not a fourth.

“Sure, I think he would. Just ask him. He’s takes an unhealthy pleasure in potionmaking.”

“Oh cool. Thanks”, she blushed a bit and I grinned to myself. Felix, Felix, Felix…

“None of that is the point”, Black brought my attention back to the sixth years.

“Peter here very much needs routine in his everyday life and you have been smoking with us after every meal this week, which constitutes a routine. You cannot sent him into madness by going without us now”, his eyes were darting between Milla and me, very strict expression on his face.

“You could run down and get the case”, Milla suggested. “I’ll wait here. When they’re done after you come back Pettigrew doesn’t have to go insane.”

“Great plan, Milla”, Remus nodded and shooed me away.

I knew that I had no chance and made my way down into the common room and then my dorm. I grabbed my cigarette case and the trusty zippo lighter from my wardrobe . Before heading back out I also took the vintage quidditch scarf my mum had sent me right after my sorting in first year. I had learned my lesson about the weather after all.

When I was unwillingly taking the stairs back to the foyer yet again my brain waved at me with an observation it had made. Remus had called Milla Milla. He normally referred to all of my friends by last name just like I did with his. Milla usually was either Scribe or Scribe-Anderson to Remus.Not first, though. Odd. But then again, Nica had instantly called all of them by their first names and maybe that just rubbed off on him. I returned to the Great Hall and found Milla sitting between Siobhan Johnston and Remus, laughing at something Pettigrew had said. Behind Potter and Black who were – to my dismay – still eating stood Nica and Blair laughing as well. Chloe and Magnus still sat at the table having a conversation with Crick and Jonas.

“Thought you had left.” Crick pointed at the free seat next to him. I hesitated only a second then sat down. I wasn’t gonna get between the boys and their food anyway.

“I had. To get these.” I waved the silver case.

“You don’t smell like smoke”, Jonas commented.

“Haven’t been yet. Those clowns wanted to come along but they’re still eating”, I sighed.

“Since when are you hanging out with Potter and his blokes?” Jonas looked at the last cup of cherry jelly, tilted his head and stuck his spoon into it.

“Since Nica decided that she wants Potter.” Crick, Magnus and Jonas started coughing.

“What?”, Mag managed after Chloe had forced some pumpkin juice down his throat.

“How’s that surprising?”, she asked him.

“It… was a very direct statement…”

“Anyways she got him to talk to her about quidditch last week in Hogsmeade and his friends took Blair and Milla to the Broomsticks to wait for them”, I finished my explanation. “And they seemed to have had a lot of fun and now I don’t get to smoke when I want to because Pettigrew likes routines.”

“Sure. Of course.”

“Why don’t you just go if you want to?” Crick handed me the case with which he had played.

“Smoking alone is significantly less fun. And I always go with Milla…”

“We could accompany you.”

“You’ve done enough accompanying for one day don’t you think?”, Magnus smirked causing Crick to fiddle with my case again.

“Do tell”, Chloe and I both more sang than said. Crick was clearly not having this conversation, but luckily the four of us were. And because Magnus knew that true best friends tortured Esch other every now and then he told us.

“Sixth year went up to the prefects’ lounge after the game”, he started and I remembered having seen them run up the stairs right after we got back to the castle, whisking Crick away.

“Elaine had suggested to lighten up the gloomy day with a spontaneous round of spin the bottle and we had to oblige.”

“Of course, who could withstand Elaine.” Jonas’ eyes went a little glazy. Elaine Finnigan was an absolute sex bomb. She looked just like every boy’s wildest dream, had a gorgeous smile and was nice. Like genuinely nice. Not that superficial politeness, that girls had perfected who spoke ill behind your back, but genuinely nice. Jonas by far wasn’t the only one who got that look in his eyes when he thought of her.

“That’s what you’ve run off to?”, Chloe asked Magnus.

“Only to watch, obviously”, he answered reassuringly.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d participate”, Chloe answered. “You’re smart enough to know that I’d hex you into the next century if you cheated on me”, she smiled.

“Damn right, I am. However, not all of us are happily unavailable for Spin the Bottle. And some of us got lucky enough to accompany Elaine Finnigan to the Archives.” He winked at Crick.

“Shut up!”, I yelled raising my hand for a high-five that Crick ignored. I pointed at it with my other hand but to no avail, so I let it fall on the table again.

“You got into it with Elaine?”, Jonas sounded insulted and impressed at the same time.

“No…Yes…Sort of. Look, we played for like fourty minutes before we got down here and Elaine and I got picked as the second to last couple. We didn’t have much time to get into it.”

“What did you get into then?”, Chloe wanted to know, painting circles in the air in front of his face with her fork.

“Nothing. Nothing special.”

“Nathaniel Gabriel Cricket you tell me right now how far you got with that goddess of a woman!”, his brother demanded, insult disappeared from his voice, pure curiosity leaked from it.

“Well, Jonas John, we got not quite far enough to say it was more than snogging.” His eyed didn’t glaze over, they started to twinkle as he smirked. Jonas was incapable of reacting to that. His mouth was a little opened and his eyes focused on something in the far distance.

“Well done you!”, I shouted, attempting another high-five, that this time I got.

“Thanks?”

“No, she’s right! Be proud of that. I hear she isn’t that easy”, Chloe, too, raised her hand. Magnus laughed at Crick’s slightly confused and Jonas’ utterly shocked faces, when a hand fell onto my shoulder.

“How long have you been sitting there?”

“Couple of minutes.”

“I thought you wanted to get to smoking as quickly as possible.”

“You hadn’t finished eating yet.” I shrugged and let Potter pull me from the bench.

“Well, Casanova, thanks for the offer, but it seems I’m covered. See you in the common room?”

“For Merlin’s sake don’t start calling me that!”

I waved the boys and Chloe goodbye and took the arm Nica offered me.

“Why on earth would you call him Casanova? Did you too just get it on in a broom closet?” Her entire face lit up in anticipation.

“No. He played Spin the Bottle with Elaine.”

“Finnigan?”

“Yep.”

“Oh my. I didn’t think he could pull her.”

“Well, the bottle probably helped.” We both giggled.

“Remus, will you stop that!?” Milla’s cry brought my attention over to the passage where the rest of the group already stood. Remus had placed his elbow atop her head. Now, Milla really isn’t short – no Nica by any means – but given that Remus was a giant she was just the right height for him to use her as an armrest.

“Stop what, exactly?”

“Take an educated guess!” Nica and I reached the passage, pulling down our hoods now that we were out of the rain. Before I could even reach for my cigarette case Black grabbed me by the elbow that Nica had just let go of. He pulled me a bit away from the rest, offered me a smoke from his pack, which I gratefully accepted, lit me up, pulled me a little further away from my friends and his.

“What’s up with those two?”, he then asked. Flipping his head toward Remus and Milla, a new kind of smirk on his lips. This one wasn’t flirty, it was entertained, knowing and just the tiniest bit suspicious.

“Come again? Thanks by the way.”

“What? Oh, sure.”

“What do you mean, what’s up with them?”

“Have you not noticed them calling each other by their first names?”

“I noticed he stopped calling her Scribe.”

“She just screamed ‘Remus’.”

“Huh.”

“I think that they will see a lot more of each other.” He looked back over to them, still bickering with each other, both smiling brightly. I examined the situation for a moment.

“You know what, you might be right.”

“She better not break his heart.” His eyes bore into mine again. I swore I could see myself in that steel grey. But he meant what he said and it was clear that he held me responsible for her behaviour.

“He better not break hers.” I held his stare intending to convince him that now he was responsible for Remus’ being a respectable gentleman.

“Fair enough. You hear anything solid, you tell me, yeah.”

“If you’ll do the same.” He extended his hand and I shook it.

After that was cleared up Black guided me back to our friends, offering me yet another cigarette as if to seal the deal we’d just made. Normally, we only ever stayed a maximum of ten minutes in that passage, chatting and smoking. But that Saturday afternoon we stood in the nasty weather for one and a half hours, telling stories about the last couple years, sorting out family relations and favourite subjects. We only ever went back inside because the cold had crept into our bones. In the foyer Pettigrew asked if we had plans for the evening and if we were up for round two of secretspilling. And up for it we were. We decided to meet up right after dinner and then check if there were free rooms in the prefects’ hall. The one problem this school had was that interhouse friendships had no common rooms to be nurtured in. The prefect’s hall really was the only chance we had of hanging out. And given that we had two prefects amongst us we would probably not get caught or at least nobody would tell on us.

The moment we stepped through the fake barrel that was the door to our common room we sprinted towards the fireplace and plummeted down on the grey carpet in front of it. The first years who sat on the chairs around it looked a bit intimidated. “What happened to you?” Chloe threw a couple of blankets at us. We recounted our after lunch adventures while snuggling up to one another trying to get warm again. “Next time I’m coming with!”, Chloe decided. “Next time is after dinner”, informed Blair.

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #harry potter #james potter #sirius black #remus lupin #peter pettigrew

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