#i meant this to be a response to olive's reply and then i just. went off the fucking rails aldkfj;ads

[llondonfog]

let's make no mistake about it, i genuinely find lilia one of the most fascinating characters in twst— a 700 yr old fae who spent centuries as the most revered general of briar valley, confidant to the royal family, did an about-turn to fatherhood immediately upon finding an abandoned baby and now romps around a school campus with said son and the heir apparent to the draconia family pretending to be 680 years younger than he actually is???? fucking insane.

we know absolutely nothing about his own personal life; no immediate family to speak of (besides his adopted son), and we can safely assume they're no longer among the living. we have no idea what his own childhood was like, but i think we can extrapolate by the way that he initially raised silver that it wasn't conventional. were tensions always so high between fae and humans, did lilia simply grow up in a time where war was a common occurrence, that to serve in the briar valley army was the obvious path to take? we can only gather bits and pieces about his previous lifestyle from his card lines, and it would seem that his life prior to silver was a harsh one, with little to no time for personal amusement or exploration of interests.

and one doesn't just become a renown general fitting for the history books by simply leading an army for so many years— it's clear that he was so very good at it. did he too share the fae consensus that humans were not to be trusted, and if so, at what point did that begin to change? was it truly raising silver that altered his perspective? and more to that point, can we assume that he was truly looking for the boy as his new card title suggests? and if so, why? was it for silver's unique magic, did he really come from royalty, was he considered a threat to the draconias? does any of this have to do with the disappearance of malleus' parents so many centuries prior??

i'm so torn between the idea of lilia being instructed to find and raise silver for some greater purpose and over time, realizing how much he's grown to care and love the child, versus the idea of somehow this little baby being enough to give the fierce general pause, to take him in as his own. i also wonder if lilia even proclaimed himself as silver's father to begin with, or if that's simply a title silver gave him on his own and only then did the ramifications of what he meant to the boy truly sink in. it must have been such a shock, the realization that a human could look up at him with such pure love and think of him as a father— for what does he know of rearing a child, and a human one at that? lilia himself even admits this at countless points, and the more we learn of silver's childhood, the more clear it becomes that while the mutual affection is truly there, the understanding of how to properly care for another being of any kind is clearly lacking.

which is understandable when we think of lilia's past experiences— he was simply a guardian, a 'bodyguard' to an extent to malleus, and someone who intervened to provide the kind of life lessons and guidance that an absent father figure could no longer give. but he did not raise the prince, nor was he responsible for caring for him daily. if what we know so far is to be believed, there was little to no time of lilia's role as a general to his departure and caring for silver. for once in his life, he gets to taste the unfettered freedom of no longer shouldering the weight of a nation's protection, and to be frank, goes a little mad with it. it makes sense why he was cavorting around the world while leaving silver at home, he simply never got to enjoy these freedoms before and perhaps selfishly took advantage of that fact while neglecting the ramifications of leaving a child to care for itself (especially one with a narcoleptic condition).

(and even now he kind of seeks that familiar comfort of warfare— we see him gaming as a kind of warlord with idia, which makes sense that he was unable to fully part with that portion of his identity if it truly made up his entire persona for nearly 600 years.)

anyways all this to say that i have no doubt that lilia truly cares for silver. but i think there's something to be said for fae emotional differences, and that he massively underestimates or doesn't know how to acknowledge that silver loves him before even himself. that the things he does to his family (re halloween, his departure party) are ignorantly cruel at best. at the same time, how could you blame him? as a general and being accustomed to loss of life, what is the use of a long, drawn out goodbye? and to have spent the majority of his life in such a mindset, it's understandable, even if reprehensible, to apply this logic to silver, malleus, and sebek. on the flip side, how utterly fascinating how lilia seems to be fooling himself with these forced and abrupt goodbyes— he admits it himself that he fears becoming weak before his family, that vulnerability so at odds with the kind of power and strength he wielded for years.

i have absolutely no idea what the next part of ch7 will bring us, but i really cannot wait to explore more of lilia in his general years, at the height of his glory. and i really do hope that we get the truth of what we all know— his happiest dream, his sweetest memory, being that of when he found silver at last. how fitting would that be, especially for silver who had wept miserably to malleus about his failures to lilia as his son. how fitting to know that lilia does not see him in that way, that his happiest moment that he would choose to relive and dream is the one where he gathers up silver in his arms, and inevitably sets in motion his course to become his father.

[callsign-dexter]

Meet and Greet (18+)

Request: Love ! I adore your writing so so much 🩷 could I send in a request for Bradley Bradshaw where he has a non-Pilot girlfriend and she's afraid that his friends won't accept her because of that. But as she surprises Bradley at the bar, everyone is immediately fond of her and they like her a lot and are very happy for Bradley, even Jake :) Also later at home he is very happy that she is here with him and it ends in some cuddly fluffy smut ? THX

Pairings: Bradley Bradshaw x Civilian!Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, smut, swear words

A/N: Reader is a bartender at a different bar.

Masterlist

Bradley had been begging you to meet his team and you wanted to but with your job as a bartender at a bar on the other side of town it was a little difficult. Both you and Bradley were disappointed, but your boss was a hard ass. Oh how you wish you could quit and get a better paying job and better work environment, it was just so toxic where you were at now.

All week you had been trying to find a way to meet Bradley's team and surprise him but luck was not coming to you. That is until your only friend there said she would cover for you since she needed the extra cash and knew that you desperately needed time off. It was a Friday the end of the week which was perfect because that meant you could stay out until late with your boyfriend and his team. You couldn't wait. But also worried they wouldn't like you and you voiced that to him.

"What if they don't like me?" You asked Bradley one night as you were getting ready for bed. He looked at you like you had grown two heads.

"Baby they're going to love you." He said and turned to look at you. You had a look of doubt on your face and he walked over to you and started to kiss your face. "You know why they're going to love you?" He asked and waited for a response.

"Tell me." You told him as you turned your head for him to have better access to your neck and you felt him smirk into it.

"Because you are the most beautiful, smart, loving, and perfect girl ever." He said while kissing your lips. "You have nothing to worry about." He finished off and you left it at that. You trusted him with all of your heart.

Bradley told you that he was going out that night after work and as far as he knew you were working that night. Perfect you could get dolled up but still relaxed and not wear reveling clothing, which you hated and so did Bradley since it wasn't for him. You checked the time and it was exactly 5 PM which meant that he was heading to The Hard Deck or getting ready to go there. You decided to wait at least 30 minutes to give him enough time to get there and get started for the night.

5:30 PM rolled around and you left for The Hard Deck luckily it wasn't too far away from Bradley and your house. 5:40 PM is when you arrived in the parking lot and immediately noticed Bradley's signature electric blue vintage Ford Bronco. You smiled and pulled your olive green Jeep Wrangler to the right of it, you shut off the engine and got out careful not to damage or scratch the paint. You ran your hand over it admiring the beauty of it, once you were done you headed to the entrance and into the busy bar. You were met with civilian clothing, khaki uniforms, and flight suits. Instantly you noticed Bradley's Hawaiian shirt and smiled.

It wasn't too terribly busy but you knew bar life and knew it would only get busier throughout the night. You walked up to the bar and smiled at the woman behind it, she was pretty and looked like the owner and like she was in charge, she must be Penny, Bradley talked about her all time at first you thought you should be jealous but after hearing that she has the hots for Maverick that quickly went away.

"Haven't seen you around here before. Want can I get you?" Penny asked you and you smiled back before replying.

"I've been around just not in here. I've always been at work and never seem to find the time to get off. As for what I'm having, I'll have two of whatever Bradley is having and put it on his tab." You told her and she nodded and getting the drinks ready.

"How do you know him? I'm Penny by the way." Penny asked and introduced herself.

"I'm his girlfriend. Had a night off and decided to surprise him. He has been dying to for me to meet his team." You told her and could already tell you were going to like her.

She handed you the beer bottles with a smile and said "Watch out for Jake. He likes to flirt especially with pretty girls like you. When he find out you're with Bradley he will flirt with you just to get under his skin." Penny said giving you head's up. You laughed and smiled, you knew how to deal with cocky men.

"Thank you for the heads up." You told Penny and pushed off the bar and headed to Bradley to surprise him which was going to be easy since his back was to you. You walked up to him and placed a bottle in front of him and put a hand on around his shoulder and you felt him tense. He was getting ready to turn around and tell you off but then he recognized the hand and you felt him relax and he turned around facing you and his face lit up.

"Hey babe!" He shouted over the music and loudness of the bar. "I thought you had to work." He said in a shocked voice.

"Marie said she would take my shift for the extra money. I decided to surprise you." You said and kissed him which he returned.

"You defiantly surprised me. I thought it was some random chick, and thought I was going to have to tell her back off because I have an absolutely beautiful girlfriend that I love." He said and you swelled with pride knowing that he would turn down a woman and that he loved you.

"I love you too babe. Now you going to introduce me to your team?" You asked him noticing the 7 pair of eyes on you both. He nodded excitedly and turned around.

"Y/N meet Maverick, the leader of the group, Bob Floyd, Natasha Trace, Mickey Garcia, Reuben Fitz, Javy Machado, and Jake Seresin." He said pointing to everyone of them and they all greeted you with their own greetings.

"Nice to meet you all finally. I would've met you all sooner but with my work schedule that was near impossible." You told them and Jake spoke up.

"Well nice to meet you too Y/N. Are you sure you're with Bradshaw? You're awfully pretty." He said with a smirk and you scoffed and rolled your eyes, thank you Penny for the warning.

"I'll have you know. I would rather be with Bradley than with someone like you that is too cocky and has an huge ego. Being with someone like you would only make them cockier and stroke their ego." You said to him and silenced him and his smirk fell for a second but came back full force.

"I like it when a woman can hold her own. Bradley sure picked a good one." Jake said "I like her, better keep her. Bradshaw." He finished. Jake liked having someone to bicker back and forth with, he knew she would be a fun person to be around and be friend.

"Bradley, I like her. Keep her." Natasha said and you both smiled.

"I'm planning on it." Bradley told her and Jake.

"So, what do you do for work?" Maverick asked you curiously.

"I work at a bark across town. The pay sucks and it is not a good atmosphere. I wish I could quit but can't." You told him and he nodded "Maybe Penny can help you out." He added.

"I would love that but I don't want to trouble her." You said

"Nonsense! I can talk to her if you want." Maverick said

"That's ok really." You said and he dropped it for now but you had a feeling that it wasn't fully dropped. The night went on with games of darts and pool which you beat Jake at several times and he pouted about it but congratulated you and drinks. You didn't have much and neither did Bradley since you both knew your limit and both had to drive.

It was nearing 9 PM and the crowd was getting bigger and it looked like Penny could use a hand and that is exactly what you did and excused yourself. Bradley asked what you were doing and you told him, he smiled you always love to help people out. You walked up to Penny.

"Hey, Penny. You need help?" You asked her and she turned around to you shocked.

"You know how to bartend?" Penny asked you shocked

"I do! I do it for a living." You said and she looked thankful.

"Well what are you waiting for!" She said laughing which made you smile and laugh and you got behind the bar and started to help. You served beer both in bottles and on tap and made drinks. You helped her until the crowd died down and it was near closing. Bradley's team was in awe. "Thank you so much! If you're ever looking for another job hit me up." Penny told you as you wiped down the bar and cleaned some glasses.

"Well actually..... I'm thinking about quitting my other job. It's a bad atmosphere and my boss only cares about making money and serving his friends and has us dressing inappropriately." You told her not wanting to tell her everything but you knew you could trust her. She was outraged and you could see it.

"Nobody should be treated like that. Considered yourself hired." You looked at her in sock and she laughed.

"Really?" You asked her

"Absolutely! The customers love you and you took Jake down a peg. You proved yourself tonight. You can start tomorrow. Come by at noon and I'll get you set up!" Penny told you and all you did was pull her into a hug.

"Thank you so much!" You told her

"Not a problem. Now go be with your man." She said and that is what you did. You put the rag on the bar and walked out and over to the group. You told them everything and they were ecstatic especially since they can have you around longer. You all talked and laughed a little bit longer until 11 PM and you all called it a night and headed off. Bradley and you were the last one to the cars. You bid everyone a goodbye and a nice to meet you and they said it right back.

Bradley backed you up against your Jeep and started to kiss you once everyone was gone. "You know you are sexy when you bartend." He said kissing your neck his mustache tickling you. You giggled "I think this deserves some celebration." He said in sexy voice.

"Then we better get home." You told him with a smirk of your own and got in your Jeep and him in his Bronco and you both headed home. Once home it was game on. You both got turned off your vehicles and got out and you both were on each other. He picked you up and carried you up the porch, unlocking the door was a challenge but it got done. He walked you both in and shut the door locking it and going straight to the bedroom.

Bradley laid you down on the bed and you tried to get up but he stopped you "No this is all about you." He said and continued to kiss your neck and moved his hand up and down your sides and moved his hands under your shirt and bra, where he started massaging your breasts. You moaned as a reply and turned your head to give him more access. He sucked until a hickey was formed and he pulled off and looked at it proud of his work.

He pulled your shirt off slowly and once that was off you he unclasped your bra which you arched your back for and laid back down. He slid it off your arms exposing your hardened nipple and he immediately went for the right one which had you moaning. He flicked it with his tongue and swirled it around you were a moaning mess arching up pushing the nipple into his mouth further he bit it and soothed it. He massaged the left one and tweaked it and then he switched giving the left nipple the same treatment as he did with right one. Once he was satisfied he started kissing down your sternum until he got to the top of your jeans. His hands were rubbing up and down your thighs.

Bradley looked up and smirked at what a wreck you were. He was proud he could make you like that. He was half hard and wanted nothing more than to pound you into the mattress but this was about your pleasure. He popped the bottom of your jeans and slowly pulled them off along with your underwear and he was met with your glistening core. "Bradley." You moaned and looked down at him "Baby more." You moaned out and laughed.

"Patients baby." He said as he brought a hand to cup your cure and stroke through your folds and occasionally teasing your entrance and occasionally pushing a thick digit in making you a moaning mess.

"Just like that baby." You said and moaned even louder when he put his mouth on your hot leaking pussy and started to eat you out with the occasional tongue going into your entrance. He was holding your hips down with one hand and the other one teasing your clit. You felt the tight rubber band getting tighter and Bradley could tell by the shaking of your legs. "Yes! Just like that!" You moaned and then the rubber band snapped and you came hard seeing stars but Bradley kept going helping you get through it. Your juices soaking his mouth and mustache. You came down from your high and saw him undressing and once he undressed he climbed up on the bed and stroked your folds with one hand and made you jump while the other stroked his cock. He had that stupid smirk on his face, he knew what he did to you and was proud of it.

"You ready baby?" He asked you and you nodded and moaned.

"Absolutely baby." You replied and he smirked. He lined himself up and pushed in both of you moaning. He had always been thick and stretched you in all the right places. He hit that one spot that made you see stars each time.

"You're always so tight for me baby." He moaned out and started to slowly thrust into you, hitting that spongy spot that made you moan out. You were overstimulated from the first time he made you come. "Gonna make you cum again pretty girl. This is all about you." He moaned out in pure bliss. Your toes curled, your hands gripped the sheets, and your head tilted back eyes closing which allowed Bradley to attack your neck again and he did. He continued thrusting into you nice and slow he grabbed your hands and pulled them over your head. "You're perfect." He said against you the hallow of your throat. "Absolutely perfect." You couldn't say anything too spaced out in pure bliss. You moaned something incoherent "What was that baby? You want me to go faster?" He asked and all you could do was nod and open your eyes and look at him. "Your wish is my command." He said and snapped his hips forward going faster and your eyes rolled into the back of your head. He kept going at a brutal but pleasuring pace. His hips started to stutter and you knew he was close. "Gonna make you cum with me, baby." He said and took both of your wrists in his and brought one hand down to your clit and started rubbing. That familiar rubber band feeling was back.

"'M close." You barely got out and he moaned.

"Me too baby." He replied and sped up his torture on your clit not pinching the little bundle and flicking it and moving his pace up. Finally, after a few minutes, he said "Cum for me baby." and you sure did. Both of you let out pornographic moans. He spilled deep inside of you painting your walls white. You were coming down from your high when he pulled out. Cock now limp and dangling against his thigh. He kissed you like his life depended on it and you returned it. He got up and you made a sound of protest not trusting your voice. "I'm gonna go get something to clean you off baby." He said and you nodded and he got up and walked into the connected bathroom.

You heard the water running as you lay there. A few seconds he came back and started to clean you up which made you jump when he passed over your sensitive bundle of nerves. Nobody talked it was a more than comfortable silence. Once he got done he discarded the washcloth and laid down opening his arms, you shimmed your way into them and face facing his chest.

"See you had nothing to worry about meeting them. You were amazing and they loved you. You even got a new job! You also took Jake down a peg." Bradley said and chuckled.

"I loved meeting them and they're a fun group." You said and looked up at him and him down at you. "I love you, Bradley." You told him as you buried your head into his chest feeling exhausted and he smiled and dropped a kiss on your head.

"I love you too baby." He said and felt you smile against his chest and felt. He felt your breathing even out and knew you were asleep.

Bradley started to drift off to sleep thinking how wonderful it was to have you in his life and that you and his team got along perfectly. He couldn't wait to marry you and start a family with you. In his eyes, you were amazing and perfect. He wasn't letting you go anytime soon and he knew you weren't letting him go anytime soon either. You both were made for each other.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

[thai-with-booty]

So yesterday, after having Oliver walk in on me and Emil having sex, he was actually out most of the day so there wasn't really any follow up, but Thursday Emil was meeting some friends, he half offered me to go with him, but I thought it better he just enjoy himself.

I got a message from Oliver, 'jib is going out running errands, she will ask you to join her, I want you to say no', I knew what this meant or at least I thought I did, Oliver wanted me to stay behind for sex. Jib did come and ask me like he said and I did say no, I feigned being tired, I guess I was a bit tired actually. And so jib went out and within minutes Oliver came into my room, naked, which I thought was a bit careless cos if jib suddenly came back he would have no clothes to quickly put on. I pulled off the cover to show myself on the bed completely naked, he huge cock started to stiffen. As he climbed on the bed, I said before we start what was with you walking in like that yesterday, he just replied in a casual matter of fact way, that he's known and heard me fucking his son countless times and out of respect he kept away, but now that he had had and seen all, gesturing to my naked body, what's to hide. I didn't really know what to say in response, and he had already started to kiss me, god it was wonderful, he was like he had transformed back into that man at my house a week before, he was attentive, constantly looking to pleasure me, we were in that room having sex for about 45 minutes, I came multiple times and after he came I held onto him, he laid with me, no pulling out and leaving me. When will jib be back I asked, he said she should be gone a few hours and if I gave him some time he would like to do it all again before she's back. And so we did, he invited me to his room and was still talking with jib on the phone, she was saying how she would be ages as the traffic was terrible and she wasn't even close to being home. And so we had sex again, so wonderful, the house was filled with the sounds of pure pleasure for at least half an hour. After he came we laid again for a bit and I said we should clean up, he went to shower in their bathroom and I put some clothes on and made my way down the hall.

This is when I noticed music coming from emils room, how long had he been back? I had that terrible sick feeling, like when U hear some really shocking news. I was almost gasping for air, I shot downstairs in a panic and out the front door, I had a bit of change in my pocket and was still only wearing the clothes I threw on. I called and called Oliver but he was in the shower, I messaged him, what should we do. Then I got a message from Emil, when am I home? His parents were having loud afternoon sex and he wanted to get out and meet me. I took a moment to digest it, by this time I'm messaging Emil saying I'll be back soon and Oliver is calling me, still calm as ever, and says he will deal with it, I should just stay out for a bit. I did and when I returned home, all was normal, Oliver and Emil were watching tv, I went and joined them and kept looking to Oliver, but he dismissed it. Oliver then got up and declared he was going out. Emil wasted little time before pouncing on me, I was trying to say not here and let's go to his room, but before I knew it he was fucking me on the sofa, most aggressively than I'd known but I was probably thinking too much, and of course this is when jib decides to return home, right while my legs are up in the air and Emil pounding away.

[0llieneedsrest]

Tales From Royston Vasey (Chapter 1: The Thespian and The Plastic Worker)

Our tales begins...

The taxi company Babs Cabs was still in business, going from street to street where Babs Cab passes a block of flats. In one of the flats resides Geoff Tipps, the owner of many guns and who also works in the Royston Vasey plastics and has usually been sacked by his mate Mike for different reasons. 

In another one of the flats, lives Oliver Plimsolls who used to live in the ‘great city’ of London, but then decided to stay in Royston Vasey. Well, Royston Vasey is a place that no one would dare leave. 

Oliver Plimsolls or Ollie Plimsolls to those who knew him, had founded the theatre company with his lesbian ex-wife Linda, under the name ‘Legz Akimbo Theatre Company’ who would then go on to spread the word about different issues to school children. As Geoff and Ollie are now neighbours in the flats (Ollie being in the flat above Geoff and Geoff being in the flat below Ollie.), would it seem possible for them to even have any sort of friendship?

The answer it may seem is….well yes. You wouldn’t be reading this story if the answer would be no, would you?  Ahem. Well, our story continues within the flats of Royston Vasey. 

It was 10 o’clock at night and the town of Royston Vasey had settled down for the night. Ollie had quickly ran up the stairs to his flat and slammed his front door making Geoff wake up miserably. Geoff, now fully awoken, lay in his bed wide awake. “Bloody hell. What’s the git done now?” Tipps thought as he got out of bed and went to see what the matter was with Ollie. Making his way out of his warm flat, Geoff decided to go up a floor and see Plimsolls. 

“Right, this better be bloody good.” he said as he knocked on Plimsolls’ door. The door opened a bit, the angry thespian answered the door slowly and ‘politely’. “Hello?” Plimsolls hissed.

“Hiya. What’s up wi’ you?” Tipps asked back as a response, “Yer come up ‘ere and start bangin’ yer bloody door and wakin me up.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry about that. It’s just I hadn’t- I didn’t have a great night, performance wise.” Plimsolls replied, “Would you like to come in? I’ll make coffee, it keeps my nerves at bay.” As an extremely angered and possibly concerned Geoff walked in to the flat, he was in shock at how tidy the place was, different awards for different types of issues had been sorted and placed on the mantel piece. “Bloody ‘ell…” was the correct response for Geoff to come out with.

Cautiously taking a seat, he moved some tapes from where he sat. “Oh, bugger.” came out a bit too loudly from Geoff causing Ollie to come out the kitchen with a mixed up pair of over mittens. Ollie’s face dropped as Geoff moved the tapes. “What the bloody hell have you done? Why’d you move them?” Plimsolls didn’t know how to respond, he’s never been great with one to one ‘contact’ so to speak.

“It was either I sit on ‘em or I move ‘em.” said Geoff looking smug (which wasn’t that unusual). “So? What’s yer reason for waking me up?” asked Tipps again.  

The reason that Ollie had run up the stairs in such a manner was due to the lacklustre performance that Legz Akimbo had done that night making them get booed off the stage. 

“Oh. oh right. Well, I could tell you summat that I’d learnt during my time in the TAs.” Tipps said, attempting to be supportive.

“What? Why would I of all people take advice from some common civilian that used to be in the Territorial Army?” Plimsolls remarked rather rudely as he crossed his arms and gently stared at Geoff. Of course, he never meant to be rude or come out as rude. It just, happened. “If you don’t want my advice..” Tipps said as he got up from the sofa, “I’ll be on my way out then.” 

“No, please. Don’t go.” Ollie said almost in a begging manner. “It’s just that, I have no one, and you seem to be someone that actually understands what I’ve been going through. I can show you what's on those tapes, but you mustn’t take the piss out of me.” Plimsolls stated. Geoff looked at Ollie and nodded gently.

No words came out of his mouth, he sat back down and slightly checked the time. Bugger. It just turned 11pm. “Alright then. Let’s ‘ave a look at these tapes then.” Tipps said as he got comfortable while waiting for Ollie to come back mitten less and with the coffee he promised to make about three hours ago. 

When Geoff found the random tapes near his seat before he sat down, he saw that they had labels on them. He looked at them over and over again, he wasn’t quite sure if the tapes were appropriate or not. He picked one of the tapes up and read the name out.  “A Plague In Royston Vasey? Bloody ‘ell. Oi Ollie? What’s this one?” as Geoff called for Ollie, now mittenless, the thespian said “Oh this? That’s just a play we did when the epidemic began to kill the poor gits with nosebleeds.” he said as he made his way to the sofa to sit next to Geoff. 

A silence hit the room as the tapes finished, no one knew what to say next. Geoff didn’t want to say anything but he was in awe by what he saw. He cleared his throat. The thespian looked at Geoff then looked back at the box of tapes.

“I don’t want to sound rude or mean or anything, but why did you bother coming up here just to speak to me? I don’t even know you.” He said pushing up his glasses. Tipps cleared his throat, “I guess I wanted to see if you were alright? I dunno. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I can tell that I’m not wanted and that I’m in the way. I’ll uh just take my stuff and go down to my flat.” 

Ollie looked at Geoff as he got up from his seat, strange seeing these two actually have a conversation and not end up having a row or a fight. As they both got to the door, Ollie stated that "Thank you for coming up to see if I was alright, that's nice of you to do so."

Geoff didn't know what to say at this point, his response was either shrug it off or just say not a problem. He didn't do or say anything, he just smiled a bit then walked out with his cardboard box of things.

Credit/Inspired by @leagueofvasey (go follow them for more tlog content)

[gem-writes-stories]

Day-off

Picture not mine/credit to owner

Pairing: Donghae/Reader

Genre: Fluff

You were urging your brain to remember a recipe you saw in TV, you were absolutely hating every molecule of your body for not taking notes during the show but you were busy drooling over the food that your brain forgot to function. While you were leaning on the island of your kitchen trying to remember, your phone ringtone broke you from your trance.

Your heart jumped a beat when you realized who it was:

My baby(LDH)💕💕

It was not long since you guys made it official and the response from his fans were mostly positive, you were not bothered by the negative comments because they meant nothing but jealousy and who would care about them when you have 8 strong and funny brothers who protect you everytime and 1 manly baby as a boyfriend

You accepted the video call and saw the visual king's face.

"Hello~" you said in sing song voice and he laughed before greeting you back.

" What is the matter, Honey?" You asked

" Nothing babe just that....we haven't gone on a date for a looooong time because of my schedule, so I wanted to take you on a date as a thank you for your patience" he said adorably.

" Aww Honey......you don't have to say thank you, I knew what I was getting myself into when I said yes to being your girlfriend....but I won't pass this opportunity of a date" you said .

" Its fixed then I will meet you in 2 hours is that okay?" He asked hopefully.

" Sounds perfect " you replied.

You guys said your goodbye before ending the call.

You finished your breakfast and went to take a shower and get ready for your day out with Donghae.

You choose a olive green shirt with black pants and a brown pea coat to complete the look. You chose this attire as it was chill outside.

You wanted to match with Donghae so you sent a photo of you in the outfit to him.

He replied with two hearts and a thumbs up.

Sweetpie.

You put on a small chain and wore your watch. You checked the contents of your purse and made sure to carry your house key, phone and some cash.

You checked your outfit again when the doorbell rang. You rushed to the door to open it.

There he was in a olive green sweater with yellow and brown pattern covered with black blazer and black pants. Matching you perfectly making you giddy.

He extended his hands to you which had the most beautiful bouquet of tulips in them, you grabbed it and invited him inside, you filled a vase with water and placed the flowers inside them after cutting off a some of their stem and you guys went outside.

You made sure your house was locked, you went to his car and like the gentleman he is, he opened the door for you and closed it after you got inside, he came to the driver's side and entered the vehicle. Both of you buckled and started your journey.

He grabbed your hand mid journey and brought it to his lips, "I want to take your somewhere special" he said.

He brought you to a house that looked similar but you couldn't place your nose in it, you looked at him in confusion and he told you that you will understand his idea.

You went inside the house where noise came from the kitchen, "Omma" Donghae cried

You now understood that he brought you to meet his mother, cold sweat immediately broke in your back and now you realized where you saw this house, Donghae showed picture of it and said this is where his mom lives when she is in Seoul.

A beautiful middle aged woman with short hair greeted you guys at the door with a wide smile.

"Omma, meet my girlfriend Y/N L/N" he introduced you.

He turned to you and said "Y/n, meet my mom"

You bowed 90° to her and she came to hug you and her son, you immediately felt comfortable from her friendly welcome.

She ushered you guys to the living room where she told you guys to sit, she brought some drinks to have while exchanging pleasantries, while she was gone you looked around the house, it was filled with picture of Donghae and Donghwa.

You guys moved to the bedroom where she told her son to get some kimchi from the convenience store nearby. After he was gone, she went inside a small room and came with a book that looked like photo album.

"Now, he is gone, I can show you these photos peacefully" she said happily.

You smiled automatically by her bubbly personality

You saw that it was indeed a photo album filled with your boyfriend's and his brother's childhood photos

You cooed at most of them making his mother laugh and took pictures in your phone of some of his photos.

*picture not mine/credit to owners*

His mother turned to you and said " Thank you for taking care of my son....God knows where he will be without you Y/N. Probably in a loop of his own thoughts which will reduce his confidence."

" I can saw how he sees you. He looks at you like how his father looked at me till his last breath and trust me I know what true love. It is the relationship you guys have". She added and you felt very moved when she talked about her late husband and the fact that she feels comfortable talking to you about him.

Donghae shared some of glimpse of his life when his dad was alive and you always treasure them because you know how much his father means to him and his family.

"Thank you mom....I know we will make mistakes in this journey but I will also learn from them. This is my promise to you. Even though I can't take care of your son like you did but I will always try to come close to your level. I will try to be a magical mother like you are to him and a loving girlfriend too and last but not least a true friend. I will make him know that even when the whole world is against him, he will always have me". You replied.

His mother smiled and said " I knew he found a gem from the first time he showed your picture. Now I know for sure that you are an angel in disguise".

You just blushed. His mother took the album and kept in their place when Donghae appeared from nowhere suddenly already with his shoes removed.

"Had fun Y/n?" He asked.

"Very much" you replied while making eye contact with his mom slyly.

He noticed but didn't think much of it and helped his mom set up the table. You guys sat at the table, prayed and started to eat while discussing mundane conversation with his mom and laughing at some of his childhood stories while he covered his face in embarrassment.

Time flew by and it was time to leave with one last hug from his mom. She whispered in my ears "I trust you Y/n" . You smiled and clutched her hand tightly in assurance and gratefulness of her trust.

It was raining by the time you guys got into the car and waved at his mom once again before driving off.

He stopped near a gas station but didn't move outside to fill his car. You looked at him in confusion and he just took your hands and brought them to his lips.

"What is it?" You asked while smiling

"Nothing. I just want you to know I was present when you were saying how much I mean to my mom" he said.

"How?" You asked with shock.

"How long will it take for me come back from a nearby convenience store, sweet cheeks?" He asked jokingly.

You just hid your red face by facing the other way when his fingers took hold of your chin and pulled it towards him.

The electrifying feeling of his lips touching yours was keeping you on your toes but in a good way.

Your body felt hot and cold at the same time.

His minty taste, sweet lip balm combined with his manly cologne was enough to make you lose yourself in the trance.

You responded to the kiss in the same energy and passion as his.

You hands went from his biceps to his shoulders to his chest where you bunched his shirt to bring you close to him.

His hand that was in his chin travelled to the side of your face and the other hand grabbed your waist and pulled you close to him.

Your tongues didn't want to let go of each other even for a second as if they could read your feelings. You both pulled apart for oxygen but your hands remained in their place.

"I was sincere" you started.

"I want you to know I will always stand behind and protect you from any knife that wants to stab in the back and front of you when any bullet is aimed at your heart and beside you to share my happiness about your success in any field of your life. We are in this together Donghae. I love you" you continued.

You understood what his mother told about how he sees you and you saw literally hearts coming out of his eyes.

"I Love you too" he replied and you initiated the kiss this time which made Donghae giggle but respond back.

Well it is always fun when your boyfriend has a Day-off

[roseforthethorns]

“Wild Geese”

For the end of 007 Fest 2022 Nights are the hardest.

For James Bond, the nightmares never really bothered him. He simply accepted them as his due, a reward for being MI6’s best spy. He’d been everywhere, seen everything, done everything and (most) everyone. He had a list of kills longer than most in the business, and not all of them had been dispatched with a bullet. Sometimes, Bond would wake, body alert and mind racing, convinced he’d felt hands around his throat again, or the crushing weight of water, or his shoulder exploding in pain. Other times he would wake and have to check that he wasn’t still holding his gun.

When Bond and Vesper had been together, he’d still been so green as an agent; there had been some trauma, but nothing some Scotch and a good fuck couldn’t handle. Her death still hurt, but the dull ache of an old scar, and the nightmare of her drowning almost never happened anymore.

But when he started sleeping with Q? When the lanky boffin with a sharp tongue and a voice that always brought Bond home had found his way into Bond’s bed? When Bond had to finally begin to acknowledge to himself that he did, indeed, care for Q and was finding it harder and harder to understand what Q saw in him? 

One particularly sleepless night found Bond standing near one of the windows in his flat, wrapped in his dressing gown. Snow was falling softly outside, blanketing the streets and muffling the sounds of a sleeping London. Bond took another mouthful of Scotch, the liquor burning with a pleasant familiarity as it went down. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Q walked up softly beside him, though not quite with the cat-like tread of a double-oh.

Bond glanced at him and then back out the window. “You should be sleeping.”

“As should you.” Q’s lips twitched slightly. “There, now we’ve both said something incredibly obvious.” He reached out and gently laid his hand on Bond’s shoulder. “You got up a while ago.”

“I thought you were sleeping,” Bond replied, taking another sip.

Q shrugged. “The bed’s colder alone.” They stood in silence for a moment, before Q spoke again. “But really, James, why are you up?” 

The silence stretched for a long time before Bond finally sighed. “Why are you here, Q? Why are you here- with me?” He didn’t look at Q, just continued to stare out the window and sip his drink.

Squeezing Bond’s arm gently, Q said, “Because I want to be.”

Bond chuckled darkly. “You make it sound so simple, like it’s easy for you to be around someone like me.”

“You mean a spy?” Q asked.

“I mean a killer, Q.” The words hang in the air for a moment, finally said, and Bond drains his glass.

Q is silent for a moment, and if Bond had looked at his face, he’d have seen Q thinking. But when Q speaks, it’s not at all the response Bond expects.

“You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.”

Squeezing Bond’s arm gently again, Q presses a gentle kiss to his cheek. “I didn’t write that, but I meant every word. I chose this, James, and I still choose to be here. No matter your past, I’m here. Now, come back to bed.”

The nightmares don’t ever end for a double-oh, but finding someone to share the burden with makes them easier to endure.

Author’s note: the poem quoted in the story is “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver (hence the title)

[changingplumbob]

Nishidake Household: Chapter 3, Part 3

Apart from death it's everyday life until Sachiko decides it's time to tell Kaori about their family responsibilities.

Trigger Warning: This part contains sim death from old age

Did Grim pause his reaping to judge decor? Yes, he did, but are we surprised?

In the living save the Nishidake and Foster families were both surprised at Grim crashing their Freezer Bunny day. Everyone had a long cry while Grim was working (because he went upstairs to judge some decor in the middle of reaping, how unprofessional of him)

While the families teleport to the Willow Creek church and cemetery Allie ponders about whether or not she'll see Grim coming (she's not going anywhere this rotation, don't worry). As the group mourns, James and Alexander jog by, scouting wedding venues perhaps? Charlie and Kaori hug it out.

Back home The Nishidake family decompress by sharing their favourite memories of Shigeru, and Sachiko doesn't mind joining in. When the conversation draws to a close they all feel like heading to bed early. Charlie gives Allie a big hug and tells her to not even think about dying anytime soon.

Geeta is relaxing when she begins to question what she is doing on a ship.

Olive: Hi, I'm Olive

Geeta: Oh, hello. I'm Geeta. Is this your ship?

Olive: It's more like my metaphor

ME: Stay on task Olive!

Olive: I mean, yes it is. This is where I ferry souls to the timeless save

Geeta: What's that?

Olive: Great question. I've never been but I hear good things

Geeta: Timeless… no old age?

Olive: I'm afraid your time is up

Geeta: So I passed away in my sleep?

Olive: Wow you are way smarter than your husband, it's something we share

Geeta: You saw Shigeru?

Olive: I see everyone that passes

Olive: Grim was meant to take you at the same time but he got distracted by some piece of decor, like is it so hard to be a professional?

Geeta: Back to the timeless save

Olive: Right, yes, sorry, on task

Geeta: I think I'm ready, I mean, I feel ready

Olive: You are? Brilliant!

Geeta: I love the halo by the way

Olive: Thank you, it's actually my wedding ring

Before Geeta can reply she finds herself on the ground in what seems like the middle of a forest.

Shigeru: You're here!

Geeta: So are you. For a while there I thought you were gone forever

Shigeru: I'm sorry, I didn't know what was happening

Geeta: No one knows about death, when or how it will come

Geeta: I'm glad to find myself here, with you

Shigeru: Just wait until you meet my daughter and son in law

Geeta: Emica and Daiki are here?

Shigeru: They're looking forward to meeting you, follow me

And so the pair turn and stroll off together as Geeta becomes another resident of the timeless save.

Charlie and Kaori take Greeta’s headstone to the cemetery and place it beside Shigeru. While there is sadness at the loss, they take comfort in having each other. At home normal tasks resume and I discover Charlie can grow cruelty free meat on one of her vertical garden planters. Slightly creeped.

Charlie doesn’t work Mondays so the couple head to the gym for some climbing practice that won't be weather affected.

Charlie: Are you sure we shouldn't just climb the real rock?

Kaori: Doing that decreases the quality of our climbing gear. We climb here, costs us nothing

Charlie: Race you to the top?

Kaori: You know we can't reach the top, it's on a conveyer thingy

Charlie: You just say that because we haven't reached it fast enough yet

Kaori: Fine. Ready, set, go!

And so the "race" begins. Charlie throws herself about the wall while Kaori takes a slow and considered approach to the holds.

Charlie: This view is great

Kaori: What vi- ah!

*falls*

Charlie: Are you alright? Are you hurt?

Kaori: Just my dignity

Charlie: I can see why we didn't choose the outside wall now. Do you want to go grab a massage?

Kaori: Let's just get home

Charlie: Yep. But if you want a massage later on *winks* I've got good reviews

Kaori: How are you holding up with all the, you know

Sachiko: Death?

Kaori: yeah

Sachiko: I won't lie dear, it did rattle me a bit

Kaori: It did?

Sachiko: Death can be scary for all of us dear. It is one thing to know your time is coming and another to see...

Kaori: Someone else's end

Sachiko: Yes

Sachiko: When your parents died, I had hope they would pass to the timeless save. But now, I wonder if it's even real

Kaori: The deaths have me rattled to. I don't know what I'll do without you

Sachiko: Without me, you will live a wonderful life Kaori, you have the best of your parents in you

The old flatting crew have been invited round for dinner to try raise Kaori's spirits.

Luna: Why are grand meals always better the day after?

Charlie: More memories attached?

Cassandra: OMG!

Rahul: What? What?

Cassandra: The kettle

Rahul: What about it?

Cassandra: It's broken! How will we have tea?

Devin: Cass, come round for tea meant come round for food not tea tea

Rahul: Like dinner

Cassandra: Why not just say dinner

Luna: This is why teaching English is hard

*Doorbell rings*

Charlie: Oh hey, Keira's stopped by

Kaori: I'll go let her in

Keira: Oh sorry, I didn't realise you had guests

Charlie: It's just the extended flat family, don't sweat it

Kaori: Still not good with strangers despite being at university?

Keira: Strangers make me nervous

Devin: It's good you already know us then

Luna: How are your roommates?

Keira: Alexander is out on a date and Joey is busy trying to seduce some chick

Devin: *rolls eyes*

Devin: Of ducking course he is. Brains for years and he just wants to woohoo anything in a skirt

Keira: *laughs* Let me get those plates

Charlie: You don't have to clean everytime you visit you know

The group chatter away and before they know it time has flown. The old flatmates head home but Keira stays.

Charlie: Eat my virtual dust!

Keira: Calm down there sis, it's just a game

Kaori: You don't normally get so competitive

Charlie: I am just embracing my inner over-achiever. That's right, I have a new trait!

Keira: Wanna help me out Allie? I'm getting my virtual butt kicked

Allie: *barks happily*

At breakfast Sachiko decides to breach a delicate topic with Kaori.

Sachiko: I was thinking about our conversation last night and there is something you need to know before I pass away

Kaori: Please no deep dark secrets

Sachiko: Not dark. You know the fairy tale we told you when you were little?

Kaori: The guardians one?

Sachiko: Yes. They were our ancestors. The guardianship of Mt Komorebi is tied to this family

Kaori: I don't understand

Sachiko: The specifics are in my will but dear, our hearts are connected to the mountain

Kaori: Do you mean literally?

Sachiko: I'll tell you what I know

Charlie hears none of that conversation however as she is busy practicing rock climbing again. Suddenly the machine breaks! For a horrible moment her life flashes before her and my eyes. Luckily being the professional athlete she is, she holds on and while not sticking the landing, survives it.

Kaori: This is all so much

Sachiko: Shigeru and I had planned to tell you together but then the marriage fell apart

Kaori: And what about my marriage

Sachiko: What do you mean? Charlie loves you

Kaori: Yes, she does. But I feel like I've lied to her

Sachiko: Oh dear, you didn't, we did

Kaori: You should have told me earlier

Sachiko: You got engaged so fast, we didn't want to ruin things

Kaori: So now I'm the one who will ruin things

Sachiko: It's not so bad is it

Kaori: It's something Charlie should have known. Something that she should have had a chance to say no to, it's not fair

Kaori: She'll be back soon, apparently she had a close call at the gym

Sachiko: This will only be a problem if you let it be a problem

Kaori: How am I going to tell her?

Sachiko: You'll find a way, we all did

Kaori: But what if she leaves me?

Sachiko: A love like yours, she won't leave you dear

Previous Part ... Next Part

[whiskey-bumblebee]

don’t.

Pairing: Matt Murdock (Daredevil) / Reader

Word Count: ~1000

Warnings: slight angst (re: not being able to ask for help when injured), descriptions of injury (non-lethal). Foul language (fuck). I think that’s it. Context- Established relationship.

_________________________________________________________

“Matt...”

He walked straight past you, making a beeline to the bathroom of his apartment. For all practical purposes, it was as if you weren’t there are all. 

“Matt,” You said, louder. Firmer. In anticipation of a response. 

“You weren’t meant to wait up for me.”

“Sure, I’ll just go to bed while my... whatever, is out getting beat to a fucking pulp. I’ll sleep like a baby.”

“I’ve had a long day.”

“No shit, that’s why I’m here. Let me help you.” You took a few steps toward him. He closed the bathroom door.

Letting out a loud sigh, you sank to the floor, letting your back rest against the wall. You knew why he didn’t want you to see him like this. You knew why he wouldn’t let you help him, but that never made it any easier. 

At least it wasn’t life-threatening, you knew that from the fact he’d come home at all. He had a place he went for that, not that you knew anything more specific than that. 

“How was your day?” An olive branch, more than a question.

“I missed you. How are the cases?”

“Straightforward enough. You’d be amazed how easy it is to get away with murder.”

You huffed a laugh. “And the... extracurriculars?”

“I’m fine.”

“I know. Did you have fun?”

There was a beat of silence, and you could picture the smile that spread across his face. 

“A little.”

“I wanna kiss, Matt,” You whined. “I really missed you today. Was lying around listening to your music and everything.”

“I’ll be done in a second, it’s just a few nicks and bruises. I missed you too.”

He winced. Your ears pricked up.

“If I can’t sit with you, can you tell me what you’re doing?”

He hummed in affirmation. 

“I’m sitting on the floor of the shower, there’s some... rubble or something in this graze so I’m rinsing it with saline-”

You hummed in affirmation back. 

“There’s just a few grazes on my arms and then a cut on my forehead. Tougher fall than I thought it would be. And hey-”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

You grinned, a warmth coming over your cheeks. 

“I love you,” You replied. “Is there anything I can do in the meanwhile? Heat up some dinner?”

“Should be done in just a-” He winced again, this time letting out a soft ow. “Second.”

The familiar sound of a wrapper from sterile gauze broke the silence, and Matt opened the door, a smile on his face as soon as he heard your breathing a little more clearly. 

“There’s my lover,” You smiled back, resting your forehead on his shoulder after you found your footing. “I was worried tonight. I don’t know why.”

“I know why,” He teased, pressing a kiss to your hair. “Mercury’s in gatorade, or something.”

You laughed. “I wish.”

He whispered the next words, almost too nervous to say them any louder, lest the weight of them disturb this peaceful little place you’d made. “Do you want to hold me?”

You nodded. He rested his hand on your shoulder, letting you walk him to the bed. His sense of space could be a little off when he’d lost a little blood. Giving him a minute to situate himself amongst the silk sheets and take off some layers, you took off your pants and crept in next to him. 

“I’m cold, do you mind-”

He shook his head, and you pulled the fleece blanket over the both of you. You settled into his chest and let your eyes close. For the first time in hours, you were whole again. 

“Is this okay?”

His heart picked up a little. It could have been that your ears were cold against his skin. It could be that the pressure of your head on his chest was affecting his breathing a little. It could be that he still couldn’t believe he’d found someone to be so vulnerable with, someone he could show his stomach to, in the figurative sense.

He hummed affirmatively. “No chest wounds today.”

His thick arm laid over your back, his hand running back and forth over your skin absentmindedly. The weight was soothing, even if the bandages covering his forearms weren’t as smooth as the feeling of his skin on yours.

You let out a breath you hadn’t been consciously holding. Safe, you felt, not thinking about subjects or objects or whether you meant the noun or the verb. Safe.

“How about a kiss? You smell good.”

Matt’s words landed on deaf ears as you drifted into a peaceful sleep. It wasn’t every night that you’d share a bed, so for once, you had nothing to worry about as you let sleep take you. 

As he took in your sleeping face, watching the worry fade from you, he wondered if this was worth it, if he was worth it. The pleasant weight of you on his chest was enough of an answer for tonight, and he let the question die. 

You smelled like his soap, but your shampoo. You’d insisted that his drugstore manly man fighting bears in the forest despite an arctic storm shampoo was a step too far, and bought a travel size of your own, which lived in the shower next to his. He thought of the two bottles, side by side, insistent on their own independence but incomplete without the other. Metaphors swum in his brain, togetherness, needing each other...

His father. The way he’d tended to him, nursing him, dressing his wounds. Gone. He never wanted to be that to you. It didn’t make sense. He was smart, he knew letting you bandage his wounds wouldn’t kill him. Lightning didn’t strike twice. But God knew he wasn’t going to risk it. So for now, he’d close the bathroom door and live with the feeling of your disappointment radiating through the wall.

Shampoo. He thought, letting out a deep exhale. For now it could just be shampoo.  

[slyttherins]

Quidditch camp | Fred Weasley x Reader

Summary: You and Fred attend quidditch camp like every summer, but, this year, there's been a mistake in the cabin and rooming situations. In other words, they're short of bed and you and Fred will have to share.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader

Word count: 2584

-

''What are you doing here?'' you asked, walking into your cabin and seeing Fred Weasley laughing with his twin as they unpacked.

At the sound of your voice, both twins turned, equally surprised to see you. ''What are you doing here?'' Fred repeated. ''This is a boys cabin.''

''It can't be. I've been assigned to this cabin and, clearly, I'm not a boy,'' you said.

''Well, we're four boys in here already. If anyone's mistaken, it's you.''

''Here, see for yourself if you don't believe me.'' You handed him your letter with your cabin number and other infos, proving that you were right.

A frown formed on Fred's face as he read, equally confused. ''I don't care what it says, you're not staying here. We don't have any beds left anyways.''

He gave George the letter and went back to his unpacking, taking his clothes and putting them in the small chest next to his bed. George scanned the letter, again, but then a glint of amusement formed on his face.

''What's funny?'' you asked.

''Have you seen the bed number?''

You snatched the letter from George to see what he was so amused about. Bed number three, you read. So far, nothing worth laughing about. It was just a number. You looked around the cabin for the bed numbers. The first one was Roger Davies'. You knew that because of the eagle badge on the sports bag at the end of the bed. The next one was George's and the next one, the number three, was Fred's.

.

When the two of you confronted Madam Hooch about the issue, she apologized for the mistake, but there was sadly nothing she could do as there weren't any more beds available, meaning you'll have to share a cabin and bed for the rest of camp season.

You insisted that boys and girls could not share cabins as written in the camp rules, but Madam Hooch told you to quit complaining and share the damn cabin. She hadn't said it in those words, but it's what she meant.

''Can't I share a bed with someone else in another cabin?'' you asked, thinking about Angelina or even Katie. Sharing a bed sucked - especially the small ones at quidditch camp -, but you were willing to do anything to not share one with Fred Weasley.

''If you can find an understanding, I don't see why it would be a problem, but if not, you and Mr. Weasley will have to share.''

You glared at each other and went off to the annual welcome campfire.

Once there, you explained the situation to your girl friends and tried to convince them to share their bed with you, but they all said no - even Angelina who you considered your best friend at camp. She found the situation quite funny actually given you and Fred had been rivals at quidditch camp for the past two years.

Around midnight, most people had gone to bed already, but you, Angelina and Katie had stayed around the fire, eating marshmallows and catching up. Katie stood and yawned, feeling the weight of the day hitting her. She bid you good night and walked to her cabin - Angelina right behind.

You took the dirt path leading to your cabin. When you got there, Fred was outside, drinking what looked to be a beer. He must've snuck it on the campsite.

''Oi, Y/L/N,'' he called, seeing you. ''Got anywhere to sleep tonight?''

''You think you're being funny, do you?''

''I was just asking.'' Fred took a sip of his beer. ''I'm not gonna kick you out of the cabin and make you sleep outside. I'm not an asshole. You can stay if you want.''

''It's not like I have a choice.''

The two of you went inside shortly after. George and the other boys were already asleep, so you had to be quiet as you moved around the cabin. Fred went to his bed area and started taking things out of his chest and back to his bag. You took advantage of having the tall boy's back to you to change out of your day clothes and into your pajamas.

''Thanks for giving me your bed. I'll apologize to George tomorrow,'' you said in hushed whispers as you put your dirty clothes on top of your bag, leaving them to deal with tomorrow.

Fred looked over his shoulder. ''Who said I was gonna share with George?''

''I assumed that because he's your brother-''

''That I would share with him and give you my bed?'' The redhead scoffed. ''Hell no. Need I remind you that you're the one who mistakenly got put in our cabin, not me. Why should I give my bed to you?''

''Because you're a guy and that what gentlemen do.''

''Who said I was a gentleman?'' He peeled off his tee shirt and tossed it somewhere before sitting on the bed. His hair were tousled from the friction of his shirt's collar when he took it off. You tore your eyes away. ''Look, this doesn't enchant me either, but I'm willing to share the bed with you. If this doesn't satisfy you, there's always the floor.''

Giving in, you sighed and joined him on the bed. ''You better keep to your side of the bed, Weasley. If I feel any parts of your body touching me during my sleep, I'll push you off the bed.''

''And you better not snore, or I'll push you off the bed.'' He got under the covers first, lifting it up for you to get in too. ''Little warning, I get sweaty on hot summer nights.''

You grimaced. Charming.

.

The next morning, right after breakfast, the teams were made.

As always, the campers will be divided into four teams; red for the Phoenixes, purple for the Hipogriffs, blue for the Pixies and yellow for the Snidgets. To minimize time and significant - and unfair - strength imbalance among the teams, each campers will be called to retrieve a piece of paper from Madam Hooch's hat and the color of the latter will determine which team they'll be on for the length of camp.

You ran and hugged Katie when you pulled out the purple square, making it in the same team for the first time.

Your excitement was interrupted when Fred walked by. ''Looks like we're gonna be on the same team,'' Fred said, holding up his purple square.

''Unfortunately,'' you replied, forcing a smile.

You hated to admit it, but Fred was one of the best Beater of the camp. Having him in your team will definitely be an advantage - even if he annoyed the hell out of you. It'll be even better if George made it too.

''Hit me with a bludger once and I'll force the golden snitch I'll catch down your throat,'' you threatened.

A smirk curled on Fred's lips. ''We'll see if you can catch it first.''

.

One week into sharing the cabin with the boys and you were already looking forward to going home in three weeks.

Sometimes, at night, Fred's long legs would spill on your side of the bed, but you let that one slide as it wasn't his fault that the beds weren't built for his height.

He was the messiest person you knew. Dirty clothes, shoes, wrappers; he never cleaned after himself. He also never locked the cabin when leaving, which caused a hairy spider to get inside while you were at quidditch training. He and George had a lot of fun trying to catch it.

You didn't mind George, you got along well together. You and him even went outside to talk when you couldn't find sleep one night. He was nice to you - and quite funny. Same with Davies. Oliver...well, he was a little too nit-picky and didn't like sharing his cabin with a girl. As he had said, your presence kept him from freely talking with the boys. In response, you had rolled your eyes at him.

This afternoon, when you returned from lunch, Fred had left his wet towel on the bed - on your pillow - after his shower which was disgusting. That thing had touched his dick!

''Ugh, I hate him!'' you said as you joined Angelina and Katie on the grass, relaxing between girls.

''Who?'' asked Katie.

''Weasley.''

''What has he done, again?''

You told them about the wet towel and Katie shook her head. ''I think he's doing it on purpose to spite you.''

''Well, it's working.'' You pushed your sunglasses higher on your nose and took a sip of your lemonade.

''I think he's cute.''

Your jaw dropped and your turned to your friend, feeling betrayed. ''Angelina! I thought you were on my side...''

.

For some unknown reason, your alarm hadn't gone off at the time you had programmed it to and now you were rushing through your cabin to get ready. You hurriedly changed out of your pajamas and slipped on your shorts, thankful that none of the boys were there so you didn't have to run to the bathrooms - which were at the other end of the campsite - to change.

You were in your running shorts and sports bra, looking for a hair tie, when the door of the capin opened and Fred walked.

''Can't you bloody knock?'' you screeched. ''I could've been naked!''

This was why you didn't want to share a cabin with boys. Boys don't care if one of their mates walk in on them while they're changing - or naked. To you, it would be mortifying.

''But you weren't,'' Fred retorted, going to his bed and flopping down on it.

''But I could have!''

He ignored you and grabbed a quidditch magazine from his bag and started flipping the pages, which infuriated you more.

Deciding it wasn't worth putting up a fight, you gave up and grabbed your team shirt and slipped it on quickly, already late to meet Angelina for a run around the lake. She was a patient person, but you still felt bad for making her wait.

You reached for your shoes and bent down to tie them when Fred spoke. ''Is that my shirt?'' he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking over his magazine.

''Erm, no?'' You continued tying your laces.

''It is,'' he insisted, a smug look on his lips.

''Is not! We are on the same team, in case you don't remember. Our shirts are the same color.''

''But that one says Weasley on the back.''

You stood and went to look in the mirror by the door and fought the envy to scream when you saw the back of the shirt. It was indeed Fred's shirt. You must've taken it by mistake in your hurry.

''Don't swell your head, we all have the same team shirt.''

You headed to the door when Fred stopped you.

''Where are you going?''

''Running with Angelina.''

''With my shirt? I have training in half an hour. I'm gonna need it.''

As much as you didn't want to leave with Fred's shirt, you didn't have time to change. ''Wear mine.''

''Hell no! Get back here, Y/L/N!'' he called after you, jumping up from the bed.

.

You lost the match against the Pixies and, unsurprisingly, it was Fred's fault.

''You should get your vision checked. I think you need glasses,'' you told him when the match finished, stomping up to him with your broom in hand and an angry look on your face.

''My vision is excellent, I'll have you know.''

''The bludger passed two inches from my face! You could've knocked me out and injured me severely if it had hit me.''

The beater rolled his eyes. ''It wasn't that close,'' he protested.

''If you hadn't aimed it at me, I would've caught the golden snitch before Diggory.''

''What's the screaming match about?'' George asked, coming up to you two, playing referee. He looked at you and then his brother.

''Fred made us lose the match.''

''Rubbish!''

''Why don't you two do everyone a favor and go relieve some sexual tension to blow off some steam? It seems like you need it,'' said McLaggen, passing by you.

You shot a look at your team's keeper. Sexual tension? Between you and Fred? What was McLaggen on about?

.

Later that week, you returned to your cabin after an intense training with your fellow seekers, eager to take a shower and wash the sweat off your body. Supper was in an hour, which gave you enough time. The door was locked when you arrived, meaning no one was there. Perfect. Oliver won't complain about you taking all the hot water.

You grabbed your towel and shower stuff from your bag and headed to the bathroom, but just as you were about to grab the handle, the door opened and Fred came out in a towel, wet hair dripping on his shoulders, fresh out of the shower.

A smirk formed on his face when seeing you. ''Did you try to surprise me in the shower, Y/L/N?''

You scoffed. As if. ''In your dreams, Weasley,'' you spat back.

You had to admit that he had a nice body. His pale skin had freckles all over and his shoulders were broad. Your eyes descended to his chiseled chest and stomach, the soft bumps of his muscles calling at you to touch them.

What were you doing?

You snapped out of your staring, which, of course, Fred had noticed. ''Like what you see?''

You ignored him. ''Move. I need to shower.''

''Unless you like cold showers, you might want to wait a bit. The hot water is empty,'' he said, walking past you.

''Are you kidding me? Supper is in an hour. How can you be so selfish?''

He did a quick stunt of slipping his boxers on from under his towel, and then removed the towel, no longer needing it.

''You better not put that towel on my pillow, Weasley,'' you warned, having enough of his stupid shit for today.

''You'd rather I throw it at you?'' he asked.

Before you could react, he threw the towel your way, hitting you in the chest. At least, it wasn't your face. You would've screamed if he had.

''You're gonna pay for that,'' you said, taking the towel and walking in quick strides across the cabin to swat at his chest with it.

Fred laughed as you hit him, amused by it all. After a few playful hits, he caught your wrist in one hand and the towel in the other, stopping your assault. The motion had caught you off guard, making you go still. You darted your eyes down to the hand of your quidditch rival around your wrist, his long and slim, but strong, fingers easily holding you back. Slowly, you raised your eyes up to meet his, only to find the redhead staring right back at you.

Then, Fred closed the space between you and pressed his lips to yours. Stunned by his action, you grabbed his shoulders, about to push him away, but right before you did, you changed your mind and kissed him back. You heard the towel drop, but couldn't care less where it landed as Fred was kissing you deeper.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Missing - Part 4.1

Remember the something bad coming I mentioned before?

This is that.

Fencing practice the next day had been a bit more intense. Fortunately, Kagami had been a perfect opponent to go all out with. She seemed to notice his emotional state and reacted in kind. Which he appreciated, certainly. Adrien had needed to work off the stress and anxiety from the previous incident with Lila.

It hadn’t helped that Plagg had also been unusually agitated that morning. He wouldn’t say what was going on, but he had told Adrien that they needed to see Master Fu immediately.

Plagg...had never gotten like that. Adrien didn’t understand what was going on, but whatever it was, it seemed quite serious. So he had bit back any complaint about the early morning or his schedule and attempted to reach Master Fu by phone. Unfortunately, it had gone to voicemail after several rings, and they couldn’t be sure if it was that Fu had been asleep or otherwise occupied. While Adrien had offered to find time to go to Fu’s place that day once there was a break in his schedule, Plagg insisted that whatever was going on couldn’t wait, and had decided to go to the man’s home himself.

Adrien wasn’t about to refuse Plagg if he felt it was truly necessary to go, but he felt anxious without his kwami and he still wasn’t back yet. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be another akuma attack before he returned.

He hoped everything was okay…

But at least Kagami was there. Both to challenge him physically and to support him when he explained what happened afterwards.

“So you came clean to them?“ Kagami asked, seated on a bench in the locker room as she listened to Adrien talk about what had happened.

He nodded, coming back to the present and admittedly still somewhat shaken from the entire ordeal the day before. “They deserved to know.“

“And how did they take it?“ While he certainly warranted some reprimand for the poor decision he had made on the matter, he did not deserve to be ostracized or blamed for the mess. Lila’s actions were her own, and while each of them held responsibility for their part in falling for her manipulations and the weakness that allowed her to get as far as she did, ultimately Lila was the only one to blame for her actions. With everything so recent and still so raw, the last thing they needed to have happen was for someone else to be made a scapegoat, which was still a possibility now that Lila was no longer present to take the brunt of their anger. Kagami knew the class was made of generally kind souls, but people could do regretful things in anger.

She for one was not inclined to sit by and allow him to be made into the villain for a situation he was not fully responsible for, and her tightening grip on her foil was indicative of that.

“They weren’t happy with me. They still aren’t. And I don’t blame them, really.“ He admitted. He had been kicking himself ever since his initial talk with Nino for...a lot of reasons, really. Having friends really helped with getting insight and other perspectives. And helped him notice things he hadn’t before.

“But what it comes down to is that even if we knew or suspected that Lila wasn’t being honest, none of us truly realized the depths of just how manipulative she could be.” Not until it was all laid out for them at any rate.

“Even when she snuck into your house and sent out that picture?“ Kagami asked, keeping her voice level.

He winced at the memory of the cause of her akumatization. But still...

“That was rotten of her, and I warned her afterwards.” He took a breath, realizing that his school friends hadn’t been the only ones hurt because of this. This just served as another reminder of his failure to act. “I should have done more then. I’m sorry, Kagami.”

She frowned, not necessarily pleased, but not angry either. “What was the reasoning then?” She asked. Because even if she didn’t agree with it, she knew he at least had some view that led to the choice he made.

He winced. “Honestly, that was the sort of thing I would see of a more extreme fangirl. But lying to police to try and keep someone from getting help is a whole new level of low. And one I thought she actually would not stoop to.” He frowned, looking up at Kagami. “Does that make me foolish?”

“Yes.” She replied bluntly. “You at least knew that she was capable of underhanded things. And when you know a tiger’s stripes, you should know what to expect.”

He winced and looked away, guiltily. “I know. Or—I didn’t? I just...”

She decided to take pity on him.

“That said,” She added, drawing his attention back to her. “While you may know a tiger’s stripes, that does not necessarily mean you would be able to see them in the wild.”

He smiled bitterly. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“Yes.” She admitted bluntly. “But that doesn’t make me wrong.”

He sighed. “I still should have done something then. I knew she was capable of bad things. There was no excuse for not warning anyone at least.” He gave a sad laugh. “I can’t even imagine how Marinette must have felt when I told her to leave things alone.”

Adrien hesitated, coming to a realization.

“I think I’ve been doing that a lot...” He admitted. “I did the same thing to her when it came to Chloe when she was being her worst.”

“I cannot speak regarding Chloe.” Kagami stated, and she couldn’t given her limited interaction with the bratty daughter of the mayor. Anything she had to say about the girl would likely be far from helpful and only get them off track. “But if I may ask...why keep putting it on Marinette then when you knew she wasn’t in the wrong?“

He shrugged, despondent and uncertain.

“I just felt safer with her.” He answered.

He was used to being friends with Chloe. Where he had been expected to give her what she wants. Whether it was completing whatever task she demanded of him or tell her what she wanted to hear.

Telling her what she wanted to hear...even if it wasn’t true.

But Marinette...

“I knew Marinette would listen to me. And she’s been good with reaching out and giving chances.”

When two parties were arguing, one of them needed to be willing to offer an olive branch if they were to reconcile and make things better. But so far, Marinette was the only one he could see in that role. The only one capable of it, to be honest.

Heaven knew how often she intervened for their classmates. She’d stood up for them, but she had also been willing to put her own feelings aside to come to a compromise. After all, she had helped Chloe more than once. Even in spite of everything Chloe had done.

“My thoughts were that if I could get Marinette to listen and agree, others would follow suit. And there could be compromise. But that was an unfair burden to keep putting on her and I ignored that there were times she shouldn’t have had to be the one to reach out first. And when Lila came along…”

He shrugged, helplessly.

“In a weird way, I thought I was supporting her by encouraging her to not fight back.”

That turned out to be a mistake. One that had hurt everyone.

It was never that she didn’t matter as much as anyone else, or that she was less important than keeping the peace. It was just that out of everyone, she was the only one who would take that first step and he knew that. He knew it wasn’t fair to keep putting such responsibility on her. But there was no one else he could count on to help or mediate things. And he just didn’t want the class to fall apart.

He kept telling himself he would make it up to her and that he would support her when she needed it, but he wasn’t the most observant of people and Marinette always seemed so strong, like she’d never needed his help.

“I wasn’t being fair to her.“

The fact that he knew Marinette could handle things did not necessarily mean that she should be expected to be the one to have to, or that he should expect her to.

Kagami hummed to her self, thinking for a moment.

“Did you consider that the longer Lila Rossi was allowed to continue on, the more hurt other people would be once her lies were revealed?“

He winced.

“Or did you think they would be revealed at all?“

He sighed and slowly nodded. “At the start, her lies seemed frivolous and only meant to make herself look better. I had figured that either she would get comfortable and stop, or that people would lose interest in listening to her.”

She nodded, considering. “It was a reasonable assumption, albeit an erroneous one.“

He looked away and nodded. “It was a mistake on my part for assuming that much. I wanted to believe that people can get better and learn from their mistakes. And I keep wanting to give second chances, even in situations where I really shouldn’t.”

He knew now that Lila went beyond that.

“Why I let it happen was a combination of a lot of reasons really. I thought she would quit on her own. I thought people would get tired of listening to her. I thought that she would come clean herself. I thought, if nothing else, people would catch on to her lies. I had so many reasons behind my decision, but at the end of the day, it was the choice I made and I will never know what would’ve happened if I had simply told someone sooner. Maybe this could’ve been avoided.”

“But there’s no point lingering on the possibilities of different decisions now that the moment for them has passed.“ She pointed out.

He gave her a slight smile at that. “Yeah. While we all feel bad about it, wallowing in that isn’t going to change anything at this point. We’ve decided to keep our focus on trying to find Marinette. And if nothing else, the reveal of Lila will ensure she can’t sabotage our efforts anymore.”

“Has there been any luck?“

“Alya said she found something. Nino and I are going to talk to her tonight to go over what she’s learned. Maybe she found something that could help?“

“How are things with them?” She asked.

“They’re doing all right. Better than they were with Lila around. The others were really forgiving.” More than he honestly felt he deserved.

Kagami seemed satisfied with that. “They are good friends. If you try to talk to them, they will listen.”

He frowned, a bit frustrated but it seemed to be mostly with himself. “I know.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder. “If there’s something wrong, or if something is troubling you, then you should be free tocommunicate it. If nothing else, it can allow you to get a second opinion on a Point of concern. And in many cases you can share information that other people may not know.“

He smiled at her gratefully.

She smiled back.

“One of the common mistakes in fencing is to hesitate and miss an opportunity to act. Once the moment is over, it’s too late. But if nothing else, you at least have the knowledge for next time.”

“I know.” He agreed. “It’s why I want to help find Marinette. I want to be able to apologize to her in person…and reassure her that things will be better now.”

He clenched his fists.

“She deserves that much, at least.”

Because she was…

To him she was…

Kagami nodded in understanding.

“Marinette is a good friend.” She stated. “If there is any way I could help, I would like to try.”

He smiled.

“Thank you, Kagami.”

______________________

Another day came with another search party. The available classmates gathered in another attempt to try to locate their missing friend. Unfortunately, life goes on even when it feels like the world should stop turning. As such, not all of them were able to make it this day.

Adrien had fencing, and with his hectic schedule and strict expectations, he couldn’t afford to keep missing appointments or he’d lose any freedom to help in the search. Max was busy with a project and was thus unable to join the group on what was steadily becoming a new after school activity of searching the city for any clues. Nathaniel needed to do chores and help his dad at home. Mylene wasn’t feeling well and nobody wanted to risk her coming down with a cold or other illness. Kim had swim practice followed by a date, and it didn’t feel fair to make him give up something positive that made him happy on a search that would likely leave them all feeling drained and depressed.

Chloe was...well, Chloe. And while she had been surprisingly willing to step up and pull a major victory against Lila when it mattered, that one good deed didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t still her usual self absorbed self. And it certainly didn’t mean that she was willing to traverse around Paris in the cold for who knows how long on behalf of someone she has expressed nothing but dislike for. She made it clear she would be spending her afternoon in warmth and comfort.

Sabrina, naturally, went with her. Though she had wished the group luck with their search.

This left Alya and Nino, along with the members of Kitty Section for the search. To Alya’s surprise, this meant they were joined by Luka as well.

“Luka? You helping out as well?” Nino greeted.

Luka hefted his guitar on his back and nodded. “ I heard you were looking and I wanted to help out anyway I could.”

In normal circumstances, Alya would be gleeful at the show of concern by a cute guy for her friend and the sign of at least one of her ships moving forward. But as sweet as the gesture was, it was really just a reminder of the fact that her friend was still missing, so whatever joy she felt was short-lived.

She shivered.

Chloe did have a point though. As it was getting later into the year, the days were getting colder. It only made her all the more concerned that her friend could be out on the streets in winter.

It was all the more reason to find her sooner. And she straightened, bringing out her phone and planning to do just that.

Alya had spent most of the night and well into the early hours of the morning going through the data Max gave her regarding Marinette’s phone.

What she found was....strange.

The phone itself was gone. Possibly turned off. However, the signal was still there. It was blurry. Seemingly fading in and out, inconsistent, and frequently moving. But it was there.

The data showed the status of Marinette’s phone and its location over the past weeks. Which was…weird, to say the least. The signal was abnormally weak. And didn’t seem to stick to one set location which she would have expected if the phone had been lost. No, if anything, it seemed to be...almost roaming?

Which didn’t make sense. If she was kidnapped, the kidnappers surely would have tossed the phone. And if it had just been left somewhere while being left on, it still should have run out of battery by now.

Instead, it just...sort of kept cutting in and out at random. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it.

But what had caught Alya’s attention was just when and where this strange status first started, which she had decided would be the location of their search for the day.

The others followed her, letting her lead the way while they chatted amicably with one another. Alya only half paid attention to what they were saying, her focus primarily on her phone and the map it was showing.

“It’s getting colder out, huh?”

“Anyone want to grab a hot chocolate after this? Maybe just as a pick me up after the search?”

“That sounds nice! What do you think, Juleka?”

“I’m in.”

“Hey Luka, is it really a good idea to bring your guitar out here for this?“

“It helps me think. And besides, you never know when it might be needed.“

“I guess.”

Alya, for her part, only half minded the conversation behind her as she led the group to the last known location of Marinette’s phone before it started doing...this. This strange fuzzy image that didn’t seem to be all there.

Unfortunately, the map icon was only able to narrow down the location so much. She was able to find the general area Marinette had been in last, but the specific place...

She looked around.

Strangely, the map led her to a somewhat out of the way area. It was a normal street. Shops of various kinds were lined up along the sidewalk. There wasn’t much that stood out. This was a simple district with no real landmarks. There was no real draw. No tourist attractions. No fabric stores either to garner Marinette’s interest.

So why come here? What had she been doing? And where did she go?

“Does anything stick out to you guys?” Alya asked as she glanced around, trying to find anything that could indicate where Marinette had been.

The others started looking around as well, but for all intents and purposes, it was just a plain street. The split up amongst themselves to go into the shops and ask around for clues. But none of the stores seemed like places where Marinette would go. And none of the workers inside had seen her. Though if they had, there was no way for her to have stood out to them enough for them to recall her weeks later.

“Not with the akuma attack, anyway.” One clerk stated. “It was a distance away, sure, but still close enough that we all shut down and hid out in our stores.”

Alya had nodded in understanding. Because honestly, while Ladybug and Chat Noir did a great job stopping the akumas, the fights could take them all over Paris in the span of an hour. Even if a battle was on the other side of the city, there was no telling where they would end up by the end.

She thanked the man for his time and left the store. Nothing she didn’t already know, but still, any information was useful. Something about it had nagged at her, though, so she wrote it in her notes all the same.

“Any luck?” Ivan asked, causing her to look up at the assembled group. Nino had been chatting with Ivan while Luka had taken to strumming on his guitar while they waited. Rose and Juleka were talking to someone at a nearby kiosk, possibly to purchase one of the charms.

Alya shook her head, regretfully. “Nothing on my end. At least not anything new. How about you?”

The boys shook their heads sadly. Alya couldn’t help the disappointment at that.

“Do you think there’s something we missed?” Ivan asked, trying to be hopeful.

Luka frowned, playing a few notes on his guitar, a bit harshly in apparent agitation. It was probably his method of coping, Alya rationalized. A part of her wished she had some reassurance to give him, but she was feeling despondent herself. Whatever boost she had gotten from seeing justice served with Lila was starting to falter, and she didn’t know how much hope she’d be able to hold on to for her best friend.

“Hey guys!” Rose came running over, looking excited. Juleka followed along silently behind her at a somewhat slower but still faster than usual pace. “That guy selling charms said he saw Marinette that day!”

That got their attention as everyone perked up.

“Really?”

“Where?”

“It was right before the akuma attack.” Rose explained, practically bouncing as she told them. “She was looking at the charms at his kiosk and mumbling about different designs for them, so they had gotten to talking a bit.” She frowned, looking concerned. “But then they heard the akuma alert. The owner was shutting down his kiosk but pointed out the direction he saw Marinette run.”

Juleka reached out, pointing towards a gap between two particular stores. “In there.”

Alya turned to look. The stores in question were both the tallest buildings on the street, standing at four stories with a clear alleyway between them. They didn’t have much in the way of decorations, but with the awnings and balconies, did appear to provide cover. Maybe Marinette had hid in there during the fight?

The alleyway itself was empty. Other than a fire escape on one side, a dumpster, and a fence blocking the way through, there didn’t seem to be much else of notice. And the dumpster had to have been cleaned out in the weeks since Marinette’s disappearance.

Nino heaved a sigh of relief when Alya told him this before he could attempt to dumpster dive for clues. He wanted to find Marinette, sure. And he certainly would have been willing to loot a dumpster for her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.

The group spread out along the alley, continuing to search for clues. While not searching within the dumpster itself, Nino and Ivan had gone so far as to lift the dumpster enough for Rose to do a quick search beneath for anything. Juleka checked the fence for any holes or ways through. Luka stood near the entrance to the alley as a lookout in case anyone noticed them, absently picking at notes on his guitar.

Alya, for her part, tried to check the fire escape. Was it reachable from the ground? No, it was at least a story up and the ladder leading to it wasn’t lowered if it was even there at all. Maybe if Marinette had stood on the dumpster? Hmm...what if there was a way to check for height on her map?

She pulled out her phone

And immediately froze.

There, on her phone’s map, was a blinking, fuzzy icon. The one that had been indicating Marinette. At some point without realizing it, she had switched from the image of Marinette’s last placement to the current. She saw her own indicator with her picture, as well as those of her other friends with her.

But amidst her searching, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s current location on her map had been moving.

It was moving here.

And suddenly...

It had stopped.

It...was here.

Marinette...it said she was here.

Alya froze.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t even move her body from her spot. At most, she was able to move her eyes, searching wildly for any trace of her best friend.

But...nothing.

Why was it saying she was here?

“Marinette?!”

All other sound ceased. The others turned to her, but she didn’t even notice because it was here! The signal was right here! Marinette was here!

But…she wasn’t.

It was just herself. Just Alya. Just Nino. Just Luka and Rose and the rest of Kitty Section. Just them. Just random people passing by on the street.

No Marinette.

But…

A quick glance to the phone showed it was still there. So Marinette had to be here, right?

But why?

Alya looked around frantically, calling out in desperation.

“MARINETTE?!”

Silence.

A few strange looks from the people nearby.

Not even her friends dared to speak.

And on her phone, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s signal started to fade and drift away.

Alya stared at the icon. Wishing it back.

“Babe…” Nino tried, approaching her cautiously. “What was that?”

She bit her lip.

“I…don’t know?”

______________________

Oh.

The music stopped.

Whatever strands of melody and lingering echoes of the tune had since faded from the rooftop where she stood.

It had been a beautiful melody. Something gentle and kind in its own way. And while she knew better than to take a break, she had a strange inclination to listen to the sweet yet heartbreaking tune while it lasted.

…it just hadn’t lasted very long.

The loss felt…sad, in a way. She couldn’t help but feel that it had been cut off all too soon.

And the silence bothered her.

It seemed…stifling, almost.

She shook it off.

It was time to go anyway. She had spent too much time here as it was. And she still needed to…do whatever it was she was here to do. Continue searching the city. Keep an eye out for any akumas. Be useful. Stay busy.

Until she could go back to wherever she had been before, at least.

She sighed and threw her yo-yo. As she approached the edge of the building, she allowed the low murmur of background noise and city life to erase that gnawing emptiness. She swung off, leaving the sounds of shouting behind her. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound important.

Back to work.

______________________

Evening came all too slowly for Adrien. The rest of the day seemed to drag on and made him all that much more eager for the end of school. And wasn’t that an irony that he actually wanted to be out of school for once?

But the only thing he was more eager about than school was his friends. And Alya seemed to think she had a lead on Marinette. If she had anything, he wanted to know. If there was even a chance, he’d happily take it if it meant getting to see her again.

Unfortunately, their differing schedules made meeting difficult. Alya had wanted to share her info with Nino, and knowing how affected Adrien was by everything, Nino had insisted Adrien be there as well. But Adrien had practice and lessons after school. And Nino and Alya both had obligations at their respective homes.

It had been decided that they would do a phone chat later in the evening. After Nino and Alya’s younger siblings were put to bed and when Adrien’s schedule was clear.

He was practically vibrating out of his chair with nervousness the longer he waited for their video chat.

“Boo!”

So much so that he actually fell out of his chair when Plagg returned.

“Plagg! Where have you been?!” Adrien demanded as he pushed himself up. He was of course happy that he had returned, but really!

The kwami snickered at Adrien’s expression. Could anyone blame him? That was hilarious.

...but back on point, Plagg remembered his news and quickly got serious.

“I couldn’t find the Guardian.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Did something happen to him?”

Plagg shrugged. “I don’t know. He could just be out running errands or something. We’ll need to try again.”

“I could try calling him now.” Adrien suggested. If he had just been busy when he tried before, then surely it would be all right to try again to reach him now? And as long as he had his phone, Fu should be able to get his call. Though in that case, Fu should already have known about his earlier call, right?

Adrien bit his lip in worry. So much had been happening lately. Marinette disappeared. The whole thing with Lila. Ladybug was...apparently in a bad mood for some reason. Now Plagg was agitated and they couldn’t reach Master Fu.

He took a breath to steady himself. They weren’t sure Fu was actually unreachable yet. He needed to call him first. And if that didn’t work, he could have Plagg lead him to the man’s place to check up on him.

Still...he couldn’t help the anxiety he was feeling, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

BRIIIIIING!

“AAH!”

As was evident when he panicked at the sudden alarm from his phone. So much so that it took him three tries to grab the phone as he kept dropping it due to his frantic fumbling. Ignoring Plagg’s commentary, he looked to the screen and saw it was a video call request from Alya.

Oh right. The video chat with Nino and Alya. It was supposed to start now. He had just gotten distracted.

He took a breath and answered the call.

“Hey! Hi! Hello! Glad you made it!”

Honestly, he could have smacked himself.

Somewhere off to the side, Plagg was snickering. On the video, both Alya and Nino seemed to be smiling at how frazzled he appeared. Adrien himself was much less amused.

“Did you find anything?” He asked, only partly to distract from himself.

Mostly because he was hoping for some news. That their excursion earlier had been successful. That they’d found something on their friend. Preferably the friend in question.

But their downhearted expressions told him the answer before they even had to say anything. The explanation that followed was short but detailed, and only seemed to further his confusion. Given their expressions, Adrien was sure that Alya and Nino were in the same boat.

“It was the weirdest thing...” Alya trailed off in a mutter.

“I’ll say.” Nino added with a laugh. “You were kind of freaking out. We all panicked when you started shouting.”

In any other instance, Alya might have been offended. As it was, though, she was quiet. Remaining deep in thought and seemingly oblivious to her boyfriend’s attempt to distract from her.

But Adrien noticed.

“Alya? What’s up?”

A moment of silence followed as she attempted to gather her thoughts.

Then...

“I have a theory.“ Alya started, looking apprehensive.

Adrien perked up. “A theory? What of?”

Nino, for his part, found in realization. “Does this have to do with what happened earlier?“

She nodded. “I’d been following her cell phone signal. After…” She hesitated for a second. “Well, when I was Lady Wifi, I managed to track Marinette’s phone signal and that same signal is on my phone now. But something isn’t right about it.”

She lifted her phone to the screen so Adrien could see what she meant. Sure enough, there was Marinette’s icon active on the map, but...it looked strange. Distorted. He struggled to tell that it was Marinette’s picture there at all.

“It’s been like this for a while. I’ve never seen any case like this, and there are no reports online of anything similar. Plus given how it’s been moving around…” She pulled her phone back and shrugged. “I think magic may be involved.”

Adrien straightened. “So you think she might have been akumatized?”

She shrugged. “Near as I can figure.“

Nino frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense. Hawk Moth can only akumatize one person at a time.“

Well, that wasn’t quite true, Adrien realized. There had been the Scarlet Moth incident when he had caused a mass akumatization with that illusion. Then it happened again that time Marinette had been expelled thanks to Lila’s schemes.

He bit back the rush of resentment and guilt at the memory to focus.

Could Hawk Moth akumatize more than one person at once? There had been the young twins who became Sapotis and when Alya and Nino became Oblivio, but those were cases where two people were essentially one akuma. And even in the case of multiple active akuma like the time Lady WiFi, Reflecta, and Princess Fragrance came after him thanks to his cousin, they all still only shared one akuma. Purifying that had been enough to restore all three, and in this case, he and Ladybug had already done that. So if that was the case, Marinette should have been restored as well, even if they hadn’t fought her.

“Could he have made Lady WiFi if Marinette was already an akuma?” Adrien asked.

“He’s akumatized more than one person at once though. There was the incident with the scarlet butterflies. And then there were also the time with my sisters.” Alya argued, remembering the same incidents Adrien had.

“And when Adrien’s jerk of a cousin caused you, Rose, and Juleka to be akumatized.” Nino added.

Alya groaned. “We just don’t know the extent of Hawk Moth’s power.”

Adrien nodded at that. Of course it was possible that Hawk Moth had discovered some new ability. But his power seemed to follow certain rules and have at least some limitations, so it didn’t make sense that he could suddenly do this.

Or why, for that matter? Hawk Moth did show some capability for planning—Scarlet Moth was proof of that. But what could he possibly gain from keeping Marinette as an akuma for this long?

But...hadn’t he targeted her before?

Adrien bit his lip.

There was too much uncertainty.

He sent a glance to Plagg, who saw his look and shook his head in response. The kwami looked particularly annoyed at the current train of the discussion. Clearly they were on the wrong track.

Adrien took a breath. “I don’t think that’s it. If it was Hawk Moth, what would be the purpose? We all know Marinette is gone now and would be looking for anything that could be behind it. If he had the ability to akumatize multiple people back to back, why use it like this? It doesn’t add up.”

“I don’t know if it is that Hawk Moth akumatized her.” Aly admitted. “It’s just that it has to be magic. There’s no other way to explain it. I mean, it’s not just Marinette that’s gone. Her cellphone…” She hesitated. “It isn’t stable. It’s there, but...not? And she was there today. I know she was.”

She had to give Max credit for his capabilities. The data was extensive and thorough despite the clear limits. And quite advanced. She hadn’t known it was possible to get as much data as he had, or even that it existed. But it was helpful to her search, and that was the important thing. With it, she was able to glean information. And slowly, a timeline started to form.

As did a theory.

“So her phone signal is still there, but she isn’t. And it’s been like this since...“

Since Marinette went missing.

The same day she disappeared, the biggest thing that happened that day was—

“The akuma.” Alya whispered. She frowned as she switched her browser on her computer to the Ladyblog and started looking through the archived footage and documentation of that attack.

There was an akuma attack that day. Someone feeling forgotten and overlooked was given the power to erase others.

She had watched a video of one such unfortunate victim. The poor guy didn’t even have a chance to wince at being hit. He just vanished the instant the attack made contact.

“But if Marinette was akumatized,” Nino continued, “why would Hawk Moth even make an akuma like that? If she’s not doing anything other than making herself disappear...that’s not useful for him, is it?”

Alya frowned, looking over the data again. “It’s not, no.”

Adrien also wasn’t convinced. From Plagg’s expression, it seemed he had some idea, though now wasn’t the time to press him. He’d have to wait until after the call was over. “It’s also much quieter, isn’t it? Every akuma up until now has been immediate and noticeable, otherwise Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn’t know to come out and fight it, and Hawk Moth wouldn’t have a chance to target their Miraculous. The only exception was when Sabrina was akumatized the first time to be invisible, and even that was only for a couple of days.”

Nino shrugged but appeared to agree with him. “It’s been a couple of weeks since Marinette disappeared. If it was an akuma, wouldn’t we have noticed one by now? Akumas are generally fueled by emotions. They aren’t subtle.”

Alya looked back at her phone, reviewing the timeline. “But if she isn’t an akuma herself, then the only other option I can think of is that she was hit by that erasure akuma last month.” She shook her head, incredulous. “But that can’t be right. The Miraculous Cure would have brought her back, wouldn’t it?”

So caught in the discussion between his friends, Adrien didn’t see how Plagg looked stricken.

“It’s never failed before.” Nino stated.

“But what else could explain the state of her phone signal? It should either be there or not at all.

Adrien paused, tilting his head thoughtfully.  “That’s not normal.” He agreed.

“It does indicate that whatever happened to Marinette, it must be magical. And the only one with any sort of power along those lines would be Hawk Moth.”

“But why?”

She sighed.

“I guess that’s the question, isn’t it?”

None of them noticed Gabriel standing outside the door. Or the expression of dawning horror.

________________

Gabriel felt numb in a way he never thought he had been before.

The missing Dupain-Cheng girl? An akuma?

No. That was impossible.

Even if he was capable of akumatizing more than one person at a time outside of the Scarlet Moths, he would still have known. He would have made contact with her. And from his experience with his powers, he would have a link to the girl.

There was nothing.

But the only other explanation…

An official victim of an akuma attack. Someone that the Cure didn’t bring back.

How was it possible?

He entered the office in a daze. Nathalie followed him closely  in worry, but he barely took notice. He just shut the door quietly behind him once they had both entered, then leaned against it. He felt shaky. Off balance.

He had gone to his son’s room to see if he had access to any of the pictures or footage from the fashion show. Or if that journalist friend of his still had her video. Just...anything.

Audrey had called him in such a rage that day. Somehow, the shipments of her latest issue of Style Queen never made it out. Her attempt to recover the issue failed due to multiple holes and entire blank pages where pictures and articles should have been. So she had reached out to him through Nathalie, demanding his involvement and taking his attention away from his duties as Hawk Moth. At the time, he had begrudged her the missed opportunity at another akumatization.

But now…

“That can’t be right.” He murmured to himself. How could this be? How was this even possible?

“Sir?”

“The blank pages and missing pictures were those of myself and my son, as well as any of my son in that hat.”

“The one from the contest?” Nathalie asked, uncertainly.

“Made by a Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A girl who it seems is also missing. And has been for some time…”

He looked to his computer, wondering if he could pull up the information or if that would be gone as well. He had thought it a simple error at first, but the more he searched, the less he found. And now, after hearing his son’s conversation...what else could it be?

“But the Miraculous Cure restores everything.” He continued, almost monotone. “That’s what it does. That’s how it works.”

She hesitated.

“Maybe…not this time?”

He felt unsteady as he made his way to his desk. Perhaps he actually was, as Nathalie had quickly moved to his side to help him to his chair. Given how he felt, he could only assume he probably looked ready to fall over.

“Sir?”

It…it shouldn’t have happened. The Miraculous Cure always undid any damage of the akuma battles. It rebuilt any damaged or destroyed property. Healed injuries. Brought people back from any sort of unwelcome fate. It restored people from being half-melted ice cream sculptures, for crying out loud!

For anyone to have just…NOT been saved was unheard of.

Gabriel had thought he had been prepared for this. But now that he was actually experiencing it, he was…left shaken...

He had known going in that casualties would be a very real possibility, but had reassured himself. It was for the greater good. His family was worth it. Everything would work out in the end. He could just use the Wish to change the world and make it so that none of this had ever happened.

And then Ladybug had appeared with the power to restore things and he was only further convinced. There wouldn’t be any long term damage. No one would be really harmed. Whatever happened could be fixed.

No one would die.

It became almost like a game. He could go all out with little concern for the consequences. If he lost, Ladybug would just use her Cure to fix everything and he would get another chance to try again. And if he won, he could correct things himself.

As such, he ceased to worry about the “what if’s” and focused solely on his goal.

But now a child was gone. As good as dead. Possibly worse.

And this time, magic wouldn’t bring her back.

For not the first time since he had started on this path, Gabriel wondered if it was worth it.

Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng was an aspiring designer who showed great promise. From his limited interactions with her, he could see she had passion—both for her art and in her life. He had been impressed with what he had seen of her capability, and her level of care for his son was secret only to Adrien himself.

And now she was gone.

And Adrien…his own son was suffering for it.

He had heard from Nathalie how Adrien had been worried for her. How he had gone so far as to go out and search for her in some futile hope of finding her. How he had held onto that hope, trying to reassure himself each day that she would return safely.

Adrien…truly cared about this girl.

He wondered if it was any different to how he felt about Emilie?

What would he think if he learned the truth? If he discovered who Hawk Moth really was? If he knew his father was the reason his friend had been erased.

It was…too much.

Was this a sign?

Was this an indicator that he was going too far?

He should stop. Before more people were hurt. Before his son discovered the truth. He should…

He should stop this.

…

And yet…

Gabriel clenched his eyes shut.

…he couldn’t.

Stopping meant letting go of Emilie. It meant giving up on ever getting her back. Of ever making their family whole.

If he gave up now, that would make all he had done for nothing—including the child’s loss as well.

He was not completely heartless. A missing child would no doubt cause quite a bit of turmoil. It was no wonder Lady WiFi hadn’t listened to him, being too intent on searching for her friend. The feelings that had drawn his akuma to her...similar to the growing feelings settling on a number of Paris’s citizens.

Worry, sadness, fear, anger…all were emotions that would make perfect targets for his akumas. In any other circumstances, he would see fit to use that. However…given his part in this matter, the very thought of using the loss of a child to his advantage—especially when it was his fault—made him feel ill.

He would avoid targeting her friends or family. He owed her that much.

But he…he had to continue.

He had to make it worth it.

Once he saved Emilie, perhaps he could even use the Wish to bring back Miss Dupain-Cheng as well?

Then maybe…

Maybe they would forgive him someday.

________________

Sure enough, a few days later it all came to a head.

When Adrien arrived in class that day after yet another failed attempt at contacting Master Fu, it was to a group of some of his classmates looking particularly concerned and surrounding an upset Juleka. The girl wasn't crying, but she looked to be close as Rose kept an arm around her shoulder and was trying to whisper words of comfort to her. The only ones not present were Max and Nathaniel.

"Don't worry.” Rose reassured her. “I’m sure they've just been misplaced somewhere."

Juleka shook her head firmly. "No. I keep them on my wall. I never move them, but they're just gone."

"Maybe your mom or Luka moved them?" Kim suggested.

"Not without telling me. And I asked them. Neither of them knew anything."

Adrien grew more concerned as he approached the group. "Guys, what's going on?"

Alix glanced over to him and answered. "Juleka's photos are missing."

That was a surprise. He knew how much actually appearing in a photograph meant to the girl. It would have to be upsetting to her to lose any of them.

"They were all the ones from the class photograph.” Mylene explained. "Remember? The ones we took in the park.”

Adrien winced internally before nodding. He had remembered full well that entire incident...and the akuma she turned into because of it...and the heels (god, the heels). They had taken quite a number that day and Juleka had seemed so happy when she went home with copies in hand. "Do you recall where you last left them?"

Juleka appeared more morose. "They're on my wall. They're always right there and I can't miss them. I put them up immediately after getting home and haven't moved them since. I know I saw them there yesterday, but when I got up this morning, the wall was completely blank."

"That's really weird.” Alya chimed in. "And you're saying no one moved them?"

Juleka shook her head.

The other classmates glanced to each other, appearing more uncertain. Adrien himself started to gain an unsettling feeling.

"I keep them all posted on a board in my room. They're right there and I can't miss them, but when I looked this morning…” She shook her head.

"I never move them."

"Maybe it's a prank?” Kim asked, but he sounded uncertain. If it was a prank, it was a cruel and rather pointless one.

Alix seemed to share that sentiment. "It's not a funny one. Who would even do that?"

The group looked around at each other. They were really the only ones who even knew Juleka's "curse” or about the pictures. But each of them simply looked confused over the matter.

"It couldn't have been a prank.” Ivan insisted. "Luka would never do that and their mother would punch out anyone who tried."

Mylene frowned, considering. "Juleka's house is a boat. One housing three people and isn't that big that someone could sneak on board without being seen."

“It’d be a pointless thing to do—sneak onto a boat just to mess with pictures and nothing else.” Kim noted. “Was anything else missing?”

Juleka shook her head. “Not that I know of. Just my pictures.”

"It's okay." Rose said, trying to be cheerful and calm her upset friend. "I have a couple extras of the photos we took in my notebook. We can copy them and replace the ones that went missing."

It wasn’t quite the same, but it was a suitable alternative for now. So with a solution to the more immediate problem at hand, Rose shared a bright smile that Juleka tried to return—albeit with a much more strained and shaky one. Rose didn't comment, instead going to her desk and pulling out her book bag.

“I keep them right in—”

The others looked over in confusion as Rose suddenly cut off, her expression turning confused.

"Rose? Everything okay?” Alix asked, growing worried at the prolonged silence.

Rose bit her lip and turned back to the group. "Did one of you maybe already take my notebook?"

Confusion seemed to be the theme of the day, as the classmates again glanced at one another before looking back to Rose.

"I'm not mad or anything!” Rose said, attempting to reassure them. "Since it's for Juleka, but if you already have it, I'd like to know where it is."

"Wait...are you saying your notebook is missing, too?" Nino asked.

Rose bit her lip, uncertain. "I don't—I mean, I guess so?"

"That's strange." Adrien said with a frown. He turned to the rest of the group in growing concern. "Look around. Is anyone else missing anything?"

The rest of the class searched through their bags, but fortunately, no one else seemed to be missing anything.

“That is odd. First Juleka’s pictures, then Rose’s diary? Why those things?” Alya wondered. She muttered to herself about an akuma and checked her blog to see if anyone had posted any similar cases on the matter.

The rest of the class took it upon themselves to try and offer some reassurance to the two girls that their items would be found.

“Maybe we can check the cameras?” Ivan suggested.

“That’s a lot of footage to go through though.” Nino pointed out.

“I bet Markov could go through it pretty quick.” Kim replied with a grin.

Adrien looked around at his classmates. It was good to see them mostly recovered from the ordeal with Lila and trying to help each other. But he couldn’t shake the feeling something was strange.

He could almost get a sense for it before he was interrupted by the timely yet untimely arrival of Max.

Kim smiled in relief at the sight of his friend. “Hey, Max! Buddy! Think you and Markov could give us a hand with a little investigation? Rose and Juleka seem to be missing some things and we figured maybe you could help!”

Max, for his part, looked concerned and a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, but Markov and I are already busy trying to assist Nathaniel and Marc. It seems that somehow, their collaborative comic has been erased."

Multiple gasp and moans of horror and disappointment filled the room at that. Everyone really enjoyed that comic and they had been really looking forward to the next installment.

"Do you know what caused it?" Mylene asked.

"We've been doing everything we could, but we haven't been able to find anything about the comic in the computer. I suspect it may be a virus of some kind, but there's no trace of anything of the sort. We're trying to help them work this out. They had gotten a lot of work done on this comic and I'd hate to see it lost."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're amazing when it comes to technology." Kim said with a grin, fully confident in his friend's capabilities.

But Max didn't look enthused. "I'm not so sure. Markov can't find any trace of an outside program or of the comic even being there.” He waved his hands. “It’s like it just…vanished!”

Adrien frowned. Three things in one day. It…couldn’t just be coincidence, could it?

“Can it do that?”

“Not like that. Not normally.”

"This is strange.” Mylene said anxiously, gripping Ivan’s hand. “A lot of things seem to be missing."

Alya frowned, looking at her phone. "Speaking of strange things, I just got a hit to the Ladyblog. It's Marinette's parents. They want to talk to Ladybug and Chat Noir as soon as possible."

Several of the classmates perked in surprise.

“Could it be an akuma?”

“Do you think they’re okay?”

“Did they find something about Marinette?”

“But why call for Ladybug and Chat Noir then?”

“Huh? Hey, Adrien, where are you going? Class is about to start!”

Adrien barely took notice. He was already out the door.

______________________

If he hadn't already received the message, Chat would have known immediately that something was wrong. Rolland and Gina Dupain were present at the bakery. He knew little regarding the Dupain family, but he had been under the impression that the two were not on good terms. But they were actually working together without issue, with Gina working the counter and Rolland working the kitchen with nary a grumble regarding the bread.

When Chat arrived, Gina immediately called for Tom. And within seconds, he was quickly rushed in by the much taller man, who…did not look well.

The giant, kind bear of a man looked like he had aged since the last time he had seen him. Not to any great or unnatural extent, but it was clear that stress had impacted him.

Losing a child would do that to you, he realized. But whatever else was going on was certainly doing him no favors.

"Thank you for coming." Tom said with clear relief as he opened the door.

Chat nodded in return as he entered. "It's not a problem. But your message sounded urgent. Has there been any word on Marinette?" Like hopefully that she returned and the bakery was closed so the parents could smother her in affection?

He was hopeful. He was a hopeful guy.

Tom shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. It's best if you see it for yourself." With that, he led the way through the back. Chat followed with some growing trepidation and jumped when he entered the living area.

Sabine was there. Her gaze practically snapped to him the instant he appeared, though she didn't otherwise move. The woman was sitting on the couch, clutching a box of what appeared to contain an assortment of clothes and dolls. Marinette's things, he realized. But why? Comfort, perhaps?

But Sabine didn't look sad or in need of comfort. If anything, her expression made him wary to approach her. She looked upset no—not just upset, but downright angry. She was on guard and watching him with a strange sort of hypervigilance. Like she'd literally bite his hand off if he got too close. He had no doubt that magical suit or not, the woman probably could.

Chat had thought the grandparents had looked particularly tired. Like perhaps they hadn’t slept in a while. But Tom and Sabine both looked like they had slept even less.

For her part, Sabine’s eyes narrowed at him and she pulled the box closer to her and as out of his sight as possible. It bothered him, because it was strange for someone to be clutching a box like that. She wasn't looking to the things inside for solace, she was warily watching everything else around her.

Something was wrong.

More wrong, he amended.

"We noticed it after a few days, but we didn't know what to think." Tom said, softly as he continued to lead the hero up the stairs and through the house. "It looked like some of her things had been moved around. At first we thought that maybe she'd found a way back home. Or that she was trying to communicate with us somehow. But... “He opened the door and allowed Chat into the room.

When Chat finally entered Marinette's room, he couldn't help feeling bewildered.

Was it always this empty, he wondered? He glanced around at the different areas of Marinette's room, noting the differences and the overall"¦lacking. The walls were missing pictures. There was nothing on the desk. The mannequin that was normally adorned with the beginnings of some sort of outfit or new piece wasn't even present, leaving a sadly empty space in the room. There weren't even the knick knacks or textiles or yarn or cloth pieces that he remembered seeing previously. It looked like a room. It even looked like someone lived in it. But it was bare of a lot of what made it Marinette's.

Tom looked around the room in growing dismay. "It's getting worse."

Chat blinked in confusion. "What?"

"The posters are gone now. So are the gloves she had been working on. Several of the pictures changed before they disappeared." Tom looked to Chat, eyes begging for an answer. "We checked frequently, but bit by bit, they were gone before we realized it. It's like they're just...”

"They're fading." Chat realized in growing horror. He'd started to suspect, given Juleka's pictures and Rose's diary, but this confirmed it.

This wasn't natural.

Marinette didn't run away. Nothing so simple could explain what he had been seeing so far. No human could pull this off, and he knew Marinette was far from the sort to even try, no matter the reason. This was magic, he was sure of it.

"Sabine and I have been taking shifts. Whenever we looked away, something else was gone. So we just...” He shrugged helplessly before gesturing down the ladder.

Downstairs. To where Sabine sat hoarding a box with all the ferocity of a dragon guarding its gold.

He understood now. Marinette's mother wasn't holding onto Marinette's belongings out of missing her child, she was literally trying to keep them from disappearing!

Her room. The pictures. The notebook. The comic. They were all connected by her influence. Everything Marinette owned or had a part in was starting to fade away. Her parents figured it out and they were trying to protect what was left of their daughter.

He clenched his fists.

He had to talk to Ladybug.

______________________

How frustrating.

It had been weeks, but Ladybug had made little progress in her self appointed mission to track down Hawk Moth. And it had been vexing, especially given his recent silence. Other than Lady Wifi, there hadn’t been any other akuma attacks. Even in spite of the more despondent atmosphere she had noticed around the Francois Dupont school as of late.

He must be planning something...

Surely there had to be some minor issue he would consider escalating to akuma-worthy. That incident in the park with that strange old man certainly stood out in her mind as one such missed opportunity for the supervillain.

...who even was that man? He acted like he knew her and was spouting...the strangest things.

Who she was before she became Ladybug? Someone beneath the mask? He ‘knew’ her?

Ridiculous.

Clearly he had been suffering some ailment when he happened upon her.

She sighed.

It was unfortunate really. For a brief moment there, she had almost thought the man had known something valuable. He had seemed so earnest. And she could almost swear he seemed...familiar? Like she had met him somewhere before.

She rubbed her head, trying to recall. It wasn’t just this time or the one incident before. Maybe she had rescued him once? Maybe he was one of the civilians she had chatted with on some previous occasion? And that could be how he thought he knew her?

Maybe...

“Ladybug! LADYBUG!”

At the sound of someone calling for her, she stopped and turned around to see Chat running towards her. She was glad to see him again, but from his expression and the way he was running, it looked like this wasn’t a social visit.

“Chat? Is everything all right?” She asked once he had finally reached her. “Is there an akuma?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean—not exactly!” He shook his head. “Sorry, just…”

She couldn’t understand him through his babbling. Ladybug frowned and held her hands out, gesturing for his silence to get his attention.

“Chat, calm down and breathe. Then tell me what is wrong.”

To her further annoyance, he took a deep—somewhat exaggerated breath. If nothing else, however, it did serve to get him to settle and be able to speak normally.

“Listen, I think something may have gone wrong in the last akuma battle. Well—not the last one, but the last last one.”

…semi-normally.

At least she could understand him, at any rate.

Still, that was concerning. “What do you mean?”

She had stopped that akuma, hadn’t she?

“A friend of mine disappeared after that battle and never reappeared. Now she’s missing.”

“You mean that Marinette girl? Chat, it’s likely she may have run away.”

“NO. She didn’t. I was worried about that at first, but she wouldn’t and I was right. Other things are disappearing now! Everything of hers or that she had a hand in is literally fading away! She had to have been hit by that erasing akuma.”

“That’s impossible. The Miraculous Cure fixes all the damage caused by an akuma fight.”

“But Marinette hasn’t returned!”

“Then maybe she wasn’t involved with the akuma fight at all.”

“Her things are disappearing! Anything that reminds people of her are suddenly vanishing if people aren’t constantly watching them! That’s not normal! That’s magic.”

“Did you actually see anything disappear?”

He paused.

“Well—not directly myself, no.” He admitted, rubbing his head. “But a lot of people have said things are disappearing. And they all seem to be things she had some involvement or influence in.”

Marinette had come up with the idea for Rose’s journal after Chloe had insulted it. She had helped Juleka break her curse and take all those fun photos to make up for the class picture. Marc and Nathaniel’s comic only got started because Marinette had introduced them. And from what he saw at the bakery, the effect was expanding.

He froze, a creeping realization sinking in.

If it was expanding, just how much would be gone?

“But if you haven’t seen it, then how do you know that it’s an akuma?”

“But they said—”

She shook her head. “Chat, it could just be coincidence. People misplace things. Lose things. Throw things away and forget about them. It happens. That doesn’t make it noteworthy and doesn’t mean it’s magic. Sometimes, those things are just gone.”

“But they—”

“You have to face facts, Chat Noir. If she’s gone, she may not return.”

He’d had enough.

“What is WRONG with you?”

He had plenty of times where he felt annoyed or angry with Ladybug. When she rejected him. When she kept secrets. When she didn’t seem to take him seriously. Looking back, those instances seemed so incredibly petty compared to how he felt in this moment.

Never had he ever wanted to shake her the way he did now.

“A girl is missing! She is literally fading from existence and you don’t care!”

“Chat, you don’t even know that’s actually the case! There are other things to worry about right now!”

“This is a person’s LIFE AT STAKE!”

Ladybug simply looked unimpressed. “Everyone’s life is at stake against Hawk Moth, Chat! And you would have me put him on hold just for one person?”

“She isn’t just one person!”

She was a person! She had a name! And a family! And friends! And a dream! She was an up and coming designer! Jagged Stone’s artist! Their class representative! His classmate!

She...

She was his...

Now Ladybug looked almost...sad? Disappointed?

“You’re too attached to this girl to think about this objectively, Chat. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. As a hero, you need to be impartial.”

He grit his teeth.

He wanted to say something.

He wanted to say so much.

But instead, he turned tail and stormed off.

It was Ladybug. His partner. The person he would follow in any crisis. He knew to an extent that she had a point, because yeah, he had a tendency to act on his emotions rather than think things through. But...she sounded like she didn’t care.

What else could he do?

So he ran away.

But Ladybug...

She simply stood there. Her head tilted in confusion as she watched him go. She watched for a minute before she shrugged it off and turned away. She didn't try to go after him. Not once did she call out to him.

Her partner was running away from her...

...and she just let him.

______________________

Tom knew something was wrong.

It had been a busy day in the bakery. Despite the circumstances in the current situation with her daughter being missing, they couldn't just keep the bakery closed. After all, Marinette had to have a place to come back to at some point. And they needed to keep living.

But that didn't mean it wasn't hard.

Tom and Sabine had been torn. In their current state, they were hard pressed to keep the bakery running and also focus on efforts to find their daughter. It was even worse now that they had distinct reason to believe magic was involved.

It had been fortunate that both Gina and Rolland had been willing to put their differences and issues aside to come help. They had been a substantial support during this time. When Tom had reached out to them, Gina had cut short her trip to Peru to fly back to Paris and assist, mentioning using her connections to deal with some of the cartels in the area known for human trafficking on the chance they happened to be involved. And Rolland had taken to the traditional methods of posting Marinette’s MISSING picture at various locations.

Seeing the current situation with the parents, both had gone so far as to agree to help in the bakery. Gina had agreed to manage the storefront while Rolland had taken to helping in the kitchen. Surprisingly with minimal complaint about the bread. And even willing to close his own bakery in the meantime.

He was still difficult, but it was clear the man was trying. And he was more help than not.

This allowed Tom and Sabine to be able to breathe. There were points where one or the other would have to go to the back when things got to be too much. From the normal stress of the job itself to the pitying looks and questions they would sometimes get. And now to try to keep count of what else of their daughter’s had disappeared when they weren’t looking. Which meant they had taken to shifts during the night as well in hopes that their presence would slow down the process.

Sabine had been quite focused on this for the past few days, willing to leave the majority of the bakery work to the other three. But one could only spend so long staring at a box and a slowly emptying room, and she had eventually agreed to Tom’s pleas to just try to return to a regular work day if only to restore a sense of normalcy.

...he should have realized something was up the instant she had agreed.

She had switched with Gina in working the front and dealing with the customers. Plastering a perfect smile and jovial tone, as if her world wasn’t crumbling. He was concerned with her state, but Tom had wondered if this wasn’t her way of trying to cope. Sabine had long had a way of being a pillar of calm in any storm, so he had decided to trust in her.

But then there were the more...delicate customers.

Enrique Arnette was never an easy man to deal with. Pretentious, high-handed, and with a need to be catered to in a way that rivaled with Audrey Bourgeois. He could be her brother, all things considered. They were both loud and full of themselves. Only she, at least, had the power and capability to back her.

Unlike Audrey, Enrique was just loud. Loud and entitled. He was well known for being picky and making specific demands that some questioned might be less about what he actually wanted and more about looking for a reason to get upset and cause a fuss. But Tom and Sabine's Bakery seemed to be one of the few places capable of meeting his picky and overly extravagant standards.

Usually, Sabine was more than capable of handling him or any other contrary customer.

But today...

"What is this? Are you supposed to be a bakery or a crematorium?"

It was like nothing she did was satisfactory.

It might have been the stress getting to her. Tom would have believed that.

Except that the smile on her face was like ice. And her eyes were like steel. When he tried to step in to take over handling the order, Sabine clutched the plate in an iron grip. And as she looked up at him, her gaze was downright unnerving.

"Let me handle this."

Tom didn't dare disagree. He just watched and waited anxiously to the side as Sabine continued to try and fail to fulfill his order.

It was too cooked.

There was too much syrup.

The fruit was mashed.

The design was poorly done.

As Enrique became more frustrated, Tom noticed how Sabine neither stood up to the verbal tirade, nor did she apologize.

And his wife's expression was a knowing one.

It was...unusual for her. If he didn't know better...or maybe because he did know better, he couldn't stop himself from wondering if it was intentional?

The way she was messing up the order so many times was not like her, to the point he could swear it was on purpose. And her attitude and responses, while not outright rude, were not customer-friendly and were certainly far from her norm.

Was she...trying to upset him?

"What kind of service is this?!" The man demanded.

Tom stepped forward. "Dear, why don't I handle this and you can take a break, okay?"

But Sabine didn't even look at Tom. Her gaze remained fully on Enrique.

"If it is so displeasing to you, perhaps you would find service more befitting of your station in a dumpster?"

Everyone froze.

Sabine was many things. Matronly. Firm at times when needed. Soft at other times when it isn't. Fully willing to stand up to people.

But she was never rude. And she would never insult anyone like this.

Enrique’s face turned red in growing rage.

"What did you say?"

“Are you deaf?” She asked him congenially in a tone and manner as if she was commenting on the weather instead of actively insulting the man. “Or is there as much trash filling your ears as there is your mouth?”

Tom gaped momentarily before moving forward to intervene. “Sabine, why don’t you just—”

“HOW DARE YOU?!” Enrique shouted, almost on the verge of a shriek. “I have NEVER been so insulted in my life!”

“Then clearly people weren’t trying hard enough.” Sabine shot back derisively. “If you aren’t going to take your needlessly complicated and pretentious order, then get out and let someone else.”

Gasps and murmurs resounded.

He turned up his nose. “I won’t pay a euro for that mess or your attitude! If anything, you should be paying ME at this point for the insult! And trust me, I WILL be making you pay!”

Shouts of alarm got Tom’s attention, along with the sound of wings.

“Oh no!”

And akuma had gotten into the store, no doubt attracted to Enrique’s indignation as it fluttered its way towards the irate man.

Except that in the second before the akuma could reach him and assimilate into his watch—

SLAM!

Sabine had caught the akuma in midair before it could reach Enrique, her hand covered in an old worn oven mitt.

Everyone jerked back in shock and growing horror.

But Tom just stared in sorrowful realization.

He recognized that mitt. It was one of the first things Marinette had made and gifted to her mother.

It was one of her few possessions that remained.

One that Sabine had refused to part with.

"No." He murmured. "Sabine. Honey, no.”

His wife couldn't hear him.

The glowing mask was indicative that it was already too late.

[creativeashproductions]

Magician Behind the Music // Owen Joyner

sagSummary: Being in a studio recording songs is an intimidating experience for anyone regardless of age. Wanting the best in the business for his soundtrack Kenny Ortega brings his cast to the best in the business. Heading the production is no ever than Y/N with a certain sparkle when it comes to the tall blonde.

Warning: Swearing, insecurity, oblivious!reader and fluff

Words: 2.1k

A/N: I know nothing about producing songs so I ended up winging it. About time I make a fic for Owen

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX PLEASE!

Masterlist

The studio had the sound of music as a group of people walk down the hall of the building that housed world-renowned recording studio. The office chair was leaning back as a figure sat listening to the nearly finished album. Forest green Sanuk slip-on shoes on the feet of the individual the door opening wasn’t heard.

“Girls you wanna hear the finished product?” You questioned from your seat behind the large control panel. The four girls on the video chat excited responded enthusiastic band members.

Not needing anymore push the song replaced the one that had been playing as background noise. Sliding the volume up the music, you had both produced and featured played through the speakers. As the pre-chorus and the chorus came, you couldn’t help but start singing.

 I find peace in every story you told

 I think of you, I’ll never be alone

 It’s true, true, true

 You know I do, do, do

 Oh, I need you more than words can say

 Oh, you save me in ways that I can’t explain

 Always been there for me, now I’ll do the same

 Oh, I need you more than words can say

All five that poured themselves on the song couldn’t help but bop along with the catchy words and beat. By far, one of your most favourite songs you ever co-wrote, feature and produce. You and little Mix had been desiring to co-work on something for years now.

“That pre-chorus and chorus are the favourites of my career!” You excitedly announced glancing up the glass separating the booth from the control room. Your face found a handful of young adults and Kenny in the reflection.

“It’s gonna be a bop to sing!” Perrie agreed with her hair in messy space buns sitting at her computer desk in comfy clothes.

Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Jade wore similar loungewear in the safety of their homes after travelling out of LA back to England. An entire week spent solely on writing music and recording with a few sleepover nostalgic of the teen years.

“I gotta go. My next clients are here.” You told the excited British girl group before your cursor ended the video chat.

Pushing off with your toe on the floor, you faced the group seated taking in the awed expressions from the song. Part of you is annoyed at the blatant disregard of professionalism and the potential of the song being leaked.

“Charlie, Owen, Jeremy, and Madison this is my friend Y/N. She’s a musician, songwriter and a producer.” Kenny spoke, waving towards your seat position at the forefront of the control panel.

Your eyes gleamed brighter with the teal blue cable knit sweater paired with a pair of fitted blue jeans. The pros of being a producer in a recording studio meant the work attire was relaxed compared to desk jobs. It appeared this group was similar.

“Hello.” You spoke standing up to be closer to the group, “I believe you have a soundtrack needed? I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’d like to ask that the song you overheard not be spoken about again.”

“I’m Charlie.” The brunette with a white hat put on backwards immediately shook your hand. Even with the hat, you could tell his hair was a gorgeous brown that contrasted his pretty eyes hazel green eyes.

“Hi Charlie.” You smiled at the male before stepping around him to the other three people in the room. The only other girl in the room was most definitely the lead of whatever show Kenny was currently doing.

“You’re Madison.” You spoke, taking in her youthful appearance and the quiet wisdom flowing within her eyes, the colour of dark coffee grounds. Her hair was down in her natural texture, resting on the shoulders of her muted olive green shirt.

“Jeremy.” Came from the shorter boy with startling rich dark brown almost black hair and eyes you couldn’t discern between blue or green. His cheeks a permanent pink flush but an infectious grin, “How are you?”

“My collaborators for a song liked it, and I’m not going to explain what you’ll be doing in the booth.” You replied gesturing to the enclosed space with the microphone and a stand of instruments.

Brushing off any other details you finally came to the only nameless individual in the room with the only blonde head of hair.

“Owen.” The blonde spoke softly with his eyes nearly begging to leave your expression with the anxiety building. This was so new for Owen, and unlike anything, he had ever experienced before in his life.

“Take a seat.” You motioned towards the long couch against the wall opposite the recording booth. It was a plus that extended couch perfect for a short nap after a near all-nighter. Your studio was the only one with such a good sofa.

“I’ve worked with Kenny on his Descendants series with the cast along with strictly only musicians. I say this with respect with Kenny, but if you don’t respect me or my process, I won’t hesitate to end this. It’s in the contract.” You sternly told the young individuals, “That being said. Your voice is an instrument that needs to be cared for. You need to be careful with it.”

The vocal coach dove into a more detailed list of the items not to be ingested by actors. The same thing happened with every new client you met after the horror film of a massacre a few years previous. As they went over, you looked over the schedule.

The binder was thick with the different songs in the series with jot notes in the margins. Kenny sat in the other chair, looking at them.

“So, Jeremy is the only one with experience?” You questioned glancing up at your elder with a look of curiosity. Kenny nodded with a fond smile, “Okay so let’s get his vocals for the first song recorded. That way, the others have a first-hand look at how it happens.”

Jeremy was quick to rid himself of his jacket to slide into the booth with the headphones resting on only one ear. In two hours, you had guided Madison and Charlie through their parts of this session. Your mouth opened to invite Owen into the booth but his demeanour concerned you.

“Kenny, how about we take a break for lunch?” You subtly guided Kenny to look at Owen before he quickly agreed.

Charlie was practically skipping out of the recording studio with his hands nudging Jeremy on his way out. Madison, led by her father, left right after leaving Owen to just about exit the room.

“Hey Owen?” You spoke, bringing the tensed young man’s attention, “Can you give me a moment?”

His head of thick blonde hair hesitantly nodded as Kenny followed the other cast members out of the room. Gently nudging the door closed you guided him to sit on the couch with you stationed in the office chair.

“First time recording is a bitch of pressure. I completely understand because I’ve guided people and been guided in the booth.” You began leaning forward to meet his eyes, “I know as someone with anxiety it’s intimidating. Let me know. Whatever you tell me will stay between us.”

Owen was quiet, “I’ve done other projects. I’ve never had the opportunity to have a role as a drummer. I guess this is overwhelming.”

“How about you hop into the room, and we mess around with a song?” You questioned, “I can show you how I produce if you’d like.”

“I’d like that.” Owen’s lips curved just a fraction into a ghost of a smile with the tension in his shoulders melting.

For the next two hours, you spent time in the booth explaining the equipment’s role in the recording. After he gave a short lyric, you invited him to sit by the soundboard with you to walk him through it. All the while, you shared the pizza you had ordered for both of you.

 “I started in the business as background vocals for a few bands before I delved into my own career as a musician. I believe I was about seventeen when I got to be part of people getting the songs ready for fans. I fell in love and find it more fun behind the soundboard.” You informed the blonde listening to a recent song you had finished.

“This is insanely cool. I think I’m ready to record my parts.” Owen admitted playing with his fingers. In response, you typed out a quick message to Kenny, bringing the other people back after a long break.

As much as you would have loved creating the soundtrack, it wasn’t possible with your other commitments. Leaving the work in Alana’s capable hands, you had been packing for your visit to the UK for performing the song with Little Mix. Owen, having the day off, had found himself in your apartment as he had for the last few weeks.

“Do you really have to go?” Owen whined, staring at with his head tilted back on the couch. Lips pursed in a pout and blue eyes shining sadly.

“As much as I would adore falling for that look, we both know I have to.” You admitted dropping packing to snuggle into his side, “What’s up with you lately?”

“What do you mean?” He questioned, rolling his head on the back of the couch you look at you. From the position, he couldn’t see your face, but that didn’t stop him from staring.

“It’s hard to describe, but you get flustered when certain songs come on. You’ve been ditching the cast to spend time with me.” You listed off, staring off into the distance, “You got Charlie to drive in the opposite direction of your work to pick me up.”

“What kind of songs?” Owen inquired with one arched eyebrow high. You shifted to stare up at the soft look in his pretty blue eyes.

“It was some duet from that tv series about the High School Musical films…” Your sentence trailed off as everything clicked, “You have feelings for me.”

“Thought it was blatantly obvious. I danced with you in the rain at midnight while I sang to you. I think that’s the most obvious action.” Owen chuckled brushing a strand of hair behind your ear as he took in the startled expression

Owen had walked you home after a late recording session with the cast talking each other’s ear off with different subjects. His hand had slid into yours as he tugged you into the ice cream shop on the way; a scoop each. His eyes glued to every move you made with passion behind every single word.

“-they came to me about a song. It’s a surprise for Kenny, I suppose.” Your one holding the ice cream cone nearly went flying with the motion you made. Your other clasped in Owen’s without even realizing it.

“So, it’s the last song you’ll be helping us on, right?” Owen asked halting to toss the napkin from his cone in the closest bin. You followed suit while intertwining your fingers back together.

“The girls want to do a short little radio tour to promote the single. It would be a month most likely to brainstorm new ideas for songs. We’ve all agreed to collaborate in the future.” You informed the nineteen-year-old. He was a year and a half younger than you.

“When-”

Your sudden squeal cut him off as the sky opened up to a sudden pouring of rain on the two of you. Had you not been so focused on the conversation you would have seen the cloudy sky and the light drizzle of rain.

“Whoa!” Owen laughed, tugging you into his arms in a complete act of spontaneity. His voice softly singing one of your favourite songs.

As he twirled you around in the rain, he serenaded you with Edwin McCain’s song ‘I’ll Be’ unapologetically sharing a piece of himself. It seemed the universe took pity on the male by allowing him to dance smoothly with his friend.

“This is my favourite song.” You giggled as he dipped you with one of your legs in the air. The joy in your features melting the actor’s heart.

“You’ve been playing it every day for the last week.” Owen beamed, leaning his forehead on yours as he trailed off the end of the song, “I’ve memorized every lyric in it.”

With rainwater dripping down your nose the words settled in your mind cementing something you had been only slightly aware of. Playing that song often meant one thing: you had deep feelings for someone.

The someone being Owen Joyner.

“I’m kind of stupid.” You snorted turning to wrap your arms around his neck, “I’ve got no doubts I fell in love with you in that dance.”

Owen’s grin preceded a toe-curling kiss that was the first of many that would happen.

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[wlntrsldler]

paper rings (o.w one shot)

Hii! I've just read your Oliver fic and it's amazing. I need more, and I don't know if your requests are open but if they're, can you write something for him with a slytherin!reader. Maybe they're are some kind of rivals, but end up becoming friends and then lovers. Thank you!!

Hi again haha! I was the one requesting something for Oliver, can you add or based it on paper rings by taylor swift? Like the part where she sings “i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this” 🤍

PROMPT: based on paper rings by taylor swift. Oliver and Y/N never got to know each other when they were in Hogwarts— years later, they finally do. 

WC: 4.2K+ (im sorry)

HARRY POTTER MASTERLIST

-

paper rings (o.w one shot)

It seemed that life never meant for you and Oliver Wood to become a part of each other’s lives. You were a year below him at Hogwarts and by the time you entered as a first year, Oliver had already established his hatred for the rival house of Gryffindor— Slytherin, which just happened to be the house you got sorted in. Over the years, neither of you really went out of your way to become friends with each other. In fact, the only time Oliver saw you outside of shared classes was when Gryffindor played against Slytherin, which your boyfriend— or ex-boyfriend— Cassius Warrington was the chaser for. 

Oliver knew very little about you and he was never kept up at night by the thought of you. You weren’t really a popular student either. He didn’t even know your name. In his defense, his Hogwarts years were centered purely on Quidditch. You were just the girl he occasionally bumped into in the hallways while he was trying to do last minute revisions for their game plans. Or the girl who happened to check out the exact book he needed to write an essay for Snape. Or the girl he saw occupying the same seat in the Slytherin stands during the Gryffindor versus Slytherin matches.

It wasn’t until three years after the end of the war did Oliver finally meet you— officially. He decided to come back and give a summer camp opportunity for Hogwarts Quidditch players, a request from Professor McGonagall. Oliver thought his return to Hogwarts was long overdue, missing the grounds where he got his first real shot at playing Quidditch. You were hired by Professor Flitwick, the same summer that Oliver was asked to come back to Hogwarts, to take over Potions, as it was always your strongest class during your years. After a few years as a Healer, you realized that teaching was your calling and since then, you’ve pestered the Hogwarts staff to allow you to teach on campus until they finally caved.

When you arrived that summer, you were expecting to be greeted by an empty castle, with the exception of the house elves and a few professors. You weren’t expecting a group of thirty students of all ages lined up on the Quidditch Pitch. 

As you dropped your bags on the steps leading up to your room, you turned to Professor Flitwick, “What’s that all about? I thought students were out of the castle around this time?”

He ushered you to continue going up, “They are, typically, but Professor McGonagall invited an old student to help some kids with their Quidditch skills. You know her and Quidditch, big fan, she is.” 

You hummed in agreement, the explanation enough for you to drop the subject. You found yourself watching the students fly around on their brooms, thinking about how it didn’t seem so long ago since you watched your own classmates doing so. You vividly remember wrapping yourself up in your house colors, cheering on Cassius, but knowing deep down you wanted the other team to win. You were never a fan of the dirty plays of the Slytherin house. 

You were so caught up in a daydream that you didn’t notice a bludger flying rapidly towards your opened window. Your eyes widened in fear, anticipating the painful impact. However, it never came. A flash of colors blocked the bludger from hitting your window. When you finally got enough courage to look at what saved you from the bludger that could’ve taken you out, you saw a boy sitting on his broom, a beater bat in hand. His face was turned away from you, his features unable to be seen in the angle he was facing. 

“Thank you,” you squeaked, clearing your throat once you realized you were out of harm’s way.

The boy turned around, flashing a concerned look to you. He looked oddly familiar. You were sure you’ve seen him before. He eyed you up and down, grinning when he realized you were safe. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Sorry bout that, miss. These kids are out of practice it seems. Didn’t think they’d need this much help.” 

You returned his smile, leaning against your desk, “Well, that’s why you’re here, innit?” 

“That’s true,” he smiled. He flew closer to your window, extending his hand, “Oliver Wood.” 

You looked down at his shirt, not missing the emblem of Puddlemere United sewn proudly on his chest. You grasped his hand in yours, “Y/N Y/L/N.” 

“Say, did you go to Hogwarts?” he asked, titling his head to the side as if trying to figure out if he’d seen you before.

“I did. Bit offended that you don’t remember me, Mr. Star Gryffindor Keeper,” you teased.

“Sorry, I was a bit oblivious to anything not Quidditch related back in school,” he said, sheepishly. Then his eyebrows shot up in realization, “You’re Cassius Warrington’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” 

“I was, yes.” 

“Was?” Oliver asked, emphasizing your usage of the past tense. 

“Was,” you confirmed. 

Before he could speak again, he was interrupted by the sound of students arguing on the Quidditch Pitch. He let out a defeated sigh and brought the whistle that was dangling from his neck, up to his lips. A shrieking sound caught the students’ attention and they immediately fell in line. 

He turned his attention to you, “I would love to hear the story behind that but unfortunately, I have students to take care of. Will you be down for dinner?”

You nodded in response, making him raise a thumb up and watched him fly back down to the group of clamoring students. As you began to unpack your belongings, you couldn’t help but keep looking over your shoulder to watch Oliver coach the students of various houses. You laughed as he got into a playful argument with one of the Slytherin students who insisted that Puddlemere United was a terrible team. You could tell that Oliver didn’t really take much offense to it, knowing that at the end of the day he was just glad to be playing for such an elite team. 

It didn’t take long for the sun to set, an indication that dinner was now being served. You happily made your way down the familiar hallways leading up to the Great Hall. You greeted the various house elves that remembered you from your Hogwarts years and stopped to talk to some young students who were still too scared to talk to the professors on their own. 

“I’m going to be one of your professors next year, you know,” you said, walking beside an upcoming second year. “What house are you in?” 

“Gryffindor,” he replied, his voice a bit shaky, “Though, I don’t think the sorting hat made the right decision. I’m too scared to talk to professors on my own, how cowardly is that! I’m not a true Gryffindor.” 

“Hey, the sorting hat makes no mistakes,” you reassured him, nudging him a bit, “You were sorted into Gryffindor for a reason, okay? Don’t doubt yourself.” 

“I suppose,” he sighed, still defeated, “I just wish I was more like Oliver Wood. He’s a true Gryffindor. Plus, he’s such an amazing Quidditch player! I want to be just like him!” 

You laughed, opening the door to the Great Hall and allowing him to go inside, “I guess he’s alright.” 

“Alright?!” the boy shrieked, eyes bulging out of their sockets, “I’m sorry Professor Y/L/N but Oliver Wood is more than alright.” 

“Whatever you say,” you shrugged, walking over to Professor McGonagall to accompany the boy. Once you knew the boy would be alright in his conversation with the professor, you made your way over to the table with the rest of the faculty. 

You sat on the corner of the table, waiting patiently for a certain Quidditch star to make his way over to you. He was too preoccupied talking to another Professor, most likely about Puddlemere United as she kept motioning to his shirt. Oliver met your eyes and he sent a friendly wave, signaling that he’ll be there in just a second. You waved him off, starting to fill your plate with some food. 

“Hello, Y/N,” Oliver greeted, pulling up a seat beside you, “Sorry for the wait.” 

“No worries,” you moved your plate to make some space for him. You took a bite of the steamed vegetables you had on your fork, “I should consider myself lucky that you even made time for me when all these students idolize you.” 

He blushed, chuckling at your comment, “I wouldn’t say idolize.”

“Respect?” you offered, sipping from your cup.

“Definitely not respect,” he shook his head, grimacing. “Tolerate, maybe?” 

“That’s fair.” 

“So, what brings you back to Hogwarts?” 

You looked out into the Great Hall, watching the students chat and eat with their friends. The students were still divided by house, despite being there for the summer, “I realized teaching was my passion so I decided to pursue it here.”

“Godric, I don’t know how you do it,” Oliver confessed, taking a big bite of the chicken he piled on his plate, “It’s my first day with these kids and they’re driving me mad.” 

“That’s because you’re teaching Quidditch players,” you said. He furrowed his eyebrows, silently asking you to elaborate. You rolled your eyes, “I forgot you’re like the worst of them! Quidditch players are stubborn and headstrong. It’s hard to get anything through the thick skulls of yours.” 

“Hey,” Oliver warned, though there was a teasing tone to his voice, “Not all of us are stubborn.” 

“Weren’t you the same boy who had a full on argument with Professor McGonagall when she cancelled Quidditch?” 

“I can’t believe you remember that after all these years,” he muttered, the tips of his ears turning red from embarrassment, “I will say that was not my finest moment.” 

“How about the time you guys lost a match to Hufflepuff and you had a very dramatic moment in the showers?”

“How do you know about that?” he groaned, hiding his face behind his hands.

You let out a hearty laugh, opting to put your cup down instead of drinking from it, “News spreads fast, Wood. But not to worry, those are the only things I remember from our years at school.” 

“Good,” he sighed, taking another bite. “I wish I had dirt on you too but the only thing I remember was that you were dating the Chaser from Slytherin and you’re a Slytherin yourself, I believe, so by proxy, you’re an enemy of mine.” 

“Aren’t we a bit too old for house rivalries?” 

“Never,” Oliver winked. He cleared his throat, looking down at his plate, “Speaking of, what happened between you and Warrington, if you don’t mind me asking.” 

“I don’t mind at all,” you responded. You swirled the food on your plate with the tip of your fork, thinking back to your failed relationship, “Let’s just say we chose different sides when it came down to it.” 

“Ah,” he nodded, understandingly. “Are you busy until term starts?” 

“Depends on why you’re asking. If you’re going to offer for me to join you in Quidditch, then yes, I am busy,” you shuddered, remembering the last time you were on a broom. 

Oliver chuckled, “Well, no. I was wondering if you wanted to go out to Hogsmeade some time, if you weren’t busy.”

You blushed, looking down at your lap, “I’d love to.” 

He mimicked your actions, the blush returning to his cheeks, “Brilliant. This weekend okay with you?” 

-

“Do you ever get tired of people asking for your autograph?” you asked, kicking a stray rock from the walkway. You were on your way to Hogsmeade with Oliver when a few teenagers rushed over to gush about the Quidditch player. 

“Never,” he grinned, his hands stuffed in his front pockets. His eyes gleamed with proudness, no doubt ecstatic about his success, “I’ve always wanted to be an athlete that kids could look up to, you know? I want to be a good role model so I’m always happy to sign a few things here and there. If it bothers you, I’ll tell them off, if you want.”

Quickly, you shook your head, “No, no. I don’t mind at all. I was just wondering. Your life has changed a lot since Hogwarts then?” 

Oliver whistled, raising his eyebrows, “Yeah, you can say that. The war took its toll on everyone and they wanted to escape so they turned to Quidditch. The sport has never been this popular before.” 

You nodded, understanding. You gulped before asking your next question, “Did you lose anyone?” 

“Almost,” Oliver admitted, tilting his head over to the direction of a bench, away from the entrance to Hogsmeade. You followed his lead, sitting beside him, knees touching. He continued, “Weasley. Fred, you remember him?” 

You hummed, a pang of pain hitting your chest, “Yeah, I do.” 

“Nearly died, that git,” a sad smile grazed his features. His voice began to crack and you immediately placed a comforting hand on his arm. “A wall fell on him and he wasn’t breathing for a bit. Thought we lost him but he pulled through. Thank Merlin he did.”

“How’s he now?” 

“Better, I think,” he smiled— genuinely this time. “Visited their shop before I got here. Their joke shop on Diagon Alley, have you heard of it?” 

“Yeah, I have. Those two were always brilliant when it came to that, weren’t they?” 

“Too brilliant for their own good. Say, did you guys ever figure out that they were the cause of Slytherin’s many misfortunes?” 

You raised an eyebrow, a mischievous smile tugging on your lips, “Who do you think let them into Slytherin chambers?”

“You were their secret conspirator?!” Oliver exclaimed, shocked but impressed that you would help the two troublemakers terrorize your own house, “Godric! Why did you help them?”

“Not many people know this but I’m Muggleborn and my house wasn’t the kindest to me,” you cleared your throat, thinking back to the horrible days in Hogwarts once the Dark Lord’s followers became braver, “They only left me alone when I was with Cassius but obviously, when it came down to the real thing, he ended up just like the rest of them.” 

You felt a hand grip yours. You stared at Oliver’s thumb, drawing circles on the top of your hand. When you looked up, you saw he was staring at your intertwined fingers, as if trying to figure out what to say to your sudden confession. 

After a few beats of silence, you decided to continue speaking, “The twins saved me from being terrorized once in my fifth year. I was a year older than them but they had more courage than I ever did. I made a mistake, honestly it was an accident in an assignment. The guy I was paired with was cursing my name and calling me some nasty things and Fred and George stepped in and hexed the bloke. Got them like a month of detention but they never, ever, complained about it. Lost touch with them after I graduated.” 

“I didn’t know you knew them that well,” he replied, leaning back but not moving his hand away from yours. 

“I don’t,” you chuckled, looking at him, “We weren’t really friends, per se, but when they needed help, I was there. Same goes for me. I think it was just unspoken between the three of us, if that makes sense. But like I said, after I graduated, I lost touch with everyone from school. Muggleborns were targeted so I just tried to keep my head down. Didn’t even know about what happened to him until you said it just now.” 

Oliver paled, “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

You shook your head, squeezing his hand for comfort, “Not your fault. Glad to hear he’s doing better. I don’t think the world would continue turning without Fred Weasley.” 

“I second that,” he laughed, getting up and pulling you with him, “Now, I’m in the mood for some Butterbeer and I would love your company. You alright with that?” 

“It’s like you read my mind.” 

As you walked to the entrance to Hogsmeade, Oliver piped up, “You should come visit their shop. They’re doing really well.” 

You pondered it for a moment, unconsciously leaning against his shoulder, “You reckon they still remember me?” 

“Hard to believe someone would forget you,” he mumbled, eyes widening when he realized he spoke out loud. You looked down at your feet, a blush coating your cheeks. Oliver mirrored your expression, the tips of his ears turning beet red, once again. He cleared his throat, “I reckon they’ll be over the moon to see you.” 

“I’ll go if you come with me,” you looked up at him, hopefully. You didn’t miss the small smile on his lips and the way his eyes twinkled when he looked down at you, practically leaning on his broad chest.

“Then it’s settled, we’ll hit Diagon Alley before term starts.” 

-

The rest of the time that you and Oliver were in Hogwarts, you spent most of your time together. It became evident to the rest of the professors and even some of the students that there was something going on between the two of you. Everyone knew of it. 

Everyone except you. And Oliver. 

You spent your days looking at the Quidditch player longingly, acting like you were a lovestruck student. You lost your senses whenever Oliver came around— stumbling over your words, blushing furiously when your hands brushed, or laughing too loud for too long over one of his terrible jokes. Some students have tried to get you two together by staging run-ins or inviting you to their Quidditch practices where the kids would purposely mess up just so Oliver could swoop in and show off his skills. It left you breathless, much to your dismay and the students’ excitement. They wouldn’t admit it either but sometimes they’d engage in very, rough plays that would result in Oliver getting a scratch or two so that he was forced to come see you to heal his wounds, as you were a trained Healer. 

Now, it was the final day of the summer camp and you were going to board Hogwarts Express with the students and Oliver. You both decided to visit Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes later that day. You had three weeks before the term started for the school year and before you were going to be an official Hogwarts professor. 

You plopped down on one of the seats, leaning your head against the window. It brought you back to the days when you were a student, waiting eagerly to arrive at Hogwarts to embark on whatever adventure was laid out for you. Oliver sat across from you after putting his trunk in the bin above you. 

He nudged your foot with his, “You’re about to be a professor in a few weeks. How’s it feel?” 

You grimaced a bit, “Nerve wracking? I dunno… I feel like I’m not ready.” 

“Nonsense,” Oliver said, “I’ve watched you with the kids. Quidditch players too, the worst of the lot according to you, and you were fantastic. They’ll love you.” 

“They only liked me because I know the famous Oliver Wood.” 

“Knock it off,” he rolled his eyes, smiling playfully at you. He got up and situated himself beside you, “Stop it. Take credit for your greatness. You’re going to be an incredible professor.” 

You turned red because of his praise. You cleared your throat, unsure if you would be able to handle anymore of his compliments, “What about you Quidditch star? Excited to be back on the pitch?”

He nodded, “Very, but I will miss Hogwarts and the kids. Didn’t think I’d get attached to them but here I am. It felt good to be back there, you know? But I feel like I’ve seen it in a new light now that I’m older.” 

“Ah yes, the old and wise Oliver Wood,” you teased, resting your head on him. 

He immediately wrapped his arm around you, wanting to feel you closer to him, “Oh, shut up.”

You remained silent. You didn’t know if it was the right time to say something but you couldn’t deny the feelings that flourished over the span of time that you got to know Oliver. It was hard not to fall for him— charismatic, talented, patient, brave, and not to mention, handsome. He was funny and kept you on your toes with his energy and youthfulness. He had a moral compass that steered him to the right thing, every single time, without fail. He was sure of himself but not cocky or arrogant, but so secure in what he wants himself to be— both career wise and personally. Oliver Wood was not someone you simply meet. He was someone you had to experience because letting him slip past your fingers was a crime on its own. 

You sighed softly, burying your face in the warmth of his thin jumper. You felt his heart thumping against your cheek and his thumb caressing your back. 

His chest rumbled from under you as he spoke, “What’s on your mind, darling?”

In a surge of confidence, you replied, “I’ll miss you.” 

You could feel him melt. He wrapped his arms tighter around you, as if you would keep him from completely falling apart. Oliver was hesitant at first. His lips ghosted over the top of your head and you could feel him retreating a few times before he let himself kiss you. You let out a breath of satisfaction when you felt his warm lips touch your crown and his mumbled words engulfed by your skin. 

You didn’t hear what he said so you pulled away, ready to ask him to repeat it, “Pardon?”

Oliver looked at you, his eyes empty except for one glimmer that you’ve never seen before. A sad smile made its way to the lips that was once on your skin, before he shook his head, “Nothing, love. We’ll write, won’t we?”

“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t.”

“Well, I couldn’t live with myself if I disappointed you.”

“Oliver…” you trailed off, pushing yourself off of him for a minute. You cursed under your breath when you missed his touch as soon as you pulled away. 

His eyebrows furrowed, confusion evident on his face, “What’s wrong?” 

“Do you ever think our friendship—” You stopped for a moment when that word slipped past your lips, not realizing how painful it was to admit that you two were nothing more than friends. You failed to notice the grimace that danced upon Oliver’s face as he wished, more than anything, for you to be more than his friend. 

You continued, “—was an accident? I mean, we had what? 6 years at Hogwarts and didn’t once talk to each other? What were the odds that we’d be at Hogwarts the same time years after we graduated and after a bloody war and get to know each other in a few weeks better than we ever did in 6 years?” 

“If there’s one thing I learned, life is unpredictable, Y/N,” Oliver said, looking directly at you. “I signed up to help kids play Quidditch for a summer. I didn’t think that I would meet you, but I thank my lucky stars that I did. I always associated the word accident with something horrible but if this— if we— were an accident, then so be it. But it’s a happy accident… at least I think so.” 

You gulped, slowly inching over to him. Your hands were shaking and it wasn’t because it suddenly felt so cold in the compartment where you sat. It was because you were getting closer to Oliver Wood— so impossibly close, you could feel his breath tickling your lips. He didn’t make any moves to push you away. He just nudged your nose with his and let his eyes drop slowly, until he saw only fireworks behind his eyelids and felt nothing else but the feeling of your sweet lips on his. Oliver pulled your body as close to his as possible and kissed you so passionately, you swore you forgot how to breathe. 

When the two of you finally pulled away, both of your eyes were still closed, afraid that once you opened them, the other would be nothing but a fragment of your imagination. But when your eyes fluttered open, you saw a sheepish Oliver Wood, flushed red in his cheeks, smiling at you like a little boy on Christmas Day. Your shaking hand was engulfed by his stable one, warmth and belonging coursing through your body. It felt right. 

His voice sliced through the love-hazed air, “I hope that wasn’t an accident.” 

“I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this,” you confessed, leaning in to kiss him again. Before you connected your lips, you spoke, “I fancy you, Oliver Wood. If that wasn’t obvious enough.” 

“I fancy you, too, Y/N Y/L/N,” Oliver responded, placing a quick kiss to your lips. He pulled away, cupping your face in his palm. His lips brushed yours, “If that wasn’t obvious enough.”

**NO LONGER DOING TAGS

[chudleycanonficfest]

Four Little Sips

Day 28, Post #2

Title: Four Little Sips

Author: JohnMcHacker

Pairings: Harry/Bill/Charlie (platonic), Harry/Ginny (romantic), Gryffindor Quidditch Team (platonic), Fred/George/Ron (platonic), Ron/Hermione (romantic)

Prompt: In Vino Veritas

Rating: PG

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, Referenced death, Language

Note to admin: Thanks for organising, this is my first time submitting, sorry if I'm late or if it doesn't meet requirements. I have also posted to the AO3 collection.

* * *

You see, Harry had never really had anyone just a few years older to look up to. Alright, there was Hermione, but they were classmates and best friends and at roughly the same place in life, it wasn’t the same.

That summer of 1998, in the wake of all that pain and death and sorrow, the Weasleys pulled together and pulled him in with them. On a few occasions, this meant having a few drinks with Bill and Charlie, in various nondescript Muggle pubs in the vicinity of Ottery St Catchpole.

“Just because Kingsley cut you some slack doesn’t mean you have to take the offer,” said Charlie. “You’ve spent your whole life fighting Voldemort, one way or anoher. You deserve to take a break. Live a little. Or else, what have you been fighting for?”

Harry thought of several memorable sunlit days, and found he couldn’t really disagree.

“Or at the very least, know why you’re putting your life on the line, once again,” said Bill. “Well, alright, you were the Chosen One, you had your job to do then. But now that that’s over, you ought to think twice why you’re risking your neck on your own account.”

“Well, I think I’d be good at it,” said Harry. “And someone has to do it. The Aurors are short-handed and too many of Voldemort’s thugs are still out there.”

Bill shook his head, munching a handful of chips. “That’s not good enough. Merlin knows I’d love a crack at the bastards myself. But your neck’s not just your own now, Harry. Ginny has a say too. That’s part of what being together means.”

“Muggle birds ain’t bad,” said Charlie, nodding at a trio of pretty college-age girls gathered round a table across the pub. They caught him watching, giggled, and winked in reply. “Don’t limit yourself to witches. But if you do, don’t mess ‘em around, play fair, and come clean as soon as you can.”

“The most important part of my relationship with Fleur is trust,” said Bill. “We don’t have secrets, and she trusts that I won’t suddenly run off hunting Death Eaters or dragons or Hor... whatever. And I trust her not to do the same.”

“Family’s what it comes down to,” said Charlie, draining his glass.

“Family,” nodded Bill. “Your first responsibility.”

“My shout,” said Harry, because that was something else they had taught him was right, to stand his round, and he went to the bar to get the drinks. When he returned, they had moved on to other important matters.

“Free advice, Potter, take it or leave it,” said Charlie, tapping the side of his nose, “women; you’ll never go wrong if you please ‘em first, know what I mean?”

“Oi! That’s our sister you’re talking about!” snapped Bill, trying not to laugh.

“So what? She’s got fi... four of you looking out for her. Maybe I just want to see fair play.” Charlie winked at Harry. “Let me tell you about what I call ‘wandless magic’, and trust me, it is magic.”

“That’s it, you’re done, Perce is my new number two, it’s you that Mum and Dad should disown...”

“There’s more where that came from, Harry. You want to know how to beat Ron at chess? He can’t play gambits worth a damn. Stick with me, I’ll show you something called a Smith-Morra, aye?”

Advice, experience, honour, laughter. Maybe this was what it was like to have older brothers, thought Harry. It filled a hole in him he never even knew he had.

* * *

Oliver would never have allowed it, but Angelina Johnson was a more fun-loving kind of Quidditch Captain. She passed the word around quietly, and so the five Gryffindor players above the age of sixteen met in the changing rooms fifteen minutes before Potter and the younger Weasley were due to arrive. Of course it was the Twins who’d acquired the goods, however they managed it. Fred produced the bottle of Ogden’s from somewhere under his robes with a flourish, and George grinned toothily as he conjured shot glasses from thin air.

“Alright, I know it was my idea, but just the one, got it?” warned Angelina, pouring the drinks herself.

“Aye aye, Captain,” said Fred. George sketched a sloppy salute her way.

Katie Bell was practically trembling with excitement and nerves. “Oooh, this’ll be my first drink ever,” she said, holding up the glass of amber liquid to catch the light. “Are you sure we won’t get caught?” she asked, looking around as if expecting McGonagall to burst out of a locker at any time.

“Course we can’t be sure,” said Alicia Spinnet. “That’s part of the fun!”

Angelina looked round at each of them, and shouted “For the Cup!”

“FOR THE CUP!” they chorused, and knocked back the Firewhiskey.

Two years later, the three Chasers were standing at the bar of the Hog’s Head, but they had Oliver back now, and Angelina knew somehow that that was important, they were going to go to Hogwarts and find Fred and George and Harry and reunite the whole Team, and it meant she had to do this. She leaned over the counter, rummaged through the grimy bottles and found what she was looking for.

“You’re mad!” said Oliver incredulously.

“Probably,” said Alicia cheerfully, “but we did this every match and still won the Cup, didn’t we? Sixth-years and above only, of course, we had standards,” she said, catching Oliver’s outraged look.

“Don’t tell me you’re going into a real battle and don’t want a drink, Oliver,” said Angelina calmly as she poured, and that was that.

Alicia and Katie and Oliver looked at her expectantly. Angelina searched for the words, and found there was really only one thing suited to the occasion. “Fuck Voldemort.”

“FUCK VOLDEMORT!”

And they did.

But oh God, the price they paid.

  * * *

The Leaky was too well-known so they usually frequented a tiny hole-in-the-wall further down the street. The clientele was younger and the enchanted jukebox played muggle hits as well as the Weird Sisters, Mega Maggots, and the Bent Banshees, and that was perfect for the Twins. Perhaps half the entire current range of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes had first been dreamed up in this pub.

“Alright, alright, what about this, George? Prank greeting cards.”

“You’re crazy, Fred.”

“Cards that won’t stop singing. Howler cards. Exploding confetti cards. Exploding firework cards!”

George finished his beer and signalled to the barman for another. The barman hesitated, then poured as George slapped a handful of Sickles on the counter. “Confetti yes, fireworks, I dunno,” said George. “Cheers, Fred.”

“It’s brilliant I tell you. Mud in your eye,” said his twin brother, and they drank. Then, quietly, Fred asked: “How’s the family?”

“Same old. They’re doing well. You should see the sprogs, it’s a hoot,” snickered George. “Ron and Gin and Harry and good ol’ Hermione, sneaking around trying not to get caught shagging like rabbits. God, the sights I’ve walked in on...”

Fred chortled along with George, and he finished the pint. The bell over the door jingled and new customers came in, but the twins barely glanced that way.

“Speaking of which. About her... you should do something about it, George,” said Fred kindly. “I see all the signs and I know you do too. She’s waiting on you. Go be a gentleman, Georgey-boy, go on.”

George sighed. “Not you too. Look, I get enough of this crap from Bill and Charlie, alright?”

“You two need each other. Besides, it’s too quiet around the flat.”

All at once, George’s face crumpled. “You don’t get to say that. Not you. Not you! YOU don’t say that!”

Fred said nothing, he only smiled, and walked away. George turned his head quickly to follow him, but as always, Fred slid out the corner of his eye and was g...

And then it was another Weasley brother standing in front of him.

This time, it was Ron they’d sent. Good old Ron, lanky and solid and biting his lip in sympathy as he came to find his older brother sitting alone at the bar hunched over a half-empty glass. On the counter beside him was one untouched full pint, the frothy head long since evaporated.

“Come on, George,” said Ron gently. “There, I’ve got you. Let’s get you home.”

* * *

She was a girl made of facts and reason.

That was just the way she was wired.

“Dutch courage,” she said to herself, eyeing the glass of probably cheap plonk as if it was poison. Which technically it was.

“What’s that?” asked Ginny.

“Dutch courage,” she repeated. “It’s a muggle term, meaning the confidence gained from drinking alcohol, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary. Although,” she amended, “it’s derogatory to Dutch people and we probably shouldn’t say things like that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind in case I meet anyone from Orange Tulip Land,” said Ginny, rolling her eyes. “You certainly don’t need that sort of thing, Hermione, you’re one of the bravest people I know!”

Probably just hyperbole, thought Hermione, as that would be quite something, given that Ginny hung around with Aurors and Quidditch players and her boyfriend Harry Potter, or ‘His Excellency Most Spiffing Chosen Boy Who Lived To Kick Voldemort’s Arse’ as George called him. She picked up the glass, sipped it carefully, decided she quite liked the taste of Chateau Diagon Alley or whatever this was, and had a bigger swig.

Here’s a fun fact: it takes 6 minutes for the brain to react to alcohol.

Six minutes later, she didn’t think she felt any different. Warmer perhaps, but the New Year party was in full swing and Hermione thought maybe it was just the ambient temperature rising from all the people circulating, moving, dancing, talking, laughing.

Fun fact: drinking is ‘fun’ because alcohol lessens tension, eases social interaction, and reduces inhibitions.

Hermione sat in her corner and nursed her glass and knew she wasn’t really a social drinker, or any kind of drinker, or even at all ‘sociable’ to begin with. She envied how effortlessly Ginny and Bill and Parvati and everyone else were visibly enjoying themselves; Hermione would honestly prefer a nice book, a pot of peppermint tea, and perhaps with the company of...

Breathless from joking with Aurors and Obliviators and Patrolwizards and friends, Ron flung himself down beside her and threw an arm around her, and Hermione’s stomach fluttered pleasantly. “Alright there, Hermione?” He followed her gaze towards the wineglass. “Not poisoned, is it? Cause that’s no fun, believe me.”

Fact: I want to say I...

“That’s not funny, Ron, you could’ve died,” chided Hermione, although she couldn’t help giggling. “No, I just... it’s Dutch courage.”

“What’s that?” Hermione told him about English soldiers and gin and bravery, and the way he looked at her as he listened made her feel warm all over. “Nice. You know everything, Hermione,” Ron said admiringly.

“Not everything,” said Hermione wistfully. “I don’t know how to have fun at parties. Well, maybe that’s one more thing I do know now,” she joked lamely.

Fact: I...

Ron laughed at her probably atrocious attempt at humour, and said “Rubbish party anyway. Too many plonkers just wanting to be seen with heroes like Harry and Neville” (characteristically, Ron excluded himself from that category, Hermione observed) “and they’re only here because Kingsley said they absolutely had to be. I’d much rather have a quiet night in at home with you, Crookshanks, a nice fire, maybe a...”

No, I don’t know everything, thought Hermione. But I know this fact. “I love you, Ron Weasley.” And she grabbed him and snogged the hell out of him, ignoring the catcalls and cheers that rose all around.

Was it really the Dutch stuff, or was it all her own self, after all?

To be continued...

[whatwouldvalerydo]

A chance

Finally managed to gather my brain off the floor so hopefully you enjoy this @kc-and-oc. Other characters mentioned here belong to @lifeofkaze and @the-al-chemist

With classes finally over for the week, Ethel, Selene and Victoria could be seen making a run for the Black Lake, determined to make good use of the warm sun shinning down on them. The weather had been rather gloomy, however it provided the perfect excuse to sit inside and actually study, but once the sun decided to make itself known for a few days there was no more denying how much they missed it.

Year five was soon to end, however that did nothing to alter the high spirits of the girls as laughter filled the air when bare feet touched the water, bottom of their dresses soaked, yet they cared little for the state of their clothes.

It had been an eventful year, filled with the memories made across the way, them already having made plans for the summer holidays in order to write and see each other “So I was thinking we can go to Hogsmeade tomorrow since they delivered new flavoured sugar quills.” Selene told the girls as they settled under a tree, feet still bare in the sunshine, waiting for their skin and dresses to dry off.

“Of course, I also want to buy a few things before exams start or I might miss my chance since everyone would want to bring something back home in the last weekend.” Ethel smiled, agreeing with Selene’s plan.

Her friend hummed in response, happy with the plan, both girls turning to Victoria “I actually already made plans. Oli asked me to join him since the beginning of the week and has been reminding me of it daily.” She giggled at that affirmation, as if she could forget a plan with Oliver.

Selene gave Ether an all-knowing look before speaking again, barely able to contain the grin shaping her lips “Looks like you two are rather close lately.”

“Oh he is just being polite.” Victoria replied smiling. In truth, yes, Oliver had been going out of his way to spend more time with her, which was not odd, it only meant he had finally gotten over Ophelia, or at least he decided to stop trying since the last rejection. They had been friends since year one, both being placed in the same house, so it was not like they had not formed a connection, it was normal to spend time together.

However during the last few months it did feel as if he was there by her side more often than before. When he presented her with flowers, she accepted them, despite feeling a tad confused. When he walked with her to class or switched places in order to sit next to her, she just let it happen. They had study sessions and worked together on assignments. When he asked her if she wanted to go with him during the weekend, she just accepted it without batting an eye “I believe he just wants to thank me for helping him all those times in the past.”

Selene’s face grew serious for a moment, however it went away as fast as it came, Victoria having the impression she imagined it “Or he might like you.” She offered causing her friend to wrinkle her nose slightly.

“Well one would expect so, seeing how we are friends. How can one be friends with a person they don’t like?”

Noting how her friend had no luck, Ethel decided to try her hand, seeing how Victoria was either not catching on or refused to, which would have been problematic “As in he fancies you Vic. I think that is what she meant.”

Both watched the smile on Victoria’s face drop, her shaking her head slowly “No, that’s not possible. Oli would never.” Both her friends continued to stare at her with wide eyes as she played with the bow on her dress, trying her hardest to not look at them “I know that couldn’t be possible.”

Selene was the first one to speak, brows knitted together in obvious confusion “Excuse you? Why would you say such a thing?”  

And just like that, Victoria’s cheerful nature crumbled as her voice shook when she spoke “Because I know so, I could never compare myself to the famous fiery Siobhan, or the always well dressed and mannered Ophelia. I have seen the type of girls he goes for, I was there remember? How could he look at someone like me? I don’t have plans for a grand career, I don’t dress in the finest silks and sit perfectly straight when men make advances.”

Looking up at the girls, she blinked a few times trying to fight away the tears forming in her eyes “We are nothing more than friends and that will never change.”

“Why not Victoria?” Ethel felt the need to use her full name in an attempt of shaking her out of her current state, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

“Because I was always there, right in front of him and” she stopped, taking a breath in, attempting to compose herself “he just never saw me as more.”

“That’s not” Selene held herself back. She knew of Oliver’s intentions, both her and Ethel did, however she could not be the one to tell her. They just wanted to see if Victoria was at all interested in him, which was now more than clear, however she had never acted on those feelings. But the signs were there, those lingering looks, how she tried to keep a smile on her face as he related the next plan to her.

How he had not seen the signs was a mystery. Victoria would spend hours late in the night, by his side offering words of reassurance. They would sit on the sofa, warm fire lighting their faces as he would place his head on her lap, lamenting over things, and she would just listen, running her fingers through his hair, telling him how it would all be alright.

She would bake cookies at three in the morning, almost falling asleep in class the next day, all just to cheer him up.

But when he would light up at the sight of his newest interest, offering a hurried goodbye to Victoria as he rushed over to another girl, she would lower her eyes, walk faster and then just pretend as if she was busy with something else.

“Look.” Selene tried to go about it another way “You are first of all, stinking rich, you can get silks and whatever your heart desires if you would want it.”

Ethel chimed in with a smile “And you have known where life would take you and what career you wanted since year one. Most of the students not even now know where they are heading.” However Victoria still shook her head, her friends words barely reaching her.

“Regardless, Oli would never. Right?” she lifted her eyes to look at them, both Selene and Ethel not knowing what to do. Do they tell her? But then again that would probably ruin Oliver’s chances of confessing to her and that was not something they could take away from him.

Shaking her head, Victoria got up, picked her shoes in one hand and excused herself, making a dash back to the castle, stopping only once to catch her breath and put her shoes back on, ignoring the dust on her feet.

Oliver was still in the Charms classroom, having promised the professor he would clean up and rearrange the class room for Monday morning. He was happily humming a song to himself as he levitated a book, mind set on the following day, going through the events he had planned. He wondered if he should offer her his arm, or if he should take her hand? The outfit was already carefully chosen, a smile spreading across his face. Reservations were made, the entire day carefully planned out to the last detail.

He failed to notice Victoria entering the classroom, mind stuck in a daydream as the book landed in the designated spot, him chanting the levitating spell once more on another one.

“Oliver Warren Gerard am I joke to you?”

He jumped, book falling at his feet, a tad too close for comfort when he spun around, heart in his throat. Getting over the fright, he was quick to take note of the fact that Victoria was not at all pleased with him. Had he done something to upset her? Did something happen?

He had never seen her so cross with him, so serious “What?” he barely uttered as he tried to make heads and tails of her question “Who upset you?”

“You did.” Oliver felt as if he had just received a slap out of the blue, eyes shifting from left to right, confusion taking over “What do you think you’re doing? What do you wish to accomplish?”

“Victoria, I don’t know what I did, so tell me please so I can make it right.”

She clutched her dress between trembling fingers, grounding herself as she stared at him “Why are giving me so much attention? Why the flowers? Why…are you giving me hope?” inhaling, she bit down on her lip.

For the first time ever, Oliver was at a loss for words. He had never seen her in such a state, on the verge of tears and it was breaking his heart with each passing second.

“What is it this time?” Victoria continued, feeling that if she did not spill her soul right then and there it would break something inside of her “Why do you have to go through such an elaborate plan to just talk about a girl? You don’t need to do anything different than before. Just tell me who it is. Because it clearly will never be me and that’s fine, it’s perfectly fine, I understand. But don’t act like it’s me.”

Everything became clear as day for Oliver in that very moment and it hurt, it hurt so much to see he alone managed to cause her so much distress. He could have never fathomed that the one he called friend was breaking her heart over and over again hearing him talk about another elaborate plan or see him professing his love, right in front of her.

Victoria had always been there, smiling, helping, even if she was not the one he chose.

The plan for the following day crumbled inside his head, how he would confess, the entire grand speech as if wiped from his memory. But it was her, even if it took time, it was her and he now understood that she too felt the same which made his heart soar.

“I am not acting Victoria.” He spoke softly, closing in the space between them “I know it took me a long time to see it, but it is you.” But she shook her head, clearly not believing him, Oliver feeling that if he took another step towards her she would bolt out of the class room.

“And how long will it take until you set your eyes on another?”

That line hurt, however he willed himself to smile “That won’t happen.”

She took the longest time to look at him, still rather uncertain of what to think. On the other hand Oliver felt like everything was falling to dust once more and he could not help but think he could have probably went about it in a different way. After all said and done, Victoria knew him well, it was so easy to talk to her, there were so many other options he could have considered.

“One chance Oli, just one. I want to believe you and I think you deserve it.” Finally letting go of her dress, she smiled, fingers relaxing “Now, do you need some help here?”

[drac-ho]

Rita Skeeter Part 2 (Draco x Reader)

This was so highly requested I didn’t really have a choice lmao. Sorry it’s been literally over a year, I have had no idea where to take this at all

Also I’m a horrible person 

PART 1

TAGS: 

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 “Not so fast.” Your head whipped around and met your father’s stern eyes. Accompanied with him was your mother. “Where exactly would you go? You’re fifteen.” You were lost for words. 

“Dad you can’t seriously be angry with me–” You begin before being cut off. 

“I’m not angry Y/N. I’m disappointed. You know what the Malfoys stand for. You really think Harry will be happy to hear you’re running around with a boy whose parents were responsible for the loss of his family?” Your Dad looked between you and Draco, your mother just stood by his side silently as he let out his anger. “And what about our family?” You shake your head as you let the tears well in your eyes. He was right to be angry with you; your parents stood alongside the Order, fraternising with the enemy would of course have led to your punishment. 

“Draco’s different.” You whisper. You look at him for the first time, his head bowed as he stared down at his feet as small tears leaked from his own eyes. You’d never seen him cry before. “I love him. You may not understand but he’s kind, he’s loving. He’s a good person.” 

“And you are children. Come on. We’re going home.” Your Dad walks over, grabbing your arm as you resist against his pull. You quickly whip around and reach for Draco’s hand as they gently brush together, your father’s strength significantly more than your own and pulling you away from Draco’s faint touch. 

“Home now.” You hear a voice call out from behind Draco; Lucius. His long white hair shone in the light as he threw you a disgusted look. Draco’s eyes streamed faster as he whispered his goodbye.

“I love you.” 

You’d been at home now for two weeks. You had sent numerous owls to Harry, Ron and Hermione explaining yourself and writing about a dozen apologies yet had only received a single letter from Hermione, explaining that Harry just needed time and that Ron - of course - was just following suit, claiming Malfoy was a “spoilt git”. Draco, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. You’d heard that he’d already been sent back to Hogwarts by his parents and that he acted as if nothing had changed. A part of you wasn’t surprised - he played his front whilst you were together, nothing really had changed. You knew that for now the radio silence was best.

Your Mum and Dad were still upset with you. They said they had forgiven you and you were due back at Hogwarts on Sunday evening, but you could tell they wouldn’t be trusting you for a long time yet.

“Sweetie,” Your Mother began as you lay in her arms. You were sat in bed reading a book before you went to sleep when your Mum came in, laying down next to you and wrapping her arms around you like she used to when you were a child. “I don’t know what you were doing with Draco but–”

“Mum,” You cut her off. You really didn’t feel like having this conversation right now; you’d already heard it enough from your Dad. “You don’t have to say anything.” Your Mum shook her head, her slender fingers continuing to run through your hair. 

“I don’t have the same viewpoint as your Father, Y/N.” Your breath hitched in your throat as you replayed what she said in your mind. Sitting up, you turn to look at her. “I once fell for a Slytherin. Before I became friends with your Father, of course. His name was Oliver Thompson. We dated for over a year and he was amazing. So smart, so loyal and so romantic but he was a bully. He hated the world and he hated anyone who wasn’t a pureblood. It all ended in tears, of course, but he ended up changing his ways. I’m not saying Draco would do the same, but don’t believe exactly what your Father tells you. You’re the master of your own destiny. Just don’t let him break your heart and make sure you’re certain of him before you make any decisions, Y/N.” You stared down at your hands as you thought about what she was saying. Why had she kept this a secret? 

You spent the rest of the night and weekend thinking about the conversation until you were getting on the train back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore had promised that Rita Skeeter was no longer allowed at Hogwarts and ensured the topic of your relationship was no longer in circulation. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione had welcomed you back with open arms and the four of you acted as if nothing had happened between you and Draco - he wasn’t even brought up. You didn’t see him around school, either. 

It remained like that for the rest of the year.

“He’s a death eater, Hermione.” Harry shot, quickly looking down as you pulled your head up from your book. You hadn’t been listening to the conversation in the carriage but Harry’s tone pulled you from your reading. 

“What are you three talking about?” You asked, curious now. Ron and Hermione looked between each other before Hermione hesitantly replied. 

“Harry thinks that Draco Malfoy is now a death eater.” Your stomach twisted at the mention of his name. Even though the two of you hadn’t talked for two years now, it still hurt to hear his name - you were still upset and angry that he had just managed to move on as if nothing had ever happened between the two of you.

“Hm.” You began, shaking the hurt expression from your face. “I wouldn’t be surprised. His parents are pretty harsh, I mean he told me once–” Hermione widened her eyes at your response and you stopped yourself from continuing, not exactly wanting to re-hash old, painful memories from your nights atop the astronomy tower. “Never mind.” You drew your attention back to the book in your lap, picking up where you left off as you noticed your friends’ conversation drift off into the distance. 

The first evening back for fifth year went by so fast; you barely had time to breath as you were being dragged from the hall, to the common room where the annual party had taken place, to your dorm room where you still lay awake. 3am. You sighed, rolling out of bed as you put on your slippers. Thoughts were washing through your mind without giving you a seconds peace. You needed to get some fresh air. 

Before you knew it, you were walking up the stairs of the astronomy tower. You knew the way without being caught like the back of your hand - although you didn’t come here as much now as you did a few years ago, you still liked to occasionally watch the stars sparkle in the dark night sky. 

A sound stopped you in your tracks however. At first you thought it was the sound of someone laughing but after climbing a few more steps you realised it was someone crying. Deciding whether or not to turn back, you eventually made the last few steps to the top where you saw him. 

You’d recognise the pale white hair anywhere; he was wearing his black suit that he seemed to be sporting nowadays, his back faced to you so you saw how ruffled his hair was. Draco’s head was in his palms and his body was shaking with each sob. You’d never seen him cry before, even when you were together. 

“Draco?” You whispered, taking a few small steps towards him. He stopped, stood up and turned around, his eyes a sore red as they reflected his pain and his back hunched as if he had lost all hope. “Are you okay?” He shook his head, holding out his arms for you to wrap yourself into his embrace. You were hesitant at first, your anger still residing in your mind as you thought about how he had completely ignored your existence these past years. But you somehow found yourself wrapping your arms around him as he completely broke down on you.

“I can’t do it Y/N.” He spoke in between sobs. “They’re - they’re asking me to kill him. And I can’t do it.” Your heart was in your mouth as you comprehended what he meant. Maybe Harry was right about what he said on the train - but surely Draco wouldn’t choose to become a death eater?

“Who? Who’s asking you to kill?” Draco pulled away, his hands resting on your upper arms as he looked down at you.

“Voldemort. He’s asking me to kill Dumbledore.” Your heart was beating in your ears as tears began to fill your own eyes. “I’m so sorry Y/N. I never meant to hurt you or anyone... I was just trying to do what he wanted me to do. I’m sorry.” You hugged him again, pulling him tight as he cried against your shoulder. You watched the constellations in the sky, remembering how Draco’s eyes used to reflect the stars; now they just reflected his pain. But for one thing you were certain of: you still loved him.