#and would just have remus pick her up different clothes and jewelry for her to look gorgeous in <3

[artbyace]

mermaid sirius sneak peek 👁️,, tryna figure out what silly tats to give her and what kinda hairrrr

[adenei]

Ch. 2 How to Win a Witch in 10 Days

AO3 | FFN

James rolls out of bed after the third snooze of his alarm clock. He knows exactly how long he can wait until he has to get out of bed so he won’t be late for work. Sometimes he misses living with Sirius and Remus, who used to help make sure he was up and at ‘em on time.

Stretching, James releases a groan as he goes to the bathroom and turns the water on for a shower. At least I’m not competing for hot water anymore. He steps into the scalding hot spray. He’s barely been living on his own for a month, and has to admit the perks certainly outweigh the drawbacks. Besides, they still work together for Alastor’s Ads, so it’s not like they never see each other.

After a quick lather and rinse, James steps out and towels off. He figures he has a good ten minutes to floo to the office. He’s pulling clothes out of his closet when Remus’s Patronus bursts through the window.

Get to the office. Now.

“Well, that doesn’t sound foreboding or anything,” he mutters to himself.

He quickly dresses and grabs his bag before heading to the fireplace. He’ll have to take a mid-morning break to get a bite to eat since the wolf interrupted his usual routine. Tossing the powder into the hearth, he steps in and transports himself to the office.

Sirius and Remus are waiting for him when he arrives, with looks of concern donning their faces.

“What’s got your wands in a twist this morning?” James assumes it’s not dire, and that Remus only sent the Patronus as a stern reminder for timeliness.

“It’s the Zabini Jewels pitch,” Sirius responds.

The name raises the hairs on the back of James’s neck.

“What about it?” he plays it cool.

The three men begin walking to James’s office, where Remus shuts the door after they all pile in.

“Well, the good news is that Moody liked your pitch,” Remus states, clearly easing James in as he begins.

Alastor Moody is the owner of Alastor’s Ads. After a mission with the Aurors put him out of commission, Moody opened an advertising business to do something with his settlement claim. He knew how corrupt the advertising business can be, so he set out to make the industry a little more honest, consequently weeding out the shadier businesses in the process. In the ten years since the company opened, it’s risen to the top spot of marketing in Magical England.

James’s position typically consists of wooing clients from magical games and sports and the food and spirits industry, but he’s recently begun dabbling in businesses outside his forte. Zabini’s is an up and coming jewelry shop with a lot of money backing its name. James submitted the proposal to Moody earlier that week, hoping to hear whether he would be the one to move forward with the pitch.

“Why do I sense there’s a but…” James trails off.

“Well…” Remus grimaces.

“Oh, come off it! If you’re not going to tell him, then I will!” Sirius interjects. “Moody’s given the pitch to my cousins!”

“No!” James bangs his fist on his desk, causing some of the hot young interns who are standing by the water cooler to jump and turn around.

James relaxes enough to flash a charming smile their way as he turns back to his best friends. “That was my proposal! I should be the one who meets with Zabini!”

“We know. But Moody said something about women ‘knowing and understanding’ the business more,” Remus attempts to calm James.

“That’s bullshit! Maybe they’re the ones who receive the jewelry, but blokes are the ones who buy it!”

“I know, mate.” Sirius throws his hands in the air, indicating he’s not the one James needs to argue with.

James is pissed. He’s worked too hard on this proposal for Moody to give the pitch to someone else. I’m not going down without a fight.

“Where are they?”

“They already left for a meeting at Witch Weekly.”

“Well, when are they meeting with Moody?”

“At Abbott's tonight,” Sirius answers automatically. Remus shoots him a look.

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

James looks down at his desk. Memos are piling up from existing clients, but he can’t be arsed to worry about those right now. He needs to sign Zabini. It will be the breakthrough he needs to stand on his own in the business, and a way to finally prove to himself that he doesn't need to rely on his parent’s wealth.

A look of determination crosses his face. “I’m going to crash their meeting and sell my pitch.”

Sirius holds up his hand for a high five as Remus winces. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, James.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going down without a fight.”

James sits at a small cocktail table, sipping on a firewhisky at Abbott’s, a swanky magical speakeasy tucked away in the heart of Muggle London. The walls are painted an elegant navy blue that stands in stark contrast with the white marble floor, giving off an air of class and wealth that James has always refused to engage in. Gold trim lines the backlit shelves that house bottles upon bottles of expensive alcohol for the bar’s many eager patrons.

Business starts to pick up as the night drones on, and James can’t help but notice how many beautiful women are out on this fine Thursday night. If he didn’t have a pitch to snag, he might be on the prowl, looking for a good time. But he’s already limiting himself to one drink so he can keep his mind clear, but that’s not to say the alcohol isn’t tempting.

“Potter, what are you doing here?” Moody’s gruff voice can be heard from across the room.

James immediately stands up on his boss’s arrival. Ordinarily, he’d hold out his hand in greeting, but Moody’s always been a suspicious man, so he forgoes the gesture.

“I heard you accepted my proposal for Zabini’s Jewels.”

“Yes, and it’s my intention to give the pitch to Narcissa and Andromeda.”

“Why, sir?” James asks. He’s about to continue when another voice juts in.

“Why what?” Andromeda asks.

As if on cue, the Black sisters appear.

“What’s he doing here?” Narcissa quickly follows.

“It’d only be fair if the person who submitted the proposal has a hand in acquiring the pitch,” James says as suavely as he can, ignoring the ladies’ interjection.

“Ha!” Andromeda scoffs, “James couldn’t possibly know enough about what women like to know how to sell jewels.”

“Yes, I don’t think he’s ever had a proper girlfriend to buy jewelry for,” Narcissa adds with a smirk.

“Ah, but there’s the catch. You may think it’s all about what women want. But does a man consult his girl when he’s out to buy her a ring?” James doesn’t give either woman a chance to respond before he answers for them. “Exactly. You’re not just looking at it from the angle of ‘what a woman wants.’ One has to consider the man who’s shopping for his girl, and that is where I come in.”

Moody is listening raptly to James’s argument, which seems like a good sign. James notices Andromeda and Narcissa share a nervous glance, and he knows his ideas are being received better than the women assumed.

“Potter brings up a good point,” Moody says. “Every other advertising company always focuses on the woman, but this has potential.”

“Can’t you see it now? We’d include the women in the slogan, of course: ‘Zabini’s Jewels, where dreams come true.’” James lifts his hands to outline an imaginary sign that bears his ideas.

“Please, you’ve never been in a relationship long enough to even contemplate any of that!” Narcissa smacks her hand on the table in annoyance. “How do you know what it’s like shopping as a man in love? You’d be an imposter!”

“Am I really an imposter if I’m simply waiting for the right woman to come along?” James raises his eyebrows to match the smooth sound of his voice.

“Says the guy who’s only rival for the one-night stand trophy is Sirius,” Andromeda says.

To be honest, that jab hurts. For years, James has had the image of ‘womanizer’ placed on his head, even since his Hogwarts days. Sure, he’s a flirt, but he’s definitely not the type of bloke to bring home a different woman every night.

“That’s not entirely true and you know it. I have fun, but not that much fun.”

“Prove it, then,” Narcissa crosses her arms in front of her chest in indignation.

“How?”

“Prove you’re capable of a serious relationship. That you can win a witch over and make her fall in love with you. Unless you don’t think you can handle anything more than taking a woman to bed,” Andromeda goads.

James is never one to back down from a challenge, but he worries the girls are doing this to throw him off his agenda. “I would gladly accept if this had anything to do with the Zabini pitch, but—”

“That’s an interesting offer,” Moody’s gruff voice interjects. All three look at him. “If you’re this cutthroat about winning a jewelry pitch, let’s have some fun with it. We’ve been invited to attend a gala that Zabini is hosting a week from Saturday. Find a woman and bring her as your date. If you can make her fall in love with you, you get the pitch. If you fail, the ladies win.”

“But how will you know he’s not paying the girl to fake it?” Narcissa pouts.

“I always know the truth,” Moody says. His glass eye is twitching in all directions as he stares at James with his good one.

Now, this is an interesting turn of events. James contemplates what Moody’s said. There has to be an easier way to shed the girls off his client, but his mind is coming up empty.

You did say you’d do anything earlier, didn’t you?

Yeah, he supposes he did.

“Alright, deal.”

“But we get to pick your lucky lady!” Andromeda interjects.

“What? No! I didn’t agree to that.”

“Oh, come on, it has to be someone completely neutral. We can’t have you calling up a friend and faking it, now can we?” Narcissa reasons.

Ugh, fuck them.

“I’ll allow it,” Moody says, as the girls begin scanning the room.

“Hmm, Cissy, who should we choose?”

“I don’t know, Andie, there are so many people here tonight. It’s bound to be tough. What about that one over there in the neon yellow dress with the black platform shoes?”

James groans. This is going to be a disaster.

“Or the overly eager woman by the bar in the too-tight green dress, downing her third martini of the night.” Andromeda smirks.

“Come on, ladies, let’s try and be fair here.” James makes the request, even though he’s not convinced they’ll listen.

“What about—” Narcissa begins to point out another woman, whom James is sure would never work, when Andromeda cuts her off.

“I’ve found her.”

Narcissa turns her head on a swivel, looking around with increased interest. “Who?”

“There, on the other end of the bar. Long auburn hair in the little black dress. She’s sipping on a cosmo.”

No fucking way.

James follows Andromeda’s eyeline until it falls on a very gorgeous, very familiar face. Lily Evans. His former Gryffindor schoolmate and long-time crush.

At first, James’s mind is screaming an adamant NO. That ship sailed during seventh year when he finally gave up his pursuit of Lily and settled with sixth year Hufflepuff Bridgette Carmicheal instead. It wasn’t until the end of term that he overheard Lily insisting that whatever feelings she thought she might have for him were gone.

‘He chose Bridgette, Marls. I strung him along for too long, and I lost my chance. I’m over it.’

Those words still sting as they hover in the back of his mind. James recalls breaking up with Bridgette within the week, hopeful that it wasn’t too late. But then Bridgette had taken the break-up horribly, and he knew going for Lily the next day wasn’t a good idea. Then graduation came and went, and he hasn’t seen her since.

Seeing her standing there now, his heart leaps into his throat. She’s just as beautiful as ever, and all those feelings he thinks he’s finally gotten over are back, like a tornado completely upending his life. This could be his chance—their chance—to finally make a go of things. The thoughts begin whirring in his mind of ways to win her over.

“Done.”

Before James realizes what he’s doing, he’s standing up, and his feet are carrying him over to where she’s sipping on her drink. She doesn’t see him coming.

“Evans,” he croons as he sidles up next to her.

Her body stiffens when she hears his voice. James hasn’t thought what her reaction might be upon seeing him for the first time in years. Well, it’s too late to back out now. I’ve got a pitch to win and a second shot with the girl of my dreams.

She turns around after a moment, her face impassive, but not unwelcoming.

“Potter.” She’s eyeing him up and down. “Long time, no see.”

“Yeah, since when? Graduation?”

“Something like that,” she shrugs nonchalantly.

“What brings you to Abbott’s?” James would rather know how often she comes here, but he keeps that question to himself.

“It’s been a long week, and I needed a night out. You?”

“Same.” James contemplates what’s made this week long, and is about to ask when Lily continues without prompting.

“Though I forget how stuffy this place can be,” Lily sighs, “Marlene and Alice convinced me to come, but I can’t say I’m having much success in tonight’s pursuits. And I’m starting to think they’ve ditched me. Though, I suppose all’s fair in love and war when you enter the dating game. Don’t you agree?”

Her comment almost throws James off as he looks down at the hand holding her cosmopolitan. He breathes a sigh of relief and thanks Merlin that there’s no ring on her finger. So, she’s looking for a good time tonight, is she? Well, I can certainly show her a good time—and then some—if she’ll let me.

“Couldn’t agree more,” he says in an attempt to continue engaging her in conversation.

She makes the effort to look around the room. Now is his chance to make a move.

“You hungry?”

Lily observes him carefully. James can tell she’s closed off and knows he needs to reassure her that it’s innocent, for now…

“C’mon, Evans, it’s just dinner. Catching up can’t hurt, can it?” He pauses for a moment before making the split-second decision to add, “I’ve missed you.”

It’s true. Standing here with Lily now, James wonders how he coped over the past three years. He thought he’s been managing just fine, but her presence brings back everything he’s so desperately missed about her. James doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he sees her relax. Her eyebrows soften and the smallest smile plays at the corners of her lips.

She sets her almost empty glass down on the bar before sliding off her stool. “Well, Potter, how can I resist when you put it like that? Lead the way.”

James can’t help the grin that spreads on his face. He holds out his arm as Lily gingerly latches on. Her touch sends a tingle up his spine as they move toward the doors.

Before he forgets, James takes a quick glance back at Moody, Andromeda and Narcissa. He flashes a smirk that he hopes says ‘you’re going down’ before turning back to the beautiful woman on his arm. After ten years of pining, he’s finally got Lily Evans right where he’s always wanted her, and he’s determined not to ruin this second chance.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 117: St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

Peter had never actually been to St. Mungo's, but he had a fair idea that's where he was. He'd at least heard of the place, when last year some bloke got the Mumblemumps and Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to fix that and he'd supposedly come here for treatment, and the Marauders hadn't even done it. At least, he hoped this was where Arthur Weasley, and subsequently Harry, would be headed, better here than a morgue.

There was nobody else around him though, and he sat up in concern when he realized he was the only one in this particular room. The ward was small and rather dingy, as the only window was narrow and set high in the wall facing the door. Most of the light came from shining crystal bubbles clustered in the middle of the ceiling. The walls were of paneled oak and there was a portrait of a rather vicious-looking wizard on the wall, captioned: Urquhart Rackharrow, 1612—1697, Inventor of the Entrail-expelling Curse.

There were only three beds, and he'd landed in the farthest from the door. The cards he'd been holding were scattered pell-mell, only the ace of spades left clinging to his hand. The book wasn't in sight either, but he had no urge to summon it to him, instead his mind was still on Padfoot and those bites of his. While they were here, they should look around for some mixture of powdered silver and dittany. It wasn't a true werewolf cure, there was still no such thing even in Harry's time he was sure, but it helped ease the bites' pain level and helped minimize scarring, so surely it would do him some good.

He hopped off the bed, grumbling just a bit they couldn't have landed in here when they all needed sleep as there were plenty of beds to go around in a hospital, but stopped in surprise to see exactly what he was looking for on the bed table across from the one he'd been in. He twitched in unease, wondering if he was being paranoid or this mess was actually just trying to be kind to him for once. He pocketed it regardless and went for the door that thunked against something and instantly shut back on him.

Now he really knew he wasn't paranoid. No one else was in here, surely he should be able to leave and at least travel the hospital! He tried again, slower this time, and it once again thunked against something, leaving the barest crack. He grumbled in distaste, debated calling for help, but finally decided to risk it and changed forms to worm through.

Remus was on the other side having a panic attack. He didn't even seem to realize a door had slammed into his back twice, nor Peter appearing out of thin air beside him. One hand was fisted into his new shirt, right over his shoulder, the other was spasming open and closed as he kept gasping for air.

"Moony! Remus, mate, what," Peter crouched down beside him, trying to grab his hands and get his attention, but he just shied away from him still rasping for air. Peter looked wildly around for the danger instead, but still saw nothing, the corridor was completely empty. There were five more doors in sight, not counting the one he'd come from, but they were all still closed with little plaques beneath them. The one right across from him read:

Creature-Induced Injuries

Dai Llewellyn Ward

Stings

Underneath this was a card in a brass holder on which had been handwritten: Healer-in Charge: Hippocrates Smethwyck. Trainee Healer: Augustus Pye

The bottle of powdered silver and dittany seemed to burn in his pocket, as he turned his head slowly and read the one for the room he'd just left instead.

Creature-Induced Injuries

(Dangerous)

Dai Llewellyn Ward

Serious Bites

"Oh," Peter almost wished he didn't understand as he wrapped an arm around him instead, half his mind trying to draw him back into the crowd of laughing students to keep this kind of attention off of him, but this had long since happened. He wished Sirius were here for him instead, to make one of his stupid jokes readily available on that sign, he didn't see how he'd do much good with what Remus was dealing with. This is probably where Remus first woke up, after he'd been bitten.

He didn't want to imagine how the healers would have treated him, probably barely looking him in the eye. He could all too easily picture Remus at five, crying in pain and not able to understand where his dad was or why his mum wasn't allowed in to see him as his newly bitten shoulder burned.

"Come on mate," he muttered, changing to hold him under the arms. Remus was much taller than him, but on the lanky side, he should at least be able to get him to the bathroom and away from that particular door. The clothes James had picked out didn't fit him quite right, the shirt too loose around the shoulders, the pants a bit too tight he was sure as they exposed several inches past his filched boots from Arthur himself, and they left his skin far more exposed than his school robes. While Peter jostled him along, you could almost see the very first savage mark glinting on his shoulder.

Remus was practically dead weight in his arms, but his breathing was already starting to even out when Peter released him and he sunk to the floor again in the bathroom at the end of the hall.

"Don't tell Sirius," he whispered, curling onto his side, pressing his wet face against the cool tiles. He was still clutching it. "Or James. Please."

His voice was so pitiful at the end, Peter would have promised him anything. He wasn't even sure what Remus had to be so ashamed of, he was pretty sure he couldn't go back into the Shrieking Shack without having a panic attack himself at remembering all the crimes he'd done to James and Sirius being laid out in there. He cast his eyes up when he finally heard the book in Regulus's voice, the chapter title confirming this location, but decided to sink to the floor and just sit quietly with him for now.

Remus listened in the smallest part of his mind as if he had transformed to what was going on, but the mention of a werewolf being in there with Arthur only caused him to wince and curl up tighter as he absently wondered at the difference only thirty plus years in advancement had done.

He'd been isolated from everyone the first month he'd been bitten, his own parents had been refused entrance and they'd strapped a muzzle to his face while holding him to the bed so as not to contaminate anything else. At least that poor man didn't seem to be going through that. He shivered into the cool tile and hoped that Regulus hurried up getting him out of here before anyone else found him unable to get over something so long into his past. Maybe they'd been right to keep him away from everyone though, even now. Merlin, what he'd almost done, again...

Lily first realized she'd lost her deck of cards. The hand she'd been holding was at every corner of this place, and likely they'd left the majority of the deck on the table. She sighed and took the time to peek into every door on the second floor, Magical Bugs, but all she got for her efforts was accosted by paintings, one particularly determined one following her through the whole floor convinced she had spattergroit. She had no idea how huge this hospital was, but when she came across a stairwell, she decided to go straight down to the bottom and work her way up. Then she heard the book start anyways and no screams of danger came from anywhere, so she simply sat half-way down instead and let herself have some time to think.

Regulus found himself in some sort of gift shop. He had no idea why someone would want a commemorative tea set of this place, but he repaired the one he'd landed on anyways, and then decided to make a pot while he waited for anyone else to show up. Amongst the stuffed dragons, teddy bears, jewelry, a few scattered cards that must have come with him, and blankets, there was a large section of novels to choose from, including several Gilderoy Lockhart covers, a few romance novels with half-naked blokes on the front that were making out wildly with slinky-topped women, and several kids' books including the Tales of Beedle the Bard. He'd smiled and brushed his fingers over that one, wondering if he should offer it to Evans, or would that be insulting? He didn't want to imply she should know them like any wizard. The book he'd actually been looking for caught his eye anyway as the teapot whistled.

When he was steeping his drink and still no one arrived, he simply flipped it open and decided to read. Maybe everyone just wanted a bit of alone time after being so cramped together for so long, he certainly got himself comfortable and tried to enjoy this as much as he could while worrying about Arthur's survival. Sirius was clearly okay, and Potter obviously didn't want him around intruding regardless, and he definitely enjoyed his quiet respite from anyone else for now as he sorted his own thoughts out while reading.

James went crashing headlong into a desk, and only as he sat up rubbing his head, did a plastic floor guide choose to lose its balance and crack down on him next. He scowled and gave the stupid thing a kick across the room as he stood up and stretched to have a new look around. He was in the lobby of, somewhere, there were chairs all around him and the desk was definitely for some kind of receptionist, but soon the book was in full swing and he shifted uneasily at finding himself alone in a hospital.

His mind first flickered to Remus with worry, he hated being in the Hospital Wing alone for hours at a time and he wanted to go find him. Not to mention he absolutely needed to keep an eye on Padfoot for now, he couldn't get all that blood off his mind no matter how hard he'd scrubbed at the palm of his skin, but where to start looking?

There were some double doors behind the desk on the ground floor, and a stairwell to his right, but after glancing back at the now upside-down floor plan that really gave no hints where the others could be, he went through the double doors first.

He found Padfoot in a predicament, and had to bite his lip from laughing. He'd landed by a very odd contraption, it was mostly a solid white box on wheels almost the size of Hagrid, but had a dozen tubes coming out of it, all differently colored, and at least three were going after the unsanitary pooch in the middle of this place. A green one was making a suctioning noise right over his tail, the blue one was trying to trail along his jowls and collect any spittle that flew free, and the gold one was sweeping frantically around his feet trying to collect the hair he kept shaking loose as he scrambled madly in place trying to bite away all three at once.

He must not have been as quiet as he thought, as those too intelligent gray eyes landed on him, and he gave a solid bark at James. It was years of experience dealing with Sirius in general that translated this to, 'this is all your fault! I could have been rid of this if it wasn't for your stupid, paranoid arse not letting me change back!'

Now laughing freely, he moved forward and gave the machine a gentle push away from him. It came rolling right back, but Padfoot took the distraction to try sprinting off.

His back leg wobbled, and he instead slid ungracefully beneath a bed, James now holding the machine in place as it kept trying to go after him.

"I don't know the spell to make it stop," he got out in between more snickers, that were slowly subsiding as he crawled out from under and gave himself a gentle shake. "So you'd best just go through the doors there, hopefully it won't follow."

Padfoot limped heavily at first, but got a semi-decent stride by the time he was at the double doors. He however was still not coordinated enough to push them open and slip through without them closing back on him, wobbling too much in place on his left side.

Pretending he noticed no such thing, he shot a spell at the nearest bed and transfigured the folded nightgown into a duck. It squawked in alarm and took off, the machine now trundling after the feathers instead. He went over to the doors and casually pushed them open harder than was necessary so that they swung too wide and likely would have hit someone, but by the time they got back into the lobby Padfoot was panting at the foot of the stairs with an uneasy whine.

"Don't," James pleaded, sitting on the floor and just begging him not to try running around this place right now. "Please?" Padfoot hesitated for a long time before limping and curling up under a chair next to him only when the book began. "Sorry Sirius," he whispered, leaning his back against the chair, but just a smidge farther away than was necessary to at least let him pretend he was preserving his pride. Padfoot apparently wasn't going to care for such a thing now, wiggling so that his head was back on James's lap, and the cool metal of the chair legs was pressed into his wounds. James wrapped an arm around his chest, hand placed over his heart once more.

Alice and Frank did find themselves in a locked ward, and it was creepy. Surely a hospital room with multiple patients shouldn't have such, private touches about? At least the cards scattered all over they knew were theirs, the Jack of Spades resting on a signed photo of Gilderoy Lockhart would have been odd otherwise. They spent a decent chunk of time trying to get the doors open, using Alohomora and then shouting for anyone to hear them, maybe something was blocking the other side? But by then the book had confirmed Arthur Weasley was alive and they were coming up here to visit him, and the two just shivered and decided there was nothing for it for now, at least nothing in here was trying to kill them. Maybe this was where Arthur was? But then, where were the others?

Someone at that end must be a Lockhart fan, the place was peppered with pictures of him in a revolting reminder neither of them wanted. Probably a little kid though, Frank deduced as he spotted some joint-up handwriting that definitely needed more practice. At the opposite end was a flowery curtain that was drawn around more beds, and Alice was trying to peek around before she reminded herself there'd be no one in there to insult for looking, but still feeling a little guilty as she pushed it back.

There were two beds very close together, and she imagined fondly for a moment an old married couple in here for something minor and being visited by loads of grandchildren. There were Drooble's Best Blowing Gums stacked neatly on the table closest to her, but she didn't feel right nicking a few even though she'd run out ages ago from her stash back in Honeydukes.

Then she caught sight of the other side of the bed, and frowned in confusion, leaning closer to get a look at the moving pictures. She'd swear she should vaguely recognize them for some reason, especially the much older woman cradling a crying, blond, infant.

"Frank," she called out to him, he was still snooping about the other beds, one of which was covered in brown animal hair for some unbeknownst reason. "Would you come here darling, there's pictures here, I swear I've seen some of them before."

The memory just wouldn't come to her, though now she was looking at him and back, and a cold dread started up her spine. They'd been in the attic, her and Frank, and these had been in a box in his house-

Frank froze and looked at the ceiling, all traces of anything else forgotten as the chapter reached its conclusion, and Mad-Eye Moody all but confirmed You-Know-Who was possessing Harry.

[teeseforestrunner]

Getting into the Spirit of things

** Dukeixety Week @dukexietyweek **

Day One: Halloween 

Ship: Dukexiety

Word count: 1058

Characters: Remus (duh), Virgil (duh), Roman mentioned only

Summary: Virgil and Remus visit a Halloween store on their day off.

TW: blood and gore mentioned, murder spoken of casually, 

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26121577

This was partially inspired by a recent trip to Spirit I had with my sister and her fiance . When I found out about this ship week and prompt  I had to write this because it fits the two so well. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Move it, Remus. It’s been TWO HOURS, I want to get there before October! ” A figure in mostly black yells into the apartment in the hope that his roommate/fiance would hurry. Today was one of the few days both had off from work so they had decided to go to their local mall to visit Spirit, the Halloween store that invades abandoned department stores every year.

Virgil has been dying to go since they opened earlier that week but because of college and work neither have had time, so he was understandably a bit impatient. He would have waited in the car if it wasn’t for the late August heat beating outside, stupid Florida weather.

“Yeah, yeah, I know scare bear. I just finished getting ready, so let’s go.” Without a moment of hesitation, Virgil rushed out the door to the car with a chuckling Remus following behind.

The ride over was filled with demented Halloween music since Remus was the DJ, (Virgil loved the chaotic man but would never let him drive anywhere after the “Bumper Car” incident, but that is a different story). Both men singing along at the top of their lungs getting hyped up for the shop.

Virgil barely parked before both him and Remus were sprinting to the entrance to the mall. Walking into the store was like coming home to both of them since Halloween is their all-time favorite holiday. The dark blood covered clothing, spiked jewelry, gore, and monsters as far as the eye can see! A paradise for the two chaotic edgy men.

Remus wasted no time making his way over to the prop weapons picking up the nearest knife. A foam serrated dagger. Virgil follows after grabbing a basket, knowing how much Halloween merchandise the two of them will probably get, and eyes the dagger too, running a finger over its blade.

“This could be used to kill someone, even if it is dull the serrated edge could cut through an artery,” Remus says eyes lighting up in the weird way it does when he talks about murder.

Virgil just scoffs entirely used to the way Remus’s mind works and picks up a dragon claw staff nearby. “Anything could be used to kill if you are determined enough … Wow, this staff is hefty, would be good at bashing knee caps or skulls. Really good quality for a costume shop.”

“Yeah…” Remus says trailing off as he spots a small packaged knife and his eyes light up. “STABBY!”

Virgil follows Remus’s line of sight to see the cheap retractable knife on the top left hook of the display and snorts. “Right, I forgot you used to have one of those you named Stabby… Whatever happened to it?”

“I was stabbing Roman with it a few months ago when he grabbed the blade and tried to twist it out of my hand. I didn’t let go of the handle so when he twisted, it snapped in two. Made him feel bad since I loved it so much and it stopped me from actually stabbing him, but the look on his face was so funny I couldn't be mad at him for long.”

“Well that settles it we’re getting this one to replace it,” Virgil smirks as he puts the toy knife in the basket and Remus beams.

“I’ll call it Stabby Two!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later at the punk costume section, Remus sees some spiked bracelets he KNOWS Virgil will love so he grabs them to show his fiance. Virge is in the next aisle looking at the skeleton costumes and accessories so Remus makes his way over. Before he reaches Virgil, a weird song starts over the store’s radio that annoys Virge to no end, What Does the Fox Say. Smiling as he passes masks that fit with the song Remus grabs one as well to mess with his emo lover. Just as the song reaches the chorus Remus reaches Virgil and places the mask in front of the emo.

Virgil turns to glare at him and hisses out, “Really Remus.”

The chaotic gremlin just snickers as he hands his annoyed finance the true prize he brought to show him. Virgil rolls his eyes and just takes the bracelet and drops it into the basket.

The two move further into the store and find the witchy decorations. Moon phases pillows, tarot decks, pentagram covered items, black cats, and other demonic stuff.

“I think I need to get a pentagram pillow to mess with Roman,” Remus states as he reaches for one of the pillows. Virgil just smiles as he grabs one of the tarot decks to look at; he's been meaning to get one for the fun of it to see if they are like how some of the witchy memes he’s seen one Tumblr have said. Both are placed in the basket.

They pass the end of the aisle and they see ouija stuff displayed there but neither Remus nor Virgil really want to summon a demon any time soon, so they ignore it. The pair head towards the outdoor decorations when they hear a crash and turn to see an ouija candle had fallen off the shelf. Both just looked at each other since no one was near the shelf anymore, luckily an employee is nearby so Virgil goes to tell them about the glass so they can clean it up before someone gets hurt.

After grabbing some cool light up lace spider web curtains and a black crown the pair head to check out vowing to come back and get more next paycheck. It takes a few minutes since all workers are busy helping other customers but soon enough the pair have paid and left the shop with matching smiles and bags filled with their loot. Of course, they're barely out of the shop before Remus has Stabby Two out and is stabbing his fiance in the neck, cackling with glee at the sound the springs in the toy knife’s blade make as it sinks back into the hilt. Virgil just sighs and smiles fondly as Remus dashes out of range of retaliation before he can react. Virgil thinks that overall it was a successful day out for the pair, especially since Remus seems to have forgotten that the car is locked and only Virgil has the keys.