#inverted barnaby

[insomniac-dot-ink]

By the Morning Light

Rory chased off two junkyard dogs on his way into the salvage yard that morning. He called one of them Pesto (short for Pest) and the other Barnaby because Rory thought it a hateful name. “Serves you right, Barnaby,” he groused. The creature always stuck his nose in Rory’s crotch and nosed his pockets for food. None here, Pesto. It was early and the only sounds came from squawking birds and snuffling animals.

This scrap yard had been abandoned decades before Rory was alive. The only things left were the carcasses of 90’s computers and the plastic frames of microwaves. Metal and filaments and anything smaller than a breadbox had already been scooped up. There weren't even flies left. But Rory was small and if he went alone, he figured he might have better luck.

Rory swung his stick back forth, poking stray office chairs and wilted carboard boxes. He made it halfway across the fenced area. Then the air filled with charms. The corner of his eyes prickled and his throat closed. Something sang out. Maybe because the scrap yard was empty. Maybe because spring began in earnest. Maybe because he was the unlucky sort.

There was a glow like sun off fresh snow and the scent of rain. She asked for blood.

“Hello?” His voice sounded brittle to his own ears. Rory clenched down and called louder, “You want something?” He wiped away the stray tears and squared his shoulders. Too damn early for this. Following the noise, he rounded a mossy refrigerator.

Time seemed to draw to a halt. His eyes went wide. It was like something out of the bible or a fairy tale–though Rory hadn’t read much of either. He tilted his head all the way back. She was long and twisty like inverted smoke, glowing white instead of charcoal. Her form zigzagged across the space, stark against the piles of junk and drab trees. Dogs yapped in the distance and birds took flight behind her head.

She spoke again. Rory winced.

“Excuse me?” he asked, voice shaking only a little. His hearing wasn’t very good and a part of him was hoping he’d blink and she would be gone. That it wouldn’t speak again. That angel’s asking for blood was a onetime thing and she’d lose interest.

The thing looked like a headache brewing in your frontal lobe. He tried not to look too closely. Two pairs of eyes became twenty. Snaky arms became branches that became trees. Wings stretched so big you forget the sky.

She spoke again. Her voice was chimes and gongs and things that reverberated through your bones. Not words at all but you knew what they meant. She asked for blood.

“Right now?” Rory rubbed his arm. The thing should know that he wasn’t a bible man. Even if this was normal from biblical times, but he didn’t go around losing his mind or asking for favors. He squinted into the angel's face. “I'm kind of busy. Find a priest maybe? I’m not one of yours.”

He bowed his head slightly, trying not to offend her. It was one of those ugly-beautiful things. Like how people describe Abraham Lincoln in their journals. Rory’s dad had a thing about old Abe, but he supposed you have to be about something.

Rory wasn’t interested in finding his thing right then– such as feeding Angel’s blood.

She said something and the sentence took a whole minute to form. An offering. Rory narrowed his eyes, gripping the stick in his hand tighter. “What would I want your blood for?” Blood for blood. That didn’t seem like much of a deal for someone who didn’t drink the stuff. He took a step back. “You one of those demons they go on about? Like, a disguised one?” The angel’s entire form rippled. She reached out a long and splintering hand, fracturing in light like bolts of lightning. He covered his eyes to stop white spots from filling his vision. She said her name and he doubled over. A real headache thumped behind his eyes.

“Alright, alright!” he called out, covering his ears and gasping for air. “You’re an angel. I hear you.” Luckily, she didn’t say her name again. Though she asked for blood.

“And what if I don’t get it for you?” he griped. He he didn’t visit junkyards to adopt stray dogs or feed holy animals. The whole damn world wants something.

The smoke rippled and the angel’s form seemed to shudder. She pulled back and Rory drew closer, yielding his stick like a shield. The angel seemed to be springing from an old truck. A terrible rusty beast with the tires popped, the front half crushed, and hood sprouting grass.

The angel appeared to grow from the inside like a plant as something silvery coated the seats. She repeated her plea.

Rory wrinkled his nose. “Tell me what you want it for.” Unbelievable. Bargaining with the devil. His dad would love this one if he didn’t interrogate him about being alone out here. Because that’s how you get the good stuff, dad.

He kind of wished his dad was there now. The angel cocked her head to the side and there was something deeply human about the movement. A sickness washed over him and Rory shuddered. The chimes clamored inside his skull.

“Okay, okay! You're not a demon!” He put up his hands. “I don’t need your name again, jeez.”

Rory huffed, studying the creature. He wondered if it was here because of a shrine built on the hill once upon a time or if because of the remoteness. Scavengers and nature alike had stripped it of most things. Trees growing up through stray tires and vines growing up through the bones of bicycles. He jutted his chin out.

“This isn’t really angel country.” The thing had to know that the people who prayed to angels were in the cities. Single mothers and television personalities and Los Vegas gamblers on a hot streak. He wanted to tell the angel to go find them, but instead he asked, “Do you really grant miracles? Is that how this works?”

The smoke of the angel rippled and the voice coursed through him. The ugly-beautifulness of it like rain slick days where puddles filled with oily rainbows. Or how his father cried at the TV show MASH every night for a week.

Rory looked up. “Promise?”

The angel promised. He searched his pockets and rounded the truck, keeping the creature in view. Fourteen and he’d have to add “encounters” to his bullshit stories no one would believe. His neighbor Florence would love that– she’d been abducted in ‘93 she swore. Right before her husband passed away in the crash.

Rory held out his hand. “Only a little.” The angel twisted in place, looming overhead like the sun. Rory held his breath. Time seemed to slow, and he studied the headache of her face. He held the knife to his palm. “Just a little . . .” he repeated.

She opened her maw. There were teeth somewhere and a light so immense that itched down your throat and into your palms. Something twinkled within and collapsed within a blink. Glittering and cold, the mouth opened wide.

A bird called from somewhere and Rory paused. He was lucky.

A junkyard dog jumped on the roof of the car. Rory barely had time to react. “Don’t!”

The smoke cleared and he knew then, he knew. Rory fell to his knees. Tears sprang to his eyes and fell freely. "Wait!"

The angel caught the dog in both hands and the mouth that wasn’t a mouth bit down. The dog didn’t bleed. It was reduced to a tiny whining ball of fur. The puppy kicked its feet to the air. The angel twisted its splintering hands. A grown ancient hound bayed to the heavens.

Elderly dog to puppy and back again, expanding and collapsing all at once. The air burned a silvery-white. Rory's ears rang. Singing and roaring and weeping in a way that was singing. And then nothing.

He wiped at his eyes, pressing his palms into the sockets. He found the spots wouldn’t disappear. The minutes slowly sank back in. Grass imprinted against his cheek. A stray cicada called. His muscles ached and he realized he was curled up on the ground. An earthy smell and something a bit rotted reminded him to breath.

A lone car passed in the distance. Rory flexed his hands over and over and unlocked his knees. He turned onto his side, inhaling in and out.

The ancient truck had disappeared. A broken stove and several keyboards were stacked in place of the angel. Dogs barked from somewhere and the sun warmed Rory’s face. His ears rang and when he got to his feet, his knees shook.

He ran all the way home. His dad grabbed his shoulders on the way in and studied his face. Rory never found the words to explain the shaking or why he might not stop. Instead, he sat on the couch drinking warm milk and watched MASH for a fourth time. Watching his father from the corner of eye. What if I hadn't come home? He stopped going to the junkyard alone.

Several weeks passed before he found out. A family had died in a car crash in ‘93. The fact burned like a sunburn in his head. That’s what Florence had said about the crash–his Florence. This Florence said they got lucky. Everyone gets lucky sometimes, she said.

Rory’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth at that.

He didn’t start going to church even if he should have. Fear and belief wrapping into one.

Rory started adopting dogs from off the street. Wrapping them in his arms and carrying them all the way home even as they kicked and nipped. Pesto was first. She shook as he untangled her long fur, wrapping the sores on her paws and shaving off the mats. He asked her if she remembered. If there were two of them. God, he murmured. He hoped so. Little creatures have to stick together.

—————-

Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed the story please consider buying me a coffee, and check out my Sapphic urban fantasy book 🌸

[angel-lyah]

for the newest update; maybe the words are like instructions you inspect element for?? i dont know anything about coding so i struggled lots trying to edit but i also have no idea what else the words could be for

Thanks for the comment!!💙💙

I even tried using words like "OK." on top of the website link, a method that worked in past updates, but nothing was found.

I also tried inverting Sally's colors, "moving" Barnaby (which is not possible on mobile :'3)

Still working!! I hope in the future we can find out what's going on

[agrumpylonelyhome]

[So...I am coding a Ms. Beagle....for...a glitchy barnaby. Is that correct? I guess I need to figure out the colorations first. The Barnaby seems to have sorta inverted colors but is more of a brown than an orange. So...do I make her main feather colors black, dark grey, or something else?...]

[inverts]

THE BEST BOYS ARE COMING BACK!!!!!

[kotetsuandbarnaby]

Okay but have you think about an inverted roles and powers au for Tiger and Bunny, based on the buddy system of season 2?

Bunny!Kotetsu and Tiger!Barnaby.

Keith is a ceo with fire powers and Nathan is queen of heroes and has wind powers.

Ryan is the ice Idol, while Karina is the immigrant with who can control gravity.

Ivan with skin as hard as rock and Antonio being able to shapeshifter into others.

Pao Lin with water powers while Lara is the one with the lighting and electricity.

Thomas being able to use shields and Subaru being able to control metallic objects?!?!?

Just imagine it.

[indigobackfire]

7 and 12 for Indigo x Barnanby

Sorry for being so late 🙈🙈🙈 Thanks for your ask 💖

7. Which one is the worse driver?

Indigo is the only one who knows how to drive a car because her muggle grandma insisted she learned. The bad thing is, she taught her during a few months she was in America, so when she returns to the UK she's not as good with the inverted hand xD (She has driver's licenses in both countries, don't ask me how).

But in a hypothetical normal people AU, Barnaby would be a reckless but good(?) driver, he likes driving fast and Indigo wonders how the fuck he never got a ticket.

But she's the best maneuvering the car, exceptional at parking.

12. What they do for their anniversary

I answered it here.

But I'll add a little more ;) Indigo isn't one to wear make up or put too much thought into her outfit, but she likes looking pretty for him in those occasions.

Barnaby likes food and he wants his girlfriend well fed, so that's a perfect occasion to spoil her with sweets and special meals since she forgets to eat due to obligations and stress.

[danceworshipper]

Since it's pride month and a lot of people seem to be doing this, I thought I'd share my headcanons for the hphm characters' sexualities. Many people have views that differ from mine, so I'm interested to see if anyone agrees with me. (long post)

Merula was the first character that, upon meeting, I knew immediately. She's very clearly a lesbian to me, though after interacting with her more, I added on a demi aspect to her. She finds girls attractive and beautiful, but crushes are hard for her to have and sexual feelings toward them are even harder, though they do come eventually. Her supposed crush on Jacob in the game is stupid and I'm ignoring it entirely.

Rowan took longer to figure out, especially deciding that male and female would be different. In one of my universes, they exist at the same time, so I felt like they shouldn't be the same. In the end, I decided that male Rowan would be gay (the Bill attraction was very obvious) and female Rowan would be bi, because she was still attracted to Bill but her and a female mc had a lot of chemistry too.

Ben was easy for me. Ben I feel is straight, completely straight, never even questioned it. I know a lot of people feel differently, but he's never given me any sort of gay vibes, and during year six (my main mc is a girl) when he starts needing to be a "protector" he came off as one of those "nice guys" which made me decide that yes, he is straight and he sucks and I hate him.

Penny actually changed semi-recently when Quidditch dropped. I had always seen her as mostly straight with maybe a bicurious aspect, but then seeing her obvious crush on Skye zipped her into full bisexual territory. I do feel like she still has attraction to guys, and in one universe she ends up with my male mc, but the girl side became very apparent very quickly and I liked it.

Bill is bi to me. He was bi from the first moment he was introduced in the books - in fact, until Fleur came along, I was leaning towards gay for him. In the game he gives off more straight vibes, but even then I can see him trying to banish the gay thoughts before figuring out that he can be attracted to both. Bad taste though, I mean Emily Tyler? Really?

Charlie is not aroace to me, and he never has been. I know that's a widely accepted headcanon but I really can't see it. He seems more the type to bury his feelings away and never act on them unless the girl figures it out and acts for him, since I see him rather shy in that regard. I think he's straight but nervous, perhaps a late bloomer like me (I was never attracted to anyone until I was 12, much later than anyone I know).

Ismelda I feel is also straight. She was a pretty easy decision after the Crushed side quest, because I never thought about her very much before so I just accepted the straightness without question. It could have been cool for her to be lesbian and to have mc help her accept herself, but that's not the way the game went and I don't feel like coming up with an excuse as to why she would be so obsessed with Barnaby if she was gay.

Barnaby, likewise, is straight, though at one point he decided to figure out if guys were on the table too. They weren't, but he's glad he gave it a chance. Unlike Ben, even though Barnaby is tough and wants to protect people, he doesn't give me "nice guy" vibes, instead giving off "genuinely nice guy" vibes. He's a very strong ally and never judges anyone on who they love.

Andre is gay as hell. I know the whole gays into fashion thing is a stereotype, but Andre fits it so well that I have to roll with it. I also think that he tried to pretend he wasn't gay because he knew about the stereotype and hated it, but later on realized that it didn't matter if he was a stereotype or not. He was who he was and there was no point trying to change it.

Talbott, like Penny, had a change somewhere along the way. From his first appearance, I pinned him down as straight, but after interacting with him more, an asexualness became pretty apparent to me. He has romantic attraction toward girls, but he's pretty happy never doing anything sexual ever. Cuddles are wonderful, though. Poor touched starved boy.

Chiara I feel is pansexual. I wanted to keep her straight, but after she became an official friend and we got to see more of her, that just wasn't possible. She very clearly has a big heart and I can no longer see her as straight. Pansexuality seemed better than bi in her case because I can see her loving based on personality with the physical attraction not mattering as much.

Tulip is someone that I had a hard time deciding on. She gives off strong lesbian vibes but also very strong straight vibes. The obvious solution here would be to make her bi or pan, but those didn't feel right. I felt as though she was someone who had to be one or the other. In the end, I made her both - in some universes she's a lesbian, and in some she's straight. Either way, she's very vocal about who she likes so if she has a crush on you, you'll know.

Tonks was tough. I really wanted to make her anything other than straight, but nothing fit her. In the end, I gave in and made her "straight". The quotation marks are because she likes guys, but she ends up being pretty androgynous and doesn't care what pronouns anyone uses for her. Plenty of people she works with as an Auror use male pronouns, and Tonks is perfectly fine with it. Sometimes, she even changes her voice to sound more masculine.

Diego was very, very easy. The first two words that popped into my head when I met him were "horny bastard" and the feeling still sticks, which translates into him being pan. Girl? Boy? Neither? Both? Doesn't matter. He's single and desperate to mingle.

Jae was gay to me for a long time, but then when I created Quinn ( @pixiefreakquinn ) he was the only one I could see her having chemistry with. This was a very annoying little dilemma for a while, but in the end, he became very similar to myself, only inverted: he's bi, but he's way more into guys than girls. He's so much more into guys that it could be easy to mistake him for gay, and even he sometimes thinks he might be, but then there's a certain girl that he ends up being into and he's bi again.

Badeea struck me as someone that would be interesting to make gay, but as much as that could have been fun, I can't see her that way. Perhaps like Barnaby she gave it a chance, and it didn't work out. She likes guys, but she's comfortable in her sexuality and is able to recognize when a girl is attractive without worrying someone will think she's gay. She's someone who doesn't care what people think of her.

Liz is my aroace out of them all. She strikes me as someone who faked having crushes on boys to try and fit in, even though she never liked any of them. She wondered if maybe she was a lesbian, but she never had any crushes on any girls either. As she got older she cared less and less on why she never liked anyone like that and eventually she forgot attraction was supposed to be a thing she experienced. She's that cool aunt that brings weird gifts and tells stories from her various "vacations".

Orion feels pretty straight to me. Again, he's someone who could have been interesting to make gay, but he doesn't feel like he could be. He's an ally, and has been even before he really knew what gay meant. In his first years on the Quidditch team, one on the older kids was gay and when they got picked on for it, Orion defended them without hesitation, because his team is his family. He could figure out what gay was later.

Skye was going to be straight until I ended up shipping her with Penny despite hating her. However, I also love the idea of Penny having a huge crush but Skye just doesn't feel that way. So like Tulip, she's different in different universes. In some, she's a lesbian and with Penny, and in some, she's straight and stomps on Penny's heart.

Murphy I feel is bi. I love the idea of him and male Rowan pining for each other and being oblivious, but I can also see him with a girl. At first, he tried to ignore his attraction to boys because that would just be another way he would be different, but after he became the commentator and made some good friends his confidence grew and he stopped trying to fit in.

Erika is lesbian to me, though that might have been influenced partly from me thinking "yeah she could step on me". I tried to give her being straight a chance, but the big strong sports lesbian idea appealed to me way too much. Plus, it fits with her whole attitude of "defy me and get destroyed". Maybe that's why she and Andre end up being friends even if they're on different Quidditch teams - they recognized the gay in each other subconsciously.

And very quickly, my mcs:

Gracie Chiva: bi

Tessa Chiva: straight

Sarah Etsysa: lesbian

Oliver Adams: pan

Liam Disteel: straight

Quinn: bicurious, ends up straight

[umbralentity]

An odd portal was ripped open from a wall, on the other side of it currently stands a black figure with white eyes and three white orbs on his chest. However, as the figure leaned forward to have a look around, his form had completely inverted in color. Looking over at the other, at first shocked by his tall..taaaall stature, but gave a smile nevertheless. "Ah! Hello, sir! So sorry-I didnt mean to intrude in your um..office?"

Barnaby had been getting up from his desk and getting ready to go out for a bit of fresh air when he noticed the portal open in the corner of the office. He whipped around to face the intruder, talons at the ready. He was used to butting into other people’s business but never the other way around.

“Wh— Who the hell—“ He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What the Hell are ya and what’re ya doin’ rippin’ open holes in another man’s office??” There was an eeriness this being gave him. Like the exhaustion of light but without the luminescence.

[bakingthedetectives]

'What Now? I'm Going To Have My Cake And Eat It' - Tom Barnaby, Midsomer Murders

'She was very, very fat. She spread outwards and towered upwards. At least a quarter of her height seemed to be accounted for by her hair, which was a rigid pagoda-like structure: a landscape of peaks and waves, whorls and curls ending in a sharp point like an inverted ice cream cone. It was the colour of butterscotch instant whip.'

I'm shocked it's taken me such a long time to read any of the Midsomer Murders books. For a long time I didn't even realise there were books, the show being such an institution that it overshadowed all else. On the back of my copy of The Killings At Badger's Drift it says 'One of the CWA Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time'. I pondered what CWA meant. In Leicester CWA is a 'creative thinking' agency (whatever that could possibly be). College of West Anglia? Apparently it's the Crime Writers' Association. Well...great! If it was me running the show it would be at the very top. I have never been so enamoured with a book before. I had made a note on several pages before the end of the first chapter, which is a very good sign indeed. For me it was a connection. Caroline Graham writes like me. She's far superior, obviously, since she is actually a writer, but I couldn't escape the short sentences. I was always told at school not to use short sentences. Brackets and commas are the enemy and you just need to press on with the sentence, give it both barrels. But that's not who I am, that's not how I speak. I often cut myself short to go on a tangent that can only be illustrated with brackets when writing it down (god knows how people keep up with me when I am actually speaking to them. At least three sentences spring from my original sentence and end up far removed the point). She often starts writing a character's thoughts without telling you, and it's not until you're halfway through that you realise it's all in their mind and not part of their external world at all. It's brilliant! Finding someone that has written like this, who has been successful writing like this, brings me great joy. I have no ambitions to be a writer or to do anything with this newsletter other than to write it for myself (I'm so glad you all read it, I really am, but I do this for me first of all. I must do something and this is it), but finding someone else that makes me believe I am allowed to write as I want to is the best feeling in the world.

'You're a good boy,' she crooned, kissing him full on the mouth. Her breath was very sweet, a soft explosion of violet cachous and cream and rich vanilla. 'Mummysbestboy.' Her fingers slipped into his shirt, caressing the bony wings of his shoulder blades. 'Bestestonlyboy.'

I wanted to create a recipe for Barnaby first of all, since he is the main event, but when I started reading The Killings At Badger's Drift I was pacing around the room with excitement thinking about The Rainbirds. Obviously I had seen them portrayed so brilliantly by Richard Cant and Elizabeth Spriggs and loved them then, but reading Barnaby's first encounter with this repulsive duo really set me going. How ghoulishly fascinating they are. Dennis, a pale foppish undertaker, and Iris, a preened oppressive mass of a person. Barnaby thinks they would fit very well into a Joe Orton play and I can completely see that. As the quote above shows, their relationship as mother and son is not quite the usual. I'd quite like to put them behind glass at a museum and watch them, watch their eyes twinkling with conspiracy. When Barnaby and Troy meet them at their home, Dennis Rainbird wheels out a trolley 'built along the lines of the altarpiece at the Brompton Oratory', piled high with sandwiches and cakes. The sandwiches are cut into playing card shapes, which brings out their characters so well (marmite hearts, potted meat diamonds...). Poor Troy is handed a vanilla slice, which Dennis notes he isn't enjoying very much. 'Press him to a frangipane, then' is Iris Rainbird's response. I just love them hideously. They take so much care over their presentation, and they love every minute of it. I had to make the vanilla slice that Sergeant Troy has so much trouble with. It's slightly fiddly, this one, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. I've made it easier by using shop bought puff pastry, but I do feel The Rainbirds will be able to tell the difference! There will be a bit of wastage of the pastry here but I found myself snacking on this while the custard cooled, so I'm sure you'll be alright.

For the pastry: 2x sheets ready rolled all butter puff pastry some icing sugar, about 1-2 tbsp flaked almonds For the custard: 150ml double cream 650ml full fat milk 3 large egg yolks 100g caster sugar 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste 3 tbsp cornflour 3 tbsp custard powder Preheat the over 200C/180 fan/Gas 6. Fully line a 23cm square cake tin with baking parchment. To prepare the pastry, roll one sheet out onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the sheet with icing sugar so there's an even coating and sprinkle with flaked almonds. To prevent the pastry from rising too much, cover it with another sheet of parchment and another baking tray. If you have any baking beans or rice pour that into the tray to make sure it's well held down (puff pastry is very stubborn). Bake this in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the layer is dark in colour. Repeat this process with the second sheet of pastry to get your top layer, but leave out the ground almonds for this one. Peel the parchment off the sheets of cooked pastry. When cooled, trim each pastry slice to fit a 23cm square cake tin and place one sheet of pastry into the bottom of the tin. Set this aside while you make the custard. To make the custard, heat the vanilla, cream and milk on low until it comes to a gently boil. Remove it from the heat temporarily while you whisk together the egg yolks, cornflour, custard powder and sugar. Whisk until everything is combined but don't go over the top. We don't need to add any air to it. Pour a small amount of the hot milk onto the egg mixture and whisk continuously to bring it all together, then slowly add more of the milk until everything is mixed together. Put this back onto the heat and stir continuously until the mixture has thickened. It will naturally come to a boil but try to keep the heat fairly low so it doesn't burn the bottom of the pan. If you wish you can pass the custard through a sieve into a clean bowl to remove any lumps. Press some clingfilm onto the top of the custard to prevent a skin forming, then leave it to cool fully. Once the custard is cooled pour it over the pastry base in the tin and smooth over the top. Using a ruler, neatly cut the top layer into even slices. I cut mine to roughly 3.5cm. Unfortunately there isn't a great way of doing it evenly because of the tin sizes here. We've got 20cm, 23cm, 25cm etc so it's never quite even but do your best. Lay these slices on top of the custard and put everything into the fridge to chill for several hours. Chop the custard slices and serve, preferably on a rickety old tea trolley.

[indigobackfire]

HPHM April Prompt: Day 7

Prompt # 7 - MC's first kiss

@stupendousbookworm | Uuuhhh, I might have to cheat on this one, because my MC's first kiss was not with her #endgame love interest — spoiler alert, it was with Ben, — but I had written some of this already and it's WAY more exciting. So Barnaby's and Indigo's first kiss together. One day late but I had to do it ;P

An arrogant Gryffindor challenges Barnaby Lee to a fight the old way, and when defending Indigo's honour is more important than keeping himself out of trouble, he can't help himself but accept.

And when amends have to be made, their feelings might come into the light.

Characters: Indigo×Barnaby, Chiara chameo.

Timeline: End of year five-ish — I haven't even got half way through year five so if anything sounds out of place I just haven't been there yet.

Content Warning: Violence, blood.

///

"What did you say about her?" Barnaby asked the cocky Gryffindor one year below them, Derek Vonner. Impressively snob for a muggleborn and infamous for his arrogant attitude.

Indigo and Chiara who were having a chat in the courtyard with Barnaby, and who also overheard the insults shared a look, but before they could say anything, the boy smirked and continued. "I said she's a lunatic and an imbecile." He looked straight at Indigo. "Your cursed vault insanity is bringing all of Gryffindor down, just like your brother did."

Indigo couldn't be bothered, it had been a while since someone had made this big of a fuss about the vaults and her brother, but then again, it wasn't the first time. She was somewhat hurt but not much fazed by it.

Barnaby standed like a wall between them. "Now, you offend her, you offend me."

"Is this a threat?"

"If you want it to be."

Indigo stepped beside the two who were standing face to face. "Guys, please, he might've offended me, but dueling is still prohibited out of the club."

"Please, Barney," Chiara pleaded with her soft voice.

"And I'm still Gryffindor's prefect so-"

"Silencio," Vonner casted nonchalantly with a flick of his wand towards Indigo. "Just shut up, wil you?"

Barnaby became livid in a way nobody, not even the Slytherins, have ever seem him like, gripping the cocky Gryffindor's cardigan by the collar.

While that happened, and more people surrounded them, Chiara undid the silencing charm and made sure she was okay.

"Hey, I still mean it, no dueling!" Indigo shouted once she had her voice back.

"Why don't we resolve this the muggle way then?" Vonner suggested with a smirk.

Not Indigo nor Barnaby had much muggle blood in them, but they both knew what that meant. Chiara scooped closer to Indigo, afraid the boy might pull out a knife or something of sorts, but it was simpler and safer than that.

"Barney, please," Indigo said when she saw the shine in Barnaby's eyes — they were much alike in this aspect, always hungry for a fight.

He handed her his wand. "Hold this for me."

And Vonner imitated the move offering his wand to one of his friends who were laughing excitedly at the scene. He also took off his cardigan and cracked his knuckles to set the mood. Vonner, at least by the looks of it, seemed like he could stand against Barnaby in a fight — reasonably strong and tall.

But too much of a show off or perhaps watched too many fighting movies, as while he bounced around and mumbled threats under his breath, Barnaby punched him cut and clean.

Chiara gasped, but Indigo had to hold back a laugh from how funny and gracious it looked.

But the Gryffindor wouldn't stay down for long, swinging for the first time which Barnaby swerved, then again hitting him on the side of his face making a loud sound when his fist meets his jaw. But it's when Barnaby moved his mandible with a loud crack to get it back in place that everyone cringed.

The Slytherin then smiled in a way that would've fooled even Indigo into thinking he's a wicked boy, raised his eyebrows and while Vonner stepped forward for another punch, Barnaby swerved again, hitting him right on the stomach in a way it pulled sounds of wincing from the small crowd. Vonner curled to his knees with the pain.

"Seems I'm quite good at the muggle wa—"

Vonner thought quick and while Barnaby was distracted, swiped a leg behind his feet and pulled him to fall on his back. Vonner straddles him and begins a punching fest that makes even Indigo's stomach turn.

Barnaby's face became as red as Godric Gryffindor's soul. Covered in blood.

"Is the Silverwood bitch worth the beating, you himbo!?" He shouted at Barnaby's face nearly spitting.

But Lee is stronger and in a single blind punch makes Vonner draw back. With a swift move of his leg, Barnaby inverted the scene and pushed the boy to the ground and punched his ear with force.

Vonner stopped for a moment, holding his ear and writhing in pain and dizziness. Beside Indigo, Chiara moans in agony.

"Make them stop, Indigo. He could've damageed his ear!"

While Chiara's speaking, Vonner reacted and started trying to retaliate without much success. With his face pressed down to the ground, one foot awkwardly kicking Barnaby's leg, there isn't a chance for him. And Indigo knew that Barnaby had the strength to knock him out cold if he wished to — if he loses his control.

"Barnaby!" She shouted.

He looked at her with sweat dripping down his forehead, those tiny green eyes still sparkling. He stepped back leaving room for the boy to sit up, letting down his guns, to which Vonner responds by punching Barnaby straight on the mouth.

And before either of them can do something about it a shout cuts through. "The cat's out of the box!" Which every Gryffindor knows, McGonagall is making her way there.

And while most rush to get themselves as far away from the confusion as possible, the three friends stand there frozen. Vonner stumbles his way out of the courtyard followed by his friends, and despite his terrible attitude, Chiara can't shut down the healer inside her.

"You mind if I go check on the boy?" She asks Indigo hastly. "I know you can take care of Barnaby but those idiots... I wanna check if his hearing is okay, he could've hurt his eardrum."

"No problem and don't worry about us, if needs to see Madam Pomfrey, make sure he does."

Indigo kneels by Barnaby's side while Chiara runs after the others. He's still taking the blow from the punch, his torn lip bleeding — besides his nose and eyebrow.

She runs a thumb over his bruised cheekbone making it dissapear with some magical focus. "You are such an idiot, Barney."

"I've been told that before."

In the low murmur of the courtyard in which people are still watching the two of them from the outskirts, they can hear the tap of McGonagall's heels on the stones getting louder, his eyes widen.

"You are so screw—" she began saying.

But with a single pull, gripping her loose tie, their lips met and with all the adrenaline overflowing in his bloodstream, he couldn't feel a drop of pain, just the ecstasy of finally kissing her. A built up of years, months in which every second counts, but now meant nothing, because he was kissing Indigo bloody Silverwood.

In her stomach, the flutter of wings made her nearly dizzy as his lips move ever so softly over hers, the taste of his blood seeping through when she corresponded, taking the collar of his shirt in a fistfull, a low hum coming from her throat.

It's the third time McGonagall called their names when they finally attended to her angry reprimand. "What on Merlin's name is going on here? And what happened to you, Mr Lee?"

They both raised to their feet.

"I punched him," Indigo spits out.

Minerva's eyes widen. "Wha— Punched him? What for?"

"Because—"

Barnaby wiped the blood off his chin only to create a smear. "I asked her. To punch me. I did. I wanted to see what it felt like. The first times were too weak then I asked her to do it again. She just went a little too hard on the last one, but it's okay," he spoke nearly without a pause.

She looks at Indigo flabbergasted. "Is that it, Miss Silverwood?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him, professor. We're friends after all. We were being idiots to say the least."

"Mr Lee is then sweating like that because?"

They share a look. He shrugged. "Because I'm hot?"

She looked at them more confused than ever before, wondering at what to make out of the scene and their explanation. She scanned the courtyard but everyone was making a not so good job of pretending to mind their own business. Yet people all around watched perplexed, some laughing, some anxious to see what Minerva would do to them.

"And the... public display of... affection? Right here on the open of the courtyard?"

"That's my fault," Barnaby promptly said. "Couldn't help myself."

"Right… I'm not punishing you for the punch as it was… consensual, nor for the kissing as it isn't technically prohibited in school grounds, but for the scene you cause. This is no behavior for a prefect. Specially Gryffindor's prefect."

"I'm sorry, professor. I promise none of the sort will ever happen again."

"I do hope so. Detention tonight for both, I'll send an owl with your due obligations."

"Sorry, professor," Barnaby said, looking down at his feet.

"Sure, Mr Lee, just… clean yourselves up. There's blood all over your faces."

Barnaby raises his head and looked at Indigo's face, his blood on her lips like smudged lipstick, a deep shade of red burning on her cheeks.

***

"Why did you kiss me, Barnaby?"

They had moved away from the crowds, by the edge of the forest, sitting side by side on a stone bigger than an Acromantula. She hadn't gotten news from Chiara, but hoped she had the situation handled or else it would blow on their faces sooner than later.

"So professor McGonagall would think that was what we were doing before," he said proud of himself. "I saw it in a... what did she call? A film Penny showed me over the last school break when I visited London."

She would've been a tad jealous of that if she didn't know Penny's obsession over Skye Parkin which was a bit too intense for just some regular Quidditch supporting.

"Well, that I was kinda aware of, but com'on, Barney. Come clean, what did you really do it for?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"I'm not mad, I just wanna know why."

He looks her in the eyes. "Because I wanted to. I've been meaning to do that for a while. Because I really really like you. For the longest time."

"Me?" He nodded, confused at her confusion. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I tried to show you but you never seemed to notice. Also cause I remember you saying you liked Charlie last year and then you helped Ismelda try to get to me."

She sighed. "I had a crush on Charlie but I kinda gave up on it, everybody knows he only cares about dragons and will probably marry one." He laughs softly. "As for the Ismelda situation… I felt bad for her and she seemed to like you a lot, and maybe on the right occasion you would have liked her too."

"I couldn't like her, not because of anything she is or is not, but cause I liked you."

She stared at him for a moment, her heart racing in her chest making all that silence very loud. She had closed his cuts with her wand, the little crust of dried blood over them as the last sign not to mention the bruise on his jaw, legs and clavicle she wasn't able to vanish entirely due to her nervousness. Still, he continued to look as breathtaking as always.

"If only you had told me," she said finally looking away.

"I was convinced you wanted someone smarter. I'm not the brightest, you know that."

"Since when do you like me?"

He smiles, a faint blush to his cheeks. "Uh… I always had my eye on you. But I guess when you stood up for Ben against Merula our first year. It was so brave. But then she convinced us to hate you, to fight for those stupid vaults. I turned my admiration into anger."

First year, they were kids and she didn't remember much of him from that time except from the sorting hat ceremony and the lake crossing. And the fact that with one look she knew, at that tender age, that he would break many hearts. Sure enough, she was right — didn't expect, though, one of those to be hers.

"Must've been fun to spy on me then," she laughed, nudging his shoulder, "back in the third year. Well, up into the point you straight up told me."

"It was worth it. I did memorize your schedule after a while, better than anything from any class. It was a good excuse for my fixation." He laughed a bit louder. "And when you tried to fool me with your clones?"

She laughed too. "We spent so long on that Polyjuice potion, only for you to ruin it all this quick."

"I could still tell which one was you because… I just knew you." He took her hand in his, much bigger and both warm. "I would still know you with my eyes closed."

She rested her head on his shoulder, solid like bedrock, and held back his hand.

"But then you tried to convince me to leave Merula's side," he continued, "I was the happiest I could've been. I was just playing hard, y'know? You could've convinced me with way less."

"You did tell me your life's story in one sitting over a glass of butterbeer."

"I wanted you to know me. The whole school knew Indigo Silverwood the Hogwarts curse-breaker and how her brother did this and that, and I was so jealous cause I wanted you for myself, to know your secrets and your dreams. When I couldn't have that I chose to give what I wanted from you."

She was one breath away from breaking into tears. "Sometimes I wonder if they love me or hate me."

"Who cares? You know, I was completely fallen when we duelled for the first time. You were so fierce and talented and cunning. I swear I would've won if you hadn't mesmerized me."

And with that she breaks down, she could take the love confession but the correct use of big words to describe how he felt, made her heart go into a pace so fast, her chest was hurting. "This isn't fair!"

"What?" He asked embracing and comforting her.

"That you look so dreamy and that you're telling me all these wonderful things while the only thing I can tell is that I never even tried to approach you that way because I never thought I'd have the chance."

"Why wouldn't you have a chance with me? We've been friends for ages."

"Because you're the most handsome guy in all of Slytherin, not to say the sweetest, most caring, most loyal, the strongest, the kindest, and half the school is in love with you and I'm by far not the best looking one of them nor the most considerate, dragging you all into this cursed vault and R dangers."

Barnaby's stomach is flooded with butterflies at her words, wanting more than anything to melt in her arms.

"I'd go anywhere, fight anything for you. I think you're the prettiest and smartest and my favorite person, I don't know how you didn't see that." He took a deep breath. "Didn't see that... I love you, Indigo."

She looked up at him, his eyes glowing green and wild like the Scottish highlands, cheeks a shade of pink, lips wet and red. She brushes her thumb over them. "Barnaby," she whispered getting closer.

"That's me."

She rested a hand on his shoulder and pulled him nearer until their lips are touching softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. The taste of yearning came clear to her as he pulled her even closer to him, parting his lips, seeping his fingers into her hair, holding her face as if she was water about spill from his palms.

When they parted, both pulling for air, he looked at her like he discovered the answer to a charade, like a niffler before a pot of gold, the way he looked whenever she complimented him. Indigo felt like she did flying on the back of a hippogriff when she looked at Barnaby. That boy, buckwild, alive, beautiful, and in love.

"I love you too," she said without having to think much, because it was true. And one doesn't have to think much to state the skies are blue or the grass is green. She loved him before she could call this love romantic.

He smiled and hugged her to the point of nearly crushing her in his strong arms.

"Oh, okay. Barney, you're stronger than you think, love."

He let her go. "Oh, sorry."

Without thinking much, she ran a hand down his biceps which gave him tingles in his stomach. "Poor Vonner to be on the other side of your fist."

He crossed his arms. "Pfft. I don't like hurting people, but I was over my head and he deserved it."

"Let's leave him behind us." She took his hand and uncrossed his arm. "Perhaps we should go out some time."

"Tonight," he responds automatically with a smile.

"We have detention tonight, B."

"Oh, yeah. We can have a detention date then. A datention."

She snickered. "Alright. Anywhere we're together is the best place I could ever be."