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yellowsuitcase · 4 years

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You’re mine // Draco Malfoy

A/N: This is an anon request I received. I had to alter the wording of one of the prompts a little bit for it to make sense, I hope that’s okay. Also please be mindful that this is my FIRST smut I’ve ever written. I’m happy with how it turned out but omg was it difficult. But anyway, enjoy and don’t be afraid to request! {Prompt list}

Summary: Draco and Y/N are friends with benefits until Y/N decides she’s done with him. Cedric tries to get with Y/N Draco gets jealous and smut follows.

Warning(s): SMUT! Swearing, Angst, Fluff

Word count: 4.4k

Prompts: #1 #4 #7 #28 #35 #47

All she could think about was his face. The way his grey eyes had pierced her soul last night—the feeling of his hands on her hips.

“Earth to Y/N.”

Her attention snapped back to the present. A perplexed Hannah was looking at her. “You alright? You looked really zoned out.”

Y/N blinked rapidly, “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Sorry. What were we talking about again?” Y/N asked while lightly slapping her cheeks to bring herself back to reality.

“We were going over our plans to study for the transfiguration exam. We agreed to meet in the library on Sunday.” Hannah said, her tone sounding slightly irritated.

“Oh yeah, that’s…” Y/N caught sight of him, her eyes glued to him until he left the Great Hall, “fine. That’s fine.”

Hannah followed her gaze. “Seriously, Y/N? Malfoy? That’s who you hooked up with last night?”

Her friend’s words drove fear into her chest, “Would you shut up? Someone’s gonna hear you!” Y/N whisper yelled. Hannah threw her hands up in exasperation.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders and picked up another slice of bread.“So what if it was Malfoy? What’s wrong with that?” she asked, oblivious as to why Hannah was so upset.

“What’s wrong with that? Y/N, you simply can’t be serious. Malfoy’s an arse. He bullies anyone who isn’t a Slytherin. Hell, he’s bullied you numerous times. Not to mention he’s not even that attractive.”

Y/N’s mouth fell open upon hearing her friend’s words. “Not attractive? Hannah, have you gone blind? Have you looked at the guy?

Hannah rolled her eyes and dropped her face into her hands. “There’s no hope for you. It’s over. I mean, I can already tell you’ve caught feelings.”

“I most certainly have not!” Y/N exclaimed, inadvertently causing the people around her to stare. “I’m not an idiot, it was a one-time thing,” she muttered while picking at her eggs.

“I hope you mean that,” Hannah said. Y/N couldn’t meet her eyes.

Her friend sighed and reached across the table to grasp Y/N’s hand. “Don’t think too much, you’ll give yourself a headache.”

Y/N ignored her and pulled her hand away while saying, “Snape will have our heads if we’re late, we’d better go.”

The two Hufflepuffs rose to their feet and made their way to the doors. As they were walking through them, Y/N felt a hand grab her wrist. She let out a little yelp and whipped her head around to see none other than Draco Malfoy. “I need to speak with you,” he said, his tone firm.

Hannah had noticed her friend disappear from her side. When Y/N looked back at her, her hip was popped, and her eyebrow cocked. Her facial expression suggested she wouldn’t be happy if Y/N stayed behind to talk with Draco.

Y/N gave her an apologetic smile, hoping it would appease Hannah. It did not. She shook her head and promptly stomped off to class.

Slowly, Y/N turned around to face the blonde boy behind her. His hand hadn’t left her wrist, but he let go once he realized he was still holding it. Clearing his throat, he looked both ways before speaking.

“Have you told anyone?” his grey eyes once again pierced her soul.

She shook her head, but then remembered Hannah. “I haven’t told anyone, but Hannah did figure it out,” she said, nervously biting her lip. His eyes flickered to her lips before returning to her eyes.

“If we are to continue this, nobody can know. Do you understand me?”

Y/N couldn’t keep her eyes from widening in shock. “I’m sorry, did I hear you correctly? You want to continue this?”

Draco raised his eyebrow. “You don’t?”

Her hands waved frantically. “No, no, I do, I just… I dunno, I didn’t think you’d want to is all. But I’d like to continue, yes. If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Draco gave her a displeased look, “You’re very annoying,” he said, “But you’re accessible so just keep it under wraps, alright? Besides, you wouldn’t want to see what happens if I find out you’ve told people. Understand?”

Y/N was quite frankly insulted by the way he spoke about her. He straight up, had called her “accessible.” She was about to give him a piece of her mind, but then he gave her a look, and she thought better of it and nodded frantically.

“Yes. My lips are sealed.” She rocked back and forth on her heels in an attempt to calm herself down.

Draco scanned her up and down before nodding. “Good,” he said. And then he began to walk away. Y/N didn’t think before calling out to him.

“How will I know when you wanna, you know, do it?”

He didn’t bother to stop walking when he called back, “I’ll find you.”

-------

Y/N buried her face in her pillow. If she concentrated, she could still smell his cologne on it. She breathed in deeply as she reminisced the events of a few nights prior. Somehow, Draco had found her while she was taking a midnight trip to the kitchens. He didn’t have to say anything to her, she knew what he wanted, and frankly, she wanted it too.

He took them to her dorm since it was closer. He pushed her up against the wall, wrapped his hand around her throat, and whispered in her ear, “Such a pretty mouth. You’d better keep it shut, though. Wouldn’t want anyone to hear us, would you, darling?”

She still got chills when she thought about it. Lucky for her, it was a Saturday, meaning she could stay in bed as long as she liked. Or so she thought.

“Wake up. They’re serving pancakes today. You don’t wanna be late,” Hannah said in a sing-song voice. Y/N groaned; she really needed Hannah to stop interrupting her daydreams.

“Oh, don’t be like that. They’re serving blueberry pancakes.”

Y/N flung the sheets off her chest. “On second thought, let’s go,” she said. Hannah laughed, “I knew that’d get you up. You really need to stop staying up so late, though.”

“Yeah yeah, you need to stop getting up so early. The plants aren’t going to die if you fail to water them at exactly six in the morning.”

“How do you know? You forget to water Pepper all the time.” Hannah replied.

Pepper was Y/N’s little cactus. It sat on her nightstand in a yellow pot. She loved Pepper dearly.

“Hannah, Pepper is a cactus, and cactuses don’t need a lot of water, so take that!”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Come on; we might legitimately miss pancakes if you don’t hurry.” And with that, the Hufflepuff threw on a sweatshirt and jeans and rushed down to the Great Hall.

Y/N was practically running through the corridors; she could almost taste the pancakes on her tongue. “Geez Y/N, wait up!” Hannah called after her, desperately trying to keep up.

In her haste, Y/N didn’t notice the group of people turning the corner, and she wasn’t able to stop her feet. She crashed right into the boy in the middle of them.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you,” Y/N stammered, holding out her hand to the boy she’d knocked over.

He got to his hands and knees and pushed himself up. When he turned around and faced her, Y/N’s heart sunk.

“Y/L/N?” He scoffed. “Look where you’re going next time. Blimey, what a waste of space,” he shouted, his minions laughing along with him. Y/N felt her face burn with embarrassment and a little bit of hurt.

Hannah, who had caught up to her friend, chimed in, “Shut up, Malfoy, why do you insist on being such a git?”

“You wanna say that again, Abbott?” Draco threatened, reaching inside his robe for his wand.

“Hey, hey, let’s just calm down, alright? Nobody’s hurt, we ought to keep it that way,” Y/N reasoned, despite her desire to give Draco a right punch in the gut. Reluctantly, he put his wand away.

“Come on, boys, these twits aren’t worth our time,” Draco said coldly as he and his friends strutted away.

“What a knobhead, I mean honestly, you’d think he’d be a bit nicer towards the girl he’s sleeping with,” Hannah said through gritted teeth. Y/N didn’t even care about her friend’s volume. After all, it didn’t matter anymore.

“Well, he’s not sleeping with me again. Not after that, I’m done with his shit,” Y/N said, tears gathering in her eyes.

Hannah smiled upon hearing her words, “Bloody hell, it’s about time you realized he was no good. Now let’s get some pancakes, yeah? Come on, you deserve some.” The pair walked into the Great Hall to begin their pancake feast.

---------

A few weeks later, Y/N was sitting on a bench by one of the many windows in the Hogwarts corridors when a boy wearing a Hufflepuff scarf walked up to her. She looked up and noticed it was Cedric Diggory. Cedric was only a year above her, but they hadn’t talked much.

“Cedric? Do you need anything?”

He smiled, “Nothing in particular, no. I just saw you sitting alone, and I thought you might enjoy some company. Am I mistaken?”

Y/N felt her face flush. “Oh, uhm no, you’re not wrong at all,” she stammered.

Cedric stood awkwardly. “Oh! How can you sit if I don’t move over?” Y/N asked while she gave a nervous laugh. Cedric was by far one of the most attractive boys in Hufflepuff, so it only made sense that his desire to sit with her, of all people, was making Y/N nervous.

He chuckled at her anxiousness and took a seat next to her. The bench was relatively small due to Y/N’s things taking up a quarter of the space. This caused her hips to touch his. This made her face burn even more.

“So why are you all alone on a Friday afternoon?” he asked.

Y/N felt her heart clench, “Oh well, my best friend, Hannah, and I are actually in a little bit of a row at the moment. I may have unknowingly talked about her crush a bit too loudly, and they overheard. She’s not very happy with me, understandably.”

“Ah, I see. But it was an accident, and surely she’ll forgive you sooner rather than later. Don’t you think?” Cedric asked, trying to reassure Y/N.

“I hope so. Lately, she’s been a bit dodgy. She’s been really short with me, yelling at me all the time. It’s not like her,” she remarked.

“Perhaps she’s dealing with something personal. And if she is, then she’s probably taking out her frustrations on you. And don’t get me wrong,” he said while holding his hands up, “that doesn’t make her actions, okay, but if that is the case, then that would mean you’re not the problem. Does that make sense?” Cedric asked.

She gave him a warm smile and nodded her head. “Yeah, actually, it does. Thank you, I never thought about it like that,” she said.

He laughed, the deep baritone of his voice coming to the forefront. “Well, I’m glad I could show you a different perspective on the situation. Sometimes that’s all you need.”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” she said. When he didn’t reply, her eyes fell to her lap, too nervous to look him in the eyes. But then she felt his hand on her face. He gently took her chin between his thumb and fingers and turned her face upwards to look at him. He was smirking.

“You don’t need to be nervous, sweetheart. I don’t bite,” Cedric said as he moved his hand from her chin to her hair. He pushed some stray strands behind her ear so that her face wasn’t covered.

Y/N’s heart began to pound. This boy was making her sweat. She noticed then that he had grey eyes, just like Draco. Her chest grew tight at the thought of him. She hated to admit it, but often she found herself missing the blonde boy, even if he was an arse.

Her attention was brought back to Cedric when he spoke, “If I were to ask you on a date, would you say yes?”

Air got caught in Y/N’s throat, and she launched into a fit of coughs. Cedric immediately reached for his wand. He took her hands and put one on top of the other to create a makeshift bowl. Pointing his wand to her hands, he said, “Aguamenti.”

Water spouted from the tip of his wand and flowed into Y/N’s hands. She eagerly slurped it up, soothing her dry throat. They repeated this process a couple more times before Y/N was satisfied.

“Thank you, that was so embarrassing. I’m sorry you had to do that.”

Cedric only laughed. “No problem. You sure you’re alright?” he asked.

She nodded fervently, “Yes, I promise.”

“Well, in that case, what do you say? To the date, I mean.”

Y/N tapped her finger to her lips, pretending to think. Cedric gave her an unimpressed look that made her giggle and break character. “Yes, Cedric, I’d love to go on a date with you,” she said.

A huge grin broke out on his face, and he rushed to his feet, “Brilliant, I’ll meet you in the common room tomorrow night at eight. Don’t be late!” he called as he sprinted down the hall. Y/N could only laugh at his playful nature. “Okay!” she yelled back to him.

Once he rounded the corner and was out of sight, she let herself plop down on her back with a dreamy sigh. “I’m going on a date with Cedric Diggory,” she spoke out loud.

“How pathetic,” said a voice.

Y/N sat straight up and sharply whipped her head around. Sure enough, there stood Draco, this time without his minions.

“Shut up, Malfoy, what do you care anyway?” Y/N muttered.

“I don’t,” he said before he took a bite of the green apple in his hand, “It’s just that you fancied me a few weeks ago, didn’t you, Y/L/N?”

Y/N shifted in her seat and crossed her arms defensively. “So what if I did. I reckon you were starting to grow fond of me too.”

Draco scoffed, a smile appearing on his lips. “You’re insane to think I’d ever fancy you.”

His words were like a slap in the face to Y/N. She honestly thought that he would have developed some mutual feelings for her. It turns out she was wrong.

“Well, at least I’m not a low life scumbag like you. All you care about is your reputation. Don’t you have any emotions? Did you even care about me when we were fooling around, or was I just a toy to you?” Y/N’s chest heaved with anger as she finished yelling at him.

He stood eerily still. Silence fell over the corridor.

“You don’t even care anymore, do you? You never did.”

Draco clenched his fists, trying to control himself. But the longer he looked at her, the weaker his resolve became. Without thinking, he bolted towards Y/N, startling her as he did so.

He grabbed her chin forcefully and tilted her face upwards, a stark difference from how Cedric had just minutes ago. She avoided his eyes, breathing heavily with fear.

“Look at me,” Draco demanded. Her eyes remained fixated on his chest.

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I said, look at me!”

He was yelling now, his grip growing tighter. Y/N was afraid of him leaving bruises, so she caved and let her eyes travel to his. His pupils were wide, and his teeth were gritted. He saw the fright in her eyes and smirked. “Scared, Y/L/N?” he asked, chuckling at the look on her face, “you should be. It seems that you’ve forgotten who you belong to, little girl.”

Y/N’s heart must’ve been going a mile a minute; it felt like it was going to break out of her ribcage. The man in front of her looked so attractive. She began to feel her temperature rising.

“You’re mine,” Draco said before he pressed his lips to hers aggressively. She gasped into his mouth; he took this as an opportunity to slip his tongue inside. He ran his hand up her neck and into her hair, where he grasped it tightly between his fingers. This new leverage allowed him to angle her chin upwards. He kissed her intensely until he was forced to pull away to catch his breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw Y/N’s flushed face and swollen lips. She wasted no time and smashed her lips back onto his, letting out a soft moan as she did.

“God, you’re breathtaking,” he muttered, pulling away once again.

Y/N rolled her eyes, “I hate you,” she laughed. Draco smirked and looked away from her lips so that he could gaze into her eyes once more. “Liar,” he said. Y/N bit her lip.

“Perhaps,” she said while giggling.

Draco rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss her neck, simultaneously running his hand underneath her button-up shirt. He heard her breath waver as he did this. Little noises escaped his mouth when he sucked her skin between his teeth. She squirmed under his touch, unable to sit still. His hand reached her breast, and he gingerly squeezed her through her bra.

“Let’s take this elsewhere,” Y/N suggested. Draco paid her no mind and continued to suck on her neck.

“Draco, please. We can’t do this here, and I want you now,” she pleaded.

He pulled away to smile smugly at her. “Desperate today, aren’t we?”

Y/N whined in response, wiggling her hips. Draco laughed at her eagerness. “Alright, alright, let’s go.”

They jumped to their feet and grasped each other’s hand as they dashed down the hallway and all the way to the Slytherin common room entrance. “Dementor,” Draco whispered. The walls opened up to reveal a stairway heading down into the dark common room Y/N had come to be familiar with. Luckily, nobody was in the main room.

They practically ran up the steps to the boys’ dorm. Older Slytherin boys had figured out how to dispel the charm preventing females from entering a long time ago, so the pair were able to get inside easily.

Draco burst through the door to his shared room with Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise. “Out,” he demanded. The boys didn’t ask questions. They simply dropped what they were doing and left the dorm room.

He turned to Y/N. “Where were we?” he asked playfully while he took his shoes off.

“Don’t tease me, Malfoy,” she replied snarkily as she did the same.

“You’re not the one in charge here, love,” Draco snapped while pushing her backward towards his bed. She fell onto the emerald green sheets covering his mattress. He wasted no time climbing on top of her. She immediately rolled her hips upwards, craving friction. Draco grabbed her hips and pushed them into the bed. “Patience, love,” he said softly.

But Y/N wasn’t having any of it. She writhed underneath him, trying to break free of his hold. He didn’t like this one bit, so he put his hand on her throat. This halted her movements instantly.

“Be still, little girl. Good things come to those who wait,” he said in a sultry voice. Y/N nodded, her eyes wide open.

Slowly, he trailed his hand from her hickey covered neck down to her chest where he began to unbutton her shirt. She struggled to remain motionless as he skillfully removed her shirt and tie. He licked his lips when her shirt was out of the way, and he could see her full breasts.

“Take it off,” he commanded. Y/N sat up and reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. When it fell from her shoulders, Draco latched his mouth onto her nipple, causing her to let out a deep moan. He smirked as he flicked her nub with his tongue. His other hand was making its way to her center.

Y/N didn’t notice his touch until a finger slipped inside her. She gasped sharply and felt herself clench down on him. He detached his mouth from her breast and lightly laughed.

“Such a needy little thing, aren’t you?”

Y/N moaned and whispered, “Just fuck me already, you arsehole.”

Draco hummed, pretending to consider her request. “No, I don’t think I will. I don’t think you deserve it.”

She whined and rolled her hips again. As she did this, he slipped another digit into her pussy. “Fuck, Draco,” she groaned. Suddenly, he removed his fingers. He watched as she pressed her thighs together, trying to stimulate herself. “What the hell?” she asked angrily.

“Do you want me to get naked or not, darling?”

Y/N crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. He simply laughed at her and began to unbutton his own shirt as well as remove his belt. She took this time to kick off her skirt and underwear.

Draco bit his lip when he saw her bare pussy. He felt his dick twitch in his pants, and he sped up his pace, eager to continue what he started.

Once he’d gotten his pants off, he leaned his face downwards and began to kiss the insides of her soft thighs. She propped herself up onto her elbows so she could watch as he got closer and closer to her center. When his tongue made contact with her pussy, she felt a shudder go through her entire being, and she let her head fall back onto the plush pillows.

“Draco,” she moaned as he sucked on her clit, sending waves of pleasure through her body. Her hands found his hair, and she gripped his blonde locks tightly, trying to keep herself stable as he continued to lick and suck her.

He continues eating her out for nearly ten minutes before adding his fingers back into the equation. He swiftly slides three fingers inside her wet pussy. Y/N gasped out in pleasure. “Please,” she said, not quite aware of what she was begging for. Draco moved his fingers in and out of her while still sucking her clit. “Fuck! Right there, right there, please don’t stop,” she pleaded.

Draco obliged and maintained his pace. Y/N arched her back as it all became too much. Her mouth fell open as her climax overtook her system. Draco didn’t stop his motions. He continued stimulating her through her orgasm, only pulling away when he felt aftershock jolts pulse through her body. Y/N’s eyes began to close.

“We’re not done yet, sweetheart,” Draco said while pulling his boxers off and beginning to palm himself. He leaned down to kiss her softly, allowing Y/N to taste herself on his lips. She moaned into the kiss and ran her hands up his scalp. His hand reached for his nightstand to the left of his bed. Pulling away from the kiss, he dug into the drawer and pulled out a condom, quickly rolling it onto his dick.

She pulled him back in for another kiss while he lined himself up at her center and slightly pushed the tip inside. Y/N couldn’t resist the urge to wiggle her hips, successfully making Draco hiss. He put his hands on either side of her head and, without warning, slammed his dick inside her and began thrusting in and out at a quick pace.

She cried out in ecstasy as she finally felt herself become full. The pressure in her abdomen began to build again. Draco’s eyebrows were tightly knit as he focused his energy into each firm thrust of his hips. The sound of skin slapping seemed to echo through the dorm.

Y/N wrapped her legs around his waist as he slowed his pace, opting to tease her rather than chase his own climax. The feeling of him gently pushing into her made Y/N whine in frustration. She wanted to reach her high so badly, and Draco was making it difficult. She decided she wanted to cum, so she sneakily stretched her hand down to her clit. But it was promptly slapped away by the man on top of her.

“Don’t even think about it, little girl,” he growled. But he began to pick up his pace, making Y/N mewl delightfully as the pressure once again began to increase. It seemed like Draco was getting close as well, his thrusts were sloppy, and he was panting hard.

“Please, please, I’m so close, Draco,” she cried out.

“Me too, sweetheart, me too,” he said in between grunts of pleasure.

He felt her pussy grow tighter as it contracted around his dick. He knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Each thrust felt better than the last. Her hips met his, eagerly, over and over until finally, she felt herself tip over the edge yet again. Y/N saw stars as Draco pounded into her even faster as he chased his release. He drove his dick in and out of her pussy until he, too, met his climax, cumming into the condom while her walls twitched around him.

Draco lets his body collapse on top of her, both of them breathing heavily as they came down from their highs. Slowly, he pulled himself out of her, hissing as he did. She whined at the loss of her feeling of fullness. He took off the condom, threw it into a nearby bin, and then lied down next to Y/N.

“That was incredible,” Y/N uttered quietly. Draco laughed when he saw the blissful look on her face. He rolled over so that his body was facing hers, and he pulled her towards him. She nestled her face into his chest.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. However, I do need to clear some things up,” Draco said while stroking her hair. She hummed against him.

“And what would that be?” she asked.

“Well, for starters, I’m gonna need you to tell Cedric you’ve changed your mind about your guys’ little date,” he said in a firm tone of voice. Y/N laughed into the crook of his neck.

“I’m dead serious. If you don’t tell him, then I will. Don’t test me.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell Cedric I changed my mind. But does this mean we’re…”

“Official? Yes, it does. I thought I conveyed that when I told you you’re mine,” Draco said, reminding her of today’s previous events.

He felt her wiggle in his arms. “What’s got you so squirmy tonight? You haven’t sat still for even a moment,” he chuckled. She mumbled an answer.

“Didn’t quite catch that, love,” Draco teased.

“I said, you, you nitwit,” she whispered angrily. He laughed and placed a kiss on her head. It felt good to have her back in his arms. And this time, he wasn’t going to let her go.

#draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy #draco malfoy imagine #draco fanfiction #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x yn #draco x y/n #draco smut #draco lucius malfoy #cedric diggory #request

1K notes · View notes

plant-flwrs · 4 years

Note

Hey :) I saw you're taking request and I have troubles writing anything fluffy or sweet. It all turns out angsty somehow :( so maybe you could write some fluff with a bit humor with George? He's taking care of her or protecting her from someone who's mean to her. Keep up the good writing :)

drama // george weasley

masterlist!

a/n: thank u so much!! i am a sucker for fluff, but i do love some angst too. i’m happy to write this for u tho!! hope u like it, thank u so much for the request!

summary: You and Cho Chang never got along, and when push comes to shove, George gets to see just how angry you can get.

(1.9k)

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“She’s such a-” you stopped yourself, refraining from calling Cho Chang all the awful names you had on the tip of your tongue.

“What happened?” Hermione asked from your side, used to hearing your endless rants about Cho.

“She said that George was too good for me,” you said, rage bubbling on your chest. You raised your voice and put on a Scottish accent, imitating what she had said, “ ‘It’s just surprising, is all. Didn’t think he’d get with someone like you. Always thought George and Hannah Abbott made a good pair, though.’ Who says something like that?”

Hermione gasped, looking at you in awe. You and Cho had been known to have a passive aggressive feud, but neither of you had ever gone that low before.

“That’s awful, Y/n,” Hermione consoled you. As loud as you yelled, she still saw the hurt in your face.

“I think I should kill her, or something,” you attempted to joke, but it fell on deaf ears as Hermione’s eyes widened at the threat, “I’m not actually going to kill her ‘Mione! I was only joking.”

The both of you flopped down on the couch and you mumbled “sort of”.

Your head lulled back, and you looked at the ceiling. You closed your eyes, trying to even out your breathing.

The second George stumbled through the portrait hole, his eyes were looking for you. He saw you immediately, head rolled back, eyes closed. Your cheeks were flushed, and your brows furrowed. You looked stressed. He came from behind you, on the other side of the couch, and placed a hand on each side of your face.

“Hello, darling,” he said, smiling, as you opened your eyes.

You smiled back at him, shyly whispering back, “hi”.

“You looked upset, what’s wrong?” George asked, still holding your face.

You sat up, pulling yourself to sit on the couch properly. George walked to the front of the couch and sat next to you, his hand going to your knee like it was natural.

“Just something Cho said,” you told him, twisting your fingers in your lap.

George pulled your hands into his lap, unfolding them and holding them.

“What did she say?” George asked.

You and Cho Chang never got along. It was a deep family issue, her parents’ parent’s hating yours. It all started so long ago, your barely remembered why. George had to talk you off many ledges when it came to Cho, and he, just as much as Hermione, always got an earful after one of your interactions with the Ravenclaw girl. This time, though, you felt hesitant to tell George. She didn’t often manage to, but she got in your head this time.

“She said something about you, about us,” you told him, hoping to be able to leave out some of the details.

George’s brow furrowed, and he shifted in his seat, becoming stiff.

“What did she say?” he repeated, sounding worried.

“She said that she was surprised to see us together, that you were better for Hannah Abbott,” you said, feeling the rage bubble back in your chest.

“What? I dated Hannah for a week when we were first years!” George exclaimed, an offended look on his face, “She has no right to say that to you. What did you say?”

A part of you swelled with pride at George’s words. He was just as angry as you, you didn’t feel crazy.

“I told her to shove off, and that I thought Cedric looked better with Hagrid than he did with her,” you admitted, smiling wide as you thought back to how red Cho’s face got.

“You didn’t!” George said, his face spreading into a wide smile.

You nodded enthusiastically, and George wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

“Let’s go down to dinner, shall we?” George said, whisking you off.

Cho was still red in the face the next day in class, and you couldn’t figure out why. What you said to her was nothing compare to what she said to you, and you were fine.

“Sending your boyfriend to clean up your messes?” Cho choked out, her fists clenched.

She looked different, and you couldn’t place it. You raised your eyebrows at her, not knowing what she was talking about.

“I was in the infirmary all night! The redness hasn’t gone down! I know it was you and George!”

You narrowed your eyes at her face, and did notice that the redness was a little more than an embarrassed flush. You recognized it immediately, remembering when George tested the candy on Fred. It made his face swell when he ate it, and he had to drink this awful potion to fix it. It left him with a bright red rash on his face for two days after. You covered your knowing gaze, and replaced it with disinterest.

“I had nothing to do with that, Cho, but I reckon you deserved it,” you said, turning back to your work.

Cho was enraged. She had never been so angry with you. She knew she wanted to get you back, but with George by your side she couldn’t prank you. She had an idea. She had casually mentioned to Luna that she wanted to fight you. Yes, a real fist fight, at Hogwarts, between you and Cho. Of course, Luna told Harry in between classes, and in a fit of laughter, Harry told Ron during dinner that night. Eavesdropping like she usually was, Hermione heard. Hermione shut her book and came to your end of the table, where you ate with George.

“Y/n!” Hermione called, lowering her face to next to your ear.

You jumped, sending a piece of chicken off your fork and into Fred’s hair from across the table, “You scared the shit out of me!”

George laughed as Fred shook his hands through his hair, trying to get the food out.

“Harry’s just told me that Cho said she wants to fight you,” Hermione said, and when you had no reaction, she repeated herself, “like a real fight!”

You squinted your eyes, trying to think if Cho would actually fight you. It didn’t seem like her, but once you sent her a glance, you saw that it may be likely. Her rash hadn’t improved, and her fists were on the table like she was burning a hole through them.

“George,” you mumbled to him, both of you now staring at Cho, fear in your eyes, “I forgot to ask you something.”

“Hm?” he mumbled, looking concerned.

“Did you do that to Cho?” you asked him.

He nodded, not taking his wide eyes off of Cho as she looked like she might explode.

“You don’t think-”

“She would fight you? Oh definitely. After what me and George did to her last night,” Fred said, glancing at Cho and going into a fit of laughter.

“What did you do?”

“We snuck into the girl’s changing rooms while she was at practice. Left her a little love note from Cedric and a candy. She ate it on her way back to the castle and her head could barely fit through the door!” Fred’s laughter made it’s way to the Ravenclaw table, and Cho stood suddenly from her seat.

You and George both flinched, clutching the other’s arms. She stormed from the Great Hall, and you both let out a relieved breath when she was finally out of sight.

“Oh my god,” you started, “I’ve got to fight Cho Chang.”

Your next few weeks were spent in fear. Waiting for Cho to ambush you, or get you from behind. George walked with you to nearly every class, trying to make sure Cho wouldn’t catch you while you were alone.

You burst into the portrait hole, out of breath from running down the hall.

“This is ridiculous!” you said, falling into the couch.

“I wish she’d just fight me already,” you breathed out, wiping your forehead with your sleeve.

“You make the first punch, then,” Fred said, leaning forward on his knees.

“I can’t! Then I’ll get in trouble,” you said, sitting up.

“Corner her,” Ron said, not looking up from the chess game he was playing with Harry, “confront her, but make her hit you first.”

Ron knocked down one of Harry’s pieces, and Harry groaned.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to,” you said, standing and walking right back out of the portrait hole.

George, and nearly everyone else who had heard your conversation, trailed after you. The threat of a fight had been getting everyone excited, and they weren’t about to miss it.

You found Cho on her way to the pitch, her gear weighing down her arms. You figured that was good, it gave you the upper hand.

“Cho!” you called out to her, urgency and anger in your voice.

Fred gave George an entertained look, and George just looked worried.

Your hands were curled into fists at your sides, and you kept your distance when you both finally faced each other.

“If you want to fight me, fight me,” you said, bracing yourself for a hit.

“What?” Cho said, feigning innocence.

“You told Luna you wanted to fight me, so fight me.”

“I never said that. Are you threatening me?”

Everyone around you was in stunned silence. You looked back to Harry, who only shook his head, insisting that Luna had said that.

“You’re such a liar,” you said, turning away from Cho.

“Luna doesn’t lie! and Y/n wasn’t threatening you. You’re a nasty and mean person,” Hermione said, stepping from the crowd and close to Cho’s face.

“Get away from me Granger, go run to Ron. Oh wait, he doesn’t want you,” Cho spat, shoving Hermione away. Hermione’s face was bright red, and you pulled her away from Cho, standing between them.

“What did you say?” you yelled at her, sounding more threatening than you had ever sounded. Hermione pulled at your shoulder, trying to get you to step back. George’s eyes widened, never hearing you sound like that. Fred’s amused chuckle rang through your ears, giving you confidence. You stepped closer to Cho, and she didn’t say anything. She avoided your eyes and swallowed hard. “What did you say Cho?”

Cho refused to answer, giving you a scowl. Hermione’s pulls at your shoulders finally gave, and you took a step back and began to walk away. You heard Cho snicker, and in one quick step you were in her face, pulling her close to you by her tie.

“You say another word about me or any of my friends,” you couldn’t think of a threat, too many deadly options on your mind, “Do it. See what happens.”

“Let me go!” Cho yelled, but it sounded more like a whine. You released her tie, and because she had been pulling against you, she fell on her back.

Mouths hung open as you returned back to your housemates. Fred lifted you by your waist, holding you in front of him and spinning.

“Y/n! That was brilliant! I think she wet her pants!” Fred shouted, putting you back on the ground.

You turned to watch Cho and the other Ravenclaws retreating to practice, a smile on your face.

George pulled you into him, kissing you.

“That was so hot,” he said smirking at you.

You laughed and shoved him away playfully, starting back up to the castle with your friends.

#george weasley #george #weasley #george weasley fic #george weasley fluff #george weasley fanfiction #george weasley imagine #george weasley x y/n #george weasley x reader #hogwarts #harry potter #gryffindor

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cursestothemoon · 3 years

Text

Yellow Face Paint Smudged With Tears

Requested: yess

Cedric x fem!hufflepuff!reader

warnings: blood, mentions of a wound, mentions of death

summary: Y/n is beyond herself with nerves as she waits for Cedric to come out of the maze. When he does it’s not how she pictured it, nor having pictured the possibility had having to say goodbye in streaked yellow face faint

word count: 2074

_______________________________________________________________________

The crowd's chants were loud but it seemed as though the sound of your heart beating in your ears was louder. The hedges of the maze had just closed, Cedric had turned to give you a final wave before entering, but you were already anxious for him to make it back out.

You started dating during your fourth year, he had stumbled into arithmancy with a shy smile and frazzled hair, apologies falling from his lips with a charming smile. He had been ten minutes late and the only open seat was behind you, conveniently enough. It was the classic case of friends to lovers, both of you thinking your feelings were unrequited. A couple dozen late night common room talks later, he tried his luck and asked you to Hogsmeade.

Obviously you gladly accepted his request.

The connection having been strong since then, never prone to the stereotypical teen romance of break ups and jealousy. He was yours and you were his, and everyone knew it. That’s what made watching him disappear into the dark maze that much more frightening, you had never really prepared for a life without him and something about the eerie mist settling over the tall green hedges made you sick.

“He’ll be alright, Y/n, it’s Cedric.”

The comment didn’t calm you down, but you tried your best to give Hannah Abbott a weak smile. You shifted on your feet, something not letting you sit down just yet, and adjusted your yellow scarf and Cedric pin.

He had made sure to make it clear who you had been rooting for that morning, not only making you wear your yellow Hufflepuff scarf but adorning your clothes and scarf with his pins, yellow face paint, and the last touch being the sweater you were wearing. His own of course, but he had charmed it to read ‘I’m with Diggory’ on the back. At first you felt a bit ridiculous but right now? You couldn’t be bothered to split your attention between the maze and what you were wearing, Cedric was only lost in one of those and it wasn’t the one you preferred.

“Come on, darling, the yellow face paint will tie it all together.” Cedric pouted, hand holding up a pot of bright yellow face paint.

You screwed your face together already knowing you’d be losing this argument, “Fine but don’t go crazy Diggory, I still want to look alright.”

He beamed, leaning in to place a soft kiss to your lips before shaky (nerves for the task awaiting him) hands dipped into the pot to paint two yellow stripes under your eyes, “You’ll always look more than alright to me, flower.”

It had been well around three hours since the start of the task when you heard Fleur’s screams and red sparks fly into the air, she forfeited. The way she came out panicked, pale, and frantic was no help to your nerves making your knees bouncing. Many of yours and Cedric’s friends had gotten quite rowdy at the forfeit of the Beauxbatons girl, it meant a better shot for Cedric. You, also, couldn’t help but feel lighter at the news, it would be over sooner now, Cedric would be out sooner.

“I’ll be alright.” Cedric smiled, trying to reassure you.

It was moments before he had to go out to the start of the maze and you had to find your seat. You bit your lip anxiously as you looked at him, his thumb coming to tub your lip away from your teeth.

“Just-” You took in a breath. “Just don’t try to be a hero, Ced. If something goes wrong, promise me you’ll get out of there?”

He pulled you into his arms, lips pressing a kiss to the top of your head before he rested his cheek there.

“Nothing is going to go wrong.”

At the time you failed to notice that he failed to make the promise.

Viktor Krum was the next to forfeit, coming out pale and sweaty, something was definitely not right with the way he was shaking it. He didn’t strike you as a guy who would scare easily.

The time was nearing four hours now and you worried you’d have to wait all night for Ced, something you were more than willing to do. Fortunately, it seemed to end earlier than anticipated though once you saw the two figures land on the floor you really wished you could stare at the hedges just a little while longer.

“Help! Somebody help him!” Harry yelled, gripping Cedric’s shirt.

The music was loud, too loud, no one seemed to notice Harry’s pleas or the way Cedric was lying motionless on the ground. But you did. Your scream was what got everyone’s attention, and you rushing toward the boys on the floor was sure to attract some attention but your mind was on other things.

As you got closer, the blood seeping out of Cedric’s side made you give a choked gasp as you fell to your knees next to him. His black and yellow shirt growing a sickly maroon spot.

“Cedric, Cedric, baby wake up.”

Nothing.

“Harry what happened?”

Professor Dumbledore had made his way to where you were but you were far too concerned for formalities right now. Your hands were cradling Cedric’s face, one dipping down to feel his side only to come up coated in blood.

“Help him! Please, he’s bleeding. Do something!” You cried, anger evident in your voice as Dumbledore seemed to not be moving fast enough.

The atmosphere seemed to get more frantic as Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father, tried to push his way through the crowd of people that had now gathered.

“That’s my son!” The desperation in his voice making your cries louder.

Amos came down next to you, hand grabbing Cedric’s, “That’s my boy!”

“It was the cruciatus curse. He- he lost consciousness while Voldemort used the cruciatus curse on him and I couldn’t get to the cup fast enough, a spell nicked his side. He’s back, Voldemort’s back.” Harry’s words were scrambled and thick with emotion.

As more people moved toward the castle and the professors along with Madam Pomfrey helped take Cedric’s body to the infirmary, you were pushed further and further away until you were too far to see him. This didn’t stop you from taking long steps, wanting to reach the infirmary quickly to see what was happening with your boyfriend.

“Can’t you make an exception? I’m his girlfriend!” You yelled annoyance toward Madam Pomfrey clear with every word.

Not only was the healer not telling you anything about Cedric’s state but she was also refusing to let you see him.

She huffed, “I’ve told you already, we have a strict close family rule when it comes to something as serious as what Mr. Diggory has been through.”

“Well... it’s a stupid rule.” You fought back whilst crossing your arms.

Madam Pomfrey gave you a look, “It’s a good thing, then, that you have no say when it comes to the rules here. Now please, Ms. L/n leave before I have to call someone to remove you.”

“That won’t be necessary, Pomfrey.”

Amos was now by the older lady’s side. His face looked tired, eyes droopy and skin dull, emotionally exhausted by the day's events no doubt.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Diggory. I tried to tell her to leave but she’s being rather… bratty.” The healer directed her words toward you, attitude strong.

Amos put a hand on Madam Pomfrey’s shoulder, “As well she should, if it were my wife in here and I was left out to worry I’d be a brat too.”

He then looked to you with a soft smile, “Come in, Y/n, he’d want you to be there when he woke up.”

You followed him in making sure to give a smug look to Madam Pomfrey as you walked past her to Cedric. You wished the feeling of the small victory had lasted a little longer as you saw Cedric. He was grey, sunken looking, his usual radiant smile was replaced by straight lips.

“Luckily, Madam Pomfrey knew what to do. Says that he will probably be alright but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up… if he wakes up.” Amos’ voice faded as he looked away, you were glad he did so, not wanting him to witness the rapid tears cascading down your cheeks.

It took a moment for you to find your voice,when you did it came out quiet and raspy, barely recognizable.

“Can- can I sit with…”

Amos quickly nodded, “Go ahead, my wife has gone down to get food from the hall I should too.”

The chair scraped against the stone floor as you pulled it closer to yourself, sitting on it. Amos left as you reached to grab Cedric’s hand, it was cold making you let out a quiet whimper. His hands were always so warm.

“Cedric… I don- I’m not sure what to say.” You cried, bringing his knuckles up to your lips.

“Come on Ced. You are going to be just fine. Come back to me.” Your voice cracked, words muffled by Cedric’s hand that you kept to your lips.

With a look to his closed eyes you whispered, “You were it for me, Ced. You own my heart wholly and completely, and if you were- if I were to lose you…”

Your head dropped to his bed, words lost in the possibility that this could be it. Tears streaking through cracked yellow paint stripes under your eyes, and pins flashing with your love’s name you’d be forced to say goodbye.

The mumble you heard was low and you would’ve missed it if you didn’t have a hand on his chest to feel the vibration. Your head shot up to look at him, his eyebrows now furrowed as he groaned again. The pain was evident on his face as he fought to open his eyes, fortunately the infirmary wasn’t as bright as it would’ve been if it were midday.

“Ced…”

He turned to you and pushed the hand you had let go of toward you, silently asking you to take it again.

“I should go get Madam Pomfrey.” You moved to stand before your sentence was finished resulting in a grunt from him.

“No. Not yet. M’fine, just a little sore.”

You gawked at him, “You had a chunk missing from your side, I’m going to get-”

“It’s back now?”

“Pardon?”

His thumb ran over your knuckles as he closed his eyes again, eyebrows still drawn together, “The chunk, s’back now?”

“Well, yeah, they wouldn’t just lea-”

“Good, don't leave.” He opened his eyes to look at you again, forehead relaxing.

Flabbergasted. Flabbergasted was the word you’d use to describe how you were feeling due to his stubbornness but made no attempt to leave him, as he wished.

“I thought you were gone.” You breathed out.

Cedric pulled you by the arm to sit on the bed with him, on his good side of course. He’d never tell you but it did, quite literally, feel as though someone tore out a piece of his torso. He let you get comfortable, one of your legs folding under you and the other hanging off the bed as you faced him.

His hand came up to your face slowly and you couldn’t stop yourself from dipping down to place a kiss on his lips, Cedric happily complying. It was only when you pulled away that he really took a good look at you, gently dragging his thumb under your eye he let out a quizzical ‘hmph’.

“You’ve messed up my work.”

You laughed, a breathy, relieved laugh as you smiled at him. Oh how you adored this kind boy. And he was probably right, his work was most likely ruined.

“Sorry, I was busy crying over my boyfriend.”

Cedric made a face, “Oh he must be a right git, your boyfriend. Making you worry like that.”

“Yeah but it’s alright, I love him a lot.”

You were being guided down to his lips but before he could get what he wanted you pulled away.

“I love him so much so that I want to do what's best for him. I’m going to get Madam Pomfrey.” You stated, getting up to walk to the healers room.

“I almost won that one.” Cedric said, voice still quiet and gravelly but a smile ghosting over his lips.

#Cedric Diggory #cedric diggory imagine #cedric diggory x reader #cedric diggory imagines

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aidanchaser · 3 years

Text

Table of Contents beta’d by @ageofzero @magic713m @ccboomer @aubsenroute @somebodyswatson

Chapter Fifteen The Heist

Luna Lovegood hated Hogwarts. Yes, she was in Ravenclaw, and yes, she loved learning, but school? School was where curiosity went to die in a long, slow, stretched out sentence.

For Luna, the transition from her family home, where her father had encouraged her explorations and experiments, to a place of high stone walls and demanding bells had been terrible for her, and she’d nearly quit after her first year.

Now she was glad that she had persisted, because school had one thing worthwhile: Ginny Weasley.

When Ginny had hexed those boys for calling her Loony, the stars in the dark night had burst into existence, and school had become not just bearable, but pleasant. Luna had skipped everywhere for the rest of the that week.

This year, however, there was no skipping. Even Herbology, one of Luna’s favourite subjects, was overcast by the horrid cloud that Snape and the Carrows left on the school.

At least Ginny and Neville were in Herbology with her. N.E.W.T.-level courses often combined sixth and seventh years, and Luna was glad to have her closest friends with her at least once a week.

They were currently repotting Venomous Tentacula, which involved lots of soothing whispers and gentle strokes to the stem and vines. Neville worked easily, and Luna did too, even humming a lullaby to her knot of vines as she transferred the plant into a larger pot and carefully aerated the soil.

“Ow!” Ginny hissed, drawing her hand away from her plant.

Luna patted one of her vines and paused her melody. “Did it bite you, Ginny?”

Ginny pressed her wounded hand to her mouth. “Just got me with its leaves. Bloody bastard hates me.”

“You have to be gentle,” she sang, and reached for a watering can.

“I am gentle!”

Luna giggled. Ginny could be gentle, but it was not her natural state by any stretch.

Once Luna had finished repotting her Tentacula, she moved to Ginny’s station to help her work.

“You have to be kind and patient.” Luna ran her fingers along one of the vines. “It’s a sensitive plant.”

Beneath Luna’s hands, the vines no longer lashed out with sharp, sudden outbursts of movement, but instead swayed in time to her humming.

“See?” Luna paused her song. “Now put your fertilizer in that pot.”

Professor Sprout praised them all for their hard work, and congratulated them for finishing the lesson without any bite accidents. “There’s usually at least one of you turned bright purple and on your way up to the hospital wing, but you all did excellent work today,” she beamed at them.

“Hospital wing’s full up anyway,” Hannah Abbott mumbled, just out of Sprout’s earshot, as she cleaned up her work station.

Hannah looked unusually wild today. Her thick plaits were uncharacteristically loose, and dirt streaked her cheeks. She wrestled her book into her bag with the sort of determination one might use when salvaging Snargaluff pods.

Neville reached across his station to hers and picked up her shovel and trowel. “Ernie will be fine,” he murmured, and returned her tools to the greenhouse shed.

Hannah tried and failed to regain control of her trembling lip, then hurried out of the greenhouse before Neville could come back.

It wasn’t just Ernie, who was recovering from a detention after he had called the Daily Prophet “rubbish” and added that he hoped Harry would show up at Hogwarts so he could “put Snape in his place.”

It was Parvati and Padma Patil, who had refused to attend Muggle Studies. Each night that they refused earned them a night of detention, until after three weeks both girls had become too ill to attend any of their classes.

It was Hugh Ward, who had defiantly announced to the boys in his Slytherin dormitory that he was a half-blood.

Luna didn’t know what curses the boys had used to try to punish Hugh for being so proud of his Muggle lineage, but he had been in the hospital wing all week. Luna had visited him, and the Patil twins. She made a point to visit anyone who had been in Dumbledore’s Army, because they were her friends.

On these visits, it was not uncommon for her to find Hannah, helping Madam Pomfrey change linens and administer medicine to those who needed it. Though Hannah never did any of the Charm work in the hospital wing, she watched closely each time Madam Pomfrey cast a spell.

Luna knew that Hannah wanted to become a Healer. Each time Luna visited the hospital wing, she thought about becoming a Healer, too. She liked caring for people, and she was taking enough N.E.W.T.s for it. But so much of Healing was urgent, and Luna had never done well with urgent.

“Must you always move so slowly?” Ginny snapped.

Luna frowned at her gloves as she packed them away. She much preferred the greenhouse to the castle and couldn’t understand why Ginny was so eager to get back. She’d much rather be down here with the fresh air than back with the Carrows.

“Come on,” Ginny whined, “I’m starved.”

Luna squeezed her Herbology textbook between her personal field guide and the thick tome for Transfiguration. With those three texts and her scaly Care of Magical Creatures book, her bag was nearly bursting at the seams.

“Why didn’t you eat breakfast?” Luna shouldered her heavy bag and hurried to the door where Ginny and Neville were waiting.

“I wasn’t hungry at breakfast.”

“Helen said she was sulking in the Owlery after a row with Harry,” Neville whispered, but not as quietly as he should have.

“We didn’t have a row! And anyway, don’t use his name. Someone might hear you.”

“Should we just call him You-Know-Who?” Neville asked with a grin.

Ginny shoved him, none too gently, and picked up her pace, leaving Neville and Luna trailing behind her.

Luna pursed her lips and looked up at Neville. There was something different about him this year, but Luna couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“Did you grow taller over the summer?” she asked, and tried to gauge if she was looking up more than she had looked up last year.

“What? Oh — yeah, I did. Gran sent out for a whole new wardrobe.” He wrinkled his nose. “It was only like, an inch I think, but she insisted. I think it was her way of apologising that Mum and Dad were gone most of the summer.”

Luna tilted her head. “I suppose they work quite a lot.”

Neville laughed. “I haven’t seen much of them since… well, I guess since Voldemort came back. I mean, a meal here and there, but usually only one at a time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not bad.” He adjusted his bag. “Their work’s important. And I’ve always had Gran around.”

Luna looked down at her hands. There was dirt under her nails, and she supposed she ought to clean up before lunch, but she liked when her hands were dirty. It reminded her of her mother, who had always smelled like earth and soot. It also reminded her of her father, whose fingers were often stained with ink.

“But you miss them.”

It wasn’t a question. Luna didn’t ask questions she already knew the answers to. There were plenty of other questions to be concerned with.

“What do you think we should call Harry?” she asked. “And I suppose we’ll need names for Ron and Hermione as well. Should we all have secret names? Like cats, perhaps? I should like to be Turnip.”

When she and Neville reached the castle, Ginny was waiting impatiently at the door.

“You both walk slow,” she complained, and stormed inside.

“My,” Luna said, “it must have been quite a bad fight with Parsnip.”

Neville frowned. “No, I don’t like that one.”

“Butterscotch?”

“Hmm…”

“Pickled Herring?”

“Must it be food?”

“I like Pickled Herring, because it sounds like him, but backwards.”

“I suppose.”

Luna waved goodbye to Neville and joined the Ravenclaw table. She sat next to a girl named Kim Sheringham, who Luna did not consider a friend, exactly, but they had lived together for the better part of six years, which might count for something to other people. It just didn’t count very much to Luna.

“Hi, Luna,” said Kim.

“Hello,” Luna said, but remained focused on her lunch

“How was Herbology?”

Luna hummed. “Warm. Pleasant.” She reached for the pitcher and poured herself a glass of water.

“Sounds nice. Listen, do you think you could do me a favour?”

Luna stared at Kim and took a sip from her cup. She waited for Kim to ask for what she really wanted.

Kim faltered, but she’d always been more keen on small talk than Luna. Finally, she said, “Could you tell Flitwick I’m not well? I need to review for the Muggle Studies exam tonight. Please, I just can’t keep all the Sacred Twenty-Eight straight. Just tell Flitwick I fell ill after lunch or something. Any excuse will do.”

Ravenclaws, as a rule, did not skip lessons — unless they had an exam to prepare for.

“I could review with you,” Luna offered, and pretended not to notice the way Kim’s brow furrowed.

“That’s alright, thanks. Just tell him I’m not well. He’ll believe whatever you say, you know.”

Now it was Luna’s turn to frown. She didn’t understand what Kim meant, but she didn’t get to ask because Kim was already leaving.

Luna finished her meal alone, still puzzling over Kim’s comment, and wandered to Charms by herself. She apologised to Flitwick for Kim’s absence, and promised to take notes for two. Flitwick readily accepted her vague excuse, and this only puzzled Luna more. How had Kim known that Flitwick would not press her?

She was distracted throughout class, but her notes were no less for it. She was not sure that they would help Kim — no one ever asked to borrow Luna’s colourful, pictographic notes — but Luna would not mind explaining them.

After Charms, Luna had a free period, while the Gryffindors took their Charms lesson. She passed Ginny and Neville outside Flitwick’s classroom door and smiled. Ginny grinned back, which worried Luna. It was not the sort of grin that suggested Ginny was truly in a better mood; it was Ginny’s mischievous grin.

Luna waited until she was in the library to check the Galleon in her pocket. She had not noticed it grow warm during her Charms lesson, but it must have, for there was a new date and time inscribed where the identification number would be. Tonight, an hour before Muggle Studies.

Whatever Ginny had planned would get them all into trouble, certainly, but Luna at least knew that it would be fun, and fun was in such short supply these days.

There was plenty of time between now and then, so Luna set about working on their personalised field guides for Herbology. She had started adding to it, not just for Herbology, but also for Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was sweet, but Luna did not find him an adept professor. She could appreciate the practicality of his lessons, at least, but had started recording what she learned from their field experiments into her Herbology project. She enjoyed this sort of work, collecting information and organising it. And decorating it.

Professor Flitwick had suggested a career studying magical plants and animals, doing field work, exploring, traveling and notetaking, making discoveries. Luna liked the idea of it, but the way he had presented it sounded tedious. He had mentioned the Ministry and paperwork, almost as if he had been trying to put her off from the job. He had even suggested that she spend her summer reaching out to people at the Ministry to try some job-shadowing, but Luna had a hard time finding people in the Ministry that were not involved with either the Death Eaters, the Rotfang Conspiracy, or the Heliopath Army.

Was it not enough to simply wander?

Luna had never been good at purpose. It was one of the many things she had always admired about Ginny. Ginny had always known who she was and what she wanted. Luna, for all her appearances of self-assurance, wondered and doubted far more than anyone knew.

Luna finished her note about Fire Crabs in preparation for tomorrow’s lesson and waited for the ink to dry. She swung her legs back and forth and stared out of the large window. Neither of her parents had ever made a living on the things they were passionate about. They did things that were uninteresting to fund their curiosities. She wondered if she would end up doing the same.

With a sigh, Luna closed her field guide and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. Again, she ate alone, but she watched Ginny talk with one of the girls from her dorm. Ginny’s smile was wide but empty, and she tapped her fork anxiously against her plate.

Neville sat alone, picking at his food, and Seamus and Lavender sat together, but they had more interest in the professors’ table than in each other.

Luna shook her head. Gryffindors were always so obvious. If the Carrows were even a little bit smarter, they might have known to be suspicious.

Neville left dinner first, and after an exact count of thirty, Ginny followed. The rest of the D.A. made their way out of the Great Hall in staggered exits. Some relied on a count of their own choosing. Some relied on waiting until a certain number of people had exited before they made their way to the seventh floor.

If Umbridge had taught them anything, it was how to avoid getting caught.

Luna waited until Michael Corner loudly announced that he was going to check on Padma, and trailed after him at her usual aimless pace. When he headed for the hospital wing, Luna went all the way back to Ravenclaw Tower, but instead of climbing the stairs, she slipped down another corridor to the Room of Requirement.

The Room no longer looked as it had for D.A. meetings. In fact, Luna thought it looked rather like a proper classroom. There were even stacks of reference books on some of the desks.

“I thought if anyone did walk in on us, it would look like we were studying,” Neville said, when he saw Luna’s curious glance.

She hummed thoughtfully. “You should ask it not to let anyone walk in on us.”

Neville looked surprised, then frowned and sank into one of the desks. He drummed his fingers thoughtfully.

Luna always appreciated the way Neville took her ideas seriously, rather than laughed at them, or dismissed them instantly, the way so many of her peers and professors did.

Padma and Parvati returned from the hospital wing with Michael, and a small crowd surrounded them, asking if they were alright. Hannah and Susan were notable outliers, clustered by themselves and whispering quietly. Ginny, too, stood alone, trying to count heads, and another girl in a green headscarf, someone Luna had not spoken to since those early days of the D.A., sat by herself.

Luna slipped into the desk beside Atalanta Shafiq. She smiled pleasantly.

“Hello. It’s Atalanta, isn’t it?”

The girl stared at her with large brown eyes. Luna thought she was in fourth year, the same Dennis Creevey would have been in.

“You’re Luna.”

Luna’s smile widened. “How did you know?”

“Everyone knows you. You’re one of the people who went to the Ministry with Potter two summers ago.”

“Oh, you mean Pickled Herring.”

Atalanta stared at Luna as if she had lost her mind, a look Luna was used to, though she hadn’t seen it in a while. She hadn’t spent much time with new people recently.

“You’re friends with Hugh, aren’t you?” Luna asked her.

Atalanta nodded. “I know you visit him. How is he?”

“Oh — he’s well. Don’t you see him yourself?”

The girl turned to stare straight ahead. Her face was hard and her voice tight. “He asked me to stop coming. As if everyone doesn’t already know we’re friends — as if he has anyone else to bring him notes —” She broke off abruptly and her nostrils flared. “Everyone knows we were friends with the Creeveys anyway. My lineage doesn’t protect me as much as he thinks it does.”

“It sounds like he cares about you.” Luna hummed. “But you seem like someone who can take care of yourself. It’s okay for both of those things to be true, you know.”

Atalanta did not say anything. Luna appreciated the way the girl considered her words. It was like watching someone put together a puzzle, and Luna loved puzzles.

The door opened and closed one last time for Pearl Lais and Ginny announced, “I think that’s everyone. Let’s get started.”

All conversations ceased as she spoke. Ginny commanded a room with more ease than Harry had. Luna could not help but smile dreamily.

“So as you all know, tonight we have an exam for Muggle Studies.”

“I won’t take it,” Zacharias Smith announced loudly.

“And we fully plan to resume our protest,” Parvati added, voice defiant. Padma looked less confident, but she nodded when Parvati looked at her.

“Standing outside the Muggle Studies classroom is great,” Neville said, “but if we could do something more coordinated and subversive, we might be able to get more students on our side, and you wouldn’t have to go to detention.”

Padma raised an eyebrow. “You have something planned that won’t get us in trouble?”

“As long as we don’t get caught,” Ginny grinned. “I heard Snape threatened to take your Prefect badge. Your protest has been great, but it’s not worth that. We need people like you in charge as much as possible. Let me show you what we have in mind. It’s so easy, even Neville could do it.”

Neville did not look upset by the remark in the least, and pulled a stack of loose parchment from the desk at the front of the classroom. He began passing it out.

“It’s partly a Muggle-trick,” he said, “so it’s perfect for Muggle Studies.”

“There’s a bit of Charm, of course,” Ginny said, “to make it more interesting.”

Ginny and Neville explained the procedure of the prank to the members of Dumbledore’s Army. Everyone had several sheets to practice with, but Luna took to it right away. She found it a rather endearing bit of spellwork, but she knew that Alecto Carrow would hate it. Still, it was a harmless and funny prank. Even if they did get caught, the punishment couldn’t be too severe.

As Luna finished folding her third sheet of parchment, just for something to do with her hands, Ginny slid into the desk next to her.

“Hey,” she said, “I have a special job for you.”

Luna looked up from her parchment as Ginny pressed a small bottle into her hands.

“Neville got that from Herbology today. Can you smear it into Carrow’s book before the exam?”

Luna held up the colourless vial. “Should I wear dragonhide gloves?”

“No, it has to be ingested. Just the corners of the pages will do.”

“How will I get the book?”

“Just ask her for it. Say you need to check your notes or something. She’ll believe whatever you tell her.”

Luna stared into Ginny’s deep brown eyes. “Why?”

“You have an honest face. If I ask, she’ll know something’s up.”

Luna wasn’t sure what it meant that she had an, “honest face,” but it was the nicest compliment Ginny had given her all year, so she took it and pressed it into her memory like she pressed flowers into her field guide.

“I should go now, then,” she said. “So I’ll have time.”

“Don’t worry about getting caught,” Ginny said. “I’ve got something else planned and she’ll probably single me out for the whole thing.”

Luna didn’t mean to smile, but she did. “I would be honoured to have detention with you,” and she punctuated her statement with a curtsy. Ginny laughed, and it made whatever punishments Luna might receive for smearing poison into Alecto Carrow’s book worth it.

As Ginny had predicted, Professor Carrow did not suspect anything was amiss when Luna arrived at her office early and asked to check her notes against the enormous tome that she read out of during their lessons. She muttered something about Ravenclaws and perfectionism, then left Luna at a desk with her notes and the book.

Carefully, Luna dabbed some of the poison onto her finger and smeared it onto the upper right corners of each page. She pretended to skim some of the pages, and even made a few marks into her own notes to sell the lie, but she wondered if she even needed to. Professor Carrow hardly paid her any mind.

When she had finished, she thanked Professor Carrow, and waited until she was alone in the hallway to wipe her hands clean.

All students were required to take Muggle Studies, and the curriculum was entirely new, so everyone, from first year to seventh, took it together in the Great Hall three evenings a week. Luna found it slightly more entertaining than History of Magic, because while Professor Carrow could drone on much like Professor Binns, Carrow at least took questions, and Luna loved when her friends asked questions.

In their very first class, Neville had challenged every line of Professor Carrow’s reading. She had snappishly asked for his lineage not twenty minutes into class. With a wide grin, Neville had said, “Longbottom and Fawley.”

The other day, Ginny had asked Professor Carrow why they weren’t going to evaluate the Carrow family tree the way they had the Bones family. Professor Carrow had turned red and Luna had expected her to hex Ginny then and there.

Luna had not asked any questions yet, though she had, at one point, raised her hand to point out that it was unfair to accuse Muggles of being liars and cheats when Thicknesse was a continuation of Scrimgeour’s evil plot to bring down the Ministry through the horrors of gum disease. The other students had laughed, and Professor Carrow had given her a condescending smile.

“How could the Ministry allow such plots to happen right under their nose?” Professor Carrow had asked with a sickly smile.

“Same way they allowed Death Eaters to infiltrate and Voldemort to take over,” Neville had said loudly, and he’d gotten a week of detention.

The dining tables were removed from the Great Hall each night of Muggle Studies and were replaced with rows of desks. Students sat by year and by house, so Luna took a seat near the back of one of the Ravenclaw aisles. She thought it was a good thing that the D.A. was largely composed of upper-years. Professor Carrow would be less likely to notice them folding up their exams.

The Great Hall was quiet as students worked on their exams. Quills scratched against parchment and occasionally Luna heard the sound of a page turning as Professor Carrow licked her finger and turned the page of her heavy tome.

As she folded up her exam just like they had practiced in the Room of Requirement, Luna watched Professor Carrow closely. The woman coughed after five pages and reached for her tea. After ten pages, she rubbed her throat and finished her drink. By the fifteenth page, her cheeks were already flushed purple and she looked uncomfortable.

“Professor!” Ginny shouted. She didn’t need to shout, since the hall was as silent as O.W.L.s had been, but as her voice echoed, every head turned to her.

She had her hand stretched as high as she could and she bounced anxiously. “Professor!”

Professor Carrow stood from her desk and frowned down at Ginny. “This is an exam, girl. Be quiet.”

“It’s an emergency, Professor. Can I go? I’ll only be a minute.”

Professor Carrow’s mouth lifted in a sneer. “No.”

“Please, Professor? I mean, I’ll use my exam if I have to, but —”

Laughter rippled across the hall and Ginny grinned.

“Make it quick!” Carrow snapped at her, and Ginny sprinted from the hall.

She really was gone only a minute — both Luna and Professor Carrow counted — and Luna wondered what she possibly could have accomplished during that time.

Ginny maintained an appearance of studiousness as she returned to her exam, and Professor Carrow returned to her book. She rubbed her throat again and looked at her empty tea cup. She snapped her fingers impatiently. A house-elf appeared with a pop and poured her a fresh cup, then vanished just as quickly.

Luna forgot all about the clusters of parchment that decorated her desk. Her focus was wholly on Professor Carrow as the woman inspected the cup of tea. She sniffed it, tapped her wand against it, took a small sip, and seemed satisfied. She finished the cup and went back to her book.

Luna kept watching, and it was another seven pages before Professor Carrow licked her finger and paused. She looked at her hand, at the book, and then directly at Luna. Luna tried to shrink into her seat.

Carrow got to her feet and started down the aisle of Ravenclaw desks with a look of fury that might have cowed a dragon. Luna, however, was spared immediate consequences by a squeak that began on the Gryffindor side of the room, followed closely by a squeak from the Hufflepuff aisle.

Hastily, Luna Animated the collection of parchment mice that she had so carefully constructed during the exam. They joined the chorus of mice that now filled the hall, leaping off of desks and scampering towards Professor Carrow.

Luna didn’t think Professor Carrow was a woman who feared mice, but it at least startled her, and it certainly upset several of the other students, who screamed as the parchment creations scurried over their feet and onto their desks. Students leapt up onto chairs and desks, and the entire hall descended into chaos.

It was impossible to tell, as Ginny and Neville had probably planned, where the mice had come from. Carrow pointed her wand at the ones nearest to her, and they went up in flames, but they were quickly replaced with more. Some tried to climb her skirt while others scampered across the room, nibbling on exams and tearing every piece of parchment to shreds.

“Everyone out!” Carrow snapped, crushing one of the mice under her heel. “Orderly!” she added as a few of the more skittish students bolted for the door.

But even those that ran reached a wall of students who had, for some reason, stalled in the doorway of the Great Hall.

“What now?” Carrow elbowed her way to the front, and Luna stood on her tiptoes to peer over Draco Malfoy’s shoulder. She saw a message painted on the floor of the entrance hall in bright red, impossible to miss.

DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY: NOW RECRUITING

Professor Carrow tried to vanish the mess, but it sparked with fireworks and she leapt backwards. A pair of first years stared in awe. A few upper years laughed.

“Weasley!” Carrow snapped, and a few of the older students waited for the inevitable joke of, “Which one?” before realising that Ginny was the only Weasley left at Hogwarts.

Ginny leaned against the pillar that framed the door into the Great Hall. She smiled at Carrow. “Yes, Professor?”

Professor Carrow lifted her wand. “You’ll get more than detention, brat —”

“Say, Professor,” Ginny said, “you’ve got a little something on your —” Ginny gestured to her face, then paused and gestured to Carrow’s hands, “well — everywhere.”

Professor Carrow looked down at her hands, now bright purple.

“That looks like Venomous Tentacula poison,” said Neville. “You ought to be careful around the greenhouses, Professor.”

Carrow whipped around and aimed her wand at Neville, then searched the crowd for Luna. “You,” she snapped.

Luna raised her eyebrows.

“What’s your name?”

“Lovegood,” Luna said, before it had even occurred to her to lie.

Carrow ran her tongue across her teeth. “Lovegood? Your father runs The Quibbler?”

“Er — yes, Professor.”

“You and Weasley, to the Headmaster Snape’s office immediately.”

Luna started for the stairs, but Ginny folded her arms over her chest and refused to move.

“Weasley!”

“Snape isn’t Headmaster.”

“I’ve had just about enough of you. Pureblooded or not —”

“Last week you called me a blood traitor, but this week you’re suddenly all concerned with —”

“Imperio.”

Luna watched, horrified, as Ginny’s posture relaxed and her dark eyes widened.

“Stop!” Luna cried, which, futile as it was, at least provided cover as Neville drew his wand.

“Stupefy!” Neville shouted, and Professor Carrow fell backwards, sprawled over Ginny’s message on the floor.

A few of the students cheered and footsteps thundered down the stairs.

Amycus Carrow and Argus Filch shoved their way through the crowd of students. They took in the mess of paint on the floor, the unconscious and purple professor, and Neville with his wand drawn.

“What did you do, you filthy brat!” Amycus snarled.

“She was only Stunned,” Seamus Finnigan shouted. “Seemed fair since she was using a bloody Unforgivable!”

“Another week of detention then?” Neville asked, with more bravery than Luna thought anyone should have, considering how many detentions had landed students in the infirmary.

“No, I think your punishment should be a bit more public and swift —”

“Professor?” Malfoy interrupted. He grabbed Luna’s arm and pulled her forward. His Head Boy badge glinted in the candlelight. “Professor Carrow was just about to take Lovegood and Weasley up to the Headmaster’s office. Shall I help you escort them?”

Amycus Carrow did not do well with being interrupted. It was a challenge for him to hold so many thoughts in his head at once.

“Lovegood and Weasley?”

“Yes, sir. They’re responsible for this mess, too. Pansy can help Professor Carrow, here, and I’ll help you get this lot to Professor Snape.”

Luna did not fight Malfoy’s tight grip on her arm as he took her to Snape’s office, not the way Ginny pushed and pulled on Amycus as he dragged her up the stairs. Neville, too, was more docile in Filch’s grip, and he eyed Malfoy suspiciously.

Carrow announced the password, “Asphodel,” and the gargoyle that guarded the stairs to the Headmaster’s office parted with ease.

Luna was so rarely angry. Anger was a concept, something she witnessed in others, and maybe glimpsed in herself the way she could glimpse the edge of the Black Lake on a clear day. She did not feel true anger very often, but as she was pulled up to the Headmaster’s office, it rose in her chest with each step.

It was horribly unfair of Hogwarts, who had denied Umbridge access to the Headmaster’s office, to allow Snape control over it, when Snape was the very one who had killed Dumbledore.

Luna tried to swallow down her anger, but it refused to budge. She hated Hogwarts.

Carrow pounded his fist on the heavy oak door at the top of the stairs and pushed it open.

The Headmaster’s office was different from what Luna remembered. She’d only seen it once before, but she had adored it. There had been so many trinkets bobbing and whizzing about; it had been full of noise and life. It had reminded her of her mother’s office.

Now, however, it was cold and empty, with nothing but a Pensieve in a corner and a desk stacked with parchment. Fawkes’ perch remained, but was empty, and behind the Headmaster’s desk were the frames of all the previous Headmasters, including Dumbledore, fast asleep. She looked away, and settled on Snape’s face. As much as she disliked Snape, looking at him hurt less than looking at Dumbledore’s portrait.

Snape, seated at the Headmaster’s desk, kept his eyes on what looked to Luna like a letter.

“No, please, come right in,” he drawled. “I’m not busy or anything.”

“These students cursed Alecto,” Amycus said. “Stunned her right in the entrance hall.”

“They had nothing to do with it!” Neville snapped. “I Stunned her because she used an Unforgivable on Ginny! It was just me!”

With an eerie amount of care, Snape set the letter aside and finally looked at the group that had invaded his office. His face had no more displeasure than it usually did as he looked at each of them.

“Then give Longbottom a detention,” he finally said to Carrow. “Five feet of lines reading, ‘I will not hex my professors’ ought to do it.”

Luna could not tell if Snape was serious. Amycus appeared to be having the same problem. His jaw worked fruitlessly before he finally sputtered, “That’s it?”

Snape stood. “What would you like me to do? Expel him and send him back to his Dumbledore-fanatic parents? You’re in charge of discipline, Carrow. So discipline them. Can’t you control a few children?” He opened a cabinet and pulled out a cloak. “I have business off of the grounds tonight. I expect that this will be dealt with by the time I return.”

Snape held the door open for them, and Carrow reluctantly led them back down to the corridor. Snape swept past them, dark cloak billowing the way it had as he had paced the aisles during his Potions lessons, and disappeared down the stairs.

Carrow watched him go, a hard look on his face. “Are the dungeons ready, Filch?”

“Oiled the hinges this morning, sir,” Filch said. “Haven’t put the chains back in yet —”

“It’ll do for now.”

Ginny’s thrashing did not hinder Carrow in the slightest as he, Filch, and Malfoy took the three of them downstairs into the dungeons. Their wands were set on a nearby shelf, tauntingly visible but well out of reach, and then the three were left alone until Carrow could come up with something more creative.

“Did you see it?” Neville’s voice was steady, and he leaned almost comfortably against the stone wall.

The iron-wrought bars rattled as Ginny kicked them, but they did not budge. “Of course I saw it. We ought to go for it now, while Snape’s gone.”

Luna eyed a trickle of water that slid from the ceiling and into a small puddle on the floor. She wondered if it came from the Black Lake or a leaky pipe. “What did you notice?” she asked.

“The Sword of Godric Gryffindor,” Ginny said. “Didn’t you see it hanging under Dumbledore’s portrait?”

“Oh. Is it important?”

“Dumbledore left it to Harry,” Neville said. “He needs it. I don’t know how we could get it to him, though.”

“I can talk to him,” Ginny said. “If we could just get out of here —” She kicked again, but the bars did not budge under her assault.

“We aren’t getting out of here.” Neville retrieved a worn piece of parchment and a golden feather from his pocket. He searched for a dry spot on the floor and unfolded the old parchment. “But we can make a plan. Halloween would be good, when everyone’s at the feast.”

Ginny gave the bars one more kick for good measure, then joined Neville on the floor.

Neville pressed the tip of the feather to the parchment like a quill and said, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

—————————— ✶✶✶ ——————————

Ginny was forced to scrub the entrance hall clean until there was no trace of her graffiti, and students could see their reflection in the polished floor. It took her the better part of three full weeks and her hands were blistered and cracked when she was finished.

Luna spent every night reading out loud from Alecto Carrow’s horrible book, and if she faltered or hesitated in any way, she earned a welt and had to start over. It went on for two weeks.

Neville was left in the dungeons for a week, and did not appear for lessons nor meals. He said nothing about what happened to him, but he flinched when Seamus clapped him on the shoulder at his first meal back.

It wasn’t even an hour later that Susan approached Neville and asked what the revenge plan was. Neville told her to keep her head down until the Halloween feast.

To an outsider, it might have appeared that the Carrows had won. Muggle Studies lessons passed without incident. There were small protests in Dark Arts, but nothing more dramatic than civil disobedience. It was quiet at Hogwarts, until Halloween.

They started small. Seamus and Parvati slipped some of the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes Exploding Whizz-Bangs into the eggs at breakfast with a Switching Spell. After the chaos of breakfast, Alecto Carrow promised to hold the entire school for an extra hour of Muggle Studies that evening if no one confessed or gave up the perpetrator.

No one said a word.

Lavender took the leaflets from the Daily Prophet with Harry’s face and the bounty and modified them. Instead of “Undesirable No 1” the leaflet read, “Desirable Chosen 1” which was enough of a change to get their point across. She lamented that Dean could have done better, but the rest of the D.A. praised her work.

The leaflets were blown up to twice their size and pasted into windows all across the castle, with the help of everyone in the D.A. Every common room, from Gryffindor to Slytherin, was plastered with Harry’s face.

By lunch, the Carrows were scorching walls left and right, and Atalanta Shafiq told everyone that the Carrows had accidentally blasted a hole through the Slytherin Common room right into the Black Lake and flooded the dormitories.

Neville’s job was an unfortunate one, but he took it with grace. He waited until lunch was nearly over, then shouted at Crabbe and asked, “I know you said you’re a pureblood, but isn’t there a bit of troll in your tree? Was it on your mother or father’s side?”

Crabbe threw a hex that sent Neville flying five feet backwards and when he got up, he was puking up something slimy. Hannah escorted him to the hospital wing.

Ginny’s role for the day revolved around being as suspicious as possible without getting into real trouble. She ducked through hidden corridors. She paused to fiddle with her bag or her shoes. Luna stayed close with her for most of it, until after Transfiguration, they ducked out of Amycus’ careful watch by slipping into Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.

Demelza was waiting for them. “Ready?” she asked.

Ginny nodded and plucked out a strand of her hair.

Luna left the bathroom with Demelza, but Amycus Carrow saw exactly what he expected to see: Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley heading down to the Halloween feast.

Luna watched Demelza sit next to Helen Donoghue and engage Helen as easily as if she really were Ginny. Amycus stood at the door, eyes intent on Ginny. Luna could not help but smile, despite her trepidation at her own task.

She ate slowly, unsure how full her stomach ought to be. She looked at the professors and bit her tongue when she noticed that Snape was missing. Their plan hinged on Snape being out of his office.

Well, it was too late for them to change course now. Neville was waiting for her in the hospital wing, and Ginny was probably already hiding out by the Headmaster’s office.

Luna took a deep breath, pulled the bright yellow half of a Fainting Fancy from her pocket, and swallowed.

She woke with a headache in a corridor not far from the hospital wing with Neville and Michael Corner leaning over her. She licked her lips and tried to swallow down the spiced pepper flavour that seemed stuck to her tongue. She decided that she didn’t care for the second half of those Fainting Fancies.

“Are you alright?” Michael asked her.

Luna sat up and rubbed her throbbing head. “I fell,” she said.

“I tried to catch you. You should have warned me when you were going to do it.”

“It’s alright,” Neville said.

Luna gagged. His breath smelled like Porlock dung.

“You’d better get back to the feast,” Neville told Michael. “The less time you’re with us, the better it’ll look for you.”

“Are you alright?” Luna asked Neville as Michael hurried back to the Great Hall.

Neville grimaced. “I was hoping for boils. Madam Pomfrey says I’ll be tasting acid for a week, but she was at least able to stop the puking, so we can go ahead with the plan. Everything seems to be going well so far.”

“Oh… there is one thing…”

Luna told him that she had not seen Snape at the feast. Neville checked the map while they walked.

“I don’t see him at all,” Neville frowned. He ran his finger across the Marauder’s Map. “Oh — he’s just arrived at the gates. What do you think he left for?”

“Perhaps he’s joined a league of vampires. Halloween is a special holiday for them.”

“Then I guess we’d better hurry up before he finds us and drinks our blood.” Neville squinted at the map. “You catch up with Ginny. I have an idea. Peeves is just around the corner and if he can stall…”

Neville was still talking as he disappeared behind a tapestry of Mordicus Egg cooking over an open fire. Luna paused to watch the heavy tapestry resettle in Neville’s wake. The threads of the flames seemed alive as they rippled back and forth, until finally the tapestry stilled.

She skipped on ahead to the gargoyle at the end of the corridor. She spun around once in a circle, and did not see Ginny. So she spun again, and this time Ginny stepped out from behind a suit of armor.

“How’s Demelza doing?” Ginny asked.

“She’s very good at being you,” Luna said, then said, “Asphodel,” to the statue. It stepped aside easily and Luna hummed. “I really thought he would have changed it.”

“It’s a good thing he didn’t. Where’s Neville?”

“He said to go on without him.”

Ginny was already halfway up the stairs. “Alohomora,” she said, and the lock on the office door clicked open. She shoved the heavy door with her shoulder.

Ginny ran in for the sword, and Luna listened at the door. While she listened, her eyes roved over the portraits. Their oily eyes were fixed on Ginny as she lifted the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from its display.

“Breaking and entering!” one portrait shouted. “In the Headmaster’s office!”

“Put that sword back, child,” Dilys Derwent said in a kinder voice. “I’m sure you mean well, but —”

“Thievery!” Phineas Nigellus Black shrieked at her. “Unheard of! In my time —”

“Treachery!” one woman with a thick wand shouted.

“You’re the traitors!” Ginny shouted back at them. “Letting Snape in here — helping him — and after what he did to Dumbledore!”

She broke off and stared at Dumbledore’s portrait. It’s gold frame glistened, and the impression of Dumbledore stared back at her, as still and as unmoving as any Muggle portrait.

Luna abandoned her post at the door and came to Ginny’s side. She stared at Dumbledore’s portrait and felt her heart grow heavy, the way it did each time she passed her mother’s office in the basement of their family home.

“Ginny,” she whispered, “we should go. You can’t argue with what’s been done.”

“It isn’t fair.” Ginny turned her fierce glare on all the portraits, then back onto Dumbledore’s still portrait. “You know what the sword is for, what it can do. Tell them.”

The portrait did not so much as blink at her.

“Ginny.” Luna tugged on her arm.

Ginny’s lower lip trembled, and she turned away from Dumbledore’s portrait. Luna pulled her towards the door, but froze on the first step.

Ginny heard it too — footsteps coming up for them.

They backed into the office, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run as Snape and the Carrows burst into the office. Ginny brandished the sword as she might a wand for a duel. Luna did not have time to reach for her wand as Amycus Carrow thrust Neville at her. He fell into her and she staggered under his weight.

“You two,” Alecto Carrow sneered, “are supposed to be in the hospital wing.”

“Oh, but I feel much better,” Luna said. Neville only groaned.

“How’d you find us?” Ginny snapped.

“Hogwarts is a castle filled with portraits, Miss Weasley. I think you can figure out the rest.” Snape waved his wand and Ginny jumped as if the sword had burned her. It clattered to the ground and she clutched her hand to her chest.

“I thought,” Snape drawled, “I asked you two to control these children.”

“We did —” Amycus protested. “We have — she was just in the Hall, I swear.”

“I think a detention in the Forbidden Forest ought to teach them a lesson or two. Every night for the next week. From sundown to midnight.”

Luna tipped her head to one side. “But —”

Ginny squeezed her wrist and she stopped talking.

But that meant they would be with Hagrid instead of at Muggle Studies lessons. She wondered if Snape just didn’t realise when Muggle Studies lessons were. Did he think they were during normal lesson hours?

“And what if they try it again?” the Carrows asked.

Snape removed his cloak and pulled out a smudged piece of parchment from his pocket. “I expect you’ll prevent them from trying again.” He glanced at the sword on the floor. “I’ll have it removed from Hogwarts, then this will no longer be a problem.”

As he tucked the parchment into a book on his desk, Luna was certain that the smudge of ink was actually a small black pawprint. She supposed if Snape was a vampire, he must have a familiar by now.

Snape took a seat at his desk and surveyed the small crowd in his office. “Well? Is there a reason you’re all still here?”

The Carrows shoved Ginny towards the door, and Luna helped Neville limp down the stairs.

“Yes, I know,” she heard Snape say as the door closed. “I can have a duplicate ready in days.”

And as the latch on the door clicked, Luna thought that she heard the familiar rumble of Dumbledore’s voice.

—————————— ✶✶✶ ——————————

It was midnight, but no one was keen on heading back to the castle just yet. Ginny sat down in the grass and leaned against one of the trees on the edge of the forest, still in view of Hagrid’s hut, but away from where Neville was helping Hagrid pick Moondew for Madam Rosmerta’s Butterbeer.

Luna crouched down beside her.

“Do you think the Carrows will come and collect us?” Ginny asked. “Or could we stay out here all night?”

Luna ran her hand over the trunk of the tree. She loved the transition from the soft moss to the rough bark and back again.

“It’s just so empty in the common room,” Ginny said. “Is it like that in Ravenclaw?”

Luna crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. She thought for a moment. “A bit. Terry Boot never came back. Mandy checks for his name in the paper every day. Anthony Goldstein wasn’t a Muggle-born, but his family left for Canada after Dumbledore’s funeral, and they don’t plan to come back any time soon.” She plucked a small dandelion flower from the grass by her knee. “I expect it’s worst in Hufflepuff.”

Ginny folded her arms over her chest and looked up at the stars over Hagrid’s hut. “I miss him, Luna. I miss him so much, but when we talk it’s like he isn’t there. And I — I know you probably don’t want to hear it — I’m sorry — but I don’t know that I have anyone else —”

Luna reached for another dandelion and folded the stems into the beginning of a flower chain. “I will never take half of you,” Luna said, “and I don’t believe that you are one to give halves.”

Ginny’s laugh was sad. It made Luna’s chest ache. She leaned against Ginny and continued working on her flower chain.

They sat in silence, until nearly two, when Hagrid insisted they return to their bunks.

“I’ll walk yeh ter the castle,” he said, “but don’ let Filch catch you on your way up.”

Neville waved the map. “We’ll be alright. As long as any portraits don’t get involved.”

Luna tied off the flower chain into a crown and stood. She spun in a circle and dropped the circlet on Ginny’s head. “Up we go,” she said, holding her hand out to Ginny.

Ginny took it. “Thanks, Luna.”

Luna smiled. She pulled Ginny along and hurried to catch up with Neville. She took his hand as well.

Luna hated Hogwarts, and she had no desire to go back behind those high stone walls, but at least she did not have to go alone. At least she could go with friends.

#luna lovegood #hp fic #hp everyone lives #hp everyone lives au #harry potter #hp #dh

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headcanonsandmore · 3 years

Text

“Fell In Love With A Girl”, Chapter One

Summary: Luna Lovegood finds herself caught up in a world of international espionage, on the hunt for the mysterious gang who have a strange obsession with Amazonian plant-life (a subject on which Luna happens to know quite a lot). And, of course, Ginny Weasley insists in coming along for the ride. You don't mess with Ginny's Lu and get away with it. But can Ginny protect Luna from the forces set against them?

~~~~~~~~~

Here it is, everyone; my first foray into the action-adventure genre of fanfic! Hope you like it! Thank you to @lytefoot and @cheeseanonioncrisps, without whom this fic would never have happened, and @rabisacos for their advice with some elements of the plot that will become apparent in later chapters. :)

TWs are in the tags.

~~~~~~~~~

Read on FFN. Read on AO3.

~~~~~~~~

The shop bell tinkled.

Luna Lovegood looked up from the plant she was re-potting. It was close to mid-day. Normally, she would have kept the shop open for the afternoon, but she had other plans that afternoon.

The stranger who walked in was… well, very strange indeed. A large, heavy-set man, clad in dark clothes despite the warm weather, and with thick sunglasses that obscured most of his face. Luna was also aware that he was very tall and towered over her.

‘Hello,’ she said, a little confused as she climbed to her feet. ‘Can you help you with anything?’

The man reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Luna.

‘Amazonian Octarine-Flame?’ Luna read aloud. ‘I’m afraid I don’t stock it; the plant is very rare, and isn’t kept domestically in the UK.’

The man stared at Luna for a moment, as if judging whether he believed her, before he nodded, took his piece of paper from Luna’s hands, and left without so much as a thank you. The door swung shut behind him.

Pondering the stranger’s behaviour, Luna finished her re-potting, and brought in the standing sign from outside. She was just locking the front door, when the sound of a motorbike made her turn.

‘Alright, Lu?’

Luna grinned, her cheeks blushing, as Ginny pulled off her helmet, her ginger hair sparkling in the sunshine.

‘Yes,’ she replied, pressing a quick kiss to Ginny’s cheek. ‘I’m all set to go. Are you feeling confident?’

‘For the match? With you watching me, I’m always confident.’

Luna smiled, as she strapped on the spare helmet Ginny had just handed her. She climbed onto the back of the bike, and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist. With a loud roar, the bike came to life, and the two women sped off through the streets.

Mercifully, the traffic wasn’t too bad that day, and they reached the basketball arena with a few minutes to spare.

They could hear the crowds beginning to arrive. Luna squeezed Ginny’s hand as they walked over to the players entrance.

‘You’ll be brilliant, Ginny,’ she said, pecking her on the lips.

‘Thanks,’ Ginny replied. ‘Can I hope to expect a bit more than a kiss as a reward afterwards?’

Luna giggled.

‘How about you win the game first, before you think about that?’

‘So… that’s not a “no”…’

Laughing, Luna kissed her again, and Ginny flashed her a smile, before entering the players entrance.

Luna walked through the main entrance, and made for the stands.

‘Luna!’

Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom were waving at her from a spot roughly in the centre of the stands. Luna waved back, and made for them. The crowd was full of people excitedly talking about the game about to start, and of the odds on different players scoring. Luna was happy to see that Ginny was a popular choice.

Luna reached Neville and Hannah. She hugged them both, and sat down.

‘You and Ginny got here on time, then?’

‘Yes,’ Luna replied. ‘The traffic was fine. How about you two?’

‘We were almost late,’ Hannah said, interlacing her fingers with Neville’s. ‘Neville’s been getting some weird emails from lots of friends from our old class.’

‘Very weird, actually,’ Neville said, his brow wrinkling. ‘Apparently, there’s been some break-ins in several botanical conservation sites, all of them having plants from the Amazon stolen. All within the same week.’

Luna was about to enquire further but, at that moment, the stands around them erupted in cheers as the two teams emerged onto the court.

Of course, Ginny’s team won the team, with Ginny herself scoring several points, including one scored with a spectacular leap upwards over two members of the opposing teams heads. Luna cheered and applauded as Ginny grinned up at the stands.

About ten minutes later, Ginny emerged from the changing rooms, and was met by a cacophony of reporters and fans. Finally, the crowd dispersed, and the redhead walked over to where her girlfriend was waiting.

Ginny, her face now wreathed in a wide smile, hugged Luna tightly as the blonde threw her arms around her.

‘I was a bit worried there for a bit,’ she said, modestly. ‘But it all worked out okay.’

‘You were brilliant!’ Luna exclaimed, quickly pressing a kiss to her lips. ‘I’m so proud of you!’

‘Oh, really?’ Ginny asked, a mischievous look entering her eye. ‘Care to demonstrate after we get back to yours?’

Luna blushed, smiling.

Luna sat up in bed, and stretched.

Ginny was snoring softly on the mattress next to her, her red hair illuminated slightly in the moonlight.

Luna smiled at her girlfriend.

Her life had been so… dull before Ginny entered it. Sure, she loved her shop and working with plants all day, but there was a routine to it that had become tedious over the years. So much that it almost became background noise. And it wasn’t as if Luna met a lot of people; she wasn’t the most ongoing person and, while she occasionally met up with people she had known at university, her life progressed in much the same way every passing week and month.

Then Ginny had arrived. A whirlwind of red hair and sports jerseys. Fun, exciting and utterly lovely. The most exciting, mist exhilarating person Luna had ever met. The last few months had been… well, wonderful in every sense of the word.

Feeling thirsty, Luna pulled her nightie over her head, and wrapped a dressing gown around herself, before descending the stairs to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk, and leaned against the counter, watching the moonlight dance across the kitchen.

She was just about to go back upstairs again, when she became aware of a curious sensation. Almost as if she was being watched?

Luna set her glass down on the kitchen counter, and walked across to the entrance through to the shop. She could see the usual shapes of the plants climbing up, and the vines stretching up across the ceiling.

Was… was there someone there? She had a burglar alarm installed, but the siren had not gone off. Everything seemed to be as it should.

Luna paused in the entrance way, her neck prickling. What was…

There was a creak on the stairs behind her.

‘Luuuunnnaaa….’ Ginny purred, slipping her arms around Luna’s shoulders. Luna felt goosebumps erupt along her neck as the redhead spoke softly into her ear. ‘Come back to bed…’

Casting one last look over the shop, Luna allowed her girlfriend to lead her back upstairs. But, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that something moved in the shop.

Probably just a fly, she thought.

The kitchen was bathed in sunlight as Ginny and Luna ate their breakfast. Ginny was wearing a pair of Luna’s old dungarees paired with a white t-shirt, and Luna was finding it difficult not to blush; the redhead looked so lovely wearing them.

‘So… no practices for a few weeks,’ Ginny said, her mouth half-full with toast. ‘It’ll be nice to have some time to relax.’

‘That would explain the lack of a bra today, I take it?’

‘Oh, definitely,’ Ginny said, flashing a wink. ‘And, well, what say you and me have the day to ourselves?’

‘Oh, that sounds…’ Luna began, before her face fell.

‘What? Something wrong?’

‘No, I’d love to just spend the day here with you, but… well, I’ve been invited to a Botany and Horticultural conference at my old University today.’

‘Oh, no worries,’ Ginny said. ‘I’ll join you.’

‘What? No, I can just tell them I couldn’t make it-’

‘Don’t be silly. You love this stuff, Lu,’ Ginny said, stroking Luna’s hand softly. ‘I want to learn more about what you enjoy.’

‘You don’t mind? I know Horticulture isn’t really your thing.’

‘And basketball isn’t really your thing, but you still come to my games,’ Ginny replied. ‘Let me be the sweetie-pie for once, ‘kay?’

Luna smiled, her cheeks dimpling.

‘I’m not that sweet.’

‘I beg to differ. After all, I am now rather accustomated to-’

‘Ginny!’

The redhead laughed, and threw an arm around Luna’s shoulders.

‘Okay, when does this conference start?’

‘Midday, but-’

‘Great, then we’ve got a few hours to kill. How about you and I take it easy for an hour or so, and then I’ll pick up my suit from my place?’

Luna found herself blushing.

‘S-suit?’

‘Three-piece, Lu,’ Ginny said, winking. ‘Why? Too much?’

Luna smiled, and shook her head. Her girlfriend was something else, indeed.

The two of them arrived at Luna’s old university with some time to spare. They had taken the underground at Luna’s insistence; she had said that it was due to the lack of parking at the university but, judging from Luna’s blushing whenever she looked at Ginny, the redhead could guess it was because she didn’t want Ginny to mess up her suit.

They bumped into Professor Sprout, one of Luna and Neville’s old professors who Ginny had met previously. The professor smiled as she saw Luna’s fingers intertwined with Ginny’s. Both the young women blushed.

Soon enough, the conference was due to staff. Luna and Ginny sat down in the auditorium, and the noise of everyone around them gradually dissipated.

An elderly man, presumably one of the university’s professors, walked across the stage. He had a long beard and wore half-spoon spectacles.

‘I’ll be brief,’ said the elderly professor. ‘Throughout the last few days, we have heard numerous reports of the thefts of Amazonian plants across London. Our sister universities in Europe have been dealing with similar reports.’

‘And from other parts of South America,’ said another professor. ‘Paraguay and Chile have also had various thefts.’

‘We’re dealing with an international level of theft. The various authorities have been informed, of course, but I must ask that we all be very careful when it comes to security for the time being.’

Ginny turned to look at Luna, and was startled to see her girlfriend looking suddenly very worried.

Instinctively, Ginny reached out and took her hand, giving it a delicate squeeze. Luna smiled softly, clearly glad of the support.

It worried Ginny to see Luna looking so serious; she was usually so calm and cheerful about everything. Things were clearly bad if even Luna Lovegood couldn’t put a brave face on. Even though the rest of the conference was of a more cheerful nature, Luna’s mood did not improve much.

Luna and Ginny rode back across London on the underground. Ginny didn’t let go of Luna’s hand the entire time, and Luna leaned into her girlfriend’s shoulder, her face troubled. It broke Ginny’s heart to see her like this. She wrapped an arm around Luna’s shoulder, and pressed a quick kiss to the blonde woman’s forehead.

Luna seemed to be feeling marginally better as they emerged from the underground. As it happened, they passed the restaurant they had gone to for one of their first dates, and Ginny pointed it out. The memory brought a smile to Luna’s face, and she squeezed Ginny’s hand.

However, as soon as they turned the corner round to Luna’s shop, this happy moment popped like a bubble.

‘M-my shop!’

Ginny stared on in horror. The shop windows had been smashed in, and there was several police cars parked nearby. Pieces of glass were scattered across the pavement, and the owners of the shops nearby were stood around, looking concerned.

Her eyes widening, Luna stumbled forward.

‘What’s… what’s happened?’ she gasped, as her fellow shopkeepers turned to look at her. ‘I… I was only gone for a couple of hours.’

‘We heard the windows smash and the alarms go off barely forty-five minutes ago,’ said Madam Puddifoot, the owner of the café next door. ‘Thank goodness you weren’t hurt, Luna.’

‘Who the bloody hell would do this?’ Ginny exclaimed, as she looked at the smashed glass, aghast. ‘God, Luna… you could have been here,’-she grabbed Luna’s hand-‘forget what I said earlier, spending the day at home would have been terrible.’

Luna chuckled miserably.

‘Was… was anything taken?’

‘That’s the weird thing,’ Madam Puddifoot said, looking a little baffled. ‘Your till doesn’t seem to have been touched at all. No money gone, nothing. It looked like whoever did this didn’t even try to break it open.’

Well, Ginny thought, that’s one positive-

‘But we noticed some of your books have been taken.’

‘What?’ Luna said. ‘My books? On botany?’

‘Yes, the ones on Amazonian plants, by the looks of it.’

Luna��s face, if it was possible, fell even further.

Ginny wrapped her arm around Luna’s midriff, holding her close. The blonde turned and leaned into her chest, her arms reaching around Ginny, clinging to her for support.

‘I’m here, Lu,’ Ginny whispered, ‘It’s gonna be okay.’

Luna nodded, mutely.

‘Ms Lovegood?’

A tall, black man had emerged from inside the shop. He was wearing a dark blue suit that had a sort of neat elegance that Ginny had never managed to achieve. Some people had a distinct aura that went with their job, and Ginny knew he wasn’t just a standard policeman. He was a detective, or something similar.

‘Y-yes,’ Luna said, pulling away from Ginny and turning to face the man.

‘I am Kingsley Shacklebolt,’ he said. ‘I’m in charge of the investigation surrounding this break-in. Normally, we’d ask you to discuss this within your shop, but we understand if this is a bit too much at the moment-’

‘It’s fine,’ Luna replied, sounding far tougher than Ginny would have expected. ‘Let’s get this over with.’

Still holding Ginny by the hand, Luna followed Shacklebolt into the shop, taking pains to avoid the glass scattered across the pavement.

The inside of the shop was surprisingly tidy. Aside from the windows being smashed, nothing was much out of the ordinary. Same plants, same vines reaching up the walls, etc. Ginny took a quick look around, and was almost positive that none of the plants seemed to have even been moved, let alone stolen. There were no tell-tale trails of compost, for one thing.

As they entered the kitchen, Luna strode over to the bookshelf she had recently put up against the wall. Ginny realised exactly what Madam Puddifoot had meant; there were several empty spaces where Luna’s books on Amazonian botany and plant-life were supposed to be. They had certainly been there when Ginny and Luna had left for the conference earlier that morning.

‘Ms Lovegood, we are currently trying to ascertain the motive for this,’ Shacklebolt said, as he, Luna and Ginny sat down around the table. Several police constables blocked the view into the kitchen from the shop itself. ‘The till wasn’t broken into, and no plants have been stolen, so profit doesn’t seem to have been the motive. Do you think it could be anything else? Blackmail, perhaps?’

‘No,’ Luna said. ‘It’s… well, my books on rare Amazonian plants have been stolen. They were the only things that were taken.’

A brief flicker of emotion flickered across Shacklebolt’s face.

‘I see. And… the smashed windows? An intimation tactic, perhaps?’

‘You don’t say,’ Ginny said, sarcastically. ‘What a load of bastards…’

Shacklebolt smiled at the redheads infuriated expression.

There was some raised voices from the shop. Several of the police constables began to move.

‘Ere mate, you can’t just barge in,’ exclaimed one short constable. ‘Fred, look at the nerve of this bloke…’

‘Aye, Nobby,’ said another member of the constabulary, who had a large, red face. ‘That constitutes… uh, accessory to annoyin’ a police officer-’

‘Let me through, you morons, I know Luna and Ginny-’

‘Neville!’ Ginny said.

‘Thank god you’re both here,’ the blonde man replied, as he scrambled into the kitchen and stood before them. There were some continued mutterings from behind him. ‘Luna, I’ve got a feeling that your books on Amazonian plants have been taken?’

‘Y-yes,’ Luna said. ‘Neville, how did you-’

‘Because Professor Sprout’s private stores were broken into while she was at the conference,’ Neville said, his face serious. ‘All her research into rare Amazonian plants has been stolen.’

‘O-oh,’ Luna said.

‘That sounds about right,’ Shacklebolt said, mirthlessly as he put a hand up to his earpiece. ‘I’ll need to discuss this with the office.’

He stepped through the line of constables and into the shop, already talking to whoever was communicating through his earpiece. But he was then barged aside by a tall, redheaded figure.

‘Ginny? Luna?’

‘Ron?’

Ginny’s older brother appeared through the crowd in the kitchen doorway.

‘Are you two alright?’ he asked, ignoring the mutterings from the various police constables whose feet he had accidentally-on-purpose trodden on. ‘I heard it direct from Neville earlier-’

‘We’re fine, Ronald,’ Luna said. ‘But thank you anyway.’

‘That’s good,’ Ron said. ‘You’ve got Ginny here, after all.’

Luna smiled, squeezing Ginny’s hand.

‘Yes, I do.’

Ginny found herself blushing a little.

‘How about I make us all some tea?’ Ron said. ‘Ginny, help me with the mugs?’

‘Sure.’

As the kettle began to boil, Ron turned to his sister and whispered.

‘Luna seemed pretty shook up.’

‘Yeah,’ Ginny replied, casting a quick look over her shoulder, to where Luna was talking to Neville. ‘I know she’s putting a brave face on it, but… this is her home as well her shop, y’know? The idea that someone would break into it while she was barely out for a couple hours is pretty distressing.’

‘You were both at the conference while this happened?’

‘She was half-willing to not bother today, but I thought it would be good for me to learn more about botany for her,’ Ginny said. ‘But… what if she’d been here while the break-in happened?’

‘It wouldn’t have happened, Ginny,’ Ron said, patting her on the shoulder in support. ‘I’ve got a feeling that whoever did this timed it so it happened during the conference itself, when they knew Luna would be out of the way.’

‘You reckon?’

‘Yeah. I mean, why else do it in the middle of the day? Especially on a busy London street.’

Ginny nodded, putting sugar into Luna’s mug (Luna always liked two spoonful’s of sugar in her tea).

‘Ginny?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Just… I think Luna’s going to need you with her,’ Ron said. ‘And I reckon you’ll be there with her one-hundred-per-cent, right?’

‘Of course,’ Ginny replied. ‘I’d die than let anyone hurt her.’

Ron smiled.

‘Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But just be careful, okay.’

Ginny stared at him.

‘It’s a break-in, Ron, not a terrorist operation.’

‘Still.’

Ron poured the water into the various mugs, added the Kingsley Shacklebolt had returned. He nodded to the police constables nearby in a knowing way. He then turned to Luna.

‘Ms Lovegood, do we have your permission to check the premises for any listening equipment?’

Luna stared at him in confusion.

‘My apologies, Ms Lovegood, but we cannot be too cautious. The people who broke in could have bugged the place.’

‘Do thieves normally do that?’

‘No, but I don’t believe we are dealing with normal thieves here.’

Luna swallowed, looking worried.

‘Okay; you have my permission to check.’

‘Thank you,’ said Shacklebolt, before turning to the constables.

‘Secure the perimeter.’

The assembled constables spread out. All the doors and windows were closed, and the entire shop and kitchen were checked thoroughly, including the underside of the table and every light fixture.

After the constables seemed satisfied that nothing had been tampered with, Kingsley sat down again at the table. Ginny joined Luna on the other side, while Ron and Neville remained standing.

‘I’m afraid that I now have reason to believe that this is an international conspiracy,’ he Shacklebolt said, his voice grave. ‘Which means that I am now authorised to give yourself, Miss Weasley, Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom security clearance.’

‘Er… what?’

The man smiled.

‘My name is Agent Shacklebolt of MI5,’ he said, as he flashed a badge. ‘My apologies for not being honest with you earlier, but it wouldn’t have done you any good to know unless you needed to. I’ve been tracking these break-ins for a while, but now I have solid proof that they aren’t just isolated occurrences.’

‘You’re a… a spy?!’ Ginny gasped, shocked. ‘Like James Bond?’

‘I’m afraid the reality is far less glamorous,’ Agent Shacklebolt replied, smiling slightly. ‘But, yes, I am a spy. Or spook, if you like. Normally, I only deal with domestic issues but, given the international nature of this threat, I will be liaising with my peers in MI6. They should be here in a moment.’

He put a hand to the small head-set in his ear, and began to talk quietly.

‘I always did wonder what the difference was between them,’ Ginny muttered. Luna chuckled under her breath.

A man passed through the police (who had, by this point, grown sick of being used as a sort of living wall), and stood in front of the table. His face was covered in scars, and his hair was a messy, mousy brown. He gave the appearance of looking far older than his age.

‘Hello,’ said the man, smiling softly. ‘My name is Agent Lupin of MI6, but you may call me Remus.’

~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you liked it!

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lonelysoul029 · 4 years

Text

His Hufflepuff Secret ~ Seven

<-Previous Chapter

_____

Y/N walks into the Great Hall and sits down next to Hannah, who is sitting across from Darren. They're both talking with Cedric Diggory and a brunette girl named Laurie.

"How are you so sure you're going to win Cedric?" Darren asks the older wizard.

"I've got faith in myself, D," Cedric answers, throwing a small piece of broccoli at his friend," And besides, that Potter ain't half bad, so either one of us can easily take the win for Hogwarts."

"I, for one, don't doubt that Cedric," Y/N chimes in, taking a few fries from Darren's plate. She's quick to avoid his hand swatting hers away.

"Thanks Fawley," the dark-haired boy smiles at her.

They continue to chat about the tournament. The boys even mention Fleur Delacour and the other Beauxbaton ladies and how 'pretty' and 'hot' they are compared to the girls at Hogwarts. This results in Hannah leaning over from across the table to smack Darren with her Care of Magical Creatures textbook.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" Darren whines, rubbing at the top of his head.

"Beauxbaton girls are prettier than the girls here at Hogwarts huh?" Hannah scowls at the boy.

His face falls, "I-I was only joking, Hannah."

"Sure you were," she gets up from her seat, "Come on, Fawley. Let's go someplace where no gits are around to open their stupid mouths."

Y/N takes Darren's whole plate of fries and follows Hannah out the hall. They hear him trying to apologize to Hannah, but they're already halfway out the door.

~~~~•~~~~

The girls sit on one of the window sills near their next class as they munch on the stolen fried potatoes.

"So, since you're doing better after that incident with Pansy," Hannah speaks, "Maybe now we can talk about what happened at the Yule Ball?"

"Why? What happened at the Yule Ball?" Y/N knows what her friend is talking about, she just doesn't want to talk about it.

"Don't play dumb with me, Fawley," the blonde points a fry at her, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Hell, the whole bloody school knows what I'm talking about!"

Y/N bangs her head against the concrete behind her, which was a stupid idea considering her still fairly new head injury. What the fuck is your beef with your own head? "So you saw it then?" she mumbles quietly.

"Well, when you kiss Draco Malfoy in the middle of the bloody dance floor," Hannah says sarcastically, "Anyone, or rather, everyone present in the room will obviously see it. In this case, half our school and Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, happened to be present in the room," she grins at her.

"Okay but that's not true," she tries to defend, "Technically, he kissed me. Not the other way around."

Hannah laughs, "Doesn't matter who kissed who first. What matters is that students and staff saw it, and now you two are the biggest gossip around here. On top of that-"

"There's more?" Y/N groans.

"Yes," Hannah nods, "Pansy Parkinson has been bad mouthing you any chance she gets."

Seriously? When is she ever going to stop with this attitude of hers?

"Speaking of, how's your head feeling?"

"Physically, the cut on my head is healing; but with all that's been going on, my brain cells are about to run away to South Korea just to escape my thoughts."

Hannah gives her a sympathetic smile, "What are your thoughts, anyway?"

"About what exactly?" Y/N prompts.

"Malfoy."

She groans, "Ugh where do I even start?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Hannah says sarcastically, "Maybe from the beginning?"

So Y/N does exactly that. She explains to Hannah that she and Malfoy have been friends since second year and how they both agreed to keep it a secret, "...but that's the thing! We promised each other to be friends only behind closed doors and then he goes and takes me to the ball and kisses me."

"It sounds to me that he's got it bad for you," Hannah smirks.

"I highly doubt he's 'got it bad' for me, Hannah," she uses air quotes to emphasize her point.

"Let's look at the facts then, shall we?" she leans forward with her elbows on her textbook and her hands interlaced, "You said that you've been friends in secret for years. In said years, you two flirted back and forth with each other and he's always touchy feely with you. He's probably been in love with you from the beginning! Maybe, he finally got the courage to show his feelings for you and thought that the Yule Ball was the perfect opportunity to do it."

Y/N scoffs nervously, "You could join the Major Investigation Department of the Magical Congress of the United States of America with that investigative thinking of yours," she babbles, trying to deflect what her friend is implying.

"That is not my point and you know it," Hannah says sternly, "With all that denying of yours, I'd say you've got it just as bad as Malfoy does."

"You ladies talking about me?" a familiar voice says.

"Absolutely not," Hannah quickly replies.

Y/N turns her head and sees Draco Malfoy towering over them with a smirk on his face.

"You sure about that, Abbott? Cuz I definitely heard my name," he utters cockily.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Hannah retorts. Y/N is choosing to stay silent, both in embarrassment and not wanting to talk after what her friend just told her.

"I think if it's me you're gossiping about, I have the right to eavesdrop."

"Whatever, Malfoy," she rolls her eyes then pulls her friend up by the arm, "Let's go Y/N, we'll be late for class."

"Hey! I'm in this class too, Abbott," Draco follows the girls.

"And I care because...?" Hannah prompts as she walks faster.

He slows his pace and semi-yells, "Because that's my girlfriend you're dragging all the way there."

The girls stop dead in their tracks. Some students bump into them and some curse them for blocking the way. Hannah slowly turns around to face the Slytherin, "What did you just say?"

"Oh fuck," Y/N mutters under her breath before turning around as well.

"You heard me, Abbott," the boy says, his eyes flickering to Y/N's. A smug smirk permanently plastered on his face, "Ain't that right, sweetheart?"

She nervously meets Hannah's wide-eyed expression, "Yeah, uhh... small detail I forgot to mention?"

"Small detail?!" the other girl exclaims, "Y/N this is huge!"

"Hannah, please," Y/N rolls her eyes, "It's really not a big deal."

"Not a big deal my arse," Hannah grins, "I knew you've both got it bad. Turns out it's officially happening already."

"Can we just get to class?" Y/N groans.

"Fine."

The trio walk into Potions. The girls sit at their usual table with two other Hufflepuffs. On the other side of the room, Draco sits with Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise.

Snape is leaning on his desk, arms folded and face stoic as ever. If he dislikes his job so much, why not just quit? Y/N thinks.

The professor clears his throat, "Today, I will be teaching you about what can be considered the most powerful and most dangerous potion in the world; amortentia. Can anyone tell me what it is?" He scans the room full of bored students, "Mr. Nott."

"Amortentia is a love potion, professor. It can cause extreme infatuation or obsession from whoever drinks it," Theo answers confidently.

"And what is peculiar about it's scent?" Snape looks to the other side of the room, "Miss Fawley?"

Y/N looks up from her notes, "The scent is different for each person. Amortentia will smell like whatever the person is most attracted to."

"Would you like to tell us what you smell?" the professor says, gesturing to the cauldron at the front of the class.

"Sure, I guess," Y/N nods hesitantly. She gets up from her table and walks up to the front. Using her hand, she waves it over the cauldron and breathes in. "I smell apples, mint and... cologne?" A familiar snicker can be heard from one of the tables. Immediately, Y/N rolls her eyes.

"Interesting," Professor Snape hums, although his tone far from interested, "Please take your seat, Miss Fawley. Now, all of you are to brew this potion. I expect perfection and nothing less. Remember, amortentia is quite a dangerous potion, so don't ingest it. No fooling around. Anyone who fails to act properly will receive a month's detention."

The students nod, and a few 'yes, professor's' are muttered.

"You may begin."

Y/N grabs a cauldron while Hannah gathers the ingredients. They place the items back on their table and start going through the instructions.

"So," Hannah nudges Y/N's shoulder, "Apples and cologne, huh?" she smirks at her.

"Oh shut it, Abbott."

The blonde simply giggles, "Come on. Loosen up will you? At least you smelled your actual boyfriend, and not some other guy. That would've been completely awkward and embarrassing if what you described was antique rooms, firewood and Quidditch broomsticks, like Harry Potter's scent."

"Hannah, why in the world would I smell Harry Potter?" Y/N asks, extremely confused.

"Have you forgotten the beginning of second year?" Hannah raises an eyebrow at her, "I swear every single night you wouldn't shut up about him in our dorm."

Y/N takes a second to ponder, "Oh, right! I mean, Harry did look really cute that year," the girls both laugh but cut off by a tall man in a black cape.

"Is this laughter a product of working, ladies?" Snape's deep monotone voice rings in their ears. When the girls don't answer, he continues, "That's what I thought. Get back to the task. Next time, I will be deducting points."

"Sorry, Professor," Y/N mumbles. Snape glares at the two one last time before moving on to another table to pick on other students.

"Alright then. Let's finish this potion, shall we?" Hannah goes to add some rose thorns into the cauldron.

They finish the rest of the steps in silence and pretty soon, the smell of apples, mint and cologne surrounds Y/N's senses. "What do you smell, Hannah?"

"I smell... old books, red cedar and fudge. Ugh, of course even when I'm annoyed at him, he's still the one that I smell," Hannah rolls her eyes.

"Darren?" Y/N chuckles.

"You called?" Darren appears from behind them.

"Go back to smelling your 'hot' Beauxbaton girls, moron," Hannah repulses.

"Hey!I already said I was joking," he replies with an apologetic look.

Y/N watches the two, trying her best not to laugh at her friends. She turns away from them and spots Draco punching Zabini's arm and laughing. It seems as though Zabini pretended to guzzle down the potion and acted all lovey-dovey towards Goyle. Draco's gaze meets hers and he gives her a knowing wink. She smiles at him then sees Snape appear beside the Slytherin boys. Y/N turns back to her friends, knowing Zabini is definitely receiving that month's detention.

"That boy just knows exactly how to get to a girl's heart," Hannah says sarcastically. Darren has retreated back to his table and is purposefully avoiding the blonde girl's death glare.

"What even happened?" Y/N asks.

"He's just been a real git these last couple of days," Hannah sighs, "Saying all the wrong things all the time. I don't know if he's not interested in me anymore or he's just stupid, or both," she props an elbow up on the table and rests her chin on her hand.

"I say he's just stupid," she smiles and puts a hand on Hannah's shoulder, "I'm sure Darren will come to his senses."

"Thanks," Hannah smiles back.

"It appears all of you have finished," Snape announces, "But because you all took your precious time brewing the potion, class is now ending," he gives pointed looks at each table, "Take an empty bottle and label them with your names. You will pour the potion into the bottle and place it on my desk. I will assess and grade them after class. You're all dismissed."

The students do as they're told and place their amortentia potions on Snape's desk. Y/N and Hannah walk towards the exit then they hear a voice call out, "Fawley, wait up!"

They turn and see Draco and his friends catching up with them.

"What?" Y/N asks, already bored of the conversation she knows the topic of.

Draco stops right in front of her with a grin on his face, "Just wanted to know what you smelt from the amortentia."

She rolls her eyes, "You already know what it was."

"Maybe I just want to hear it again," he smirks.

Y/N scoffs, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, "You wanna hear how I smelt firewood and Harry's shampoo?" she smirks back at him.

"Ooh burn," Goyle says from behind Draco.

"Shut up, Goyle," Draco elbows him in the stomach. Goyle mumbles a sorry before Draco turns back to Y/N, "That wasn't funny."

"Really?" she bats her eyelids up at him innocently, "I think it was quite hilarious."

Draco grabs her wrist and pulls her closer to him. He leans down to her ear and whispers, "I think you should watch it, sweetheart."

Despite the heat rising in Y/N's cheeks from their closeness and the fact that their friends are seeing their obvious tension, she replies, "No, I don't think I will," she moves out of his grasp, but not before placing a kiss on his cheek. She winks at him then walks away, Hannah following close behind.

Draco just stands there, dumbfounded. Just when I think I have the upper hand... he smiles to himself.

"Merlin's beard, Malfoy. She's got you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Zabini jokes.

He just glares at Zabini, but inside he's thinking: Yes. She really does.

_____

Next Chapter->

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bl597 · 4 years

Note

If you’re still taking requests can I have one where Lily and James didn’t die and they go on to having a daughter and when she grows up, she comes out to them as gay for the first time and they’re the I-knew-since-you-were-x-years-old parents (well James probably a little clueless if you want) and they embrace her cause wizards don’t care about that

hi, love!! hope you enjoy it, sorry for the wait! 💕

warnings: idk if it's a x reader but yeah, fem!Potter!reader, the Potters say gay rights and fuck jk rowling (i really hate her💀), it's kinda short, i couldn't find a gif of the Potters so i put this steven universe one bc it's cute and it really fits the plot????, english is not my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes! i think that's it

my masterlist ♡

She wasn't really sure about when she noticed it, maybe it was around fourth year, she thought.

It was probably when Parvati, Lavender and Romilda were talking about the only thing they seemed to know: boys. They were talking with dreamy smiles about how hot the boys looked in the Quidditch uniforms when they noticed something: (Y/n) Potter was really quiet.

“You never told us who you fancy, (Y/n)” Lavender said, giggling.

Then all the eyes were turned to the girl, who was now a blushing mess. She never really payed attention to anyone, more specifically boys. She didn't know why, but no boy at all had caught her attention. Not even the boys whom every single girl in the castle dreams about kissing or doing something like that.

She felt weird when she thought about it. Wasn't she supposed to like someone just like every girl her age? Well, in fact, a few people had caught her eyes a few times.

Like Ginny Weasley with her amazing Quidditch uniforms and how perfectly she flies, or how talented and unique Luna Lovegood was, or how beautiful Hannah Abbott's smile was, or how clever and amazing in Quidditch Katie Bell was. To be honest, the thing is: she never noticed the boys because she was too busy paying attention to the girls.

“I don't fancy anyone” she replied simply, shrugging and hoping the girls would stop asking her things like that.

Now there she was: staring blankly at the roof of her room, trying to decide if she should do it now or wait for a while again. She should them them, right? They're her family, they would support them no matter what, right..?

Breathing nervously, she folded her girlfriend's letter and hide it in one of her drawers and left her room, slowly closing the door behind her before heading downstairs, where her family was. Her mum smiled sweetly at her, soon frowning when she noticed the nervousness on the girl's face.

“Are you alright, dear?” Lily asked worriedly as (Y/n) sat down in front of them.

“You look like you saw a boggart” Harry said, chuckling.

“It's nothing, don't worry” she assured them with a weak smile. She could see her mum didn't really believe it, but just tried to ignore it.

Then they started playing explosive snap, talking and laughing loudly with each other. It was a nice family game and the Potters loved to play it when everyone was home, Harry and (Y/n) learnt how to play it when they were still small, and it kind of became a tradition of the Potter family since they always wanted to play.

(Y/n) was quietly sipping her butterbeer, watching her dad and brother talking about Quidditch while her mom was watching both of them with a smile on her face. Now or never, (Y/n) thought decidedly. She then cleaned her throat to get their attention, which gladly worked. “Actually, there is something” she nervously said, watching as her family curiously looked at her.

“What is it, darling?” Lily asked with a knowing smile, as if she was just waiting for her daughter to say the words.

She breathed deeply before starting to speak. “Well, I've been thinking about it for a while, and at first I was really confused but now I'm sure about it.”

“Sure about what?” James, her dad, asked confusedly, which made Lily roll her eyes at her husband's cluelessness.

“I am gay” (Y/n) finally said after keeping it as a secret for so long. It felt as if someone took all the weight off of her shoulder, and she felt lighter than a quill now.

She looked at their faces; Lily was smiling widely as Harry and James looked at her with a surprised smile. “I'm so happy for you, my baby” her mom got up and hugged her tightly, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“You're not mad at me or upset?” she asked with happy tears on her eyes.

“Of course not, (Y/n/n)” Harry replied with a smile and she returned it, happy to know her big brother accepted her.

“You're still our little girl and we love you, no matter what” James added, a proud smile on his lips “Besides, why would we be upset or mad at you for something you don't get to choose?”

“To be honest, I already knew it for a while, I was just waiting for you to tell us” Lily said, making (Y/n) gasp as Lily laughed loudly “I'm your mother, what else did you expect?”

“I love you all, so so so much” (Y/n) said through the happy tears that insisted on rolling down her cheeks, a giant smile adorning her lips.

Then they had a long, tight group hug, (Y/n) being crashed by her family's loving arms. She had the best family in the world and she would never change them for anything.

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@bwitchd @fific7 @iamak20 @msmimimerton @grierpilots @idontknowwhatthisisfam @imseeinggred @kashishwrites @tsukisung @mischiefsemimanaged @just-a-dreamer23

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vivithefolle · 3 years

Note

I honestly kinda hate Ginny. People love talking about with Romione who acted like who owed who something when in reality, the only person who acted like anyone owed them anything was Ginny to Harry. She even basically said that she only dated others to make him jealous. Ginny also used hexes on people in the halls just cause they annoyed her?

Maybe this is just my Lunarry stan coming out, but even how she first treated Luna on the train, openly laughing at her and people tend to forget Ginny is the first person who called Luna looney. I see so many people try to say Ginny was Luna’s first friend, but it was actually Harry who was, and there was a deep connection between him and Luna that neither shared with anyone else in the series

I mean, I’m not a Ginny anti, it just really bugs me how much people act like she is flawless when in reality she’s low key a bully, the narrative just didn’t treat her that way

Oh and Ginny was mean to Fleur for no reason, and yelled at Harry for *checks notes* blushing when she kissed him? And they weren’t together when this happened so literally no excuse other than seeing Harry as hers

Keep in mind that this all HBP!Ginny though. Half-Blood Prince is literally the book that takes all our favourite characters and makes them act like complete idiots because Voldemort can’t ever attack the school before May and until he does we’re stuck trying to have interesting shit happen.

HBP is the book in which Hermione physically assaults Ron, then Ron is presented as being the immature, mean one while Hermione goes on being the poor victim who cries.

the only person who acted like anyone owed them anything was Ginny to Harry

Ginny never acted like this. I’m not especially fond of her, but she never acted like Harry owed her something, she just was going on her merry way, having fun and dating and being a happy teenage girl.

As for Lunarry... no, really not. I’m not a Lunarry shipper at all and never understood this pairing - well, never understood it in the sense of “I understand the appeal of it” rather than “I understand that Harry Potter is the fandom bicycle and will be shipped with everyone because people project on him”.

I see so many people try to say Ginny was Luna’s first friend, but it was actually Harry who was,

Proof?

there was a deep connection between him and Luna that neither shared with anyone else in the series

Examples?

See, if you’re gonna say “Luna comforted Harry about Sirius!!” I will say that it’s not really that much of a connection. Luna can sympathize and understand Harry’s grief over his parents; she knew how to give him hope and how to comfort him in the wake of Sirius’ death, in her own Luna way. But mostly, she does that… because she’s Luna, not necessarily because she knows Harry well. She would say the same things to, say, Hannah Abbott or Susan Bones if they’d gone to the Department of Mysteries. Harry takes comfort from Luna’s words, but Luna didn’t say them because he was Harry and she knew what to say: she said them because she’s Luna and this is how she sees the world, and we love her for it.

#vivi answers #ask #luna lovegood #ginny weasley #harry potter #harry potter series

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gobletofweasleys · 5 years

Text

Scars

Summary: Soulmate AU where whatever injury your soulmate has appears on your skin as well. You have a lightning bolt shaped scar on your forehead.

Pairing: Harry Potter x Hufflepuff!reader

Word Count: 1,654

Requested by @fluffymadamina: Hello 😊 can i ask a Harry fic with soulmate Au? Like they share the same injuries so she have the same scar as him but not a lot of people know it? And if isn't much could she be an Hufflepuff

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There was a reason your hair was cut into bangs. And there was a reason you refuse to let those bangs grow out.

Your friends had told you numerous times that it would be nice to change your hairstyle. You'd had bangs since the moment you came to Hogwarts. Now it was your fifth year and they hadn't changed one bit.

"I think it would be nice to have a little change, don't you?" Your friend, Hannah Abbott, said that morning as you two got ready in your dormitory. You just hummed, thoughts on your timetable for the day and not even focused on what Hannah was saying. You waited for her to finish getting ready, watching her pin her yellow Prefect badge to her robes before gesturing at you. You both left for the Great Hall together.

You would have had no problem in following Hannah's suggestion about letting your bangs grow out and pushing them off your forehead if the bangs weren't crucial in hiding something that might change the way everyone looked at you. They were crucial to hiding a scar shaped curiously like a lightning bolt, smack in the middle of your forehead, resembling an infamous scar that was present on the forehead of The Boy Who Lived.

You knew who Harry Potter was. You'd first read about him in Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century. When you and your Muggle parents had found out that you were to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you had bought every single book you could about the Wizarding World, wanting to find out as much as you could about the people you belonged with. That's when you had read about Harry Potter, had realized with a shock that he was your soulmate. You had a famous soulmate. Unsure of how correct your assumption was despite the scar on your forehead, you had resorted to hiding it under a curtain of hair until you knew for sure.

Of course, you knew as soon as you saw him.

His scar was identical to yours, hidden poorly under a fringe of black hair. Large, round glasses framed brilliant green eyes, robes lined with maroon. You had watched him get sorted into Gryffindor that very first day. And since then, it seemed like all you ever did was watch him.

You watched him become the youngest Seeker in history, watched him win his first match of Quidditch. You watched him make great friends and quickly become popular throughout the first three years. You also watched terrible things unfold. You watched him get forced into the Triwizard Tournament, watched him nearly die in the first two tasks. Watched him appear in the Quidditch field in hysterics after the third task, clutching a dead body.

You didn't know why you never told him. You guessed you were just afraid.

Harry Potter had gone through more than most adult Wizards in the country, he had seen and suffered more than anyone you knew or had heard of. And he still had so much on his plate, considering how hard the Ministry was trying to cover up the fact that You-Know-Who was back. You didn't know how important it was to spring the whole soulmate thing on him right now. Truth be told, you hadn't found one suitable moment in the four years you'd been here.

You had Herbology today, which was your favorite class to attend for one reason only: you had Herbology with the Gryffindors. Your heart raced just at the prospect of seeing Harry again. You hadn't seen him all summer, of course, and with how the previous summer had ended, you were anxious to see how he was.

If only you weren't such a wimp. If only you could just go and tell him how important he was to you. No wonder you weren't in Gryffindor. You didn't have an ounce of bravery in you.

Your heart nearly jumped into your throat at the sight of him, conversing with Ernie MacMillan just outside the greenhouse doors. Ernie seemed to be standing tall, a look of strange determination on his face. When you drew near enough, you realized he was reassuring Harry that he believed him.

"Lots of us do." He was saying, eye catching movement in his peripheral vision and head turning to look at you. "Like Y/N, for example." He gestured to you, making Harry turn to look at who he was pointing at.

Your cheeks burned so hot you thought you would freeze on the spot, yet your jelly like legs still managed to walk until you had stopped next to Ernie. You had never, not once in your four years at Hogwarts, talked to Harry before. You had accepted admiring him from afar. You doubted that he knew who you were.

"Don't you, Y/N?" Ernie repeated, yet your tongue wouldn't move. You were staring at Harry wide-eyed, willing yourself to say something, anything, maybe even just nod your head, but his eyes were making you weak and his hair, eternally messed up but perfect in your eyes, make your breath halt in your chest.

You regretted your silence though, when Harry's red headed friend, Ron Weasley, stepped forward, glared at you and then nudged Harry to move into the greenhouse.

"Let's go Harry." He was saying. "It doesn't matter what they believe. C'mon."

You realized almost immediately that he had taken your silence the wrong way. The implication left you horror struck. Ernie turned to you with a bewildered look.

"What was that all about?" He asked. "You're always going off about how you believe him in the common room. Why didn't you say anything?"

Your heart was hammering. Fear sprung in your chest. Oh Merlin, what did Harry think of you now?

"I-" You were interrupted by Professor Sprout, who ushered the rest of you inside and shut the door behind you.

You couldn't concentrate for one minute in class, even though today's lesson was about Bowtruckles. You had read about the tiny little creatures, and had been looking forward to seeing them, but all you felt was the guilt and fear of not saying anything to Harry. You had been so starstruck at the very sight of him that you'd made him believe you thought he was a liar too.

You couldn't bear it.

Maybe that's why you followed him after Herbology ended and everyone made their way to the Great Hall for lunch hour. Your heart was hammering, but your resolution to straighten things out overtook your crazy feelings.

"Um, Harry!" You called.

Him and his two friends turned around at the call, making your face burn hot all over again. Ron was still glaring at you. Hermione just looked curious.

"May I have a word?" Your voice was trembling slightly. "In private?" You did your best to avoid Ron's heated gaze.

Harry seemed taken aback but nodded nonetheless. He said something quietly to his friends, causing them to leave for the castle. He turned back to you expectantly.

"Um," your mind was already starting to blank, but you look resolutely away from his face and plowed on. "I wanted to apologize about before. I didn't- I didn't want to be silent. Of course I believe you. I just-"

"It's okay." He cut you off. There was a certain rigidity in his voice, as if he didn't believe you. "You don't have to backtrack on what you think. I don't blame you for not believing. It's not like everyone else does."

"N-no!" You yelped, looking at him. "That's not it at all! I believe you, I do-"

"Don't worry about it." He waved a hand in dismissal, taking a few steps backward. "I'll uh, I'll see you around."

But tears were filling your eyes, and you lunged forward, grabbing his arm before he could leave. His head snapped back to look at you, mouth opening and frown forming, but whatever sharp words he was going to say died out when you pushed your bangs back with your free hand.

His eyes widened, face paling at the sight of the scar on your forehead. Exactly identical to his own. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what it meant and why you had it, but by the time his eyes met yours again, they held a new light. You gingerly let go of his arm, letting your hair fall back in place.

"I was caught off guard." You mumbled. "I didn't know- this was the first time we were meeting. And- and you made me... nervous."

Your face was so hot and your body so numb you could barely feel a thing. Harry still hadn't moved, hadn't said a word. You stared down at your feet.

"You never told me." He finally whispered.

You nodded, feeling slightly ashamed. "There was…. it never felt like the right time."

You looked up to see him still looking at you, but his gaze was softer, his posture not as rigid.

"Would you like to go to the next Hogsmeade trip with me?" He blurted out, looking surprised by himself.

You stared at him in shock, heart beating so erratically you wondered how it hadn't stopped yet.

"I'd love that." You shakily answered, feeling that sweet, giddy feeling spread in your chest.

Harry nodded, a ghost of a smile twitching at his lips before gesturing jerkily at you.

"We should- uh, lunch."

You could see the pink dusting his cheeks, making a smile break over your own face as you fell in step with him, walking back to the Great Hall.

................

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@fluffymadamina / @sophiaxtorres / @jedi-in-hogwarts / @allknowingnerd / @accio-rogers / @gruffle1 / @chuumimi /

#harry potter #harry potter x reader #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter imagine #harry potter one shot #harry potter fluff #harry potter soulmate au #harry potter fic #harry potter au #harry potter angst #hp ootp #order of the phoenix #hufflepuff!reader #daniel radcliffe

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mfingenius · 4 years

Note

Hi there I just want to say happy new year 🎉❤️ love your work btw. I was wandering if you could do one were they’re in 5th year and they’re in a secret relationship Draco friends know but not Harry’s and something happens so Pansy or someone else has to get Harry and that’s how the rest of the school finds out. Love your work again ❤️❤️❤️

Ahhh thank you so much babe

—————————————-

“What?” Harry’s heart is pounding in his chest. “What’s wrong with him?”

Vaguely, he’s aware that they shouldn’t be having this conversation in front of other people; no one knows that him and Draco are dating, other than Parkinson and Zabini. Though the greenhouse is relatively empty, Ron and Hermione are standing beside Harry, and Hannah Abbott and another three girls Harry doesn’t know are standing near the back.

“We don’t know,” Zabini says, evidently frustrated. Parkinson has her arms crossed over her chest, and she looks angry, a little, but more than anything she looks worried sick. “He won’t talk to us.”

“Where is he?” Harry asks.

“Harry?” Hermione asks hesitantly. “Why do you care about where Malfoy-”

“In his bed.” Parkinson says.

Harry doesn’t care about anything else; he gets to the Slytherin dorms in a haze, says the password without really thinking about it. It’s the middle of the afternoon, and the common room is relatively crowded. Still, no one tries to approach him; they merely stare with wide eyes and begin whispering.

Harry pays them no mind.

“Draco?” He asks, hesitantly, when he steps into Draco’s dorm. All the beds are empty, except for Draco’s. The curtains are pulled shut around the bed, and there is no sound or movement from inside. When he reaches out, Harry finds the bed heavily warded. “Love? Can I - can we talk?”

There’s no answer.

Harry reaches out, this time with his magic, and finds Draco’s. Where it’s usually soothing and strong, right then it’s fragile and unstable at best, cold and dull in a way Harry’s never felt it before.

“Love, I - need to know you’re alright.” He says. The fact that Draco’s using magic means he’s awake, means he’s alive, but the state of it makes Harry’s heart jump to his throat. “Please, just - anything. A word. Say anything.”

There’s no sound, but Harry feels an urgent, white hot peak in Draco’s magic. His stomach tightens, and, without a second thought, he shatters Draco’s wards.

He pulls the curtain open.

“Love,” he says. “Draco, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Draco’s sitting on the bed, staring at nothing, a letter gripped tightly in his hand, face deathly pale.

Harry climbs onto the bed and waves his wand, shutting the curtains again and putting the wards back up, stronger now that his magic is stable and not fragile and jumpy like Draco’s.

“What’s wrong?” He asks again.

Draco finally seems to look at him.

“My father,” he says. “He wants me to take the mark.”

Harry’s breathing stops. “What?”

“This summer.” Draco says. “He wants me to take the mark.”

And then he breaks down, just like that, and Harry pulls him close and lets him cry against his chest and wills his brain to work, tries to think of something, anything, but he can’t, because this isn’t supposed to happen.

Draco’s supposed to be safe.

“I - we’ll figure it out.” He swears. “We’ll figure it out.”

He’s not sure they will, but he’s willing to do anything. Hell, he’ll get Draco a portkey out of England himself, even if it means never seeing him again, even if it means never being able to touch him, kiss him, hold him anymore.

He’ll do anything.

————————————

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accioromione · 4 years

Note

TBH your writing is so awesome! I can't get enough of it! You need to write more please!! Prompt:- Hermione and Ron being too sexy and mushy and explosion of PDA while Harry gets annoyed but is secretly happy that his OTP are finally together

‘Ready then?’ Harry asked Ron and Hermione and the two nodded.

Harry looked at the watch Mrs. Weasley had given him for his seventeenth birthday and saw that they still had an hour before Ginny’s game.

‘Yes!’ Said Hermione excitedly, ‘we still have an hour though!’

‘Yeah, you guys want to go to the Leaky Cauldron for some drinks first then?’ Harry asked.

‘Good thinking,’ said Ron. ‘Still can't believe Ginny’s a professional quidditch player- always though that Charlie was the quidditch star of the family,’ he addd.

‘Oh I’m sure she’s going to do great,’ Hermione said

‘Yeah me too,’ said Harry ‘anyways it’s only early on in the season.’

Ron nodded in agreement, ‘I can picture it now, seeing Ginny against the Cannons and knowing that my sister beat my favourite team- bitter sweet that is,’

Harry and Hermione laughed. ‘Meet outside?’ Harry asked and the wo of hem nodded. The three of hem appeared and met outside the Leaky Caldron, he went inside to take a seat at the most nearby booth. Hannah Abbott came up to them excitedly.

‘Hi Ron! Hi harry! Hi Hermione!’ Hannah said.

‘Oh hey Hannah, didn’t know you worked here, it’s been awhile since we’ve been here’ said Ron.

‘Oh yeah I own the place now! Tom’s retired!’ Hannah said.

‘Oh how is he?’ said Hermione, ‘he was a hard working man, good on him for retiring,’

‘Yeah he's good, like you said Hermione he worked hard, just taking a break now, so I’ve taken over, it’s nice. I’ve always been a people person so the serving part is no problem, the business part takes a bit more getting used to.’ Hannah said.

‘Hey George can always give you some tips, he’s just right down the street,’ Ron said.

‘Yeah I’ve talked to George! He’s really engaging, also doesn’t hurt that his products are good, but can’t complain, business is good, always see familar faces as well,’ Hannah said happily, gesturing to the three of them.

‘I can imagine,’ said Harry.

‘Yeah you know your friend Neville? He comes around quite often,’ Hannah said blushing.

‘Oh does he?’ said Ron raising his eyebrows.

‘Yeah, I know he’s doing his Herbology training to teach at Hogwarts to become a Herbology professor, but he told me he prefers the Leaky Cauldron, so he’ll come around to Diagon Alley instead of Hogsmeade. He comes about three times a week.’ Hannah said, smiling.

‘Three times a week eh?’ said Ron, he winced and Harry saw that Hermione had kicked him under the table.

‘Yeah he’s great! Only we talk so much it’s hard to do my job when he comes around, I told him that last time so he asked if I wanted to do anything when I’m not working, so we’re set to go out soon, it’s hard with both of our schedules, but he’s great, what drinks do you guys want?’ Hannah said.

‘Three butterbeers if that’s okay,’ said Harry ‘and yeah Neville’s a great guy,’

‘I’ll hold you up on that Harry, and okay three butterbeers on the house!’ said Hannah

‘Oh Hannah no...’ Hermione began but Hannah brushed her off.

‘Oh please, it's the least I can do, I’m not charging the golden trio,’ Hannah said happily.

‘I hope you’re charging Neville,’ Ron said smirking, ‘seeing as he comes around so often, all those free drinks wouldn't be good for business,’

‘Oh yeah he absolutely refuses, and he tips way too generously too, I told him there’s no need but he’s insistent.’ said Hannah happily. ‘I’ll go get your drinks,’ she added walking away smiling.

‘Well what about that’ Ron said smirking, ‘Neville you sly dog, good on him I like Hannah, she's cute too.’

Hermione glared at him. Ron smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek, her frostiness melted at his touch.

‘Relax love, cute for neville not for me, I’m more of a curly haired walking library guy myself. Blondes just don’t do it for me.’ He said looking at Hermione lovingly, she smiled at him.

Harry looked away awkwardly, though he had to admit it was cute.

‘She is nice, she was one of the people who stayed remember..for the war...’ Harry said.

‘Yeah the Hufflepuffs really showed face,’ said Ron ‘reckon Neville deserves a bit of love, I have to admit it’s a nice feeling, being in love’ he said looking at Hermione smiling, she blushed and looked at him lovingly. He leaned in for a gentle kiss and she kissed him back, her eyes filled with adoration.

Harry coughed, the two of them broke apart blushing.

‘Three butterbeers for the three musketeers!’ Hannah said happily,

‘Cheers,’ said Ron ‘thanks Hannah!’

The door opened and more customers walked through, Hannah smiled at them ‘no problem! Got to attend to these lot, tell me if you need anything else!’ she walked away to attend to the new customers.

Many people were staring at them and Ron sighed.

‘Harry mate I have to admit, I miss it when you were the only famous one,’ said Ron.

‘Told you it’s not all cut out to be what it’s meant to...’ said Harry

‘Miss ambition here doesn't help with it either,’ said Ron gesturing to Hermione, ‘Four months in the ministry and she's already changed like four laws, we’ve been there for a year and four months and haven’t accomplished ten percent of what she has,’ Ron said, looking at Hermione with admiration on his face.

‘Well,’ Hermione said blushing, ‘you two are still training, I know you two will revolutionize the Auror’s when you’re fully licenced,’ Hermione said confidently and Ron smiled at her, then his face got serious.

‘There still is a lot of work to be done, Hermione’s known it since fourth year, all these laws against non magical people, all these old medieval rules, it’s got to be changed, Hermione you were before your time love, everyone deserves to be equal, can’t believe we were living with such ancient laws and regulations,’ said Ron and Hermione looked at him, her eyes sparkling. She leaned into kiss him and he responded enthusiastically.

‘I’m still here,’ Harry muttered

The two of them broke apart again, Ron, not taking his eyes off Hermione smiled sheepishly and said ‘sorry mate,’

‘I suppose it’s better than you two bickering all the time.’ Harry said, rolling his eyes. Finding them quite endearing if he was going to be fully honest.

‘Suppose I just wanted her attention,’ Ron said and Hermione jokingly hit his arm ‘she's also cute when she’s mad.’ he added.

‘I’m not cute when I’m mad!’ Hermione said indignantly.

‘Sorry love but you’re adorable when you’re riled up,’ Hermione blushed.

‘From realizing Hermione is a girl to this...never knew you'd be such a romantic Ron.’ Harry joked and Hermione laughed.

Ron shrugged, ‘the Power of love,’ he said taking a sip of his butterbeer. ‘You’re just as bad with my sister.’ he said after putting his pint down,

‘I’m bad...just not as bad as you...’ said Harry

‘Yeah but Ginny’s also ....Ginny...’ Ron said shrugging, Harry nodded.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ said Hermione

‘Let’s get one thing clear Hermione...I’m not Harry Potter,’ he cheeked, ‘I happen to like your emotional self,’

Harry laughed.

‘I’m not emotional....’ said Hermione and both Harry and Ron gave her a look.

‘I’m.... passionate....’ she said trailing off

‘Oh yes, yes you are’ said Ron cheekily and she hit his arm.

‘Crossed the boundary there mate,’ said Harry

Ron grinned, ‘Sorry Hermione,’ and she rolled her eyes.

‘Pity, last time your eyes rolled like that was when...’ Ron said

‘Ron!’ said Hermione

‘Yeah you said that too....’ he cheeked, he was looking very lovingly at her, Harry had to look away.

‘For god’s sake...Harry doesn’t want to hear stuff like that!’ Hermione said.

‘You’re right, as always, sorry Harry, I just...I’m proud to be with her what can I say?’ Ron said, looking at her and Harry noticed Hermione’s anger melting. Ron really read the front to back of that book.

‘I’m not a prize to be shown off,’ Hermione muttered, smiling slightly.

‘Of course not, you’re a strong independent woman.’ said Ron in agreement, ‘but you are a catch and I happen to think I’m the luckiest man alive by being with you, so yeah I wanna show off sometimes.’

Hermione smiled at him.

‘Right here.’ Harry said.

Ron looked at him and grinned, ‘am I pathetic?’ he asked

‘A little,’ said Harry and Hermione glared at him.

‘No it’s cute,’ said Harry sighing. ‘A little uncomfortable, but adorable none the less, keep the excessive mushiness away from me though,’ he added.

‘Mushiness in private, got it,’ said Ron, ‘Hermione you’ve got to make yourself uglier in public,’ he said seriously and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

‘You heard Harry, less mushiness means I need to be less attracted to you... can’t say that's the case right now,’ Hermione smiled.

‘Are you ever going to stop flirting with me?’ Hermione asked

‘Nope,’ said Ron confidently ‘even when we’re married.’

Hermione blushed and kissed him again. Harry groaned.

‘Guys,’ he said

‘okay you git,’ said Ron as hey pulled away for the third time, ‘I love you too Harry do you want a hug or something?’

‘Maybe later’ Harry cheeked, ‘anyways the games starting in ten minutes we should get going.’ He said looking at his watch. The three of them downed their butterbeers and took off, leaving a tip for Hannah.

They went in the stands and Ron kept his arm around Hermione the whole time, Harry felt like a proper third wheel. But his annoyance melted when he saw his own girlfriend come up on the pitch, and he realized where Ron was coming from. Sometimes you just couldn't contain your love.

#romione #my fic

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alas-poor-cesario · 4 years

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Despite JKR's assertion that she's an "amazing exemplar of maternal love"1 , I disagree. I do not think she's as great as people assert she is. I've discussed this in class when we were talking about the Mother archetype and I was sick of people holding her up as this beacon of motherly perfection. I view some of her actions as abusive, some as questionable and her treatment of her children to be at the very least unintentionally unnecessarily comparative.

Starting off with the incident I always seem to bring up first because to me it's a very clear early indication she's not as clean cut as she appears to be. She yells at Ron and the Twins for saving Harry from an abusive situation. Right after they've helped Harry out of it, and with him still present. I'm almost certain that if that had been a person instead of a fictional character they would have been incredibly embarrassed and felt like they weren't deserving of that, and worried that they had got their new friends into trouble despite it being the friends' idea.

She compares the Twins to her other sons and says that they essentially aren't as good as the others. She's dismissive of their interests and while they are troublemakers and would probably get to a point of being annoying and making anyone want to yell at them, you kind of have to wonder at why they've focused on pranks and being jokesters. It always read to me as a way to stand out against the perfect older brothers and to find something to define themselves. She also says "everyone in the family" when Ron gets his prefect badge, forgetting about these two.

Her treatment of Percy always struck me as an extension of this favouritism towards Bill and Charlie, but also she drove him into the minister's arms. She also has a hand in turning the rest of his family against him, and while he was at fault I kind of can't blame him for wanting out of that situation.

She reads the Daily Prophet and immediately assumes the worst of Hermione, encourages bullying against Fleur. This is where the fics where Molly is all over Ron and Lavender strike me as being more canon compliant than her being supportive of Romione. She treated these two women awfully, one of which was a child at the time, faced with being in a world separated from her parents. If anything this was the perfect time for Molly to step up as a mother figure and defend Hermione, but instead she believes the lies.

She gives Ron a hard time, doesn't buy him a new wand in his first year, compares him to his older brothers, he gets awful looking, out of date robes, among other things. The Howler incident; praising Ginny like that after tearing Ron a new one in front of everyone is unacceptable. It isn't caring mother behaviour, no matter what anyone tries to tell me. She gives him hand me downs and doesn't ever seem to realise how damaging this can be.

She gives Harry preferential treatment over her own family. I admit he needs family, and supportive figures, but this is not the way to do it. It comes across to me that she cares about Harry because of his money, fame and status and how that can elevate her family, think Pride and Prejudice for this one.

This isn't even touching on half of the other incidents and ways she treats other characters. But I do also dislike the idea of the clock, the way she treats Arthur and their relationship, the dismissal of Sirius, making Harry out to be more of a child than he is, and the squib family member. I'm not getting into all of that now because it's late and this is long enough.

She may be a mother, and a mother figure but she's not a good mother. She's borderline abusive and someone I would not want around my children if this is how she would treat them.

The Leaky Cauldron. J. K. Rowling at Carnegie Hall Reveals Dumbledore is Gay; Neville Marries Hannah Abbott, and Much More. 20 October 2007. (Accessed 29 August 2012.)

#anti molly weasley #Harry potter #hp

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lilulo-12fanfiction · 3 years

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Rain Song- Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter FINALLY! I’m so so sorry this took so long. I struggled with some really terrible writers block since COVID. I pretty much stopped updating every story I have going. But I’m back and hopefully will be updating this on the regular.

This one is super long...over 15K words. I hope it makes up for it taking so long to post the next part. Some of the parts I’m not super thrilled with but I needed to just get this out.

Thank you so much for all of your likes, re-blogs and the few comments I’ve gotten. It gives me motivation to keep going! If you would like to be tagged, please let me know!

Requests are always open! Check out my prompt here. I write for Harry Potter, The Avengers, Supernatural & TVD/The Originals.

Series Masterlist

Tag List: @lovestomanyfandoms @mercury--moon @themeanestlittlewitch @banana-tree-freddiemercury @boba-king-iroh

Hope was feeling more like herself again, the darkness still itching the back of her mind, but the weight of her secrets had been lifted off of her chest. Harry, Ron and Hermione all knew exactly who she was, what she was- in the most basic sense. If Hope was being honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure who she was. As she was approaching her next birthday, she was determined to figure herself out this year. She was going to learn how to control her Seer abilities, they were no longer going to control her. She was also done with pushing people away. She had kept everyone with the exception of Ron, Hermione and Harry at arms length since the start of the term. She had been so excited to come to Hogwarts because she didn’t have to hide who she was, yet she continued to act as if she were still surrounded by Muggles. She had made the decision to shove all of the messy feelings about her father away. It was time to try and let it go and live her life. The fact is the matter was that Hope would likely never get her answers. She simply had to move on.

She could feel Harry’s green eyes on her as she entered The Great Hall. He and Ron were already eating and Hermione was headed over to join them. Hope needed to take care of something first. She slowly approached The Hufflepuff table, her target was within her sights. The girls at the table were shooting her dirty looks and whispering. Hope wasn't sure if it was because she was a Gryffindor approaching their table, or her intended target. Hope contained her eye roll, she didn’t want to stoop to their level. Cedric’s friends were elbowing him to get his attention. He looked up at her and about stunned her with his bright smile. His smile could light up any room. Hope’s favorite attributes of Cedric were his eyes. The breath taking blue-gray color could captivate her for days. They transported her to her beloved beach as they were the color of the ocean water on a clear day. How the skin around his eyes crinkled when he smiled was almost too much for her to take.

“Diggory- can, um, can I talk to you?”

“Sure Lupes, what’s up?” His grin was slightly mischievous. Hope tried to ignore Cedric's friends who were intently staring at the two of them.

“I was hoping to speak to you alone?” Hope hated how unsure she sounded. She saw Hannah Abbott roll her eyes and scoffed.

“Can’t you see he’s eating? Go back to your own table.” She sniped. Hopes eyes narrowed.

“Wow, so sorry Hannah. I forgot you were his keeper and Cedric can’t make his own decisions.” Hope was about to tear into Hannah a little further but Cedric jumped up. The smoldering look in Hope's grey eyes didn't bode well for Hannah.

“Actually I’m all done anyway. C’mon, I know where we can go so we aren’t interrupted.” ‘Cedric shot Hannah a dirty look and led Hope out of The Great Hall with his hand on the small of her back. It was such a small thing, but so incredibly intimate that it made color creep up Hope’s cheeks. He led her down a quiet corridor to to one of the windows and sat down on the deep ledge. Hope stayed standing so that she they would be eye to eye “What can I do for you Ms. Lupin?” He had that flirty smile back on his face.

“I wanted to apologize. I know I’ve been in a foul mood for these past few weeks and I’ve blown off our lessons. But I want to continue them, I really do. And I know I was really short with you and basically kind of rude. You didn’t deserve that.” She watched as the playfulness creeped up his face.

“You weren't rude, Hope. I could tell you were just going through some stuff and needed space. However, apology accepted" He beamed "And as it so happens I know how you can make it up to me.” She didn’t think his grin could get any wider.

“Oh really? How is that Mr. Diggory?” Hope bravely flirted back.

“Let me take you on a date next Hogsmeade weekend”

“Cedric ...” her voice trailed off.

”Say that again.” she looked at him like he had lost his mind. ”My first name. I love how it sounds coming out of your mouth.” Hope could feel her cheeks blazing. He took her hands and pulled her closer to him so she was standing in-between his legs.

”Cedric....” she whispered his name. She felt his hands squeeze hers, his eyes studying her face intently. ”Why me Ced? You could have any girl you wanted. They fawn all over you. I can't be the only girl you flirt with.” Hope looked down at her feet. She felt Cedric hook his finger under her chin to lift her head so he could look her in the eye.

”First of all, girls don't fawn all over me." Hope scoffed. His modesty made him all that more attractive. He was also blind as a bat. "So maybe I flirt a little bit here and there, but there are no 'other girls' in my eye line. Just you. I don't want to spend time with any other girls, just you.” she felt his thumbs caressing her knuckles.

"But why? You barely know me." Cedric held her stare.

"Okay well, if I'm being honest, the mystery of you had me intrigued at first, I wont lie about that. New student comes in as a 3rd year. No one knows anything about you. You seemed really nice the first time we met. That's what grabbed my interest, but it's who you are that has kept it. You're smart, bloody brilliant. You're really funny and witty. I've heard about how you don't cower to Snape and how you blatantly ignored him and helped Longbottom so his toad wouldn't get sick. Your laugh is one of the best things I've ever heard. And you give me a hard time... I kind of like that. You're different and I really want to get to know you. C'mon Lupes...one little Hogsmeade date and if you think I'm a troll after it, I'll never bother you again." She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again he was studying her intently.

"Wow Diggory, you really know how to sweet talk a girl. Okay Ced...one Hogsmeade date. Don't mess it up." He put back on his award winning smile.

"You wont regret it." He kissed her on the cheek. "Go- have some breakfast, I'll see you later" Hope made her way back to The Great Hall and she knew she had a stupid smile on her face. Hannah Abbott was still shooting her daggers as she walked in, but Hope couldn't care less. She just got utterly charmed by Cedric Diggory.

"Well someone looks happy." Harry grumbled as Hope approached the table. She was flying so high she didn't even notice the cranky look he was sporting. "What was that all about?" Hermione could barely contain her excitement, she was almost bouncing out of her seat.

"Well I wanted to apologize for being a foul bitch to him. He accepted and then asked me on a date next Hogsmeade weekend."

"HE DID?!!" Hermione's voice went up. Hermione's excitement was contagious.

"Oi! Calm down woman!" Ron winced, he got the brunt of her shrill shriek as he was sitting next to her.

"Yes he did. And before you ask, I said yes." Hope couldn't contain her own excitement at this point. She was going on a date. A proper date, she had never really felt any interest in any boy until now. She and Hermione continued to chatter about it while Harry looked into his plate miserably.

"I mean...he said all of these really great things, I just, I guess I've never seen myself like that."

"Well c'mon, what did he say?" Now Ron was getting in on the conversation.

"That I was brilliant, really funny and witty. I was brave because I'm not afraid of Snape. He likes how I give him a hard time. Then the normal stuff when guys are trying to impress you. He said my laugh is one of his favorite sounds. I know he was just trying to fluff me up to get me to say yes, but-" Harry scoffed. Hope's brow furrowed and she turned and looked at him.

"He wasn't trying to fluff you up Hope. You ARE those things. You are brilliant. When you're not bogged down with everything that is going on you are really funny and incredibly witty. Even on the days when you feel you're sinking into that darkness you've been seeing you can still keep up with Fred and George. I don't think you realize the effect you have on people. Stop selling yourself short. You aren't lucky that he wants to go out with you. He's lucky that you agreed to go out with him. " Harry didn't give her a chance to reply. "I've got to go meet Oliver Wood. Apparently our match is now against Hufflepuff because Malfoy is feigning injury still. He just doesn't want to play in the rubbish weather. I'll see you guys later." Hope didn't know what to say. It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Harry is right Hope. You really are all of those things." She took her friends hand and smiled.

"Now you guys are just embarrassing me." Hope grinned.

"Do you want me to insult you to bring you back down?" Ron offered, making Hope laugh.

"I really am happy that I found you two and Harry. Speaking of Harry, is he okay? He seemed...off..."

"Yeah, Oliver Wood is just driving him mad about winning the cup this year since it's his last year. The guy is barking." Ron commented.

"That's a lot of pressure to put on Harry. I am excited though to watch the first match. I've heard Harry is an amazing seeker."

"Yeah, he's top knotch. You'll really enjoy it. Although now you'll have to root against your boyfriend" Ron smirked at Hope.

"He's not my boyfriend...shut it Weasley." Hope threw a potato at Ron and Hermione giggled.

"You mean he's not your boyfriend...yet." Ron continued to tease. Hope narrowed her eyes at Ron and then the three of them burst out laughing. From the faculty table, Remus had been watching Hope, she seemed so much more relaxed than she had a few weeks ago. She had confessed to him that she told the trio the truth about her. He knew she would find friends she could confide in, he had secretly wished that she and Harry Potter would become good friends. It was what James, Lily and Nora would have wanted. Had things not gone the way they did, the two would have grown up together. Deep in the back of his mind he did worry that when the full truth about what happened came out, he wondered if the two teenagers could deal with it. Remus struggled with not telling her. He didn't want to burden her anymore with the choices of her father. Cornelius Fudge had almost forbade anyone that knew what happened to speak of it. Harry's reputation preceded him and everyone was concerned that he would go after Sirius if he knew the truth. Hope, he knew, would take the guilt onto herself. Remus could only hope that the secret of what Sirius Black had done to James and Lily Potter would stay under wraps until he was at least caught. He knew he would have to deal with the repercussion of keeping this secret from his niece, but her safety right now was more important than facing her ire. He made his way out of The Great Hall and down to his quarters. With the full moon approaching and the effects of the Wolfsbane potion he needed to rest.

**********

Hope was screaming on the inside. Why hadn’t her uncle warned her that Snape was teaching his class today. That slimy son of a bitch was making them learn about Werewolves. They weren’t set to study them for weeks. Hermione and Harry had lost them house points. Ron had earned himself detention. She had squeezed Harry’s knee under the table to get him to keep his mouth shut and to control her own anger. It took all of her self control to not lose it. Snape had made sure to ask her directly about detecting a Werewolf. She feigned ignorance, and they both knew she was lying. She was certain of one thing, Hermione would figure out what her Uncle was. She could already see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She had been stealing glances at Hope through the rest of class.

“Hope you should really eat something.” Harry finally suggested. The four of them were sitting in the Great Hall for lunch. They had watched Hope push her food around her plate instead of actually eating it. “Are you alright? You look rather pale.” Hope looked up at Harry. His forehead scrunched in concern. She felt a wave of affection come over her for her three friends. She knew she could trust them, but this wasn’t her secret to tell.

“I’m just...Snape. Hearing him say all of those nasty things about my Uncle really gets to me. He does it all of the time. Uncle Remus is the kindest person I know. He’s such a great teacher. If he wasn’t I would be way behind the rest of you. It just upsets me. I can’t understand why he’s allowed to treat people like that.” It wasn’t a lie. The way Snape spoke about her Uncle did really upset her.

“It’s just Snape. He’s been after the Defense position forever. But Dumbledore won’t give it to him. He’s probably just angry because your Uncle has it.” Ron said between chewing.

“Ronald is right Hope. Don’t let him get to you.” Hermione put her hand over Hope’s. When Hope looked up and met Hermione's eyes, she knew that she had figured it out.

"Listen, I'm not feeling all that well, I feel a headache coming on. Can you guys cover with Hagrid for me? I think I'm going to go back my room and lay down for a bit."

"Of course we will. He wont even mind, it's Hagrid." Ron tried to reassure her. Hermione glanced at her watch.

"Hope- let me walk you back to the room. You really don't look well." Hope nodded. Hope grabbed her bag and Hermione laced her arm through hers to walk her back to the room. She could feel not only Harry and Ron watching her as she left, but she saw Cedric looking out of the corner of her eye. Hope and Hermione walked silently from The Great Hall back to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione helped Hope through the portrait hole. She felt increasingly worse as they walked back to their dorm room. The common room was relatively empty with the exception of a few 7th year students studying during their free period. Hermione followed Hope up to their room and shut the door.

"Hope, you...you know you can trust me, right?" Hermione asked, trepidation in her voice. Hope had just pulled off her dress shoes and was getting ready to change into her favorite baggy sweat pants a t-shirt. "Unless you were going to do something that would put yourself in danger, I would never do anything to betray your trust." Hope slipped her pants on and her t-shirt and turned to Hermione. As Hope pulled her covers back and climbed into bed, Crookshanks jumped on the end of her bed. Hope scratched behind the ginger cats ears. Crookshanks started to purr loudly. "That cat really does love you." Hermione smiled. "He really isn't as bad as Ron makes him out to be."

Hope turned and smiled at Hermione. "I love this mangy old cat. He climbs into bed with me every night. It's strange because I've always been more of a dog person." Hope patted the end of her bed, signaling Hermione to sit. "I do trust you, Hermione. More than you can possibly imagine. You've been a great friend to me. And I know you know. I know you figured it out. You're too smart not to. I suppose that was what Snape's intentions were."

"I wont tell anyone. I know so many people feel a certain way about Werewolves. But you're Uncle, he's different. I suppose the potion that Snape has been making for him is Wolfsbane." Hope nodded.

"There's a lot that I don't know. He doesn't talk about his time at Hogwarts very often. I suspect looking back on all that he has lost is too painful. What I do know is that my grandfather Lyall worked for The Ministry in The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He was an expert on dark creatures, especially poltergeists and boggarts, that was how he got involved in the Ministry. They wanted his expertise during the first Wizarding War since Voldemort was recruiting all kinds of dark creatures to his side. Fenrir Greyback was brought in for questioning on the death of some muggle children. He apparently was with a werewolf pack, but he ministry didn't know he was one himself, he had never registered. He had almost convinced the entire committee that he was just a muggle. But my grandfather knew he was lying. He recommended that they detain Greyback until the full moon the next night. He lost his temper and he said something pretty horrible. He claimed that werewolves were 'soulless, evil and deserved nothing but death'. Greyback was released and he wanted revenge for what my grandfather had said. Before my uncle turned 5, Greyback broke in and attacked him. My grandfather was able to save his life, but he was then a werewolf." Hermione had her mouth covered with her hand in horror. "Obviously with his son becoming a werewolf, my grandfather was forced to change his perception of werewolves. It's a shame that it took my uncle being attacked for him to realize how short sighted he was being. My grandparents tried everything to cure my uncle. Any and every treatment, but nothing helped. They moved around a lot, to make sure no one noticed his strange behavior. He had a rather lonely childhood, he wasn't allowed to play with other children for fear they would find out about his condition. Luckily Dumbledore allowed him to attend Hogwarts and made arrangements for each full moon. Uncle Remus said that he finally opened up to his friends and they helped him through each full moon. He never really went into detail about how they helped him, I've tried to get him to tell me more about Hogwarts but he just wont open up about it."

"Poor Remus..." Hermione mused. "Hope, you have my word, I wont say a thing to anyone. Not even Ron or Harry. They wouldn't intentionally say anything, but the less people that know, the better. I'll do whatever I can to help keep his secret." Hope pulled Hermione into a tight hug. Hermione could feel a few tears hit her neck.

"My Uncle...he's all I have. He's so happy teaching here . I don't want anything to ruin that. Thank you, for understanding and not judging him on what people assume all werewolves are. I don't really know what I would do without you Hermione." "Well, luckily, you'll never have to find out." Hope looked at her watch.

"Oh my God! Hermione, you're late for class."

"It's fine."

"What do you mean it's fine? Wait...why are you so calm? You freak out if your'e not early." Hermione's face grew red. "What?!" Hermione took a deep breath.

"Well...I guess if you can share your deepest darkest secrets...I should share mine too. Oh...but you can't tell anyone. Not Harry, Ron or even your Uncle. McGonagall would absolutely murder me if she knew I told you."

"Hermione...you know ALL of my secrets. Every last one. You can trust me with yours. I wouldn't ever tell Harry or Ron anything. Neither one of them can keep their mouths shut. Not that they tell maliciously, but they're kind of daft sometimes. I wouldn't ever tell my Uncle. Like you said, unless you're going to do something that would seriously hurt you, my lips are sealed. And clearly it's something McGonagall approves of..." Hope's voice trailed off as she watched Hermione pull a necklace out from underneath her uniform. "I don't understand. What is that?"

"It's how I've been getting to my lessons all year. I wanted to take all of the electives, but it's impossible since they're at the same time."

"I still don't understand Hermione"

"It's...Oh...it's a Time Turner!" Hope's eyes widened. "Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore had to get special permission and I had to agree to only use it for classes."

"You're mad. Only you would get permission to use something so powerful to take extra classes." Hope and Hermione burst out laughing at the same time and Hermione hugged her again. "

"Okay, lay down and get some rest. I'll come get you before dinner." Hope grinned as she laid down and Hermione tucked her in.

"I can't believe you just tucked me into bed." Both girls giggled again.

"Hermione...I really love you. I suspect this is what having a sister would feel like." Hermione's eyes glistened with tears.

"I really love you too, Hope. I'll see you for dinner." Hermione gave her a big smile and rushed out the door, shutting it behind her. Hope felt Crookshanks curl up next to her legs as she settled down into the bed.

**********

Pouring rain, thunder, lightening and bone chilling cold. Hope was so cold she didn't think she could ever get warm again. Frigidness coursed through her veins as she was falling. Falling with no end in sight. A creep started crawling over her skin, like a thousand tiny bugs crawling all over her. When she looked down at her arms, there was nothing there....it was as if the crawling was inside of her veins. Flashes of lightening surrounded as the thunder rolled through her body. She was reaching around, trying to grab onto something or someone but there was nothing there. She was falling faster and faster and as she braced herself for impact, Harry Potter’s limp body was on the cold ground, his green eyes, once filled with laughter and mischief were wide open and lifeless.

Hope’s eyes flew open. Hope couldn't catch her breath. She sat up clutching her chest as beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. She looked around her room wide eyed as Hermione burst through the door.

"Are you alright? Ron, Harry and I could hear you screaming down in the common room as soon as we came in through the portrait hole." Hope nodded her head and her pounding heart started to slow.

"I-I was having a nightmare" Her voice came out as a croak. "I just need a moment." Hermione ran into the bathroom and brought out a wet, cool wash cloth and pressed it to Hope's forehead.

"I was coming to get you for dinner. Do, do you still want to come, I could bring something back?" Hermione studied Hope, her face laces with concern.

"Yes...I just need to get changed.” Hope still felt incredibly cold. She looked down at her arms and they were covered in goose bumps.

”We’ll wait for you in the common room. Take all the time you need.” Hope nodded her head and Hermione quickly shut the door behind her. Hope ran her hand down the front of her face. The image of Harry lying on the cold, hard ground flashed in her mind. His blank eyes would be haunting her for days to come. She felt Crookshanks nudge her other hand with his head as he loudly purred at her. She scratched behind his ear for a moment and climbed out of bed. She wished it was appropriate to go to dinner in her sweats. As she pulled out a pair of jeans her hands were shaking slightly. She quickly changed into her jeans, threw on a long sleeved black shirt and slipped her shoes on to meet her three friends.

Harry looked up as Hope came down the stairs of the girls dormitory. Her hair was a little more wild than normal. She was attempting go smooth down her curly mane as she walked towards them. He couldn't help but notice how much paler she was than normal. She gave him a pinched smile. Her grey eyes still held a look of shock. She looked haunted.

”You okay?” Ron even noticed how disheveled she looked. Other than her hair that couldn't be contained, Hope was normally very well put together.

”Yeah. I'm actually kind of starving. I might be able to put you to shame tonight Ron.” He gave Hope a big grin.

”Doubtful.” Ron quipped. Harry quietly studied Hope. She was trying to hide her uneasiness with humor. He had noticed that it was a tactic she used often.

“Well let’s go then.” She nodded her head towards the portrait hole. Harry let Ron and Hermione lead the way. He motioned for Hope to go in front of him and he could see a slight tremor in her hand. He rushed forward to help guide her through the portrait hole. When she looked back and locked eyes with him, he could see a quiet terror deep within her gaze. Harry knew that feeling all to well. He took a couple of quick steps to be able to walk next to her and he felt her link her arm through his the way she did at The Black Lake. Whatever her nightmare was, it had her spooked.

Later that night, they had all been doing homework in the common room when Nox game flitting in to deliver a letter to Hope. Harry studied her face as she read it and slid it into her bag. As she looked up her eyes met Harry’s.

“Uncle Remus...letting me know he’s okay and to ignore Snape. I suspect if he wasn’t so polite he would have said to ignore Snape because he’s a bloody wanker.” Harry and Ron both sniggered. Hermione was too caught up in Ancient Runes to really pay attention.

After a while, the Gryffindor students slowly started filtering to their beds to get some rest until only Hope and Harry remained. She hadn’t realized he was still awake. She was curled up on one of the couches in front of the fire with a blanket wrapped around her legs. She still felt cold from the dream. She had been so cold that Ron had given her one of his signature Molly Weasley sweaters to wear. According to Ron he had about a thousand of them and Hope wouldn’t find anything warmer. She had blamed her shivers on the turn of season, which may have played a part in it, but she knew it was the dream. She looked over when she felt the couch cushion next to her sink. Harry had moved from the chair to the couch.

“You look tired.” He mused.

“I won’t be able to sleep.”

“Pretty nasty dream you had earlier. I forgot for a moment about the enchanted stairs and tried to run up to wake you.”

“I’m incredibly disappointed that I didn’t get to see you knocked down and falling down the slide.” Harry gave her a dirty look. “I’m sure you made it look cool.” He rolled his eyes as she laughed at his expense.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

”You might actually be able to sleep. I know sometimes if I have a nasty dream it makes me feel better to get it off my chest.” He watched as Hope closed her eyes for a moment and then stared back at the fire.”

”You were dead. Worse than dead.”

”Trewlawney is rubbing off on you.” He saw his sardonic comment made her crack a smile. ”What’s worse than dead Hope?”

”You were...vacant.”

“I-I don’t know what that means.”

“Harry, I wish I could explain it. It’s something you’d have to see to understand.” He nodded. “You should get some sleep, you have Quidditch tomorrow. I’m disappointed I won’t get to watch you knock Draco Malfoy and Snape down a peg or two.” Harry scoffed.

“I know, me too. Beating Malfoy is always a highlight .”

“He is the worst. It literally takes all of my self control to not yell at him or hex him. But I have to keep my distance.”

“I mean, it’s good that you’re keeping your distance, but why do you have to?”

“Because, well, he’s my cousin. He just doesn’t know it. His mother was a Black. And since we’re trying to keep my paternity under wraps, it’s just better to stay away. Fudge told Lucius and Narcissa himself that they were not to tell him.” “He would torment you.” Harry rolled his jaw. Just the idea of Malfoy being cruel to Hope made his blood boil.

“When I first found out I had more family, that I had a cousin my own age, I was furious with Uncle Remus. Now? I’m glad he kept me away from them. As much as I hate that he lied, I would have never relented on meeting them. He kept me away from them for my own safety. I discover more and more how hard he’s tried to protect me and what he’s done for me. He’s the best man I will ever know.”

“Well I’m proud of you for not going off on Snape. Though I think my leg will be bruised for a week from that grip you have. Remind me to never make you angry.” Hope grinned at Harry sheepishly. Harry watched as she reached into her bag and pulled out her sketch book.

“I want to show you something.” Harry thought it would be another drawing, but she slipped out a picture. She handed Harry the photo of the two of them and their parents.” She watched Harry’s reaction. It was the same one she had any time she discovered something new about her parents.

“Is that the two of us?” Hope nodded her head. “They were all friends?”

“Yes. No one I have ever spoken to about my father can understand how he was working for Voldemort. He loved them. He loved me and my mum. I just want to know why.” Harry put his arm around Hope as she rested her head on his shoulder. “What do you think it would have been like if they had all lived?”

“I think we would have had excellent lives. But I think we would still end up here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think we were always meant to be best friends. I think sometimes fate does step in. We were meant to know each other. I feel the same way about Ron. Had I grown up with my parents and you with yours, if the war never happened, we would have all just been friends sooner.”

“I think so too. I don’t trust people very easily. For obvious reasons. And I’ve made other friends here at Hogwarts, but I connected with you, Ron and Hermione. I just wish we had met sooner. It would have been really nice to have you guys as friends sooner.”

“Well you have us now, that’s what matters.” The two of them sat staring at the photo until they were almost falling asleep. To her good fortune, Hope slept without a single dream that night.

**********

Hope and Hermione were meeting the boys for breakfast. Harry had wanted to go early because of the game and Ron had gone with him. Hope was delighted to watch her first Hogwarts quidditch match. The weather was absolutely dreadful. She and Hermione had loaded on some layers and headed down to The Great Hall.

“Hey Lupes!” Hope and Hermione both stopped. Hope couldn’t even try to suppress her grin. There was only one person who called her that. Hope and Hermione both slowly turned around and were greeted with Cedric’s stunning smile.

“Hey.” While Hope had finally admitted to Hermione she might have a crush on the handsome Hufflepuff, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“I was hoping that my first match you’d be cheering me on.”

“You can thank Malfoy for that disappointment.” She quipped. Cedric grinned at her.

“I don’t suppose you’ll even wish me luck?”

“I can wish you a gracious defeat.” Cedric held his stomach as he threw his head back and laughed.

“But what if we win?”

“Against Harry?” Hope scoffed. “Not likely.”

“You’ve never seen him play. You’ve never seen ME play.” Hope considered him for a moment.

“True. But I’ve heard about what an incredible flyer my best friend is. So I stand by my statement.” Hope shrugged.

“You’re something else Hope Lupin. You may be eating those words.” Cedric was still laughing. “Maybe when we win you’ll swing by our victory party?” Hope gaped in mock shock.

“And go into another houses common room? Mr. Diggory, that is against the rules! You’re going to corrupt my sterling reputation.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling you’ll do that all on your own.” Cedric crosses his arms with a challenging smirk. Hermione nudged Hope.

“We should really get to breakfast before Harry heads down to the pitch.” “Yes, you shouldn’t be seen consorting with the enemy.” Cedric gave Hope another beaming smile as she laughed. She reached out and gripped his forearm.

“In all seriousness Ced, have a good game. Be careful in this rain. It’s not exactly good flying weather.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise. Meet me after the game, win or lose. Especially if we lose, I’ll need some consoling.” Hope could feel herself blush she couldn’t even put together a witty comment.

“Okay.” She agreed. “I’ll meet you after. See you later.” She gave him a small wave and linked her arm with Hermione and dragged her towards The Great Hall.

“Don’t you dare turn and look back at him but he’s definitely watching you walk away.” Hermione was trying to whisper but she was too excited.

“I’m dying to turn back but it’s so much cooler if I don’t.” Both girls giggled as they were walking to the Gryffindor table. Hope never thought she would be the type of girl that giggled. Hermione definitely never saw herself as one of those girls, but they both loved the feeling of having a girlfriend you could be stupid with.

“Fraternizing with the enemy ladies?” Fred said as he wiggled his eyebrows at the two girls.

“Never! I told Cedric I wished him a gracious loss.”

“Atta girl!” George cheered. “Besides, I’m sure you can cheer him up after his loss.”

“Shut it George.” Hope’s face was impossibly red, but Harry couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Hope’s curly blonde hair was piled on top of her head. Curly blonde tendrils had surrounded her face. Her face had color back in it and she had a smile plastered to her face. She looked genuinely happy.

“I have to get down to the pitch. If I’m late Wood will murder me.” Harry stood up from the table and the twins joined him.

“Be careful. It’s awful out.” Hope chewed on her inner cheek.

“We’ll be fine mum.” Fred quipped as Hope rolled her eyes. She felt an unease creeping into her stomach.

“We’ll be careful, promise.” Harry sounded confident and reassuring. The boys left The Great Hall to the sounds of their House table wishing them luck.

“You two better eat quick so we can get some good seats.” Ron instructed with an air of impatience. Both Hope and Hermione rolled their eyes as they placed food on their plates.

**********

”I don’t know why you were so concerned about us getting good seats, we can’t see a thing anyway.” Hope complained. The rain was coming down in sheets. While they were protected and dry, the rain prevented them from seeing much. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for the players. Hermione had gone down to spell Harry’s glasses so he could see better: It was impossible to see either him or Cedric. They had both flown to the opposite side of where they were sitting.

Hope glanced over to where all of the Professors were sitting. She was glad to see her Uncle in the stands, while he looked a little rough around the edges, he was there. She felt like she barely saw him since she had arrived at Hogwarts. Before it had just been the two of them. She missed being with him regularly but she wouldn’t give up what she had gained for anything. For the first time in her life, she felt normal.

“Can you see Harry at all?” Ron elbowed Hope to get her attention.

“I think he’s flying up.” Hope felt the creep of dread coming over her again. The feeling of something crawling through her veins. “Oh my God.” Hope’s hand flung to her mouth.

“What? Why do you look sick?” Ron noticed how pale Hope’s face had gotten.

“It wasn’t a nightmare, it was a vision.” Hope said, more to herself than to Ron and Hermione. It was the first clear vision she had since her father had escaped Azkaban, she just hadn’t realized it.

“What wasn’t a nightmare.” Hope pushed Ron back to get to Hermione. “Hey!” He cried in protest.

“It wasn’t a nightmare Hermione!” Hope was shaking her arm to get her attention. “It was a vision.” She tried to say it as quietly as she could. She saw the alarm cross Hermione’s face.

“Harry?” His name was all that Hermione could utter.

“Dementors. It’s why I felt so cold. It’s why I felt so awful. He’s going to fall! We have to get him help! I have to get to a Dumbledore!” Hope tried pushing through the crowd to get to the stands where all of their professors were seated. She silently chastised herself for not figuring it out beforehand. She knew what it felt like to get a vision. This one was slightly different. It had felt like SHE was falling, not Harry. But seeing Harry looking the way he did, the feeling deep within the pit of her stomach, she should have known.

Hope let out a growl of frustration and desperation. She couldn’t get through the crowd. She couldn’t get to Dumbledore. She certainly couldn’t get down to the pitch in time. She continued pushing her way through. It wasn’t until she got to the group of Slytherin students that she was stopped.

“What’s the rush Lupin?” Malfoy was jeering down at her. His considerable height advantage must have made him feel powerful.

“I need to get through. Just move please.” Malfoy grabbed her forearm to pull her back.

“And miss the rest of your boyfriend’s game?” Hope face twisted in confusion. “I know, you’re thinking, ‘which one’? We’ve all seen you hanging all over Potter and skulking off to corners with Diggory.” Hope curled her lips in disgust.

“Harry is my best friend. And I’m not dating Cedric. Right now we’re just friends. Not that I owe you any explanation. And why do you even care? We aren’t friends. We’ve never spoken.”

“You’re just like Potter. You think you can do whatever you want. All of the professors fawn all over you. It’s nauseating. I’m here to knock you down a peg. Just like your pal Potter.” Hope aggressively rolled her eyes.

“Get bent Malfoy. My life is NONE of your business. The only entitled person here is YOU. You run to Daddy as soon as you don’t get your own way. It’s a shame Buckbeak didn’t take you out down good. We’d all be better for it.” As Malfoy opened his mouth to respond to her rant, Hope heard the gasps all around her. She wrenched herself free from Malfoy’s grip and saw Harry rapidly falling from the sky. She covered her mouth as she cried out in horror. Luckily, Dumbledore had seen what was happening and was on the field slowing Harry down. Before she could even process what was happening, Harry was being carried away by an enchanted stretcher and Ron was pulling her away from Malfoy so they could follow Harry. As he pulled her along, she saw Oliver Wood having a heated conversation with Cedric who held the Golden Snitch in his hand. Harry was going to be devastated. Cedric’s face was covered in guilt. He was trying to get Hope’s attention but she waved him off. She needed to get to Harry to make sure he was alright.

Hope sat next to Harry’s bed. Guilt was floating about her mind. Had she put it together beforehand, he wouldn’t be in the Hospital. Anxiety was still coursing through her veins. She had been desperate to get to Dumbledore. If she had gotten to him sooner, maybe Harry wouldn’t have gotten hurt. And his broom! She didn’t even want to imagine his face when they showed him. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Malfoy’s obnoxious face was looking at her from the back of her eye lids. She had done everything she positively could to avoid him. Apparently being Harry’s friend had put a big red X on her back.

“Harry!” Hope’s eyes snapped open when she heard Fred say his name. “How’re you feeling?”

“What happened?” Harry ignored the question. of his well being and say up suddenly, he made everyone gasp in surprise. No one expected him to be almost jumping out of bed.

“You fell off,” said Fred. “Must’ve been — what — fifty feet?” Hope tuned the rest of the team out as she focused on Harry. He looked okay. He had been so lucky that Dumbledore had been able to act so quickly.

“But the match,” said Harry. “What happened? Are we doing a replay?” Hope watched as the realization hit Harry like a freight train. She hated watching his face drop even further. He finally asked the question no one really wanted to answer. “We didn’t — lose?”

“Diggory got the Snitch,” said George. “Just after you fell. He didn’t realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square . . . even Wood admits it.”

Hope's ears perked up at what George said about Cedric. Malfoy would have NEVER tried to deny himself a win, especially against Harry. He really was something special. Hope tuned the rest of the Quidditch chat out. She was over hearing about the game at this point. The idea that Harry could have died after falling off of his broom was too much for her to take. Finally Madam Pomfrey game out and shooed the rest of the team away leaving Harry with Hope, Hermione and Ron. Hermione was explaining to Harry what had happened, how angry Dumbledore had been. Then the final question she had been dreading came up.

"Did anyone get my Nimbus?" Hope watched as Hermione and Ron looked at each other and wouldn't look at Harry. Hope sighed and took Harry's hand. He looked over at her for the first time since he woke up. "What?"

"Well, when you fell off of your broom it blew away and...and it hit..." Hope deflated "It hit the Whomping Willow." Harry turned pale. Hope nodded for Ron to bring out the pieces of his broom stick that were wrapped up. "Professor Flitwick brought it before you woke up. I'm really sorry Harry." Harry became despondent. “I tried to fix it...even Dumbledore tried to fix it but it just...I’m so sorry.” Harry didn’t understand why Hope was apologizing so much. Under normal circumstances he would try to make her feel better, but he just couldn’t. He had never lost a match and his beloved Nimbus 2000 was a pile of toothpicks. Before long Madam Pomfrey was pushing them out of the hospital wing. She had decided she wanted Harry to spend the weekend in the hospital wing which had made his mood sour even more. On their way out, Hope stopped in Madam Pomfrey’s door.

“I know you want Harry to get some rest, but he’s really upset. Would- would it be okay if I came back later just to check on him? I won’t stay if you don’t want me to.”

“I cannot allow that Ms. Lupin. However, if you happened to come down with another headache I suppose I couldn’t stop the two of you from speaking.” She gave Hope a pointed look.

“I completely understand.” Hope mused. She went to leave and stopped and turned back to the healer.

“I never properly thanked you for taking caring of me before the start of the term.”

“Nonsense, it is my job.”

“True, but it was the first time I was away from home and my first time alone. You made me feel NOT alone. And I know that you normally wouldn’t allow the House Elves to spend so much time here but they really lifted my spirits. Harry is feeling really down, so he may not seem to be so grateful for you making him stay. But just know he appreciates how well you take care of him. I know you’ve done it many times.” Madam Pomfrey stopped and stared at Hope with a deep affection. She smiled and patted her on the cheek and then turned back to her work.

**********

Hope made her way back from her Uncle’s office. She had gone back to her room and changed into her favorite sweat pants, t-shirt and a hoodie so she would be comfortable hanging out in the hospital wing with Harry. She wanted to make sure she updated her Uncle Remus on how Harry was doing. Predictably, he knew something was off with her, but didn’t press her for details. She didn’t really want to get into the details of her vision and the guilt she was feeling. She would talk to him about it more when she had time to process it all.

“Hey Lupes!” Hope froze when she heard Cedric call out to her. Naturally she would have to bump into him when she was in sweats, no makeup and had a her messy hair piled on top of her head. She slowly turned to greet him.

“Hey Ced.”

“I was hoping to catch you. I went to the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey said you had left and I had just missed you leaving the common room. Hermione mentioned you were coming to see your uncle. He led her over to the bench against the wall and they both sat down. She turned so she was facing him.

“You spoke to Hermione?”

“Yeah, Neville Longbottom was heading into the Gryffindor common room when I got there. He had said he was going to let you know I was there, but when you weren’t in the dorm Hermione came out to let me know where you had gone off to.”

“Are you stalking me Mr. Diggory” Hope smirked and crossed her arms. She never felt as brave as she did when she flirted with Cedric. Cedric fidgeted a bit. Normally he would laugh and have a witty comment for her. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I just wanted you to know that I tried to forfeit the game and get a re-match. I had NO idea that Harry had been attacked by dementors. I don’t want to win like that. I would have gone to help him if I knew-” Hope put her hand on Cedric’s forearm to calm him.

“I know Cedric. The Weasley’s told us that you wanted a re-match but even Oliver knew you had won fairly. Even if they'd didn’t tell me that, I know that you wouldn’t have gone after the snitch if you knew Harry was in trouble. You’re too nice of a guy for that.”

“You believe me?” Cedric was genuinely relieved.

“Of course I believe you.”

“Thank Merlin- I was so worried you would be upset with me.”

“I would never be mad at you for beating my house at Quidditch. It’s not that serious.” Cedric looked seriously offended. Hope rolled her eyes. “Look, I know how important Quidditch is to you, Harry, Fred and George, Ron and everyone else. I wouldn’t hinge my feelings for someone over the outcome of a match. I mean, it would be different if you sent the dementors to hurt Harry just so you could win. But that’s not the case. You really don’t need to worry.” Cedric grinned at her. “What?”

“You have feelings for me?” He raised an eyebrow and watched Hope’s face grow a little pink.

“Never said what kind of feelings Diggory.” They both laughed.

“Touche. How is Harry?” Cedric had placed. his free hand over hers that was resting on his arm. She was having a hard time focusing on what he was saying.

“What? OH! Harry is okay. Physically anyway. He’s pretty bummed out for loosing the match. And then when I told him about his Nimbus and the Whomping Willow he looked absolutely suicidal. I’m sure he’s not thrilled about Malfoy and his band of goons making fun of him on Monday the way they did after the train ride.

“Malfoy is a git. It’s a shame about Harry’s Nimbus. I’m sure he can use a school broom for the time being.

“It won't be as good as his Nimbus. He’s just going to have to mourn his broom and eventually get a new one. I’m actually on my way back to the hospital wing to pretend to be ill so I can stay with him. I figured he shouldn’t be alone, especially if he wants to talk about the dementors.” Cedric made sure his face stayed neutral. He didn’t want her to know how jealous it made him when she spoke about Harry.

“You’re a great friend Hope Lupin.”

“Well I try. Thank you for checking to see how he was doing. That was a really nice thing to do.” Hope stood up. She placed her hand on Cedric’s shoulders and bent down and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon.” Cedric was speechless as she walked away. This time she did turn around so she could smile and wave at him. She was glad she did. Cedric was sitting on that bench with his hand on the cheek that she had kissed. She quickly made her way back to the hospital wing, making a mental note to gush with Hermione tomorrow at breakfast.

**********

Hope grinned at Harry as she strolled back into the hospital wing in her pajamas.

“Hope...what are you doing here?” She faked a couple of coughs.

“I’m sick.” Harry sniggered. “Okay good, I thought that loss and the broom might have made you suicidal.” She plopped down on the bed across from his.

“I’m surprised Pomfrey let you in here.”

“It was her idea. She likes me.” Hope shrugged. “Uncle Remus says he’s glad you’re alright. He was very worried.”

“Er- how is he feeling?”

“He’ll be okay. He had a chronic condition that flares up. Magic can do a lot but some things it can’t fix. He’s strong though.” A silence fell between them. Hope studied Harry's face intently. The smile he had didn't quite reach his eyes.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean?" He glanced away.

"Harry, it doesn't take seer abilities to know something is wrong. I know it's more than loosing today's match or even your broom. You might as well tell me. I wont leave you alone until you do."

"You've been spending too much time with Hermione. She's rubbing off on you." Hope pursed her lips in annoyance. Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously and sighed. "It's- I heard more this time with the dementors. I heard my mother...begging for my life. I heard Voldemort laughing. It was the last moments of her life and she was terrified." Hope stood from the bed she was occupying and went and sat next to Harry's on his, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Hope was an affectionate person. Harry had seen it with not only himself but Hermione and Ron as well. Yet, it still took him by surprise every time. He suspected it was his treatment from the Dursley's that still made him shocked any time someone actually showed they cared about him.

"I'm sorry Harry. I-I can't imagine. I sometimes wonder what I would hear from a dementor."

"No you don't. I don't want you to ever find out. That feeling...there is nothing worse." Harry studied Hope's face and watched something pass through her eyes. "Okay...now you talk. What's wrong with you?" Hope looked at him with wide eyes.

"I...it's my fault."

"What? What do you mean? You didn't send the dementors after me."

"That nightmare I had...it wasn't a nightmare. It was a vision. The coldness, you falling, how you looked. It's been so long since I had a clear vision I didn't even pick up it. If I had, this wouldn't have happened. I could have warned you."

"Don't be ridiculous. How could you have known?"

"When I have a vision. It's different than just dreams and nightmares. Remember how cold I was? When I have a vision, I actually feel it. Sometimes it's pain. If it's a happy vision, I feel that too. But the cold and the dread...the way it stayed with me. I should have know. I tried to get to Dumbledore before it happened. But I couldn't get through the crowd...and then Malfoy..." Hope put her face in her hand. Her guilt had hidden itself when she was talking to Cedric; but hearing what Harry had experienced had brought it back full force. Harry felt a surge of over protectiveness.

"Malfoy what?"

"I mean...I'm surprised he hasn't tried to mess with me before since we're friends. He was just saying stupid stuff about you and Cedric to try to get to me. But he stopped me from getting to Dumbledore." Harry felt a surge of anger. "Harry he isn't worth it."

"The way he talks to Ron and Hermione. The way he treats them like they're less than. And now he's messing with you. I can deal with him getting on my case."

"Harry...I can handle myself. Malfoy is nothing. It only upset me because I wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt because I was too stupid to realize what was going on." Harry scoffed.

"Hope, this isn't your fault. You didn't do anything. Even if you had realized it was a vision and not a nightmare, I still would have played that game. I'm fine. Please don't blame yourself." Hope went to say more but heard Madame Pomfrey coming and jumped over to her own bed.

"Enough talking you two. Get some sleep." She ordered. Hope climbed under the blankets of her bed. They both stayed silent for a few moments.

"Good night Harry."

"Night Hope." Harry laid staring at the ceiling for a long time. He heard Hope’s breathing even out signaling that she had fallen asleep. All he wanted was to have her crawl back into bed with him and lay with him. As upset as he was, he realized that Hope Lupin made everything seem better.

**********

Hope stood in front of the mirror in her dormitory bathroom. She had gotten up early with Hermione to get breakfast. Today was her Hogsmeade date with Cedric. Her nerves were bubbling underneath the surface. She was meeting Cedric shortly outside of the Gryffindor common room, the place where they first met. She smiled back to the night Cedric came looking for her to tell her about their flying lessons. She tugged at her cashmere wrap sweater. It was a dark charcoal that made her light grey eyes stand out. She had paired it with a light pink lace trim cami. It was cropped right at her waist and had a belt that wrapped around twice that she tied in a neat bow. She had paired it with dark jeans and black chunky boots that hit her right under the knee. The sweater was arguably the most expensive thing she had ever owned. She knew that she had money, but Hope had always felt guilty spending any on herself besides necessities. Her Uncle refused to use the money for himself other than the house they lived in and food. Hope and Remus had gone into Muggle London one evening to get ice cream and go see a film. It was one of Hope’s favorite things to do. They had been window shopping and Remus had seen her eyeing the expensive item in the window. She wasn’t like most teenage girls, she wouldn’t ask for it. In fact the only thing she had ever asked for were art supplies. When she had gotten back from a long walk two nights later the sweater was on her bed. She had insisted that her Uncle return it, but he had feigned ignorance. It was one of her favorite possessions. Her curly hair, though wild as ever, was behaving more than normal.

”Hope, you look really pretty.” Hermione exclaimed as she approached from behind.

”Thank you.”

”You look nervous.”

”I-I am. I don't even know why. It's not like I haven't ever hung out with Cedric before. We had my flying lessons. We’ve talked plenty of times.”

”Well this is different, it's a date.”

”That is not very helpful.” Hope pouted slightly as Hermione grinned at her.

”Seriously, you look lovely. You better hurry up if you want to see the boys before you head off.”

”Oh no...Harry...I forgot he has to stay behind.” Hope chewed on her bottom lip. Hope had felt closer to Harry since the night she spent with him in the hospital wing, but as Hogsmeade weekend had approached he had seemed a little frosty. Hope couldn’t imagine what it felt like to feel left behind. She suddenly wanted to tell Cedric they needed to reschedule.

”Don’t you dare start feeling guilty. Ron and I will bring him back some treats from Honeydukes. He’ll be alright. Neville will be here too since Professor McGonagall.

”I really hate his Aunt and Uncle. I don't understand how anyone could be so cruel.” Hope folded her wool coat over her arm before adding “especially to Harry.”

“I know. They sound absolutely dreadful.” Hermione added in agreement as they headed out of the girls dormitory.

Harry looked up as he heard Hermione and Hope’s voices coming down from the girls dormitory. He felt his mouth go dry as he looked at Hope. She looked exceptionally pretty, not that she didn't always look nice. Maybe it was the excitement that was making her glow. He suddenly felt himself hate Cedric Diggory. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling like this; Hope was his friend, one of his best friends and her Uncle was helping him fight off the Dementors. Maybe it was because he wasn’t allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

“Oooooo look at you all dressed up for your date.” Ron teased as he grinned at Hope. Her face had turned crimson. Harry wished he could be as happy for her as Ron.

“Shut it.” Hope have Ron a mock glare. Harry felt her eyes studying him as he did everything he could do to avoid looking at her. "Harry are you going to be okay?" He looked up, not being able to avoid her again.

"Yes, I'll be fine. You go have fun." Hope bit her bottom lip and nodded at the cold bite of his voice. She didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. She knew he was upset about not going to Hogsmead and about his Nimbus. She didn’t expect him to be so sullen.

"Alright...I'll see you guys later then." Harry could hear the drop in her voice and he immediately felt guilty. It wasn't her fault that he had to stay behind while they all went and had fun in Hogsmead. He would apologize to her later that evening. He watched as she smiled brightly at Hermione and then made her way out of the portrait hole.

Cedric noticed Hope seemed a little distracted as they walked towards the village. She had been waiting for him outside of her common room and her face had lit up as soon as she saw him. Her smile had taken his breath away. She had happily slid her arm through his as they made their way from Hogwarts into the village. They had fallen into a comfortable silence as the snow crunched beneath their boots. He could see something running behind her eyes. "Hope?" He finally said, he stopped walked before she had noticed and her body jerked back towards him. He steadied her so she didn't knock them both over. He smiled as her face grew red. "Sorry...are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm fine." Her smile seemed genuine. "I'm sorry, I'm just distracted. Harry is stuck back at Hogwarts again while everyone is at Hogsmead. I just feel really horrible about it. With how he lost the Quidditch match and then his broom breaking, he just seems really down."

"Do...do you want to go back and do this another time?" Cedric had stopped walking. He didn't want to drag her on a date if she wanted to be elsewhere.

"What? No, definitely not!" Hope's protest was genuine. "Harry will be fine. I just sometimes get lost in my thoughts. I don't want to be anywhere but with you, I promise." Her cheeks were rosy from the sharp winter air biting at her cheeks, her grey eyes shining as she looked up at him. She had taken his hand in hers as she reassured him. Standing in the freezing cold, he had never felt warmer than he did right at that moment.

"I just don't want you to feel obligated. I know how important your friends are to you, I would understand." He didn’t want her to know he felt a little threatened by how close she was with Harry Potter. He was Harry Potter, how could he not be jealous. He watched as she looked down and then slowly looked back up at him.

"You're important to me too Ced." He felt his heart soar slightly. All he wanted to do in that moment was kiss her, but there were so many other Hogwarts students walking by, he wanted their first kiss to be private and special.

"C'mon, lets keep going." Hope slid both of her arms through his as they made their way into the village. She silently chastised herself for making Cedric feel like she didn’t want to be there. Of course she wanted to be there. Truth be told, he was all she had thought about since he ran into her in the corridor the night Harry had gotten hurt. She wished they had been in the same House so she could spend her evenings with him.

“So where to first Lupes?” Hope looked up at Cedric. “Well I need to get some Christmas gifts. Definitely Honeydukes.” Cedric grinned. “What?”

“You have quite the sweet tooth. Dessert is your favorite part of dinner.” Hope studied his face for a moment.

“Have you been watching me Diggory?” Hope teased, but Cedric didn’t miss a beat.

“How could I not? Can’t take my eyes off of you.” He was good, she knew he was smooth, but that was spot on. Hope felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. She bit her lip, looked down at the ground for a moment and then back to Cedric’s face. His smile was beaming and he had taken a step closer to her. He put his warm palm on her cheek. Hope felt her mouth go dry. She bit her lower lip. She had to so she didn’t embarrass herself by throwing herself at him and kissing him in the middle of the village. “You’re freezing.” Hope thought that was hilarious because she felt like her face was on fire from him touching her.

“C’mon.” Cedric’s hand drifted from Hope’s face down to her hand and he led her into Zonko’s Joke Shop. She was secretly hoping Fred and George weren’t in the store yet. They would tease her mercilessly.

The heat hit their faces as the door shut behind them. The shop was filled with Hogwarts students. Hope never found much need for any of the items but she enjoyed looking around. Cedric kept Hope’s hand in his as they walked around the store. She was happy to see the Weasley Twins were no where to be found. They stopped occasionally to look at some items and Hope laughed as Cedric told her funny anecdotes about pranks his friends pulled on each other.

“Nothing from here?” He asked her as they made their way around the store.

“Pranks aren’t really my thing. And I refuse to give Ron anything he can use against me.” “Let’s go to Spintwitches.” Hope suggested. “I want to see if I can find a Quidditch gift for Harry and for Ron.”

“I could spend all day in there.” Cedric grinned. He was excited to show her around the store and teach her about his favorite past time.

“I’m sure.” Hope grinned and happily let Cedric lead her out of the shop. She knew at that moment that she would let him lead her anywhere. She had more than just a crush on Cedric. He made her feel something she had never felt before. As they were walking a gust of cold wind stopped Hope dead in her tracks. Cedric let go of her hand, removed his Hufflepuff scarf and wrapped it around Hope’s neck.

“There, that should help keep you warm.”

“What about you Ced?”

“I’m fine. C’mon, let’s go.” As they approached the shop, Hope could see the new broomsticks in the window and she felt a pang. The Firebolt was proudly on display. Ron and Harry wouldn’t shut up about it. Cedric watched her curiously.

“I wish I could get Harry a new broom. But I think it would just upset him more if I bought him a gift like that.” Cedric felt a familiar surge of jealousy course through him but he didn’t say anything, but Hope noticed. She couldn’t help but see it pass through his eyes. She paused for a moment. “Cedric, Harry and I are just friends, just so you know.”

“Hope you don’t owe me an explanation.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to misunderstand. Harry, Ron and Hermione are the first real friends I’ve ever had. I mean there were some Muggle kids I would play with on the beach, but they weren’t true friends. Mine parents and Harry’s parents were best friends. So we have that connection. We both lost them in the War. I at least have my Uncle Remus. Harry didn’t get so lucky. His Muggle aunt and uncle are HORRIBLE. They treat him terribly. I mean they wouldn’t even sign his permission slip to come to Hogsmeade. He doesn’t have any one else in his corner. But it doesn’t go beyond friendship. I just wanted to make that clear. There is no one else besides you that I want to be spending this day with.” Hope could see Cedric physically relax.

“Harry is lucky to have you. Let’s go in, I’ll help you pick out some great gifts for them.” Cedric gently pulled Hope into the shop feeling much relieved.

******

A little while later, Hope and Cedric were leaving the Post Office after sending Hope’s substantial haul back to Hogwarts so they didn’t have to carry the packages around for the rest of the afternoon. Cedric had helped her pick out the gifts for Harry and Ron. She loved watching how excited he got while talking about Quidditch. They had gone to a couple of more shops where Hope picked out a beautiful quill and stationery set for Hermione to gift alone with some of the books she had gotten for her friend. Instead of instructional books that Hermione would normally go for, Hope and chosen some fictional books that she knew Hermione had never read. She also purchased some new sweaters and robes for her uncle that Hope knew he would never buy for himself and then a few things for the Tonks family. After a rather large purchase at Honeydukes, Hope was all set. Though 75% of her purchase from Honeydukeswas actually for her.

“Do you want to go to Madam Pudifoot’s? It’s kind of romantic.” Cedric nodded his head towards the Tea Shop. He grinned when disgust was prevalent on Hopes face. “Or not...”

“It’s not really my scene.” Hope said matter of factly after she shuddered. Hope’s gaze fell onto the steamed up windows. “Hermione and I dragged Ron in our first weekend here and immediately ran for our lives. All the frilly, pink and doilies? No thanks” Cedric let out a hearty laugh. Secretly he was relieved that Hope didn’t want to go there. He had taken dates there before and they had been gaga over it. It made him cringe a bit.

“Is the Hogs Head more your scene?” Cedric teased as he wiggled his eyebrows. “I feel like they have some nice and dusty butter beer and possibly some moldy biscuits.” He doubled over laughing when he looked at the dirty look Hope was giving him. “I’m kidding. 3 Broomsticks?” Hope nodded and they walked hand in hand to their destination.

Once they were inside of the pub, they located a small table towards the back. Cedric was really determined to get Hope to open up more. It had been more superficial conversations. He wanted to know her. He knew he would have to chip away at the wall she surrounded herself with. Cedric helped her get her coat off and hung it up. He couldn’t help but stare at how her dark grey sweater made her pale grey eyes stand out. She caught him staring and it was his turn to blush. Once Hope was settled he went up to the bar to order their butter beers. Hope say with her legs crossed in the booth looking around the pub. It was filled with students and staff from Hogwarts. She waved at Neville who was sitting with Dean and Seamus at a table near them. He gave her a genuine smile. They had talked a bit more after the day she helped him in potions. Neville was such a nice guy. She hated how often he was teased by their classmates, especially the Slytherins. She wanted to punch Pansy Parkison in the mouth on more than one occasion. Fred and George were at a table with Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan laughing. It was nice to see everyone in such jovial moods. With the holidays fast approaching there was definitely an excitement in the air.

Hope was pulled from her thoughts when Cedric set her Butter Beer down in front of her before sliding in next to her. His brilliant smile made the butterflies in her stomach erupt again. She was thankful the cold kept her cheeks rosy otherwise she was sure he would know she had been blushing all day. She secretly hated herself for liking him so much. She felt like the sterotypical boy crazy girl; but it was only Cedric that made her feel that way.

“So tell me something not many people know about you.” Cedric said. He had positioned himself as close as he could be to her. She stopped and thought for a moment.

“Well...I grew up in a mostly Muggle town. After the war, my Uncle was worried that I wouldn’t be safe. So he found us this really nice house on the beach. I love the Ocean. Even when it’s cold outside, the beach is my favorite place to be. It was just me and Uncle Remus for the longest time. I remember going to the Weasleys occasionally when I was younger. It was always kind of overwhelming for me, all of the siblings. It’s so funny now that Ron and I are such good friends. I love Fred and George too. I wish I had been more open to spending time with them when I was younger. It took me a while to really open up. My father has a cousin, Andromeda Tonks. She’s married to a muggle named Ted and they have a daughter, Nymphadora Tonks.” Hope stopped, she hadn’t meant to even mention her father, but Cedric made her feel so comfortable.

Cedric saw something pass just behind her eyes and he frowned. “Hope, what is it?” He placed his hand on top of hers. He could tell she was reluctant to finish her thought. “You can tell me anything, you know? If you can’t tell, I really like you Hope.” Cedric had heard people questioning who Hope’s father was. No one knew all that much about her. Cedric knew the girls in his house liked to gossip, he never listened to them. He was great at tuning all of that out. He didn’t want to fill in Hope’s story for her.

"Cedric....there’s just some things about me...I’m scared if I tell you that you won't want to spend time with me. I really like you too. And once I say it out loud, there’s no taking it back.” Cedric studied her face. He could see the anxiety building.

“You’re not a murder are you?” He teased, trying to lighten the mood. “Hope, there’s not anything I can think of that would make me not want to know you. I’m not going to judge you, or anyone you care about. You can trust me. Anything you tell me will be strictly between us. I’m not the kind to spill other people’s secrets” She took a deep breath and studied his face for a moment.

“Okay- but Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only ones that know. I don’t want it getting out. I don’t know how people will react. And I really want people to actually know me before they judge me on things that they don’t understand.” He nodded and his earnest expression set her at ease. “My, Um, well, my father is Sirius Black.” Cedric was quiet for a moment and Hope felt her nerves kicking up. He understood why she didn’t want many people to know. Their classmates would use that against her. Cedric couldn’t care less who her father was. He knew first hand that you can’t judge someone on their parents.

“Hope, you have no control over who your relatives are. I wouldn’t hold that against you. And look, a lot of people who worked for You Know Who...they did it out of fear. They felt like they didn’t have a choice. Or they were forced to do it by the Cruciatus curse. Unfortunately, some people were sent to Azkaban even if they were forced against their will. We don’t know why he did anything that he did. What I do know is that you aren’t responsible for what your father has done. Even if he made the choice to support him, that isn’t on you.” Hope shouldn’t have been surprised that he said that. Of course he would feel that way. She took a deep breath and Cedric watched as she fidgeted for a moment. “What is it?”

“Well there’s more. It’s about my mother. She was a seer. A true Seer. Not what whatever it is that Professor Trewlawney claims to do. She was incredibly talented and Voldemort wanted to use her to win the war” She watched as Cedric flinched slightly. “She refused to help him, so on the same night that Harry’s parents were killed, she was killed too. I don't know which one of his followers did it. It’s what makes me think my father wasn’t a true supporter. He loved my Mum. I’ve seen pictures and how he looked at her. There’s no way he would have let anyone hurt her. And the stories I’ve heard? I mean there haven’t been a lot, but he loved me too. And there’s no one I can ask to tell me what the truth is. Sometimes I think even if Remus did know the full truth, he wouldn’t tell me. But she passed the Seer gene on to me.” Cedric listened intently as Hope continued her story, put it all out on the table and bared her soul. She told him how all she could see for the most part was shades of black since her father escaped Azkaban. How drawing calmed her. The only thing she kept to herself was her Uncle being a werewolf. That wasn’t her secret to tell. Cedric held her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckled as she explained.

“I just wish I could figure out how to control it. To use it to my advantage. If my mother was still alive she could teach me. But I have no one.”

“Well, I’m sure we can find something somewhere that will help. It must be horribly overwhelming...and dangerous for you if the wrong people find out about your ability.” Concern flooded Cedric’s face.

“It’s why my uncle doesn’t want many people to know. He’s afraid I’ll end up like my mother.” Hope’s voice was quiet. She was looking down, anxiously playing with her fingers. For the second time that day, Cedric hooked his his finger under her chin to bring her eyes level to his. It was the first time he saw the storm behind her eyes; the turmoil within her. He saw Hope for all that she was in that moment. She was more than he anticipated.

"I wont let anything happen to you. I certainly wont let anyone use you. Your secret is safe with me. You’re safe with me." She felt tears well up slightly in her eyes and looked away for a moment as Cedric dropped his hand.

"Thanks Ced. Really." The two of them sat together in a comfortable silence while they drank their Butter Beers. Hope had just noticed Ron and Hermione sitting at a table. She hadn't noticed them walk in. They were glancing at the empty seat at their table. Hope felt her stomach drop slightly...had Harry snuck into Hogsmeade? They both had a look of alarm on their faces. She noticed they were abnormally quiet. She wasn't sure if it was because The Minister of Magic was sitting at a table so close to them or if something was going on. They hadn't even glanced in her direction.

"You ready to head back?" Cedric broke her train of thought. She smiled and nodded her head yes. As they were leaving she tried to get Hermione's attention, but she was unsuccessful. It also didn't go unnoticed that when she walked past where Cornelius Fudge was sitting, the table stopped talking. Hagrid only gave her a slight nod instead of his normal warm greeting. Something was definitely up. Hope tried to push it aside for the time being and focus on her walk back with Cedric.

The two of them continued to walk in a comfortable silence. His arm was around her shoulders in an attempt to keep her warm. She was looking forward to being in the warm common room, but hated the idea of leaving Cedric behind. Once they got back into the castle, Hope's face felt like it was frozen. As they continued on in the castle, Cedric lead Hope down one of the corridors and not to the Gryffindor Common room. Hope cocked her eyebrow in interest but didn't say anything. He was leading her over to the window where he originally asked her to go with him to Hogsmead. He sat down on the window sill and took her hands and pulled her closer to him. He was so tall that her standing in front of him while he sat was the only way the would be eye to eye.

"I just wanted a moment before I walked you back to your common room." His blue-grey eyes were sparkling at her. “I had a really great time today. Thank you for trusting me to tell me what you did. I know that wasn’t easy."

"I'm glad I can talk to you. Today was really great. It was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time." Cedric was impossibly close to her. She couldn’t even think straight with him looking at her like that.

"I also wanted to do this in private." He whispered as he ran his thumb over her bottom lip before he leaned in to kiss her. Hope felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest. He pulled her closer and she ran her hand up the back of his hair. She was certain they may have taken it a little too far, but they were interrupted.

"HOPE!" Hope and Cedric jumped apart, both of their faces blazing. Harry was approaching her quickly, looking agitated. Ron and Hermione were chasing after him, trying to keep up, both of them shooting Hope and Cedric apologetic looks.

"Harry...are you okay?" Hope asked. He stopped short in front of the two of them. Cedric was still gripping her hand, he was eyeing Harry warily.

"Am I okay? Do I look like I'm okay?!" Hope's eyebrows shot up. She didn't even get a chance to respond. "Did you know?!"

"Did I know what?" Hope searched her memory for anything Harry could even be referencing.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying! I have no idea what you're getting on about!"

"Harry- calm down-" Cedric interjected but Hope shook her head at him. That would only agitate Harry further. Harry was already giving Cedric a warning look.

"That he got them killed."

"Who got who killed?"

"YOUR FATHER!” Harry bellowed. Hope physically flinched as he raised his voice at her. “He betrayed them. HE TOLD VOLDEMORT WHERE THEY WERE HIDING. THEY'RE DEAD BECAUSE OF HIM." Cedric, Ron and Hermione watched the color drain from Hope's face and the shock settle in. Harry was breathing heavily, the weight of what he had just yelled hung in the air. Cedric grabbed Hope by the waist to keep her steady. It took Harry a moment to take in Hope's reaction. "You...you didn't know?" Cedric scoffed.

"Does she look like she's someone in the know. Blimey..." Cedric felt white hot rage coursing through his veins.

"Where did you hear this?" Hope's voice came out as a whisper. Harry's face fell. He had been so worked up, he hadn't given it a thought that Hope would not know. He wanted to make Sirius Black hurt as much as he did. Since he couldn’t make the happen, he had targeted the closest thing to him as he could get.

"I was in Hogsmead today. I overheard Fudge, Madame Rosmerta, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid talking. They were talking about how he and my dad were best friends. They were like brothers. They knew Voldemort was after them, so they hid them. He....he was their secret keeper. He told Voldemort where they were the day they were murdered. Then he killed their best friend Peter Pettigrew." Harry's voice had come out much more calm and quiet than when he approached them. The desire to make someone else hurt as much has he was hurting had been quelled.

"Oh my God...." Cedric stood up so Hope could sit on the window sill. She felt like she was going to be sick. Cedric squatted down so he was closer to her level. He grabbed her hand when she let out a sob. “How could he have done that?” Harry felt his stomach sink to the floor. What had he done?

"Hope...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you knew and that you lied." Cedric jumped up.

"No, you shouldn't have. You're supposed to be her best friend? Do you know she spent a good portion of today feeling badly because your muggle family is so rotten. Wanting to make things better for you? Talking about how close you were. You really think she would hide something like that? Really think she would lie to you? It would serve her no purpose to lie about that."

"This has nothing to do with you." Harry crossed his arms defiantly. Hope grabbed Cedric's hand.

"Don't Ced. It's okay." Hope tried to calm Cedric. Him fighting with Harry wouldn’t make anything better.

"It's not okay! For him to come verbally attack you like that, yelling all of your business for the whole school to hear. Knowing you were trying to keep who your father is under wraps?" Harry felt his heart sink further into the bottom of his soul. Not only did he find out his parents were betrayed by their best friend, he had accused his best friend of lying to him without any proof. He was just so angry he couldn't see straight.

"Hope...I'm so sorry." She held her hand up.

"Don't." She looked away from Harry. He hated himself in that moment for making her feel like this. Hermione and Ron watched helplessly. They had tried to calm Harry down before they found Hope. Hermione was certain seeing Hope and Cedric together had fueled Harry's anger further.

“Harry, you should go.” Cedric was all but glowering at him. It was taking all of his self-control not to punch him or hex him.

"C'mon mate, let's go back to the dorms, give Hope some space, yeah?" Ron gently pulled Harry away.

"Hope- do you want me to wait for you?" Hermione asked quietly. Hope shook her head.

"I'll walk her back, make sure she's okay." Cedric wasn't about to leave Hope alone now. Hermione nodded. She mouthed a "thank you" to Cedric and followed the boys back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Hope had wiped the few tears that had slipped from her eyes away. Cedric couldn't tell if she was sad, angry or both. After a few moments of silence she finally spoke. "Well, I guess I can stop deluding myself that he was a good person and just did what he had to do."

"Hope, you can't know that for sure. If it came down to a choice between protecting you and your mother and protecting Harry and his parents...he would have chosen the two of you. I think anyone would do anything to protect their wife and daughter."

"Or maybe he is just as evil as they say." Hope was reeling.

"Well either way, it's no reflection on you." Hope looked at Cedric. The concern flooding his face made her feel just a little bit better. "You are not responsible for the choices your parents made. YOU are not him. I know this is hard for you because you don't have all of the answers. But it is no reflection of the person you became. Your uncle made sure you grew up to be everything you're supposed to be."

Hope paused for a moment, She hadn't even thought of her Uncle. "What if he knew.?"

"What if who knew?" Cedric was confused.

"My uncle- if he knows...and purposely kept him from me? It wouldn't be the first time he kept something to himself for the sake of my protections." Hope was getting agitated.

"Listen- don't go there, not yet. Take some time to digest this and then speak with him. Have a level head. Don't have a go at him the way Harry just did with you." Hope nodded. Cedric wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to for a hug. They stayed that way for a little while. Hope didn’t want to let him go. He made her feel safe, like she was going to be okay. Her mind was reeling. And how could Harry ever thing that she could know? That she would lie to him or try to cover it up? She had been 100% honest with him, let him see a side of her that not many people did. She was hurt and incredibly angry. She felt her temper boiling beneath the service. Now, more than before, she wished she could go stay with Cedric in the Hufflepuff common room. She hoped that Harry was smart enough to keep his distance. After a little while, Hope felt Cedric shift and pull back so he could look at her.

“Are you going to be alright?” She sighed.

“I don’t know. I just...it’s a lot to take in. I hate that I can’t get his side of the story. I hate that my mother isn’t here for me to talk to her, find out what really happened. Maybe they have it all wrong.”

“What is your gut telling you?”

“I don’t know.”

“C’mon Hope, deep down, you know how you feel about this. You just have to let yourself feel it.” She paused for a moment to think. She didn’t want to admit what she really thought. “Tell me.” Cedric urged her.

“I still think they have it wrong. It still doesn’t make sense. If my father was so close to James and James was his family, I can’t see him doing this. I can’t see him sacrificing everything. The father that I have heard about...he would have died before he let anything happen to the people he cared about. I can tell by the way my Uncle has talked about him. He doesn’t talk about him often, but I can read between the lines. I just...I don’t know how to find out the truth.”

“There has to be a way to figure it out. We’ll do what we can to find out what really happened.”

“Really? You don’t think I’m mad for wanting to believe he’s not that person.”

“No I don’t. I wouldn’t want to think it about either of my parents. We’ll find a way to figure it out Hope. I promise you. If you’re right...it’ll put your mind at ease.”

“And if I’m wrong?” Cedric cupped Hope’s face in his hands. “Then we’ll find that out together and you’ll be able to move on either way.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead". C'mon....let me walk you back to your tower. You should get some rest and take some time to think." Hope nodded her head in agreement. She let Cedric lead her where she needed to go. She didn't even know how to process what she had just learned. Just when she thought she could move forward, she encountered more questions. All she knew was she was back to wanting answers and not having any idea who she really was.

#Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #Harry Potter x OC #Harry Potter Imagine #Remus Lupin x OC! Niece #sirius black x daughter #Sirius Black x OC! Daughter #sirius black x oc #Cedric Diggory #Cedric Diggory x OC #Harry Potter Original Character #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Hermione Granger x Platonic OC!#Hermione Granger #Ron Weasley x Platonic OC!#Ron Weasley

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honouraryweasley12 · 3 years

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In The Blue Light (M / NSFW)

I know this is different than what I usually write, but I had this idea and wanted to write it.

While at Shell Cottage, Ron and Hermione's relationship flourishes, but only one person truly witnesses it. On one fateful night, she gets to fully experience their love. Warning: AU/smut with Ron/Hermione and Ron/Hermione/Luna.

Also on FF.n

It had started with a nightmare.

Hermione's screams shattered the silence, the first night at Shell Cottage. Luna bolted upright and jumped out of bed, attempting to comfort her friend. Not a second later, Ron barrelled into the room, with Bill, Fleur, Harry, and Dean hot on his heels.

The blonde witch quietly backed away as Ron gathered Hermione up in his arms, gently rocking her as she cried into his chest. His whispered words and gentle touches soothed her, enough for her to lift her head and mumble an apology to the others.

After several reassurances from the group that her apologies were unnecessary, Harry and Dean returned to their makeshift beds in the living room, while Bill and Fleur lingered, exchanging looks as they watched the youngest Weasley brother.

Bill awkwardly cleared his throat. "Ron?"

"I'm not leaving her."

A flash of frustration crossed Bill's face. "It's not appropriate—"

Fleur touched him gently on his forearm, causing the words to die in his throat.

"I zink Hermione needs him here."

Ron stared imploringly at his brother, before looking back down at the exhausted girl clutching on to him.

"Fine, you can stay in here. If Mum ever hears about this, she'll have my head."

"Thank you."

After a silent moment, Fleur addressed Luna. "We can move you to Ron's bed in ze living room."

Before she could answer, Ron spoke up again, his whispered words echoing in the quiet room. "You're fine to stay here if you want, Luna. I know you haven't had a decent place to sleep in months."

"What if she has another nightmare?" Bill nodded at Hermione, who had dozed off.

Luna watched as Ron slid under the covers and cradled Hermione against him, the flush of his cheeks in Bill's wandlight evident, despite the fierce gaze of protectiveness settled onto his features.

"I don't think she will," Luna replied, giving Ron a wide smile, her large eyes shining.

He nodded in acknowledgement as he tucked the blanket around Hermione's prone form.

Fleur's hand slid down into Bill's. "Let's go to bed, my love. It's been a long day." She paused, shifting her focus to her brother-in-law. "Make sure Hermione takes those potions when she wakes up, they'll help with ze pain."

"Thanks, Fleur."

As the door closed behind them, Luna lifted her borrowed wand and recited a silencing spell on the room, before getting back into bed.

"We might need something a bit stronger than that," Ron remarked, before picking up Pettigrew's wand and firing off some of the spells they had been using around the tent.

Luna could feel the slight hum of the protections and was impressed. "That is rather advanced magic, Ronald."

He flushed again, gazing at Hermione. "Learned from the best. Thanks for trying to help her when she woke up."

"You love her, don't you?" She asked simply, as if she was asking him about the weather or his favourite colour.

A younger Ron Weasley may have sputtered or tried to deflect his feelings for the bushy-haired witch in his arms. But he couldn't deny it any longer.

"I do."

"You should tell her then. I wish I told my Dad more often."

Ron paused. "What if she doesn't—"

"She does."

Ron let out a slow breath as if he'd been holding it in for years. Perhaps he had been.

"I will. I'll tell her." Ron's weighty words hung in the air. "I want to tell her."

She glanced over and it seemed like he was deep in thought, staring up at the ceiling as Hermione slumbered on his chest.

"Good night, Ronald."

"Yeah... Good night, Luna."

~*~

A few days passed at Shell Cottage, its inhabitants all in a state of recovery. Hermione's nightmares had halted, Ron's presence the perfect medicine for her ailments. His anxious energy was palpable at dinner that night, prompting Hermione to question if he was alright. All he did was smile.

Luna could tell from the look on his face that he'd made a decision. He was going to tell Hermione. The fact that he was so confident for such a momentous revelation marked a definite change. She remembered the sad look on his face prior to his Quidditch matches and how nervous he'd been back then—this was entirely different.

As they settled down to sleep that night, they followed their usual procedures of locking the door and putting up the strong protection spells, just in case. The lights were barely out when Ron and Hermione bade Luna a good night, their nervous, haggard breathing filling the room.

They were waiting for Luna to fall asleep before proceeding. She spotted them sitting across from each other on their bed, the blue light of the moon illuminating them. Ron reached up and caressed Hermione's cheek, before tucking a strand of hair behind her ears, his motions delicate.

Luna turned and feigned sleep, settling down and masking any attempts at movement. She could feel their eyes on her back for a moment. She didn't mean to pry, but she was intrigued to see what happened.

Her mum had been a powerful witch, especially when it came to emotional magic. It was an extremely rare trait and something that had been passed down to Luna. It was why she was so perceptive when it came to the people around her. At that moment, it felt to her like their protective little bubble was crackling with wild energy.

She could hear their hushed tones and she attuned her ears to the whispers, something she'd become accustomed to doing while being held captive.

"Hermione, there's something I need to tell you. Something I've been wanting to tell you for years."

"What is it, Ron?"

He let out a deep breath. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Luna turned quietly, but they didn't notice. She felt as though waves of heat were enveloping her, and she smiled. The intensity of their emotions overwhelmed her as tears ran down her cheeks.

She watched as they embraced, holding onto each other tightly, and she was hit by another wave, her entire body tingling.

Finally, their faces drew ever closer, the anticipation palpable. Their lips met in a tentative kiss and Luna shut her eyes tightly, basking in the power of their feelings, finally declared and reciprocated. She hadn't felt such a thing since before her mum passed and she revelled in it, surrounded and encompassed by love. She could hear them talking again as she drifted off in a state of absolute bliss.

~*~

Ron was typically gone in the morning, eager to help Bill and Fleur and not lose the privilege of staying in the girls' room every night.

It gave Hermione and Luna a chance to talk, more than they ever had.

Luna had never had many friends before, especially girls, but with everything happening at Hogwarts, the DA had grown. Aside from Ginny, Luna had found herself forging friendships with several others, including Hannah Abbott and even Lavender Brown. She was thrilled to now have this chance with Hermione.

Though she and Hermione had very different viewpoints, these morning talks really helped them both. Hermione learned about what was happening at school and beyond, and though she couldn't say exactly, Luna got the impression that Hermione, Ron, and Harry were working on something important and dangerous. She was relieved to hear her Dad was still alive to their knowledge.

As they opened up to one another, they discovered they too had several things in common, including their love for innocent creatures, their hunger for knowledge, and fear for their parents wellbeing.

"I'm so sorry we blew up your house," Hermione apologized again one morning. "We had to escape and keep up Ron's cover."

"It's rather beautiful..." Luna added thoughtfully.

"What is?"

"How much you love one another."

Hermione blushed. "Is it that obvious?"

"He told me he loved you the first night we were here."

"He did?"

Luna nodded. "I fancied Ronald as well, but I've known for years he loved you."

Hermione sputtered. "What?"

"Well, though he can be mean, he is handsome, funny, and brave. But back in fourth year, before his first match. I saw you kiss him on the cheek."

"That was just for encouragement!"

"You didn't see his face after, did you? He looked as happy as I've ever seen. Shocked, but thrilled. That's when I knew he had already given his heart away."

"Took him long enough to realize it."

"It seems that boys can be rather daft sometimes." Luna leaned in, as if revealing a secret. "Too easily influenced by Whackspurts, I suppose."

Just then, the door opened and Ron poked his head in, his hair still disheveled from sleep. The two witches looked at each other and burst out laughing, much to Ron's confusion.

"Er, breakfast is on the table. I have the last of your potions ready, love."

He looked panicked for a second at the endearment that slipped out, so he turned quickly and closed the door. Hermione and Luna couldn't help sharing another fit of giggles.

~*~

Something changed that night. After they had declared their love, they had spent time talking about everything. Years of secret longing, hidden jealousies, and explanations of action and inaction could finally be shared.

It was like they needed this catharsis to move their relationship forward. Though it wasn't as intense as before, their emotional energy had still been like a warm blanket to Luna, hearing the apologies and shared kisses as they talked things through.

Now that they'd had their say, it was like a weight had been lifted. In the pale light, they reached for one another. Unsure kisses turned increasingly passionate, their whispered moans of pleasure causing Luna to shiver in delight from the sensations in the room.

She watched them snogging deeply, before Ron's mouth travelled down Hermione's neck, paying special attention to the fading scar Luna knew was there. The loving couple held each other, hands roaming as they consumed one other, sometimes slow and exploratory, sometimes hungry and desperate.

Each touch, each caress sent a shockwave of heat towards Luna. She closed her eyes and let each wave wash over her, lulling her to sleep once again.

~*~

Luna knew it was inevitable that things would move quickly between the two of them now. There was nothing holding them back.

A few nights later, their cocoon was again imbued with an energy unlike anything Luna had ever felt. The air felt thick and her mind felt hazy. As she lay in bed, she felt a whoosh of more spells being performed. This time, however, it was just around their bed, a bubble within a bubble.

She surreptitiously glanced over, only to see their bed perfectly empty. If she couldn't feel them so strongly, she never would have guessed someone was there. It was remarkable.

When she was down in that cellar, she'd spent hours asking questions and listening to Mr. Ollivander, taking in his teaching. Not only was his knowledge of wandlore incredible, but it extended to magic in general.

He'd often talk about how old magic was forgotten, yet incredibly powerful. He'd lament that people had forgotten the fundamentals about how spells worked, how intricate and fascinating they were.

One of his lessons struck her suddenly, his craggy words echoing in her mind.

"Ms. Lovegood, do you know why it's so difficult to break protective spells? Most witches and wizards nowadays think that such spells create a single barrier, and try to break them by puncturing through with a single strong effort. What they don't understand is that these spells consist of different layers. Rather than a puncture, they should try and peel away the layers, one by one until they get through. It takes far more time and effort to do it this way, but it's the only way. That is what renders defensive magic so effective."

Luna was practically shaking, their feelings incredibly strong in the room. Her curiosity, as it often did, got the better of her as she lifted her wand, reciting the incantations the old wandmaker had taught her.

She could feel each layer stripping away, until she could see them, almost as if looking at them through a slightly foggy window. Their voices were muffled, yet unmistakable.

She could see Ron laying between Hermione's legs, his long hair falling in front of his eyes. His arms were posted up, as he hovered above her, a sheen of nervous sweat shining across his bare back.

He was looking at Hermione like she was the most cherished thing he could possibly imagine.

"Are you sure, love? There's no going back after this."

Hermione's hand reached up and caressed his cheek, before combing his ginger locks out of his face.

"There is no one else I would ever want this with, Ron. Only you. I love you."

"Fuck, Hermione. You're it for me. I love you so much."

He leaned down and captured her lips, the kiss reinforcing their whispered words. The tears leaking from Hermione's eyes, staring at Ron with such immense love, shone in the moonlight.

Luna's own tears ran down her pink cheeks, in awe of the beauty she was witnessing and experiencing before her. She was buffeted by a continuous stream of raw energy, every nerve in her body vibrating.

"Please go slow, love."

"Anything you want."

Luna's conscience overrode her curiosity, and she threw up her own spell to block her vision and hearing. They deserved privacy for their first time making love.

It didn't block out the power of their coupling, and Luna could feel it in her very core. She nearly cried out—it was as if an emotional explosion had gone off. Such was the desire emanating from the bed on the other side of the room.

Luna was drenched with sweat and panting, but she felt their love, and this next step they were taking together. Her cheeks hurt from grinning, the sheer joy filling her completely as she drifted off.

~*~

The first couple of nights after they'd made love were generally the same. Luna would bid them a good night and turn away from them.

After several long minutes, she'd feel the familiar whoosh of their additional spells being cast, and she knew they had sought out an additional level of privacy.

The welcomed push of their emotions would start building, like the feeling of an upcoming thunderstorm, a tenseness in the air awaiting the inevitable.

After several more minutes of buildup, Luna would grab her wand and again wipe away a few layers, until they could both be seen and heard. It was fascinating to watch how naturally they fell into a rhythm.

Their kisses and caresses led to more frenzied snogging, until they were hastily unbuttoning buttons, the pile of clothes quickly growing on the floor.

There was such tenderness in their actions, always touching and never separating. They talked more than she would have thought, constantly reassuring and seeking permission to touch and taste.

She watched as Ron sunk deep inside Hermione, their shared moans reverberating off the protections. They were in perfect sync, in every way possible. It was like a work of art.

Luna could feel their combined feelings, a perfect match of need and want. Their love flowed around her, the gentleness and curiosity of this new phase of their relationship added a new dimension to the energy surrounding her. It was richer and more layered than ever before, as they connected on a different level.

Luna was shocked to also feel something she hadn't felt since the previous summer—arousal. It was impossible not to feel something watching them have sex before her eyes. Her breathing sped up as she watched their bodies together, before turning away. She closed her eyes and drifted off, a smile on her face.

~*~

If the days following Ron and Hermione's first time were about exploration and tenderness, it was obvious to Luna that things had now shifted toward pure lust for one another. The air crackled with energy and want, and she felt it with every fibre of her being.

It must have been difficult for the two of them to suppress their desires for so long. Desires which were now pouring out of them nightly. Desires which rendered the air thick with aching.

Ron slowly kissed down Hermione's stomach, until he reached that spot between her legs. Hermione's head was thrown back in utter ecstasy, her muffled moans heard through the half-broken spell. Hermione's fingers were delving into Ron's hair as he continued pleasuring her with his mouth.

Luna felt those pangs of arousal once again, her hips slowly rotating in time with Hermione's.

Time had been so difficult to determine when down in that cellar, she had only just realized that she'd missed her own birthday in February, her coming of age. She didn't feel any differently, even if the world regarded her as such. She had been exploring her own body for some time, but this was the first opportunity to take care of her needs since before she'd been forced to return to school.

Her pale arm slid into her pajama top, brushing against her pink nipples, her breath quick as she watched Ron's fingers grip Hermione's thighs, ravishing her. Luna pinched a hardened nub between her fingers, watching Hermione's own breasts jiggling as she arched up, screaming out her lover's name as she came.

It was a beautiful sight and sound, which caused Luna to flush. She played with her own breasts as Ron slid up and snogged his girlfriend, their tongues clashing. It was far too erotic, the heat of it blasting Luna and spiking her own desires. She slid a hand past the elastic waistband and found her slick centre.

She rubbed small circles, continuing to observe the two of them. Ron was kissing her neck, allowing her a moment of respite from what was thunderous orgasm. Hermione's chest was still rising and falling.

Ron eventually sat up and slid off the mattress, his large member bobbing obscenely in front of him as he stepped to the end of the bed. Luna's fingers pressed harder and she let out a low groan, the buzz igniting her nerves.

Hermione had turned over and sat on her knees, her face buried in her pillow under a mass of hair. She was at the perfect height for Ron to position himself behind her. He reached down and grabbed his cock, stroking it a few times. Luna's fingers were now moving quickly, waves of pleasure hitting her, the familiar feeling in her core building.

Luna's eyes were now half-closed as Ron guided himself into Hermione, his hands reaching for her hips as he pulled her to him, his groan loud and guttural as he sheathed himself deep. His thrusts started slowly, agonizingly slowly as he teased his love. As his pace increased, Luna's fingers were frantic as she ached for release.

Luna nearly cried out, holding her voice at the last second. Her hips were thrusting under her blanket now as Ron pounded into Hermione, beads of sweat dripping down his freckled chest. Hermione was screaming into her pillow as Ron truly fucked her for the first time, their lust and desire reaching new heights.

Luna's eyes shut as she shuddered on her bed, her whole body writhing as she reacted to everything—the overwhelming magic, her own body as she reached her peak, Ron's grunts as he shot his load, and Hermione's own muffled moans of satisfaction as she came for a second time.

The blonde witch's whole body went limp, in a state of satiation and peace. The smile returned to her face as she heard the other two occupants cuddle up and whisper unbridled declarations of love. She didn't have the power to even reopen her eyes as she fell asleep, content.

~*~

Luna was waiting in the dark, her back turned to Hermione's bed. She tried to quiet her breathing, her ears peeled for the familiar whoosh of the second set of defensive spells that usually accompanied a night in the shared bedroom.

She had witnessed the two of them explore their want over the past few days, their passion for one another infinite. Seeing the various positions and ways they would give and take, sometimes ever so loving, sometimes rutting and animalistic, there was no mistaking the satisfied looks on their faces. But it was nothing compared to the feelings that emanated from their bubble. Feelings which Luna found herself now craving.

Instead of the sound of a spell, she heard a distinctive click and the room was filled with a pulsing bluish light. She held her breath and waited, unsure of what was going on.

"Luna?" Hermione's voice broke the silence. "We know you're awake."

Slowly, Luna turned to face them, her large eyes blinking from the glowing orbs floating near the ceiling. Ron and Hermione were sitting together on the centre of the bed facing her own, their hands entwined.

"Is everything alright?"

Hermione picked up her borrowed wand and recited a spell, causing her bed to widen, taking up a larger portion of the small room, while Ron patted the mattress in front of them. "Why don't you come over here?"

Curious, Luna got out of bed and stepped over, her eyes glowing in the blue light. She carefully sat down in front of them, facing the brunette witch. Hermione waved the wand again, the crashing of the waves outside suddenly muted by the protective spells. The air around them shimmered for a second, and then stillness.

Hermione gave her a kindly smile, causing her to take a deep breath and relax.

"We know you've been watching us. We've known the whole time."

For someone who didn't often worry how others reacted to her, her face started in surprise. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." A tear fell from her eye, sliding down her cheek, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I can feel the strength of your love and it's beautiful."

Hermione turned and nodded a confirmation to Ron, before turning back to Luna. "That's what I suspected. We're not mad, not at all." She grabbed the blonde girl's hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

"We were actually wondering if you would like to join us."

Never in a million years did she ever think Hermione Granger would say those words to her. She felt Ron's larger hand gently enclose around hers, completing the circle. The love she felt radiating around her was impossible to ignore, it filled every pore of her body. She wanted to feel that connection even more so than she already had, after everything she'd been through since September.

"I... I'd like that. Are you sure you're both fine with this?"

Hermione and Ron again shared a telling look. "We are, just for tonight."

Luna nodded. "Alright."

Ron spoke up suddenly, surprising the two women. "Just one thing, Luna. I can't... I won't... You deserve to have that with someone else, someone who loves you fully, and I..."

The unspoken words hung in the air and she immediately knew why. "You love Hermione too much to ever be with anyone else completely."

Ron nodded, a look of relief passing along his features that his ramblings had been understood.

"Oh, Ron. I love you so much." Hermione leaned forward and kissed him hard, simultaneously squeezing Luna's hand in reassurance.

As they broke apart, Luna was gazing at them intently. Hermione released Luna's hand in order to bring her own up to Luna's cheek, caressing it gently. Luna closed her eyes enjoying the sensation for a moment, before a soft set of lips pressed to hers. She kissed back, her mouth opening slightly. The mattress shifted under her and she felt a hand tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She deepened the kiss with Hermione as she felt a second set of lips attack her neck. She let out a moan, the sensations overwhelming her. Ron's large, warm hand slid to her back, his fingers splayed as his tongue ran up and down, stopping to worry her earlobe for a second, eliciting another groan.

Hermione broke off the kiss, causing Luna to open her eyes.

"Do you want to stop?"

Luna shook her head, her eyes wide.

Ron turned and captured Hermione's lips, as if in reassurance. Luna felt another wave of their love, amplified by the closeness they shared.

Ron pulled away and there was a moment of indecision, before he leaned forward and gently kissed Luna, his mouth widening slightly as the snog grew more heated. Hermione was squeezing her hand again, as if telling her everything was fine. She was sure the same thing was happening between Hermione and Ron.

She felt a shiver as she kissed him back, their tongues briefly touching. Hermione's hand was now running up and down her arm, her touch electric against the bare alabaster skin.

Ron pulled away and gave her a sheepish grin, which she returned, delighted. Hermione raised her hands to Ron's face and kissed him urgently, again communicating silently that she loved him. The surge of energy was almost too much for Luna, arousal a pressing need. She couldn't help but touch herself through her pajama bottoms.

Hermione spied this, motioning for the younger girl to lie down. They shifted positions so that she was between the two of them, staring at the glowing orbs hovering above.

Hermione's fingers lightly grasped her chin and turned her head, their mouths meeting again in a heated snog.

Ron's hand slid under the hem of her shirt, his heat warming her skin as he rubbed circles on her thin belly, slowly pushing the cloth further up until her small breasts were exposed. His fingers lightly pinched her tightened nipples, causing her to gasp into Hermione's mouth.

Hermione pulled away and the two helped Luna sit up and remove her top completely, her long wavy blonde locks falling behind her as she lowered herself back down to the bed, surrounded by their warmth, her eyes closed.

She felt another wave of pleasurable energy, opening her eyes to find them hovering over her, passionately kissing as if they couldn't stand to be apart for so long.

Their foreheads touched briefly as they turned their attentions back to her.

Ron leaned down, each puff of his hot breath teasing her aching chest. "Hermione seems to like it when I do this."

He lowered his mouth to her pink nipple, causing her to cry out and slide her fingers into his hair. Hermione followed his cue and did the same on her other side.

"Oh my, that's wonderful," Luna moaned. Having the two of them taking care of her was heavenly. She couldn't help but splay her legs wide open and buck up, desperately needing to feel friction.

Ron sensed this and began kissing down her belly toward her heated centre, before being stopped by Hermione.

"I... I'd like to try if you don't mind. I've had a good teacher."

Ron and Luna exchanged a look, and Luna nodded her consent. He moved back up and once again took her nipple between his teeth, gently biting it, causing Luna to yelp. He watched Hermione reposition herself between Luna's legs, before lowering her bottoms and knickers.

All they could see was a bushy head of hair, but Luna practically jumped as Hermione's mouth contacted her sensitive nub, eliciting a groan. The sound was swallowed as Ron crushed his lips to hers, their tongues rolling against one another.

Hermione's fingers were gripping her thighs, her tongue working it's magic, causing her to buck again. Ron's hands and mouth were everywhere, her skin on fire from his touch. She could feel the welcome tension building deep inside her, begging for release.

She pressed herself as closely as she could to Hermione, the brunette witch now concentrating on her clit while sliding two fingers into her, causing her to writhe.

Ron's voice rumbled in her ear as he played with her small tits, pulling and pinching and sending sparks to her core, like she had seen him do to Hermione. "Are you getting close? We want you to feel good. We want to make you come."

The coil was quickly unraveling as she nodded tersely.

Ron nibbled on her earlobe. "Come for us, Luna. Come for us."

It was all too much as she nodded again, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Now." He ordered.

"Ohhhh!" She cried out repeatedly through clipped breaths, her thighs trapping Hermione as she convulsed. Ron's arms wrapped around her as she stilled, her blonde hair matted to her forehead. Hermione joined them and gave her a moment to come down from the high.

"That was incredible. Thank you both." She glanced back and forth between them and gave them a tired but satisfied smile. "Who's next?"

Hermione grinned. "I have an idea. Ron, sit back against the headboard."

He shifted and leaned against the wood, his long legs spread out in front of him. His bulge was prominent, straining against his pants.

Hermione reached for the elastic waistband and pulled down, as Ron lifted his hips. She quickly slid off his pants, his hard cock springing forward.

Luna's eyes widened. "He's quite big, isn't he?"

Ron flushed, his chest and neck a bright pink. Hermione waggled her eyebrows at Luna. "I'm very, very lucky."

Hermione grasped his large shaft, her fingers unable to touch as she slowly stroked him. Luna watched on in fascination, both from Hermione's movements, and Ron's reactions. His eyes were half-closed, and he seemed to be holding back his need to thrust into his girlfriend's hand.

His arousal was evident by the bead of moisture at the tip. Luna leaned forward, tentatively swiping her tongue across the large head.

"Keep going, take him in your mouth. He loves that," Hermione whispered.

Ron fisted the sheets as she continued her explorations with Hermione's encouragement, first running her tongue up and down his thick shaft, then taking his hard cock past her lips, her head slowly bobbing up and down. Hermione grinned wickedly at Ron as she gently pulled Luna's long hair to the side, allowing him to not only feel, but see their friend blowing him.

"Fuck, Luna, keep going. You're fucking good at this."

His approval sent a spike of arousal through her, pushing her to stretch her lips and take even more of him down her throat. She couldn't take all of him, so she pulled away to catch her breath, stroking him as Hermione took her place and began sucking him off.

"Oh, fuck," Ron growled, staring at the two incredible girls pleasuring him. Never in his dreams was something like this a possibility. "I'm getting there."

"Wait."

Hermione lifted her head as Luna stopped wanking him, looking back and forth between them.

"I... I would very much like to see the two of you together, up close."

Ron and Hermione exchanged another look, both eager to be coupled once again. Ron slid down until he was lying flat on the bed, his cock at attention and ready. Hermione quickly moved up and reached between her legs to grasp him, positioning him at her entrance before slowly sinking down, her hands pressing down on his chest.

"Oh, Ron!"

Ron bucked at the sound of Hermione's voice, pushing himself even deeper into his love. Hermione slowly rocked, her eyes closed, establishing a rhythm as they crashed into each other, their actions growing frantic.

The emotions pouring off them were so strong that Luna couldn't help touching herself, watching their lovemaking. Ron saw this and reached for her, practically pulling her to him. He motioned for Luna to swing a leg over and face Hermione as he positioned her over his eager mouth. His fingertips pressed into her pale thighs as his talented tongue sent an electric shiver through her whole body.

Luna's moans broke Hermione out of her trance as she opened her eyes to see the blonde girl riding Ron's face as she rode his cock.

"That's... so... hot," she managed to breath out, before sharing a sloppy, hungry kiss with Luna, the triangle of their connection now complete. The girls were both crying out as the ginger man beneath them redoubled his efforts, taking care of them, as they had done for him.

Hermione was the first to go, her whole body shuddering as she pressed her forehead to Luna's and whimpered Ron's name, over and over as she came hard, but continued bouncing on him, needing to feel him let go as well.

Ron couldn't help holding Luna tighter to him, his tongue buried in her as he thrust erratically into his girlfriend, his groans muffled as he froze and pumped load after load into Hermione, perhaps the hardest he'd ever come in his life. Feeling the power of his release pushed Luna over the edge as she too let out a garbled moan and ground down onto him as she hit her peak, again kissing Hermione as she rode out her orgasm.

Exhausted, they detangled and collapsed together, Ron in the centre, his arms cradling the girls to him. Their breathing was heavy, the only sound in their bubble as they fought to slow down the pounding in their chests. No words needed to be spoken.

As she seemed to always do, Hermione's fingers drifted playfully through the curly ginger hairs on Ron's chest. He watched them rise and fall for several long minutes, the peaks and valleys eventually flattening out. Their eyes met, so full of love for one another. The blonde girl next to them started, again picking up their connection.

She opened her eyes a few minutes later and found them staring at her. She smiled and reluctantly sat up, her golden locks falling around her, the orbs above casting an angelic glow.

Her voice was quiet but filled with a sense of contentment and wonder. "Thank you both. I'll never forget this night."

"Neither will we, Luna."

Hermione grabbed her wand and lowered the second set of protections, the rhythmic swell of the sea once again audible to the three of them.

Luna leaned forward and kissed each of them on the cheek, before gathering her clothes and gliding over to her bed. After a few cleaning charms, she slid under her covers and turned away.

She could hear their soft kisses and loving words as another wave of warmth surrounded her, a smile on her face as she fell into a deep sleep.

#romione #ron x hermione x luna #ron weasley #hermione granger #luna lovegood

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