#i added a greenhouse onto the house just for him

[pigeonplaysgod]

a wedding and three birthdays! Tyrian's birthday fell on the day before Winterfest, along with the twins! All Dove needs now is to master parenting, and we can move on to Plum!

[obsessedwithceleste]

The Cat Chronicles

(Or five times Theodore Nott *accidentally* stole your cat)

Theodore Nott x reader

word count: 5.9k

©️ obsessedwithceleste. all works posted here belong to me and should not be reposted or copied in any way or form.

1

The first time your cat went missing, you didn’t think entirely too much of it. You knew many of the Hogwarts cats liked to gather behind the herbology greenhouse where a particularly plentiful patch of catnip grew. However, Gladys was never one to miss meal time, and when the time came to 30 minutes after her usual feeding time, you knew something was amiss. With a sigh, you made your way out to your common room where you saw Cho sitting by the fireplace with several other of your class mates.

“Has anyone seen Gladys wandering about? She missed feeding time and I haven’t seen her much today,” you say as you approach the group.

“I haven’t, sorry y/n. We’ll keep a look out for her though,” Cho tells you.

You let out a small sigh of disappointment.

“Thanks Cho,” you say before heading out to wander the halls of the castle, hoping to find your elusive, black cat.

You start out by the greenhouse where you see a whole gaggle of cats, but none with the sleek black coat that identified your furry friend. You then walked around the grounds a bit more with no luck, before moving on to the kitchens where several of the house elves promised to keep an eye out for the small black cat. You even checked several empty class rooms before coming to a stop outside the library. It wouldn’t hurt to check. Twenty minutes later, you were still completely out of luck. Tired and frustrated, you were about to call it a night when a loud chorus of voices turn down the hall. You look to see who it was and find a hoard of Slytherin boys making their way towards you. You recognized them of course, but didn’t exactly know them. What you did know however, was the mop of black fur one of the taller boys in the back of the group was holding.

“Gladys!” You exclaim, rushing towards the group of boys.

Their eyes all turn towards you and at the sound of her name, the fiesty black cat springs from the arms of the boy and runs towards you.

With a large grin of relief, you scoop the cat up into your arms, feeling her light purr as you scratch behind her ears. Feeling several pairs of eyes on you, you look up to see the group of boys still staring at you and your cat.

“Um, thanks, for finding my cat,” you say awkwardly, squeezing the cat to your chest lightly. The tall, brunette boy who had just been holding your cat only nods silently before turning and walking off, the rest of the group following, except one.

“Hey, sorry about Theo. He means well, really. Man really likes cats, but doesn’t have one of his own, so he sometimes makes friends with cats wandering the halls. We’ve all told him that he should probably stop, ah, borrowing, people’s cats, but he can’t seem to resist. Names Enzo by the way,” the boy says with a friendly smile, extending his hand out.

You take his hand, shaking it cautiously before a smile creeps it’s way onto your face.

“Thank you, Enzo.” You say, hesitating a moment before adding, “You know, Gladys is a picky bitch. Theo must be a pretty okay person if she let him carry her around.” You tell him before disappearing with your cat.

2

The second time your cat went missing, you honestly didn't realize she was missing at all. Theo had found his way down to the kitchens about a week after the original cat incident. That's how he thought of it anyway. The kitchens were one of his favorite places to lurk as not many students knew of the secret entrance behind one particular painting of a fruit bowl. The real attraction that often drew the brunette boy to the hidden sanctuary however, was the constant stream of cats that often visited the house elves who happily offered up dishes of cream and other treats. Plopping himself down on the floor next to a particularly populated bowl of milk, Theo's eyes were immediately drawn to a familiar set of glowing yellow orbs.

"Hello there, Gladys," he said hesitantly, decently sure that was the name called out by the pretty Ravenclaw girl who had stolen the cat from him a few nights ago.

Well, stolen in this case was rather relative, as the cat was technically hers, he supposed. Hearing her name however, the little black cat pranced over, nuzzling her head affectionately against his leg with a soft purr. Picking the sweet creature up into his arms, Theo stroked her soft fur, thinking back to his encounter with her owner, a grimace reaching his face.

He had been a downright bloody idiot. That was for certain. Theo was not usually one to be rendered incompetent by the mere presence of a pretty girl. No. That was meant more for Enzo. Or even Draco sometimes. But never Theodore. In fact, Theo had quite the reputation for his tendency to sleep around which made the idea of his mind completely blanking at the sight of this cat's owner all the more embarrassing. Matteo had made fun of him ruthlessly later that night. What had he said again? Right. Absolutely nothing. Just nodded like a right dunce.

The only solace Theo had gotten from that night was when Enzo pulled him aside quietly and told him what the pretty girl from earlier had said about him. "He must be pretty okay." It was hardly a compliment, but after the fool he'd made of himself, it really was the best Theo could hope for. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Theo once again focused on the little beast snuggling contentedly in his arms, carefully scratching behind the ears, a spot he'd found the cat quite liked.

The sound of the entrance painting swinging open startled Theo; and he honestly wasn't sure if he was elated, or absolutely mortified that the very girl who had been previously plaguing his thoughts was stepping through into the kitchens.

You honestly weren't entirely surprised to see the boy from a few nights ago sitting on the floor, cradling your cat, when you entered the kitchens. After Enzo had admitted to you that the handsome brunette had a soft spot for the castle's feline population, you figured it was only a matter of time until you bumped into him here considering it was a hot spot for the four legged beasts.

"Hello. See you've managed to find my cat again," you say, offering a small smile to the boy in front of you. After your encounter with that particular group of Slytherins, you did a bit of asking around, finding that Theodore Nott, while a bit known for his escapades with the female population, was actually one of the more talented wizards of your year. And one of the more level headed. (But in comparison to Draco and Matteo, you weren't exactly sure how much credit to give him there.)

The boy blinks up at you once before seeming to find his voice.

"She's a sweet little thing," he says finally, clearing his throat and looking anywhere but you.

You cautiously move forward, more worried about spooking the boy in front of you than the cats. Sitting down, you allow a pretty little Siamese kitten to wander into your lap. Gladys hisses with jealousy, but remains snuggled in the arms of the boy.

"She really seems to like you. Bit surprising. She's really not much of a people person," you tell him.

Theo nods at you, an action you found yourself growing familiar with.

"Enzo told me." He replies curtly.

You open your mouth to respond, but don't quite know how, so you let an awkward silence roll over the two of you.

"Well, I find that Gladys is a very good judge of character," you say finally.

Theo lets out a small smile at this, continuing to stroke your cat's soft fur. After that, the two of you fall into a comfortable silence with Theodore continuing to shower your cat with affection while you distract the many other felines, crowding the kitchen floor.

"Theo?" you wonder finally, the question burning away at you. The boy looks up, and you find yourself getting lost in the surprisingly soft brown eyes staring back at you. Breaking from the trance with a small shiver, you ask, "If you like cats so much, why don't you have one of your own?"

Theo's eyes immediately fall, and his hand freezes mid pet, much to Gladys' dismay. A pang of guilt washes through you.

"My father isn't much of an animal person," He replies stiffly.

You give him a small nod in response before rising from the floor.

"It's getting pretty late, I should get going," you say softly. "Gladys can find her way back to the tower on her own just fine," you add when you see Theo make no move to release the cat.

Without another word, you move to open the portrait door. You enter the hall with a small smile gracing your lips as you hear his voice quietly as the door closes.

"Thank you, y/n."

He knew your name.

3

The next time Theo met Gladys was much sooner than he expected. He had left the kitchens several hours ago and was now laying in bed. The clock sitting on his bed side now read 1am. The deafening silence was about to finally lull him to sleep when an insistent scratching at the door caused his eyes to fly open. Sitting up, Theo glanced at the door warily before finally deciding to cross the room to find out what was causing the noise.

As soon as the door opened, a black shadow darted through, making a beeline for his bed. How it seemed to know exactly where it was going, Theo had no clue. Making his way silently back to his bed, careful not to wake either of his roommates, Theo was finally able to make out the dark shape of an ever familiar black cat.

"Hi there, principessa," he whispered, gently stroking the cat's ears before crawling into the bed next to it. Gladys seemed to take this as an invitation to curl up in the nook of his arm, and Theo wasn't about to object. The last thought he remembered before drifting off was how nice it would be if Gladys' pretty owner was there too.

"Theo, what the fuck."

Theo woke with a start, to the loud voice of Lorenzo Berkshire ringing out above him. His eyes opened to see the other boy hovering over his bed, a look of shocked confusion apparent on his face.

"Is that y/n's cat?" he asks, leaning down as if to get a closer look at the fluff ball still snuggled in Theo's arms.

"No way," Matteo laughs from the other side of the room. "You stole her cat again? What, is this some sick and twisted new way for you to lure girls into your bed?"

Theo launches a pillow at Matteo's head. He doesn't miss.

"You better go return that thing before y/n starts to worry," Enzo advises, going back to his own side of the room. "And maybe just ask her out while you're at it hmm?" He adds, quickly ducking behind his fourposter before Theo has the chance to send another pillow flying his way.

With a heavy sigh, Theo comes to a stop outside of what he's pretty sure is the Ravenclaw common room. He's about to raise his hand to knock, when the golden eagle head mounted to the door springs to life.

"What gets broken, without being held?" The eagle asks, blinking at him slowly.

Right. Theo knew about this. The most annoying of the common room doors because instead of a password, the bloody door required you to answer a riddle. Theo was about to turn on his heel to leave when he felt a light presence behind him.

"Hello Theo. Hello Gladys." The platinum blonde haired girl said, giving the two of them an airy nod, before turning her attention to the door. "Would it perhaps be, a promise?" she asks.

The door swings open and Theo quickly hurries after the girl, making his way up the staircase. He'd never actually been inside the Ravenclaw common room, and his breath hitched when they reached the top of the stairs. The main room really was magnificent, nothing like the dark, eerie dungeons of the Slytherin common room. Theo eyed the shelves of books lining the wall longingly.

"Her room is just there, up and to the left," the blonde girl he'd followed in says, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Y/n? Her room is just there," the girl repeats, gesturing to a door at the top of another small flight of stairs.

"Oh. thanks," Theo makes out, giving the girl a nod of gratitude.

"Name's Luna by the way. Luna Lovegood." She says whimsically before floating off.

With a deep inhale to calm his nerves, Theo makes his way up the stairs and knocks gently on the door. Gladys lets out a meow of protest. Absolutely nothing could have prepared Theo for what was on the other side of the door. He felt his throat go completely dry as the door swung open and you stood in front of him in what was probably the shortest, skimpiest set of clothing that could possibly be considered pajamas. Theo tried not to stare, he really did, but he was only a man. A very weak and smitten man.

"Oh! There you are Gladys. I wondered where you wandered off to last night!" you say looking at your cat and then back up at Theo, and then again at your cat before looking back up at Theo expectantly. "Um. May I have my cat back?"

Theo jolts back to life, realizing he'd been staring and looks at you sheepishly.

"Sorry, don't know how this little one found me. Snuck her way into the Slytherin common room and then into my dorm. Didn't want to leave her in the halls alone, so I let her stay the night," he tells you.

You stare at the boy in shock, realizing that was the longest string of words you'd ever heard out of him.

"Wow Theodore, I'm impressed. I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk. And here I was thinking you were secretly illiterate," you say with a playful grin.

"Please," the boy scoffs. "I'm the picture of eloquence."

Interested in where this sudden burst of confidence that you didn't normally see from him had come from, you take a step back, inviting him into your room. He hesitantly accepts your invitation, bringing Gladys along with him.

"No roommates?" he asks, perching on the edge of your bed as Gladys purrs softly on his lap. At the moment, you found nothing more attractive than this man absolutely pampering your beloved pet.

"Not many Ravenclaw girls in our year, we had the option to share, but most of us opted for solo rooms. Wanted the extra privacy, I suppose," you tell him, leaning on one of the posts at the end of your bed.

Theo nods his head at this.

"I have two roommates," he shares.

"One of them happen to be Enzo Berkshire?"

Theo nods again. "And Matteo. Riddle" he adds.

You cock your head at that with a grin.

"Interesting pairing," you comment, imagining the chaos those two must bring with them.

"It never gets boring," Theo responds.

A moment of silence passes.

"I was wondering if you wanted to study together sometime. I hear you're exceptionally talented at potions. And Charms. And everything really." Theo lets out finally.

You raise an eyebrow at the boy, internally screaming.

Trying to keep your cool, you tilt your head, "I hear you are too."

It's like a switch flips inside Theo.

"Well, we're obviously perfect for each other than," He replies easily, a cocky grin beginning to spread across his face. "Meet you in the library tomorrow at 7? And bring the cat."

You let out a laugh as Theo rises from the bed, gently placing Gladys down on the pillow, before going to make his way out of your dorm.

"You only like me for my cat," you joke, shifting to watch as he crosses the room to the door.

"Not just for your cat," he assures you, "I love the outfit, wear it for me more often, hmm?" he says slyly before the door thuds shut behind him.

You look down at your outfit, jaw dropping open and heat rushing to your cheeks.

4

Theo's head was pounding. Music pumped through the Slytherin common room and Theo could barely see through the crowds of people around him as he pushed his way to the circle of sofas occupied by his friends. Collapsing into a spot next to Matteo, the boy offered him another shot of who-knew-what which he quickly knocked back.

"When's that pretty little thing that's been occupying all your time gonna join us at one of our little gathering?" Matteo slurs out, gesturing to the large crowd around them.

Over the past several weeks, you and Theo had grown significantly closer; your first study date quickly becoming a daily occurrence as you found that you each were able to easily keep up with one another. Something about having a partner who was actually able to challenge you was exhilarating. From there, you found yourselves often seeking each other out simply for the sake of good company, Gladys largely increasing the number of these meetings.

"Don't know that Gladys would like it. Cat's aren't supposed to ingest alcohol," Theo responded, not quite drunk enough to fall for his friend's taunting.

Enzo places another shot in his hand, and Theo raises a brow at him, before knocking that one back as well.

"Did you ever ask y/n why in Salazar's name, she choose to name her cat Gladys?" Matteo asks. "If my name were Gladys, I'd being running off constantly too."

Theo thumps Matteo on the back of the head.

"You leave our cat out of this, she ain't do nothin wrong," he says, glaring at his friend.

"So now she's our cat is she?" Enzo asks, a smirk growing on his face. "Didn't know you and y/n were so serious."

"It's our cat damnit! If marrying y/n is what it takes to finally have a cat of my own, so be it," Theo says decidedly.

Enzo snorts at his clearly, very drunk friend. "Careful, or one might think you're only into her for her cat. And not the cunty kind."

Theo scowls at this. "Y/n says that all the time, but have you seen that ass? And the way she mopped the floor with Draco in potions the other day? She's perfect."

"Yeah? Why don't you go tell her that then?" Matteo says, wanting nothing more than to see a drunk Theo try to make his way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"You know what? I will. And I'll pet Gladys too." Theo states. A look of pure, intoxicated determination set on his face.

Lorenzo eyes his friend warily. While not exactly sober himself, he didn’t particularly like the look his friend was giving them.

“Aw c’mon Enz, don’t you try and be the voice of reason now,” Matteo drawls, sensing the hesitation coming from his friend. “Don’t you want to meet the lil thing our beloved Theodore has been obsessing over for weeks now?”

“I’m not obsessing,” Theo snaps, taking a sip straight out of a random bottle he’d picked up from the table.

“Let’s go. I’m gonna steal her cat. For real this time.”

With a wide grin, Matteo jumps up, ready to follow his friend wherever the night took him. With a low groan, Enzo followed suit, knowing that his pair of roommates would need some sort of guidance to prevent them from walking themselves straight of the edge of the astronomy tower.

You didn’t have a lot of expectations for the quiet Friday night that you were spending curled up with a book and your cat. It was late, and after a long and stressful week, the time alone with Gladys was just what you needed to really recharge. You had spent most of your day lounging out on the lawn next to the Black Lake with Theodore, studying with and harassing the boy. A small smile crept onto your face, remembering the way his brown curls had floated about in the soft breeze.

You really hadn’t expected for the two of you to become so close, so quickly, but you weren’t complaining. You’d grown quite fond of the boy, especially once he started opening up a bit more. You’d initially thought that he was a man of very few words, but quickly learned he was in fact very sharp witted and even a bit snarky at times. Time spent with him had easily become your favorite part of the day and was something you were constantly looking forward to.

A sharp knock jolted you from your thoughts, causing you to jump a bit where you were sitting, Gladys letting out a yowl of protest.

You quickly cross the room and open the door to find a very miffed looking Cho, a frown imbedded on her face.

“Sorry to bother, but could you please come get your boy under control? He’s upsetting the portraits.” She says.

You blink once. Then again.

“Sorry?”

“Your Slytherin fellow? He’s out in the corridor with two of his friends harassing the door,” she explains, turning to lead you down the spiral staircase.

You’re not even halfway down when you begin to hear the voices.

“Who in the bloody hell would want to be in Ravenclaw with this blast-ended skewt ass looking-“

“Matteo you can’t curse out the door.”

“I’ll curse at the bloody door if I want to bloody curse at it.”

You grimace, looking at Cho who looks back with a similarly displeased facial expression.

“Sorry bout them. I’ll take it from here,” you tell her when you reach the bottom.

With a slight nod, she turns to retreat back up the stairs. With a sigh, you push the door open, almost taking out Matteo who had been leaning on it for support.

“Hi amore, fancy seeing you here,” Theo slurs, a grin taking over his face at the sight of you.

Enzo leans against a pillar, face in hands, looking like he wanted to disappear. You could smell the alcohol on all of them.

“Hi Theodore. Are you sober?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

“I’m moderately functional,” he replies with a lopsided smile.

“I’m taking that as a no,” you say, glancing worriedly at Matteo who was currently laying spread eagle on the floor. “Let’s get you boys back to your common room.”

“I wouldn’t. Party’s not gonna end any time soon. They’ll just get more hammered and start wandering off again,” Enzo advises, head still in hands. “Like herding hippogriffs with those two.”

“And Theo hasn’t proclaimed his undying love for y/n yet!” Matteo adds.

You feel heat rise to your cheeks and Theo glowers at his friend.

“It’s okay Theo, I know he’s drunk,” you say, not certain if you were saying it more to comfort him or yourself.

Theo ignores you however, turning his attention back to the door.

“Let us in, I just want to pet the cat,” he tells the door, swaying ever so slightly.

For Salazar’s sake. Man gets absolutely wasted and just wants to pet your cat. You go to grab onto Theo to steady him, but he has other plans. Immediately, he wraps his arms around you, nuzzling his face into your hair.

“Hi,” he mumbles, picking you up just enough that your toes barely touch the ground. “I missed you. Can we see the cat now?”

Not knowing what else to do, you glance helplessly at Enzo.

“Would you be able to get Matteo up the stairs?” You ask.

“I can try. He’s a stubborn bastard though.”

You turn back to the door, knocking once. The eagle once again moves to life, glaring at the scene in front of it.

“If the day before yesterday was the 23rd, what is the day after tomorrow?” It asks crankily.

“We’re too fucking wasted for this bloody bullshit,” Matteo moans from the floor.

You try to ignore Theo’s tight grasp on your waist and Enzo prodding at Matteo with his foot before answering. “The 27th.”

The door swings open and you try your best to haul Theo through, Enzo following closely behind with a very disgruntled Matteo. Dragging the boys up the staircase feels like the most difficult task of your life as you constantly tell Matteo to lower his voice and mind his mouth while also trying to ignore the very minimal distance between yourself and Theodore. When you finally make it to the top, you rush to herd the boys into your room before slamming the door shut behind you with relief. Theo immediately stumbles over to your bed, collapsing face first in the middle and snatching Gladys into his arms.

“No roommates?” Enzo asks, looking around the room and seeing the single empty bed that you had pushed into the corner at the beginning of the year.

“No, thank Rowena. I would not want to have to explain whatever this is.” You reply, motioning to Theo and Matteo who was now wandering about the room.

“Room’s a mess. Coulda at least cleaned up a bit,” he says, poking at the various books and blank scrolls lying about.

“Had I known I would be having guests at,” you glance at the clock, “almost 2 in the morning, I’m sure I would have.” You say dryly.

Retrieving your wand from your desk, you point it at the spare bed. “Engorgio.” The wooden frame creaks as it expands until it can comfortably fit 2 people. You look at Enzo.

“Good luck with that one,” you say, almost feeling sorry for the boy as Matteo flops onto the bed with a groan.

“Looks like you’re gonna need it more than me,” he replies, gesturing to Theo who was out cold, Gladys trapped and bug eyed in his grasp. With a sigh you and Enzo each resign yourselves to your respective charge.

“Theodore,” you whisper, giving the boy a light shove. No sign of life. You give him a slightly harder shove, allowing Gladys is wriggle out of her prison. Frowning, you sit down on the edge of the bed, using most of your body weight to shove Theo to one side of the bed before sliding under the covers. Now deeming it safe, Gladys hops back into the bed, nestling into your arms happily. You’re about to close your eyes when you feel arms snaking around your waste, pulling you into the very warm chest of Theodore Nott. You freeze, holding your breath, not sure if the boy is asleep or not.

“Goodnight mi amore,” he whispers into your neck, causing the hairs to prickle.

Definitely not asleep.

“Goodnight Theodore.”

You hadn’t had any expectations for the night really, but you definitely had not expected to have multiple overnight guests who were trying to steal your cat. And you most certainly did not expect to drift off in the arms of Theodore Nott.

5

The next morning you wake up missing the usual lump of fur weighing down on your chest. Immediately you bolt upright, eyes shooting around for any sign of your furry companion before the events of last night wash over you. Enzo and Matteo are both still out cold and when you look down, your jaw drops open. Theo is fast asleep, back facing you, Gladys snoozing contentedly while cradled in his arms. Even in his sleep this absolute tosser had managed to steal your damn cat.

Careful not to wake the boys, or Gladys, you silently sneak across the room and disappear out the door. Once you’re safely out of hearing distance, you make your way quickly down the kitchens. A little known fact about the Hogwarts house elves was that many had once served in the homes of different wizarding families at one time or another. This meant that many of the elves were all too familiar with the valuable hangover potion that you sought.

Ducking in through the portrait hole, it wasn’t difficult to persuade the elves into handing over 3 glistening blue vials. You had always been kind to them, often chatting with them during your visits with the cats.

Your task complete, you made your way back to Ravenclaw tower, taking your time as you didn’t expect the boys to be up any time soon. They really had been plastered. Not even Enzo had been completely sober you recalled.

You’re just passing the entrance to the dungeons when a voice calls out.

“Hey! You!”

You’re ready to continue on your way before noticing that there was no one else in the corridor they could be referring to. You turn to see two girls you recognized as the Greengrass sisters hurrying towards you.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” the shorter blonde girl says when they get closer. You’re pretty sure that one is Astoria. “You’re the girl Theo has been seeing right?”

You nod your head cautiously. You knew Theo had a reputation for getting around, so if that’s what this was about, things were about to become quite awkward.

“You haven’t happened to see him or Matteo or Lorenzo, have you?” The other girl, Daphne, asks.

“Draco said he saw the three of them leave the party together last night, but no one saw them come back,” Astoria explains.

You feel yourself immediately relax. Good. At least this was something you could help with.

“You two are lucky you found me then I suppose,” you tell them, gesturing for them to follow. “The three of them tried breaking into Ravenclaw tower last night, so I let them crash in my dorm.”

“Oh Salazar. Were they trying to steal your cat? I’m so sorry. When Matteo gets drunk he has a tendency to try and egg Theo on,” Astoria frets.

You give the girls a strange look. “You know about my cat?” You ask, surprised.

“Oh sure,” Daphne replies. “Whole group does really. Boys came back one night going on about how Theo was just smitten with some Ravenclaw with a cute cat. And I can see why. You’re gorgeous by the way.”

You blush at her statement, diverting the subject away.

“The boys should probably still be asleep. I just ran down to the kitchens to get these,” you tell them, brandishing the potions you had gathered. “Once they’ve downed these, they’re all yours.”

Astoria eyes the potions with jealousy and you realize the two girls were probably decently hung over as well.

“Oh you can keep Theo, we were really just looking to collect Enzo and Matt,” Daphne laughs, giving you a sly look. You open your mouth to reply, but stop realizing you had reached your common room door.

After a few attempts, you’re finally able to solve the blasted riddle and the door swings open.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had this many Slytherins in our common room before,” you joke, leading the girls up to your room.

Pushing the door open, you’re unsurprised to see the boys still passed out.

“This must be the infamous Gladys,” Daphne whispers, quietly approaching Theo who was still clutching onto Gladys as if his life depended on it. Again you’re surprised that these girls apparently even knew the name of your cat.

The two coo at the sight of your cat, coming to the conclusion that she was indeed worthy of warranting cat theft before Astoria finally decided it was time for them to get the boys out of your hair. They migrated over to the other side of the room where Enzo and Matteo were sound asleep, leaving you to deal with Theo.

You decide the easiest route, may just be to lure Gladys away, so you fetch her food dish before accio-ing her kibble container. At the sound of her food, Gladys was up and running, darting over for her morning feast. At the sudden loss of fluffy heat, Theo groaned, rolling over, face down into the pillows. After giving Gladys her food, you move back to Theo, giving him a rough shake.

“Come back to bed principessa,” he grumbles, reaching out and flailing his arm in your general direction.

“It’s time to get up Theodore. Come on, I got you three hangover potions,” you say, waving one over his head.

“Did someone say hangover potion? Give,” Matteo demands from the other side of the room. You look over to see Daphne and Astoria sitting on the side of the bed while Matteo and Enzo were groggily waking up.

Pulling out her wand, Daphne gestured for you to toss her the potions which her magic catches easily, levitating the vials over to the other two boys. Matteo snatches one out of the air, quickly downing half before offering the other half to Astoria. Enzo does the same, giving the second half to Daphne who graciously accepts. After a moment, the four of them are looking much more awake.

“Thanks for making sure these three didn’t drown themselves in the lake,” Astoria says, once the potion had really kicked. “And sorry you’re not having more luck with that one. He’s always been a late riser.”

“You’ll be lucky to get him up in the next hour,” Enzo agrees, rising from the bed. “Thanks again y/n.”

The four of them shuffle out of your dorm, a chorus is thanks and apologies strung along until they reached the door. Even Matteo gave you a nod of gratitude. Once they were all gone, you collapse once more onto your bed.

“They finally gone?” You hear Theo ask, as he rolls over to look at you. You nod, faces so close that your noses are practically touching and you can feel small puffs of air as he exhales. “Thanks for last night. I’m sorry for trying to steal your cat.”

You let out a snort at that. “Did you know when I woke up this morning, you had turned away from me completely, and stolen my cat away from me in your sleep?” You ask with a laugh.

Theo at least has the decency to look embarrassed as Gladys joins the two of you once more.

“I should do this more often,” Theo says finally, reaching out to stroke Gladys’s fur.

“What? Get downright plastered and break into my room, or steal my cat?” You scoff.

“Sleep in your bed with you.”

You freeze, looking up to see if the boy was being serious. His eyes blink back at you unwavering.

“You can come back any time,” you tell him, snuggling your way into his chest, ready to fall back asleep in the boy’s arms.

“Will Gladys be here?”

“Oh my god, yes she will be here,” you say dramatically throwing your head back.

Theo grins down at you, leaning in and pressing his lips softly against yours.

“I’m only joking amore,” he says, pressing another kiss to the top of your nose.

“Of course Gladys would be here, she adores me.”

“Get out of my bed.”

A/N

My biggest regret in life, is being highly allergic to cats </3

[solbaby7]

Hiii, can I get a margarita with a salt rim on the rocks, please? Thank you!💕

[ “got a mouth on you. someone should teach you how to use it.” + smut + rhysand ]

-> BLURB BAR <-

Rhysand liked wild things—had this affinity for collecting strays; plucking them from their prisons and providing a life of freedom and luxury.

Maybe that’s why he’s so drawn to you. This rabid animal of a thing with a serious aversion to proper clothing and absolutely no regard for others personal boundaries. “Back for more charity work?”

“Is that how you think of my visits? I’m hurt.”

You look down at him with amusement, crouched low on a branch with a skirt so short it takes effort not to stare. “We both know you aren’t,” You make tree climbing look easy, bare toes trodding across branches that don’t look sturdy but hold strong bearing your weight. “What’d you bring me this time?”

Rhysand dangles the wicker basket before him with two fingers. He’s teasing, offering; luring you in closer as the laws of the Middle insists that its lands and the creatures in it must welcome you and not the other way around. “Come see for yourself, trouble.”

He’s grown fond of the wild way you move, confidently twisting and ducking through the forestry—the breathable linen of your strapless top flows with the breeze. Handmade necklaces kiss at your clavicle, all braided leather with bleached bones, carefully woven shells and shiny geodes. Once you get close enough he can see the neat braids peeking through loose strands, interwoven thread adding pops of color in haphazard places. “More naughty words on paper,” You chuff out when the weight of two books sits in your hands. The pages are pristine; probably first addition and perfectly cared for. “Always knew you High Lords were just pampered perverts.”

“Didn’t seem to bother you when you read the last two I brought you.”

Rhysand is sure he’ll have dreams about the pretty blush on your cheeks. He’s certain fantasies have planted their seed with intent to grow and grow like fucking ivy until nothing in sight could be see but you and that feisty furrow of your brow and the sharp roll of your eyes. Curious hands dig around the basket, sifting through cured meats and cheeses, parchment paper and oil pastels, rich fabrics and a case full of fresh sewing needles. “You trying to turn me into a fucking housewife or something? Charcuterie boards and fixing the buttons on your rich boy clothes.”

“Got a mouth on you.” Rhys chuckles in amusement, aubergine irises twinkling with silent adoration. “Someone should teach you how to use it.” You don’t seem the slightest bit ashamed when forcing him to hold onto your things, urging him to follow with a jerky nod of your head. “Could start by saying thank you.”

“Make me.”

Something in the air shifts. It alters the way he stands. Awakens a creature lurking in his shadow and its sights lock on you—the female with no fear of monsters. No, instead you hunt them, wrangle them up and tame them. Rabid beasts crooned into fucking house pets and Rhysand yearned to be the stray you took pity on. “Make you use your mouth properly? Or make you say thank you?”

“Both.” He’s hooked; shoes sinking into your footsteps until thick forestry breaks into a clearing with a house built smack dab in the middle. It’s surrounded by flowers, lavender and lemongrass guarding hand built basins labeled with fresh produce to fend off freeloading animals. Ivy creeps up one side of the greenhouse attached to the back. “Show me how to do it like they do in the books you bring me.”

Is it possible for a mouth to dry up and salivate at once? Because Rhys suddenly finds his in an odd mix of something in between. You barely notice the clumsy way he sets aside your basket of goodies but you’re fully aware of the eager way he pulls you in, stopping you from taking a step further. “You sure you know what you’re asking for?”

You scan the length of him, running over the strong set of his shoulders and the practiced ease in the way his arms rest at his sides. Every breath strains against the soft cotton of his shirt, solid muscle radiating warmth when you rest the palm of your hand against it. It’s a slow drag down and you feel no shame for your curiosity when exploring the length of his abdomen, fingers hooking in the loop of his belt. “I’ve got a pretty good idea.” The metallic click of his belt unbuckling, the sharp undoing of tied dress pants. “But, I’m a visual learner.” Rhys’ heart throbs in his chest when you sink to your knees, blood rushing lower until the true extent of his affection towards you is standing at attention in your face.

“I can help with that,” He’s already easing down the top of your shirt, groaning at the sight of bare breasts and pebbled nipples. “Though, my teaching style is a little more…hands on.”

You don’t have time to ask what that means when he’s giving you exactly what you asked for; tugging down his pants just enough to show off a throbbing erection, ruddy tip leaking pre-cum. Two fingers tap at your cheek twice and you have no control over the way your mouth drops open.

He knows he’s being a little rougher than he should—it’s probably your first time giving head and yet he can’t slow down his movements. You don’t even complain, breathing through the way his cock is fed to you, spit glistening along the length and dribbling down your chin. “Quick learner, aren’t you?” Rhys praises so prettily, such nice words spewing free as if he wasn’t rutting his prick down your throat.

Thumbs clear away the tears from under your eyes when you gag. The rasp of his voice urging you to work harder, to hollow your cheeks and run your tongue along that vein that has blunt nails digging into the nape of your neck. Swears spill in a sloppy slur, hands guiding the bob of your head until his release shoots down your throat with a choked grunt.

There’s no way you don’t look a mess when you peer up at him. Fucked out eyes. Tears tracking down your cheeks. Bruised lips. A wet patch dripping down your chest and still you utter the words, “Thank you.”

Just perfection and something inside him screams ‘mine’ the same time Rhysand replies with a breathless, “You’re welcome.”

[joelalorian]

Petals of Affection - Part III

A floral mystery in three parts, featuring Jackson!Joel x f!reader

Summary: A secret admirer gifts you a different flower and a riddle ten times before you put the clues together and discover that he's been right in front of your face the whole time.

Written for @morallyinept's Flora & Fauna challenge. Please check out all the wonderful works created in Jett's honor!

Word count: 3,049

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, fluff, kissing, f!oral, unprotected p in v (it's 20 years into the fucking apocalypse), it's not stated, but I envision Joel having been snipped pre-outbreak, terms of endearment. POV flops around like petals in the wind. Reader has no established age or physical description aside from having hair that gets frizzy with humidity and often dirt-covered hands, because greenhouses, ya know? No use of y/n, none whatsoever.

Dividers courtesy of the wonderful @saradika-graphics. Gif chosen because of the wonderful floral wallpaper ;)

And this sweet little love story has come to an end. Thank you all for coming along for the ride! Your comments, likes, and reblogs are appreciated more than I could ever say.

Part I | Part II | Masterlist

Jasmine Orchid Eustoma Lavender Magnolia Iris Lily Lilac Eucalyptus Rose

JOEL MILLER

Joyful moments shared; the answer lies in the air.

Overwhelmed by your grace, the answer hides in this place.

Endless thoughts of you, the answer is in the view.

Lost in your scent, the answer is present.

Moments with you, the answer rings true.

In your eyes, the answer lies.

Lost in your beauty, the answer is a duty.

Longing for your touch, the answer means so much.

Evergreen thoughts of you, the answer is in the dew.

Remember my love for you, the answer is in you.

JOEL MILLER!

Maria’s eyes roved over your scribbled notes, a broad smile slowly spreading across her face at the underline beneath Joel’s name. “Took you long enough. I was beginning to question your intelligence, girl!”

Heat warmed your cheeks as you laughed, though you weren’t sure if it was due to embarrassment or the wine. “The answer was right in front of my face this whole time, I just couldn’t see it.”

Flopping back on the couch, you felt a bit overwhelmed. Ducking your head between your knees as you leant forward, you sucked in a few deep breaths before baring your soul to your best friend. “I wanted it to be him. I longed for it to be him. But I didn’t dare to hope that it would be him. Do you know what I mean?”

“I do.” Maria’s voice held nothing but understanding. “Hope could lead to despair if not met.”

“Exactly!” you exclaimed, poking your head up to meet her dark eyes. “I couldn’t handle the despair, so I couldn’t dare to hope.”

Maria settled onto the soft cushion next to you, one arm reaching out to rub your back soothingly. “You have nothing to fear now. Joel did all this, for you.” Her free hand gestured at the flowers and notes scattered across the table. “His feelings for you are so deep, so true, that he came up with this elaborate plan to show you instead of just telling you, like any normal person would.”

Pausing, Maria waited until you met her gaze again with a watery smile, wanting to make sure you understood the point she was making. Her eyes earnest and smile broad, she added, “He was afraid to hope, too. But he did and look what has come of it.”

Tears built up, threatening to spill over as you absorbed everything. Joel loved you, just as you loved him, his grand gesture proving it beyond a shadow of a doubt. He dared to hope when you didn’t and thank goodness he did. You two would still be dancing around each other for who the fuck knows how long otherwise.

You stood suddenly, feeling revived and eager to see Joel at once. “I need to see Joel. I need to tell him I feel the same way.”

“Well let’s go then! He’s probably at my house with Tommy.” Maria led the way out of your house after you both scrambled to put shoes on, marching with purpose down the quiet road under the cover of a clear, starry sky.

Despite the late hour, you needed to see Joel, to return his declaration of love now that he bared his heart and soul to you in such a clever, romantic way. Crisp air filling your lungs as you walked, you felt the effects of the wine wear off. You never felt so clear-headed, so full of promise, so full of love.

“Do you know what you’re going to say to him?” Maria asked as you neared her house. Bright lights shining through the curtains showcased the shadowy movements inside of the two men inside.

“Not a clue,” you admitted, suddenly nervous. “My brain hasn’t gotten that far yet. Fuck! What am I gonna say?”

“Well, you could always just walk in and kiss him. Just lay a big wet one right on his lips,” Maria suggested, the nearly full moon reflecting mischievously in her dark brown eyes. As your mouth dropped open, she added, “Yes! That’s exactly what you should do!”

“Well, in the absence of anything better…”

Laughter still bubbled from your bellies as you followed Maria up the front steps and into her home. Nearing sensory overload, every cell of your body vibrated with the burning need to lay eyes, hands, lips on Joel.

“Is that you, honey?” Tommy called from the living room. The two of you turned the corner into the room, and Maria made a beeline right to her husband.

Ignoring the married couple, your attention focused on the other occupant of the room. Joel sat on the couch, leant back in a relaxed pose, one arm slung across the back cushions. His thick thighs spread wide, just begging for you to step between them.

Wide and unblinking, his burnt umber eyes watched as you stepped further into the room. Head tilting quizzically, he licked his lips as you approached with an impossible slowness. Neither of you could look anywhere else, gazes locked, bodies pulling together like magnets.

Joel’s pouty lips parted in surprise when you didn’t seat yourself next to him, electing instead to climb onto his lap. He blinked owlishly at you as your face moved closer, centimeter by centimeter, until your lips met his in a delicate first kiss. However brief, that initial press of your lips against his ignited an inferno within you both. You mouths came together urgently the second time, as lips, teeth, and tongues clashed. Your fingers carded through his silky soft, thick curls, nails tenderly scratching itches on his scalp he didn’t even know he had. He preened under your touch.

So absorbed in each other after months and months of longing and pining, dancing around feelings you hid for each other, the rest of the room blurred to nonexistence. Your ears picked up soft murmuring from Maria and Tommy, but you ignored it. Your world revolved around Joel, and Joel only, at that moment. You shifted, trying in vain to bury beneath every layer of his skin, until you straddled his lap.

At long last, you pulled back as the need for oxygen became unbearable. You and Joel had been pressed so close together, noses smushed as you kissed, that neither of you could even breathe.

“I take it you figured it out.” Joel’s eyes searched your face, voice rumbling from deep in his chest, the sound like velvety chocolate to your ears.

You nodded, lost for words at first and his lips slowly tilted upwards at the corners until his smile reached its limit and the precious dimple in his cheek poked through. “The flowers and notes were so beautiful, Joel. I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out sooner, your riddles were just too good,” you grinned. Tears pricked at the back of your eyes at the look of complete adoration on his handsome face. Sincere happiness welled within you. “The notes, each one more beautiful than the last, I read them over and over. I feel all of that, too.”

Joel’s eyes took on a different shine at your confession, the fire from the hearth glinted in the sudden wetness glazing over them.

“Can I take you home?” he asked gruffly, the need evident in his glossy gaze.

“Fuck yes,” you breathed, giggling as he shifted you both to your feet and practically dragged you from his brother’s house. Neither of you had the wherewithal to say goodbye to Tommy and Maria. They watched the two of you leave with matching satisfied grins before locking up behind you.

“Yours or mine?” Joel questioned urgently as his large hand grasped yours.

“I don’t care,” you replied breathlessly, “whichever is closer.”

“Yours then.” His long legs led you down the deserted street, boots crunching on the hard ground, stopping only once you reached your front porch. He stared into your wide eyes, taking in the vision of your blown pupils and pursed lips. “Are you sure about this?”

“Joel,” you drew his name out in a long sigh, one hand caressing the scruff on his cheek. “I have never been surer of anything in my entire life. Take me inside and make love to me. Please.”

The pitch of your plea shot straight to his cock as he once again nearly dragged you behind him. Grateful that you forgot to lock the front door, there were no impediments to your journey into the house and straight up the stairs to your bedroom.

The urgency slowed once the both of you reached the center of your bedroom. Facing each other as you stood next to the large bed, Joel’s gaze tangibly seared your skin with the absolute heat of it.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, one thick fingertip tracing the ridge of your brow and down the slope of your nose. His bedroom eyes captivating as he pulled at your plump bottom lip with his thumb, lips twitching when your tongue darted out to taste the salt on his skin. “I think I fell in love with you the day we met.”

“Me, too.” Mesmerized by Joel’s touch and thoughtful words, you leant forward, slanting your mouth against his. The kiss tender yet scalding hot as your hands began to slowly undress one another. Part of you could not believe this was happening, while another part of you kept repeating fucking finally.

Once you were both fully stripped of clothing, Joel eased you back onto the bed. The broadness of him hovered over you, legs entangled, and he caressed your skin with one large hand. There was no piece of you he left untouched. Your own hands were drawn to his luscious curls, fingers threading through the locks and massaging his scalp.

Joel soon replaced his hands with his mouth, placing soft, open-mouthed kisses down your body. He paid special attention to your breasts, pausing to lave and nip at the hardened peaks of your nipples. A surprised gasp flew from your mouth when he settled his face between your legs, darting his tongue out to taste your sweetness.

He feasted on you like a starving man, tongue laving at your clit before dipping inside to slurp at your juices. You were so wet for him. Only him. His mouth a form of heaven you didn’t know existed, you mewled and squirmed, muscles twitching as he drew you closer and closer to the cliff’s edge.

“Fuck, you are so good at this, Joel.” The half-moaned words fell from your lips when he slipped a thick finger inside you, quickly followed by another. His mouth continued to work at your clit, licking and sucking as you writhed beneath his ministrations.

A man possessed; Joel drew two orgasms from you before letting up. Easing back, he grinned at you, his facial hair glossy with your juices. “You taste fucking delicious. I could stay down here all night.”

A dewy sheen of sweat covered your entire body from being worked over so well. “Any other time, I wouldn’t stop you. But I want your cock inside me, right now.”

“Is that so?” Joel smirked at you, climbing up your body to settle his hips between your legs. Of their own accord, your hands soothed over the warm skin of his back and down to his ass, where you grabbed handfuls of the meaty flesh.

“Fuck, yes. Please, I need you.”

His eyes sparkled at your plea, but he didn’t move an inch. Your right hand reached between the two of you, grasping hold of his cock and gasping at the sheer size of him. Long and thick in your hand, your mouth watered at the thought of tasting him sometime. Joel grinned again, his expression quickly going slack as you tugged once, twice at his hardened length, running the head between your folds before lining him up with your entrance.

Dark eyes hooded with lust; Joel met your gaze. “You want this?” he questioned one last time, needing confirmation of your consent. The last thing he’d ever want to do is push you too far, too fast. He wanted this to last forever.

“Joel, I promise. I have never wanted someone more than I want you, and only you, right now.” You poured every emotion, every feeling for Joel through your eyes as you pulled him impossibly closer. Angling your hips up, he finally started feeding you his cock, inch by delectable inch. Your mouth dropped open at the stretch when he bottomed out.

“You’re taking me so well, pretty girl.” Joel began to move his hips in a slow, steady rhythm, his arms bracketing your head.

“Ahhh, I’ve never felt so full before. Please don’t stop.”

Soon enough, the only sounds in the room were the gentle slap of skin against skin, your breathy moans, and Joel’s rumbling grunts. Joel kissed you passionately as he fucked into you with deep thrusts, his eyes remaining locked on yours.

Your orgasm built as his cock grazed that perfect spot inside you with each thrust, and the words you’d been too afraid to admit to finally fell from your lips. “I love you, Joel. I love every single piece of the puzzle that you are.”

“And I love you, my angel,” Joel replied, voice gravelly. His hips snapped harder, throwing you both over the cliff. His deep moans were music to your ears as you pulsed around him, drawing every drop of cum from him until he settled heavily half atop you, breathless and sated.

“I can’t wait to do that again,” you blurted, chest heaving, drawing a chuckle from Joel.

“Imma need some time before I can do that again, angel. I’m not a young stud anymore.”

For the first time in many months, you fell asleep in your bed, the vastness of it decreased by Joel’s warm body cuddled up against you.

“You have everything you need, brother?” Tommy asked, helping Joel load up the saddlebags. “Maria tucked a bottle of wine and some glasses in here for you.”

Doublechecking the supplies, Joel nodded. “I think that’s all of it. Thank your wife for me. None of this would be happening right now without you, Maria, and Ellie.”

Tommy patted his older brother on the shoulder. “Being in love has really softened your edges. I actually like this version of you.”

Joel scowled back at Tommy’s teasing for a moment before his face transformed into a glowing, warm smile at the sight of you. Backpack slung over one shoulder, you wore fitted jeans, a tee shirt, and boots with Joel’s green flannel tied around your waist. To Joel, you’d never looked sexier.

“Hi boys,” you greeted, eyes lingering on the older Miller brother as he winked at you. Turning to Tommy, you batted your eye lashes. “Any chance you’ll tell me where he’s taking me?”

Tommy guffawed. “Not a chance in hell, doll. I don’t wanna get my ass kicked by this lug.”

Oh well, you had to try. Shrugging your shoulders, you climbed up into the saddle of a light brown colored horse. “Fine then. You better make sure my greenhouses are still in one piece when we get back.”

“Yeah, yeah. Off you go lovebirds.” Tommy patted your horse’s hind quarter once Joel mounted his horse and led the way through the town gate.

The horses settled into a canter, covering the landscape at a good clip. “It’s a couple hours ride, but I promise you’ll love it, angel.”

“I trust you, Joel,” you replied, lips pressed into a small smile. “I’m just happy to spend time with you.”

The pair of you chatted about anything and everything as you rode, sharing stories about your pre-outbreak past and the struggles faced since. You already knew about Sarah and how hard Joel took the loss of his beloved baby girl, but Joel felt comfortable sharing more stories of her with you. The conversations were interspersed with occasional comfortable silences as you took in the landscape and kept an eye out for trouble. The hours and miles passed in no time and Joel led you to a stop in front of a rusted-over fence. Dismounting the horse, you swiped a hand over a warped sign which indicated the property was a botanical garden in its former life.

“Joel,” you breathed, touched that he thought of taking you to such a place for your first official date. You had no idea it even existed.

“It’s rundown, obviously, but nature has completely taken over in a way that I think you’ll love. There were flowers everywhere when I first discovered the place. This is where I found some of the ones I gave you,” he explained. Pulling a section of fence open, he led you and the horses onto the property before closing it behind you.

“Tommy and I cleared the placed a while ago, but there may still be some cordyceps lingering around. Keep an eye out.” Joel handed you a pistol, checking first to make sure it was locked and loaded, and swung the rifle from his shoulder.

The grounds were quiet except for birdsong and the rustle of leaves in the breeze. Plentiful flora grew in every direction you turned, overtaking dilapidated benches and buildings alike. The grounds were a vibrant sea of colorful flowers and plants, and a mix of floral fragrances nearly overwhelmed your senses. Joel led the horses into a small area cordoned off on three sides, leaving them to graze while the two of you explored.

Joel reached for your hand, entwining your fingers as you walked the grounds. Even overgrown and unkempt as it was, the garden left you in awe. You strolled, recounting information about every flower you recognized. Joel listened, enraptured, as you spoke about their meanings, falling in love with you even more with every brilliant word that came out of your mouth.

He surprised you with a late lunch in a field of wildflowers on the way back to Jackson, gathering a small bouquet in his hands while you ate. Joel tucked a bright yellow flower with long, thin petals into your hair before handing over the bouquet.

“When you’re ready, I’m going to ask you to marry me, my beautiful wildflower.”

fin

[lulublack90]

Prompt 12 - Challenge

@jegulus-microfic June 12, Word count 871

Previous part First part

Regulus watched James dart out of the room, Effie Potter’s voice still shouting down the phone as he shut the door. 

“Mum, Mum, I’m sorry… Yes, I know it was stupid and I promised… Dad, tell her… Mum, please… Fine.” James came bursting back into the living room. He thrust his phone at Regulus and Regulus automatically took it. He stared in horror at the device. Slowly, he put it to his ear. 

“Hello?” His voice was crackly, so he cleared it as best he could. 

“Oh Regulus, darling is that you?” Effie asked sweetly. 

“Yes, Mrs Potter,” He answered.

“Now, don’t you start that, it’s Effie or when you’re ready, mum. If you call me Mrs Potter, again, Regulus, we’re going to fall out.”

“Sorry Mrs Pot—Effie,” His brain was freezing over. He couldn’t think properly. 

“Is my James behaving himself?”

“Yes, Effie.”

“Good. Now, do you think your brother and Remus, of course, would like to join us for dinner tomorrow evening?” Regulus felt his stomach sink. She wanted to ask his brother? Second best yet again. 

“Sirius, James’s mum wants to know if you and Remus want to go over to theirs tomorrow for dinner?” Even to him, his voice sounded hurt. Sirius jumped up and grabbed the phone from Regulus’s hand. 

“Effie, it’s Sirius… Yes, we’d love to… Oh, anything, put it on a plate, and we’ll eat it…” Regulus blocked out his brother’s voice. James was hovering over Sirius, trying to get his phone back, and Remus was laughing at whatever Sirius had said. They all seemed so happy. Regulus got up and left the room. No one stopped him. 

He disappeared through the back door, into the garden. The house had one of those secret gardens, where the front of the house looked like it should only have a concrete yard area out the back, but in reality, it had an expansive garden.  

He opened the ancient greenhouse. It was huge, all metal and glass. The roof had little spiked spires on top that Regulus had always admired. He carefully shut the door and observed the dormant plants. There was nothing for him to do really, not until the spring. That was when the real challenge started; keeping on top of seed trays, watering, and pruning. It was a full-time job in itself with the amount of plants Regulus had and kept adding to his collection. He watered a few of the pots that were looking dry. He looked up as the hinges creaked as someone opened the door. 

James stood there looking confused.

“Hey, love, where’d you go?” He didn’t move towards Regulus and let him get on with what he was doing. Regulus was glad of this as he could feel the tears coming, and he didn’t want to cry in front of James, not now. 

“My plants needed water.” He said, his voice thankfully not betraying him. 

“You just disappeared.” James pushed. Regulus had no idea what to say, so he opened the metal cabinet that held his tools and seeds for next year and other bits and bobs that he didn’t want lying around. He busied himself making a list of the seeds he had and what he needed. He then checked that he had enough seed trays. “Regulus, what happened? Did my mum say something to upset you?” Regulus felt his jaw quiver, and he clamped down, trying to stop it. “Reg?” James’s voice was so quiet and scared for him that Regulus couldn’t hold the tears back any more. They slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the dusty stone slabs beneath his feet.

“She invited Sirius to dinner,” He whispered, any louder and his voice would get stuck on the words. 

“Yeah, so?” James said, not seeing the problem. Regulus spun around and snapped at James.

“She invited him and not me. How do you think that makes me feel? That my own boyfriend’s mother would rather have my brother over for dinner before she invites me? Always second choice.” His voice broke as his heart bled. James burst into laughter. 

“No, no, sorry,” James held up his hands when Regulus glared at him. “No, she was asking if Sirius and Remus would like to have dinner with us. Us, as in mum, dad, me and you. You were always going to be there, love.” James looked sheepish. “I was meant to ask you and I forgot,” Regulus took a deep breath, trying to settle his nerves. He’d been invited. Sirius was just an afterthought. Effie hadn’t asked him because he was already supposed to know he was coming. 

“Forgetting important things seems to be a recurring problem for you, doesn’t it?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest and cocking an eyebrow at James. James strode forward and wrapped his arms around Regulus, pulling him in close and holding him tight. 

“That’s why I need you, love. Mum asked for your number, so you can order me around. Hope that’s okay.” Regulus leaned back, so he could see James’s face. 

“Hmmm, I think I could get on board with that.” James grinned down at him and caught his lips with his own, kissing him deeply. 

Next part

[rowretro]

𝕆𝕙 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF DISMEMBERRING

✧taglist✧:  @nikisdubblchococake @enhypensccstarlight @strawbsj @nikipedia07 

✧CHAPTER 5✧

About a week past, the two enemies had full fledged fights downstairs, but didn’t scream or shout so much due to there being a baby in the house. No one suspected a thing as the 2 came to school as per usual, knowing that the baby is safe with the maid. However, Yunjin did find out about their baby secret, and decided to support y/n’s choice, seeing how genuine the girl was. 

Y/n smiled as she rocked the little baby, Yunjin helping her put some shopping in the car’s boot. “Y/n? Yunjin- I- aww who’s this little cutie~” Jake sang as he poked the baby’s cheek, Riki stood right behind Jake, rolling his eyes when he saw y/n “Uh me and Yunjin had a baby together-” y/n said as Yunjin frowned, turning to face her .

“Gurl. I’m way too old to date you- let alone have a baby with you” Yunjin pointed out. “Ha… haha! You believed it for a sec- nah I’m just watching over this little one for a relative” y/n said as Jake understandingly nodded. “Hyung. I don’t want to be here.” Riki said as Jake rolled his eyes “Kay ima drag him away before another fight starts” Jake said walking away with the taller male.

Sighing, y/n gently placed the 5 month old in her carrycot, making sure it was securely strapped to the car seat. Yunjin started driving as y/n sat in the back with the baby. “Y/n… what would you do if the baby’s an orphan?...” Yunjin asked as the girl frowned. “I’ll adopt it.” she simply said as Yunjin glanced up at the mirror, “Huh- why not leave her at an orphanage with other kids?” she asked as the girl played with the baby’s hands.

“I don’t want to… She deserves to have at least someone in her life who she can run to and count on knowing that the person whom she trusts doesn't get paid to be a Guardian… plus the luckiest kids there do end up getting adopted. Didn’t I?” y/n asked as she looked in the mirror, Yunjin’s view now on the road ahead. “Well you didn’t exactly get the best parents… If anything you’re lucky Sunoo’s your brother.” She pointed out as the girl smiled. 

“But this baby girl won’t have to worry about landing in a bad family… she has me… I’ll remind her she’s always beautiful, and I won’t let a single soul hurt her” y/n said with a smile as she stared down at the baby. “I’d be more like a best friend than a mother” she added as the baby cooed, gripping onto her finger, softly. Yunjin didn’t bother trying to reason with the girl, she heaved a sigh and continued driving them home.

“So Sunoo’s paying you to babysit y/n? Why not Jay?” Jake asked as Riki groaned “Stop asking so many questions… I just need to stay out of my house and out of dad’s sight for a while, okay?” Riki said, hearing this, Jake didn’t bother asking any follow up questions. “Damn she has a fancy ass greenhouse? How’d she afford that?” Jake asked, as he stared outside, into the garden. “Assuming Sunoo bought it- there’s a shit ton of butterflies inside-” Riki said as he went to the fridge and grabbed himself a beer can. 

“Time away from your dad and free alcohol, no wonder you wanted to stick around in this place.” Jake said as Riki snickered, throwing the male a can. “The best stuff is in her bedroom-” Riki said with a smirk as Jake gave him a rather horrified look “Not that you dirty minded shit. She has weed-” Riki said as Jake rolled his eyes “Anyways, the girls are on their way back, you best get going. I’ll see you at the race track tonight, yeah?” Riki said as Jake got up to leave. “I still don’t think you should be racing…” Jake trailed off, concern somewhat evident in his voice.

Not too long later, y/n arrived with the baby, the tiny little girl, safely in her arms, as she walked around the room, rocking her gently. Riki’s eyes fixed on the 2 girls. “I got a call from the police regarding the baby… they found her mom” Riki said as y/n turned to him “They did? Where is she? Is she-” “They found her body… someone murdered her.” Riki explained, cutting of y/n’s questions. “Oh… did they find her father?” she asked, hugging the baby closer to herself “He’s their suspect… they found his DNA on the butchers knife used to chop up her limbs… and he fled the country…” Riki added as the girl stared in horror.

“Yeah… you might have to take her to the orphanage after all” Riki simply said as he got up, stretching. “No. I’m keeping her…” y/n said as Riki frowned “You’re seventeen y/n. Be for real.” Riki said as the girl shrugged “I mean I took good care of her all this time didn’t I?” she asked as Riki scoffed “No- you had me to help you out, when I leave, you will end up hurting the poor thing.” Riki simply said as the girl ignored him. “Since when have I ever listened to you Nishimura?...” she simply asked, the baby now asleep on her chest. 

“Fuck you’re so annoying Kim y/n… can’t believe I have to be stuck under the same roof as you.” Riki mumbled, as he glared at the girl. Heck he wondered why he even bothered to help her all this time, he hates her, he hates her with pure passion. He really does… does he?....

✧𝕆𝕙 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪✧

[myveryownfanfiction]

Rickmas day 21!

prompt: Snowball Madness

Warnings: marauders being assholes, swearing

AN: continuation from day 20

Professor Flitwick was able to get the trees fixed by breakfast the next day. Based off the little display of madness from the marauders, Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn gave me permission to enter the Slytherin common room. I slept on the couch, Severus providing me with blanket and pillows I needed.

“Morning.” Severus emerged from the boys dormitory, scratching the back of his head. I looked over at him and smiled at the sleepy look on his face.

“morning. I got us breakfast.” I motioned to the small spread laid out on the table in front of the fireplace. “Thank Merlin the house elves like us.” I chuckled as Severus helped himself to some toast. “They also told me something.” Severus looked up at me with toast in his mouth.

“The marauders got more detention?” He asked, the hint of a smile on his face.

“Well yeah but that’s not a surprise.” I reached over and grabbed a croissant. “It snowed last night Severus.” He smiled at me and reached over for something to drink.

“We’re going out?” I nodded. “Do you need to get into Gryffindor Tower for your winter clothes?”

“I already owled McGonagall. She should be sending Slughorn by with my stuff.” Severus nodded and we ate while we made plans about what we were going to do once we got outside. The portrait opened and slughorn entered.

“Ah! Mx. (Y/L/N)! Here are the things Professor McGonagall collected for you.” I took the bag from his outstretched hand.

“Thank you professor!” I gave him a big smile before turning to look at Severus.

“If you need anything else, just ask myself or your head of house.” I nodded as he made his exit.

“I’m going to get ready and then let’s go!” I exclaimed and ran off to the bathrooms to change. Severus chuckled as he went up to his dormitory. Once I had firmly secured my hat and pulled on my gloves, I made sure my wand was tucked away before joining Severus in the common room. “Ready?”

“Ready.” His cheeks were red as he took my outstretched hand. We made our way out of the castle onto the grounds. Laughing, I dropped his hand and ran off into the snow. Severus stood smiling at me for a bit before joining me. “How about a snowball fight?” I looked around us.

“Just us two?” He nodded. “Alright.” I shrugged and bent down to start making snowballs. We laughed as we got into it and didn’t notice the small group that had emerged from the castle. Soon we were pelted with enchanted snowballs. “Oi!” I cried out as I took notice of the marauders.

“Scared of a little snow (Y/L/N)?” James yelled.

“Seemed like you were having fun with it with Snivillus there. What is it about our snowballs?” Sirius joined in. I pulled out my wand and cast the spell. Snowballs flew to the group and started to pelt them. Severus took one look at my face and decided to cast the spell as well. Before long, it was hard to tell where the snowballs were coming from. Enemy fire could have been friendly fire for all we knew.

“What is going on here?” Professor Sprout cried as she made her way out of greenhouse 3. Severus and I froze as we were hit with another wave. Sirius cast the spell again without looking and pounded Professor Sprout. She fell to the ground and Severus rushed by my side to help her up.

“I’m sorry Professor. Severus and were having a snowball fight and they came out and started using the enchanted snowball spell. Things got out of hand.” Professor sprout nodded at the two of us before storming over to the marauders.

“I’ve heard their side. What about yours?” She was fuming. Severus inched closer to me and I grabbed his hand.

“We just wanted to join their snowball fight.” Remus said, putting on the innocent act for the professor.

“And you thought enchanted snowballs was the way to do that?” The four nodded. “Detention. All four of you. I’ll be speaking with Professor McGonagall about adding onto the detention you already have.” She raised an eyebrow at each of them in turn, waiting to see if they’d argue. “Now I do believe you have a detention with professor Flitwick starting soon?” They nodded as they took off, not keen on facing the Hufflepuffs wrath.

“Thank you professor.” Severus said as she started back towards the greenhouse.

“You’re more than welcome Mr. Snape.” She waved at us as she went back inside.

“Come on. Let’s go warm up.” I wrapped my arms around Severus’ as we started walking inside. “Im sure the elves will have some hot chocolate ready.” Severus laughed as he used his wand to dry our clothes as we entered the castle.

“With extra marshmallows?” I nodded.

“Let’s hoard them all.” Severus nodded and we plotted our revenge on the marauders.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

@taznovembercelebration - Dome

The Starblaster had taken a lot of beatings in the past but the last cycle, Davenport thought, might have been the final straw. There were only so many times they could repair and fix up the ship before it inevitably came apart. For the past year, the Starblaster had taken hits from all directions- the weather, enemies, Magnus flooding the bathroom yet again- and if he had a choice, he would have put the ship into retirement.

But that wasn't exactly an option considering, y'know, the ship was the only thing keeping them alive. Or the bond engine? They still weren't too sure what exactly was bringing them back every year. The most Barry and Lup could science out of it was "that's just a thing that happens now, I guess!"

Still, the Starblaster was shaky. Davenport landed as soon as he could when they entered into this new cycle, number fifty-four. They were in a grassland that spread out for miles in each direction. First things first, of course, Barry and Merle did their yearly check to see if their location was safe. And then, Davenport got to work right away.

Or tried to, at least.

"We're not adding another dome," Davenport said, scrubbing off the half circle Lucretia had drawn onto the top of the ship. The base would stay pretty much the same but Davenport was at least going to try to make the inside more space efficient. It had been fine for a two-month trip, but over fifty years? They needed so much more room than they had.

For her part, Lucretia drew back and didn't say anything. That didn't mean she wasn't giving him her Look. The "do you even care about the aesthetics of your creation" look. Yes, Lucretia, he did care. But if he was going to be running from the Hunger for another fifty years, adding a second glass dome on top of their ship would not be helpful. The one for Merle's greenhouse was damaged nearly every cycle and Davenport would just take it off if that suggestion hadn't offended Merle so much.

"I don't know," Lup said, leaning over his design. "I feel like we could use another dome."

"No," Davenport said.

"A small one," Lucretia said.

"A tiny one," Lup said. "So tiny. You won't even notice it's there."

"And what is it there for?" Davenport asked, tapping his pencil against the table.

"To look rad as hell," Lup said, at the same time Lucretia said,

"Fisher."

Davenport took a deep breath.

"One," he said. "Would it look rad as hell? No doubt." Lup opened her mouth. "But-" Lup shut her mouth. "It would just be adding another weak point for the Hunger to get in through. Do you want to spend every reset cleaning up more glass, Lup?"

"...No," Lup said.

"And for Fisher?" Davenport asked, turning towards Lucretia. "What- I mean, what would they do with it? It's a dome. They have no purpose for a dome, unless you know something I don't."

"I'm sure I know lots of things you don't," Lucretia said. Lup sniggered from behind him. "But, uhm, no, they wouldn't really use it for anything, it's just for fun. Like getting a dog house."

"They have a tank," Davenport said. "That they barely use."

"That's because it's in my room and not Magnus's," Lucretia said. "I can't help that Fisher plays favorites, Captain."

"No domes," Davenport said. "That's final. I'm asking you want we need, not what our floating pet jellyfish might enjoy."

Lucretia was silent for a moment. Lup was leaning back on the back two legs of her chair, her feet propped up on the table. Davenport's design was fine. It was practical, it was efficient, and it wouldn't change too much of what they already had. If asking Lup and Lucretia was going like this, Davenport was afraid of what might happen if he asked Taako, or, god forbid, if he asked Magnus.

"LED lights," Lucretia said finally. "On the bottom. For, uh, for aesthetics. Please."

"Ohhh," Lup said, slamming the chair back to all fours. "Fuck yes. Dav, we gotta get some LEDs."

"See, that's a good suggestion," Davenport said, sketching that down on the bottom of the ship. "That's what I wanted to hear."

"In the shape of a dome," Lup said, spreading her hands as if she were imagining it. "Picture this: We try to land. All we have to do is look down and match the circle of LED's with the gap we conveniently carved into our parking spot so the dome won't break-"

"No," Davenport said. "No, uh, you've made it worse again, actually."

[lofi-bunni]

More SMT+!Yuu. The “default demons”

Last one:

Oof, this is a long one.

Just some points about the “default demons” and their personalities, Yuu has. As well as their dynamics with Yuu. Also some interactions with NRC.

Jack Frost: The first favorite child. Yuu carries them around like a plush. When it isn’t being carried around cutely, it’s marching behind Yuu like a child playing soldier. They are honestly like a child, they jump around curoius about everything and try to grab things. He-ho-ing their way into trouble. NRC thinks Jack Frost is just a bumbling idiot pet…until it freezes a room completely solid. Crouching moron hidden badass vibes. No wonder Yuu was so lax with it. Whispers curious questions into Yuu’s mind…as well as the occasional He-Ho!

Black Frost: The meaner spoiled older brother. They don’t come out much but they are definitely there for the boss fights. They’re a big bully and act as a type of social trump card for Yuu and the rest. NRC npc’s bullying (or at least trying to bully) Yuu? Here comes the giant overblot monster thing! Black Frost most definitely tries to make Yuu do more chaotic “petty bully” things

Alice: Die For Me! Would be so OP in twst. Blot would be akin to the dark attribute so everyone is weak to it. Meaning Yuu can basically insta kill almost everyone, except for the overblots. Plus imagine her demeanor around Heartslabyul and the unbirthday parties. She would creepily show up around the school sitting on things swinging her legs whispering about death. In unbirthday parties she would hang out in her own corner. She would do the “mount” animation thing where she holds holds Yuu’s hand and skips around dragging Yuu behind her. Alice is the second spoiled brat and gets let off the hook by Yuu a lot. Despite the gang being increasingly worried about Alice’s umm eccentricities. Alice whispers darker thoughts into Yuu’s mind.

Idun: A cutesy idol who is peppy and free spirited. They aren’t well fit into NRC. She is the healer of the party and is generally what makes Yuu so carefree in this world. They can always rely on their healer for a patch up! Idun tries to encourage safe fun and tries to get Yuu to participate more in VDC. NRC students trying to take advantage of her kindness though will get a sassy tsundere attitude and maybe a slap (kinda like Eliza honestly..)

Mephisto: Mephisto is a curious one among Yuu’s demons. They seems less like a pet or servant and more like a equal force…a partner in crime. They talk to each other the same way a house warden and vice house warden would. Mephisto goes around the campus and sneaks around. He’s like Yuu’s spy. And they actually look around for ways back to Yuu’s world. Basically a second brains to the operation, the main source of “smart” companionship Yuu has. They whisper advice into Yuu’s mind about observations they might have missed.

Yoshitsune: The calm one of the group. A little honorable to a fault so.. sarcasm kinda flies over their head. They are a powerhouse in the group so their quite confident in their skills adding onto Yuu’s laxness in TW. They do the whole “I’m so gracious” act with their skills and service so when Crowley starts doing it they immediately see a rival and end up giving him a side eye for the rest of their time there. They confidently tell Yuu not to worry as their strength will stop any troubles. Hassoubu Tobi is just as powerful here than Yuu’s world.

Titania: Mother vibes. Kinda stuck up. She tries to romanticize the atmosphere. Is prissy about Ramshackle, tries to clean around. The Fairy Gala is a sore spot for her since she’s obviously the REAL queen of faeries. Was 100% gonna just light that greenhouse up and had to be stopped. Kinda judges Malleus at first but warms up to him. Puts people to sleep when Yuu wants to sneak around. She whispers worries and cutesy delusions into Yuu’s mind.

Metatron: An absolute lawful-good. Just a Riddle Sebek combined. Sings Yuu’s praises the same way Sebek does to Malleus. Yuu just kinda smiles. Maybe their bashful, maybe their annoyed, maybe their even happy. Doesn’t matter; it’s a blank smile of hidden insanity. But metatrons an absolute powerhouse so… They want to smite down anyone who messes with Yuu. They try to give advice to Yuu but in a complete respectful way trying hard not to ‘criticize’ them or imply they don’t know something.

Trumpeter: A quiet creepy one. Whenever an overblot occurs it’s trumpet could be heard from the other side of campus. Its quiet demeanor spells it as a harbinger of doom.

Night Raven Collage was a odd place. With so many magical prodigy’s in one place NRC was bound for trouble. But the image of a pale little girl in a blue dress with a deathly look in her eyes skipping down the hallway dragging a unimpressed student behind them was certainly an odd sight. The little girls aura was even more of a mystery. It’s felt of death and blot, as if all of humanities ugly was morphed into a human form. It looked human but was obviously not. The unimpressed student behind the girl looked neutral, almost exasperated at the antics of the skipping death of front of them. They made their way towards the lunch room, the sea of students in their path parting in the wake of such a creature. What an odd sight. Maybe someone should snap a photo…

People had attempted to bully the “magicless” student before. The first time the prefect just walked past them, not even sparring a glance…the second time.

The prefect looked down at the cowering students. Their form was shadowed by the beast behind them. Jack Frost laughed in their arms practically trying to jump out of them. Behind Yuu was something that looked awfully similar to the snowman except it was jet black with purple accessories. It’s red eyes shone as it’s body blocked out the sun behind it, but even shadowed it’s growing grin was visible to the students it towered over. The students to their credit thought quick and launched fire attacks at it thinking it would be weak to them like the Jack Frost Yuu was always carrying around. But the giant creature didn’t even flinch at each attack opting to instead laugh out a distorted sound. This felt of an overblot. Negative emotions swirling to the point of physical form. All controlled by a seemingly “magicless” student. The students cowered below the three figures as death quickly approached. But just as it materialized it was gone. All they saw when lowering their shaking arms was the shoes of the prefect walking past them, once again not even sparring them a glance.

Grim wasn’t expecting extra company when he decided to join the prefect in ramshackle. Turns out ghosts are less scary when put next to magical beings and monsters of epic proportion. Grim got used to most of them, he and Black Frost got along while Jack Frost was considered his “second henchmen” ; it looked more like two 6 year olds playing follow the leader in the backyard. Grim was unnerved by Alice and annoyed by Metatron. But over time he got used to his new , “family”. If any of them were to cross the line he could just tell Yuu and all would be forgiven…to an extent. But one sleepless night when he woke to Yuu gone from the rickety bed he met a new demon he hadn’t seen before. Yuu was capable of pulling out new demons from the crevices of their subconscious or at least that’s what Yuu told Grim. But, as displayed during the most recent fight, it was often flashy and draining for the Prefect. They usually stuck with their current team, all with their own quirks and traits. Grim didn’t see the Prefect any more tired than they were on a normal basis, actually this might have been the most “energetic” he’d seen Yuu outside of battle. In front of Yuu stood a tall pale man. His features were spindly and outfit reminiscent of jesters and clowns. But his dark hair that seemed to drape over his face and devilish eyes seemed to suggest much higher regality than a mere clown. He had his arms outstretched and was talking to Yuu in what seemed like a dramatic and important conversation. Yuu was leaning against the wall, posture suggesting lax and comfort. Unlike with their other servants which they had usually an air of authority around, this seemed like a meeting between two co-workers. Yuu, despite the lax disposition, had their eyes focused on the devilish man before them. They looked at him intently while he spoke and nodded along, even occasionally asking questions for which the man put his hand up to his chin and his eyes turned to slits, thinking carefully. Grim couldn’t hear their conservation in full not for lack of trying, but the conversation felt as if it were muffled ; as if Grim was hearing it vaguely through a wall despite being a few feet away from them. But he did manage to catch the name of the new demon. “Thank you for your insight and hard work, I’ll call for you if I need more help…Mephisto.” Then the demon gave a bow and slunk back into the shadows leaving no trace behind.

:Yo does anyone know who the hell the magicless student is??

:The one with the monsters? Their names Yuu I think.

:Yeah, what’s ups with them?

:No idea.

: Dude I just watched them like run a million laps and not break a sweat

: hUh

: Yea, Coach Vargus is shaking rn

: You guys should have seen them at the bean fest!

: They shot like they used a gun before it was crazy. Even did this backflip and started rolling and stuff-super military vibes

: damn…why are they in NRC again???

: they don’t even use a magestone, don’t even think they have the one

: Yeah, they summon like monsters right? How do they do that without overblotting?

: Idk man

: No idea but the monsters remind me of that one overblot so maybe that’s why they don’t??

: who knows man.

: I know I’m late and should go to sleep but I wanna tell you all. A couple weeks ago I saw the prefect get hit with a big fireball like, straight to the face. They didn’t even notice like. Hehwbhsjwhs

: Go to sleep!! Also yeah that’s kinda weird, maybe a protection spell or a potion???

: No! That’s not the weird part, the fireball bounced off them and hit the guy who threw it!!!!!

: like reflect in *insert Pokémon knockoff* ?????

: YEAH!

: ALL OF YOU ITS 3:00 A.M GO TO SLEEP!!

: OK MOMmmmmmmm

[cardinaldante]

Greetings siblings of the church! Today, you will be getting two post! One this morning, and the other late after the midnight mass to tell you what's all going on!

So, other than that, this morning was a little weird. I was woken up by Phantom, who wasn't in his mask. He seemed to have been crying- his eyes were red and puffy and he looked upset. I asked what happened- and he told me that a brother had ripped his helmet off and destroyed it. Thankfully, the helmet wasn't Aethers(The quintessential ghoul that was Papa Copia's personal ghoul), but it still ment he was out of a helmet for now. I took his hand and let him wear one of my cardinal hats to make him feel better, and to cover his horns(Yes, siblings, they have horns) and off of we went. He kept his tail wrapped around my arm, which I didn't really mind. It felt comforting.

We finally found the brother, and he was harrasing another ghoul- a smaller ghoulette(Atleast, I'm pretty sure they're a girl, as they have boobs) whose body language was giving off wildly uncomfortable energy. The brother didn't even want to talk to me at first, saying that I 'didnt understand anything' and I should just 'fuck off'. It started a large argument that only ended when Papa Terzo- accompanied by a very tall looking ghoul that most likely was Omega- came around the corner. He stopped the argument, and asked me first what happened.

I explained everything that had happened- from Phantom's helmet to us coming up to the brother harrasing the ghoulette, and Omega growled. Like, actually growled. It terrified me- I felt like I wanted to flee from the hallway. Papa Terzo didn't seem any sort of worried, but Phantom moved closer to me, and wrapped his tail around my arm, while the ghoulette grabbed my shirt and squeezed herself as close to me as possible. It made me a little more calm, but I still felt terrified. Less running away though.

The brother still didnt seem phased- and told Papa Terzo that I was lying, and that since I was a kid, I needed to 'mind my own business'. I could almost see Papa Terzo's eyes change instantly the moment the brother said that. Once the brother was done, Papa Terzo stepped over, clasped him on the shoulder, and said,

"Congratulations, you've made your way onto the Ritual List."

Siblings, I'd never, EVER seen a person get so pale so fast. The brother apologized profusely to me before bolting away from us. It also... Confused me. Up until a few days ago, siblings, I was the one doing the ritual things- budgeting, adding names that Cardinal Mickelson gave to me, and taking the ghouls off of their duties ritual day/night, and the day after ritual- so I didn't understand why the brother was so scared. I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could, Papa Terzo asked if I was ready for Midnight mass tonight.

I regretfuly told him that I'd lost my rosary, but after I was done helping the ghoulette- Omega interjected and told me her name was Aurora, the other new ghoul- and Phantom, I was going to go back and grab it where I thought I left it. That led to me explaining Ifrit- and the greenhouse to Papa Terzo, and Omega looked... Angry. Or atleast, that's what he was giving off. He still had on a helmet, so I couldn't see his face, but he felt angry. He told me that i was forbidden from ever going back to the green house, and that he would get my rosary himself. Ghouls don't usually give out orders(They're technically just servants from the dark one), but Omega sounded serious, and he was very scary. Before I could say anything, he dissapeared. Like, infront of my eyes, siblings. I did not know ghouls could just... Dissapear.

Papa Terzo didn't seem as tense as Omega had, and gently agreed with Omega, telling me that I was no longer allowed by the old green house. I wanted to complain, but Papa Terzo's word- matter of fact- all the Papa's words are law. Omega returned just a little bit later and handed me back my rosary. Some of the beads were a bit scorched, like something had tried to burn the rosary. I thanked him, and he told me again to stay away from the greenhouse.

I told him I would, and we parted ways after that, me and Phantom- along with our newest member, Aurora- heading off to the library now so I could research some things for Midnight mass, since I now had my rosary. I hesitantly asked both of the ghouls with me if Omega was always that scary, and Aurora was the one that replied. She told me he was most likely being protective of Phantom, since Phantom had been following me around for the past few days, and didn't want Phantom to get hurt if I did go to the greenhouse. Putting a blanket ban on me made his job easier to keep his brother safe.

I didn't like it, but it wasn't like I was going to argue with Omega. Or Papa. I asked Aurora if she wanted to stay while I went through some of the boring books in the library, and she told me she didn't have anything to do, would rather not be in the ghouls den cause Sodo was in rut(Whatever the hell that ment??) And wasnt going to be bored and she'd wanted to come to the library anyways.

Maybe I'll check up on what the hell rut means while I'm at the library. Phantom and now Aurora has said it, and I have no clue what the hell it means, siblings.

[youwantgnomes]

Repost of Instrumentality. Added "keep reading." Let's fucking go

“It wasn’t here when I clocked in. I don’t even think it was here when I left for lunch,” Jake mutters, stroking his chin and staring at the red, sinewy root.

Its rotten odor makes my eyes water, clashing with the fragrance of the Kentucky coffee trees behind me and the Yoshino cherry trees surrounding it. I stare at it with him. Either I didn’t look hard enough when I checked on each Tree Hub before I left for lunch, or this thing appeared less than an hour ago. Something about it makes me want to run screaming. 

“We should get rid of it,” I tell him. “It might be dangerous.” 

Jake approaches the mystery plant and reaches out to touch it. 

“Don’t touch it!” I snap. 

Jake shows me his hands. “What’s the big deal? You’re usually so quiet, and now you’re barking orders?”

“I’m not ‘barking orders,’ that’s Ahmed’s job. I just have a bad feeling about this…” I gesture vaguely at the root. “...thing.”

Jake waves me off and braces himself to pry like it’s a weed. 

Which means he’s touching it. 

“Jake!” I rebuke. “At least wear gloves!” 

“Jesus, dude, it’s not that big‘a deal. It can’t be that dangerous.” 

“Touch that thing for one more second and I’m pulling you off myself.” 

Jake heaves a long, I-deal-with-so-much-shit sigh and lets go. “Alright, muscle man. Happy now?”

“Yes, I am. Thanks for asking.” I jab a thumb toward the door behind me. “I’ll get the gloves and the shovel.”

Jake nods. “I’ll tell Ahmed about it, see if he knows anything.” 

I nod back and head out the door behind me.

I have to walk through the main building, past Flower House 2’s entrance, and through Flower House 1, the hottest greenhouse in the building, to get to the even hotter yard closet. Depending on which Hub I’m working in (the four Hubs form a diamond), some days it’s a short walk and other days it’s a journey to Mordor. 

I’m almost to the closet when I spot a tiny glimpse of crimson. 

I rub my eyes three times, but it doesn’t go away. 

A little red root is tucked in between some amaranthuses, hidden in plain sight and strikingly similar to the root in Hub 1 except smaller. It seems sinewy, just like the other one. Eugh. 

So not only is this stuff potentially dangerous, but it also spreads fast.

I grab the shovel and gloves from the supply closet, making a mental note to tell Ahmed about it. 

I’m walking through the main building when a man screams. The sound is gone as fast as it came. 

I drop the shovel and bolt toward the source of the noise—Hub 1. Whatever just happened, it has to be this red shit. I knew I had a bad feeling about it. 

I burst into Hub 1.

Jake is strangling our boss. 

Blood leaks from Jake’s eyes and down his cheeks. Reddened veins bulge in his forehead, ready to burst. His hands are tinged red like he spent the day picking berries, his fingernails sharp as razors. Ahmed coughs and gags, struggling and prying uselessly at Jake’s now-veiny hands. 

My body is moving before I tell it to. I ram my fist into Jake’s jaw as hard as I can, then his side. Jake’s head snaps to the side and he falls like a bag of bricks. Most importantly, he lets go of Ahmed. (I’ve boxed with Jake and know his toned muscles are more for the looks than actual strength.) 

Ahmed gasps and tumbles onto his knees, but Jake isn’t done with him yet. He springs up and pounces for him, but I’m prepared this time. I catch him by his waist and yank him away from Ahmed, then shove him on the ground again.

“Matteo—” Ahmed rasps. 

“Get out of here!” I bark.

He springs up again and charges me. I bend my knees without thinking, exhale, and punch him in the stomach again. It doesn’t hurt or even annoy him but it pushes him back. I breathe in. He lifts his hand to swipe; I manage to lean back right on time so he only rips my work shirt’s collar. I use my full weight to counterpunch him in the throat. He flinches and stumbles back, gurgling and growling more out of anger than pain. 

I sneak a glance behind me. 

Ahmed is gone, thank God. 

Jake uses the opportunity to charge me again. He knocks me onto my back, the hard ground clattering against my spine, and pins my wrists to the ground. He snarls and slobbers like a rabid dog. 

I struggle and thrash against his grip, but he has the strength of a madman. He drools and drools and drools. It drips on my shirt, on the grass around me, and even on his own hands. His wild eyes are so bloodshot that the whites of his eyes aren’t even white anymore. 

I struggle harder, kicking at him the best I can, but the bastard is too strong. I’m pretty sure I make some weird noises, too. 

Jake opens his dripping mouth to the point where his jaw might unhinge. 

My balls shoot to my stomach. 

He lunges down. 

I squeeze my eyes shut. 

Something whacks, and then Jake isn’t pinning me down anymore. He flies off of me, and I gasp like I’d been choked instead of Ahmed. He lands face-down, this time with a crater in his skull. 

Speak of the devil, Ahmed stands above me, breathing hard and holding the shovel I’d stupidly dropped. 

“Are you alright?” he demands. 

My coworker almost tore out my throat. I was almost mutilated right in front of my boss. Holy God. 

He kneels in front of me and grabs my shoulder. “Matteo, answer me.” 

My brain snaps back on. “Yes. He didn’t draw blood.” 

Ahmed’s grip and shoulders relax. “Good.”

It’s my turn to grab his shoulders. “What about you? I mean, shit, he could’ve killed you.” 

“A little woozy, but in one piece.”

I spot bruises forming on his throat and want to give Jake another whack with the shovel, even though he’s seen enough of that thing. 

I don’t, because I know it wasn’t really him, but I still want to.

“What about the others?” Ahmed asks. 

…

He has a point. 

Nobody came during our scuffle with Jake. Not even Ruby, who checks on the Yoshinos every five minutes. 

“I’ll make sure they’re okay,” Ahmed says. “You pull the fire alarm. We’ll explain when everyone’s outside.” 

He jogs into the main building. I’m about to follow him out when Jake’s left eye twitches. 

I freeze. 

Jake gasps like he’d been underwater for too long and rolls onto his side, coughing.

I’m then brandishing the shovel—I’m not sure when I picked it up, I’m just hoping it looks more intimidating than I feel. 

But I don’t even need to look scary. He doesn’t spring up and charge me. He stands up slowly like he has arthritis. Instead of the feral look he’d had in his eyes when we’d fought him off, he looks…confused. Disoriented. 

The thing wearing Jake’s skin looks around, but for what I have no idea. 

His eyes focus. They meet mine, his gaze clear. 

He’s not something pretending to be Jake anymore. 

He’s Jake. 

“Matteo?” he croaks. I can’t help recoiling hearing my name. “What’s—” 

His body spasms. Blood drains from his face, turning the angry red veins on his forehead a sickly pink. 

His body jerks forward again, hard enough to make him stagger. 

A red root erupts from Jake’s mouth, choking him. He gags and reaches for the root, squeezing it like a baby with a bottle. 

More roots rip open his chest, splitting his ribs and tearing his skin. Blood pours through Jake’s wound, dripping on the ground and painting the grass red. Jake moans, the sound muffled by the root, and presses his shaking hands to the new garden in his chest. 

That isn’t even the worst part. 

The worst part is the spores. 

They float out of Jake’s chest and linger in the air like pollen. 

I drop the shovel and back away from the cloud. Jake faceplants, wicking some of the spores with him as the air around him moves. When they touch the ground, the grass turns a decaying black. 

I slam through Hub 1, slam the door shut, and sprint toward Flower House 1.

To my surprise, I run into Ahmed. 

He grabs my wrist and pulls me through the front doors. 

When we burst through the doors, Ahmed is breathing too hard. 

He lets go of my wrist and turns to me. 

“Where were you?!” he demands. “I was so worried when I couldn’t find you in Flower House 1, I thought they got you!” 

“Jake got back up! He twitched and then he started breathing again and then he got up and exploded with…wait, wait, wait. Thought they got me?”

Ahmed’s face scrunches just a little. “Everyone was in Flower House 2. Even George, when he should’ve been mopping the main building. I…I think they saw the mess in the Hubs and Flower House 2 and went to investigate and…” He shakes his head. 

“‘Mess?’”  

Ahmed gestures to the Hubs. “That.”

The Hubs are chock-full of roots so dense I can’t see a foot inside, maybe a foot and a half. Clouds of spores float through the hellish forests, demanding to be let out. 

My knees threaten to buckle. When did…? How…how did I not see any of this?

“Flower House 2 was the same,” Ahmed mutters. 

I feel sick to my stomach. “They all…?”

Tears well in Ahmed’s eyes as he nods. “They’re all sick. They—” His voice hitches. “They were tearing each other apart.”

I stumble to a wheel stop and plop down. He sits next to me and buries his face in his hands. 

The Hubs are still unrecognizable. What did I expect to see when I looked at them again?

“I was too late,” Ahmed mumbles. “I couldn’t save any of them.” 

Oh, no. He’s not going down that hole, not if I can help it. 

I look over at him. “You’re right. You were too late and you couldn’t save any of them.” 

Ahmed reels like he’s been slapped. 

I continue. “But they were fucked before you even knew what was happening.”

Ahmed shakes his head again. “I—I should’ve been there with them. I should’ve…they…and I…oh, what kind of boss bludgeons his employee with a shovel?”

I want to slap him hard. Instead, I take his shoulder. “Ahmed, the first thing you did after making sure I was okay was to go after the others. So, yeah, maybe you were too late, but you did everything you could. Maybe you did hit Jake with a shovel, but I’d be dead right now if you hadn’t.” 

Ahmed swallows and presses his lips together. I let go of him.

“Okay,” he croaks. Then, his eyes soften and meet mine. “Thank you, Matteo. Really.”

“I should be thanking y—” 

Someone bursts through the front doors. 

For a heartstopping moment, I think someone really did survive after all. 

But no. It’s Judy, the head flower caretaker, sick just like Jake and ready to tear us to pieces. 

She’s already halfway across the entrance sidewalk. 

I spring toward her and throw a left hook just below her ribcage, where her liver should be. (When did I get such fast reflexes?) She flies backward onto her back, growling in pain and rage and holding her red hands to her stomach. She hits the cement hard enough to bounce. (Since when was I so strong?)

God help me, I’ve hit a woman.

“Matteo!” Ahmed shouts. “To my car right now!” 

Ahmed’s car sits waiting in the parking lot, all the way in the back. 

I spin around and break into a sprint with Ahmed before Judy is up. Unfortunately, that isn’t long. She’s up and running after what can’t be more than three seconds. We weave around cars the best we can. Judy’s footsteps are angry and, worse, fast. Even though I had a head start, Judy is already hot on my tail.

I never minded us employees parking in the back of the lot, but now Ahmed’s car can't seem further away.

Judy roars at me, either wanting to eat me or shred me to pieces or spread the infection or all three. 

She can’t be more than a meter away from me now—if I focus on her, I can feel her hot breath on the back of my neck. 

Just a few more meters, almost there—

Judy swipes her claws at me. I barely manage to dodge it by leaning forward. The action screws with my balance and I almost lose my footing. I shout some colorful curse words. Ahmed sneaks a glance back and almost runs straight into a car. 

“Don’t kill yourself!” I shout. “I’m fine!” 

I can almost see the scuffs on Ahmed’s car, I’m almost there, it’s right there, it’s so close, I’m right there—

Ahmed cuts right in front of his car. I throw out my hand and use the hood for leverage as I swing myself left around Ahmed’s car, anything to put a barrier between me and this crazy woman. I slip off and tumble hand-first onto the pavement next to the car, scraping the shit out of my palms, but Judy runs head-on into Ahmed’s grill. She’s thrown backward by her own inertia and cracks her head on the pavement. Even in the heat of the moment the sound her skull makes as it hits concrete makes me feel sorry for her. 

Quick footsteps crunch around the car. 

Judy gets up and charges me.

I cry out and hold up my raw hands.

Ahmed runs in from behind me and rams his shoulder into her chest. Judy makes an “oof” sound as she tumbles and cracks her head again on the pavement. Ahmed hisses through his teeth and rubs his shoulder. 

We stare at Judy, both huffing and puffing, waiting for her to get back up and try yet again to kill us. 

This time, though, she stays down. 

Blood slowly pools around her skull, giving her a macabre halo. Landing on pavement like that had to have done some damage.  

Her eye twitches. Then her mouth. 

“Get in the car!” Ahmed orders. 

I scramble to my feet and throw myself into Ahmed’s car. That’s when poor Judy’s skull bursts open with roots and spores, mutilating her face and decimating her skull. Ahmed turns the car on and shifts into reverse. Ahmed gasps. Judy’s chest opens, revealing a twisted garden of roots, spores, and so much blood. Ahmed punches the gas. The car lurches backward into the parked car behind us. He shifts into drive and guns the engine, finally getting us the hell out of this God-forsaken parking lot and onto Maple Street.

I sit there and stare as I get my breath back. Ahmed’s knuckles are white-ish on the wheel as he weaves around cars, going anywhere but where we just were. 

What…happened?

I’d been getting a shovel to uproot a weird red root, and now…I’m here. 

How did I even get here?

I try to retrace my steps, but trying to sort my memories is like squinting through fog. 

We left that poor thing to die in the parking lot. 

I try to think of her as the real Judy, but it doesn’t click. 

This thing lying dead on the ground wasn’t Judy. 

Judy, who would hum to herself while she tended to the bull thistles. 

But not just Judy. 

Everyone. 

The car starts to tilt. I squeeze my eyes shut. 

Jake, who I’d banter with for entire shifts.

Amelia, who memorized every single plant that we had in that sanctuary and where they were. 

I still feel like the world is tilting. 

Ruby, who wouldn’t leave Hub 1 until the Kentucky coffees and Yoshino cherries were up to her standards. 

Even though I’m not running anymore, my heart pounds so fast I can hardly feel it. 

Old George, who pushed his cleaning cart and mopped the floors every day, who always tipped his cap and said “howdy-do” instead of “hello.”

Liam, who would yap on and on about his terrarium at home. 

My hands tremble like I’ve been boxing for hours.

My lungs burn like I’ve sprinted ten miles. Did someone suck the air out of the car? My chest feels too tight. I must have run too hard, unless—

Oh, no. 

Oh no no no no. 

I lean forward and clamp my sweating hands on my head.

The spores.

I’m infected. It’s hit my lungs. 

They must’ve got me when Judy swiped at me, or when she breathed on me, or when Jake drooled on me like a dog, or—or—

Fuck. Fuck. 

I could be breathing spores all over Ahmed, too. 

I can see it now, the red shit spreading so fast inside of my lungs and multiplying like rabbits, my lungs are probably so overgrown already oh God I need to tell Ahmed or he’s screwed too—

“Are you alright?” Ahmed asks. 

“Ithinkyoushouldpullover.” 

Ahmed pulls over. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m infected.”

Ahmed’s brow scrunches. “What makes you say that?”

I cover my mouth with my hands. “It’s hard to breathe. I—I think the infection hit my lungs. I could be infecting you. It’s hit me already. The spores…I can’t breathe. I can’t—Ahmed, I can’t breathe!”

“Hey, hey,” he says, touching my arm. “I don’t think you’re infected.”

“No, no, I need to—” I fumble with the door, but my hands are sweating so much they slip. 

Ahmed reaches over and gently takes my trembling shoulders. “You’re not infected.”

“How do you know?!” 

Ahmed pauses. “I know because you would’ve…turned by now.” 

I shake my head hard. “But I touched them. They touched me. I made contact. Jake drooled on me, for Chrissake.”

“Sure, he may have, but again. You haven’t changed.”

I can’t meet his eyes. I can’t look at anything for more than a second. 

Ahmed continues. “And you didn’t breathe the spores in.”

“I might’ve. I think I did.”  

“Maybe you did, but maybe you didn’t. Did any spores come near your face? Think as hard as you can.” 

I can’t think at all. My thoughts still buzz in my skull like a swarm of bees. “I don’t—I don’t know. I can’t—Ahmed, let me go! It might not have hit me yet, but it will and I’ll take you with me! You need to save yourself and let me go!” 

Ahmed lightly squeezes my shoulders. Despite me shouting into his face, he’s calm and collected. “Matteo, just breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Focus on my hands on your shoulders.”

I do what he says. My chest heaves with the effort, but I manage to take a breath without hyperventilating. I focus on Ahmed’s hands, thinking about…his fingers? I don’t know. 

I do it a few more times. I feel my heart slow just a little. Not much, but enough to make a difference. 

“Good,” Ahmed says. “Don’t stop.”

Slowly, slowly, my breaths deepen. My lungs still burn like hell, but I can breathe. Ahmed lets go of me to give me some room. 

My heart slows to a little above normal. The episode passes, and with it the adrenaline that smothered my pain. Slowly, I realize how beat-up I am. 

My hands are raw and bleeding. I can’t move my spine much without it complaining. I might’ve done something to my hand by punching the shit out of Jake and Judy. 

But I’m still alive, and so is Ahmed. That’s more than enough.  

“Better?” Ahmed asks me. 

I nod. “Somewhat. Thank you.”

Ahmed smiles, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Don’t mention it.”

I’m mentioning it. “Seriously. This is the third or fourth time you’ve saved my life.”

Ahmed shifts into gear and pulls back onto Maple Street. “I couldn’t help anyone at the sanctuary, so I might as well help you.”

I swallow and nod. “I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“How did you know how to calm me down? You were…really good at it.”

Ahmed’s smile turns pensive. “I worked in a mental health hospital in my salad days. Calming anxious people was part of my job.”

I raise my eyebrows. I had no idea. 

After that, we’re silent.

I realize I don’t know Ahmed as well as I thought. 

We cross Maple Bridge, which takes us over the ocean and leads to the other side of the city. Ahmed’s face is set between a wince and a scowl as we pull off the bridge and onto Cherry Street.

The North side of the city only had a couple of roots here and there, besides the sanctuary.  

The South side is trashed. 

Red roots are everywhere. Tiny roots grow in between cracks on the sidewalk, roots as thick as tree trunks squeeze buildings and cars, and fleshy tendrils burst out of sewer grates and out of doors. 

And then there’s the people. 

Hundreds of men, women, and children shuffle down the streets and sidewalks, about as aware of their actions as a wood plank. They trail blood on the roads, staining the asphalt a rusty, depressing brown. A bloodied woman bumps into a lamppost and then keeps moving like it never happened. A man falls face-first into a puddle, gets up, and walks on. Another person walks into a glass door over and over and over again. A kid who can’t be older than 17 stumbles from the next intersection, Oak Trail, and almost bumps into us. He shifts just in time to avoid eating metal. Ahmed has to weave the car around hordes of sick citizens. The infected in front of us gently bump into the car and shamble off. I ask him if he can see anyone who isn’t infected, and the look on his face when he shakes his head makes my chest hurt. 

Everyone I knew, everyone Ahmed knew, everyone who glanced at me on the street, everyone who handed me a coffee in the morning, everyone who made food for me, everyone I sold plants to, everyone who asked me how to plant this tree…

…Are all undead. 

How did it happen so fast? 

Is this the product of a bioweapon? Did this come out of a lab somewhere? 

Despite everything, I doubt it. It just doesn’t seem right.

Every undead citizen freezes for a moment, then turns and walks in the same direction, like they’re in sync. The citizens that are farther away from us walk out of sight past a tall office building. 

“They’re moving toward something,” I tell Ahmed.  

Ahmed, who was too focused on not running anyone over to notice before, slows to a crawl and looks at where I’m pointing. 

“You’re right,” he says. “Should we…go and investigate?” 

He must see the look on my face because he waves off his question. “Right. Dumb idea.” 

Something rumbles in the distance. 

Every undead head perks up. 

“Do you feel that?” I ask. 

“I do,” Ahmed responds. “…What is that?” 

I don’t answer, because how the hell am I supposed to know?

The undead speed up toward the source of the rumbling as it grows louder. Then another sound joins it—cries. Hundreds of voices wail in the distance, whether from joy or horror, I don’t know. Maybe both? Whatever it is, it makes my stomach churn. 

Yet another sound—buzzing. Not droning like a dial tone, but the uneven, cluttered humming you’d hear in a beehive. 

Ahmed pulls over again, next to Oak Trail, his eyes wide as plates. He hears it, too. 

The car starts to shake. I can feel the rumbling in my ribs. The undead move faster, reaching out for whatever’s coming. The buzzing is so loud now I can feel it bouncing around in my skull. Ahmed’s back is pressed to his car seat, and I realize I’m doing the same. I try and tell Ahmed to drive like hell, but my mouth doesn’t listen to me. I can’t think of doing anything but watching this thing turn the corner. 

The thing reveals itself. Ahmed moans when he sees it. 

A hulking ball of flesh, faces, and roots rolls down Cherry Street, crushing anything in its path from trees to cars to street signs. Several spots on its surface throb like it has a pulse, pumping…something…inside of its…body? Roots stick out of it, flinging spores into the air and picking up infected people like they’re bags of socks. The ball crushes anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path but doesn’t leave any…roadkill…behind. 

And the faces. 

The faces. 

Every single face that’s been absorbed by this thing is ashen and scrunched, their mouths wide open, calling for help they’ll never receive. The pain and terror on those faces…I can’t look anymore.

The infected around us wail with the poor faces in the ball, some of them breaking into a limping jog to join their comrades in this…hive. The moans of the damned in the cries of the infected merge into a hellish chorus as the ball grows in size, fueled by its volunteers. 

They…they all look so happy about this, like they’ve come home for the first time in years. 

Ahmed starts to whimper. 

The ball bumps into a tall concrete building on the other side of the intersection and careens right, putting us directly in its path. The ball squishes the traffic light ahead like a bug. Its giant shadow drapes the car in darkness. My heart shoots into my mouth and my stomach plummets to my feet. I realize that I’m gripping the seat’s armrests so hard it hurts. 

“Ahmed,” I squeak. 

He doesn’t respond. The ball can’t be more than three blocks away from us now. 

“Ahmed.” 

Still nothing. I can almost make eye contact with some of the poor bastards trapped in there. 

“Ahmed!” I shout. “Drive!” 

He snaps out of his trance and guns the engine. He swerves onto Oak Trail—a long, curving road mostly for sightseeing the ocean—which is mercifully free of any people or cars. Behind us, the screaming ball rolls down Cherry Street, still absorbing anyone who’s in its path and crushing everything where we’d been not even thirty seconds ago. 

Ahmed speeds down Oak Trail, which leads up a hill with a city park on the top. 

The buzzing quiets. When we turn a corner, I can hear myself think again, but the wails of those poor people still ring in my ears and probably will until the day I die. 

A shadow reaches the car. I move myself to look back at the…ball. 

Ahmed takes my shoulder. “Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

I slide back into my seat and keep my eyes forward. I think I have seen enough.

We drive up the hill in silence. Roots as thick as my arm poke out of the tall grass as it blows in the wind, wrapping around the oak trees that earned this road its name. Ahmed only slows down when we’ve put at least half a mile in between us and that hellish ball. He’s still speeding, but only moderately illegally instead of wildly illegally. 

Funny how a gigantic ball of flesh and root is crushing my hometown and I’m worrying about speed limits.

We get to the top of the hill. 

The city park is usually jammed with families, children, pets, strollers, picnics, joggers, and anyone of the like. Even on weekdays, it’s hard to find a parking spot up here and even harder to find a good, shady spot in the park. I came up here one Christmas and there were still tons of families up here celebrating (we don’t get much snow up here). 

Now, it’s completely deserted.

Ahmed pulls into a parking spot between a couple of mom-vans. I can’t help but imagine hyper children bursting out of those sliding doors and running into the park, their tired parents following after them, blissfully unaware of the near future.

Ahmed shifts into park and stares at nothing.

“So…now what?” he croaks. 

I open my mouth and close it again. 

What do we do now? 

“Do you have any family you need to look for?” I ask. 

Ahmed swallows hard and shakes his head. “No. The others were all I had.” 

My throat feels a little raw. “Same here.” 

So we sit there and think.

I think about my family, even though I’d cut contact years ago. 

I think about Jake and Amelia and Liam and Ruby and…oh, God, so many names. 

I think about high school.

I think about the city. 

I think about fate and what it wants for us.

The buzzing comes back, barely there but still audible. I’m opening my mouth to ask Ahmed if he hears it when the Sun is blotted out. Not like a cloud is passing over it, but like it’s suddenly nighttime. 

Ahmed and I whip our heads toward the back of the car, but the walls of the car block our lines of sight. 

I pull my collar over my nose and mouth (useless) and step outside. Ahmed follows suit. 

When we see what’s blocking the Sun, neither of us makes a sound. I feel my stomach plummet for the millionth time today. 

A red, fleshy moon made of roots and tendons hangs in the sky. Its surface is restless, roots shifting and shuffling and pulsing, probably pumping that same substance that the huge ball in the city lived off of. Loose roots hang off of it—they look small from here, but they’re probably longer than the city. Whether they’re for spreading spores or to catch something like that…ball, I don’t know.

It’s so…it’s so huge. 

It looms over us, drenching the city—no, the entire province—in shadow.  

Is this what I almost saw in the car? 

Ahmed staggers backward. I catch him by his wrist and steady him. 

“What…what…” he stammers. “What the fuck?” 

“I don’t know,” is all I can say. 

He rakes his hands through his hair. “What do we do?” 

I open my mouth and close it. 

Unless we can get to the other side of the world in a couple of hours, we can’t do shit. 

I suddenly wish this was all a dream, and that I’d wake up in the morning and go to work with my living, normal coworkers and sell living people normal trees. 

I want to curl into a ball and cry. 

There’s nothing we can do.

Ahmed must see my face, because he says, “Matteo, don’t you dare start thinking like that.”

I gesture to the moon. “Look at this thing. It’s easily twice the size of the continent. Do you really think we can escape this thing?”

Ahmed looks up at the moon, then at me. From the way his eyes ping-pong, I can tell he’s battling the question and losing. He opens his mouth and closes it several times. I suppress an urge to reach out and smooth the worry lines on his face. 

Then, his face goes slack. 

“No,” he mutters. His shoulders cave. It hurts me to see him so anguished. He looks again at the moon, then points at the sky. “It’s getting closer!”

I whip my head up and at the edge of the thing. 

Ahmed is right. It’s so slow it’s barely noticeable, but it’s coming closer to the Earth. 

An unpleasant chill races down my spine. Why is it here? Is it going to crash into us? 

“What is it doing?” Ahmed mutters, echoing my thoughts. 

“I think it has something to do with that…everything.” I shudder to recall it.

Ahmed puts a hand on his forehead. “Of course.” 

We watch the moon approach the planet. Its progress is both painfully slow and painfully fast. The buzzing, oddly, stays at the same volume. Its face gets closer and closer and closer until it swallows the entire sky and leaves no traces of blue. Clouds drift in front of it, some of them scraping its Kafka-esque face and disintegrating. The ocean looks like it’s boiling. Tides crash into the foot of the hill so hard I can feel it from here. 

Everywhere I look is just shifting, restless flesh. 

At least there aren’t any faces. 

Yet.

The moon stops. 

Ahmed does something between a recoil and a flinch. 

A red line threads across its unending surface, the snapping sound almost sending shockwaves into the atmosphere. It’s darker than the surface itself, along with the flesh around it. Is it inflamed?

It squelches open. Blackish-red chunks, slime, and grime leak out of this new mouth that it has now, falling into the atmosphere and splashing into the ocean. The creaking of roots and tendons weaved into its face can probably be heard all over the world. It reminds me of the Krakatoa eruption. 

The buzzing grows louder, from a low murmur to a hum. It doesn’t come from behind me, to the left or right, in front of me, or even from the moon itself. It comes from anywhere and everywhere. Ahmed rubs his ear—he hears it too. 

A bellowing roar emits from the moon’s…throat? Does it have vocal cords? We feel it more than hear it, but it shakes the ground so violently that car alarms are set off and loose branches fall off trees.

The buzzing intensifies even more, not drowning out my thoughts yet but getting there. 

Ahmed gasps and points at the city skyline.  

The huge ball of infected flesh that had almost crushed us and terrorized Cherry Street is…

Flying. 

It’s getting sucked up by the moon. It’s just gently floating toward it, pulled skyward by some mystery force, and it’s not the only one. There must be hundreds of them, joining each other in their ascent. In the back of my mind, I realize how lucky we were to have only encountered one of them. They can’t be just from here—there aren’t enough people in this town. These have to be infected people being called home from all over the world. If they’re still crying out, I can’t hear it over the buzzing. A small mercy, but a mercy nonetheless. 

The balls slowly shrink from hulking boulders into specks smaller than ants as they fly home. They disappear as they’re consumed…for what?

It roars again after the last ball is eaten, even louder than the last. It vibrates in my bones, the sound bouncing off my ribs like pennies in a tin can. I almost clap my hands over my ears. The sound drowns out my thoughts for a terrifying moment. Ahmed grabs my hand. I squeeze back.

A torrent of powdery crimson pours out of the gash. 

Spores. 

They fall like ash, slowly strolling along on their way to end the world as we know it. 

They’re already so close. 

Ahmed looks at me, his face slack. 

I look at him.

We look back at the spores. They land on the rest stop and playground, dusting everything in a light coat of red. Anything green that the spores land on withers into a sickly black. When they touch the grass, it corrupts and disintegrates faster than I can process, and opens into red, dark, and deep pits. 

My stomach roils. 

Earth was already infected to the core. The flesh was just lying in wait for God-knows-how-long. Hell, Earth could’ve been infected since the beginning of time, or it could’ve been infected since Jake, Ahmed, and I clocked in this morning. We were fucked from the beginning, we just didn’t know it yet. We—no, humanity as a whole—are walking corpses.

That giant thing in the sky is just reaping what it sowed. 

The buzzing is almost a physical feeling inside of my skull. It takes too much effort not to visualize a beehive. Ahmed grips my hand hard enough to hurt.

Then, the spores are here. 

Ahmed breathes them in. I breathe them in. I expect them to smell terrible, but they don’t have a smell at all. If anything, it’s…somewhat pleasant. It makes my sinuses tingle. Around us, spots on the ground cave in to reveal the Earth’s infected underground. The decay even eats through the parking lot and the sidewalks. I didn’t know it could go so far down. 

Ahmed is looking at me now. His brown eyes, usually so warm and bright, are dim and defeated. Beads of blood well in his eyes. He must see the same despair in me because we pull each other into an embrace. From the way his shoulders shake I can tell he’s holding in sobs. He squeezes me tight and cradles the back of my head. As the ground caves in beneath our feet, I cling to him as tight as I can. We hold each other as we fall into an abyss of flesh, so wide and so deep that I can’t see the end in any direction. 

The Hive wails for us to come home, to suffer with it, to spread its pain as far as it can go. 

Ahmed is the only subject of my thoughts for my last few moments as me. As the buzzing consumes my mind, as we become the Hive, it comforts me to know he’s thinking of me too.

We bear the agony of instrumentality as one until the stars go cold.

[victorluvsalice]

-->Before deciding she absolutely had to indulge her romantic side with Victor and went over to give him a massage by the cowshed. Fortunately, she'd licked herself clean before doing this; unfortunately, the timing meant that Victor ended up standing in the trash he'd just cleaned out of the cowshed while this happened. XD The things we do for romance... Alice then changed back to normal as Smiler -- fresh off harvesting all their plasma fruit and herbalism stuff out of the greenhouse -- joined them in the paddock to hang out. They ended up entertaining Shadow, who'd also followed everyone in there, while Alice chatted with Moory and gave her a good milking, and Victor sorted through the trash for upgrade parts before cleaning himself off with some Scruberoo. You know, just a typical day on the farm. :p

-->With most of the chores beyond completing the daily greenhouse harvest (which Victor got sent to do once he was clean) now done, and New Year’s Eve officially started as a holiday, it was time to turn my attention to holiday traditions – namely, resolutions! I started with Alice and checked what was available for her – completing an aspiration milestone, getting fit, losing weight, etc, etc. Doing an aspiration milestone sounded interesting, so I decided to check to see what milestones she might be close to completing. And just for fun, I started with the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration –

And immediately completed the entire aspiration, since she’d already fulfilled all the goals. XD She now has the "Shrewd” reward trait, which means that she now gets a payment of 5% of the household funds added to the total pot every week. I checked Mansion Baron after that, just to see if she’d completed that too – nope, but she’s ALMOST done with it. Just need to make sure the house is worth a bit more – and get a bunch of columns. XD That is more of an aspiration for me to complete, though (and I am actually planning on doing a playsession that revolves around remodeling the house a bit at some point), so I decided the aspiration milestone she was going to complete would be in Renaissance Sim instead – she just has to get two more skills up to level 8 and she’s golden!

So that settled her resolution – but what about Smiler and Victor? Well, I decided they could complete aspiration milestones too – Smiler is just one party away from completing another level of the Party Animal aspiration after all, and Victor three duels away from completing one in the Spellcraft & Sorcery aspiration! I also decided they could auto-complete Fabulously Wealthy as well, so now we have three Shrewd Sims living in the same household. I suspect the money is going to start piling up VERY RAPIDLY. XD

-->Okay, enough about resolutions – time to finish up things around the house! Smiler took on decorating duty as per usual, putting up some fun bunting and banners outside, while Alice gave Shadow a good brushing and played some laser pointer with Kelly. Shadow then went outside and whined at Victor that she wanted a walk, so once Victor had finished his harvest and officially made his resolution, he took her on a short stroll down to the riverside to do her business. Which for some reason ended with her getting spooked by something, lying down, and covering her eyes with her paw and Victor having to unleash her and scratch her special spot to make her happy again. *shrug* I guess she is a very nervous doggo... Smiler, meanwhile, spotted that Toothy needed a feed and gave the cowplant some meat and a bit of playtime to stop it chomping down on any passing Sims and making this the world's most awkward New Year's Eve. :p They then moved onto checking the latest SimsTube trends and answering comments on their videos, before being sent downstairs to fix MORE broken wind turbines in the wind farm. *heavy sigh* Seriously, it is SO RARE for all of them to be working... Alice, for her part, ended up double-checking the chicken coop, cleaning it out, and gathering the latest batch of eggs (four normal ones – I guess the one plus of having no rooster is having no hatchable eggs cluttering up the inventory), before going to clean out the spoiled food from the fridge. And Victor finally arrived home from his walk and took the opportunity to license out his song “Wonderland Smiles,” because sure, we need more money. Why not. XD

[natewriteslol]

Hello!! Would you mind if I request a small scenario of Yuu who had made a part of Ramshackle into a quaint little greenhouse and invited Ortho over for some tea! If you can, could you write it from Ortho's point of view? Thank you for this, I always absolutely love your writing! Words can't possibly describe the joy that fills me when I see you've posted, it's always a wonderful escape from how hectic the world is right now. Lots of love and luck to you!! ♡♡♡

Ortho with reader on a PLATONIC fun outing

Warnings: none!

Y/N is gender neutral :)

A/N: Yes I almost cried when I saw this in my inbox. Please know it fills me with great joy to illustrate my ideas through writing, and to have so many people enjoy my content is just unbelievable. I'm so greatful to have such an amazing audience 💞💕

It used to be so terrible within the Ramshackle house. No sign of life (no shade to the ghosts) with essential repairs needed inorder for it to be somewhat livable.

But you indeed managed to make it your own little home, not exactly transforming the whole house, but it was home. However a part of you was inspired by the botanical garden on campus, you went there often and it was beautiful. In fact, you were found there so often that Rook called you “Fleur de lys”.

Yet the garden was just always so far, too many people, or you’d accidentally wake up a sleeping Leona. So you decided, hey? What if I made my own garden in the dorms, I’ve got plenty of space.

For a couple of months you spent remaking the room, adding windows and some seats. And you continued to culminate a collection of plants. From buying them yourself, borrowing plants from the science club, and taking some seeds plants from botanical garden.

It was soon your own little paradise, yet you had no one to share it with besides your roommate, Grim. Until you heard a little someone talking, specifically about plants after your magical law class had ended, and you were packing up your things.

“Oh I sure do love plants! Don’t you too, Idia?”

“I’m not the biggest fan, Ortho… let’s just go home. Class is already over.”

“I think you don’t like them, since you’re afraid of the outside!”

“SHUT UP ORTHO, I’M NOT AFRAID OF THE OUTSIDE-”

You had always babysat Ortho when Idia was busy, even when he would make the strange comment that “Ortho doesn’t really need it”. You never understood, but you decided not to pry.

“Wait, Y/N. Don’t you have a garden in your home?” Ortho asked, bringing your attention to him fully.

“Why yes, I do,” you replied with a smile, turning to face the young boy behind you.

“Oh Idia, please let me go see their garden! Pretty, pretty please, big brother” Ortho pleaded, staring at him with his cute beaming eyes.

By the Great Seven, why did he program him to be so cute?

“O-only if it’s okay with Y/N” Idia stuttered, looking at you to give permission to his brother.

“Of course it is, you guys are always welcome in my house. You can come this weekend, if that’s good for you guys?” you asked.

“Of course it is! Yay! I’m gonna see Y/N’s garden! Thank you, Y/N!”

~~~

It was already Saturday, and Ortho was at your doorstep at 10 am sharp. Bringing the gift of freshly made cookies, Ortho excitedly told you how he got the recipe from Trey.

You invited him into your home, him holding onto your hand as he floated with you. He was so excited seeing all the plants, each of them having their own unique traits and needs.

“How do you keep up with all these plants?” Ortho asked as he watched you pour tea into his cup.

“It’s been a journey, since these plants are way different from the ones where I come from. I’ve had to do alot of research, but it’s all worth it!” You explained.

“You’re so cool! Just like how my brother said!” Ortho beamed.

“Idia talks about me?” you asked, wondering why the little boy’s brother would talk about you. I mean, you barely knew anything about technology so you both weren’t really on the same page in relating to your guy’s interests.

“Uhuh! He says that you’re ‘so O.P without even needing magic’” Ortho said, giving a hilarious impression of his big brother. “Idia thinks that you’re really cool too!”

Heat rose to your cheeks, you didn’t know that Idia had this much admiration for you. You definitely should talk to the flame haired man more often.

“Well, once you go back to your brother make sure you tell him that I think he’s cool as well” you smiled, extending your pinky to make a pinky promise.

“I promise!” the robot boy replied.

You continued to spend time in the garden, playing games, listening to music and giving the young boy a tour of all the plants in your garden. Once it was the afternoon, Idia gave you a call telling you that he was in his dorm room. And while the little boy held a pout and didn’t want to go home, Ortho sure did love his brother so he obliged to go, following you as you escorted him back to the Ignihyde dorm.

“I’m sure Idia misses you Ortho, he would probably really want to see you. After all, the presentation probably made him incredibly nervous,” you explained, happy once you saw the change of expression in Ortho’s yellow eyes.

“Ah! You’re right, I should give him a big hug once I see him!” Ortho said.

~~~

“Big brother!” Ortho said, wrapping his arms around Idia’s waist.

“O-Oh, I didn’t expect you guys to be back so soon,” Idia said, embarrassed that you were looking at Ortho’s animated displayed affection.

“Yeah, but I missed you! It was so fun, we drank tea, and Y/N gave me a tour of all their plants! Aren’t they super cool just like you said?” Ortho beamed, staring up at his brother.

“O-Ortho I never said that!” Idia retorted.

“Nope, you said that they were super cool and o.p! Remember what I told you, Y/N?” Ortho said, gesturing to you.

“Uh yeah, that’s what I heard. And you’re pretty cool too, Idia” you said, giving a thumbs up. Idia looked like he was about to pass out of embarrassment.

“See! Didn’t you say it was bad to lie, Idia?” Ortho said, crossing his arms to scold his older brother that sat in his gaming chair.

“I also told you that it’s bad to overshare private conversations, Ortho.”

Maybe next time you should bring out Idia, show him that the outdoors aren’t too shabby.

[oh-for-merlins-sake]

SLOW BURN | gw | golden

summary: y/n, a local florist, stops in weasleys’ wizard wheezes for the first time and finds more than she bargained for. soon, she’ll teach george that there are many reasons to stop and smell the roses.

pairing: george weasley x fem!reader

word count: 2.6k

warnings: alcohol

a/n: AAAAAH you guys i did not want to stop writing this!! i had so much fun, and i’m really happy with how it turned out! it was really challenging for me to write a “slow burn” relationship, but i hope i did it justice! as you’ll see, this is not a “song” fic, but a lyric (in bold and italics) was used. cheers to the first installment of the golden collection!!

taglist: @iliveiloveiwrite @andromedaa-tonks @pansydaisy @a-little-too-much @slytherinsunrise @marvelettesassemble @msmarklee1213 @letsgotothehop @finnishslytherin @starlightweasley @witch-and-a-half @darthwheezely @vogueweasley @gcdric @breadqueen95 (message/ask to be added/removed, loves!)

Blackbirds trilled overhead as you glided over the cobblestone path to work. The sun was finally reemerging from behind the dark, dreary clouds, which had just finished bathing the streets of Diagon Alley in a springtime shower. You admired the lingering smell of fresh rainwater that dripped from the eaves above you.

Today, you were taking a detour from your ordinary route. Your younger brother’s birthday was just around the corner, and you had yet to find a gift worthy of a teenage boy’s microscopic attention span and angst-ridden ennui. You smiled to yourself as you spotted the vibrant shop down the street with its mechanical mascot tipping his hat to you.

It was curious to you that this shop had a natural magnetism to people of all ages. If you hadn’t found a thing yet, this shop should surely hold something that would cater to your brother. You’d seen the troves of young wizards clamoring in a morning or two before.

As you approached the large front doors, you glanced at your watch: half an hour until the start of your shift. You strolled into the whimsical shop, dodging a Fanged Frisbee in the process. You slowly turned in place, eyeing the towering shelves of eccentric gadgets and vivid pyrotechnics. Truthfully, it was a little intimidating; where to start was beyond you.

“Can’t find what you’re looking for?”

Startled by the sudden voice, you spun to face its origin. You were met with a tall, redheaded man with freckles that practically danced across his cheeks as he chuckled at your expression. Suddenly, you felt sheepish. “Sorry?”

“You looked a little...” he pondered the right word, “overwhelmed.”

You laughed, “To be honest, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.”

He nodded, a knowing smile tugging at his lips. “Younger brother’s birthday?”

“How did you know?”

“Just a guess,” he shrugged.

You were quite impressed. As he motioned for you to follow him up the stairs to the next floor of the shop, you couldn’t help but notice how familiar he looked. Surely you’d seen him before — perhaps in line at Gringotts or sipping mead in the Leaky Cauldron. You couldn’t quite pin it.

You were relieved to leave the gargantuan fireworks below — on behalf of your mother mostly. You followed him to a wall of massive tubes that were filled to the brim with colorful candies.

“Our full collection of sweets,” he announced.

You eyed the assortment, noticing the words Puking Pastilles on a golden label. “Are these different flavors or...?”

“Yes, but more importantly, they serve different purposes. These, for example,” he pointed to the pastilles, “induce vomiting — perfect for skiving class!”

You chuckled. “Surely these aren’t allowed at Hogwarts?”

“‘Course not! But that’s what makes them so bloody popular — hot commodity,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “We’ve got a sweet for nearly every malady.”

“Who even thinks of this sort of thing?” you mused — again, thoroughly impressed.

“I guess we do,” he answered, leaning against the counter.

Your jaw dropped. “You made these?”

He shrugged, the faintest smirk on his lips, “I made everything.”

“Get out!” you laughed, pouring some candy into a purple plastic bag.

“Of my own shop?” he teased. “I don’t think so!”

You twist-tied the bag shut and turned to face him. “So you’re Weasley?”

“One of them, at least — George, to be exact.”

“That’s wicked!”

You noticed his freckled cheeks growing rosier by the second. “That’s awfully kind of you,” he said, waving dismissively.

“No, honestly! It’s incredible!”

As you reached for another plastic bag, George rushed over to interrupt. “Here,” he pointed to the display of Skiving Snackboxes. “Take one of these — they’ve got all our best-selling sweets in one box. Your brother’s sure to love it.” He led you over, plucking a box from the top and handing it to you. “On the house.”

“Oh, I couldn’t,” you said, shaking your head.

“I insist! Consider it an incentive.”

“An incentive?”

He nodded. “To come again.”

Your heart skipped a beat. “Thank you, George — really! I just know he’ll love it!” As you turned the box in your hands, you caught sight of the time on your wrist: five ‘til. “Merlin!”

George furrowed his brows.

“I’ve got to go!” If you hadn’t known any better, you could’ve sworn you’d seen a flash of disappointment in his eyes. “But, perhaps you’ll stop by sometime. I can return the favor — clip you a free dozen roses for your girlfriend or something,” you rushed out.

“I’d have to find one first,” he chuckled, following you as you skipped down the steps towards the doors.

A warm blush flooded your face as you laughed nervously. You spun to face George one last time as he landed at the foot of the stairs. “Well, maybe you’ll stop by anyways.”

“Florist down the road?” he asked, pointing in the general direction.

“That’s exactly the one!” you called, stepping backwards onto the street.

You rushed down the path towards the florist, your step feeling a touch lighter than it did earlier. You noticed the result of the sudden sun after the storm: a rainbow hanging above the grinning man attached to the storefront.

“Aha!” you exclaimed, finally realizing why George had looked so familiar.

When you arrived at work, you swung the screen door into the greenhouse open, announcing your presence, “Sorry I’m late!”

“Not to worry, dear,” Muriel remarked.

Muriel hired you a few months prior, admiring your proclivity to gardening and greenery. She taught you something new every day without ever realizing she was doing so. Her green thumb had a knack for nurturing every flower both under and out of the sun. And her extraordinary eye for piecing together various plants and flowers to create a stunning and elegant arrangement never ceased to amaze you.

“Be a dear, Y/N, won’t you?” Jasmine grunted as she attempted to haul a heavy-bottomed, ceramic pot.

You threw your things onto a nearby stool and rushed over to lift the side closest to you. The two of you managed to hoist the pot just above the dirt floor to carry it to its destination.

“Re-potting the Wiggentree,” Jasmine explained, dusting off her hands. “Pretty soon it’s going to be too big to stay, mum,” she called to Muriel.

“Yes, I know, dear,” Muriel muttered, “That does not change the fact that it must be re-potted.”

Jasmine was less fond of gardening than her mother was. But if something unfortunate were to happen, the shop would fall to Jasmine, so she figured it’d be best to at least try and learn a thing or two.

You walked through the door leading directly from the greenhouse into the shop. “Morning, Candace!”

“Morning, Y/N!” the cheery teenager chirped as she balanced a vase full of violets on the counter.

A set of hooks adorned with various dirt-stained aprons lined the wall just behind it. You reached for the one with your initial embroidered in the upper right corner, quickly throwing it over your head and down your body. You tied a bow behind your back before throwing your hair up and stepping back into the greenhouse. You grabbed a pair of gloves and began heaving soil into the planter with Jasmine.

Beads of sweat were already forming on your forehead as the humidity of the greenhouse settled into your skin.

Re-potting the Wiggentree proved to be a difficult and timely task, taking up most of the morning. By lunchtime, you’d moved on to trimming daisies and de-thorning roses, and come sunset, you were planting hyacinth seeds and watering Flutterby bushes in the garden.

“Y/N,” Jasmine announced, stepping out from the greenhouse. “Someone’s here to see you.”

You wound your way through the garden and the greenhouse, stepping into the shop in search of your guest. Candace giggled as she zipped her coat and nodded towards the front door. You stepped onto the patio, where the outdoor displays danced in the gentlest of breezes. You were shocked to spot George leaning over to smell the roses.

“George?” you laughed. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Someone said something about roses,” he teased.

“Well,” you began, walking over and gesturing to the basket of pretty, pink roses, “What do you think?”

“Well worth the walk over here,” he answered, smiling brightly at you as he rocked on his heels with his hands in his coat pockets.

Jasmine rushed onto the patio with her jacket and purse draped over her shoulder and swiftly said, “Y/N, I completely forgot about my mother-in-law’s birthday dinner, and Candace just left! I’m so sorry — would you mind —”  

“Go on!” you hurried, waving her off of the patio, “I’ll close up!”

“Thank you, Y/N!” she called over her shoulder, “You’re an angel!”

You chuckled and rolled your eyes in amusement as she disappeared around the corner.

“I’ve got to tidy a few things but... the bar down the street doesn’t close for an hour,” you began, your heart fluttering as your stomach burst with butterflies, “We should take a walk and look at all the flowers down the alley.” You chuckled, feeling your face grow warm, “I planted half of them.”

George smiled, a light laugh gracing his lips, “All right, sounds good then.”

George busied himself with the outdoor displays while you prepared the shop for closing. He brushed his calloused fingers over the delicate flower petals, occasionally indulging in their sweet scents. He imagined how you likely smelled of flowers after a long day of work, and how that would be the perfect antidote to the lingering smell of gunpowder that constantly plagued his pillows.

“Ready?” you asked, stepping back onto the patio.

“More than ever,” he said.

As you walked down the alley together, you pointed out flowerbed after flowerbed resting on the windowsills of various shops and bakeries. Your favorites, he learned, were always the dahlias. He was surprised by the natural beauty that erupted from the brick and stone storefronts, and even more so by the fact that he never once paid attention to any of it. How could he have missed this?

“Merlin!” you gasped, rushing over to Mr. Reilly’s butcher shop. “Mr. Reilly has been doing an absolute lovely job tending to his poppies! You see, when I first popped in, he swore to Godric that he was incapable of keeping anything alive but himself, but look!”

George laughed, racing to keep up with you.

You led him to the pub that had just opened the month prior, Brenda’s Brews, whose owner agreed with your suggestion of keeping a few Fire Seed bushes out front to “really grab the people’s attention!”

Upon entering the pub, Brenda greeted you from behind the bar, “The usual, Y/N?”

“Two please!” you called, sliding a few sickles across the counter faster than George was able to dive into his pockets. “Don’t worry about it,” you winked.

“Okay, but next one’s on me, yeah?”

“No, no, consider it a thank you for earlier,” you said, raising your glass.

George clinked his glass with yours before sipping from the foamy ale. “Good choice,” he nodded.

“Can’t go wrong with a little Dragon Scale,” you remarked, savoring in its tangy, bitter taste.

“I’ve got to ask,” George began, setting his glass down on a coaster with The Weird Sisters plastered on it, “It seems like you know everyone in this bloody part of town. How come we haven’t met? Have you been here long?”

You laughed at his disbelief. “I’ve only been here a few months, so I haven’t quite gotten to everyone yet — for example, Number 93,” you muttered as you fidgeted with your diminishing glass.

“That’s wild,” he paused before snapping his fingers and saying, “Y/N?”

“Y/N,” you confirmed, taking a swig from your glass.

“And you’ve already made that big of an impact on everyone?” he continued.

You blushed, feeling flooded with a sudden warmth. You were quite flattered by the idea that you may mean something to this place; a place that was so new and intimidating not that long ago; somewhere you were certain a florist could never thrive: the middle of the city.

Perhaps the finger pricks from a thorn every now and then was worth it.

You shrugged bashfully, “I don’t know about all that.”

“Y/N,” a bartender called as he raced past, carrying two different mugs with different colored ales, “May loved the mayflowers! She said yes, by the way!”

You clapped, squealing in excitement, “Congratulations, Borden!”

George raised his eyebrows, as if to say, See?

Brenda bellowed, “Last call!”

You checked your watch: half an hour until close.

And despite the short burst of time remaining, it felt as though you’d been laughing and chatting away with George for hours. If someone insisted that they’d magically slowed time, you might have believed them. It felt so familiar to talk to George; it came so naturally. You wondered if he’d been talking since birth, given the way he animatedly told stories and produced witty comebacks within nanoseconds of the original comment.

At last, your glasses had been drained of their contents, and Brenda was shooing the last of the stragglers out the door. George followed behind you as you ducked out, calling goodbye to Brenda and Borden back inside.

Perhaps you’d been imagining it, but it certainly seemed that you and George were walking much closer together than you had been originally. One misstep and you might have brushed his hand.

You were suddenly distracted by the vibrant purple dahlias sitting outside of Rosa Lee’s. You raced over, carefully assessing exactly which flower to pick, explaining, “She won’t mind, I give her a new basket every week.”

George felt suddenly in awe of your natural grace and delight. It seemed so simple to please you: a dainty dahlia was all you needed to feel like the world was a good enough place to live. In a way, he envied your childlike wonder; it was different than the one exhibited in his shop by his products. It paid attention to the smaller things in life, rather than inciting big, booming bangs. It provided a sense of serenity.

You giggled and tucked the flower behind his right ear. He blushed as your hand gently grazed his skin. “How do I look?” he managed.

“Beautiful,” you said sincerely.

You continued walking as George fiddled with the dahlia. “Your favorite, right?” he asked, pointing to it.

“That is correct, sir,” you answered, impressed by his memory.

Once you reached Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, George leaned against the door and twiddled with the tiny flower between his fingers. He considered asking you inside, despite the lights clearly being off, indicating that the shop was clearly closed, and therefore, indicating that he meant inside his flat.

Likewise, you pondered the same prospect. You wondered if it’d be too forward: to suggest the idea of coming inside. Perhaps, tonight wasn’t the night.

And that was all right.

“Well, George,” you sighed, “I must say I’m really glad I stepped into this wacky shop of yours today.”

“I’d say the same,” he said earnestly.

You paused. “You’ll have to stop by again... you know, to finish off your bouquet,” you said, gesturing towards the dahlia.

He smiled. “You’ll be there tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” you echoed, a smile growing on your lips. You stepped onto the street and waved.

The sight of George waving back with a lopsided grin on his freckled face was enough to tide you over until next time. You spun in place and apparated home.

Honestly, George liked the idea of taking his time, carefully picking flowers — a few each day — until his bouquet was erupting from its vase.

Maybe then, you’d come in.

[bumblesimagines]

Green Thumb

Part 2

Request: Yes or No

For anyone confused, (Y/N) was around 17 when he fought the Avengers and was taken in and now he's 18-19. Lowkey a filler to develop/show (Y/N)'s relationship with Laura and Clint

~

You stared up at the large wooden house, a soft breeze blowing by that made you tugged down the sleeves of the sweater you were wearing. Clint turned off the engine of his motorcycle, looking up at you. You furrowed your brows and turned towards him, glancing at the darkening sky.

"What is this place?" You asked, watching him curiously Clint stood beside him, gazing fondly at the house. He looked at you with a gentle smile.

"My home."

"Home?"

"Yep, home. The only other people who know about this place are Fury and Natasha." Clint revealed, making your brows raise. You looked back at the house. It was homey for sure. Far from the city with nature surrounding it. A perfect place to raise a family and live a quiet life. You bit your bottom lip, gently wrapping your arms around yourself. 

"So, why’d you bring me here?" You asked. If it was such a big secret that not even Tony or Steve knew about it, why would he share it with you? You weren’t even part of the team. You were just a child that they had to take in. Clint placed a gentle hand on your back.

"You need some fresh air and a break from the shit back at the tower. Come meet my wife and kids." Clint said, walking towards the house. You slowly followed, still unsure about the whole thing. You didn’t know why Clint trusted you so much. Not even a couple weeks back, you had attempted killing him and the Avengers. You had heard Tony mention Clint having a habit of taking in strays so you assumed you were just another person Clint wanted to help. The aroma of food filled your senses, making you let out a soft hum. Clint had heard it, chuckling as he stepped into his home. You followed, noticing the pictures on the walls and scattered drawings. 

"Laura, I’m home!" Clint called out into the house, following the light from the kitchen. You noticed some legos laying around, looking up as a woman approached Clint and greeted him with a kiss.

"How was work?" She asked softly, smiling. You could see two kids looking at you curiously from the table. Clint smiled back at his wife, gently stroking her long hair. 

"It was fine, honey. I brought a guest." Clint motioned towards you. Laura looked at you, humming softly. Her smile widened as she faced you.

"You must be (Y/N). Welcome to the Barton Farm." Laura giggled softly, placing a hand on her belly. Your gaze dropped down, noticing her barely visible bump. Laura followed your gaze, chuckling softly.

"We’re- Well, more like Natasha is hoping for a little girl." Laura smiled, glancing at Clint when he placed a gentle hand on her bump. She looked back at (Y/N), motioning to the table. 

"Come join us."

You walked with Laura to the greenhouse, glancing over at Tony and Steve as they talked.

"How was your first mission?" Laura asked, smiling widely as she gazed at you curiously. You were supposed to go on a mission when your training was complete but nevertheless, it had been quite exciting. You smiled, looking forward.

"It was.. Good. It didn't go as planned, obviously, but there wasn't much of a plan to begin with. Clint's definitely holding a grudge against the runner." You chuckled, opening the door to the greenhouse and stepping inside. Some new flowers had been added.

"I don't blame him." Laura said, giggling as she pulled up a chair. She sat down, letting out a sigh of relief. Laura rested her hands on her belly, watching you with a gentle gaze.

"The girl.. The girl made Hulk lose his shit and made the others see stuff." You told her, picking up a pot with a venus flytrap inside. You gently ran your finger over the plant, watching it open.

"Did she get to you?"

"No, I.. I stopped her before she could do anything to me. Natasha seemed pretty shaken up by what she saw." You looked back at her, frowning softly. You had never seen Natasha look so broken inside. Whatever she had seen, it had definitely triggered some bad memories. You wondered what Wanda would've made you see. The orphanage? The fight with the Avengers?

"Clint mentioned you had to work on your people skills." Laura recalled, laughing softly as she tilted her head. "What's that about?"

"I might've choked.. A few people."

"Might've?" Laura repeated, raising her brows. You placed the pot down, letting out a soft sigh as you stared down at the venus flytrap.

"What's on your mind, sweetheart?" Laura asked softly, noticing the change. You gently pushed the pot back into its spot beside the other plants, shrugging lightly.

"Not that long ago, I was in their spot. Wanda and Pietro.. Two young metas trying to survive. With my powers, I could have seriously injured someone and-"

"But you didn't, did you? We're all standing on this plot of land, living and breathing." Laura stood up from the chair, holding onto it as she regained her balance. She walked towards you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

"You were a frightened kid on survival mode. You were doing whatever you could to protect yourself." Laura said, gaze softening.

"Obviously, I could never hurt Thor or Hulk but... I almost crushed and suffocated everyone else. Tony had to work on his suit, Natasha and Clint had bruises for days.. Steve did that weird staring thing like a fucking camera whenever I was in the room." You reached forward, running a finger over the leaf of a plant and watching it grow.

"Look at yourself." Laura motioned to the plants. "You have full control of your powers. You know your limits. You're.. Mother Nature's son! Like, almost literally her son."

"I'm your son." You muttered, keeping your gaze on the plants. Laura stayed quiet, almost frozen in place. She slowly smiled, nodding as she blinked away tears.

"Yeah.. Yeah, you are. You're my son. You're a Barton." Laura said softly, sniffling softly. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm gonna go see if Stark is willing to check out the tractor. Holler if you need anything." Laura said, turning around. She left the greenhouse, walking back towards the house. You thought about her words, knowing what she said was true but things could've gone differently if you had been in full control of your powers during the confrontation with the Avengers. Clint had still offered you support despite it all.

You brought your knees close to your chest, hearing the sounds of the Avengers grunting and talking on the floor below. The overgrown vines in the abandoned building wrapped around the corner you were in, providing cover.

"Hey, kid? You up here?"

"Barton, what the hell are-"

"Shut up, Tony." You furrowed your brows, hearing sluggish footsteps on the floor you were at.

"This isn't the greatest hiding spot, kid." The voice, 'Clint', had gotten closer. He was most likely standing infront of you, the vines being the only thing keeping you from seeing him.

"Look, I know you're scared. I know the orphanage probably wasn't great either, but we can help you. I can help you. You can trust me." Clint assured softly. You swallowed, reaching out and touching the vines. They parted, letting you peer up at Clint. He offered a tired smile, extending his hand to you.

"You just made Laura the happiest woman alive." You turned towards Clint, chuckling softly. Clint pushed himself off the doorway, stepping inside.

"Must be nice to finally feel happy for once." You replied, grinning.

"Oh, trust me, you should've seen her face when I proposed." Clint chuckled, looking over the greenhouse. He hummed.

"Maybe I should get into gardening." He muttered, arms crossing as he looked over the different flowers. You watched him.

"You'll be busy with missions."

"I don't plan on sticking around for long, if I'm honest. I want to retire and be with my kids more. The hero life isn't forever for some people. Keep that in mind, (N/N)."

"You're gonna leave the team?" You asked, frowning. You knew Clint had been thinking about it. Especially with a third kid on the way that would come at any moment.

"I got lucky but.. The thought of leaving Laura alone with three young kids, a barely legal adult, and a big plot of land.." Clint sighed, shaking his head as he gently tapped his finger against the table.

"I don't want to be an absent father and miss out on big achievements. I owe it to Laura and you guys." Clint explained softly. You understood. None of the other Avengers were parents yet. Clint dying meant fatherless kids and a widow. He had a lot more to lose.

"I'll always be here if you need advice or more training. I just won't be on the field with you." Clint placed his hands on your shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze before he leaned in and gave you a hug. You hugged him back, eyes shutting. You weren't sure how you'd be on the field without Clint there to support you. Being beside him brought you comfort and reassurance.

"You'll be an amazing Avenger, (Y/N). I know it." Clint whispered, leaning back and smiling softly.

"Will you be my number 1 fan?" You asked with a grin.

"I'm afraid the top three spots are already taken but I'll happily be your fourth biggest fan." Clint laughed softly, turning his head when Laura called for him and you.

"Come on, let's see what the boss wants." He said playfully, turning around and walking out. You followed, noticing Nick Fury standing on the porch. He gave you a nod before entering the house.

"What's he doing here?" You asked, looking at Clint. Clint shrugged, letting out a deep sigh as you walked up the steps.

"We're about to find out."

[ghostofstudentspast]

Something about her

Sirius x Veela!Reader

I’m writing this more from Sirius’ POV which is new for me so don’t be too harsh 💕

For the third time in the same class Sirius caught himself staring at the shiny head of hair two rows in front of him. The way your delicate hand ran through the soft locks made him want to reach out his own fingers and tangle them in your hair. He only snapped out of his trance when James kicked his foot under the table causing his gaze to snap to his friend in a glare.

“Mr. Black, if you would be so kind to keep your eyes on your own work.” Professor Mcgonagall’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Sorry Professor,” Sirius turned on his signature smirk and turned his attention back to the front of the class where she stood with her arms crossed. He watched you turn in your seat ever so slightly to sneak a peek at the disturbance and raised one eyebrow at Sirius with a small smile playing on your lovely lips. He purposefully caught your eye and sent you a cheeky wink causing you to laugh silently and shake your head before turning back to your parchment.

“Padfoot you never get this hung up on a girl, I don’t get it,” James nudged his friend later that day as the group of boys lied splayed out under their favourite tree on the grounds.

James was tossing his snitch up and down as his signature activity. Remus had a book clutched between his fingers and seemed oblivious to the ongoing discussion. Meanwhile, Sirius was entertaining Peter by scorching explicit drawings into the grass beside him with his wand.

“She is very pretty,” Peter piped up from beside him and followed Sirius’ gaze to where you could be spotting laughing with your own group of girls.

“Sure, but lots of girls are pretty,” James rolled his eyes, “hasn’t changed anything for our dear old shaggydog has it?” his gaze flicked back to Sirius with a small smirk.

“Just because you’re too in love with Lily to notice other girls doesn’t have to put a damper on my emotions Prongs,” Sirius snorted and started on drawing a little dog in the grass.

“Yeah but why her?” he pressed, as if they hadn’t had this conversation before.

“Everyone in our year fancies her!” Peter chimed in again with big eyes, clearly trying to appease both boys.

“And everyone in the year below,” Remus added to the conversation without looking up from his book.

Sirius shifted his gaze from the ground back to your little group. You weren’t too far away, if he wanted to call you over he could. The thought popped into his mind suddenly as one of your friends pointed at the marauders and your head turned to face the boys, once again locking eyes with Sirius. One of your friends whispered something to you and your face suddenly lit up with a gorgeous sunny smile as you let out a laugh that almost melted Sirius’ heart on the spot.

“Hey Y/N! Come here!” Peter suddenly yelled over at you and both Sirius and James stared at him in shock.

Peter was never the loud one. Never the one to surprise the boys. And yet somehow, he was the only one in the group who had the balls to call you over. Sirius watched you stand up from your spot on the grass and walk over, a slight bounce in your step leaving your giggling friends behind. Peter’s face was red, and he immediately dropped his gaze to the ground in front of him and started picking at the grass with his stubby fingers. Remus was peeking over the top of his book with interest as you approached the boys with a sweet smile.

“Hey guys!” You grinned, Sirius had never noticed how bright your smile was. At the same time he noted how your canines were slightly more pointed even than his. “What’s up?” You drew his attention back to the present.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as Peter almost tried to sink into the floor as you looked at him for a moment with a questioning glance. When it was clear Peter had nothing to say, Sirius decided to speak up on his behalf.

“Pete just wanted to know how you did on the Transfiguration quiz today, we’re debating if you’re smarter than Remus.” A lazy smile occupied his face as you let out a soft chuckle.

“I did alright, but I know for a fact I could never be as smart as Remus,” you smiled at the boy next to Sirius whose ears turned a bit pink as he shot you a sheepish smile and disappeared behind his book.

“Well I know for a fact you’re smarter than me so maybe you could help me study sometime,” Sirius’ cocky personality coming back easily even though his heart sat in his throat every time he spoke to you.

“I’m sure you’d do a lot better in class if you applied yourself,” you smirked slightly and glanced down at his wand, “you know, if you studied instead of violating the grass.” You nudged his foot aside with your own to uncover a crude drawing of Snape.

“Alright, fair enough,” he barked out a laugh and pointed his wand at the grass in front of him, a daisy rising out of the earth this time. He plucked it and stood up to stand in front of you and felt a rush of confidence, “Go on a date with me instead. No studying required.”

He’d never seen you blush before, especially because of him. Sirius decided winning the house cup wouldn’t make him feel any happier than the sparkle in your eye and the pink tinge of your cheeks did.

“Alright Black, meet me by the greenhouses at ten Friday evening,” your chin tilted up almost challengingly as he towered over you by about a head, “After all, I know you don’t have a problem sneaking around after hours.”

“It’s a date,” Sirius winked and tucked the daisy he was still holding behind your ear, pushing your hair back in the process.

“See ya later boys,” you grinned as you backed away from Sirius with a little wave at the rest of his group.

Turning on your heel Sirius stayed standing as he watched you walk away back to your friends with a dazed look in his eyes. You turned to look at him one last time with a little pink still evident on your cheeks. Sirius flopped back onto the ground with a content sigh and looked around at James who was watching the entire exchange with an open mouth.

“How did she do that?” James finally prompted with an incredulous look.

“Huh?” Sirius shook his head, “that was all me darlin,” he snorted.

“No Sirius,” Remus chuckled lightly, “that was all her.”

“Who knows, there’s just something about her,” Sirius grinned and leaned back on his elbows, still looking your way.

James let out a laugh at Sirius’ blank expression as Remus sighed and tucked his book back into his back. Peter was still staring at the ground, his blush finally fading.

“You don’t know?” Remus looked at him with a piercing gaze, “She’s part Veela. Apparently, it runs in her mother’s side of the family.”

“Now it all makes sense!” James exclaimed in triumph and continued tossing his snitch up in the air, satisfied with his answer.

“Yeah but you don’t think…” Sirius trailed off and looked over to where your group had vacated their spot on the grass.

“No, I mean, she definitely likes you.” Remus reassured him as Sirius grumbled to himself and went back to angrily scorching things in the grass.

It made sense. Why he was so extremely drawn to you wherever you went. Why every boy’s eyes seemed to drift to you when you walked by them. Why Peter had the sudden confidence and urge to call you over just now. Was that the only reason he liked you? Did you manipulate him into liking you? He wasn’t so sure anymore. He was however determined to find out this Friday.

The classes leading up to your date seemed to creep by. Sirius spent half the time psyching himself out about being too excited and the other half questioning whether he even had any say in his emotions. On the fateful Friday he kept bouncing his leg under the table to the point where Peter asked him if someone had cast a jelly legs jinx on him.

When ten finally rolled around that evening he was striding towards the greenhouses with a nauseous feeling in his stomach. He’d barely been able to finish his dinner that evening and was just about to hurl up what little he did get down. You were leaning against the glass greenhouse nonchalantly, dressed in a muggle jumper and jeans his heart rate only sped up. When you finally noticed him, a smile took over your face and Sirius suddenly forgot all about his worries and his nausea melted away.

“Hi,” You sounded almost shy as Sirius approached you.

“Hey,” he heard himself speak, almost sounding out of breath.

“I want to show you something,” you smiled and held out your hand. He took it without hesitation as the two of you walked down the grounds.

You asked him about how classes were going and about some of his latest pranks with James. He happily told you stories of the marauders and you barely stopped laughing long enough to keep walking to the side of the black lake. In the back of his mind though Sirius couldn’t help but think about what Remus had told him earlier that week.

“Okay, trust me on this,” You interrupted his thoughts as you reached the edge of the grounds by walking along the edge of the lake.

“Wait, Y/N,” He tugged on your hand lightly to come to a stop together. “Remus told me something and I just need to make sure-“

“My great-grandma was Veela.” You stopped him, “People like to blame a lot of things on that.” You fiddled with the hems of your jumper and broke eye contact.

“I’m sorry I just-“

“Thought I might have been influencing your emotions?” you offered him a sad little smile, “You wouldn’t be the first to think that, don’t worry,” you shook your head, “but no, that’s not exactly something I can do.”

“Oh, well I can’t-“

“date someone who’s part Veela?” you bit your lip and looked away.

“For Merlins sake if you would stop interrupting me you’d see that I’m obviously mad about you and can’t wait to rub it in James’ face how horrendously wrong he was!” Sirius gently grabbed your waist and pulled you towards him. He couldn’t stop admiring the tiny embarrassed smile that was growing on your face.

“Sorry,” you huffed and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, “I should’ve known you’d be remarkably cool about this.”

“Now now, don’t beat yourself up about it, you’re only supernaturally beautiful, not a mind reader.” Sirius winked and gave your hip a soft squeeze as a laugh escaped your lips. “Can I kiss you?” He grinned.

“No,” you kissed his nose and pulled away with a chuckle, “but only because you’re going to want to see this first.” You tugged your jumper over your head in one smooth motion and dropped it by the edge of the lake.

“As much as I am loving where this is going, I don’t see why I couldn’t kiss you first.” Sirius stopped himself from pulling you back into him. The tank top you wore under your sweater did little to hide your body and he had to stop looking at you in order not to actually drool like a dog.

“Oh shove off Black,” you laughed and unzipped your jeans, stepping out of them. “You coming or what?” you smirked at his baffled expression as you bit your wand between your teeth and dove into the Black lake.

“Oh for fucks sake Sirius,” he mumbled under his breath to himself as he watched the ripples from your splash calm down. He quickly stripped down as well with a shake of his head and dove in after you. Following in the direction you’d swam in.

After diving deep enough to swim under one of the large rock structures at the edge of the bounds you rose back to the surface and Sirius followed your paddling feet. As soon as his head broke the surface of the water he let out a soft, “whoa”.

It was a small cave with bright crystals covering the walls, every crystal was a slightly different shade. You drew up out of the water and onto the dry surface of the hidden alcove. Your hair was soaked and your shirt clung to your body but the grin on your face was the only thing Sirius could look at. In the glow of the cave you still outshone it all.

“Come here,” you gave him your hand and helped him up, “watch this!” you smiled brightly and touched one of the purple crystals. It emitted a low hum, you then poked a blue crystal and it hummed at a different pitch. The more crystals you touched the more it started to sound like music.

“This is insane, how did you find this?” Sirius asked once the sound had dimmed and you’d turned back to face him.

“One of the mermaids showed me in my fifth year,” you admitted and looked around happily, “it calms me down.”

“The mermaids like you?” Sirius looked incredulous, “what am I saying of course they do, everyone likes you.” he rolled his eyes good naturedly.

“Oh yeah, they always have the best gossip, they love to chat,” you looked up at him, “they think you’re very handsome you know.”

“Really,” Sirius’ cocky grin slid back into place.

“No,” your laugh bounced around the walls adding to the music, “but I think I might know someone who does.”

He tucked a strand of your wet hair behind your ear as you raised up on your toes to press your lips to his ever so softly. His arms steadied you by wrapping around your waist and pressing you to him. He could feel you smile against his lips and he couldn’t stop his mouth from mimicking yours with a slight chuckle.

“You just had to ruin a perfectly good friendship didn’t you,” Sirius muttered against your lips.

“And you ruined a perfectly good moment,” you muttered back before letting out a squeak as Sirius scooped you up into his arms and kissed you back, gently pressing you against the wall. A chill ran down his spine as you played with his curls and it wasn’t from the cool splash of water.

“You know as romantic as this was, I’d much rather kiss you without rocks digging into my back,” you laughed as Sirius set you down.

“Such high standards,” he scoffed and winked before wrapping his arms around your shivering form, “come on, let’s go get warm.”

“Last one back is a flubber worm,” you ducked out from under his arm and dove into the water with a laugh as he chased you.

“Now that’s a girl after my heart,” he said to himself before diving after you.