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nobodyzhuman · 5 years

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Kitten! Harry part 2

Part One When he came to his senses he was on the floor, his body sore and shaking. He tried to lift his head but it was heavy. He whined and tried to move his body but everything hurt. “This is not how I planned your death Harry. You were going to die in a battle, willingly, now instead, you will just disappear. Eventually declared dead. Tom will be blamed, of course. The people will flock to me to protect them. After all I will be all they have left.” He felt hands on the back of his neck and panic flooded him at how large the hands were. Something cold and stiff was locked around his neck and he could feel something in the front weighing it down. Harry was picked up and he cried out from fear and pain.

He was tiny! Able to be lifted by one of the headmasters hands. The man lifted Harry so he could see the headmaster’s face. Dumbledore was grinning gleefully.“did you know that Tom has hidden away inside Malfoy Manor, Harry?” Harry hissed angrily, barely registering the sound, Dumbledore knew where he was? And wasn’t telling anyone? Bastard.

“I think I’ll send you to him as a gift. Of course he will kill you as soon as he reads your little name tag.” There was a chuckle, “Then once you are dead, the grieving wizarding world and the Ministry will beg for mine and the Order’s help.” Harry was carried over to the headmaster’s desk, where the man opened a drawer and pulled out a small button.

“A gift from an old friend.” The man muttered before he pressed the button against Harry’s side. He didn’t get a chance to cry out before he felt like he was being sucked through a straw.

Harry slammed into the ground hard enough for the air to be knocked out of his lungs.

He cried out. He wasn’t sure how much more his body could take. Every part of him was throbbing and pulsing in sync with his frantic heartbeat, sending wave after wave of pain through him. It took all his willpower to get to his feet, all four of them, and look around. It seemed whatever spell the headmaster had cast fixed his eyes as he was able to see the room around him. It was dark and damp, the cool stone floor and walls chilled him even through his new fur. Not to mention how creepy the place felt, Harry shivered.

He heard footsteps approaching and ducked under a nearby table. The tag on his collar, a freaking collar, clinked and he dropped down on his stomach, hoping to hide the sound. The man who entered thankfully didn’t see him and Harry was able to relax a little, enough to think anyways.

He was in Malfoy Manor, he had to be. After what Dumbledore had said it was the only place he could be. Now he had to get this damned tag off before someone found him and read it.

Then, well then, he could hopefully sneak out before anyone saw him. After that he had no idea what he was going to do.

He looked down at his paws and felt a little better at seeing tiny claws. At least he wasn’t completely defenseless. It took him a few minutes to figure out how the claws worked. Getting them to come out and retreat when he willed. His paws took less effort and eventually he had a good idea how to move them correctly.

With that figured out he stuck a claw into the leather collar and pushed in slowly. He carefully turned it until he found the clasp and then he started working at it. He had just gotten it open when he heard voices entering the room.

“What do you think it was?” A woman asked.

“Probably a stray dog or cat,” a man replied. Harry’s pulse quickened in fear, “animals wander in through the wards from time to time, Nagini usually catches them before they become a problem.”

Fuck.

Harry had forgotten about Nagini, Voldemort’s pet snake. He had to get out of here before he became her dinner. He waited until the two death eaters left the room before he finally removed the collar. He started at the green tag, Harry James Potter, it read in gold etchings. It made him want to rip the headmaster’s head off, the man truly had sent him here to die.

He wasn’t going to give Albus what he wanted. No way in hell, he would fight until he couldn’t anymore.

He bit into the collar and dragged it out from under the table and over to a shelf. He carefully used his paws to shove it behind the wood, hopefully no one would find it. Then he moved away and started walking out of the room.

He was panting before he made it halfway. His chest hurt, his legs felt weak, and his head was pounding again. He had forgotten just how tired he was. He had been so full of adrenaline and focused on getting the collar off that the exhaustion had faded to the back of his mind. Now he wasn’t sure if he could get out of this room, let alone the Manor and the property outside of it.

He whined.

“Well, what do we have here?” A smooth familiar voice asked. Harry was scooped up off the ground. He whined and then hissed when Lucius Malfoy’s face came into view. The man raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“So you’re the one that triggered the wards.” Harry gave a hiss of discomfort as he was manhandled and turned upside down. “You seem under fed, kitten, malnourished by the showing of your ribs.” The man hummed and then to Harry’s utter shock, Lucius Malfoy-- the proud and uptight pureblood-- leaned in close and pressed an ear to Harry’s ribs. Harry couldn’t help but whine out at from the jolt of pain he felt when the wizard touched him, “You’re breathing is labored and you’re clearly in pain.”

“Piper!” The man called out suddenly causing Harry to wince. He pressed his head against the man’s chest trying to hide from the sound. A gentle hand landed on his head and Malfoy’s fingers began to move along his fur, it was strangely soothing and helped alleviate some of his pain. Figuring the man would have hexed him already if he was going to, Harry relaxed in the man’s arms and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Luc looked down at the neglected kitten in his arms. The small thing had fallen asleep but was still shaking. He sighed, Narcissa had always teased him about his soft spot for animals, but he couldn’t leave this poor kitten to wander around the Manor for his Lord’s snake to find.

A soft pop by his feet had him looking away from the kitten and at one of his house elves. “Master called for Piper?”

The small thing asked looking up at him. “I need food suitable for a kitten and a bed.” The house elf nodded and disappeared. He looked again at his small charge, he didn’t think just food was going to be enough.

He ran the people living in the manor through his head, trying to think of who was best to ask. Severus of course was the first to come to mind, but his old friend was stuck at Hogwarts.

He groaned when he realized his next best option was either his Lord or Crouch. Neither seemed like a good idea. HIs Lord, like his wife, would likely tease him or would or order him to put the poor creature out of its misery. Barty however, had a weakness for anything small, cute, or fluffy, Lucius just found the younger death eater annoying and tried to avoid him as much as possible. He sighed, Barty was his best option. He frowned as he started walking towards the younger death eater’s room, was the kitten’s wheezing?

When Lucius knocked on Barty’s bedroom door, he heard a thump from inside the room. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the spastic man on the other end had fallen off his bed.

“Comin’,” Barty shouted and a second later the door opened. Lucius had opened his eyes with the door and tried not to cringe when the dirty blonde greeted him.

“Ah Luc--” The younger man’s eyes honed in on the small black bundle in his arms.

“Awww,” he cooed and reached out to pet the kitten.

Luc smacked his hand away. “It’s hurt,” he said. He pushed passed Barty and into the room.

Luc gently placed the kitten on the other man’s bed, “I found him wandering in the gathering room. He was barely moving and cried out in pain when I moved him. I would normally ask Sev for potions--”

“But he isn’t here.” Barty finished for him.

“Exactly.” He replied.

“I think--” Barty said before rushing off to his closet. Lucius watched not the least bit surprised when the other man pulled a trunk out and started going through it. After a couple of minutes Barty stood and handed him three potions.

“Blue is for pain, Green is nurishment, and Black should help if he has any infections. I would only give him that one if you noticed any inflamed injuries or trouble breathing. The little guy only needs a spoonful of each, let me know if you need more.” Despite his normally avoidance of the younger man Luc was relieved and grateful for the help.

“Thank you.” He said. Carefully he picked the cat back up and headed for the door.

“Wait!” Barty called out, with a sigh Luc stopped. A small box was shoved between his arm and body, he raised his eyebrow at Barty.

“Toys.” The man said with a grin.

Luc did not roll his eyes though the urge was there. He simply nodded and left the room.

When he was finally in his room he placed the kitten on his bed and the bottles on his dresser. The small creature hadn’t moved since it had fallen asleep. Luc wasn’t sure if he should wake the poor thing up and give it some of the potions or wait until it woke up on it’s own. After a second he figured he could get ready for bed, hopefully by the time he was done, Piper would be back with food and bed. He could leave a small plate out for the kitten on the floor. He was a light sleeper and figured the kitten would let him know if it was in pain.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction

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ko-chan-the-blueberry-donut · 6 years

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What Could’ve Been (ML season 2 rewrite) Volpina Part 1

Hey guys! This is a Miraculous Season 2 rewrite attempting to fix certain things and apply theories that could’ve been used. This will start from Volpina to the end of season 2 and hopefully continue when Season 3 comes out.

This wouldn’t have happened without the Marinette Defense Squad on discord and especially @imthepunchlord for contributing with ideas and lore. I’m so thankful for their help and I hope they’ll continue to collab with me on the future chapters!

This is a gift to imthepunchlord and all of the Marinette Defense Squad on discord

Title: What Could’ve Been Pairings: Adrien/Marinette, Nino/Alya Genre(s): Romance/Friendship/Drama/Action Summary: Rewrite of Miraculous Ladybug from Volpina onward that will attempt to give healthy characterization, development, and slowburn with the miraculous cast that is not hindered by the episodic formula and reset button that is applied in the show.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Miraculous. If I did, I would give it to the discord server to rewrite it.

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Volpina: Part One

“Adrien, I’ve prepared your schedule for today.” Natalie announced as Adrien walked down the grand staircase to his foyer. Adrien resisted the urge to sigh and gave a weak smile. If structure is what his father wanted, he would go along with it…

“Thank you, Natalie.” Adrien replied. Natalie nodded and went to go prepare the car with the Gorilla. A slam was heard, and Adrien jumped, registering his father’s angry tone resonating from his study. Concern filled Adrien. He hasn’t seen his father much in these past months since his mother’s departure. Ever since then, his father had immersed himself in his work to the point where Adrien questioned if he ever slept or ate. He wondered what his father was thinking—did he miss her as much as Adrien did?

A hand touched the doorknob of his father’s study, the only physical barrier between them, but Adrien felt as if they were oceans away from each other emotionally. An urge to talk to his father about their grief entered his mind, and determined, Adrien peeked inside the study where his father was talking heatedly with an employee.

“You got the arrangements all wrong and the show is next week! You seem more like an imbecile than a professional!” Gabriel roughly closed the tome he was searching through, picking it up and retreating to Adrien’s Maman’s portrait. Adrien’s eyes widened as he listened to his father talk while Gabriel revealed a secret safe behind the portrait.

“No, have Natalie send you the arrangements. She does a better job than your incompetent staff.” Gabriel finished the call, closing the safe, and hiding it from the world again. Adrien hid away as his father exited the study, his green eyes trained on the door.

“He keeps a safe behind Maman’s portrait?” Adrien whispered. Like his Black Cat Miraculous, Adrien couldn’t resist the temptation to sate his curiosity. He crept quietly into the study, immediately zeroing in on the portrait and moving it aside.

Staring at the lock though, he hesitated. This was his father’s privacy he was breaking. Whatever his father was hiding, he didn’t want Adrien to see. Guilt churned in his gut, preparing to shut the portrait’s view of the safe before Plagg chose this to be the time he would be the little devil on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Oooh I love secrets! Let’s have a look!” Plagg announced in glee, rubbing his paws together. Adrien looked unsure.

“We probably shouldn’t, Plagg.” Adrien said, but his traitorous eyes wouldn’t leave the safe. He then cleared his throat and appeared casual. “Besides, I wouldn’t want Father searching through my things like this.”

But Plagg wasn’t having it. He could see the thirst for knowledge in his kitten’s eyes and frankly, Plagg finally found something interesting in this stuffy mansion! He wasn’t going to just pass it up because his kitten has a conscience.

“Too late!” Plagg cried, eagerly zipping through the metal to unlock the safe. Adrien made a grab for him, but he was too slow. A few clicks were heard, and Adrien was face to face with the contents of the safe and Plagg’s Cheshire Cat grin.

“Ooooh lookie here! A ticket stub to Tibet! And some old Chinese relics! Ah, even a pretty lady!” Plagg flew around excitedly at all the contents. Adrien’s eyes snapped towards a picture of his beautiful mother Emile. Her serene expression was frozen in time in the photo, and he knew in his memory, it would burn in his mind forever. Sadness engulfed him while he fingered the glass of the picture.

“That’s my Maman, Plagg. You’ve seen her on my computer.” Adrien informed, distracted by his overwhelming urge to cry at the loss of his mother’s warm smile. She wouldn’t approve of him breaching his father’s trust like this. She always had told him and Gabriel it was better to be honest with each other even if it hurt, than to lie and find out from someone else causing more hurt.

“Plagg, I—”

“Ah ha! This is the book he was looking at!” Plagg was oblivious to Adrien’s conflict, opening the pages and flipping through them in interest. The contents of the book, however, made his eyes enlarge and he made a choking noise. Adrien stared at his kwami in concern.

“Plagg, what is…it…?” he trailed off, wide eyes taking in the contents of the book. There on the pages were both depictions of what looked like to be ancient Ladybug and Chat Noir wielders. Adrien gaped, his mouth opening and closing, quickly snatching the book and flipping the pages with as much care as his could have in his speedy examination.

His emerald eyes locked onto another hero, and Adrien gasped, anger flowing through him at the sight of what appeared to be Hawkmoth’s Miraculous.

“What’s he doing in this book about Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Adrien hissed. However, before he could examine the tome any further, he heard Natalie’s voice. He panicked, shutting the door to the safe and closing the portrait quickly, and stuffing the book in his bag. He composed himself, making sure to use some of his ‘Adrien charm’ as his mother would call it, and appeared sheepish.

“There you are! The car is ready.” Natalie told him.

“Coming, Natalie.” Adrien followed her, his mind firing questions left and right. Why was Hawkmoth with Ladybug and Chat Noir? How did his father get this book?

Most importantly, why did he have it and not tell Ladybug?

Adrien was distressed with these questions all the way to school.

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“Gah! I’m late again!” Marinette cried as she scrambled to pack her bag. Tikki sighed.

“I told you not to switch off your alarm.” Tikki scolded in a way that said ‘I told you so’. Marinette was sheepish.

“But sleep is important for a superhero! You can’t deny that heroes need more sleep than regular people, right Tikki?” Marinette grinned bashfully. Tikki sighed, giving her a teasing smile.

“If all heroes slept like you, Marinette, we would never catch any akuma.” Tikki smirked. Marinette pouted.

“Awww Tikki! That’s unfair.” Marinette protested.

“Aren’t you forgetting you are running late, Marinette?” Tikki reminded, playing innocent. Marinette fell for it, gasping when she saw the clock. She gave a cry, immediately returning to scrambling around to gather her things. Tikki flew into her purse, amused at her little bug’s antics.

Marinette raced down the stairs towards the kitchen, grabbing an apple and swiftly kissing her mother and father’s cheeks. Sabine and Tom watched their daughter move about fondly, exchanging knowing looks and both giggling in amusement.

“Bye Maman! Bye Papa!” Marinette bid her parents farewell, sneaking a cookie for Tikki from the cookie tray. Her parents were none the wiser that she snuck it into her purse for her kwami. The teenage superhero raced out of her family’s bakery towards the steps of Collège Françoise Dupont. She breathed a sigh in relief that she wasn’t late for once. Maybe she could meet up with Alya and chat before class! An excited grin bloomed across her features, searching around for the journalist. When she couldn’t find her though, she decided to ask Rose and Juleka if they’ve seen the girl.

“I can’t believe Lila met Prince Ali! She’s so lucky to know him on a personal level!” Rose gushed, preventing Marinette from speaking. The girl saw Juleka appeared a little uncomfortable with Rose’s words, and Marinette felt pity for the sad glint in Juleka’s eyes as Rose admired Prince Ali. Maybe she should comfort her when they were alone…

“How dare Jagged Stone compose a love song for Lila outside of her window! I’m obviously better than her!” Chloe seethed, stomping by in one of her usual ‘Princess tantrums’ with Sabrina following and failing to calm her. Marinette blinked, distracted from her original mission of locating Alya and listening to all of her classmates praising a girl named Lila for incredible feats.

She entered the courtyard in curiosity, continuing to listen to everyone’s praises of the unknown girl. Finally spotting Alya, Marinette figured her friend could provide her an answer to her classmates’ behavior.

“Who’s Lila?” Marinette asked Alya. Alya was flipping through her phone, grinning like a mischievous fox. Her gold eyes sparkled in excitement and she looped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders to show her what she was looking at.

“She’s the new exchange student from Italy! Her mother’s a diplomat so she gets to travel a lot and meet a lot of famous people! Look! She’s even submitted something to the Ladyblog!” Alya grinned, clicking play on her video. Marinette found herself gazing at a pretty girl with brown hair laughing elegantly. The way the girl held herself was proud, but Marinette couldn’t help but feel a little turned off from the smug glint in the girl’s eyes.

“Oh Ladybug?” the girl, Lila’s, voice drifted into Marinette’s ears. “We’re like this.” Lila crossed her fingers, symbolizing her and Ladybug were tight. Marinette’s eyebrows rose in shock. She’s never met this girl! As she listened further about how Ladybug saved Lila and they’ve been close ever since, her frown deepened, and her eyes turned into slits the more she saw Lila’s smirk and fabricated smug story.

A memory crept from the recesses of her mind, of another person pretending to be nice and then crushing her hopes. Her eyes automatically focus on the person who fooled her before she shook her head. There was no use bringing up old wounds she couldn’t easily bandage back together. But the association already rooted in her mind, and Marinette felt an intense dislike for this Lila, just like she felt distain for all malicious liars. Squirming, Marinette felt like she was being suffocated and maneuvered out of Alya’s hold to get some air in order to calm her rising ire.

The familiar arrogant giggle reached her ears, and the midnight haired girl snapped her head up to see Lila in the flesh holding Adrien’s wrist. An ugly feeling of possession and protectiveness churned in Marinette’s stomach at the sight. She wanted to assert her claim on Adrien, but she also wanted to protect him from Lila’s dishonest clutches.

“What is she doing with my Adrien?” Marinette hissed. Alya looked taken aback by Marinette’s attitude before composing herself in a teasing manner. Maybe this will finally get her friend to make a move on Adrien!

“Oh, you know, probably charming up our local model! I mean she’s pretty famous after all!” Alya smirked. Marinette felt anxiety at that statement.

‘What if he falls for her and doesn’t know she’s lying? He could be hurt!’ Marinette fretted. She wrung her hands roughly, and Alya blinked. She knew her friend had bad anxiety, but she usually suffered exaggerated catastrophic thinking in a more comical way. Seeing Marinette really distressed alarmed her a bit.

“Are you okay?” Alya placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Marinette jolted out of her thoughts and locked eyes with Alya’s amber ones. “I know you like Adrien, but remember Marinette, he doesn’t know you like him. He’s allowed to be around other girls.” Alya gently explained to her. Marinette swallowed, her eyes hyper focusing on Lila tugging Adrien out of her sight, and her heart clenched in worry.

“I gotta go.” Marinette excused herself, running off to follow the two. Alya watched her go, worried about her friend, but knew if she went, it would only be encouraging Marinette’s jealousy. She sighed, resolving to talk to her about it later when she was calmer.

Marinette hid herself in the library, following Lila’s flirty giggling towards where the two were. Adrien and Lila were sitting at a table, his eyes intently examining the text he was reading. Lila appeared a little put off that Adrien was paying more attention to his book than her, and Marinette watched her place her hand on the text, moving closer to Adrien to get his attention. Marinette bit her jacket to keep from snarling.

“Thanks for helping me study history.” Lila smiled, twirling some of her hair and taking his hand. Adrien felt a little uncomfortable, Lila’s behavior vaguely reminding him of how Chloe hasn’t been respecting his boundaries lately and he resisted the urge to take his hand away.

“Oh, you’re welcome, Lila. Though Max’s grades are better than mine in history. Maybe next time we can ask him for help too.” Adrien mentioned, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with her not releasing his hand.

“Marinette,” Tikki left the safety of her purse, her voice dripping with disapproval. She crossed her paws, gazing at her bug sternly. “Are you spying on Adrien?”

Marinette jolted, turning to Tikki, shock on her face before determination settled there.

“I’m not spying, Tikki. I’m chaperoning… without them knowing.” Marinette finished weakly. Tikki appeared not convinced.

“You know, Marinette. Adrien is always being watched over by his father and his bodyguards. Do you think he’d appreciate you watching over him like you’re his babysitter?” Tikki lectured. Marinette’s shoulders slumped, but she still wanted to defend herself.

“But Tikki! Lila is lying! I gotta protect him!” Marinette whispered.

“Protect or make sure he doesn’t get stolen away?” Tikki raised a brow. Marinette deflated.

“Protect? Keep him single? …I don’t know. Both?” Marinette admitted. Tikki sighed and flew to Marinette, lifting her chin to gaze at her. Tikki’s eyes were tender as she surveyed her bug.

“Marinette,” Tikki began, “You are my wonderful bug. You are so compassionate and smart, but you are letting your jealousy and fear dictate your actions. Perhaps not all your intentions are bad with wanting to also protect Adrien, but you must remember Adrien is his own person. You can’t always prevent him from being hurt or prevent him from loving others just because you don’t like them.” Tikki explained with tenderness.

“But she’s taking advantage of people Tikki…” Marinette tried to keep the hurt out of her voice from the memory of dealing with another person who harms others without any remorse, but Tikki heard it.

“And she will be found out sooner or later. This is not the time or the way to expose her. All maliciousness shows itself at some point.” Tikki told her soothingly. She sensed a deep hurt from Marinette, and she wondered what had given her such pain, but knew it wasn’t the time to pry.

Marinette sighed, and nodded, realizing that Tikki was right. She blinked tears out of her eyes from past scars, and Tikki comforted her. They would leave from their hiding place after Adrien and Lila to avoid being caught.

Meanwhile, Adrien was trying to help Lila with history, while discreetly trying to read the tome he stole—borrowed, he corrected himself—for more information on the Miraculous. Lila was increasingly insistent he pay attention to her, despite giving her passages she could read and dissect on her own, and Adrien made sure to keep his composure lest he put a tarnish on the Agreste name.

He turned another page of the ancient tome, and his expression turned to adoration as he fondly traced the picture of the female hero in the book wielding the Ladybug Miraculous, being reminded of his own Lady. He wondered what she was doing right now. He wished he knew who she was—being able to spend time with her outside of hero duties would send him to cloud 9.

“Ladybug fan?” Lila interrupted his musings. She appeared irritated that his attention was elsewhere, and Adrien could feel himself tensing from the calculating way she gazed at him. He glanced down at the image of the Ladybug hero to give him courage, and he felt a grin emerge on his face at the thought of his Lady.

“Yeah. She’s amazing!” Adrien sighed, blissfully imagining his Lady smiling, her bluebell eyes sparkling in jest as he delivers a terrible pun. Lila watched Adrien critically, and a surge of distain coiled in her gut for the spotted hero. Her mouth opened, spitting poison for the hero like a viper.

“She’s alright. Though if you ask me, I’ve seen better girls to idolize than her.” She spat a distasteful emphasis on Ladybug, and Adrien narrowed his eyes, not liking the way she addressed his partner. Not only was she the love of his life, but also, she was his valued teammate and deserved respect.

“Ladybug gives her all for Paris. To me, there’s no one more admirable.” Adrien said firmly, and Marinette blushed, her back to the bookshelf, listening in on the conversation when they started talking about Ladybug. Tikki couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride in Adrien for sticking up for her bug. However, her attention was then caught by the book Adrien was reading, and her eyes widened in realization.

‘That book… it can’t be!’

Lila made a face, but composed herself, smirking coyly like a predator cornering their prey, and placed her face in close proximity to Adrien’s. Adrien, not expecting the loss of space, backed away flustered. Lila wasn’t deterred.

“Hmph. Meet me in the park around 3pm after class. I’ll be sure to show you something that can change your mind.” Lila flirted, coming close to his face again. Adrien’s mind was screaming escape.

“Errr okay! I gotta go right now though!” Adrien excused himself quickly—agreeing to meet her just to cease her advances now—grabbing the tome and fleeing far away from her. Lila watched him go, a pensive expression on her face.

“He likes heroes huh…?” she murmured, departing from the library, a plan set in mind.

Marinette and Tikki released their breaths, sighing in relief when they were alone. Marinette stretched, getting ready to go to class, and leave Adrien and Lila alone. Tikki was right—Adrien was a person, not an object for her to covet. He had a right to make his own decisions.

‘Even if I don’t like them, I have to respect them because he’s my friend.’ Marinette concluded, proud of herself for choosing to be a good friend.

“Marinette! We have to go to the park after them!” Tikki urged. Marinette gaped.

“Tikki! You just told me I have to stop spying on Adrien! Now you’re telling me to spy on him?” Marinette questioned. What has gotten into her kwami?

“You don’t understand Marinette! Adrien’s book! We need the book! It’s important!” Tikki pushed on. Marinette scrunched her brow.

“What about his book?” she asked Tikki. Tikki flew close to her face.

“It should only belong to the Guardian! It contains knowledge about all Miraculous that can be abused if it fell into the wrong hands! We need to get that book and return it to the Guardian immediately!” Tikki frantically explained.

“Who’s the Guardian?” Marinette inquired. Her bluebell eyes narrowed. “Tikki, what have you been hiding?”

“I promise I will tell you everything, but right now we need to make sure we follow Adrien to the park after class! We can’t let this chance get away from us!” Tikki persuaded her. Marinette saw the panic in her kwami’s face and nodded.

“Okay, we’ll follow them after class.” Marinette conceded. Tikki sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Marinette.” Tikki told her chosen sincerely, for she was very grateful Marinette listened to her council. She’s had some stubborn bugs in the past that often had to learn the hard way, but while Marinette was like that at times, she did respect Tikki’s input. She supposed it was because all her bugs were spirited little things, and that spirit could get in the way of rational thought if they weren’t careful.

She winced at the memory of Hippolyta. While she adored her like all her other bugs, the woman was not known for her willingness to compromise. Her fate was set the moment Hera manipulated her and Hercules took her life.

But Tikki has learned since then. She will try her hardest to council her bugs, even if they didn’t agree sometimes. She’s lived many lifetimes, but each of her bugs has never been forgotten by her, despite some of them rejecting her council. It just made her more determined to be better and guide her future bugs to success.

Marinette hid Tikki in her purse and set off towards class. She couldn’t help but muse about the book Adrien was reading and why Tikki wanted it. There was also the mysterious Guardian. She remembered Pharaoh, and her fight with him at the museum. Not since then has it hit her that Tikki was an all-powerful being that lived thousands of years and wasn’t just her small companion that helped her turn into Ladybug. Was this Guardian as old as Tikki? Was he a kwami like Tikki or was he human like her? Marinette tried to fathom a human living as long as perhaps Tikki had, and it didn’t seem to click, almost like it was too surreal—too phenomenal to comprehend a human living many lifetimes.

“Ah, Marinette, late again I see.” Madam Bustier remarked, but you could see her face stretched into an amused, fond smile for her class president. Marinette gave a weak grin, chuckling nervously.

“Sorry, Madam Bustier.” Marinette apologized. Madam Bustier shook her head, her smile still present.

“I will not count it on your record this time, but please try to be on time in the future.” Madam Bustier sighed. Marinette gave a grateful nod and sped towards her seat. She discreetly eyed Adrien. The boy paid her no mind, his eyes flickering between his notes and under his desk where the tome that Tikki wanted sat on his lap. Whatever this book was, it sure had Adrien’s attention. It only served to make Marinette more curious about the contents of the ancient book as well.

Alya didn’t seem to notice Marinette’s eyes trained on the book in Adrien’s lap instead of Adrien. The girl’s amber eyes watched her, concerned that Marinette may have gotten her heart broken while spying on Adrien and Lila. Marinette played her part and gave Alya a reassuring smile, mouthing ‘I’m okay’.

This seemed to satisfy the journalist, and she went back to her notes while Marinette stared at the back of Adrien’s head. Luckily, she did this so much that her friend didn’t even bother to be suspicious at her actions.

The midnight haired girl placed a hand on her purse where Tikki resided, drawing strength from her while she plotted in her head about how she was going to get the book from Adrien without revealing who she really was. She wouldn’t lie—she knew Adrien adored Ladybug—and at times she was hypnotized by the temptation to reveal to him who Ladybug really was, so she could earn his affections, but Marinette always stomped on these daydreams.

She wasn’t stupid. Revealing yourself comes with consequences—consequences she’s probably never realized that were even worse than putting her loved ones in danger. She wouldn’t put her friends and family in the line of fire just because she wanted a boy to notice her. When she first took up the mantle of Ladybug, it soon became apparent being a hero wasn’t just donning a mask—you could be required to make sacrifices and go against your personal wants for the sake of everyone else’s safety.

There were times Marinette was sure she was going to die in this never-ending war. She’s never discussed it with Tikki the realization that she could very well lose her life while fighting Hawkmoth. There were many—too many—close calls where she thought ‘this is it. I’m going to die.’ though she had a feeling Tikki knew all too well about the mortality of her Ladybugs.

These thoughts often stopped her from ever giving in and revealing herself to her partner, Chat Noir. She had no fear that he would be disappointed—that wasn’t what stopped her besides the fear that Hawkmoth could find out about her if Chat Noir was ever compromised and vice versa.

It was the fact that if she revealed herself, and she died, Chat Noir would be alone in his mourning of who she really was. He would be able to put a face to his dead partner, and no one besides him would ever know she was Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, two people he’s interacted with actually being the same person. At least if one of them died, they would be able to protect themselves from the reality that they were more than soldiers against Hawkmoth—that they were just children.

If she gave Chat a face, an identity under the mask, it would shatter the illusion of their invincibility. The reality that they had lives outside of their masks would weigh upon them, and the façade of heroes would be gone, replaced by the frightening reality that they were just children in a war against a merciless terrorist.

To Chat Noir and Paris, she was Ladybug, a hero that couldn’t be put down or beaten. She was a symbol to them. A symbol of hope and that good always wins. If she died now, at least hope would live on and pass onto the next Ladybug.

She refused to make Chat Noir suffer in silence and despair if he knew the face behind the mask and no one would be able to share in his grief.

Paris could live on without her as Ladybug, but Chat Noir could not.

She was jolted from her reverie when she felt Tikki’s paw press against her palm through the fabric of her purse, as if she knew what Marinette was thinking. It brought Marinette back to reality, back to where she was and what her mission was.

Determination filled her. Now was not the time to dwell on her mortality. She was a soldier—a hero of Paris—and she would continue to fight for Paris until her last breath. However, now was the time to plan for her current mission to retrieve Adrien’s book.

It was time for Ladybug to step into the arena once more. \

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There’s part 1 of Volpina rewrite! I hope you guys like it. I have the whole rewrite of the episode outlined, but I find it easier to do smaller chapters in order to hopefully update faster. Please let me know what you think if you can!

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