#i got bored and i REALLY loved tulips arts and ideas and decided to make a little silly surprise! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aethelflaedladyofmercia · 3 years

Text

Twelve Months - Good Omens fanfic

Happy 31st Anniversary of Good Omens! :D

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have posted a slightly-sad, slightly-sweet Wake the Snake fic on AO3, because our demon has been napping for a whole Twelve Months, and sometimes Angel gets a little lonely!

Thank you all for another fantastic year in this fandom!

Twelve months.

Aziraphale pushed open the door to Crowley’s flat, a simple shopping bag tucked under his arm.

The lights were still off, the curtains drawn in the awful empty room he called a study. Nothing had changed.

He passed through the enormous, rotating section of wall and into the solarium. This was still bright—many of the plants flourishing despite being unattended so long, despite clearly not having enough water. A few had started flowering. They waved their branches at him as he entered, perking up eagerly.

The angel waved back, but first he peeked into Crowley’s bedroom.

He was still where Aziraphale had left him, on his last visit a month before. Bright red hair spilled across black pillows, grown into a stringy mop. Duvet pulled up to his messily-bearded chin. One hand curled up beside him on the bed.

Still asleep.

With a sigh, Aziraphale crossed over to the plants, who greeted him excitedly, unfurling their newest leaves, a few vines hanging down to brush his face.

“Hello, my lovelies. How are you all doing? Look at you, grown at least a foot since I saw you, I’m sure. And you! What beautiful pink buds. Very impressive.”

He didn’t think Crowley would approve of how he spoke to the plants, but the poor things had been so distraught on his first visit, straining to keep upright, trying to hide their yellowing leaves. So much healthier now, much happier for just a bit of attention. He picked up the watering can and gave them all a quick splash. He didn’t know how much water each needed, but it didn’t seem to matter.

“You keep it up, dears. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Picking up his shopping bag again, Aziraphale headed down the hall to the kitchen. The kettle sat on the island where he’d left it, and he quickly refilled it and set it to boil. While he waited, he pulled his latest creations from the bag: a small pumpkin spice cake from a recipe he’d been perfecting since fall, a lemon coconut cake, and a few apple cinnamon muffins.

Two plates—a muffin for each, a slice of the coconut cake for himself and the pumpkin spice for Crowley.[1] The rest went into the refrigerator, where they would never go bad or stale.

Aziraphale put the plates onto a tray, along with forks and napkins. Next he found two mugs and pulled the little tin of his second-favorite tea out of the bag just as the kettle boiled.

For himself, a teaspoon of the expertly blended leaves, steeped for exactly three minutes, resulting in a pale brown tea with a slightly spicy aroma. For Crowley, he dropped a tea bag into boiling water and let it sit until it was almost black.[2]

He carried the tray back to the solarium and selected a bright red-and-gold tulip that was nearly vibrating in its eagerness to be noticed. A moment to assure the other plants that they were still doing fabulously—particularly a self-conscious little succulent that had rather drooped over the winter but was making a fine recovery—and he once more headed into Crowley’s bedroom.

Crowley had rolled over, and now sprawled on his back, sleeping soundly. He’d apparently kicked a bit, too, as the blanket had slid down past his stomach. Aziraphale smiled as he set the tray on the chair he’d brought in some months ago and got to work.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, dear,” he started cheerfully, carefully rearranging the objects on the little bedside table. “I have a few things for you again, I hope you don’t mind.” Just enough space to slide the mug and the little plate. Perfect.

“I received a package from Tadfield again. Everyone wrote a note and then gathered them all together, really quite clever. They’re all doing well, if a bit bored.” The table was nearly overflowing with little items now, brought in by Aziraphale to cheer the place up. Framed pictures of their human friends, quarantining with their families, clustered in one corner so tightly you could hardly see them anymore.

He pulled the latest out of the shopping bag. “Anathema has started a garden,” he explained, pausing to show the photograph to Crowley’s sleeping form. It showed the witch, kneeling outside her little cottage, working on growing several rows of herbs. “I got the impression she was off to a rough start, but she hopes to send us some mint in the next package. Although Newt warned me not to expect too much, as they’d already forgotten which patch is mint and which is oregano.” He set the picture with the others, and slid the potted tulip alongside it. “I’m sure she could use some advice from you, when you’re ready to share.”

“Nnnnh.” Aziraphale spun eagerly, but no, just Crowley shifting in his sleep again, rolling onto his side.

The angel paused to pull the duvet back up to Crowley’s chin, tugging it straight and smoothing a hand down his back. In a way, his friend was nearly unrecognizable, with that hair and ridiculous beard, but in another way looked the same as ever. That was always Crowley’s way, of course, constantly changing yet somehow always the same.

He lingered, taking in the shape of that face, leaning close, lips hovering above his cheekbone—

Aziraphale pulled back, quickly digging into his bag again. “Oh! Ah, the, um, the children have been making projects for their art class. This past month was sculpture, and they sent us some. Look!” He pulled out four little figures of oven-baked clay. “Ah, young Wensleydale has made a very clever model of a train car. Brian’s is…abstract.” He turned the next a few different ways. “And Pepper’s is, ah, either a very complex symbolic representation of the Patriarchy, or…a troll, I think.” They just fit on the edge of the table, all in a line, a very mismatched tableau. The fourth, on the end, was the best, in Aziraphale’s opinion. “Adam made a little Dog, and it’s very well done, don’t you think?” The canine figure posed with one leg raised and head cocked, ready to play, but the shadow it cast was just a little too large, too ominous, for such a small creature.

With a sigh, Aziraphale shifted the row this way and that. “I sent a letter to Warlock, over in America, but haven’t heard back since Christmas. I believe they’re very busy with something. Politics. You know how it is.” When the Dowlings had left England, they’d planned to return for a visit the following summer. A global pandemic had had other ideas.

“In any case, that just leaves Tracy and Shadwell. I understand he’s decided to hate the concept of literacy this month, so no word on how his war with the squirrels is going. And Tracy has declared she will spend the summer making a fairy garden. I thought her sketches looked very promising, and she promised to send us an update in June. I’m sure you’ll find it charming.”

“Hrrrrm.” Crowley sank under the duvet, nestling down a little deeper. Aziraphale smiled, settling into the chair with his plate and mug.

“Things are loosening up again,” he explained, taking a bite of cake. Delicious, if he said so himself. Sharp and not too sweet. “People are getting vaccinated, shops opening up. It’s really a lovely breath of fresh air, at least when you’re not wearing a mask.” A long sip from his mug, then he held it, fingers tapping. “It’s been nice walking through the park again, just in time for the baby ducks. And that record shop at the corner, they’ve had some wonderful new additions. Which reminds me.”

Putting aside his mug, Aziraphale dug through the bag again and pulled out a handful of square plastic cases. “They had a whole shipment of those little records the Bentley likes. Modern music. I picked out the ones with the rudest names. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.” He pulled out the first disc and placed it atop Crowley’s phone. The device blinked in confusion a few times, then obediently copied all the music.

“Of course, it’s not all good news.” He stacked the rest of the discs atop the phone and returned to his tea. “Reopening means the customers are coming back. Yesterday, this one individual spent almost an hour browsing the same three shelves. And then he tried to make off with one of my books.” Another long sip. “Granted, he offered to pay, but still. What sort of establishment does he think I’m running?”

Aziraphale paused, waiting for Crowley to respond, not that he ever did. The demon’s eyelids moved a little, but no more.

Sighing, Aziraphale turned to his muffin. “You know, many times in the last year, I’ve wished you were there. Particularly during reopening phases. You could have posed as a customer, and then I’d be able to tell people I was at the capacity limit. Oh, and the people who would call to try and buy my rarest books. Collectors, or so they claimed, but then they just turn around and sell to anyone for twice the price! I’m sure you’d have some biting things to say about such people.” He smiled at Crowley’s sleeping face. “I’ve missed that, and your jokes. Rather more than I expected to.”

When his plate and tea were finished, Aziraphale set them on the floor and reached again into the bag. “Now, I have been attempting to teach my computer how to use the internet. I think it’s going quite well. Adam and his friends gave me a ‘homework assignment’ to find articles on recent news events, and I made the most wonderful discovery. Did you know that humans now share their news through humorous pictures? I printed out my favorites to show you.”[3]

He flicked through a few. “Ah, to start with, a few months ago there was this American politician with amusing mittens who showed up everywhere for a few days. It was extremely droll.” He leaned closer, holding them up for Crowley to see. “Ah, a few more from America. The murder hornets arrived, though by that point everyone had forgotten them. The election became increasingly confusing, and it all ended in a parking lot. For a little while everything was ‘This-or-That Total Landscaping,’ and before that everything was cake.” He showed a few extremely clever illusions. “I did try to make my own, but couldn’t manage it without miracles, which I felt was cheating.”

Really, leaning like this was starting to strain his back. Aziraphale shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, the better to share his pictures. “Ahhh. Also for a time everyone’s calendars were stuck on ‘March.’ And then earlier this year, a group of people learned how the stock market works, but sadly not how to spell it. The whole situation seemed very much like the sort of thing you’d be involved in. And…Oh, this angel from a television show was sent to Hell for…reasons.” He glanced at the shape beside him. Crowley had curled in slightly, pressing against Aziraphale’s back. “Yes. Various reasons. And then this musician, I suppose, went on his own. Both had many people extraordinarily upset.”

The next few images would really tickle Crowley, if he could actually see them. “The biggest news is that a large ship got stuck sideways in that canal in Egypt. Stopped half the world’s shipping for a few days while they dug it out! I’m sure you would have liked that very much. Exactly your sort of trouble. The humans were all very excited.”

The final photo was another of the ship, an image Aziraphale had made himself, printing out a blank version and writing on it in felt-tip pen. The hull of the enormous ship was labeled, “An eternity putting up with the tedious bureaucracy and frequently conflicting commands of my superiors until I begin to doubt my own judgement and sanity,”[4] while the small digger working steadily beside it was “Crowley.”

Aziraphale watched the demon beside him, not really expecting a reaction, certainly not getting one. He reached over, brushing brilliant hair back from Crowley’s forehead. “I think you’d have had rather a lot of fun last year. Or perhaps you’d have been upset you could only watch from a distance. Or…”

He’d leaned much closer than he’d intended, hovering just above Crowley’s forehead.

“Well!” Aziraphale stumbled to his feet. “I suppose that’s just about everything.” He picked up the tray from where he’d rested it on the floor, starting to re-load it with everything he’d brought in. Crowley’s cake and tea sat untouched, as always, but Aziraphale wouldn’t dream of skipping them. “We’re all very optimistic for the summer. Two months and everything should be just…just tickety-boo. Perhaps we can go for that picnic soon, if…yes…”

They’d made such plans for 2020. All the things they would do now they were free. Plans, and other thoughts carried in their minds, possibilities that would play out in their own time. Not too fast, just a slow, steady exploration of everything they could be…

“Well. Pleasant as that idea is, best not to—to plan too much, as the previous year made fools of us all. I just…” He turned away from the tray and watched Crowley sleep, hands clasped before him. “I miss you terribly. And I wish…very much…”

He picked up his shopping bag. One item still inside. The same one he’d been carrying for months, trying to find the courage to bring it out.

With a shaking hand, he reached in and drew forth a soft hand-made doll. He’d spent much of the winter on it. Simple white cotton for the head and body, wooly curls for the hair, and stiff white lace for the wings. Dressed in waistcoat and bowtie made from Aziraphale’s favorite tartan.

He still wasn’t sure why he brought it. He’d stitched several little toys, particularly a lovely black-and-red serpent with gold button eyes that had watched him from the sofa since November. But this, for reasons he couldn’t articulate, this one was for Crowley.

“I, ah…” He shuffled closer, doll clutched in both hands. “I made, um…” Back to the edge of the bed, one hand fumbling across the duvet. “…thought you might like…”

Crowley’s face stood out in stark contrast to the pillow, pale skin and bright hair. Aziraphale wanted to drink it in, memorize every detail, to hold him over until next month. The curve of his nose, the sharp angle of his cheekbones. His lashes flickering as his eyes moved. His lips, pursed ever so slightly…

“Bless it, Angel, are you going to kiss me or not?”

Aziraphale gasped, pulling back from the bright gaze of slit-pupil eyes. “You—you’re awake!”

“Nnnh. Half.” Crowley shifted, head moving across the pillow, eyes threatening to shut again. “Wouldn’t miss your visit.” One hand reached out, plucked the doll from Aziraphale’s unresisting fingers. “For me?”

The angel nodded. “If…if…you like it…or I could—I could just…”

Without a word, Crowley pulled the doll under the duvet and curled up, tucking it under his chin, a faint smile on his lips.

“If you were awake you—you should have said something! I’ve been going—going off like a fool all this—oh!” Aziraphale could feel his face turning hot as he recalled a few times his tongue had been a bit too loose for propriety.

“Mmmmmh.” The golden eyes were shut again.

“Crowley?” No response. “Crowley!” Aziraphale scowled. “Anthony J. Crowley, if you’ve fallen asleep again, I swear, I’ll—”

He’d do what? The angel fumed, but what could he really threaten? To stay away? Never.

“Alright then, I suppose I’ll see you in June. I��ve had several new requests for extremely rare manuscripts and I need to go pen some responses reprimanding these vultures for their cheek. I can—”

“You can stay.”

He spun around. Crowley had one eye barely cracked open. Gently, he pulled back the duvet, showing there was just enough space for Aziraphale beside him.

“I…I couldn’t.” But he stepped forward, not back. “I have business tomorrow, things to—”

“Just tonight then.”

His fingers brushed the mattress and pulled back as if burned. “You—you don’t really mean this, you’re just talking in your sleep.”

“Nah.” Crowley settled the doll by his pillow, making space. “Why else would I give you my key?”

“I…to…water the plants?”

“They take care of themselves.” Crowley held open his arms, eyes shut once more. “I missed you, too.”

Well. What could he say to that?

Aziraphale took off his shoes and slid into bed, into Crowley's arms. They wrapped around him gently as Crowley wriggled closer. “Mmmm. Y’r softer than the doll.”

“Oh.” He’d been called soft many times, generally as a way to imply he was a failure as an angel. But just this once, it made him feel rather pleased. “Soft is good?”

“Verrrry good.” Crowley twisted a bit, trying to find a comfortable way to rest his long limbs, and finally settled curled up against Aziraphale’s chest, tucked below the angel’s chin with a leg hooked over his knees.

The angel smiled. “And you’re…you’re noodlier than a stuffed snake. Err…”

A chuckle, just a stirring of breath across his throat. “Can’t wait to hear the story behind that.” Crowley nuzzled against his shoulder with a sigh. “Good night, Angel.”

Aziraphale swept the brilliant hair back again and bent down, pressing his lips to Crowley’s forehead. A soft, gentle kiss that made his friend smile a little more broadly. “Good night, my dear.”

Crowley drifted off again, burrowing close, as the angel continued to gently tease the back of his hair. Perhaps, he thought, perhaps tomorrow's work wasn't so very urgent. Perhaps a bit of rest would do him good. And perhaps...

Well. Don't plan too much. But for the first time, Aziraphale felt a bit of optimism about the coming summer and its possibilities.

“Sleep well, Crowley.”

[1] Crowley had invented pumpkin spice, and Aziraphale assumed he must like it. In truth, Crowley despised it, and regretted every autumn how it took over the entire world. He missed apple cider season. [2] Aziraphale had suspected since the early 1950s that Crowley secretly took his tea with several lumps of sugar, but would continue to pretend he didn’t know until Crowley confessed. Considering current circumstances, that was unlikely to be any time soon. [3] Aziraphale’s fax machine, revived after over three decades of disuse, had been somewhat confused to be asked to perform any task at all, much less to print memes onto photo paper with perfectly balanced color; but like the plants and Crowley’s phone, it couldn’t stand to disappoint the angel. [4] It was possible he hadn’t quite mastered this new form of communication.

124 notes · View notes

angelz-dust · 3 years

Text

masters of none - part 4 (jason todd x reader)

summary: after many months, we are back in action and back in reader’s head. pls enjoy these jason crumbs. if you need a refresher on the plot, the other chapters will be linked below!

word count: 3.7k

warnings: food/eating. alcohol. cursing.

part 1 /// part 2 //// part 3

gravity

ever since i ever felt ya, right there life couldn't seem better. tulip flowers in my sweater. ask me now, is this forever?

…

you rested your chin on the table before you, your arms hanging limply between your knees as you listened to your manager, dana. you were really just watching her mouth open and close while she pointed at a powerpoint. god, what you would've given for an extra hour of sleep. the all nighters in the studio were starting to take a toll.

the feeling of the back of daisy’s soft hands brought you back to earth. the smell of cocoa butter dancing beneath your nostrils as her smooth engagement ring rolled across your cheek. you breathed in her smell, exhaling in content through your nose.

“you good?” she mouthed and you closed your eyes, giving her a little nod. the bassist rubbed her calloused fingers against your forehead, pushing strands of your hair past your hairline. you pouted when she eventually pulled away, leaving you only with the sensation of touch that once was.

you heard tyler shift in his seat and then felt some air graze against your hand. you looked under the table, noticing he was holding something out to you. you two made eye contact briefly before you scooted back in, grabbing what felt like an envelope. looking down at your lap, you saw a sticky note attached to it. jason’s money was what it said. you carefully put the envelope in your jacket pocket, sitting back in your seat now and looking at dana’s powerpoint. she was going over reports from your publicist, jerry, which you didn't particularly care about.

“now, i have to ask,” dana’s words pierced your bubble of inattention. “have you all thought about what i said about this next album?”

jordy raised his hand like a school kid. “yes?”

“y/n and i decided that we'd be okay with making our album a group project. it has been, admittedly, kinda hard and boring without everyone else. we’d honestly be doing ourselves a disservice by not doing it together,” jordy explained, dana clapping her hands together.

“wonderful,” she nodded, keeping her hands clasped. “i know you two were excited to do your own thing, but i was talking to jerry and he was really pressing me to get a group album from you guys. the people wanna see you guys as a unit of established artists, which you all are. so what's the concept? we never discussed it.”

“uh,” you verbally paused, raising your arms above your head to stretch. “disco, jazz, and funk. it's a mix of those.”

“retro is in right now,” dana nodded, pacing around the room. “how far back will this set us on a release date?”

you grimaced, leaning back in your seat, the back of the seat lightly bouncing as it absorbed your weight. you pondered the question for a moment. “if it’s gonna be a group thing, it'll have to be significantly longer. we have a decent starting off point but i'm gonna need way more songs now.”

“what about the rest of you? any tracks that we could swing?” dana asked, looking at the rest of the group.

grabbing a pen and piece of scrap paper, you started jotting down notes as everyone spoke out to you. dex and quinton didn’t have anything, but they wouldn’t be a problem. you just needed to give them a beat to rap over and you’d be set. the twins had a finished song already that fit the concept, which was good. with tyler’s voice and aly’s excellent song writing abilities, you doubted very seriously that anything else needed to be done to it. daisy and hector had plenty of lyricless songs, too. funk and soul was their specialty, after all. misha even had a demo track she was willing to share.

you looked over the notes you had taken, tapping your pen on the table as you hummed to yourself. “this could probably work. we’ll need to go over everything in the studio, though.”

“we should just do it now. no one is doing shit else today, right?” dex asked the group, who all shook their head.

“i have a request,” you raised your finger, looking at dana. “i want gotham to be involved in this project.”

“gotham…” dana repeated slowly, unsure of what you meant. “care to elaborate?”

“music videos directed by student directors from gotham university, commissioning local artists for album art. dancers, actors, musicians, whatever. all of them have to be from gotham. i don't want any of the money we put into this project leaving this city,” you stated firmly, dana giving you a blank look.

“i like that idea,” hector said, giving you a kind smile before turning to dana, shifting in his seat. the drummer was like a big brother, always backing you up in moments like these. “accessibility to the arts is really limited here and we should change that.”

“i’d rather give back to the city, too,” quinton agreed, playing with the gold cross hanging from his neck. “we’re one of the only groups in gotham known outside of gotham. we should use that as an opportunity to rep our city.”

“it sounds like you have your minds made up on this,” dana narrowed her eyes, letting out a sigh. “it would definitely be good PR.”

“because god forbid we do something out of the kindness of our hearts,” misha laughed, rolling her eyes. “we're trying to put the city on and you're worried about how it makes us look.”

“that's my job, misha. don't you want me to do my job?” dana retorted. “besides, i'm more concerned with the funding. you all don't have disposable income, believe it or not.”

“but i know someone who does,” she said with a singsong tone, giving you a look.

“i hope you're not referring to me,” you deadpanned. your income was far from disposable.

“i’m referring to our good friend, bruce wayne,” she explained, grabbing a business card out of her purse, handing it over to dana. “ever since i got invited to that charity gala, i've had a direct line to a representative with the wayne foundation. i say we ask them to help fund the project.”

“now that could work,” dana admitted, eyeing the card as she tapped her foot. “if we pitch for more youth involvement, it'll probably go over better. we all know how much bruce wayne loves saving the children.”

you frowned at how dana described bruce’s initiatives as a philanthropist. you were sure his motivations for favoring youth projects were good intentioned, considering his parents had been killed when he was just a little boy. you wanted to go into this good intentioned, too and you hoped that they'd agree. they being the wayne foundation and subsequently, bruce himself.

“ty and quinton could do something with forrester. if we’re going for the youth involvement route, i mean,” aly spoke up.

“forrester correctional. our old stomping grounds,” quinton sighed wistfully as he patted tyler on the shoulder. “i think that would be a good idea.”

“they use the arts as an outlet for them, so it could be beneficial for everyone,” tyler nodded. “there are a lot of good kids there. just unfortunate circumstances, that’s all.”

“wasn’t one of bruce’s son’s a troublemaker before he was adopted?” aly continued, not noticing the look you and tyler shared. “i’m sure he’d probably be interested in doing something with them if his son comes from the same background.”

“it’s settled, then. you all keep working on the music. jerry and i will handle the rest. we need this album out before hector and daisy’s wedding,” dana said, grabbing her suitcase.

…

hey, i have your money. did you still want it?

you stared down at the unsent message, your thumb floating over the send arrow. you hadn’t spoken to jason since that night after the race, as per his request. your mind kept wandering back to it, even as time still went on. what happened was scary, to say the least. fun, but scary. you wondered how the hell jason didn’t get the two of you killed. that part, you didn't want to think about too hard. everyone in gotham had their secrets and it was an unspoken rule amongst citizens to not pry. secrets were secrets for a reason. nothing good ever came from unearthing them.

speaking of secrets, you hadn't exactly told tyler and quinton what happened that night. not in detail. you conveniently left out the chase and stopping to get something to eat. omitting the first part was obvious, but the second one was for your own sanity. you didn't need them teasing you over nothing. besides, all that mattered was no one was dead or arrested. and for the way the three of you used to get down, that was a win.

you considered texting jason earlier this week, just to check in on him, but you decided against it. he obviously wanted you to text him and you obviously had to do the opposite. his little mind game wasn’t going to work on you. you pressed send, frowning immediately as you did so.

maybe it already had.

“it’s too many people in this bitch,” dex sighed, the cold of the water bottle you had asked him for against your hand bringing you back to reality. blinking, you were suddenly very aware of the chaos surrounding you in the studio as you put your phone back in your pocket. you looked to your left, where jordy was leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone. to your right was aly, who was scribbling in her songbook in the chair next to you. you remembered you were supposed to be working, too. “we need a new stu.”

“i’m working on it!” hector hollered from inside the booth as he and daisy were setting up equipment and instruments. you glanced up at the glass in front when you heard his voice, accidentally catching the pair share a little kiss. you quickly averted your gaze, smiling to yourself.

“new stu, new view, what it do?” quinton began to freestyle to a beat he was making on the coffee table in front of him. “off 92, posted up with southside crew.”

“okay,” dex laughed, noddinh his head as he was vibing with the beat, making his way out of your line of sight. you heard someone, presumably tyler, join in and add some depth to the beat. it sounded like he was hitting a pencil against a shot glass.

“i got a new boo, but i’m tryna slide with misha, too,” quinton continued, dex adlibbing in the back as quinton lowered his voice to his signature melodic whisper. “on the low, nobody gotta know.”

“would you shut the fuck up?” you heard misha say, followed by a barrage of muffled smacking noises and verbal objections from quinton, who you assumed was on the receiving end of what sounded like an assault by pillow.

laughing to yourself, you leaned your head in aly’s direction, not fully facing her. “pass me the flash drive?” you held your hand out weakly. once you felt the plastic in your palm, you leaned back over and put it into the computer, pulling up the proper files.

“we’re done back here,” daisy smiled at you, she and hector coming out from the booth.

you clapped your hands together. “wonderful. everybody shut up, please.”

you pulled up the twin’s song and let it play, your eyes fixed on the colorful audio loops on the screen. the green ones were tyler’s vocals, the purple were aly’s. it looked like blue was reserved for instruments and red was any added sound effects or layered sounds.

“you two sound really great,” jordy walked up behind aly’s seat, leaning against it as he swayed his head to the beat.

“thanks. i wrote it with our mother in mind,” aly said, the words coming out of her mouth uncomfortably. you placed your hand on hers and gave it a little squeeze, which earned you a look of appreciation.

“it's missing something, though,” tyler scratched the back of his head. “i need the producer squad to give us some assistance.”

“oh, say less,” dex laughed, snapping his fingers to the beat with one hand and holding his glass of hennessy in the other. he danced his way over, taking aly’s seat as she, tyler and jordy moved to give you all some space.

misha sauntered her way over, sitting against the table and flipping her hair over her shoulder. the smell of her sweet perfume floated in the air around you. “i think it just needs some fluffing up. some snapping might work. more vocal layering in certain spots.”

“i agree,” you nodded, dex letting out a satisfied sigh as he took a sip of his cold drink.

“is it good?” misha asked him teasingly and he took his final swig, letting out a more dramatic and drawn out sigh. this time, though, it was on beat with the song. you were pretty sure it was unintentional on his part, since he and misha just shared a laugh before returning their attention to the screen.

after a moment of pondering, you swiveled around in your chair, looking at tyler. “okay, hear me out…”

…

two weeks of very diligent working between the nine of you had given you a lot to work with for the album. all that was left was to start putting things together. you still had a ways to go, but you had a good starting off point. as much as you hated to admit it, it was a good call on dana’s part to have you all do a group album. the fans seemed to be greatly anticipating the release and the work ethic the nine of you shared was incredible. even in that cramped little studio, you all made it work.

you all agreed to take the day off, but you were still working at some capacity. you had just traded one small space for another, working in your walk-in closet/home studio for the day. you still needed said walk-in to function as a closet, so there were still garment bags pushed up into a corner and shoe boxes haphazardly stacked, surrounding your desk that you had shoved in there. there was just enough space for you to move your chair and safely get out without twisting an ankle, a fate you often flirted with in that room.

in the spirit of your day off, you hadn't done anything too difficult. you were just trying to decide what order you wanted the completed songs to go in. it may seem like an insignificant detail, but the order was important. the transitions between songs couldn't be jarring for the listener. everything had to flow together with natural progression. at this point, it didn't matter since you weren't done with the album, but it was just giving you an idea of how to fill the gaps with future songs.

the sound of your growling stomach indicated that it was time to stop for the day. you quickly saved all your work and headed to the kitchen. you popped some leftovers in the microwave and scrolled on twitter while you waited. the microwave beeped at you, so you set your phone back down and grabbed the bowl, mixing up the contents with your fork. the flash of light coming from your phone got your attention. a text notification.

are you home?

oh, so now he wanted to respond? cute.

despite your annoyance with the situation, you quickly responded with a yes and set the phone back down. you leaned against the counter, eating what little food you had in your reheated bowl. you mixed the contents around with your fork, grumbling. stupid jason and his stupid inability to text back. he could have at least had the decency to leave you on read. he probably didn't even have read receipts on. you weren't sure which was worse. tossing your now empty bowl into the sink, you grabbed your phone to read his next message.

i’ll be over soon.

soon was very vague and you wished that you would've demanded an exact time, but that opportunity had passed by the time you thought about it. you busied yourself with tidying up, trying to make your place look presentable. you even lit your new candle, which you found yourself focusing your attention on while you waited for him to show up. staring at the flame was much more entrancing than you anticipated.

you heard the door buzzer go off. you weren't expecting anyone else, so it had to be him. you leaned against the wall, pressing your finger to the button.

“who goes there?” you presented the question as a joke, but your tone was a little flat.

“it’s the irs,” jason’s voice came through and you buzzed him in.

not too long after, you heard him knock on the door. you cracked it open and the first thing you noticed was his cologne. it was a strong but pleasant scent. spicy and sweet. it was very intoxicating, actually. so much so that you almost forgot you were angry at him.

“hi.”

“hello.”

you opened the door fully and handed the envelope to him. jason eyed it suspiciously. he opened it up and began to count it out in front of you. he made an effort to do it very slow, the sound of the crisp dollars echoing in the quiet hall. his eyes stayed glued to yours as he counted out loud. you leaned against the doorframe as you watched.

“six… seven… eight,” he said, pulling out his wallet and stuffing it with the cash. “thought you would've skimmed some off the top.”

“i should have with how long you made me wait,” you said matter of factly, letting your annoyance be known now.

“i know. i’m sorry,” he sounded honest but you couldn't see it in his face or in his eyes, which was worrisome. it was a nice alternative to listening to a sputter of excuses, though. “let me make it up to you?”

“how do you plan on doing that?”

“i’m so glad you asked,” he smiled. “as it turns out, i've recently come into some money. let me spend it on you?”

“so you like throwing money at your problems?” you asked him. well, you weren't really asking. it was more like you were telling him.

“no,” he said, sounding a little offended. “i just thought-”

“you just thought that throwing money at me would make me forget about the fact that you ignored me for a month.”

“no, no,” he shook his head, sighing in frustration. “listen, i-”

“i really don't wanna hear it,” you said honestly, watching as his frustrated look turned into kicked puppy. you almost felt bad. “i don't like feeling stupid, jason. that's how i feel right now. i want you to make it up to me but you'll have to be a bit more creative than this.”

“you want me to make it up to you?” jason had repeated, confusion on his face.

you poked him harshly in the chest. “you do that or you leave me alone. those are your options. goodbye.”

you shut the door in his face and let out the breath you were holding in. you weren’t sure how jason was going to react to your little ultimatum, but those were your terms. you liked him but you weren’t going to stress over someone you barely knew, especially with your assumptions about him floating around in your head.

“i’ll be right back,” you heard him say through the door, catching you off guard.

“what?”

“don’t go anywhere.”

you didn’t respond but you heard his footsteps getting quieter as he walked down the hall. the elevator ding indicated that he had left. you stood there, confused as to what it was he was trying to do. you were still stewing in your negative emotions, so you went and busied yourself again. you decided the dishes needed washing and got on it right away. in the middle of scrubbing the stubborn sauce stains out of your plate, you heard your door buzzer go off again.

so he did come back after all. interesting.

you buzzed him in like you did before and waited by the door for him. he knocked and when you opened it, you were met with two gifts: a bouquet of pink tulips and a small box of something from the bakery around the corner.

“i shouldn’t have ignored you. it was rude and stupid and i’m sorry. it won’t happen again,” he said to you, holding out the items to you. you hesitantly accepted them, taking the opportunity to look through the plastic opening of the box to see chocolate covered strawberries.

“it better not happen again,” you pouted, looking up at him. you had to appreciate the effort he put in at such short notice. it was a sweet gesture and he actually looked sorry this time.

“it won’t,” he assured you and you smiled.

“i forgive you. but you’re on thin fucking ice,” you reminded him and he grinned at you with a nod.

“i’m going to make it up to you. just you wait,” he said confidently. “not all of us are naturally creative like you, though. you gotta give me some time to think of something else.”

“seems like you’re getting your feet wet with the flower selection,” you noted, taking a whiff of the delicate and fresh scent. they’d look nice on your coffee table.

“lady at the shop said they would convey my sincerest apologies,” he explained, a hopeful look in his eyes. “did it work?”

“for now,” you shrugged, setting the items down on the table next to the door.

“i can accept that.”

“you’re gonna have to because that’s all i’m giving you,” you said firmly. his charm wasn’t going to get him out of this one. not completely. “now go away. i want to eat my berries in peace.”

“i’ll text you as soon as i get the chance,” he told you as you were shutting the door. you peered at him, narrowing your eyes before shutting it again. “i’m serious!”

“goodbye, jason!” you said through the door. you heard his faint farewell as you walked away, plopping on the couch with your dessert in hand.

were you still a little mad at him? yes. but you weren’t going to pass up free stuff, even if you had made all that fuss about the money earlier. at least the gifts had some thought behind them. so long as he held up his end of the deal, you had a feeling being friends with jason wouldn’t be that bad.

hopefully, anyway.

#jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #dc x reader #jason todd #red hood

69 notes · View notes

rosepetalmark · 4 years

Text

flowers in your hair

↬ Johnny Suh x Reader ↬1.8k Words ↬Your allergies and creating art are two things Johnny holds dear to his heart

You hated the outdoors. Anything to do with bugs, dirt, and even plants made you itch and sneeze and scared that you’ll get some rare unknown disease and die because the innocent looking flower you picked by the bench turned out to be poisonous.

Johnny on the other hand, enjoyed nature and embraced it to its fullest. Every day he’d make time to bask in the grass, and soak up all the sun while working on his latest art inspiration.

Today, he decided that sitting in a field full of sunflowers would be ideal for his newest project, and what would make it more worthwhile and perfect was if you, his girlfriend were with him to occupy his time and add further enjoyment to his favourite hobby.

Horrible idea on his part because you’re allergic to flowers, and tall fields of grass would most likely break you out into hives and have you coughing up a lung. Johnny wouldn’t bat an eye though, because despite loving you with all his heart, he had a knack for making fun of you and the simplest inconveniences that occurred within your life.

He always says you’re over dramatic when it comes to your “spring allergies” and that nothing like some water and the fresh air will clear your mind and nasal passages.

He’s a dumbass, and he really will be the reason you die one day.

But Johnny didn’t care, because as long he had you, a bottle of allergy medicine for your sneezing and itching, and his paintbrushes, he was content, even if you spent a great amount of your time in this damn sunflower field teary eyed and stuffy nosed.

“Johnny, please tell me we can leave soon, I'm itching way more now than I did when i had the chickenpox as a kid,” you whine, rubbing your hands across your bare arms to provide you with any relief as you watched the bees swarm past you in their search for some nectar in the flowers nearby.

“Mhm,” he whispers, continuing to stroke the paintbrush across the now detailed page, completely oblivious to the words that just left your mouth.

This always happened. Whenever he took you somewhere new, he’d completely block out the world, yourself included, in order to capture the essence of life whether it be through his camera or canvas.

Of course there was silence, why wouldn’t there be. Every time Johnny asks you to accompany him anywhere outdoors, you always think you’re going to explore and embrace nature, and every single time you are wrong, because the second you find something beautiful to look at, he sets his small backpack down and busts out either his camera or painting utensils to capture it.

You’d say it pissed you off at times, but art is his passion, and you’d never do anything to get in the way he feels so alive and free whenever he consumes himself with something as minuscule and simple as a paperclip. He finds the beauty in anything and everything, never ceasing to amaze you with the wonderful creations he illustrates.

“Johnny,” you say a little louder, unamused with the silence you receive, and the continuous strokes he continues to make on the page.

You call his name again, and again, and again, and it’s only the third time when you yell out his full name, that he finally drops the brush on his palette and focuses his attention on you.

“Were you not listening to me?” You question, seriously surprised that out of all the times you’ve called his name, he either completely ignored you or has gone def within his 25 years of life.

“Oh, I was listening,” he hums, raising his eyebrows whilst providing you with his staple cheeky grin, one he always does when he wants to get on your nerves.

Always a cocky one that guy, and how you manage to stay dating him truly blows your mind.

Sighing, you focus your gaze away from the way he picks up his paintbrush again and gently strokes baby blue across the page, looking towards the tall stocks of sunflowers gently breezing in the wind a few feet away from you.

“You’re such a crappy boyfriend,” you chuckle, picking up one of the untouched pastel crayons and examining its fluorescent blue hue. “You never pay attention to me.”

“I never pay attention to you, hm?” He asks, causing you to stare back at his now stoic stature, face still focusing on his notebook and nowhere on you, but more contoured and rigid this time.

“Well, you’re speaking to me now yet your attention is never on me, always on whatever you’re painting or drawing,” your tone slightly angered.

Obviously you were lying. Johnny was the most attentive boyfriend you could ever ask for, always checking in on you and ensuring your day goes smoothly, always hanging out with you when he’d rather be napping or out painting or doing photography, and almost always is down to make out with you whenever the opportunity arises.

You just like to pull his leg most of the time because it’s funny seeing how riled up he gets when he believes that you think he’d rather focus on his hobbies over having conversations with you.

“Here,” he signals, shoving his book in your direction, encouraging you to look through the worn out leather book he kept hidden for months, wanting you to see what he has been working on secretly whenever you were together.

Confused, you run your fingers along the enclosed ribbon on the cover of the sketchbook, hesitant to allow yourself in the work he’s immersed himself in for hours whenever the beauty in nature took over his attention span away from you.

Raising his eyebrows, he nods in a manner that demands you open the book. “If I don’t pay any attention to you, look through the book.”

Untying the string , you decide that whatever is in this book isn’t a secret anymore, because it wouldn’t even be in your hands if Johnny didn’t practically throw it at you to shut you and your curiosity up.

The first few pages are beautiful, really. He has a way with his sketches, always seeming so simple yet so realistic you’d think they were actual pictures edited just to appear more striking to the eye.

“Nature really is what inspires you hm?,” you ask, more of a rhetorical question because you already know the answer that’ll come from his mouth.

Chuckling, he brings his body closer to yours so his chin is resting on your shoulder, watching as you delicately turn the pages of his book. “Yeah, but there’s something more encapsulating that ends up being my muse, just keeping looking through.”

Golden sunflowers, vibrant pink sunsets, the giant pumpkin you both visited at the fall fair last year, everything you two experienced together when hanging out was documented in this book and reinvented through his drawings or paintings of them.

And then you saw a sketch of yourself. At first you thought it was cute, because he’d always draw you and all your other friends whenever he got bored. But four pages later all you found were several pages filled with you, ranging from when when he placed different coloured tulips in your hair that one time you went on a walk in the new community garden not far from your favourite ice cream shop, or when you experimented with makeup and put glitter all over your eyebrows.

Every moment you deemed minuscule and fun was captured so deeply in Johnny’s eyes, that he decided to relive it all again through the many strokes and colours that seamlessly came together to create something so beautiful.

Your breath was absolutely taken away.

You always thought nature is what captured Johnny’s attention the most, but turns out it’s always been you.

“I’m. Wait Johnny this is so-,” you begin to say, but your words become jumbled and your emotions a tangled mess, leaving you with tears in your eyes and so much more love for him in your heart than you’d ever had before, all because he drew some pictures of you.

“Do you like them?” he questions, raising his eyebrows, awaiting your answer of approval, his question only promoting the waterworks to begin and your head to aggressively nod.

You place the notebook gently on the blanket you two were sitting on, and crawl into his lap, pressing your body closer to his as you wrap your arms around his neck.

They were absolutely perfect. He was perfect.

Everything Johnny Suh says and does is absolutely incredible and you’re so incredibly lucky to be dating the cheesiest, most loving goofball the earth has to offer. Even if he’s a giant pain in your ass 97% of the time.

Pecking his cheek, you stare into his gleaming brown orbs. “I absolutely love them, Mr. Johnny Suh, and I love you a million times more.”

Tightening your arms around his neck, you couldn’t help but embrace this moment for much longer. You don’t care that you’re five seconds away from bursting into hives and that your throat feels like it’s closing up. Holding on to your very sweet, thoughtful boyfriend for as long as you could right in this moment was all that mattered to you.

“I was joking by the way, I know you care about me alot and pay more attention than most boyfriends would and I appreciate you tremendously.” You could start to feel the tears well up in the corners of your eyes, because you honestly don’t know what you’d do without Johnny.

He was your best friend, and has been such an uplifting, inspiring person ever since he entered your life your freshman year of college, the thought of him not being in your life one day was a scary thought you never wanted to come true.

“I love you always.”

“I know babe”, he whispered, kissing your cheek and running his fingers delicately through your hair, trying to calm you down as he could sense you were feeling rather overwhelmed.

“I wouldn’t keep dragging you to places you hated if I knew you didn’t love me,” he exclaimed, bursting out into a loud, body shaking laugh that provided you with the comfort to let your tears go, and laugh in unison with him.

Lifting you off his lap, Johnny grabs his art supplies and gently places them in his bag, grabbing your hand and pulling you up from the dry, matted grass you were both sitting on.

“Where are you dragging me?”

“Back to my place.” He winks, quickly pecking your lips before intertwining his fingers with yours, pulling you into the direction of his car.

“It wouldn’t be romantic to be making out with my girlfriend that I love very much in a sunflower field if she kept sneezing in my face, wouldn’t it?”

#johnny scenarios #johnny seo #johnny suh #nct #nct 127 #nct scenarios #nct scenario #nct 127 scenarios #kpop scenarios #johnny nct #nct fluff #nct soft hours #johnny suh scenarios #nct au #nct 127 au #johnny fic #nct fic #nct blurb #johnny blurb

442 notes · View notes

official-weasley · 3 years

Text

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 5, Ch. 9

PART 5: THE YEAR WHEN EVERYONE FIGHTS Chapter 9 - The O.W.L.s and a Letter

Nova

The morning before my first O.W.L. which was from Care of Magical Creatures, so I couldn't help to be a little nervous as I still held Kettleburn by his word that I could take care of a Salamander if I get an O on my O.W.L., I made my way down with Tulip for breakfast. Bill, Charlie, Penny, and Tonks were already there and they greeted us as we sat down.

“Nervous, you three?” Penny asked, looking at Tonks, Charlie, and me.

“Nope.” Charlie and I both said at once.

“I think that I have third wheeled with these two enough to pass the class.” Tonks pointed at us.

“What do you mean third wheeled?” I asked puzzled. I looked at Charlie who just chuckled. I still haven't managed to figure out what was different about him. He has always been a tranquil person but ever since we made up he seemed so okay with everything and if something happened that made me confused he just chuckled like now or winked at me. And I knew that was new, as Charlie was too shy to wink at an animal let alone to me, or any girl for that matter.

Before any of them could reply it was time for Owl Post and I saw Pip searching for me.

“Hi, Pippy!” I greeted him and took the letter from his beak. He made his way to Charlie at once.

I stared at the envelope, without knowing what to do. I haven't gotten a blue envelope with a golden stamp since my dad passed away.

“What's wrong?” Charlie knew something wasn't right immediately, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“It...it's from Egypt.” I was still holding on to the letter and now we all stared at it as if it was going to open itself.

“What do you reckon is about?” Penny asked as gently as she could.

“I have no idea.” I replied. I looked at Charlie and he nodded for me to open it. I turned it around and broke the seal. I took out the parchment and started reading. I appreciated that Charlie pulled away from me so I could read the letter in private, even though I would've shown him the letter anyway.

Dear Nova,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I don't know if your mum told you but we are still unable to fill your father's position. The interns we got this Summer were nothing compared to the boys he trained last year.

We decided to go through his files and found a recommendation letter in the folder of William Weasley.

If I recall correctly, he is your friend and he got the internship because you told your father that his ambition is to become a Curse Breaker. Upon looking through his file, we were quite impressed and your dad wrote and I quote “he is a rising star in the Curse Breaking community”. Upon seeing his birth year, I would assume he is in his books studying for N.E.W.T.s right now but just in case I have miscalculated something, I was wondering if you would be so kind and give him this letter.

We would be delighted to hear from him and offer him your father's position if he is still interested in working with us. Of course, he would have to go through several training exercises and the whole procedure like everyone else, but I don't want to bore you with the details.

I greatly appreciate your help and know that despite what happened, you still have family here that you can visit.

A warm greeting from us all here in Egypt,

Robert

A tear ran down my cheek, as I finished the letter. I looked up, everybody was still looking at me.

“It's for you.” I looked at Bill and gave him the letter across the table gently smiling. Tulip and Penny, sitting next to him, peaked and read it with him.

“They're offering me your dad's job?” Bill couldn't believe it. Charlie took the letter from him at once and read it along with Tonks who sat next to him.

“What are you going to do?” Charlie asked, pulling me in a half hug after he was done reading.

“What do you mean what will I do?” I looked at Bill. “Bill has to reply to them not me.” I smiled.

“Are you sure, Nova? It's your dad's position.” He asked.

“If it's up to me if you get the job or not, I wouldn't want anyone else to take his place but you, Bill.” I stood up and walked to the other side and hugged him.

“Nova, I don't know what to say. How will I ever repay you?” Bill was in shock. He squeezed me so tightly, that I let out a small sigh.

“You don't need to repay me, Bill. You're my friend and the amount of help I have received from you over the past 5 years makes us even, don't you think?” I smiled at him.

“Nova, thank you.” He still couldn't grasp the fact that he just got his dream job.

“Just stay my friend and promise to write to us and send me pictures from Egypt.” He hugged me again.

“Oh,” I pulled away and cupped his face, “and please, stay safe.” He nodded and for a second I could swear I saw him tear up.

He went to the Gryffindor Tower immediately to gather everything he might need to send with his answer.

“That was so nice of you, Nova.” Penny wiped a tear off her cheek.

“I didn't do anything. He deserves it, he has been working so hard for this and I remember when my dad told me how impressed he was with him. I wouldn't have it any other way.” I didn't feel like I needed credit for his hard work. Yes, I got him the internship but he wouldn't have received this letter if he didn't show hard work, talent, and determination.

“Thank you.” Charlie suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. “It means a lot to me that you did this for my brother.” Suddenly, I couldn't help but take a bit of credit for the whole situation, as it meant the world to me that I made Charlie happy.

—

To say that Charlie and I aced our Care of Magical Creatures examination was an understatement. We walked out of there like we were the best wizards in the world and we didn't expect anything less.

I have to say that so far I was very proud of how I did on my O.W.L.s. I do have some doubts about Potions and I am not sure about a few questions on the Herbology theoretical exam, but other than that I think I have nothing to worry about. Charlie had some mixed feelings about his Potions practical exam because he forgot to add an ingredient to his potion but he is pretty content with everything else.

Tulip said that based on the fact how little she studied, she was doing pretty good. Jae was doing just fine as well and apparently, those two had a really good chat in the Kitchens about their careers as Tulip didn't worry about it at all after that day.

Penny was beaming when she left the Great Hall after the Potions' practical. Of course, we weren't surprised at all that she would ace that. She worried about Defense Against the Dark Arts as she forgot the proper wand movement for the Blasting Curse but we reassured her that that is not a big mistake.

Tonks was doing rather well. We made a plan to take extra precautionary measures so that she wouldn't run away again: we gave her Pip. He was the perfect agent! She felt obliged to look after him and he kept her company when she studied and she revised with him and he hooted cheerfully at her and so far she has been doing great. She is confident about her performance so far and we are all very proud of her. Especially Penny! Every time she sees Tonks studying she bursts into tears of joy.

We were heading down to the Great Hall for our last O.W.L.: History of Magic. On one hand, I was glad we had the subject saved for last as I didn't worry about how I'll do on the examination at all but on the other hand, I couldn't wait to be over with it as it lingered in my mind.

We were sad to find out that we would receive our results in the middle of the Summer. Tulip and I promised each other that we are not going to open any of Penny's letters until we get the results as we knew that would be all she would write about and that she is going to panic until the very last moment when she realizes just how perfect her results are.

—

I got a letter from my mum in the last week of my Fifth Year. I wasn't even that surprised when she told me that she was bombarded with work and probably won't be able to spend as much as two days with me because she took so much time off last Summer. She suggested I talk to my friends if I can stay with any of them because she couldn't bear the thought of me being alone in our house.

To be perfectly honest, I was okay with her letter. She had the entire Summer off last year and I was so happy that we were able to spend it together that I didn't mind if I couldn't spend this one with her as well. And besides, I knew I was going to make one redhead Dragon lover very happy by not going away with my mum.

Penny was very pleased to announce that this year, there will be the Official Haywood Muggle Vacation so I knew I couldn't spend the Summer with her even if I wanted to. Tulip was going to Asia with her parents to visit some relatives. Tonks was going away as well and for the first time, she looked happy to go somewhere with her parents. I think she finally realized that they love her and want the best for her. She even announced that her first name might not be so bad.

Tulip and I were both grateful that she didn't say that in front of Penny as we both knew she would jump to Tonks for a hug and start sobbing about how proud she is of her for finally growing up.

—

I decided to surprise Charlie with the news that I am spending the Summer at the Burrow. I know how upset he was that I wasn't there last year. I decided to write a letter to Molly to politely invite myself to their beautiful home. I knew she would say yes as Bill already asked me weeks before if I will be able to visit them because Ginny and Ron miss me so much.

A few days before the end of term, Pip greeted me with Molly's reply, when we were having breakfast. I opened it, hiding it from Charlie, which he found very suspicious and it made him want to read it even more.

Nova dear,

you know we would love to have you for the Summer. Ginny and Ron are going to be thrilled when I tell them! The twins miss you too and I know Charlie would want you nowhere else.

See you soon! Arthur and I will pick you up at the Station along with the boys.

Love,

Molly

“Hey, Char.” I looked at him, grinning.

“Yes?” He was still eyeing the letter, curious to know who wrote to me.

“Guess who's spending their Summer at the Burrow!” I exclaimed and showed him the letter. He read it, his eyes moving quickly then he looked at me, the most serious expression on his face.

“I don't understand, who's coming?” I blinked at him as I couldn't see how the letter didn't make it obvious.

“I'm kidding, Nova! Of course, you're coming! You have to make up for last year.” He started laughing, seeing the expression on my face.

“For a second I really thought you didn't want me there.” I felt relieved. Every year he was complaining about how I don't spend enough time with him during Summer and now all of a sudden I thought he didn't want me to come.

“Nova, I always want you there.” He winked at me and smiled in a way that I have never seen him do before and I felt something turning in my stomach. I knew at once that he was over the roof about me coming to the Burrow but in a way that wouldn't completely give it away to those who didn't know him as I did.

What was he doing to me? It was a completely new side of Charlie that I have never seen before and I am not going to lie, I was attracted to it. It was as he was two people in one body. One was my loving best friend for who I would give the world for and the other was this cool, calm young man with strong arms and soft hair.

“Earth to Nova, you alright?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, right here.” I smiled at him, feeling the heat on my cheeks. “I was just counting the times I will beat you in Quidditch.” Nice comeback Nova, nice comeback.

“Oh, we'll see about that.” He pulled me into a half hug and I couldn't stop my lips from curving when I smelled honeysuckle on him. It was my favorite scent.

—

When I came to the Weasleys, the house looked like they had a party that lasted for 3 days. I guess the older the twins the bigger the mess. Ginny held me in a hug for solid 5 minutes before Ron told her to bugger off so he could have his turn. He started telling me about his new chess strategy immediately and even though I already knew I was going to lose, I couldn't help but be excited for him to show it to me.

The twins asked me at once if I would like to see something in their room and when I looked at Bill and Charlie, both shaking their head, warning me that I rather shouldn't, I politely declined, even though I knew they were going to show me whatever it was sooner or later.

Percy went upstairs at once but came back down with a book and sat on the sofa to read for a change. Which to me was quite an improvement since I don't think I ever saw him for more than 10 minutes, even when it came to breakfast or dinner.

The day to receive our O.W.L.s results finally came. Bill got his N.E.W.T.s the day before and he was so calm about it since he accepted the job Robert offered him that I was curious how nervous would he be if he didn't know he had a job secured. Nevertheless, he had nothing to worry about as he received a total of 6 N.E.W.T.s which was 2 above average and even though the results didn't matter anymore, giving the fact that he could now officially call himself a Curse Breaker, he was proud of himself.

Charlie seemed completely unphased by the results as he was confident that he did well in most of his subjects and I wasn't that nervous either. I just wanted to see an O next to my Care of Magical Creatures so I could adopt a Salamander next year!

We got our results delivered first thing in the morning. We each grabbed our envelope and much to everyone's displeasure, we decided we wanted to take a private moment and share our results only with each other first. We sat on the bench in the garden and opened our letters.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades:

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades:

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

NOVA IO BLACKWOOD HAS ACHIEVED:

Ancient Runes E

Astronomy A

Care of Magical Creatures O

Charms O

Defense Against the Dark Arts O

Herbology E

History of Magic A

Potions E

Transfiguration O

“How did you do?” Charlie asked me and I knew he did well just by his tone.

“9 O.W.L.s! 4 Outstandings!” I exclaimed.

“3 Outstandings and 8 O.W.L.s!” We exchanged results.

CHARLES WEASLEY HAS ACHIEVED:

Ancient Runes E

Astronomy E

Care of Magical Creatures O

Charms O

Defense Against the Dark Arts O

Herbology E

History of Magic P

Potions A

Transfiguration E

“History of Magic is nobody's strong suit.” I tapped his shoulder. He looked at me, trying to be serious but I could see he was going to burst out laughing any moment now.

“Oh, no. Whatever will I do!” We started laughing as we really couldn't care less for the subject and ran inside to tell the Weasleys.

I sent my mum the results at once and that afternoon I received an owl from Penny which I was expecting and would worry if I didn't. She wrote that she got all her 9 O.W.L.s from which she got 6 Outstandings and 3 Exceeds Expectations and I had to remind myself that the next time I see her I have to say 'I told you so' as none of us expected anything less from her. She also added that Andre did really well on his exams and that he got an E in Potions and she wrote that he is thanking me because he passed Transfiguration and that they were going to meet up next week to celebrate as Andre was very grateful for Penny's help.

“I bet he was.” Said Bill who was reading the letter over my left shoulder. I didn't see his face but I knew that he had a smirk on his face before he took a sip of his coffee.

“Do you reckon they're doing it?” Charlie, who was leaning over my right shoulder, asked as casually as Tonks did only a few months ago. I knew he only posed the question so he would make Bill spit out his coffee and I knew what the look on his face was when he succeeded.

Tulip sent me an owl the next morning and she got 7 O.W.L.s which was 2 more than she expected and said that even her parents were okay with her results.

We didn't hear anything from Tonks that day or the next day for that matter. Charlie and I got worried so we decided to send her a letter with Pip.

He returned with a letter in his beak the very next day and in it were Tonks' results.

NYMPHADORA TONKS HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy A

Care of Magical Creatures E

Charms E

Defense Against the Dark Arts O

Divination P

Herbology O

History of Magic P

Potions O

Transfiguration E

“SHE GOT AN O IN POTIONS?” For a second both Charlie and I thought that we were seeing wrong or that the results belonged to Penny as we stared at the O next to Tonks' Potions result. We couldn't believe it and we now understood why she didn't send us an owl the very day the results arrived. She was probably just as shocked as we were.

We knew Penny will probably cry for a week out of happiness and will never forget it. And I could already see her throwing it in Tonks' face if she freaks out about exams next year “Tonks, you have nothing to complain about. You got an O on your Potions O.W.L. last year!”

We all got very good results and we were pleased with them but I think Tonks outdid us all and I couldn't wait to sit with my friends on the train back to school when she tells us how in the bloody hell, did she managed to do that.

END OF PART 5

18 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

Amphibia: Night Drivers/Return to Wartwood Review “Many Happy Returns”

Hello you happy people. And Amphibia is back and that means my reviews are back! As for why this reviews a bit late despite it leaking, I wanted to wait for today, and long story short both focused on finishing a review that WASN’T time senstive, instead of finishing it Sunday, and overestimated how much time i’d have to do two reviews on a day that included my first covid shot, grocery shopping, helping mom clean the car, and my friend coming over to watch Judas and the Black Messiah. Excellent film by hte way, as was the Sound of Metal which we watched after. Point is I done goofed and I will try to at the very least actually get the reviews of the episodes out on the same day they come out.

But slip up or not i’m happy to be back in the saddle, and back to Wartwood. I’m pumped for the heavier second half, with more secrets to uncover, some zelda style temple action, and some heavy drama with just a whiff of keith david, as well as to see the supporting cast from Wartwood again after far too long. So how’d the mid-season premire pair fair? Join me under the cut to find out.

Night Drivers: I was really excited by the Road Trip idea when first announced for season 2. A chance to expand the world and get the plantars out of their comfort zone was an amazing concept and it did lead to some really great stories and interesting locales.. mixed with episodes that had interesting locations but no interesting plot or character stuff. It was a mixed bag, and disappointing after close to a year’s wait to continue the plot that it really didn’t outside of “Toadcatcher”. Anne never really dealt with her trauma and the show never dealt with hop pop’s poularity or anything else. Again there were GOOD episodes and ideas but it felt like the show stalled for a good chunk of the season till we got to Netwopia which while still having tons of slice of life stuff felt a lot fresher with it, and had a lot more fun playing with stock plots and gave us a fresh new setting to dig into.

So I was a bit hesitant to go back to the road for an episode.. even if it was just one episode. Thankfully I was very wrong there as Night Drivers was a pretty good episode and would fit well among the best of the road trip arc like “Truck Stop Polly” “Fort in the Road” “Anne Hunter” “Toadcatcher” and “Wax Museum”.

The plot is straightforward: Sprig and Polly are excited that their almost home to wartwood and if Anne and Hop Pop drive all night they’ll be there by morning. Polly will get pillbug pancakes and Sprig will see Ivy again. This is part of a long tradtion of “skiping over the journey home because we’re tired and we wanna go home” in fiction. Jokes aside it’s a resonable device used to prevent ending fatigue and in this case to free up episodes for the second half. We already saw the journey once, we usually don’t need to see it again. To Amphibia’s credit they have valid reasons for it: The journey is LITERALLY sped up, as Hop Pop and Anne have been driving for 20 hours straight.. and their on a timer. As was established last time.. well the last time that wasn’t a spooky halloween episode, The Plantars have to get back for the harvest and really don’t have time to sightsee, while they all have to be there for whenever Marcy comes back to take Anne to the first temple. They’ve also traveled these roads before so while their going a whole other directoin, they know what perils to avoid.

But as anyone whose taken a long cartrip can tell you, you can’t shotgun it forever and the two eventually tap out with Hop Pop telling Sprig and Polly not to night drive as it’s dangerous and blah blah blah standard parental warning that will be swiftly ignored. So once Hop Pop and Anne are conked out they swiftly ignore it after we get their dreams.. which are the best gags of the episode: Hop Pop has a dream with weird, really cool looking monsters that represent his faults, only for it to turn Lucid and him to start flying and take his shirt off and whip it around Muscle Man style.

While Anne’s is about a yogurt world where there’s only one flavor... BLACK LICORICE. Yeah it quickly turns from Shopkins to the Lich From Adventure Time really fucking quick.

So while Anne has a nightmare and Hop Pop becomes unto a god, Sprig and Polly drive all night, repreadtly running into a creepy hitchiker and realizing it is as dangerous as they said with bolders, even worse creatures than usual because of course theye’d be a lot of nasty things lurk in the dark why wouldn’t they on froggy death world, a nightmarish fog and nearly dying on said foggy road they took to evade the hitchiker. Naturally the scary hook handed hitchiker.. is a friendly one, simply trying to help them and saving them from going over a cliff. They do make it three miles from Wartwood and Hop Pop wakes up angry to find they disobeyed him.. but Anne gets him to back off as they clearly learned their lesson from the sleep deprviation and nearly dying, and our heroes head for home.

Night Drivers isn’t an exceptional episode, but it is decent and still does belong with the other good road trip episodes, with some good dream sequences and a nice dynamic between Sprig and Polly. It was nice to have an episode with the two that was good unlike Quarallers Pass which made me want to run full speed into my nearest wall until I was given the sweet gift of unconciousness. While the Hook Handed man thing was a bit obvious it lead to some great gags. It’s a nice breather after the tearjerking mid-season finale and while we’ve obviously had months and a haloween episode between that, the creators rightfully realized a lot of people will be binging the series in the future. The issue I had with the first quarter of the season was it was ALL break and only a little plot progression. Here we’ve had a lot of plot progression in the last episode chronlogically, and are going to have a lot in the coming episodes with ‘After the Rain” coming next week. It’s nice to take a break and see the forest for the hook handed ghosts.

Return to Wartwood: I was excited and terrified of this one. I was excited because I missed the supporting cast from season one, mostly Ivy and Maddie, and was delighted to see them again in full. But I was also worried the show might pull out a melancholy breakup plot and having gotten attached to Ivy/Sprig and Hop Pop/Sylvia I was worried. And I was delightfully wrong as instead it’s another breather episode and an utterly fantastic one after the simply decent one above.

Our heroes return, without being drawn by rob liefield or replaced by the Squadron Supreme first, and are happily greeted by the town. Aformentoined fears died a happy death as Sylvia squeezes Hop Pop and as for Sprig, Ivy unsuprisingly ambushes him. Everyone’s back and the Mayor, who I also badly missed is back using Toadie as a gong to get everyone back to buisness, with Swampy inviting them for a big dinner at his diner that night to celebrate and welcome them back.. and to give out their gifts.

Sprig and Anne are equally confused while Polly and Hop Pop are sweating bullets. Turns out when they got the Fwagon they agreed to get a bunch of stuff for the town and forgot and now everyone’s on the hook for it and want to lie their butts off to solve it. In a nice show of character development, Anne has learned that the lying never solves anything “I think we’ve learned that lesson by now”. After SO many plots of the characters lying and it going terribly, it’s nice to have someone speak up. Sprig also wants to lie but only becuase he’s deeply afraid Ivy will break up with him as she wanted a Red Sun shell to go with the blue moon shell she gave him. Awwww. And oh crap.

So our heroes head home to plan and kick Chuck out (“I grew tulips”). So they do the natural thing... and decide to summon an edltich beast from the necronomicon... which of course Maddie gave Sprig as a present (”Aww that’s nice”. Agreed Polly, agreed.). I also can’t help but love the line “We’re all cull with practicing the dark arts to solve our problem right?” So our heroes get the proper summoning horn, thing to go with the horn and some candles.. i’ts not part of the ritual but Anne says it helps with ambience and it’s right.

So our heroes summon the Chikalisk, an edltich god that’s naturally basalisk in all but name, which dosen’t attack unless attacked and goes after gold. So they fake some golden presents, and the beast attacks at the party.. but the town naturally fights back, and our heroes are forced to help fight the monster as it stonifies people. So we get a truly glorious battle sequences as the whole town shows off how badass they are, with Maddie curing people, Sylvia showing she can keep up with Hop Pop and Ivy showing her already established badass bonafieds. It’s just awesome. Also the Mayor uses Toadie as a shield not realizing he’s turned to stone which can only remind me of this.

Once the townsfolk are freed they get into Chickalisk formation (”We have a formation for that?” “We have a formation for everything!”) And it’s offended enough to just nope out. The townsfolk are depressed though the presents got destroyed and Anne glares the family into coming clean. And while the mayor seems mad at first... he just laughs with everyone taking it in stride: It was boring without them getting into trouble and learning lessons every week, and they missed them. Ivy likewise dosen’t care about a gift she just missed her boyfriend.. and asks Sprig to take her on a proper date and smooches him on the cheek leaving both him and Anne catatonic, with Polly dragging Anne away and sprig just falling over before Maddie hits him with the potion. It dosen’t work that way, end episode.

Return To Wartwood was a standout episode, with tons of great jokes, pacing and a nice plot that showed growth in anne. While Night Drivers was decent, this was the show at it’s : Sweet, deranged and adventurous all in one episode. While Night Drivers was a good appitizer this was one hell of an entree. Or an appetizer sampler which I often use as an entree. Great episode and a nice high note to start on.

Next Time: We get an Ivy focused episode!

And Hop Pop is finally forced to own up to his lies!

As the twin kermits sooth you if you liked this review, follow me for more, check the amphibia tag for more reviews from this season and join me on patreon. If I get another patreon, i’ll add reviewing season 1 to my 25 dollar stretch goal so look out for that and my next one at 20 dollars, only 5 dollars away, nets a monthly review of a darkwing duck episode. Check it out and i’ll see you at the next rainbow.

#amphibia #night drivers #return to wartwood #anne boonchuy #sprig plantar #hopidiah plantar #polly plantar #ivy sundew #maddie flour #sylvia sundew #mayor toadstool #disney channel #disney #animation #amphibia spoilers

19 notes · View notes

eliihgc · 4 years

Text

Meet my 14 Stardew Valley Characters! (english)

I was not joking when I said that it was a lot

Let’s go!

The Farmers

Haylen -Extremely introvert girl who's trying to get off her shell and be happy. Loves taking care of the farm animals.

Sarah -Swimmer who lived in a bubble when she lived on the city and now that she arrived at Pelican Town to see the world how it truly is. Loves swimming, the sea and fishing.

Timothy -Serious farm owner who's trying to make his late grandfather proud while dealing with his insecurities and loneliness. Loves the farm.

The ones that come from far way, part 1

Simon -Sarcastic guy who came to Pelican Town because he got kicked out from his parent's house for unknown reasons. Hides his sadness and anger for life behind a side grin. Loves being alone.

Dylan -Likes flowers and is bad tempered. He's looking for someone related to him who got some connection with Pelican Town. Loves tulips and maybe loves Alex too.

The ones that come from far way, part 2

Sabrina -Self proclaimed witch who is very proud of it. Lives in the Calico Desert and has a "secret" crush on Sandy. Actual name is Carla. Loves witchcraft and mystic world.

Carlos -Spoiled and easily annoyed younger brother of Timothy who wants to prove to himself he can do stuff on his own. Is constantly jealous of his brother and his success with the farm. Loves videogames.

The one that doesn’t fit

Aaron -Misterious guy who nobody knows about who he really is. He was the one taking care of the farm until the arrival of Timothy; according to him, as Timothy's granpda asked himself. Loves nature and working on the farm.

The travelers

Clarice -Likes flowers and good-tempered. She wants to not waste her life and decides to go in a roadtrip with her cousin Rosalía. Ends up in Pelican Town because of an accident involving her trailer and a chicken (who is alive and well, don't worry). Loves art.

Hamilton -Actual name is Laurence, is the lead singer in a band called Juventude Preto e Branco (Black and White Youth). In the morning after a show he's found in Pelican Town's Clinic with no memory from the night before and a broken arm. Loves singing and loves rock 'n' roll songs from the 80's.

Rosalía -Literature teacher who got tired of her boring life and decided to go with Clarice in a adventurous roadtrip. Loves books of all genres.

The ones on the other side

Cecília -Joja's official photografer who's fun is messing with people. Takes care of her twin brother even though he's 22. Loves gossiping and spilling tea (not literally).

Matheus -JojaMart's stockist who's just trying his best to not be a disaster in life. Too clumsy, naive and unlucky to be true. Loves helping others.

Arianne -Ari is a cashier in a JojaMart who lives in Zuzu City and is trying a carrer as a writer. Reads about the farm and the rebulding of the Community Center in the newspaper and decides where she wants to go write her first book. Loves hearing the histories that people tell and riding a motorcycle.

If you have any question about any of them or any drawing ideas, send here!

#my art #traditional art #my characters #original characters #oc #stardew valley

9 notes · View notes

official-weasley · 3 years

Text

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 2, Ch. 4

PART 2: THE YEAR OF MISCHIEF AND SNEAKING AROUND Chapter 4 - The Forbidden Love

Nova

After rolling the events of the previous day in my head, I still couldn't believe that Snape actually gave us detention in the Forest. Of course, he thinks it's dangerous but he doesn't know that Charlie and I have been begging Hagrid to take us since last year.

Hagrid, who gave us nothing but excuses so far and it looked like what he promised Charlie last year seemed like an honest mistake and more as if he was kidding when he suggested it to him, won't get a chance to say no now. He doesn't really have a choice, does he!

I dressed quickly, careful not to wake up Tulip who was fast asleep. Poor lad, I have no idea when she returned from her detention with Filch last night. I hurried to the Great Hall where Charlie and I decided to have an early breakfast. The detention wasn't until later that evening but we just couldn't wait to talk about it.

He was sitting at the Gryffindor Table, leaning on one hand, sleepy as every morning, eating his cereal.

“Hi, Char.” I ruffled his messy hair and sat next to him.

“Well, isn't it just a lovely morning?” He grinned at me. I giggled. “Where are the girls?” He looked behind my shoulder.

“I reckon Tulip and Penny will skip breakfast. Tulip is fast asleep, I haven't got a clue when she came in last night. Poor lads, I don't want to know how their detention with Filch went.” I scratched my head.

“Polishing trophies without magic.” Scoffed Charlie. “That ought to be the most boring detention in history of detentions. I would've fallen asleep right there in the Trophy Room.”

“Wotcher, Charlie.” Tonks' tired voice greeting Charlie, sitting down, didn't say anything good about her detention. “Wotcher, Nova.” She looked at me now, she was exhausted.

She tried to open a box of cereal but seemed to be too weak to do so.

“Tonks, are you alright?” I tried sitting next to her.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” She put her hand up and stopped me. “I smell worst than the Dungbomb itself.” She yawned.

I sat back next to Charlie and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Were you cleaning the mess in the Dungeons all night long, Tonks?” Charlie frowned at the idea.

“It's the next day already?” She yawned again, crossing her hands on the table and resting her head on them.

Charlie and I exchanged looks and decided it was better if we just leave her to rest a little. We would wake her before we go to class.

Charlie and I started to whisper about our detention. We couldn't wait to go down to Hagrid's and we both wondered where he will take us and what we will see. Charlie was very optimistic about finding a Dragon in the Forest, I on the other hand wasn't so sure. Of course, I didn't tell him that, looking into his sparkly eyes, hopeful to finally see and pet a Dragon. I wouldn't crush his dreams if I was tortured to do so.

To be honest, now that the day for us to go explore the Forest has finally arrived, it made me really wonder what creatures hid in there. Hagrid told us a lot about the creatures he has encountered but never revealed which of them are lurking in there as much as Charlie and I tried to trick him into telling us. Professor Rakepick did mention some of them in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class but didn't want to reveal too much either.

About 15 minutes later, Tulip and Penny dragged themselves into the Great Hall. Penny sat next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. She had to be exhausted as she didn't even do her braids this morning. Tulip sat down next to Tonks and leaned closer to her to see if she was alright.

She looked at us and nodded in greeting and slowly opened the box of cereal which Tonks left after her failed attempt to open it. Tulip indicated that we should talk when Tonks wakes up and she instead started to eat her breakfast. It looked as if the spoon was the heaviest object she has ever had to lift as she took it to her mouth sluggishly.

Penny suddenly rose from my shoulder as if waking up from a nightmare.

“I just took a quick nap. I'm fine.” She leaned towards the box of cereal.

“Could you leave that and take some porridge instead?” Whispered Charlie.

“Oh, of course. Here you go.” Penny wanted to pour the cereal into Charlie's bowl.

“No, no. I don't want to eat it. I want to take it to Helga.” He grinned.

“Helga?” Tulip's face looked puzzled.

“You know, the Squid in the Lake.” Charlie said casually as if he has told us about Helga many times before.

Penny, who only a minute ago, placed her head on my shoulder again, got up. “You mean the Giant Squid in the Black Lake?” She was stunned.

“The one that is the main reason why we're prohibited to swim in the Lake?” Added Tulip. Charlie nodded. I looked at the cereal and back at Charlie. I narrowed my eyes and looked at the cereal again and back at him.

“You're feeding it, aren't you?” I couldn't believe what I just asked.

Penny gasped and it seemed she was finally awake.

“You not only befriended the Giant Squid in the Black Lake and named it Helga but you're feeding it cereal?” Tulip looked bewildered.

“Yes, about once or twice per week. You should see her, she is so happy to see me every time.” Charlie couldn't be happier to talk about this.

“Yeah and while you're walking towards IT, it is definitely not happy to see you as a hamburger rather than the nice human that is feeding it cereal.” Charlie rolled his eyes at Penny's remark.

“I can't believe you are feeding the Giant Squid with cereal.” I giggled and couldn't help but notice that I was the only one amused by this.

“You're doing what?” Tonks suddenly lifted her head as if she just woke up and the only thing she heard was my last sentence.

“I feed the Giant Squid in the Lake.” Charlie beamed at Tonks.

“Wicked.” Was all she managed in reply as she put her head back on her arms.

“Uh-oh, angry-looking brother coming your way.” Penny said warningly as Charlie and I both looked at the entrance of the Great Hall.

It was Bill, walking toward us rather fast, frowning. Bill who has always been so loving and always had a soft expression on his face, now seemed like someone who you should definitely run away from.

“I think he found out I got detention.” Charlie, on the other hand, knew exactly what that look meant.

As Bill stopped at our table, Charlie turned around to face him, his cheeks slightly pink.

“You've gotten yourself in detention?” Bill tried to control his voice.

“Yes.” Charlie said slowly. “But it wasn't his fault.” I cut Charlie off. Bill now bestowed me with the same angry look and I couldn't help but shrink into the bench a little.

“And you!” He said to me. “How am I supposed to tell mum that you've both gotten detention AND that you are going into the Forbidden Forest! She is going to send me a Howler and then the whole school will think that...”

“That you're a bad brother, yeah, yeah. We know already.” Charlie obviously wasn't as scared of Bill as I was.

“That would've been my fault, mate.” Tonks said suddenly. We haven't even noticed she woke up, all of our heads turned to Bill.

“My bloody Dungbomb exploded right in Snape's face.” Bill, looking shocked, couldn't hide the amusement as he probably imagined the scene.

“Get off it Bill, we're going to be alright.” Charlie reassured him. “We're going with Hagrid, he'll keep us safe.”

“Not even Hagrid can keep you safe from what's in that Forest, Charles!” Bill frowned at his little brother again. I have never heard him use Charlie's full name before.

“Even if it wasn't your fault, mum will blame me! One day that I don't keep my eye on you and everything goes wrong.” Bill facepalmed himself.

“Uh, Bill...” I tried to gather the courage to say something to him. “We're going to be careful, we promise, don't we Charlie?” I poked Charlie in the ribs with my elbow. He nodded quickly at his brother.

“And...” I continued. “We'll write to Molly and explain everything. It's not your fault we got detention. If you kept an eye on us, you would've gotten detention too.”

“Yeah, probably polishing tro...phies.” Yawn Tulip.

“Or helping Tonks get the stench out of the Dungeon walls.” Added Penny.

Bill exhaled, feeling sorry for Tonks. Even he couldn't deny that the Forbidden Forest didn't look that bad now. He considered our proposal to write to Molly and finally gave in and sat down next to us. Charlie slapped his hand as he wanted to take the box of cereal.

Bill looked at me but I just shook my head. It was better that Bill doesn't know his little brother was feeding cereal to the Giant Squid. One shocking news at the time.

Since I couldn't wait for our detention in the evening, the classes were going as slow as ever. Snape, of course, didn't help the time go any faster in Potions as he made us all take notes on the Strengthening Solution, a potion we were going to brew next week. We didn't see the need for that as the instructions were quite clear in our books.

However, Penny and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was doing so just to get back at us some more. Even though Tulip, Penny, and I agreed that Tonks did quite a good job getting rid of the awful smell of the Dungbomb, it still found our noses here and there during class.

Charlie and I decided to go down to Hagrid's right after our last lesson. We thought it couldn't hurt to get an early start into the Forest. Hagrid, on the other hand, wasn't as amused as we were. He kept asking us if we've gotten ourselves in trouble on purpose and he kept muttering to himself what sounded like navigation instructions.

“Am only doin' this cause Professor Snape made me.” He frowned at us. “Should 'ave known, I'd 'ave to take yeh sooner or later.” He put on his coat. “Now, drink yeh tea and we'll be on our way.” Charlie and I both grabbed our mugs and started gulping down the liquid.

Hagrid gave us both, what looked like a poorly made jumper out of a very furry animal. “Gonna make you less noticeable, that will.” He said proudly and led us outside his hut, Fang right behind him.

“Alright, then. We'll enter 'ere.” He pointed at the narrow passage right behind his hut. “Don't think I'mma take yeh in too deep. Dangerous beasts live in this Forest.” Charlie frowned in disappointment.

We followed Hagrid inside, Fang next to me. We walked slowly as the path disappeared and the trees behind us made it look as if we have been walking for hours. The trees only got thicker and it got darker the further we walked.

“Oh-ho,” Hagrid looked up at a tree, “yeh see that over there?” He pointed up and only when I narrowed my eyes did I see something green on a dark-looking branch.

“Can either of yeh tell me what that is?” For the first time since we were in the Forest, he looked excited.

“A Bowtruckle!” I said a little too loudly and Hagrid put his finger up to his mouth in a sign that I should keep it down.

“Right yeh are, Nova.”

“'ere yeh go.” He took something out of his pocket and placed it in our hands. It looked like tiny eggs.

“Fairy eggs.” Charlie whispered to me.

“Now, be careful with these. They were expensive.” He winked at us and indicated that we should move closer to the Bowtruckle.

Charlie and I exchanged an exciting look and tiptoed to the tree where the Bowtruckle, now looking in our direction, sat.

Hagrid lowered his hands and we stepped onto his palms. He lifted us slowly so that we were on an eye level with the creature.

“Approach slowly.” He whispered to us. “Yeh don't wanna startle 'im.”

I took a Fairy egg from my left hand and showed it to the Bowtruckle. Its tiny eyes beamed.

“Bowtruckles love Fairy eggs. It's a delicacy of theirs.” Hagrid told us.

I placed the egg on the branch and gently pushed it towards the creature. The Bowtruckle took it at once and ate it in one gulp. Charlie squeaked in excitement. Now he gave one of the eggs to the creature and he ate it just as quickly. After we both ran out of eggs, we nudged Hagrid to bring us down.

“See, Hagrid. This wasn't so bad.” Charlie grinned. Hagrid couldn't help but smile at us.

Suddenly, a galloping noise was heard a little deeper in the Forest. Hagrid hid us behind him, as we all stood still and listened.

“Hagrid, is it a Centaur?” Charlie tried to hide his excitement.

Hagrid shook his head. “A Unicorn.”

“Could we go and see it?” I tried not to sound too excited.

It looked like Hagrid was considering it for a moment. “Oh, alright.” He finally agreed and we slowly moved deeper into the Forest.

Following the sounds the Unicorn made, which were almost indistinguishable from those of a horse or an Abraxan, we soon followed it and came upon a large meadow that seemed to come out of nowhere.

In the middle of it was a beautiful Unicorn. It moved slowly towards the edge of it. I have never seen anything so graceful before. I stared at it in awe, suddenly forgetting how to close my mouth.

“It's so beautiful.” I gasped.

“They are and they should be left in peace.” Hagrid pulled me back as I started walking towards it.

“But they prefer a woman's touch, Hagrid.” I pleaded.

“We're not disturbin' this creature's dinner, Nova. Yeh lucky that we even found one. Now, let's go back.” He started to turn around, pulling both me and Charlie away, as we couldn't take our eyes off the Unicorn.

We knew that we had to keep quiet on our way out of the Forest but Charlie and I kept looking at each other as we couldn't wait to discuss what we just saw. To both of our surprise, we were in the Forest for almost 4 hours. It felt like one to me.

After a cup of tea and us promising Hagrid that we won't get ourselves into more trouble or ask him again to go into the Forest, we headed back to the Castle.

“Did you see how silky-looking his fur was?” I beamed at Charlie.

“And the Moonlight reflecting off it!” He added.

“That Bowtruckle was so adorable! I wish we had more eggs.”

“I wonder where we could get them from?” Charlie scratched the top of his head.

We discussed possible options where to get the Fairy eggs all the way up to the Castle. We hugged, said goodbye, and headed to our Common Rooms as our ways parted at the top of the Grand Staircase, both knowing very well, we would do anything to get into that Forest again.

10 notes · View notes

official-weasley · 3 years

Text

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 1, Ch. 4

PART 1: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Chapter 4 - Prank Gone Wrong

Nova

The first day of classes has finally arrived and I couldn't wait to meet all the professors, other classmates and to start learning!

Herbology was quite interesting, despite the fact that I had absolutely no idea how dangerous some plants are! I thought that Herbology was going to be something we would go to even when too sleepy and something that won't need a lot of studying or effort but Professor Sprout proved us wrong in merely 10 minutes from the start of the class.

It was so fun having lessons with Penny, Tonks, and Tulip that I started to regret my words from the previous day when I told Tonks it's okay that we don't have all lessons together. We had so much fun in Herbology. Perhaps a little too much as Professor Sprout had to shush us a couple of times as we were chuckling too loudly.

The reason for that of course was Tonks changing her nose in a nasty-looking green vine and changing her hair to have a very poop-looking color. Towards the end of the class when Penny and I finally decided to pay attention, Tulip decided to grab one of the thorny plants Professor Sprout had on display without Dragonhide gloves.

Needless to say that the class ended 10 minutes earlier because Professor Sprout had to rush her to the Hospital Wing. Tonks and I couldn't stop laughing as her surprised shriek still echoed in our ears. Penny, however, couldn't help but be a bit worried for Tulip as she wasn't sure what exactly she touched.

To say that all my excitement for the entire school year disappeared and drowned itself in the Black Lake was an understatement when we got to History of Magic. The only fun part of that class was when the lesson was about to begin and Professor Binns didn't come through the door but flew through the blackboard and the whole classroom went “ooo and aww.”

It's not like I don't like History of Magic. Don't get me wrong it was one of the subjects I was most looking forward to, giving the fact that we don't start Care of Magical Creatures until our Third Year.

However, the Professor is just dull. He barely told us his name and then simply started with the theories of how magic and wizards came to be without even an introduction. Something Professor Sprout did really well and made me excited for Herbology.

I was sitting with Tulip in the third row. Besides all my Ravenclaw classmates that I've met when we got sorted, it was Ravenclaw's official first class with the Gryffindors and the only two I've recognized were the boy with black hair that covered his eyes and the redhead boy with lots of freckles. They were sitting right in front of us. I tried to remember the rest of them but to be fair, I did stop paying attention by the end of the Sorting Ceremony.

Tulip couldn't help but giggle the entire class as I tried to mimic Professor Binns by closing my eyes and putting my head on those few notes I did manage to write as I pretended to snore and give the lecture in between.

I didn't want to lose all hope when it came to classes and decided that after that awful History of Magic lesson I would give other subjects a fair chance.

Before going to Potions we had lunch. Tulip and I met Penny and Tonks in the Great Hall and Tulip was telling them how boring History of Magic is and trying to show them how I imitated Professor Binns. Tonks laughed so hard at the impersonation that some orange juice came straight through her nose.

We still had 30 minutes until our first Potions lesson, so we decided to just stay in the Great Hall, and Tonks was describing how awesome Defense Against the Dark Arts was and that she can't wait to use the spell the Professor mentioned, on one of the teachers.

“Yeah, I really think that some of these spells shouldn't be taught to witches like me. I just can't be trusted with them.” Tonks said while the rest of us laughed.

I looked up as I thought I heard a familiar hoot. It was Pip with a letter in his beak. He landed on Tulip's empty plate, dropped the letter to me, and hooted proudly.

“Nice job, Pip! You delivered your first letter!” I exclaimed as I petted his soft feathers.

I opened it and it was my mum writing me back.

My dear Nova,

I was so happy when I saw Pip that when I read you were sorted in Ravenclaw I wasn't even sad. I will give those ten Galleons to your dad without any hesitation as long as you are happy with the sorting. I was wondering if the Hat was going to debate between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and I am glad my House was at least considered.

The fact that you already made friends doesn't surprise me. Did you meet them on the train? That's how I met my friend Molly (the one I constantly talk about) and I think those types of friendships are the ones that stay the strongest. Can't wait to meet them when we come and pick you up at the end of your school year.

I will write a letter to your dad. Even though I am still debating to tell him the truth immediately or should I tease him that you got into Gryffindor? You should let Pip rest and have him for company. He is a wonderful owl. He was so proud when he found me at work!

And I was waiting for you to mention the Courtyard as it was one of my favorite places to study when the weather was good.

Have fun, sweetheart and write when you have any news! Say hi to your friends for me!

Love,

Mum

“My mum says hi.” I said after carefully folding the letter and putting it into my bag.

“Wotcher to your mum.” Said Tonks and sniffed as she was still bothered with the sensation the orange juice gave her.

I ordered Pip to go to the Owlery to get some rest, something he didn't want to admit he needed, and then it was time to go to our last class of the day, which made us all happy since we had it together. Penny of course being excited because she decided Potions was going to be her favorite subject even before it started.

I could hardly keep up my hope that the rest of the classes were going to be great as we went to the Grand Staircase and down to the Dungeons. The only fun part there was when Penny and Tonks showed us the way to their Common Room in case we would ever want to wait for them in front of it. As we descended further down, the air got colder, it got darker and the humidity was off the roof. The walls seemed wet and the floors were slippery which gave Tonks and Tulip an idea to cover the floor with slugs.

“Could you save your prank for after the class? I really want to impress the Potions Professor AND stay your friend.” Pleaded Penny.

“Alright, alright! We will wait.” Said Tonks with a mischievous grin on her face.

“We wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble.” Added Tulip.

We opened the door to reveal a very dark room that was our Potions Classroom with a narky-looking Professor right behind us. He had as much greasy hair as the floor in the hallway was and with that crooked nose, I couldn't help but understand the Muggles, where they get their witch looks from in their stories.

For some reason, all of us went quiet immediately as he came in front of the class and glared at us as though contemplating who he will hate the most in our year.

“My name is Professor Snape,” he said sluggishly, “and while in my class, there will be no chuckling or giggling of any kind. I expect hard work from every...single...one of you.” He emphasized the last few words.

“I don't have high expectations for any of you as rarely does it happen that someone is interested and good at potions. Nonetheless, I expect every one of you to try...their...best.” He almost hissed at us.

“A bit intimidating don't you think?” I whispered to Tonks.

“Too hopeful is what I would say.” Said Tonks rather loudly as she still didn't know how to whisper properly. “He expects us to listen in this gloomy, dark classroom as if Potions aren't a dullenough subject without it.” She added.

“Will you two be quiet. I am trying to take notes.” Whispered Penny.

“Notes? On what, he didn't say anything important yet.” Questioned Tulip.

“Not important you say? What is it, Miss...Karasu. Would you mind telling the class why Potions aren't important?” Said Snape in an even more irritated manner than he spoke so far.

“N-no, Professor.” Said Tulip embarrassed.

“Professor Snape.” He corrected her.

“No, Professor Snape.” Tulip repeated and Tonks gave out a chuckle.

“Tell me, Miss Karasu, if potions aren't important, what can you use if you get poisoned by a mild poison?” He asked her and for a second I thought I saw a smirk on his face.

Penny's hand flew up at once. I wasn't surprised that she knew the answer, even though I had a feeling Snape, I mean Professor Snape was talking about the Antidote to Common Poisons.

“I don't know, Professor Snape.” She admitted.

“The answer is the Antidote to Common Poisons which is a solution for most poisons that can cross your path and if you don't have that it can get much worse to the point that they might not be able to save you if left untreated.” Snape answered the question for her, much to Penny's disappointment, who thought that she could answer her first question in Potions Class and impress Professor Snape.

“Well, perhaps you will know this. What is the ingredient...” Before he could finish his question he was interrupted by Tonks'.

“Could I go to the bathroom, Professor Snape?” Snape glared at her as if she asked him to not give us any homework.

“What did you just ask me?” He said slowly as if he couldn't believe his ears.

“I asked, Professor Snape, if I could go to the bathroom?” Tonks repeated her question.

“Can't you wait until the end of the class, Miss Tonks?”

“It's really urgent, Professor Snape. You see, it's right after lunch and I have a fairly quick metabolism.” The whole class burst out laughing. We quickly stopped when Snape looked at us as if he was never letting us out of this classroom.

“Make...it...quick, Miss Tonks.” He said while rolling his eyes.

Tonks stood up and hurried out of the classroom. She wasn't back for quite some time Tulip and I noticed while Penny was scribbling on what seemed her third piece of parchment. Snape was telling us all about what happens if we leave the cauldron on the fire longer than needed, what happens if we stir the potion in the wrong direction and something about heating and reheating the cauldron.

By the time Tonks came back, the lesson was almost over. She hurried to sit next to Tulip and showed her something she hid in her ropes.

“Blimey, I thought I was going to be too late. Only one Herbology Greenhouse was open and this is all I could carry.” She said not-so-much whispering.

Tulip had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. I tried to pay attention to Professor Snape again who was now describing different types of cauldrons and what each was best for. But before I could go back to writing notes, I heard something, that sounded like jelly, fall to the floor.

“Bloody hell.” I heard Tonks say as another jelly sound came from the floor. Tulip and Tonks sat in front of us so I couldn't really see what was going on but soon there was another jelly slap.

Tulip was now biting in her robes not to laugh too loudly, while Tonks was looking at the floor, disappointed. After a few more splashes the bell rang and Tonks and Tulip disappeared out of the classroom so fast that we couldn't even ask them what they were doing. Penny was putting her parchment, now 5 pieces, in her bag, while I stood up only to land on the floor with a loud bang.

“What is all that racket?” Roared Professor Snape as he came to the desk where Penny and I were sitting.

“Are you okay, Nova?” Penny said, trying hard not to giggle at my confused face.

“What is the meaning of this, Miss Haywood?” He looked so angry that I wanted to pretend I was knocked out.

“I-I...Professor Snape, sir...” Penny mumbled.

“Are those SLUGS in my classroom?” Professor Snape interrupted her before she or I could say anything to her defense.

“20 points from Hufflepuff and detention for you, Miss Haywood!” Snape snapped.

“Professor Snape, I don't think Penny had anything to do with...”

“Do you want a concussion AND detention, Miss Blackwood?” Snape was now staring at me. After I didn't let out a sound, he continued. “So, Miss Haywood, should we say you stay behind, clean the mess you've made and then organize the potions on that shelf over there,” he pointed without breaking eye contact with Penny, “by name and usage.”

Penny nodded quickly, helped me up, and motioned towards the door.

“You should go before you get into trouble too.” She whispered. She then followed Professor Snape to the shelves in the far corner of the classroom and I ran out almost as fast as Tonks and Tulip did.

7 notes · View notes