#quite possibly one of the best things i’ve woken up to this week

[isabelurgfshere]

UMMM HELLO?!!

i’m there fr

[angelic-sturniolos111]

Some Privacy 🌌 pt. 1

You’ve been staying with the triplets in LA for a few weeks and are growing incredibly sexually frustrated being in Matt’s presence all the time. A late-night hot-tub sesh between the two of you reveals all…

matthew sturniolo x fem! reader

warnings: smut in future parts 🤭, mentions of rape, lots of sexual tensionnnnn

author’s note: quite possibly my best work to date tbh had to make it into parts

future parts will be linked here =>

Y/N’s POV:

The triplets, close friends of mind, were kind enough to let me stay with them in LA for a few weeks while I had off from school while I work remote. They’ve showed me all around LA and we’ve spent a lot of time together having fun and making content for their YouTube channel. Everything has been great, and I really have no reason to complain, except for one thing…

I’m horny as fuck.

Normally, my libido is a little above average I’d say, but there’s one major contributing factor to my frustration.

Matt Sturniolo.

I’ve always had a crush on him since we’ve met though I’d never act on my feelings in fear that he’d reject me. Aside from my feelings for him he is absolutely, incredibly, insanely hot. I can never get my eyes off of him when we’re in a room together. The way his stubble perfectly contours his jaw, his big veiny hands, the tattooed, everything. Though he wasn’t just a looker, he’s also one of the sweetest kindest people I’ve ever met— which is why I can’t risk losing him as a friend.

I’d typically handle my current situation on my own. The problem is, I’m sleeping on the triplets couch in the living room. Knowing those night owls, anyone could enter the room at any given moment, and I can’t risk getting caught. Not only that, but we’re always together and not once have I had the house to myself or any moment of privacy since being here.

I’m laying on the couch seriously debating on whether or not I should touch myself, but then my mind wandered to the thought of Matt possibly catching me in the act. The thought of Matt watching me touch myself made my situation worse as the heat built up between my legs and my heartbeat got that much faster.

“Ugh— fuck this.” I said to myself. I got up off the couch and grabbed some of my workout clothes to change in the bathroom. Then I went back into the living room by the front door and sat down to put on and tie my sneakers. The only other way I could let this frustration out would be to go for a run, and that’s just what I planned to do until I hear a door creak open.

I see Matt stepping out of his bedroom, clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt, rubbing his eyes as if he’d just woken up.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

“Nah, I was kinda already awake and I thought I heard you— wait, what are you doing? Where are you going?” He questions once he sees me dressed and tying my shoes, ready to head out the door.

“I’m going for a run.”

“Ummm no you’re not.” He says in a serious tone.

“Ummm yes, I am.” I reply in the same tone.

“Y/N, I’m not letting you go for a run alone this late at night.”

“I’ll be fine Matt,” I say as I stand up and start grabbing my bag and water bottle. He roughly grabs my wrist and stops me forcing me to look up at him.

“NO you are not going! You’ll get kidnapped, or raped, or something… I am not letting you leave this house.” He said sternly. I sighed, staring up at the ceiling in surrender.

“Why do you want to run this late anyways?” Matt says letting go of my wrist and leaning against the kitchen counter. I pause thinking of how to answer.

“I’m just… stressed.” I half-lied.

“How come?”

“It’s ummm— it’s complicated. I’m just really stressed and needed to hash it out somehow so I could relax and go to sleep.” Matt nods his head in response, and though the room is dimly lit I can still see the concern behind his blue eyes.

“How about I go get the hot tub heated up and we can relax in there together, okay?” The hot tub? Alone, with Matt? Before I could protest he speaks up, “C’mon, go put a bathing suit on and I’ll meet you out there, k?” Matt says assuredly. I sigh, turning back to the living room to get a bathing suit out of my suitcase and change again.

*****

I push open the sliding glass door to see Matt already in the bubbling, steaming hot tub. He's in his bathing suit, shirtless, the front strands of hair gently clinging to his forehead from the steam, soft blue light of the hot tub illuminating his face… Fuck. In no way was this helping my sexual frustration.

I saunter over to the tub and step in letting the hot water consume me. The pulsing jets hitting all the right spots on my lower back and shoulders. I inhale deeply feeling the humid steam fill my nostrils. I exhale letting my head fall back onto the side of the tub.

"Feels good?" Matt asks. My heart skips a beat at his question as I imagine him saying it to me under different circumstances, and for the filthiest of reasons.

"Mhmm." I hum in reply, not dropping my head back to look at him because I know that would just drive me up a wall.

I stayed in this position for a while, head back and eyes closed as I try and focus on the soothing sensation the hot tub is giving me while also trying not to bring my attention to Matt knowing that would only make my situation worse.

"Why are you stressed? What's on your mind?" Matt asks bringing me back to reality after zoning out. I reluctantly drop my head back down and open my eyes to meet his. Big mistake. The steam had collected on his skin causing small beads of water to fall down his chest into the tub. His arms were outstretched against the walls of the tub, and his legs part wide open as he laid his back against the tub wall. Despite being submerged underwater I could feel my core getting increasingly wet.

"I told you it's complicated, and it's personal…" I reply shyly.

"Awe c'mon Y/N, you can tell me. You know Nick nor Chris can have mature conversations about our feelings like I can." I sigh. He's right. I've always been able to talk freely and openly with Matt about my problems, my anxiety, and he opens up to me about the same things.

"I've been very… frustrated recently." I say hesitantly, looking at the blue bubbling water to avoid eye contact.

"How come? Is being in the house with us too much? I know we can be a lot sometimes so if you want to go home that's totally fine, we'll understand." He says genuinely. My lips curl into a smile huffing out a light laugh at his cute assumption.

"No! No that's not it at all. I love being here with you three." I say bringing my eyes up to find Matt's already looking deeply into mine. He raises his brows slightly and tilts his head indicating for me to continue. "I've been," God, was I really about to tell him this?

"I've been sexually frustrated. Extremely." I say, not breaking eye contact. Everything inside of me is vibrating and I feel like sinking down into the tub and drowning myself in it.

Matt's eyes widen slightly as his mouth gently parts. "Oh…" he said softly as that was all he managed to get out. He dropped his arms into his lap and stared at the water looking deep in thought. We both didn't speak, only for a moment, but the silence made time feel like it was dragging out forever.

"Why, then… Have you— have you touched yourself at all?" Matt stutters out. I can sense he's just as nervous as I am to have this conversation, but I also can tell that there is genuine concern laced in his voice.

"No. Trust me, I've wanted to. I’ve been sleeping on the couch in the living room, so I haven’t. You and your brothers are up at all hours of the night, and one of you has come into the kitchen for a late-night snack, or come to the living room to see if I was awake to chat or film. So I feel like I just haven’t had enough privacy to do so— that’s all.”

Matt and I have had many deep conversations before, and I am always super honest with him because he makes me feel safe and comfortable. But right now, I’ve never felt so vulnerable in front of him.

“Mmm.” He hums, his eyes darting away from mine.

A few moments of slightly uncomfortable silence pass before he pushes himself off the hot tub wall and slowly makes his way over to me. Our eyes lock again, but his are different this time, darker.

“We have some privacy now.” Matt says in a low, deep tone.

We? My breath hitches in my throat.

Suddenly, everything in the atmosphere changed. We deeply stared into each other’s eyes. Our stare was one where we both didn’t have to speak, and the silence felt comfortable. His stare quieted the millions of thoughts racing in my head until I was only focused on him and how my body called for him. I no longer felt vulnerable. I felt stronger. Confident.

I could see in his eyes that he was thinking the same thing I was, and his blown out pupils told me he wanted it just as badly…

**********

taglist:

@flowerxbunnie @delimeats-000 @daddyslilchickenfingers @sturniolosluvv @lovingmattysposts @lustfulslxt @sturnioloskies @recklesssturniolo @strniohoeee @apclyptc @strawberrysturniolo @hoesformatt @luv4kozume

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 9: For The Both Of Us

From: Bigger Houses Series

Pairing: Mountain Ranger! Ari x Reader

Summary: Your mom comes to town to see your new house and chats with your long-term boyfriend

Word Count: 2,362

Content/Warnings: kissing, nudity under an apron, nervousness, a very important question, fluff, sweet words

A/N: It’s been awhile and I miss my sweet baby Ari. Hope you all enjoy. I’d love to hear your feedback in all forms!!

Dividers by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

Below is the song which inspired this chapter. Very sweet and heartwarming and just makes me wish someone loved me like that.

< Prev | Series Masterlist | Next >

You stirred as the light of the sunrise reached your eyes and the smell of breakfast floated through the house. You stretched out to your side, feeling cool sheets where Ari once was and frowning at the emptiness even though it’s what you had expected it find.

You groaned as you rolled out of bed, your feet hitting the cold wooden floors shuffling over to the dresser to find a cozy pair of socks. You picked up Ari’s shirt from a chair, discarded the night before, and inhaled the comforting scent before walking out to the kitchen.

You were met by quite the sight: two pale ass cheeks hanging out of your apron. Your hands raced up to clap over your mouth as you let out a squeal at the sight. Ari spun around in alarm holding a spatula in his hand.

“What? Did something happen? Are you okay?” His eyes were searching around frantically for a hazard, something that might’ve scared you.

You moved a hand over your eyes and dramatically felt around for one of the stools at the kitchen island to pull it out and sit down. “I’ve been mooned!!”

Ari threw his head back in laughter before turning off the stove and setting down the utensil, waltzing over to your seat. He gently pried your hand away from your face, met with a giggle and your beautiful smile.

“C’mon, I thought you would’ve liked that view first thing in the morning.”

You shook your head, barely accepting the way he leaned in and planted a kiss on your hairline. “I would, but it’s so blinding. So…bright against the rest of you.”

He pulled back with fake offense as he went back to the cabinets to start pulling down plates. “Well what would you rather I do? I can tan naked in your back yard if you want me to even it out that badly.”

You graciously accepted the coffee he slid over to you before he turned back around to serve up breakfast, constantly glancing back at you as your eyes were glued to his rear. “Should I take your drool as a yes?”

You shook yourself back into focus and looked up to meet his mischievous eyes. “Um, no-I mean, not no? Just….um…not right now.”

He laughed at the way you still got flustered after all this time. He couldn’t blame you though, he probably would’ve done the same if that’s what he had woken up to. He presented your food and leaned against the counter to face you while the two of you ate.

You looked up at the clock above the stove as your eyes went wide. “Oh no, definitely not now. Ari, you’ve gotta get clothes on.”

Ari looked at you with a teasing grin. “My sweet Duchess, you live so far away from anything else, why would we possibly ever need clothes?”

You picked up your fork, shoveling food into your mouth, doing your best to quickly savor what Ari had gotten so much better at making. You nudged his plate towards him and gestured that he did the same. Ari went along with your silent demand, a confused look on his face, as you finally swallowed, prepared to talk.

“Because we have to pick my mom up from the airport in less than an hour and she’s staying here for a week.”

Ari’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he ate even faster, thoughts frantically racing through his mind.

After breakfast at your place, Ari rushed home to his to get showered and changed while you did the same at home. You kept the house generally tidy, so all you had to do was wipe down the counters and straighten things. Ari was back before you knew it, parking his truck to the side of your driveway. You ran outside and tossed him the keys as you hopped into the passenger side of your SUV, Ari preparing to drive.

The two of you started down the mountain and towards the city, mostly quiet, matching the mid-morning misty air. Ari drove with one hand on the wheel, the other holding yours over the center console. You tore your gaze from the window and the passing trees, taking note of his clenched jaw and white knuckles.

“Bear, everything okay?”

Ari simply grunted and nodded, making a turn to get onto the highway and checking his blindspots as he removed his hand from yours to turn down the radio from its already low volume.

You shifted in your seat to face him, concerned since you’d rarely seen him like this. He only went silent when he was really stressed or angry. You knew it wasn’t the second one, or at least hoped it wasn’t.

“I’m really sorry. It totally slipped my mind that she was coming in today. I meant to tell you earlier in the week that she had a good deal on flights, but with how busy we both were, I missed the chance.”

It was true. Ari had had a string of overnight watch shifts and you were working ridiculous hours finishing up a project presentation, plus the two of you still didn’t technically live together. The first time you’d seen him all week was last night into this morning and you didn’t want to put more stress on him when he was already exhausted. He hummed and adjusted in his seat, muscles pushing at his collared shirt.

He took a deep breath before reaching for your hand again and sparing you a few quick glances between focusing on the road. He could see the way your eyebrows were furrowed and raised in concern.

“Angel, baby. I’m not upset. I’m just…a little nervous? I wish I would’ve known your mom was coming sooner. That way I could’ve prepared. Gotten her flowers. Maybe picked out a nicer outfit that wasn’t so old.”

You relaxed a little, squeezing his hand and pulling it up to your lips for a long kiss before looking him up and down. “I think you look great, Ari. She’s going to love you. You’ve already spoken to her on the phone dozens of times. And you know she’s never given a sign of dislike. It’ll be great. Nothing to be nervous about at all. I’m by your side now and I’ll be there the whole time.”

He spared you another glance and a soft smile before looking back to the road and giving a self-assuring nod. You could see the way his shoulders lowered slightly and his grip on the wheel loosened at your reassurance. He knew your mom liked him, he just didn’t know if she’d like the very important question he had planned to ask her.

When the two of you pulled up to the airport, your mom was already waiting outside. Ari spotted her almost immediately and pulled the car to the curb, smoothly popping the trunk and jogging over to greet her behind you.

“Hi honey. It’s so good to see you. It’s been too long since I’ve been back here.” It really had been awhile. Sure, you’d gone home to visit a few times before, but this was the first time she’d been back since helping you move into your new place. You gave her a hug and a kiss before stepping out of the way, her eyes already on Ari.

She reached her arms up to his tall shoulders, pulling him in for a hug. “It’s so wonderful to see you, too, Ari. Handsome as ever and apparently very handy recently from what I can tell.”

Ari laughed and nodded, greeting your mom and giving her a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bag and putting it in the trunk. You slid into the back, allowing your mom to take the front seat with Ari as he drove your car. You could see the surprise on her face at the gesture. You had never been one to allow someone else to drive this dear SUV ever since you had gotten it. She raised her eyebrows, but only for a second. Anyone else would’ve missed it, but you knew it seemed reminiscent of something. Perhaps the trust you put in Ari for something like this mirrored what you remember seeing between her and your dad in the earlier years of their marriage before everything went south. Perhaps it spoke to just how deeply you had confidence you could rely on each other. Whatever that look meant, though, she didn’t verbalize it, instead deciding to chat Ari’s ear off for the entire ride home about the new pergola he had just built for your garden that she was beyond excited to see.

The afternoon consisted of you and Ari showing your mom around town to see all your favorite places that you’d grown so fond of over the time you’d been here. She raved about the quaint little town and fresh mountain air, as well as your home and how you’d truly settled in.

In the evening, your mother insisted she’d teach a couple family recipes to you and Ari before finally relaxing for the evening. Food was very evidently a love language passed down.

The three of you sat in the back yard around a campfire on a few log benches Ari had built for you recently, as well, as you talked and laughed, drinks in hand until you got up.

“All these drinks are catching up with me, so I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Can I get anyone refills?”

“Yes please, Duchess. Thank you so much.”

Both Ari and your mom smiled and nodded at you as you went to grab the empty vessels from their hands.

“Okay, I’ll be a few minutes. I’m probably gonna package up the leftovers, too, before I forget and leave it all out overnight. Will you guys be alright out here?”

You mom smiled and nodded again. “Of course we will, honey. Ari said he’s going to show me around your new garden. We can keep ourselves busy.”

You looked over to Ari to confirm and he gave a wink. “And of course, if you need any help, just text me and I’ll come up to meet you.”

You smiled and thanked them before backing away and ducking into the house.

Upon your departure, Ari stood up and helped your mom off her bench before offering his arm for her to hook her hand around. She absolutely adored him and they got along so well.

He walked her through the small garden, showing her the small pergola, and the string bulb lights he had hung up to surprise you, along with your favorite flower he had hounded the hardware store to obtain for him just so you could have it planted here. She was absolutely charmed, but it was more than just that; she could see how deeply Ari cared for you and felt the change in the air when Ari took her to a bench at the edge of the garden. From there, he had a view of where you’d be walking through the doors soon so he could ensure the privacy of this conversation.

Ari’s heart was racing like hell and his hands shook. He did his best to fold them firmly in his lap and leaned an elbow on his knee to steady himself before looking up at your mom’s face. She rubbed his shoulder, an attempt of settling the nervousness and reassuring him with a small smile, not unlike the one you’d used so many times before. He took a deep breath, sat up, pushed his shoulders back, and started.

“Now that it’s just me and you, I wanted to talk for a few minutes. I’ve got something to get off my chest.”

She sat up and nodded for him to continue, his worried blue eyes shifting between hers. “I’m sure you already know, having been here before, but I’m just going to come out with it, I guess.”

Ari took another deep breath, eyes shifting towards the sliding glass door, still not seeing you, but smiling at the thought having to do with anything about you.

He looked back at your mom with a dopey grin on his face, although his eyes held an earnestness. “I’m in love with your daughter. And I have been since the very moment that I first saw her. I’d like to ask her a very important question, with your blessing, of course, and if she so chooses to take my hand, you can trust that I will love her more than enough, for the both of us.”

Your mother sat there for a second in contemplation over Ari’s words. They were strung together so beautifully and she could tell that he meant them with his whole being. He had no idea that this wasn’t news to her. She saw it on both sides. At her lack of response, though, Ari’s heart raced even faster and his palms got sweaty. He burst out with nervous babbles.

“I-I know that she’s your baby and you loved her first. But i-it’s true, for better or worse, I’ll treat her like I know you’ve always prayed someone would. You can trust when I say I’ll give her everything I can for the rest of my life. From now, to when she’s dressed in white and you’re giving her away, until my last breath. I’ll give her the world if I can.”

His chest was almost heaving as he panted through his nose, lips pressed together tightly with anxiousness for a response. His body was kicking into survival mode from the stress. He could see across the yard as you slid the glass door open with a smile on your face, walking over to two of your favorite people, the two you loved most. She easily took note of the way Ari’s shoulders eased at seeing you. She patted his knee before standing up to walk towards you a few steps when she turned back over her shoulder. She gave him a warm smile and nodded her head before saying a single word.

“Yes.”

Next >

Bonus A/N: gahhhhh. I love him, your honor. Fun fact: my family just told me that out of all of us, they think I’d be the most likely to elope. Lol bc I would in an instant if it were Ari.

Series Taglist: @patzammit @quebruv @hawkeyes-queen @identity2212 @jamneuromain @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @ronearoundblindly

[foretnoires]

akiramon drabble | beginning [TG week: Gift Day]

warning: mature themes, no nsfw but implied, proceed at your own risks!

note: this is my first time joining TG week and I’m a bit clueless of the themes and what I’m doing also, and I didn’t even join each day because of editor’s/writer’s block 😩 here’s my gift for @imgabysama, thank you for your support for every aus and edits of mine even though they’re chaotic af and you’re the first person in TG fandom I’ve got to know 😭 English is not my first language, I’m trying my best, so enjoy 🤗 btw the moodboard is a bonus, so the post won’t look plain 🗿

❝ One-night stand? Actually its consequences are not too bad - at least according to Akira. ❞

Who just pulled up the curtains?

Akira exasperatedly let out a few mumbles, her small face frowned by the annoying light, she was clearly annoyed. In her life, she hated being woken up early in the morning - especially when she was still in her very beautiful dreams. Light streamed into the spacious room from the window, constantly teasing her, making it impossible for her to sleep again.

Akira rolled over on the bed, trying to banish the bright, annoying light. Her slender hands covered her face, Akira huddled aimlessly at something - a blanket, she guessed vaguely, something warm, extremely soft, lying right next to her.

The smell was also pleasant. And her blanket never had any perfume on it...?

Forcing her eyelids to open a little so she could see, through the gaps between her fingers that were still clutching her face, in front of her eyes was a huge mass - oh no, a man's body, rather, or to be more precise, Akira was facing a robust chest more than ever, and she couldn't stop staring at the man's collarbone—

Akira blinked, but the rather seductive 'thing’ didn't budge in the slightest, it started to make her have butterflies in her stomach. He was naked, and apparently she was too. They laid close to each other on the same bed of white sheets, covered under a blanket, and the sheets were strangely messy.

Something must have happened last night that Akira couldn't remember.

Her head hurt like hell now. Overdrinking was always like this.

But actually she was a little relieved, because she hadn't slept with a man in his forties or - worse still - a minor. Instead, this man is very handsome, even though he was sleeping soundly, he still exuded a charming and mature aura, maybe adding a little peace that makes her heart can't help but fluttering.

Akira's eyes for men were still very good, even when her mind was still in a drunken state.

The outlines on his face were quite sharp. High nose bridge, long canthus and delicate facial features. This guy looked like 26-27 years old at most - a few years older than her. His skin was as bright as the sunlights - he looked healthy and muscular at the same time, highlighting the thin pink lips on his face.

The thought of having kissed those lips no less than a dozen times last night made Akira blush. A passionate night with a handsome guy, she didn’t regret it much.

Lost in her thoughts, Akira suddenly remembered what the hell she would say if he woke up now. He would definitely be surprised, the atmosphere would definitely turn awkward, definitely--

The best way now was to sneak out before he woke up...

Talk the talk and walk the walk. Akira struggled to lift his strong arm around her waist away from her, the sudden cold involuntarily made her shiver, her mind started to conflict between curling up in bed and pretending to sleep again, or just letting it be and leaving.

She bit her lower lip, choosing the second option in the end.

It took ten minutes before Akira was able to set her feet on the floor of the hotel room. She tried to make as little noise as possible, take as little steps as possible so he wouldn't hear. But here's the problem: Akira only found her panties under the legs of the bed, and her bra was nowhere to be found.

She swore under her breath, wrapped some sort of cloak over her body, and began to bend down to find the other thing. But strangely, she couldn't find that one very-necessary thing, and Akira couldn't go out without it.

While tearing her hair out in frustration, Akira heard a hoarse voice suddenly coming from the bed, towards her.

“Are you looking for this?”

Akira felt as if she had just died then come back to life.

Lifting her head, her eyes were met with the image of the guy who was supposed to be sleeping, he was sitting stagnantly on the bed, in his hand was her dark purple bra. His face - however, didn't seem as serious as Akira's expression right now, he just kept looking at her with that nonchalant look, his hand was even twirling the bra.

Fuck.

Embarrassed and annoyed, Akira could only run to the bed and rudely snatch the thing from his hand, not daring to meet the other's eyes from beginning to end. He kept staring at her all the time, not like he wanted to eat her, but a look that made Akira feel like an alien.

She cleared her throat unnaturally, but he continued to stare. His gaze was serious, as if he wanted to strip her thin robe, and it was as if she had just committed some very serious crime. Akira didn't know what to do anymore, her limbs suddenly became superfluous.

Suddenly blushed, she discreetly pulled the cloak tightly wrapped around her, trying to avoid that gaze carrying the fire within.

He made her both scared and embarrassed to the point of wanting to dig a hole and hide into it.

".....Stop it." 

"...Stop what...?" 

"All of them-- The staring."

Akira was surprised to see him smile. Taking her eyes off the ivory-white hotel bed sheet, she met the deep gaze of the other man, her heart seemed to drift to an unknown place.

He had very beautiful eyes. Very very beautiful.

"Sorry." He said. The crescent-shaped smile remained on his lips, and grew even wider when he saw her surprised eyes. "Because I've never seen anyone so beautiful, so..."

"I-I'm beautiful?"

The man with the black hair tilted his head to the side, his gaze looking at her for some reason became much softer.

"I'm not exaggerating, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met."

Before Akira knew it, she involuntarily smiled along with him. Look! He looked so much more approachable when he smiled....

She watched him lifting off her right hand, placing a polite kiss on it, and watched his eyes sparkle as he gave another smile. For her.

From that moment on, Akira knew what this moment would bring in her hurried, boring life. It was reflected in his smiling eyes, the eyes she volunteered to bury her heart in.

"Shall we get to know each other first? Hello, I'm Koutarou Amon, 26 years old. Nice to meet you."

"My name is Akira Mado, 22 years old."

The beginning.

[iluvoid]

The Creature and the Tuunbaq

[I wrote this piece for uni a while ago & people kept encouraging me to post it on here so - here goes nothing]

I promised that I’d die, didn’t I? That I’d set myself aflame; that I desired it.

In my death-wish, I promised the unpromiseable; for if you have never died, and you are the only one of your kind, how do you know you are mortal? Because the flames licked my skin the way they do the ice; they barely warmed me in my abject wish to relinquish life. And so, I am still here. I have lost count of the years. Here in the great white nothing, they are split in half, one bright, one dark, and all of them cold, but I burn with an inextinguishable flame. Even with barely any sustenance, this monstrous body somehow keeps itself alive, even if it then falls into a deep hibernation for weeks at a time, awakened again by I know not what. There was nothing to wake up to, except more loneliness. Until one day, there was.

I was woken by something sniffing at me. That in itself was nothing unusual – over the years, I’ve been woken more than once by the curious nose of a Polar bear. At first glance, this didn’t seem any different. Except that the bear was three times the size of any one I’d encountered so far, or really any size of Polar bear I considered possible. But it was the face that really struck me, for it was white and furry, like that of a bear, but other than that, it was almost shaped like that of a man. Last of all I saw the eyes, and those were neither of man nor beast; they were the eyes of something powerful and ancient, unlike anything I’d ever seen.

I knew then that this was the closest I had ever come and probably would ever come near something that, like me, was not quite of this world. A Creature; a Monster.

It was thus that I met the Tuunbaq.

Something had drawn it to me in this vast icescape that turned out to be less inimical towards us than to any other being we were aware of. By some heavenly or hellish capacity, it soon transpired that it seemed to understand me and I it, by means I find myself rather incapable of describing; the closest approximation might be that I spoke to it, and in turn it permitted me access to its thoughts so that I could perceive them almost like my own. It never physically uttered a word, and I don’t deem it capable of speech as we know it. Not that it would need it, for that matter; it is capable of far greater things, things that render speech, if not communication as a whole, unnecessary. It is ancient, far more ancient than at first I believed, and no manner of speech we today possess would do justice to its vast knowledge and power, or suffice in any way to express them.

The first time it entered into my thoughts, I knew not what was happening to me, could not place the question that so suddenly, so unpromptedly came to me, which was,

“You are dead. How do you live?”

It came, not in words, but in a near-inexpressible equation of logic, a sensation of utter void followed by a hot, lively pulse, with an underlying sense of wonder, of questioning. I was kneeling by an ice-hole at the time, waiting for a fish or perhaps a seal to emerge, the Creature, whose name I knew not then, concealed in a bank of fog not far off, and it took me longer than I like to admit to figure out that the origin of these sensations was not within me but without, and even longer to work out their meaning. But I have acquired more complicated, far less intuitive means of communication among humans in a timeframe their kind would deem short, and the way this being had just begun to converse with me seemed to me far more natural than my way with human words that was forever doomed to be crude and inferior to that of its original inventors. I shall in the following do my best to relay its messages by converting them into human speech as accurate as can be; I may however miss whole aspects, or misstep in the translation of others; most of this Creature’s thoughts are to language are as a vast and impossibly complex landscape is to the simple means of cartography. On a map, I can show you the course of a coastline, but not the nesting holes of the swallows in its steep cliffsides, or the whales’ fountains in the pearly waters at dusk; not the petrified remains of age-old molluscs in the crumbling clay, or the way the eternal, ephemeral sea constantly changes that carefully drawn line on paper, inevitably, grain by grain, boulder by boulder, until it renders it all null and void.

“You are dead. How do you live?” it asked, and referred by that to the state of my soul in relation to that of my body, but that alone took me a long time to figure out. Then, I knew not what to say. “I am a keeper of souls”, it told me next, “my soul is eternal, like all souls are, but my bodies are mortal. Meanwhile, your body is interminable, and yet there is no soul within it. What are you?”

For a moment, I feared that even the most monstrous creature beside myself I had ever met would shun me, would know me for the devil I am and chase me even from the desolation of the eternal ice, leaving me truly nowhere on Earth to go. But instead it joined me in slow, heavy steps by my ice-hole, settled down and said, “You look almost like man, and yet I sense no intent in you, neither good nor evil; you just are. You are akin to spirits like myself in that, and yet you have no soul. I never met another like you, and I know near to every creature that ever lived, for I am as old as the world itself. Tell me, what are you?”

I kept my silence a while longer, afraid of speaking truth, but soon realised that this was the most kindness I had ever encountered, and within me, a tiny flame of hope ignited itself, despite myself, and I said,

“I am not like other creatures, for I am made by man, and yet am no man myself. I was born of cowardly hubris that thought itself innocent curiosity; I was born kind and hopeful, but spurned by everyone including my creator, and turned to mischief and murder out of necessity, loneliness, and spite; that is how I must have forfeited my soul.”

“No”, said the spirit bear, “you were born without a soul; you carry no guilt in its loss.” Then it regarded me in a long silence, and finally continued, “Tell me, what is your purpose here?”

“I have no purpose”, I said honestly, “neither here nor anywhere else on this blasted Earth. I was born homeless, and no one will grant me one. I cannot die, and so I must live somewhere; my purpose is to be; to be in peace.”

“I sense no falsehood in you”, replied the being. “You may stay.”

It was the greatest kindness I had ever felt, and it extended, in that moment, like a physical manifestation about me; a peace descended on me that I had not known since my creator was sent into a frenzy by the mere sight of my first, innocent smile, and I thanked the being with all my stolen heart. It felt my sense of wonder, and began,

“I am the Tuunbaq. I am the Ice, and the Snow, and the Sea, and they are me. I am this place, and it is me. I am its protector and it is my home. I have always been and always will be; I have died uncountable deaths and will die uncountable more. I am no creature; I am that which is.”

I had never sensed anything as neutral as the Tuunbaq’s presence, and there was something unspeakably comforting about it. There was no intention in its existence but for its autarchy, and there was a matter of course about it, an imperturbability that somewhat contradicted my experience of it as a living thing; and a living thing it is, but in the sense an ecosystem is a living thing, or the universe.

It is the exact opposite of me in many aspects; it is its own home; it needs and wants no one and nothing else. While I despise nothing more than the solitude that was forced upon me, and experience it as loneliness, the Tuunbaq is the solitude; it has no concept of loneliness. I learned that it can live in a kind of symbiosis with its people; they respect it and know what they can know of its infinite wisdom and power.

“They are not like the peoples from beyond”, it told me, ‘beyond’ referring to, I gathered, beyond it; beyond the Ice. “They are not greedy; they know their place, and do not question it. They are one with me. They have respect. Unlike he who made you.” Sometimes, it explained, it would let the shamans of those people guide it, and it too would guide them, and the help would be mutual, with the shared aim of protection. The shamans would harness the Tuunbaq’s powers and apply them to where they were needed the most, and balance would be maintained.

There were ships there, the being told me, ships from beyond, with greedy men speaking a foreign tongue. They killed its current shaman, treated him with the utmost disrespect, dishonoured the customs, and severed the carefully-knit bond between the people and it. It would heal, and the Tuunbaq would find them again, but losing it meant exile for the shaman who lost it, for this kind of severance was the beginning of all erosion. To be a god, like it is to them, they must be One, the people and it.

“They have a home, far away, but it is not enough for them”, it said, referring to the strangers on their ships. “They come not with curiosity but with greed in their hearts. They think a place is free for the taking merely because it has no flag of theirs stabbed through its heart. They tried to pass through here, solely to get elsewhere; they had no desire to be here, only hunger for values I do not understand.”

“Gold?” I asked. “Glory?”

The Tuunbaq could not answer that.

“Imagine a bear; not like you, just a common bear, on an ice floe, adrift at sea. It is afraid. It has been deprived of all security; of home. If those men from beyond are the bear, gold and glory are drifting icebergs. They are make-believe homes for those who are lost in fear.”

“But they do have a home?”

“They do”, I said, “but such is the nature of humankind. They make something their own, like me, and they abandon it, like me; they are full of greed and hubris, and they are full of cowardice and fear.”

“Not my humans”, it contradicted. “Why are they different?”

“The strangers”, I said, “have lost their gods long ago, and now deem themselves gods in their own right. By such a one I too was made.”

“And yet they claim to come in the name of their god.”

“If that god was ever real, they lost it a long time ago.”

“How did they lose it?” the Tuunbaq asked.

“Your people”, I said, “they feel responsible for you and you for them. Those strangers…their god is not responsibility to them anymore, only excuse.”

“That does not sound like a god; that sounds like a scapegoat.”

“They have tales of their god, an innocent lamb, dying for their sins.”

“They worship their god because it died?”

I agreed.

“My people worship me”, it said, with a sense of bewilderment, “because together, we survive. Time and time again.”

“They worship theirs because he dies, time and time again. To forgive and forgive and forgive.”

“Then their god is but another drifting iceberg”, the Tuunbaq concluded. “God, gold, and glory.”

I found myself unable to contradict, although I knew it was not that easy; I had read of their god preaching kindness, but how could I preach that sermon, when I had never felt its effect?! So we both fell silent for a long time and pondered questions too big for words.

[bisexualbumblebee-writes]

Lullabies- Neville Longbottom x OC

Neville Longbottom x Charlotte Creevey

Description: When Colin, Dennis or Neville have nightmares, she’s the first person they go to. She always calms them down with a lullaby. After the war, Neville figures out it’s going to take the lullaby to break through her guilt.

Word Count: 2.3k

1993

“Some-one holds me safe and warm. Hor-ses dance through a sil-ver storm,” Neville heard a beautiful voice sing as he made it to the top of the staircase in the Gryffindor common room. He had woken up and realized he was thirsty. So, he put some slippers on and began heading towards the kitchen, but slowed down when he heard the girl singing. He quietly made his way down the staircase, hoping he wouldn’t disturb the girl. 

“Fi-gures dan-cing grace-fully, across my mem-ory,” the girl continued. Neville peeked around the corner once he reached the bottom of the stairs. It was Charlotte Creevey, older sister of Colin and Dennis. She was in his grade, year 3, while Colin was in the grade just below them.  The older of the two boys laid with his head in her lap, and she ran her fingers through his hair as she sang to him. By the time she finished her song, Colin was asleep once more. She smiled and leaned down to kiss the side of her brother’s head. 

“Sweet dreams Colin,” she whispered. Neville thought it would be a good time to make his presence known. He made sure to go down the last step loud enough to alert her. She was looking at him when he walked into view. 

“Was that you singing just now?” He whispered despite knowing the answer. Charlotte was thankful that it was mostly dark in the common room because she blushed shyly. 

“Yes,” she answered, seeing no point in lying to the boy. “When Colin or Dennis have a nightmare, I’ve found that singing my lullaby to them helps them sleep.” Neville grinned a bit, that was quite possibly one of the cutest things he’d ever heard.

“That’s awfully nice of you,” he responded, walking over to the couch she and Colin occupied. Charlotte shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.

“It’s what siblings do.” Neville hummed in reply. 

“Do you need help getting him back up to his dorm? Mine’s not far away,” he offered. Charlotte seemed to consider the offer, then ultimately nodded.

“That would be great actually. I would use a levitating charm, but I’m afraid that makes too much noise,” she explained. Neville nodded and walked over. Neither of them knew exactly how they did it, but they managed to get Colin situated on Neville’s back piggyback style. The girl tried not to blush thinking about how strong Neville was. 

They managed to get him into bed and Neville stood back while Charlotte tucked her brother in. Once they were safely outside of his dorm with the door closed, Neville looked at her.

“I was going downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Would you like to join me?” Charlotte knew she probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep for a while, so she nodded. The two snuck out of the common room and headed to the kitchen. They spent the rest of the night nursing their glasses and talking in the common room. 

1995

Neville woke up with an abrupt jolt. He gasped, taking in his surroundings. It didn’t take him long to realize that it was just a nightmare, and he and Charlotte were okay. Speaking of Charlotte, she was already sitting up watching him with a concerned look. She woke up to him having the nightmare, and decided to wake him up. 

Upon realizing she was okay, Neville let out a quiet sob and wrapped his arms around her. He stayed like that, crying silently into her shoulder while she hugged him comfortingly. She was worried, this was the fifth nightmare he had in the last two weeks. That’s why she was there with him. Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus knew she was best at calming him down after a nightmare, so they enlisted her help. She still recalled the night of his second nightmare vividly. 

She had been asleep in her dorm, when Dean and Seamus practically burst in, calling for Charlotte. She was awake immediately, but before she could ask what had them so distressed her dorm mates told them to take it outside the room since it was nearing three a.m. 

Once outside, they explained that he had another nightmare, but it was worse than the last one. They woke up to him screaming and thrashing around aggressively. When they woke him up he became hysterical and refused to listen to anyone or talk to them. That’s when Harry instructed the two of them to get her. 

She ran to him immediately with the guys following her. Once there, she managed to calm Neville down enough to make sense of his surroundings. He apologized profusely, but they brushed him off. Herry, Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville all fell asleep to her singing her lullaby that night. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She whispered the same question she did every single time he had a nightmare. He usually said no, but to her surprise he nodded this time.

“It always starts the same. I see Bellatrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr. torturing my parents to insanity,” he started, and Charlotte tried not to flinch at the thought. “Then you appear. You never look the same, there are new injuries every single time. They torture you, and I’m always forced to watch it. I can’t do anything, I’m frozen to the ground and I can’t look away. They won’t let me,” he finished, beginning to get upset again. Charlotte held him tighter and shushed him soothingly. It all made sense now. He’s always hysterical because his worst nightmares look like they’re coming true. Neville’s nightmares consisted of her ending up insane like his parents. 

“Dan-cing bears, pain-ted wings. Things I al-most re-mem-ber,” she began singing, her voice sounding ethereal and exquisite. Neville calmed almost immediately, laying his head on her chest as she continued.

“And a song, some-one sings. Once upon a De-cem-ber.” She continued to sing until his breathing evened out. With one last kiss to her boyfriend’s head, she got comfortable again and fell asleep not long after.

1998

Neville was paired with Oliver to walk around the grounds of Hogwarts and search for survivors, or casualties. It was horrifying to look around the place the two of them used to call home. There was rubble all around, but even worse, there were bodies everywhere. People that they went to school with, people that they were friends with now laid lifeless. 

They hadn’t seen any bodies in over an hour of their search by this point. They were getting ready to go back to the castle and report that there were none left, but Oliver suddenly stopped. Neville looked at him curiously, but he just held up a finger.

“Do you hear singing?” He asked, perplexed. Neville was obviously confused about the question, but Oliver shushed him, urging him to listen to their surroundings. The boy shut his mouth and strained his ears. There was singing, a song Neville was all too familiar with.

“Fig-ures dan-cing grace-fully, across my mem-ory. Far a-way, long a-go. Blow-ing dim as an ember,” he recognized the voice as Charlotte’s immediately. His eyes widened and he immediately began walking towards the source, not waiting for Oliver. The boy watched him for a moment before jogging to catch up. They made it over a large piece of rubble and spotted her within seconds.

“Things my heart used to know, once u-pon a De-cem-ber,” Charlotte finished.

She was sitting against the castle with her legs splayed out, Colin cradled in her arms. She was rocking him back and forth. It was a horrifying discovery when they realized that Colin wasn’t breathing. He was deathly pale and there was blood dripping out of a wound from his head, which now covered his sister’s hands. Carefully, they walked over to her, trying to be as gentle as possible. Charlotte didn’t need to look up to know that they were there.

“I can’t feel his heartbeat Neville,” she said, looking up to her boyfriend. “Why can’t I feel it?” She asked, voice cracking right in the middle of it. Neville’s heart shattered at her words. He and Neville gave each other a knowing look as her gaze went back to her little brother. Her grip was tight on him, and they knew this wouldn’t be easy to do.

“Char,” he started, crouching by her right side and resting a hand on her shoulder. “He’s dead, Charlotte. Colin’s gone.” Charlotte shook her head furiously.

“No. No, he’s not dead. I told mom I would protect him, he can’t be dead!” She started calmly, but she was practically yelling by the end. Neville was quick to grab her hands in order to calm her down. Oliver used her occupied hands as an advantage to pick up Colin’s body. That only made her hysterical. 

“Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK! HE’S NOT DEAD GIVE ME BACK MY BROTHER!” She screamed. Neville teared up at the sight, but he still gave Oliver the okay to take Colin back to the castle. 

“I’m sorry Charlotte,” Oliver muttered, then turned and began walking away with her brother’s body laying bridal style in his arms. Charlotte got up and attempted to run after him, still screaming. She would have reached him if it wasn’t for her boyfriend holding her back. She was struggling against him desperately, but Neville didn’t back down like he usually did. 

Colin’s head was tilted back past Oliver’s arms, so Charlotte could still see his face. As soon as she saw that, she fell back into Neville’s arms. The realization hit her like a freight train, Colin was really gone. Neville had to drop to his knees so they didn’t fall over. Charlotte didn’t care, she just continued to sob. Her brother was dead, and there was nothing she could do. 

1998 cont.

Charlotte hadn’t talked much since that day. She wasn’t in the mood to interact with many people. The only people she really talked to were Neville, Dennis (her youngest brother), and Professor McGonagall since she had been the girl’s role model since first year. She was too ashamed to talk to her parents, having felt like she broke her promise and failed them. No matter how much the three of them tried to tell her that her parents don’t blame her, she refused to listen. Even if she believed them, she still didn’t have the heart to face them.

She essentially became a hermit, only leaving when she and Neville needed groceries or during the school year when Neville became a professor. She moved in with him after getting permission from Professor McGonagall. Students could see her walking around the hallways almost like a zombie, and they began noticing she made a point to avoid the entrance courtyard. 

As time went on she began looking more tired and much thinner, not feeling tired nor hungry anymore. Neville was growing more worried everyday, but he had no idea what to do. It ended with him going to McGonagall. From there, the new headmaster helped him find something to help her cope.

“Can I show you something?” He asked her one night. She had been sitting on their bed staring out of the window, but faced him when he spoke.

“Uh, sure. What is it?” She asked, moving to sit criss cross so there was room for him to sit down. He did so, and something out of his pocket. It was a necklace that had a green flower with a red and white center. The “petals” were green jewels and the middle was made up of red and white diamonds. 

“It’s beautiful, Neville,” she breathed out, absolutely taken by its beauty. Neville smiled at her then dug through their nightstand. 

“It goes with this,” he explained, pulling out what looked like a music box. She watched in curiosity as the pendant was used as a key to wind it up. Once he stopped, the lid of the music box was opened and five figures appeared. Upon looking closer, Charlotte realized that it was her family: her mom, dad, Dennis, her and….Colin. 

They all began dancing as a familiar song began playing. It was “Once Upon a December,” her lullaby. Charlotte teared up as she watched the figure of her begin dancing with Colin’s. She hadn’t even noticed that she had begun singing until Neville began singing with her. As the song came to a close, the figures came together in a group hug before shrinking down as the lid closed once more. 

Neville watched her carefully, waiting for her reaction. Charlotte’s eyes met his, and he only had a second to realize she was crying before she threw herself at him. His arms went around her and he rubbed her back soothingly. They stayed in that position for quite a while, their usual roles reversed from Charlotte comforting Neville to Neville comforting Charlotte. Once she was all cried out, she was tired. The lack of sleep was catching up to her rapidly. Neville began to speak, but stopped when she yawned.

“Get some sleep, Bug. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he suggested in a whisper. She didn’t have the energy to argue, so she just nodded and crawled up to the head of the bed. Neville tucked her in and kissed her cheek, watching her pass out only moments later. 

They still had a lot to discuss when she woke up, but this was a great start. He had faith that Charlotte would get better with the help of those around her, but that will come later. As of right now, they had a lot to celebrate as she took her first step to healing.

[nazitty56]

A Lil Prompt

So I wrote this after work and before bed. I might make a second part to this or even rewrite it as I get critiques later on. 

I got this prompt from an online romance prompt list. Constructive Criticism accepted! Also pretty sure that I didn’t exactly follow the prompt correctly, but I did try to interpret it. 

Their story begins on a bright summer morning when they both awake in bed together with no memory of who they are or where they came from.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warning: BxB (Boy x Boy)

Juan was pretty sure he was having a nightmare. He must be because there was no way this was happening to him. Just a few hours ago, he was at a college party, no alcohol or drugs involved as far as he knew.

And yet, there was a stranger in his bed! Er, well the bed that he found himself in. He didn’t remember falling asleep in a room like this the night before.

The room was small, smaller than he remembered -- his friend Grace had a much bigger dorm than this and he remembered going to sleep cuddling her as usual.

The biggest problem in Juan’s mind, though, was the fact that he didn’t remember ever seeing the guy next to him at the party -- hell, he’s pretty sure he’s never even seen him at his college before!

As Juan pondered over his dilemma, the stranger woke up.

The first thing he noticed was his blue eyes. They stared at each other for a few odd moments, and Juan let the stranger have a few moments to process what was going on.

“What the hell are you doing in my room? Who the hell even are you?”

At least he isn’t screaming and trying to force me out.

“I’ll start with the easiest question. I’m Juan Rodrigo. I… remember falling asleep in a completely different dorm room last night, so I don’t know why I’m here.”

The stranger hummed softly, processing the information. Juan let him be, content to just lay in silence until something new popped up.

Normally he would’ve left almost as soon as he woke up, but there was something about this small, personal room that was calming to him. It made him want to relax and never leave… though he knew that he probably would have to at some point.

“Do you sleepwalk?”

Juan blinked, “I don’t think so? No one has ever said I had before.”

The stranger hummed again, “Drugs, alcohol?”

“Not that I remember. It is possible that the punch was spiked by an asshole since the party was quite a large one.”

He nodded, “Have any headaches? Nausea?”

“Neither. Just woke up feeling refreshed possibly thirty minutes ago and was too busy processing everything to notice any symptoms.”

He nodded again, “Do you even know where you are?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well, my name’s Fred Droger. We’re at Northwest Community College for Fine Arts.”

“At least we’re at the same college.”

“Oh? What are you majoring in?”

“Theater -- performing arts, I guess. You?”

“Music and screenwriting.”

“Cool, no wonder I’ve never seen you before. Though, isn’t there talk about a project the screenwriting class has to do? Something about making a play for the theater class to perform?”

“Yeah, something like that. We’ve actually started doing that, about two weeks in. Professor thinks that we’ll have to take up to another four weeks until we enter the critique stage, which is when we’ll have to pick a theater kid to give our work to.”

Juan blinked, that was the most Fred had said since they had met, though he couldn’t blame the poor guy. He had just woken up to find a stranger in his bed, who didn’t even remember how they got in his bed in the first place!

“May I ask about the theme of your project so far or is it a secret?”

“It isn’t a secret. We’re allowed to ask you theater kids for help during the development stage. Mine is going by a little slowly, though. I’m stuck for some reason.”

“Can I take a look? I might not be the best at critiquing written work, but I know the basics, at least.”

Fred thought the offer over for a few minutes.

“Sure,” he conceded. “I’ll go grab it for you.”

“You handwrite it?”

“It’s sometimes easier for me to do a basic plot by writing it, then I type it up for editing,” Fred explained as he slowly sat up, stretching tired muscles.

[landoncrris]

pls can you write a smut about y/n before he goes for national duty like the day before and they have like the best sex everywhere in the house because they’re not gonna see each other for like 2 weeks

i couldn’t help but add the fluff at the beginning i’m sorry,,, also it’s literally the longest thing i’ve ever written, even though i’ve tried to keep it short so i hope you enjoy xx

all day - mason mount x reader

REQUESTS ARE OPEN // MASTERLIST

warnings: english is not my first language, 18+ minors dni. unprotected sex, teasing, dirty talk, dom!mason, sub!reader, oral (f&m receiving), fingering, praise kink, degrading kink, daddy kink, slapping, hair pulling, choking, scratching, hickeys,,,

word count: 5.1k

It was an early Monday morning when your alarm rang, pulling both you and Mason out of your sleep. As you fumbled for your phone on the side table to turn it off, you heard Mason grumbling behind you, his arm wrapping around your waist, trying to pull you closer again. When you finally managed to turn it off and the annoying noise stopped, you turned around, kissed him on the forehead and mumbled a soft “sorry” because you had forgotten to turn it off for the day.

Luckily, you had the day off, as did Mason, so you planned to spend the whole day together — and sleep in, which didn’t work out so well as you had to pee when the alarm woke you up. You’ve already heard him grumble a sleepy “no” when you tried to get out of bed, but eventually he was too tired to protest properly. Before you went into the bathroom, you put on one of Mason’s shirts so you wouldn’t have to walk around in just your panties, as the night air made it quite cold.

“Where have you been?” Mason mumbled into the pillow, still half asleep, and it was so quiet you almost missed it when you got back into bed. “Toilet,” you whispered back as you wrapped yourself back up in the duvet, feeling Mason’s arm around you and pulling you flush to his chest, eliciting a breathy laugh from you.

“Hm, just don’t leave again.” He tried to open his eyes, but they still felt too heavy, especially when your hand moved to the back of his neck, fingers running through the short strands of hair there. “Sure, next time I’ll just pee in our bed.” the growing smile on his face made you feel giddy, especially combined with his messy hair falling down his forehead. And you really tried to fall back asleep, nestling your head against his chest and putting your leg over his hip to be as close to him as possible, but the urge to place kisses on his face and watch him sleep was far too strong.

So that’s what you did, your hand brushing the hair out of his forehead as you kissed your way all over his face, starting with each of his moles, to which he hummed in his sleep, a small smile appearing on his face that made your heart feel like bursting. You loved moments like that, when you could wake up next to him without having to go anywhere and have all the time in the world. Even though you had to wake up all alone for the next two weeks without even a little morning kiss as he left for international duty, leaving you alone in the bed you shared. Which made you want to savour that moment even more.

Your hand wandered down his shoulders, feeling the strong muscles under your fingertips as you watched him for a moment. Mason never looked better, in your opinion, than when he’s asleep or just woken up, cheeks slightly flushed and lips parted as soft snores left them and his hair messy. You bend down to kiss him again, this time starting with the freckles adorning his nose, already feeling his eyelashes begin to flutter on your cheek and his hand tighten on your waist, a sign that he was slowly waking up. As you kissed the single freckle on his eyelid, he hummed softly before you took his face in your hand and kissed the freckle on his lower lip, a wide smile flitting across his face, enjoying the attention you were giving them.

“Morning, Mase.” you whispered, kissing the bridge of his nose once more before your head fell back onto the pillow and you watched as he slowly tried to open his eyes. “Good morning, baby.” he murmured, his voice still hoarse from sleep as he sent you a wide smile as soon as he opened his eyes properly, his heart instantly filling with love when he saw you. That made you lean in to him again and place kisses on his dimples, making his smile widen even more until he let out a breathy laugh, hand moving under your shirt to caress your bare skin.

“How did you sleep?” you asked him, running your hand back to his hair, your nails scraping across the skin, “I’m going to fall asleep again if you keep this up.” Mason grumbled, making your hand wander to his jaw instead, feeling the stubble of his beard against your hand.

“I always sleep well when I’m lying next to you, baby.” he said and his eyes fell shut at your gentle touch, but he quickly opened them again because he wanted to see your face too, “And you?”

“I always sleep well when I’m lying next to you too, Mase,” you repeated, causing him to snort a little, “Well that’s not true. You always have nightmares, Y/N.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything,” you groaned, “I still sleep well because when I have them, you’re there to comfort me and lull me back to sleep.” you replied with a pout and a kiss on his jaw, to which he tried to suppress his smile.

“Cute.” was all he said, burying his face in your neck and kissing wherever he could reach, the feel of his beard making you giggle. Mason pulled away again and for the first time that morning pressed a quick kiss to your lips that you wished had lasted longer, “What do you want to do today, my love?” asked Mason as he propped his head on his elbow and with his other hand caressed your cheek, brushing the hair out of your face.

His question made you think a little, of course you preferred to lie in bed all day, but you went through in your mind all the activities that were available in your area, as well as all the possibilities that your house offered, “I want to play pool.” you gasped as the idea crossed your mind, feeling the sudden energy to jump up out of bed, which stunned Mason a little.

“What, now?” you hummed in reply, trying to pull him up by the hands, even though you knew he’s stronger than you anyway, but that didn’t stop you from trying. “Why? It’s 8am.” he groaned, pulling you back down as he turned onto his back and pulled you onto his bare chest.

“Because it’s our last day together.” you pouted, trying to break free again, but the arms around your waist were too strong, causing him to smirk at your failed attempt. “You say that like I’ll be gone forever.”

“Two weeks for sure will feel like forever.”

“Shouldn’t we stay in bed and do something else then?” he tried to coax you, pressing kisses to your neck as his hand wandered to your bum and grabbed the flesh, causing you to give a breathy laugh and try to hide how much you wanted to do that.

“We have all day and all night for that, Mase,” you mumbled, pulling his face away and pressing an affectionate kiss to his lips that didn’t last long as you took the opportunity to free yourself from his grip and pull him up too. “Now come on,” you pleaded, and he finally relented and followed you out of bed. You handed him some grey shorts and a pair of socks to put on as he was only dressed in boxers, which made him smile as you obviously wanted him to stay shirtless.

You had already made your way to the room where his billiard table was, although you had never used it before, even though you had been living here for over a year. You had already prepared everything for playing when he also entered the room. The first sight he saw was you bending slightly over the table, displaying half your butt, which made him groan. “If you’re doing that, I’m definitely too distracted to play, baby.”

“Would you be less horny if I had pants on?” you asked as you turned around and handed him the cue, but no sooner has he taken it from you than he put it back on the table and grabbed your waist instead, pulling you closer, “Probably not.”

“See.” to which he hummed in response, pushing you back until you your lower back hit the table, “Mason-“ he silenced you with a fierce kiss, quickly pulling you up by your thighs and setting you down on the table. And you let it happen for a moment, kissing him back with the same intensity, thinking it would tease him more if you made him even hornier before rejecting him. You bit his lower lip before pulling back, eliciting a moan from him that made it even harder to resist.

“After one game, Mason, I promise,” he just grumbled and you wanted to hop off the table again, but his hands held you back, making you unable to move. You were about to protest again when he interrupted, “And what happens if I win?”

“You can do whatever you want to me.”

“And if you win?” his breath brushed across your lips, so close he was to you and it made you dizzy, especially along with the hand that moved back under your shirt and circled your waist with his thumb, “Then.... you can do whatever you want to me.”

“I like that deal.” he hummed and tried to connect your lips again, but you pulled back before he could and this time successfully jumped off the table, “But only if one of us wins. That means we have to finish the game.” you explained with a quick kiss on his lips that was not enough for his liking. But you motivated him to play the game anyway, trying to ignore the obvious tent in his shorts. Though your teasing didn’t help, as you angled yourself just right to press your butt against his bulge every time it was your turn to play. Either that or you gave him the perfect view of your whole butt, which was only slightly obscured by the lacy thong he loved so much.

But when you did it for what felt like the thousandth time, he couldn’t hold back anymore and grabbed you by the waist to pull your ass even further against him, causing you both to sigh at the feeling. This also caused you to miss your shot as your hand slipped and you turned to glare at him, “Try again baby, my bad.”

“That’s not how the game works.”

“Try again, Y/N,” he groaned in your ear as he leaned over you and began to lavish your shoulders and back with kisses on the fabric of your shirt, “do I have to say it again?”

“No.” you shook your head, feeling his mouth come closer to your ear again, “Play the game. But when it’s my turn, I’ll stop.” he returned to his kisses, all the way down your spine until he got down on his knees to kiss your arse and the back of your thighs too, making you whimper. But you did as he said anyway, because you knew better than to misbehave, motivated to land every ball, as you didn’t want him to stop, even if your current position made it harder to play.

“God, I’m going to miss this,” he said as he pulled you further back so that you had to bend down even more to give him better access. You felt him push your underwear aside before he spread your ass cheeks with his hands to allow better access to your already dripping core again. “Hearing your desperate sounds for me.” the sound of a ball dropping into one of the holes made him grin against your thigh, a finger finding your entrance, spreading your wetness further up and you bucked into it as he touched your clit.

“Mason—” you moaned out as he suddenly inserted two fingers inside you, murmuring a soft, “That’s right.” before you felt him turn around, keeping his fingers inside you as he did so, making you whimper at the small movement. As you felt his tongue lick a line up from your entrance to your clit, you realised that his head was now trapped between your hips and the table, causing you to fight the urge to look down, instead you had to keep playing the game. Fortunately, the next ball went in too, just before you felt him sucking precisely on your clit, causing the cue to fall out of your hand, whereupon his movements stopped.

“Mase, please,”

“Nope. Stop wasting time and play the fucking game, Y/N.” and he didn’t continue until he heard another ball go into a hole, his fingers starting to thrust into you again at a gruelling pace while his tongue kitten-licked your clit, both eliciting a series of moans and whimpers from you.

“I can’t reach the ball properly from here, Mase.” you whined, feeling him smirk against you, and when he broke away from your clit to speak, he bumped against it with the bridge of his nose, causing you to whimper pathetically. “That’s not my problem now, is it?” his mouth tormented you again, his finger curling in just the right place after each thrust and you were embarrassed at how quickly he could bring you to the brink.

“Shit.” you whined after somehow trying to hit the ball, but from the awkward angle you had to hit it, it didn’t go in. The warmth of his mouth and fingers left you and you felt empty as he got up and turned back to the game as if nothing had happened, while you were already feeling fucked out. After that, you could no longer concentrate on the game at all, having to support yourself with your hands on the table and try to control your breathing as best you could, while thoughts circled in your head of what he could do to you.

“I won.” he said cockily after what felt like an eternity, your mind coming back to reality as he approached you, and he could have cheated or lied all he wanted at that moment, you wouldn’t have even realized.

“Look at you, baby,” he whispered with a laugh as he cupped your face with one hand and very slowly stroked your bare arm with the other, causing goosebumps to form on your skin. “You’re so pretty when you’re flustered.”

“Please,” you whined when he just kissed you teasingly on the cheek, and it was crazy how quickly he got the upper hand on a situation, leaving you to be the one begging. He just raised his eyebrows and tried to coax more out of you, “I need you Mason.” your words made him hum happily, putting his hand under your chin to tilt your head back and pressing a kiss to your lips, on which you could still taste yourself, making you whimper.

“Be a good girl and wait for me in the bedroom, will you?” and you immediately nodded and kissed his jaw before walking out the door and into the bedroom as he said. There you waited for him as he slowly collected the balls again, taking his time to tease you even more as you did to him earlier. And when he came into the bedroom a few minutes later, you had already taken off your shirt and laid ass up face down on the bed, hoping he would stop the foreplay and just fuck you.

“Such a needy little slut for me, huh?” he chuckled, dropping his shorts to the floor, making you wiggle your ass. And your breath caught when you felt the bed dip as he knelt behind you and his mouth came so close to your ear that you wanted to beg him even more.

“And I didn’t even have to ask for it.” he breathed, wandering the same path as before down your spine, spreading kisses his way. As his hands roamed over your body, touching every place but the one where you needed him most, and it made you impatient. Mason always teased you, but in the bedroom it only got more so, ending with you always begging him to just fuck you because he was taking so long you could already feel an orgasm approaching.

“Mason,” you whined, lifting your head from the pillows beneath you and looking at him where he was currently kissing the side of your breast. His thumb and forefinger twirled your nipple and you gasped. Your hips thrusted against his, causing him to moan, and the vibrations of his mouth on your skin sent shivers down your spine.

“I wanna savour this baby, I won’t be able to have you like this for the next two weeks."

“You’ve got all day Mason, now just fuck me.” you said more seriously and thought you had won when Mason nodded and knelt behind you again. But instead of taking off his boxers, he gave you a hard slap on your ass, the stinging pain making you groan and drop your head forward. But Mason immediately pulled it back up by your hair, “You think you can act like a little fucking brat and still get what you want?”

“Sorry.” you croaked out, biting your lip to stop yourself from pushing your hips back again as he sucked harshly just below your ear. “Try again, baby.” he gave you the chance, suddenly letting go of your hair so that it fell down as your arms couldn’t quite hold yourself up. Instead, you felt him fumbling with his hands, pulling his boxers off, and the feel of his hard cock against your ass brought you back to reality.

“Please daddy, i need you to fuck me.” you whimpered while you gathered all your strength to turn your head and beg him with your eyes. That was all the motivation he needed to thrust into you, but unfortunately for you, only the tip, coupled with another slap on your ass, “Say it again.”

“Please, daddy,” right after the words left your mouth he filled you to the brim, both gasping at the overwhelming sensation. It took Mason a moment before he began to move, trying to adjust to the way you were squeezing him so tightly it made him feel dizzy.

“Fuck Y/N, good girl.” he moaned with an ecstatic, breathy laugh that made your eyes roll back as he started thrusting into you, slowly, but always so perfectly with each thrust that you jolted forward a little each time. You let out a whimper between your moans as he leaned forward a bit, making him thrust in even deeper as his fingers moved to your nipples and twirled them between them.

“You’re such a needy whore for me, baby, aren’t you? Begging me to fuck you,” he smirked, thrusting particularly hard that made you push your hips back, at which you felt his head fall forward against your shoulder. “God, don’t stop doing that.” he punctuated his words with another slap on your arse, encouraging you to push your hips back with each of his thrusts. And at the pace he was going now, you were seeing stars, could only feel him inside you while moaning his name over and over again. It took all his strength to pull out of you as you began to clench around him, making you whine loudly and turn around to look at him.

“Mason, wh-”

“I want to see you when I make you cum.” he murmured, breathing heavily, and when you didn’t move, he did so himself, grabbing you by the waist and turning you over so that you were lying on your back. Mason immediately wrapped his fingers around your throat and kissed you feverishly as he grabbed one of your legs and placed it over his shoulder. With a firm grip around your throat, he thrusted into you again, wasting not a second in continuing at the same gruelling pace he had a few seconds ago, only now he was thrusting even deeper.

“My. fucking. little. slut.” he muttered smugly between kisses, and the words made you whimper, your nails digging into his shoulders. At which he pulled his lips away from you, keeping eye contact with you instead, and the sight made you clench around him repeatedly, his mouth agape as he moaned your name, which grew louder with each thrust, and you desperately wanted to moan out loud too, but his hand stopped you from doing so.

“Mason, ‘m so close,”

“I’m not stopping you baby, cum around my cock whenever you want.” he said through clenched teeth as he threw his head back and was about to reach his own climax. And when he angled his hips a little differently so that his pubic bone grazed your clit with each thrust, you were done for.

“Fuck— mase, fuck,” you moaned as the coil in your stomach snapped, your head rolling back so that your forehead touched the headboard and your back arching off the bed. You cried out as you came, his grip on your throat slackened and you moaned his name repeatedly. While he was intent on fucking you through your orgasm first, holding back his own as long as he could.

“Holy shit, Y/N,” he moaned the moment you felt his cum shoot into you, whimpering as you felt the warmth of it run down your walls. His forehead sank against yours in the meantime, and he didn’t lift it again for another minute as he came down from his high. Your eyes were still closed, mind foggy from your orgasm, when you felt him kiss your cheek and murmur a “I’ll make you breakfast, love.” to which you nodded, although you didn’t really catch what he was saying.

When you did a few minutes later, a pout settled on your face because you still felt a need for him inside you. So you quickly put your underwear in the right place without bothering to clean up, figuring you’d make another mess in a few minutes anyway. When you got to the kitchen, you already saw Mason standing there in just his boxers, getting some stuff out of the fridge to make you breakfast, the muscles in his arms tightening as he did, which made you smile to yourself.

“Why did you just leave?” you pouted as you wrapped your arms around his waist from behind, startling him a little as he didn’t hear you approaching. “You haven’t eaten yet, you know, to gain strength for round two,” he explained, turning in your arms so that you rested your chin against his chest as he spoke, smiling at his words.

“And third,” he smirked as he pressed a kiss to your lips that made you hum, “and fourth.” he kissed you again as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and stood on your tiptoes to give him a better opportunity to wrap his arms around you as well.

“I don’t need food, I just need you, Masey.”

“You need to eat something, baby.”

“You said yourself that we have to savour it until you’re gone,”you tried to convince him with pleading eyes and your fingers sliding through his hair, but his self-control was always better than yours. “And you said yourself that we have all day.”

“Please,” you leaned in to kiss him again before your lips kissed an invisible line from his jaw down to the waistband of his boxers, leaving marks as your hands moved down with you. “Let me convince you.” you smiled as you sat on your knees, fingers tucked into his boxers, as soon as he nodded and swallowed a lump.

“And remember it good,” you kissed his thigh once, then the outline of his tip, his head falling back against the fridge with a whimper as his hand moved to the back of your head. “I want you to remember what my mouth feels like when you touch yourself, Masey.”

“Fuck,” he breathed as you palmed him over the fabric of his boxers, his head straightening up again and looking down at you. You then sent him a smile and started to take off his boxers, his cock already half hard again as you took it out with your hand and began to jerk him off. You let some spit drip from your lip onto his tip and spread it with your hand, while you didn’t break eye contact with him, which drove his mind crazy, because seeing you on your knees in front of him always had a special effect on him.

“This doesn’t look like a lot of convincing, Y/N.” he groaned as you just teased him, jerking him off with your hand but without touching his tip, just running your thumb along the side of it and occasionally kissing the vein that adorned his cock.

“Don’t pretend like you’re not convinced yet.” you mumbled, at which Mason looked at you with a raised eyebrow and tugged on your hair. But you obeyed his wish and stopped teasing him as you took his tip into your mouth and sucked gently on it, causing him to moan him while you could still taste the remnants of yourself on it. As your mouth left him again, you spread the spit back down and applied pressure on his slit with your thumb before taking him further into your mouth, taking him by surprise.

“God, Y/N,” he whimpered when he hit the back of your throat for the first time, causing you to hum around him, the vibrations making him moan in return. Looking up at him, you saw him watching you with dark eyes and open mouth as his stomach tightened each time you hollowed your cheeks and sucked, which only encouraged you more.

“Sucking daddy’s cock so good, aren’t you baby?” you took him all the way in at this, making him whimper repeatedly above you, a sound that immediately made it’s way to your core. Showing you that he was letting you do it at your own pace, he removed his hand from the back of your head, which instead moved to your jaw and stroked your cheek with his thumb. You then tilted your head to one side, causing the tip of his dick to brush against your cheek and he felt himself against his thumb.

“Oh my god.” his head fell back against the fridge, his eyes closed in pleasure. While you sucked on his tip a few more times, feeling him twitch inside you until you took him out of your mouth, causing him to look at you with a frown, though he almost came on the spot when he saw you wipe your chin with the back of your hand.

“Please, daddy, can I ride you?” you asked with pleading eyes, feeling his dick twitch in your hand, causing you to smirk slightly. “Get up.” and before you knew it he was pulling you up by your arse, making you gasp, and carrying you to the couch. As he sat down with you on top of him, you immediately placed your lips on his in a messy kiss, making him moan as he tasted you both on your tongue. A smirk spread across his lips as he ripped your thong apart to quickly get it out of the way. Though you wanted to tease him a little more by running his dick between your folds, grinding down onto him, earning you a slap on your ass, adding to the collection of his already visible handprints on it.

“Stop being a brat Y/N.” Mason told you, feeling his jaw tighten under your hands, which finally made you lift your hips and guide his length to your entrance before you lowered yourself onto him, throwing your head back with a moan as you felt every inch of him inside you, pulsing and twitching inside you.

“You feel so good, Mase,” you cried out as you began to move, finding the perfect pace to bounce on him. Whimpers and moans left your lips with each thrust as his tip repeatedly hit your G-spot, bringing tears to your eyes. Your orgasm was fast approaching, as you were still sensitive from your last one, while you felt his hands gripping your hips tightly, helping you not to slow down the pace. While all you could hear was your paired moans in the room, along with the wet sounds coming from your pussy, messing with his mind even more.

Mason started thrusting into you too, filling you deeper and with harder thrusts, causing you to cry out loud and fall with your forehead against his shoulder as your nails slowly scraped across his chest at the feeling. “Fuck,” he hissed at the sensation, hearing you moan into his ear over and over, “I know, baby. I know.”

“Fuck, gonna cum and fill this pretty tight pussy with my cum.” he murmured, beginning to feel you clench around him as he had to help you more with each passing second as your legs grew weak beneath you. “Please.” you whined in response, unable to form a complete sentence as white noise began to fill your mind from being so close.

“You close baby?” though he already knew the answer, for your nails were digging deeper into his skin now, leaving scratch marks in their path as you whimpered in his ear in response, trying to wait for him to say the words. “Go on then, angel, cum for me.” he whimpered, and the moment he felt you release around him, he bucked up his hips and spilled his load inside you as he could hold back no longer, both of you moaning loudly at the intense climax as you came together.

“You’re going to kill me one day.” he panted after a few moments, which elicited a breathy laugh from you, and you lifted your hips to let him slide out of you before straightening up again. You looked down at his chest, which was rising with each breath, and you also saw the distinct scratch marks on it, making you bent down to kiss your way over them, murmuring a small “sorry” in between.

“Don’t be. It’s hot.” he admitted, smirking down at you, “Yeah?”

“Mhm, but now it’s my turn to mark you up.”

[blu-joons]

Lazy Baby Days ~ Ok Taecyeon

A sigh came from you as soon as you collapsed down on the sofa, you had only just woken up, but you were already exhausted. The days seemed to roll into one as you enjoyed the first week of having your daughter with you, you were tired, stressed, but it was all worth it as you looked at the little one laying on the mat in the middle of the room.

It didn’t take long before you both were joined in the room as Taecyeon walked through from the kitchen with a smile on his face. He was a little surprised to see you, with no plans for once for the day, he was expecting you to stay in bed for as long as possible.

Your baby brain kicked in though as soon as you stirred, getting you up and leaving you wondering around the house to find where the two of them were. You already had plenty of instincts, despite how much you wanted to just stay in bed, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it, knowing that you’d be needed elsewhere.

“We finally have a day of nothing,” Taecyeon cheered as he flopped down beside you, “no one coming round to visit, disturbing us, it’s just the three of us for a change,” he smiled, placing his hand down to rest against the top of your leg.

“I can’t wait for some peace and quiet,” you hummed, “it’s been nice having visitors, but it’s so chaotic hosting so many people.”

His head nodded in agreement with you, having played host to your families, friends, and the boys too, it was nice to take a day for yourselves again.

Your head leant down to rest against Taecyeon’s shoulder, “can we just not move from this spot?”

“Honestly, that sounds like a good idea to me,” he replied as he wrapped his arm around your waist, “I know I’ve been with you all week, but I’ve missed having to share you so much.”

It didn’t take long before your attention was drawn to the little girl laying on the mat as a quiet squeak came from her. “It looks like someone else missed being with you too,” you joked, pointing Taecyeon in the direction of your daughter.

“We can cuddle her all day, and not have to give her to anyone else.”

“I quite like not having to share her for the day.”

A hum of acknowledgment came from Taecyeon, “we can just do as little as possible, it’s about time we gave ourselves some time to let it sink in that we’re parents.”

“It still feels like a bit of a dream, doesn’t it?” You asked as he nodded, “we’ve been on the go all week arranging visits and trips out to see different people, we’ve not stopped.”

“Today we can stop, it’s important that the two of us get the chance to breathe again too.”

You couldn’t remember the last time your house was as quiet as it was right then, people had been in and out all week ever since you got home. You loved seeing so many people excited to meet your daughter, and you loved introducing her too, but the crowds of people and the conversations had taken their toll on you.

Taecyeon was worried about you too, wanting to make sure that you had enough time to recover. Despite you reassuring him, he could tell several times as you met everyone through the week that there were moments when you were suffering.

“I feel like I’m on such a high right now,” you suddenly told him as the two of you fell silent, “I know that I should want to sleep right now, but instead I just want to keep looking at Y/D/N and admiring her. I just keep asking myself how the two of us managed to make a baby that’s so flipping adorable and cute.”

“I ask myself the same thing too,” Taecyeon assured you, “but then I look at you and remember why my daughter has such good genes, she takes after you, of course.”

Your eyes rolled as a kiss was pressed to the top of your head, followed by a chuckle from Taecyeon. He couldn’t help but find the right things to say around you, having taken the best care of you ever since the three of you left the hospital and came home.

“Do you need anything?” He asked as his eyes turned down to look at you, “are you comfortable enough sitting here? I can go and get you a cushion or something if you want one.”

“I’m alright,” you smiled in reply to him, “laying against you is much more comfortable than laying on a cushion, as long as you’re alright here too.”

“Of course, I’m with my two favourite girls.”

“I think one of your favourite girls might need feeding soon,” you told him.

Taecyeon nodded as he smiled down at your daughter, admiring the innocence in her eyes as she stared around the room. “I wonder if she’s had any clue about what’s gone on this week, whether she recognised anyone’s faces or voices.”

“She seemed pretty excited when she met your mum,” you reminded him with a laugh, “but she did speak to my bump constantly when I was pregnant.”

“She kept saying the baby would know her voice, I reckon she was right too.”

The excitement of everyone around you was what made your pregnancy so special for the both of you. Although you were in your own bubble of excitement, you shared that bubble with so many other people too who couldn’t wait to see the two of you become parents.

“Do you want me to help if you’re going to feed her?” Taecyeon asked you, noticing you beginning to get things sorted, “is there really anything that I can do?”

Your head nodded in response, “you can keep the two of us company?” You offered, struggling to know what else Taecyeon could do to help you out whilst you fed.

“I’ll change her after too, I’ll save you the trouble of going near her nappy.”

You nodded once again at his offer, more than happy to leave the changing down to Taecyeon. It was the one thing that you were still struggling with, not sure quite how your daughter managed to make such a mess when she had such an innocent smile on her face.

You loved to joke how she took after Taecyeon, a joke that his mother very quickly agreed with too when you told her about it. She couldn’t help but embarrass Taecyeon in front of everyone else who was visiting your daughter on that day.

“Come on, you,” he grinned, unwrapping his arm from around you and moving down onto the floor to lift your daughter up off of her mat.

Your eyes watched Taecyeon straight away, letting go of a laugh as he lifted her high up into the air before bringing her back down to press against her tummy. Her little squirms as Taecyeon did so were like music to his ears, a sound that he knew that he was never going to get used to, no matter how often she laughed.

He could feel your eyes watching as he spun around to face you, handing your daughter across to you gently so that you could feed her before carrying on with the rest of your day.

“I can’t wait to do nothing with you two today,” Taecyeon told you as he passed her.

“Our very first lazy baby day.”

---

Masterlist

[free-pool-trash]

x of swords - george weasley

part one of three

Summary: Growing up as Harry’s neighbor, you always believed that you were completely regular. In an attempt to feel closer to Harry (your best friend) you begin to dabble in the art of divination and, in the process, you uncover magic that you didn’t know you had. (i hate doing summaries this does not sum it up but you get the jist)

Relationships: George Weasley x Reader, platonic!Harry Potter x Reader, platonic!OC x Reader, platonic!Sirius Black x Reader, platonic!Remus Lupin x Reader, platonic!Fred Weasley x Reader, platonic!Nymphadora Tonks x Reader, platonic!Molly Weasley x Reader, platonic!Hermoine Granger x Reader, Sirius Black x Remus Lupin

Warnings: Swearing, anxiety, fluff, angst, mentions of torture, mentions of death (let me know if I missed anything!)

Word count: 22.9k 

so here it is 😏 i was going to wait until i was completely finished with this to post it but i didn’t wanna rush it and oh my god it’s already so long  😫 I’m moving to Edinburgh in 2 weeks so i won’t be able to write as i have so much to pack so i hope this keeps some of you happy for a while <3 obviously i put a lot of effort into this and spent a lot of time on it so i really hope yall like it and i will personally kiss everyone who comments. likes or reblogs <3

mastelist

Life on Privet Drive was definitely something- something being incredibly boring. Nothing even remotely exciting happened on the street and the company was, to put it simply, miserable.

You’d lived in 5 Privet Drive since birth which, unfortunately for you, meant that your family are extremely close with the Dursleys who live next door. The Dursleys are a family of bigoted, pig-headed bullies. Made up of Petunia, Vernon, Dudley and, in your opinion the only tolerable one, Harry.

From the age of five, Harry had been your only friend on the street and vice versa. Initially, the both of you had bonded over your dislike of Dudley but as the years rolled on Harry and yourself had become virtually inseparable.

It was certainly strange- how close your parents were with Petunia and Vernon. Your mother and father are actually quite lovely, they are the complete opposite of the Dursleys, they’re open minded, kind and extremely friendly. But, you supposed, their friendliness didn’t discriminate from person to person, even if said person forced their orphaned nephew to sleep in the cupboard underneath the stairs.

There was no denying that Harry had been miserable with the Dursleys, who were unfortunately his only remaining family and you supposed you should’ve been happy when your best friend finally got away from them after his 11th birthday.

You’d missed him for the entire school year and you only got a chance to ask where he’d actually gone off to when he’d arrived home for the summer. (You didn’t believe the story Vernon had spun about Harry attending a boarding school for juvenile trouble makers).

“It’s incredible, (Y/n), honestly! I wish you could be there too.” He’d told you when you finally saw him again, after he’d finished his first year in his mysterious boarding school.

“That’s great, Haz, but where exactly is it?” You wondered and Harry only gave you his signature grin.

“Scotland.”

With a heavy sigh you let the subject go, he was clearly happy wherever he was going to school so it didn’t matter where or what it was. As long as he was happy.

By the time his 12th birthday rolled around you’d found the perfect gift for him. You’d made your parents buy you a polaroid camera for him to take away to school, he’d told you so many amazing stories about his school, you wanted to see some of it for yourself so you figured a camera would be the best course of action.

The morning of his birthday, Harry was woken up by the sound of pebbles tapping against his barred up window. The boy looked out to see you waving at him, an excited smile on your face and a neatly wrapped present in your other hand. Harry couldn’t stop the smile that formed on his face as you beckoned him down with your hand. It was barely dawn but you knew better than to give a present for Harry to either his aunt or uncle because they’d only give it to Dudley, so it was best to get it to him before the rest of his supposed family woke up.

Hogwarts was amazing and Harry was over the moon to have discovered he was a wizard and make so many new friends, but he had missed you- his only friend in the muggle world. Your birthday was only a few weeks after his and he hoped that maybe you’d get a hogwarts letter of your own, obviously that hadn’t happened. Nonetheless he was happy to see you in the summer, he couldn’t shake the thought that Ron and Hermione would have loved to meet you though.

Slowly and quietly, Harry snook down the stairs and out the front door to meet you.

“Happy birthday, Haz!” You whisper-shouted excitedly, pulling the green-eyed boy into your house so he wouldn’t get caught outside when he wasn’t even allowed out of his bedroom.

Harry rolled his eyes at the nickname, “I hope you know that you’re still the only person who calls me that.”

“Good,” you said happily, closing the front door behind you. “Anyway, I got you something that you can bring away to school with you!” He rose an eyebrow at you as you pushed the carefully wrapped box into his hands, “Open it,” you instructed. And so he did.

It was very possibly the most expensive gift he’d ever gotten, you (or your parents) usually got Harry presents that couldn’t be stolen by Dudley. For example, your mother had taken to buying Harry his own clothes, seeing as your best friend was a lot taller and thinner than his horrid cousin.

You, on the other hand, would usually make him gifts with sentimental value, something Dudley had absolutely zero interest in. The camera though, you knew would be safe as Harry would be leaving for school again soon enough.

Harry stared dumbfounded at the cardboard box that held the rather large polaroid camera, judging by the image on the box it was a good quality thing, probably expensive. “This is… really nice, (Y/n).”

A bright smile found your lips as you rushed into an animated explanation about why you’d picked a camera as his birthday present this year.

“So you can take lots of pictures of you and your new friends in your new fancy private school and when you come back here you can show them to me!” Harry chuckled and nodded his head, hoping he’d be able to find time to take pictures like you wanted.

“I’ll take pictures of everything. Promise.” He told you, holding out his pinky with a cheeky grin. You linked your pinky with his and nodded gratefully.

“We should christen it,” Harry announced, tearing into the box and he quickly set the camera up before he pointed it at you expectantly. “Well, come on then. I’ve told my school friends all about you, they’re going to want to see what you look like too. So, smile-“ with a disbelieving laugh, you crossed your legs underneath yourself from where you were sitting on the floor across from Harry, and tucked your hair behind your ears before you looked directly at the lense of the camera and gave it the brightest smile you could muster. The camera flashed and the picture slowly revealed itself, it seemed to be good enough to satisfy Harry’s twelve year old self.

He’d shown the polaroid to Hermione first, the bushy haired girl had smiled softly as she held the polaroid gently, “She seems lovely, Harry.”

Harry had nodded his head in agreement, you were lovely. He just hoped Dudley wasn’t terrorising you too much while he was away. His cousin always had somewhat of a crush on you, which Harry knew was ridiculous considering you all but loathed Dudley.

True to his word, Harry had taken plenty of pictures, many were of (non-magic) areas of the Hogwarts campus, many were of his friends; Ron, Hermione, Fred and George Weasley (who had an absolute field day with the muggle contraption), one or two of Hagrid and he even managed to capture a nice one of the owlery. Although you were one of his best friends, sometimes thinking about you while he was in Hogwarts brought his mood down. It reminded him of how much he wished you could’ve shared in his adventures and not to mention how much he missed you, you could hardly send him an owl, what with being a muggle and all, so he only got to spend time with you during the summer months.

Things had changed during his third year, though. When he received a rather shocking, albeit very welcome, letter.

Dear Harry,

I’d like to start by saying: hi, how are you? How’s school? Good? Great. Now that that’s out of the way… when you come home I’m going to KILL you!!! I cannot believe you didn’t tell me you are a wizard! Well, I understand why you didn’t but anyway.

You’re probably wondering how I found all of this out. Long story short, I saw Vernon’s sister floating around your sitting room and then I saw you running out swinging a wand around. I put two and two together. You would not believe how long it took me to figure out how to get in contact with you. I practically had to beg Dudley to tell me how to get this package to you, he eventually told me how in exchange for a kiss on the cheek. It was as horrifying as it sounds, the things I do for you, Haz, honestly. Don’t worry though, you can make it up to me over the summer.

I bought an owl by the way. I’m guessing she found you okay? Look after her for a little while before sending her back will you? She’s just a baby so she can’t do too much long distance travel just yet.The lady I got her from is a witch, she was very kind and knew exactly what I was looking to use an owl for. Her name is Astra (the owl’s not the lady’s)! Isn’t she lovely?

Moving on from that, I felt bad forcing you to send me pictures and getting nothing in return so I have decided to very kindly grace you with my exhilaratingly normal life. You will also find I sent you some of those sweets you like.

Tell Ron and Hermione that I said hi! Oh and Fred and George too! Get into lots of trouble for me ;) I suppose I better stop rambling now, sorry about that I’m just excited (and i might be missing you… just a tiny bit!)

Write back to me soon, if you can! Tell Astra I’m proud of her for making her first delivery! (give her plenty of treats for me yeah?)

I’ll let you get back to your wizardy stuff now, Haz.

Lots of love,

(Y/n) xoxo

P.s. your magical secret is safe with me. promise.

Harry looked up from your letter with a dazed smile, your new little owl was looking at him expectantly, no doubt awaiting her treat, “Good job, Astra. Your owner says she’s very proud of you,” he informed her, handing her a piece of bacon from his breakfast plate and laughed when she hooted happily.

Astra is a gorgeous little tawny, she has brown and white feathers that were fluffy to the touch. Harry could already tell she was well suited to you though, she was friendly as anything with the most curious eyes he’d ever seen.

“Whose it from?” Ron grunted from beside him, munching happily on his huge breakfast.

Harry let out a short laugh, digging into the envelope to pull out the photos and sweets you’d sent, “(Y/n).”

“I thought she didn’t know about you?” Hermione asked from beside Ron, Harry only shrugged.

“She figured it out. She’s quite clever, I think you’d like her Hermione. She says hi by the way.” He answered somewhat distantly, distracted by the pictures you’d sent, all of which had writing on the backs. He paused on one photo, he guessed one of your parents had taken it, you were stood in the woods, surrounded by trees with a huge smile on your face, your eyes were closed and your nose was scrunched up as a very tiny Astra seemed to be nibbling at your ear affectionately.

“I’m sure we’d get along, I admire her determination, really. And she even bought an owl?” The girl questioned, reaching over and petting Astra gently.

Harry’s smile was gentle as Astra hopped onto his shoulder, “Yeah, suppose she did.”

“Alright! I’m gonna say it!” George Weasley exclaimed, plucking the photo of you from Harry’s grasp, he held it between himself and Fred, the older twin had somehow swiped the letter you’d written. “Harry’s girlfriend back home is quite cute, don’t you think, Freddie?” Fred nodded resolutely, pushing the letter into George’s face as he pointed towards a specific line.

“I have to agree and look, Georgie, she told Harry to tell us that she says hi! Ugh, such a darling,” Fred fake swooned and Harry felt his face heat up while George made kissy faces.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Yeah, you had opened Harry up to a whole new world of teasing yet somehow he didn’t mind.

“Oi, do you think she’d like some of our Weasley products?” George asked genuinely, wiggling his eyebrows. Harry shuddered at the thought of you getting a hold of anything that Fred and George had created, because yes, you would like some magical pranking products. You had quite a talent for mischief, only in Harry’s worst nightmares would the Weasley twins ever get their hands on you.

Harry shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “Dunno.”

“She single?” Fred asked jokingly and Harry scrunched his face up. He supposed you were single, though, he’d never really pictured you with anyone. He felt quite protective over you, but he supposed he'd like to see you happy with someone he approved of- or alternatively; anyone but Dudley.

“Think so,” Harry told him with another shrug before a cheeky grin spread across his lips, as he focused his attention on the twins who were nudging each other in mock victory, “Why? Should I write home and tell her the esteemed Weasley twins have a crush on her?”

George was the first the speak, he nodded, completely serious and Harry found himself worrying that perhaps one of the Weasley twins would get his hands on you.

“Yes. Absolutely,” Fred snorted and said no more, allowing his younger twin to continue the girl based antics seeing as Fred’s actual crush, Angelina, had started to glare. “In fact, give her my name. Tell her to write to me next time, eh?”

Harry’s eyes widened, oh Merlin, George was serious.

“Oh sod off, would you? The poor girl is a muggle, she’d throw herself off the astronomy tower if she got stuck with either of you prats.” Ron said through a laugh, none of them could deny it was quite funny, even Hermione had to bite back a smile at the chaos your simple letter had caused.

Around two weeks had passed until Astra returned to you, two letters attached to her leg this time.

You greeted her with a warm smile as she landed on the inside of you window, “Welcome home, pretty lady! Did you have a nice trip?” You cooed, patting her feathers and giggling when she nuzzled her head against your fingers. Having a magical owl as a pet was weird, but still, you seemed to be managing her okay.

Astra hooted happily, as if informing you that she did, in fact, have a nice trip. “That’s good! Let me take these letters off and you can have a well deserved rest, I’ve made a nice nest up for you,” you rambled softly as you untied the string that was holding the letters to her leg.

Astra hooted, hopping onto your arm and allowing you to place her on the plush pile of pillows and blankets which she immediately made herself comfortable upon, once again hooting in content when you placed a handful of treats in front of her.

You assumed that both letters were from Harry until you noticed the messy handwriting that covered one of the envelopes, handwriting that definitely didn’t belong to Harry. Besides, never, even in the furthest reaches of your imagination, would your best friend ever refer to you as; “Harry’s Pretty Neighbour”. You set that one to the side for the time being and focused on the letter you knew to actually be from Harry.

Dear (Y/n),

Hi. Sorry I didn’t tell you I was a wizard. If it makes you feel better I was actually planning on telling you this summer, but thank you for saving me from that conversation. I miss you too (only a tad). I hope you’re having a good school year so far, it’s been pretty chaotic here but I promise I’ll tell you every single tiny detail when we see each other at the end of May!

Did Astra get home okay? She’s a really lovely owl, she took quite a liking to George who (terrifyingly) has taken quite a liking to you. He’s been badgering me all week for “permission” to write to you, in his words, “just to say hello.” I think you’d actually get along but he and the rest of his family are very magic oriented, I’d be surprised if he didn’t scare you away… the pair of you together would be my worst nightmare. Don’t even get me started on how I’d feel if Fred was in the mix too. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Thank you for the sweets they were lovely, I put a chocolate frog in the envelope for you, it’s a really popular sweet in the wizarding world- don’t freak out when it hops, it’s just a charm the frog isn’t really alive.

I enjoyed the pictures too, I put a few in this letter for you too, the polaroid is running out of film but it should be enough to keep me going until the end of term.

Write to me again soon, I like hearing from you.

Take care,

Harry.

P.S. I’m really sorry you had to kiss Dudley, I’ll do something to make it up to you. Promise.

P.P.S. If George OR Fred manage to write to you PLEASE don’t eat anything they give you.

With a laugh you set the letter down beside you. Curiously, you reached a hand into the ivory envelope and pulled out the peculiarly shaped chocolate box as well as the polaroids. You viewed the photos with a fond smile, Harry always looked so happy, even with whatever chaos was happening around him. Wizard school definitely made your best friend the happiest he’d ever been.

Opening the next letter, which you now guessed judging by Harry’s letter, came from George Weasley, Harry’s friend Ron’s older brother. That was all you knew about him. You let out a gasp once you opened the seal, a small show of tiny fireworks shot out, exploding in balls of reds and oranges across your bedroom before they disappeared as if they’d never been there in the first place.

Slightly frazzled, yet amazed, you cautiously plucked the letter from the envelope and began reading.

Hello, Harry’s Pretty Neighbour.

I hope you enjoyed the show, hopefully it didn’t startle you too much… I’m not exactly sure what muggles are used to… if it did scare you I’m sorry.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi. Promised Harry I wouldn’t spook you, he’s quite protective of you, you know. It’s very sweet.

I don’t blame him, though. If I had a friend as pretty as you I’d be protective too ;)

Don’t break my heart, write back?

Yours truly,

George Weasley x

And that had been the start of it. Two years had passed since you’d discovered the wizarding world and it seemed as though things had simultaneously gotten worse and better. As it turns out, your lifelong best friend was some sort of prophetic hero in the wizard community and on top of that it seemed that there was a war brewing that he would be expected to lead.

Of course, you were completely useless as you don’t possess the ability to perform magic which also means you're at risk of being hate crimed by some classist, wizard, blood supremacists? You weren’t sure. But Harry was worried.

You’d been writing back and forth to a few of Harry’s Hogwarts friends (your friends now too) for a long while now, you’d even gotten a chance to finally meet them when you’d gone with the Dursleys to collect Harry from King’s Cross Station.

You got along best with Hermione seeing as she was raised similarly to yourself and Harry. However, of all of Harry’s school mates, you liked George the most. Everyone could have predicted it really, you’d been writing to each other constantly and the second you’d clapped eyes on each other in the flesh he’d broken out in a run to crush you in a hug. Harry had groaned at the sight of the pair of you, smiling widely at each other, seeming to slot together perfectly. He had to laugh about it now though, if things went well with Ginny he supposed you’d probably end up being his sister-in-law, assuming his predictions of George falling completely in love with you were correct (they were, he knew).

All air of laughter or wizard/muggle romances was gone at the moment however. You and Harry sat alongside each other, your hand holding his loosely between the swings you were sat on, he’d be going into his 5th year at Hogwarts soon, he’d yet to recover from the last. He’d made a friend only for that friend to be killed right in front of him. He’d almost been murdered himself for God’s sake.

“If you don’t feel safe, Haz… maybe, I don’t know? Don’t go back?” You suggested weakly, knowing he’d never do such a thing. As you expected, Harry shook his head and looked at you solemnly.

“Can’t. Not now that he’s back.” With a sigh you squeezed his hand.

“They should be paying you for this, you know,” Harry chuckled then, squeezing your hand in return.

“I’m doing this for you too. To keep you safe.” He admitted and you sighed miserably.

“I wish I could be of more help.” Harry scoffed, his green eyes shining with pure disbelief as he stared at you.

“More help? (Y/n) you must be joking…” he trailed off as you shook your head, you weren’t joking, you hated that you couldn’t help Harry through this, for once you knew there was nothing you could do to improve the situation in any way that would make an impact, “Oi. Look at me,” Harry demanded, no trace of the usual awkward sarcasm to be heard when he spoke.

You let your eyes meet his again and watched how they seemed to soften when he took in how utterly defenceless you looked, “If it hadn’t been for you, the first ten years of my life would’ve been an even worse hell than they already were. You were the only good thing and you’re still the only good thing about being back in this place.”

He watched sadly as your eyes fell to the floor again, “Besides, the sooner we get this mess with Voldemort sorted out, the sooner you and George Weasley can navigate the whole muggle/wizard romance thing.”

At his statement you barked out a laugh and Harry let himself smile too, “Shut up, Potter. S’not like that.”

Harry laughed then too, “Oh it is so like that, (N/n).”

“It so isn’t.” You grumbled, but your little smile confirmed to Harry that it absolutely was like that.

“Okay. Fine, please then do tell, what is going on between you and the infamous George Weasley?” Harry challenged, revelling in the way your cheeks burned with embarrassment. He let out a low chuckle when you shrugged shyly and kicked the stones beneath your feet.

“I don’t know… We write to each other a lot, and I think he’s really interesting and funny and sweet and of course I think he’s fit. But, I don’t know,” you bit your lip as Harry listened to you, he found it quite endearing. “I just don’t see how it would work. I like him, yeah, but…” Harry scoffed again as you trailed off. He hated seeing you feeling so insecure, Harry was clueless about a lot of things, but he knew exactly how much his best friend was worth- more than all the gold in Gringott’s.

“Ok as your best mate, and as someone who is very close with the Weasley family, I’m telling you that he’s mad about you. All he ever does is ask me about you, Fred is completely sick of him. He’s even told Molly about you, which is truly a commitment believe me,” Harry started, growing more content with the more bashful you became, “And didn’t he write to you just before the Yule Ball to tell you that he was going with Katie Bell as a friend but he wanted to tell you just incase you heard it from someone else and he didn’t want you to get the wrong idea?” Finally, you were back to fighting a smile.

“Yeah he did.”

“Well there you go. But seriously he hasn’t dated or even so much as looked at anyone else since he met you. Which I’ll be honest is super annoying for me but you deserve someone who thinks you hung the stars in the sky.”

A mock gasp left your lips and you released his hand to place it over your chest in faux hurt, “You mean to tell me you don’t think I hung the stars in the sky? I’m hurt, Harry. I think I’ll have to rat you out to Mrs. Weasley.”

Harry laughed but the lighthearted atmosphere didn’t last long before Dudley had shown up with his little gang of bullies, all of whom made fun of Harry’s nightmares.

It was then things had taken a turn for the worst, the sky turned black and storm clouds completely blocked out the previously scorching sun. You looked to Harry for answers but he seemed to be seeing something that you couldn’t, all you knew was that it had become unbearably cold, a feeling of misery making a home in your bones as Harry rushed to pull you to your feet.

“Run! Come on!” He shouted, clutching your hand tightly in his and sprinting through the neighbourhood until you, Harry and Dudley found yourselves struggling to catch a breath in a graffiti covered tunnel.

A terrified yelp left your throat as what you’d been running from revealed itself to you.

Several floating, cloaked shadowy figures swooped into the tunnel on both sides, their hands decaying and boney, their presence leaving you with the feeling that you’d never know positively ever again.

Harry had effectively used his body to cage you against the wall of the tunnel, his back pressed firmly against your chest, your own back pressed to the cold concrete wall, his wand was at the ready as the creatures approached rapidly.

“Don’t look at them.” Harry instructed, protecting you first as you watched in horror as one of the creatures seemed to be ripping Dudley’s essence straight out of his body.

It only took Harry a few painfully long seconds to take care of the creature in front of the pair of you, you’d wished you’d taken his advice and buried your head in his shoulder so you wouldn’t see the monstrous creatures before you, yet, you couldn’t seem to tear your eyes away from Dudley.

The rest happened in a blur, Harry had yet to let go of your hand as it (and your entire body) shook violently. Demontors broke even the strongest of wizards, Harry knew that as a muggle who’d never seen a magical creature, other than an owl, you’d react negatively.

“If it makes you feel any better, I used to faint every time I saw a dementor.” You nodded numbly, giving Dudley a side glance of concern while he mumbled incoherently to himself.

“Is he alright?” You questioned meekly, voice shaking. You were still freezing and the all too familiar feeling of uselessness didn’t do anything to help you regain your inner warmth.

Harry nodded, “He will be.”

“The ministry will be after my head for using magic outside of school,” he told you after a few minutes, squeezing your hand lightly for the umpteenth time, “So I’m gonna have to go away for a while. Probably tonight. Eat some chocolate, it should stop the shaking.” He told you, you hadn’t even noticed you’d reached Privet Drive.

“And they won’t-“ your breath got caught in your throat and your eyes filled with fear, “The dementors. They won’t come back, will they?”

Harry shook his head, “No. But come on, we should get you inside before the ministry shows up and tries to obliviate you.” His final words came out as more of a mumble than an actual sentence as he passed a bumbling Dudley over to Petunia and Vernon before steering you down your own driveway.

“You better not have broken her too, boy!” You vaguely registered Vernon’s voice shouting in your and Harry’s direction.

Your parents were away on holiday at the moment, in Spain. They’d wanted you to come but you hadn’t wanted to miss Harry’s visit, so when you shakily managed to open the door the house was completely dark, you weren’t sure at what point night had fallen.

Harry closed the door behind himself and made his way into your kitchen, the boy rifled through your sweet press before his hand finally settled on what he was looking for. A triumphant sort of yell left his lips as he pulled a bar of chocolate out of the cupboard.

While Harry tossed the bar onto the counter and busied himself with boiling the kettle, you stood in the hallway still, completely rigid.

“Come on, (Y/n). Sit down.” He urged gently, not turning around. Wordlessly, you fully entered the kitchen and slid into a chair facing Harry.

“Don’t you have better things to be doing than making me tea?” You wondered, setting your hands on the table and fidgeting with your icy fingers. Obviously, you appreciated Harry’s fussing but with the way he was talking about the ministry earlier you were sure he had more important things to worry about.

Harry only faced you once he was finished making your tea. He carried the hot cup and the previously discarded bar of chocolate over to you, he placed them both on the table before giving you a hard look, “I’m looking after you first. I’ll deal with everything else later.”

“I used to be the one who took care of you.” You said through a sigh, taking a sip of the hot tea and slumping against your seat as you began to heat up on the inside again.

Harry let out a low chuckle, “Oh how the tables have turned.”

“I liked it better the other way.” You complained, munching on a square of chocolate.

“Trust me, so did I,” Harry groaned, standing up and placing a comforting hand on your shoulder, “Don’t worry though, (N/n). Have a sneaking feeling that you’ll be looking after me again soon enough.”

You patted the hand he had clamped on your shoulder in appreciation, “Thank you, though, for looking after me.”

“Course. I better go. I don’t want you getting roped into anything else tonight,” he said with a sad smile and you nodded in understanding, “We probably won’t see each other for a while but I’ll write. Is Astra back from Cecilia's yet?” Celillia is the witch you’d gotten Astra from in the first place, the pair of you had kept in touch and she’d recently offered to try and teach you some basic divination skills, she claimed that, “Being a wizard isn’t exactly a requirement” and you desperately needed something, anything, to make you feel more connected to your friends in the wizarding world. You supposed you’d need to plan a trip to her cottage soon, after tonight you definitely needed some of her wisdom.

“No, not yet. She flew straight there from the burrow so I suppose she’s probably resting,” you informed him distantly, still clutching his hand, “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

Harry squeezed your shoulder and let out a deep breath, “I’ll try my best. Promise,” with that he lifted his hand from your shoulder and extended his pinky to you, you gladly linked it with your own. Harry noted, very gratefully, that the warmth had now returned to your hands and you’d stopped shaking so violently.

“Send me a letter once Astra gets back, alright? I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on over on my side.” You agreed before walking Harry to the door, hugging him tightly and watching as he approached the Dursley’s front door.

As predicted, Harry, George, Hermione and Cecillia had let you know that the wizarding world was crumbling fast. Admittedly you were worried about your wizard friends, but Cecillia had done a great job of keeping you distracted by keeping you buried under heaps of divination books, tarot cards and crystal guidebooks. As it turns out, though, you had quite the talent for making accurate detailed predictions.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were descended from a powerful seer,” she’d written to you in awe after you’d managed to predict exactly how a date of hers would go without missing a single detail.

Reading tarot cards quickly became one of your favourite hobbies to indulge in when you weren’t in school. You’d made the mistake of telling George about it in a recent letter, Harry already knew and he also knew that there was no point telling you that he didn’t have a heap of faith in divination. George however was having a field day with the new information.

The older boy teased you at every chance he got, but it was all in good fun as in every letter he sent, you’d find a page that he’d ripped out of his own divination book, the pages would be crinkled and have messy notes scribbled along the margins, with explanations over words that he knew you wouldn’t understand as a muggle. They were actually really helpful. Aside from all the teasing he found it quite endearing that you were trying to get familiar with some form of magic. Even if it was a form of magic wizards tended to ridicule.

He’d been quite worried about you, Harry told him about the dementors and how you’d been quite shaken up after your encounter with them. He’d written to you on a weekly basis, constantly checking in on you, making absolutely sure that no more dementors paid you a visit. He and Harry both kept you up to date with the constant and seemingly never ending rules being imposed upon them by their new headmaster, or headmistress; Delores Umbridge. George also disclosed to you all about his and Fred’s plan to leave Hogwarts and pursue their lifelong dream of opening a joke shop. You had nothing but faith in the twins, really. Your complete faith in them hadn’t stopped you from sending George a handful of crystals that you believed would help his and his shop’s success. He’d teased you relentlessly in each letter since he’d received your package containing citrine, tiger’s eye, amazonite, aventurine and smokey quartz. What he hadn’t mentioned since receiving your little gifts, is that he’d been carrying the five crystals around in their little orange mesh drawstring bag in his pocket everywhere he went. He had to give credit where credit is due and, to be fair to you and your holistic ways, he hadn’t run into any serious obstacles since he started carrying the gems around.

November through June had brought forth a plethora of unfortunate events. You were practically swimming in school work which left you with no time to write to Harry, or even practice tarot. As well as that, you’d been having nightmares, although Cecillia had warned that these dreams could hold some sort of prophesies within them, you highly doubted that though, you weren’t a wizard, only a muggle. Whether prophetic or not, the nightmares plagued you, keeping you up at night or waking you at all hours of the morning.

On one particular morning, you’d awoken with a gasp. Sweat coated your face, soaked your pillow cases and caused your legs to stick to your blankets in a way not even the June heat could've caused. Your heart pounded against your ribcage, tears welled in your eyes, and your body shook as violently as it had the night you’d come face to face with the dementors of Azkaban. The unadulterated fear coursing through your bloodstream suggested that perhaps this bad dream had been something more than simply that.

As fast as you could manage in your panicked state, you dragged your body out of bed and stumbled towards your light switch, flicking it on before haphazardly ripping a sheet out of the refill pad on your desk, grabbing a pen and beginning to scribble down the dream that you could only describe as a warning.

Your laboured breaths stirred Astra from her slumber, the tawny hooted tiredly, hopping out of her cage and fluttering over to your shoulder, settling there as you wrote.

Harry,

I hope this letter reaches you in time. I might sound completely mad but something terrible may be about to happen. I’ve been having these horrific dreams over the last few months, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry but Cecillia suspects they’re premonitions and I’m terrified she may be right. I’ve just woken up, it’s around 2am and if I’m lucky, Astra should get this letter to you before 6am…

Onto the dream, you were there and you were asleep, I was standing by your bed, it was a four-poster sort of thing, the room was decorated in mostly red and gold. You woke up panicked, you looked completely overwhelmed and you began shouting about your Godfather Sirius, about how he was in trouble… From then on I watched the day play out. You, Hermoine, Ron, Ginny, a boy with brown hair I’ve never met, I think you called him Neville in my dream, and a blonde girl- Luna I think you called her, you all went to the ministry to rescue Sirius and find some kind of prophecy. Harry you have to listen to me, you mustn’t go, it’s a trick, Voldemort planted it in your head and if you go you’ll only put Sirius in harm’s way. But, knowing you, you’re gonna go anyway… so here’s my advice: keep your eyes open for the witch Bellatrix. Keep Sirius away from the veil and please please please, be careful.

I’m heading to Cecillia’s cottage for the day and maybe even the next couple of days, send Astra there when you find time to write back.

I hope I’m wrong but if I’m not; good luck, Harry. I love you and if you don’t look after yourself the dark lord will be the least of your worries.

Lots of love,

Y/n.

Folding up the letter and placing it in a stray envelope, you addressed it and gently tied it to your loyal owl’s leg. “I’m gonna need you to go as fast as you can to get this to Harry, okay Astra?” She hooted with what you guessed to be determination before she set off, out into the night. Thankfully for you, now that your owl was occupied, you knew Cecillia owned a telephone so you’d have no problems contacting her. While writing to Harry, you’d left out a few details about the dream. You conveniently forget to mention that you’d watched his only remaining family member killed at the hand’s of Bellatrix, it had looked so terrifyingly real that your mind couldn’t have possibly conjured it up all by itself. You also failed to mention hearing Harry’s agonising scream as Sirius fell, the noise was nearly deafening. Seeing Sirius, a man you’d only seen in pictures, die and watching your best friend mourn for him was, well, traumatising. There was no way you’d get a wink of sleep for the remainder of the night, so, you quietly tiptoed downstairs and made a call.

The line rang three times before Cecillia’s voice sounded, chirpy as ever despite the late hour, “Hello?”

“Sorry to call so late,” was all you managed, your voice although shaky was immediately identified by the much older witch.

You could nearly see the soft smile on her youthful face as she spoke, “Ah, Y/n my darling, no worries at all! How is my favourite student doing at half two in the morning?”

“Not well, I’ve had another vision. I think you might’ve been right about the dreams being prophetic,” you told her, willing your voice not to crack as the image of your bad dreams crept into your mind once again.

Cecillia let out a gentle hum, “Shall I apparate over? You don’t sound in the highest of spirits, darling.”

“Yes please,” you answered simply and within seconds Cecillia was standing before you, a worried furrow in her brow and her ashy brown hair disheveled from apparating to you in such a hurry. How could she not? You were, after all, her protégé.

“Oh, darling. You look terribly shaken up, come, come, let’s get you some water,” she fretted, guiding you to your kitchen, magically flicking on the light with her wand and filling up a glass of water, with a few flicks of her wrist the glass had floated over to your usual seat at the table, meanwhile Cecillia had stirred you into the wooden chair adjacent the glass.

Wordlessly, the witch peeled your damp hair away from your face and secured it back with a crocodile clip shaped like a huge golden bumble bee, it’s wings adorned with glittering gems. The bee sat comfortably in your hair as Cecillia finally sat down beside you, she made herself comfortable on the kitchen chair, crossing one leg over the other, resting her elbow on the table and using it to prop her cheek up. Her wide green eyes stared at you sympathetically, watching intently as you sipped your water.

“I’m assuming your loyal familiar is sleeping soundly?” She wondered, referring to Astra. You shook your head, simultaneously swallowing a gulp of water before responding verbally.

“I sent her with a letter to Harry, it was more of a warning really,” Cecillia nodded her head, signalling you to go on, “I dreamt of Harry and his friends going to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius Black, but it was a trap. When they got there they were ambushed by dark wizards and Sirius well he…” you trailed off, eyes growing distant and unfocused when the sight of the man being murdered reentered your mind’s eye. A gentle hand on your shoulder pulled you back to the present.

“This one was far worse than the others then?”

You nodded, “It didn’t feel like a dream, cecillia. It was like I was actually standing there but I couldn’t do anything to help though… as per usual,” you muttered bitterly, receiving a harsh squeeze to your shoulder in response.

Cecillia fixed you with a maternal glare, “None of that! You potentially saved a life tonight. And, as I effortlessly predicted since the moment I met you, you’ve got the magical gift of sight,” her hard look melted into something more forgiving as she spoke, “You’re much more than just a muggle. You may have been an extremely late bloomer, but, you’re a witch and a seer at that. A peculiar case indeed, although in the wizarding world stranger things have happened,” the old witch told you proudly, eyes shining with glee as your own filled with confusion.

“How do we know the dream will even come true?” You questioned.

Cecillia simply shrugged and offered you a cheeky grin, “I trust your feelings, darling.”

True to your initial feeling, you hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep, you knew you wouldn’t be able to rest until you found out whether or not your dream had come to fruition. Cecillia remained by your side throughout the night, eventually the sun had risen and your parents descended down the stairs, neither of them were surprised to see Cecillia sitting at the kitchen table. They saw her as an odd woman, very kind and perfectly lovely, but odd. You’d told them that she owned an animal sanctuary and that you’d been volunteering with her, it wasn’t too far fetched really, she had given you an owl after all, not to mention the amount of cats that hung around her cottage.

She explained to your parents that she needed your help at ‘the sanctuary’ for the next few days and that she’d drop you home once the work was finished. It hadn’t been a problem, so you traveled to Cecillia’s cottage after getting dressed and packing an overnight bag (full to the brim with tarot decks and only some clothes).

It was nearly 8 in the evening when Cecillia sauntered into her living room, where you were sitting, sporting a knowing grin, she held a piece of parchment in one hand and an unopened envelope in the other.

Jovially, she plopped herself down beside you, obviously doing her very best to contain a huge grin from forming on her face. Wordlessly, she placed the envelope on your lap with a mere, “For you.”

On the envelope you could tell by the handwriting that it had come from Harry. This was definitely a make or break moment for you. The contents of this letter would either confirm that you did in fact have magic, or, they would be responsible for causing you to experience a seismic amount of embarrassment. Swallowing the lump in your throat you tore the envelope open, freeing the letter and daring to read what was inside.

Dear Y/n,

Your dream was right. And that advice you gave about keeping an eye on Sirius? It saved his life. I suppose I’m mostly writing to say thank you. I’ve got some updates for you too: firstly, it’s finally been confirmed that Voldemort is back so my name is cleared. Secondly, it turns out that Remus and Cecillia are old friends, she contacted him earlier today about your vision and he and Sirius haven’t shut up about how impressive it is. I have a feeling you might be hearing from them soon, The Order now more than ever is in need of a secret weapon and genuine seers are hard to come by. I hate to involve you in this, it’ll probably be dangerous and you know I don’t want to see you hurt, or worse. But having said that, I’m glad we’re in this together now.

Astra got here in good time, by the way, she landed on my window just after I woke up from my vision of Sirius, it was actually quite freaky. I’m taking good care of her so don’t worry, she should be back to you at some point tomorrow.

Hermoine and Ron say hi too. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from George soon, seeing as he and Fred are in the Order… On that note I better get going.

Thank you again for the warning.

See you soon,

Love, Harry.

A bemused smile spread across your lips as you scanned the page, thankful to have finally made a significant difference in Harry’s life. Cecillia was grinning like a cheshire cat beside you, pride shimmering in her emerald eyes. She bumped her arm against yours playfully when you let the letter fall to your lap, “An old friend of mine will be stopping by in a short while. It seems he’d like to get you trained up in some defence against the dark arts.” She told you, still grinning.

“Defence against the dark arts?” You wondered out loud, you were sure you’d heard Harry mention those words to you before, however, the memories were fuzzy.

“Magic to keep you safe from darker magic, the likes of which the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters rely,” she explained darkly. Just then, a loud bang erupted from her open stone fireplace, a bubble of green dissipated as two men stepped less than gracefully onto Cecillia’s faux-fur rug. You recognised them both from your vision. They were Sirius Black and, if you were to take an educated guess, Remus Lupin.

Cecillia wasted no time before she was giddily jumping from her seat to greet the pair who had just appeared in her sitting room.

“Remus! Oh, how wonderful to see you!” She all but squealed, pulling the tall man into a hug and ruffling his already messy hair.

He reciprocated the hug with a gentle chuckle, “It’s nice to see you again, Cece. It’s been far too long,” he pulled away and the pair of them shared a fond smile before simultaneously looking to Sirius. “I trust you remember Sirius?” Lupin asked, almost rhetorically.

Sirius let out a booming laugh at that, “She could never forget me, now could you, Cece?” Cecillia rolled her eyes, and with a look of endearment nearly tackled Sirius into an embrace.

Seeing the woman who was essentially your magical mentor so overjoyed was lovely, Cecillia was jolly at the best of times but you’d never seen her quite like this. Her happiness added to your sense of helpfulness, Sirius Black was obviously important to more than just Harry, if the smile on the free-spirited witches face was anything to go by. Although you were ecstatic for the three witches and wizards before you, you couldn’t help but feel like you were imposing on an intimate reunion.

Awkwardly you cleared your throat, successfully bringing the trio’s attention onto you as you stood by the sofa, smiling unsurely. If it was even possible, all three of their smiles broadened when their gazes landed on you.

“Am I right in assuming that this is my guardian angel?” Sirius asked, separating from Cecillia.

Cecillia nodded, filled with pride, “And isn’t she just the loveliest guardian angel you’ve ever seen?” She gushed, half seriously.

You offered Sirius a bashful smile, along with a nod of greeting, “I’m glad to see you’re alright,” you told him.

His grin stayed fixed in place but he raised a single eyebrow in confusion, “Glad? And yet you’ve never met me before now…” his tone was laced with inquisition, as if he wanted to figure out what ulterior motive you could possibly have for caring about a stranger you’d only ever seen in a dream.

It didn’t take a seer or a psychic to see what Sirius was after, so you simply answered him truthfully, “No, we’ve never met, but you’re still a person, I watched that woman kill you, it was horrible, nobody deserves that. As well as that; I know how much you mean to Harry and what sort of best friend would I be if I didn’t try to help him keep his last family member safe?” Sirius nodded approvingly at your reply, looking between Remus and Cecillia.

“She remind you of anyone?” The black haired man asked in a low chuckle, Remus snickered and Cecillia bit back a grin.

The witch made her way back to your side and wrapped an arm around your shoulder, jostling you ever so slightly when she noticed your vaguely worried expression, “Don’t worry, darling, you just remind us of one of our most treasured school friends, I promise I will tell you all about it later. But for now, I believe Sirius was about to thank you for saving his life?” She prompted, waiting expectantly.

Sirius cleared his throat and straightened his posture before outstretching his arm, offering you his hand which you took firmly in your own. His voice was steady, strong and genuine when he spoke, “I am truly thankful for what you did for not only me but Harry today. I’m extremely proud of my godson for aligning himself with such a strong, powerful and wonderfully loyal young lady.”

“How sweet,” Cecillia cooed, before guiding you to the kitchen, “Come now, boys, kettles on- we have a lot to discuss!” She called over her shoulder.

There certainly had been a lot to discuss. The Order of the Phoenix thought having a seer at their disposal would be extremely beneficial in the upcoming war, the issue was; you are not yet of age and some members of the group didn’t wish to involve a child in their battle. Sirius, Remus and Cecillia made it abundantly clear that if you desired to join the Order, you were more than welcome but you would be welcomed under certain conditions. Those conditions being that your membership be kept under wraps and not disclosed to any muggles, meaning your parents.

“To keep them safe and to give you an escape route if things get too messy, even with the level of magic you’ll have gained by the time the war is in full swing, as a muggle born you’ll most likely need to flee quickly,” Remus explained, though it didn’t make much sense.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to run if my parents knew what we were running from? They’re open minded people, I’m sure they’d understand,” you attempted to reason, the trio but exchanged yet another loaded look with each other.

Cecillia placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, “We have a contingency plan in place, darling. Nothing you need to worry about for right now,” she reassured, easing your nerves a tad. “You trust me don’t you?” She followed up, her tone slightly stonier, more serious. You nodded your head certainly in response, there was no doubt about it; you trusted the witch with your life. “Then,” she began again, a somewhat chastising look on her face, “Trust that I will not allow a single hair on your head to be harmed.” This rule also extended to wizards not in the Order, which meant that when in the magical world, you were to air on the side of extreme caution.

Relating to that, another condition was that, at all times in the magical world, you were to be accompanied by an of age member of the Order. According to Sirius, who your were growing to like more by the second, he was going to arrange for a member of the Order to bring you to Diagon Alley in the morning to get you a wand. The prospect of having a wand of your own was terribly exciting, once again though, you found yourself wondering if you had it in you to properly wield one, or wield one at all for that matter. You were too exhausted to fret for too long, so the thoughts about magic levels and your own capabilities were only fleeting. Once all of the serious chat dissipated into friendly chatter, you managed to slip away from the table at which you were all sat. Making your way back to the sitting room, you tucked yourself into the corner seat of Cecillia’s old and very comfortable sofa, pulled your knees against your chest, wrapped your arms around them and rested your cheek against your knee. Slowly and deeply, you began to breathe in and out, fiddling with the amazonite bracelet that adorned your wrist in order to quell your ever growing anxiety. For a few sweet minutes you indulged in the calm silence, meditating peacefully in your comfy seat until a soft knock sounded from the doorway. When your eyes fluttered open they were met with the image of Sirius Black, leaning casually against the frame of the door, a hand plunged deep into his trouser pocket and another flipping a stray tarot card between his fingers. His eyes were focused on yours as he spoke, “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

You shook your head and patted the seat beside you, “‘Course not, come sit.”

The man chuckled but obliged, settling in the spot beside you and offering you the card he’d previously been fiddling with.

“The ten of swords,” you identified easily, “I assume you’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed if this card found its way to you.”

Sirius hummed, “CeCe tells me that you’ve a penchant for card reading. I was rubbish at divination back at Hogwarts, only took it because I thought it’d be easy but I could never get my head around it,” he reminisced, an airy laugh slipping from his lips.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who were you all talking about earlier when you asked if I reminded Cecilia and Remus of anyone?” He let out a deep sigh before fixing you with a soft smile.

“An old school friend of ours, she was more than a friend to me, but that’s a story for another time,” he started, staring out into the empty space before him a melancholy grin on his lips, “She was fiercely loyal to her friends, if she wanted to help there was absolutely nothing that would stop her from doing so. I know I don’t know you very well, but from what I heard today and the way in which you’ve been described to me by Harry; I can see her in you,” he finished, bumping his shoulder with yours and forcing a happy smile onto your lips which mirrored Sirius’.

“What’s her name?” You asked.

“Her name was Marlene,” Sirius answered.

Your heart dropped with his use of past tense, “Was?”

Sirius bowed his head slightly and began to twist the rings that adorned his slender fingers, “She was killed during the first war,” he told you, making eye contact once again, a grave expression on his face as he continued, “I saw your apprehension earlier when we brought up the topic of secrecy, but you must understand that during the first war we lost so many who were dear to us, keeping you in our back pocket will ensure that you aren’t harmed in the face of this war, if any dark wizards hear so much of a whisper of a muggleborn seer they will stop at nothing to eliminate you,” he paused for a brief second, never breaking eye contact, the gravity of the situation heavy on your chest your fingers absentmindedly found your amazonite bracelet once again. Your movements were halted when Sirius placed his large hand over yours, squeezing it warmly while staring at you determinedly, “You saved my life today, Y/n. So believe me when I tell you that I will stop at nothing to keep you safe,” he promised and you squeezed his hand in return.

“I know,” he smiled as he watched your eyes return to the ten of swords and your grin broadened with the sort of mischief he’d only ever seen in four people; James Potter, Marlene McKinnon and Fred and George Weasley. “I have a prediction for you.”

Sirius entertained you fondly, a mischievous air that reminded him of when he was your age surrounding the pair of you, “By all means, do tell.”

“I predict,” you paused for emphasis, “that we are going to be very good friends.”

Sirius let out a booming laugh of which the volume he couldn’t control, “That is a prediction I truly hope will come to fruition.”

“Oh no, this is a duo that spells trouble,” Cecillia giggled to Remus as they entered the sitting room.

Remus looked between you and Sirius with a grin, “With a mentor like you, Cece, I’m not surprised Y/n has a taste for mischief,” the ruffled wizard teased, receiving a gentle elbow to the ribs from your mentor.

“Oi, if you’re going to blame my beloved girl’s mischief on anyone you better blame it on a certain Weasley twin,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows and causing the boys to smile giddily like teenagers.

Sirius bumped your shoulder again, this time with a faux-scandalised smile, “A Weasley twin, eh? Come on then, which one?” You blushed heavily and cleared your throat in an attempt to alleviate the embarrassment filling your being.

“He’s just a friend!”

“Mhm. A friend that sends her annotated pages from his divination text book,” Cecillia sang and Sirius snickered.

“Whichever one it is must be quite taken with you if you made him actually crack open a textbook.”

“Annotations are quite intimate,” Remus half teased although you could see he believed what he’d just said, “I bet it’s George,” he directed the bet at Sirius who carefully observed the way you bit your lip and bashfully looked towards the wooden floor.

“I think you’re right, moony. Now!” He stood suddenly and pointed a finger at Remus expectantly, “We best get going and arrange Y/n’s accomplice for tomorrow’s field trip,” he wiggled his eyebrows before turning his head to face you again, he shot you a wink and you couldn’t stop the airy laugh that left your mouth at his lighthearted antics.

Remus gave Cecillia a one armed hug, “we’ll be seeing you both tomorrow then, it was lovely to meet you, Y/n, perhaps next time Sirius will allow me to get a word in,” he chuckled and Sirius responded by throwing his arm around your shoulder.

“I better get off, this husband of mine is growing jealous,” he told you in a teasingly hushed whisper.

Your eyes widened and you looked between the two men, “You two are married?”

A love struck smile took over both of their faces which immediately gave you your answer. “We’re engaged,” Sirius clarified before pulling you into a proper hug, “Get a good night's sleep, we’ll be sending an order member to collect you early tomorrow morning so you can be in and out of Olivander’s before a crowd can build,” he told you while giving you an affectionate squeeze, you could’ve laughed when you realised that it felt like you’d known Sirius forever but you also could’ve cried when you relived the image of him losing his life and realised that just because it was over and prevented didn't mean it hadn’t still transpired in your mind’s eye, you didn’t let that show on your face though.

“I’ll make sure I’m well rested,” you promised.

With that, Sirius bid Cecillia goodbye, and he and Remus left the way they’d came.

The rest of the night had been spent with Cecillia telling you story after story about her school days and the trouble she’d caused with Sirius, Remus, James and Lily Potter, Harry’s parents, and another boy who she only referred to as “the rat”. Though the tone of the stories were completely lighthearted, they weighed on your chest with a sense of such tragedy. A huge majority of their friends were killed young because of the war, a war that was now waging once again. It led you to wonder who’d be lost to this one, if perhaps you’d be on the list of names that Harry or Cecillia or George would speak about fondly with a dense undertone of sorrow in the years after the second war had long since been won. It was a risk you were willing to take though, the notion of fighting for a deserving cause filled you with a sense of purpose, a purpose you’d been searching for for years. More than that, you felt important. You were needed. An asset. You would actually be of some help.

True to your word, you’d been getting a good night’s rest. The bed in Cecillia’s spare room was the comfiest thing you’d ever come across, though, as you began to stir from your deep slumber you couldn’t recall the empty side of the double bed being quite so dipped.

Slowly and begrudgingly, you cracked your eyes open to see Cecillia smiling tiredly at you in the light of dawn, “Morning, darling. Sorry about the early start, I’ve made you some tea,” she greeted quietly so as to not disturb the peace of the early morning. She held two ceramic mugs, one in each hand and passed you the steaming cup that was hand painted green, keeping the brown one for herself. Tiredly, you patted the spot beside you and pulled the quilt to the side, inviting the witch into the warm bed. She happily slid in, pulling the quilt over her and chuckling quietly when you dropped your head onto her robed shoulder and began to sip the tea she’d made. Cecillia rested her head against yours and sipped on her own tea.

“Are you excited for today?” She asked and you hummed.

“I’m having mixed emotions,” you stated, “I’m excited to see everything, but I’m sort of nervous that I won’t have enough magic to even get a wand,” Comfort spread through your chest when Cecillia pressed her lips to the crown of your head.

“The wonderful thing about wands, lovely, is that the wand picks the wizard,” she began, “so whatever wand you end up with will accentuate the level of magic inside you. Its power will grow as yours does and you’ll soon come to realise that you couldn’t imagine wielding anything else,” her voice was wistful and her eyes shined with wonder as she recalled how it felt to bond to a wand.

“What do you think mine will be like?” You wondered, excitement awakening in you thanks to Cecillia’s encouraging words.

The witch took an exaggerated slurp of her tea before answering, “Something curious,” was all she said.

“Insightful,” you murmured and she shrugged unapologetically, her chaotic energy exuding now that she’d started to wake up fully. “What time is it anyway?”

“Half six, your chaperone should be arriving at seven and Olivander’s opens at eight,” she told you before shimmying out of bed, you whined in the absence of your head rest. “You better get dressed. Wear something nice, rumour has it that your tag along is quite the eligible bachelor,” she wiggled her eyebrows and all but floated out of the spare room. It was practically your room by now though, over the years since you’d gotten Astra and met Cecillia you’d stayed in the room on countless occasions. Cecillia embodied something that was something between a second mother, a spiritual mentor, a teasing older sister and a slightly kooky aunt.

“Oh? So do you reckon I should brush my hair then?” You jokingly called out after her only to receive a harsh scoff.

“Absolutely not! Don’t be desperate!” You barked out a laugh at her response, shaking your head and getting ready for the day ahead.

You were just about finished getting ready when a familiar bang sounded from the sitting room. Taking a deep breath, you gave yourself one last look over in the mirror, happy with the outfit you’d chosen, you made your way towards the sitting room to come face to face with your surprise chaperone for the day.

When you shuffled into the sitting room, a smile immediately stretched across your lips upon seeing who had been appointed to stick by your side for the day, “George!” His name left your mouth in a squeal that would’ve been embarrassing had you not been so excited to see him. It’d been upwards of a year since the last time you’d seen George in the flesh and although you’d seen each other in photos and written to each other at a rate that was almost excessive, the prospect of spending time together in person was, for lack of a better word; magical.

George drew his attention away from the framed pictures that lined Cecillia’s fireplace to see you standing in the doorway, looking as bright as the newly risen sun and sporting a smile that he couldn’t quite put into words how it made him feel. It only took a second before his own cheek splitting smile grew on his face, and with it left his hopes of impressing you with his cool and collected attitude. You hadn’t given him too much time to dwell on his ruined cool guy facade as you all but threw yourself into his arms. The red head let out an endearing laugh, catching you in his toned arms, wrapping them tightly around your torso. A scarlet blush rising on his ears when he felt your smile against his neck. “Hello to you too,” he chuckled against your ear and you pulled back enough to look at him, your arms still secure around his shoulders.

“Sorry,” you started, the smile that still adorned your lips telling him that you weren’t all that sorry at all, “Hi,” you greeted, bashfully pulling your arms away from him.

The sitting room was quiet for a moment as the pair of you only stared at each other, would it be too much to tell him that you’ve missed him? You didn’t want to come on too strong after such a long time apart, you’d already tackled him into a hug within the first five seconds, but with that came your next internal question of; did you really want to keep this boy on his toes?

George, having already discarded his notion of acting nonchalant with you, bet you to the punch. He rubbed the back of his neck and flicked his gaze to the floor before bringing it back to you, “I’ve missed you.”

A giggle left your lips before you could think about choking it down, you nodded your head, bouncing slightly on the balls of your feet, “Yeah, I’ve missed you too. Sorry I haven’t written, Astra is still with Harry.”

George gave you a grin, “No worries, darling. Heard you’ve been a very busy little psychic lately.”

Darling, you mused internally, the nickname echoing through your head and causing your heart to somersault in a way you’d never really felt before.

“Oh how sweet,” Cecillia sang from the doorway, a wicked grin on her face as she took in the two hopeless blushing messes, staring doe-eyed at each other in the middle of her living room. “I hate to break up the reunion, my dears, but the pair of you really should get going,” she instructed, strutting up to you and holding a cloth pouch in your direction, “Sirius left you some spending money, it’s different than the money you usually use but I’m sure George will have no problem helping you out,” Cecillia shot the boy a wink and he nodded, once again growing bashful.

“Now,” she grew serious, directing her words at George and making him slightly intimidated with her strong eye contact, “You are to be extremely careful. You are not to mention that Y/n is a seer and you are not to draw any attention to the fact that she is a muggleborn, if Mr. Olivander asks, she’s a half-blood who's been living in the states and that’s why she doesn’t have a wand,” you wore a confused expression, George nodded in complete understanding, “Did Sirius give you the list?”

George nodded once again, pulling a folded piece of parchment out of the back pocket of his slightly baggy denim jeans, “May I take a look?” Cecillia asked, already snatching the parchment from George’s long fingers and unfolding the sheet and reading it aloud, “Alright! A wand… seriously? He used a whole page of parchment just to write one thing?” She grumbled, stomping over to the nearest side table, leaning down and began to scribble on the parchment. You looked to George as she wrote, “Why do you have to say I’m from the States?” You asked quietly and George leaned down slightly to be closer to your ear.

“Witches and wizards in America don’t get wands until they’re of age, we get them here when we’re eleven,” just as he was finished offering his explanation, Cecillia walked back over, a hard look on her face that you weren’t used to seeing, though it seemed that the look was reserved for George.

Silently she handed him the parchment before looking to you, hard look dissolving back into her usual playful expression, “Have fun, lovely.” She then turned to George again, apparently having had enough of trying to intimidate the poor boy, she shot him a smile, “You’ll be taking the floo to Diagon Alley, my fireplace is big enough to take the both of you at once,” she handed George a pouch of what looked like green powder, “George knows what to do, now, not to sound like a broken record but do stay safe and have fun,” she finished, ushering the pair of you into her fireplace. You couldn’t lie, it was quite strange, you supposed you should get used to things coming across as strange, you were about to be exposed to the magical wizarding world for the first time after all. In the fireplace, you stood shoulder to shoulder with George, noticing the nervous look on your face, he slid his hand into yours gently. When you looked at him, he kept his face focused on his feet, “Ready, Y/n?” Taking a deep breath you nodded shakily.

“Ready, George.”

At your words, George slammed the green powder onto the ground and shouted, “Diagon Alley!”

You were sure you were going to be sick. Whatever the powder was, it had you spinning at a pace you didn’t know was possible, you had screwed your eyes shut and you were almost certain that you could feel yourself physically moving. It was only when George tugged on your hand that you opened your eyes to see that your surroundings had actually changed. “It’s horrible the first time, but you get used to it,” George said, pulling you by your still intertwined hands onto the cobbled street. The dizziness died down after only a few seconds out in the fresh air, the added sensation of George’s thumb rubbing soothing circles against your hand seemed to do the trick in settling you completely as you took in the street ahead of you. It was dazzling, really. A long cobbled street, lined with shops that looked like they were plucked straight out of a fairytale. As planned, the streets were fairly empty in the early morning as George led you down the path towards the shop where you’d hopefully get your wand. The name “Olivanders” was written above both windows of the dark shop, the words “makers of fine wands since 382 B.C.” were to be seen just above the door. Excitement had completely overridden your nerves and you practically skipped towards the door, George followed casually behind you, his hands tucked into his pockets and a fond smile on his lips.

“I suppose you’re excited then?” He asked teasingly and you didn’t bother trying to hide your obvious childlike wonder as you waited for him to catch up with you.

“It probably seems silly to you, but this morning Cecillia told me all about when she got her wand and it sounded so wonderful,” you told him, smiling when he bumped his shoulder against yours.

“I don’t think it’s silly, I still get giddy thinking about the time Fred and I got wands of our own,” he pushed the door open and motioned for you to step inside, slowly you walked into the empty shop. It was dark and somewhat dingy but there was something very mystically inclining about it, you could feel the energy and it was utterly exhilarating.

“Wow,” you breathed out, spinning where you stood, gazing at the boxes upon boxes that lined the shelves.

Only a minute passed before an old man stumbled to the front of the shop, smiling at the pair of you from behind the counter, “Ah, Mr. Weasley, it’s good to see you, it’s been some time. What can I do for you this morning? I see you’ve brought a friend,” the older wizard greeted and you smiled in response.

“I’m looking for a wand. I’ve been living in the states for the past few years but I just moved home,” you lied easily, George couldn’t help but smirk, what he’d give to have had you around for some of his and Fred’s pranks at Hogwarts.

The old man nodded in understanding, his eyes scanned you, his eyes were scrutinising and you fought the urge to squirm under his gaze, “Interesting. One moment please,” he said, murmuring to himself as he searched the isles for what he was looking for. A small “aha” sounded from within the isles, he was back in front of you within seconds, an open rectangular box in his hand. It was absolutely gorgeous, it resembled a raw tree branch, wood spiralling up its expanse until it stopped at the top, cutting off in a jagged, dull edge. He must’ve noticed how your jaw dropped, how could he not? He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off you since you’d wandered into his shop. He was an old wizard, but he wasn’t naive, he was well aware you weren’t returning from America, he could sense an energy in you that he hadn’t come in contact with in a long time. “Curious, isn’t it?” He prompted you, causing you to let out an airy laugh. Cecillia was going to tease you big time when you got back to her cabin.

“It’s lovely, what is it?” He offered you the box expectantly and you hesitantly picked up the wand with as much care as you possibly could. It was cool against your skin and was heavier than you’d imagined it would be.

“Thirteen inch, oak; cut from the base of a tree, which at the time, was almost six hundred years old,” he explained, watching happily as you ran your fingers along the wands several ridges,”With a phoenix feather core, quite a rare piece indeed. Unfortunately, this particular wand has been extremely difficult to match to a witch. But something tells me that you might be just the witch for the job,” he held your gaze and you once again got the feeling that he knew something he shouldn’t, “Go on, then. Give it a wave,” he prompted and you looked to George for further encouragement. George laughed at your lost expression, pulling his own wand out and pointing it towards the now empty box on the counter, “Like this, love,” he demonstrated, moving his wrist in a semi-circle motion, making the box levitate off the counter.

Another pet name. You ignored the butterflies in your stomach in favour of clearing your throat, squaring your shoulders and pointing your wand at the same box George had just made float, which was now settled back against the counter. Imitating the boy beside you, you moved your wrist in a swift semi-circle. Suddenly, a golden light poured from the tip of the wand and warm air surrounded you, gently blowing your hair back and forcing a laugh of disbelief to leave your lips. George stood wide eyed beside you, his lips parted slightly. He was amazed really, he went through five wands before he found the one that fit him, yet you’d found yours on the first try, and he had to admit; you looked glorious doing it.

After paying for your wand, you exited the shop, looking around George’s side at the list he was holding. From what you could make out, Cecillia had added a number of items to the originally very short list; 1) a wand, 2) a pendulum (crystal of the ladies choice), 3) crystals: labradorite, lapis lazuli & azurite, 4) mugwort, 5) new tarot deck (again, whatever she wants Sirius can afford it ;)).

“Suppose our next stop is the divination shop,” George said, mostly to himself but gave you a mischievous smile, “If we hurry up and get our shopping done fast we could probably get a butterbeer in before we rejoin the rest of the Order,” he sang, grazing his hand against yours as you walked side by side.

“Beer? You seriously want to drink beer at half eight in the morning?” You asked him, your eyebrow raised and he replied with an exaggerated roll of his eyes and draped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close against his side and once again leaning his head down so his lips were level with your eye.

“No, you git,” he began with a laugh, “It’s not really beer, it’s pretty sweet; most wizards love it.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, “Sounds nice,” you told him absently, preoccupied with all the intriguing shops that surrounded you. George’s arm remained wrapped around your shoulder as you strolled further into Diagon Alley, seemingly uninterested in his offer for a butterbeer. The pair of you got what you needed from the shop and, since it hadn’t taken long, you decided to take George up on his drinks offer. You noticed that he seemed a little bit crestfallen since your noncommittal answer earlier.

“Hey,” you said, bumping your arm against his.

“Hello,” he replied, returning the gesture.

“So… d’you wanna go get one of those beer things that you were talking about earlier?” You asked nervously, your lip between your teeth. For all you knew, asking someone to grab a butterbeer in the wizarding world was the muggle equivalent to proposing.

George flashed you a grin that was almost childlike, it was mesmerising, so sweet and pure and you almost wished you’d brought your camera to take a picture of it. “I thought you’d never ask.”

With a giggle you let him grab your hand and lead you excitedly towards a building that had “The Leaky Cauldron” written above the door. When you got inside, George led you to a small round table with two chairs and you both sat down opposite each other. As casually as you could, you rested your elbow against the table and let your cheek rest against your fist, for a solid few minutes, while George ordered, you curiously looked around the pub until your gaze finally rested on George who was already looking at you with a soft smile, “Having fun?” He asked, genuinely curious.

You nodded your head, “Mhm, are you? I’m sure getting up at the crack of dawn to take me shopping isn’t something someone like you would usually like to do for fun,” you said, becoming slightly self conscious when you realised that he probably wasn’t enjoying the morning as much as you were. This was all normal for him, you’d nearly forgotten.

George gave you a perplexed look, “Course I’m having fun, love. But, what do you mean someone like me?”

You shrugged, once again pushing down the butterflies that arose in your stomach from the pet name, “I dunno, you’re just- you’re mischievous and fun and… I don’t know, shopping for stuff with me doesn’t seem like it’s something you’d want to do. I just hope Sirius didn’t force you into it,” you admitted shyly, smiling gratefully at the waiter when he placed the mugs of golden liquid on the table.

George chewed on his bottom lip for a second before he shook his head, “He didn’t force me. I sort of, well, I sort of forced him to let me take you. He wanted Professor Lupin to do it but I…” he let out an exaggerated sigh before giving you a smile, “I wanted to spend time with you,” he confessed sweetly, watching happily as a smile formed on your lips and you tried to hide it in the rim of your butterbeer. He laughed when your face lit up once the liquid hit your lips, “Like it?”

“This stuff is amazing,” you almost shouted, taking another large sip from the drink, “No wonder you all love it so much.”

George snickered, “Just in case it wasn’t clear; I’m having a lot of fun with you,” he said all too casually, taking a sip of his drink.

“Where to now?” You wondered, after you’d finished your drinks and set off back towards the floo network.

George shot you a cheeky look and wiggled his eyebrows, “I’m taking you back to headquarters.”

“Sounds ominous,” you commented, following him into the fireplace, nervously.

“D’you want a tip?” George asked out of the blue and you looked up at him expectantly, nodding. “The dizziness isn’t as bad if you keep your eyes open,” he whispered, taking your hand once again and throwing down the same green powder from earlier and shouting a new location that you hadn’t heard before. You cringed as the world began to spin, listening to George’s advice hadn’t helped much as the transportation was just as awful as it had been the first time. Unbeknownst to you, you were squeezing George’s hand like your life depended on it, George’s thumb had resumed brushing circles around your hand in response, the harsh squeezing didn’t bother him at all, not when it was you doing the squeezing. Just like earlier, George led you out of the fireplace and into the unfamiliar sitting room. Though the room was completely unfamiliar it was full of faces you immediately recognised, one face in particular standing out above all the rest.

In a second you’d dropped not only George’s hand, but all of your shopping bags to the floor carelessly and hurled yourself towards the boy who had already begun rushing towards you the second he caught sight of you appearing in the fireplace. Your bodies collided with so much force that you nearly sent each other tumbling to the ground, laughter sounded from both of you as you swayed the other, almost roughly, the way you always did when reuniting after an extended period of time.

“Glad to see you in one piece, Harry,” you told him with a cheeky smile on your lips, opting not to call him Haz in front of all of his wizard friends lest they tease him, not to mention you’d become quite possessive of the nickname, you wouldn’t be too pleased if anyone else started adopting it. Not that you’d ever admit that out loud.

“Yeah, you too,” his smile was as wide as could be when he shook his head, “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“Do you want me to pinch you?” You teased, jokingly taking his cheek between your thumb and your pointer, giving the skin between them a gentle squeeze. Harry swatted your hand away with a low chuckle and unraveled his arms from around you.

“Alright, you two, if you’re ready we have some matters we need to discuss with our newest member,” Sirius’ voice sounded from behind you, a knowing look on his face as he watched Harry sneakily pinch your arm in retaliation. He had to fight the urge he felt to reminisce on his old school days; when he’d purposely annoy James, Remus or Peter and receive the exact same mockingly vengeful look that you’d just given Harry.

“I’ll bring your things to the kitchen,” George announced, reminding you of his presence before he walked rather quickly out of the room, bags clutched in his hands.

Harry snorted out a laugh when Sirius followed George out of the room, leaving the both of you alone. Harry wiggled his eyebrows and did his best to make his voice take on a sultry tone, “he’s bringing your things to the kitchen.”

“Shut your mouth, Potter,” you replied, pinching his cheek for the second time and tossing your arm around his shoulder, him doing the same as he led you to what you assumed was the kitchen.

“Do I have your permission to open my mouth to tell you something,” Harry asked lightly, stopping so you were both standing outside a closed wooden door.

“I’ll allow it,” you answered, smiling softly at your best friend.

Harry grinned, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Haz,” the boy groaned at the name but made no further comment, he pushed the wooden door open and walked inside.

The room held a long table where many adults were sat, chatting in hushed whispers when you entered the room, some of whom you recognised and some you didn’t. Mrs. Weasley was fluttering about the table, filling people’s tea cups before she spotted you. The woman, who you’d only ever met briefly at King’s Cross station one year, rushed over to you and greeted you warmly, “Hello, dear! Come, come sit down!” She ushered you to a vacant chair beside George and across from Fred, Harry took the seat on your other side. “I trust you got everything you needed from Diagon Alley? I hope that son of mine didn’t cause any trouble for you,” you gave her a friendly smile and shook your head.

“Yes, we were able to find what we needed and George was very helpful,” Mrs. Weasley, seemingly satisfied with your answer, offered a gentle smile to you and George. She then pushed a cup of tea towards you before sitting down herself.

Beneath the table George bumped his knee lightly against yours, but didn’t break from his conversation with his twin as he left his knee pressed against yours. You didn’t draw attention to it either, simply letting your knee relax against his as the witches and wizards at the long table grew quiet in favour of staring at you wordlessly.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard the news of the seer we’ve acquired,” Sirius’ commanding voice broke the silence as he stood up from his chair, and placed his palms against the table, “I’ve brought her here today so that we may discuss proceedings to ensure her safety.”

“Yes,” a toneless drawl, drawn out nasally from the end of the table drew your attention to a black haired man at the opposite end of the table, “and what of Mr. Potter’s presence?” He asked, almost menacingly. Right off the bat, you didn’t like the greasy haired man. He was rigid and his face sported a permanent snarl and from across the table you could already tell; he wasn’t on your side.

“She’s my best friend, I’m here to make sure she’s not going to be put in any unnecessary danger,” Harry told the man shortly, in a tone that he’d more than likely perfected after having spoken to the man previously.

“As touching as that may be,” the older man snarled, “you are not a member of the Order.”

“Oh, enough, Serverus,” Sirius scoffed, pulling his hand down his face in exasperation before he let his eyes settle on Harry, “Perhaps you should wait upstairs for now. We’ll let you know of any significant updates.”

“I’ll tell you everything later, promise,” you whispered quietly, linking his pinky with yours beneath the table before he stropily took his leave.

“As I was saying,” Sirius spared Severus a glare and continued, “As we know, Yn is an unregistered wizard with an unregistered wand, meaning she won’t be on the radar of The Ministry of Magic. On the downside of this, seeing as her power manifested late, she is also untrained.”

All gazes fell to you once more, only Remus’ eyes were staring softly, crinkled at the edges from the smile on his lips, “I’ll be tutoring her in Defence Against the Dark Arts over the summer. She’ll catch up quickly, no doubt,” you smiled gratefully at him from your spot, relaxing a bit knowing that you’d actually be learning how to defend yourself the wizard way.

“I suppose I will be tasked with teaching the art of Occlumency? A seer with an easily accessible mind is hardly an asset,” Severus drawled. You didn’t have a clue what occlumency was, in all honesty, but you kept your mouth shut in favour of asking Remus when the meeting was over.

The meeting soon drew to a close, the older Order members slinking to one end of the table to arrange the schedule for your glorified summer school while you, Fred and George snuck away to find Harry. You found him sitting against the headboard of a bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms, “How’d it go?”

“Take a guess, mate, Snape had a right sour look on his face the whole time,” Fred answered, sitting on the bed across from Harry’s. George sat beside him and you made your way to sit with Harry.

“Ah, so that was the infamous professor Snape?” All three boys nodded, looks of exhaustion on their faces, “I don’t trust him. Something is very off about him,” you spoke thoughtfully and the boys nodded in agreement once again.

“I don’t like the idea of you being alone with him,” George said, his brows furrowed.

Fred snorted and clapped his twin roughly on the shoulder, “Getting a bit jealous are you, Georgie?” Harry laughed along with Fred while you blushed lightly and George felt heat rising up the nape of his neck.

“Sod off,” he muttered, but made no attempt to deny that he was slightly jealous of all the alone time his old evil potions professor would be getting with the girl he was harbouring feelings for.

The afternoon quickly turned into the evening and before long you were gathering your things and preparing to return to Cecillia’s. Harry would be heading back to the Dursley’s later that night, much to his dismay. You told him you’d be back on Privet Drive at some point the next morning since Cecillia would be dropping you home, as she promised your parents, so he wouldn’t have to suffer alone for too long.

That summer came and went in a bit of a blur. Two days in each week were spent learning how to protect yourself against the dark arts with Remus. He’s an amazing teacher, that couldn’t be disputed. In the space of only two months he had you duelling like you’d been doing it since the day you were born. Of course, you were thrilled to be bonding with your wand and developing (according to Remus) a very impressive skill for Defence Against the Dark Arts. But, on top of that, the shared conversations and exchanging of stories over hefty mugs of hot chocolate with the werewolf had been a huge highlight of your summer, and had caused the two of you to grow exponentially closer.

September was nearing and with it came a stiff breeze that prompted the hair on your arms to stand alert as you waited by the bus stop, the one just down the road from your house. Today was to be an important lesson with Remus, he hadn’t told you what the lesson would entail, but he had said that it was a charm that was “of the utmost importance”.

Although June, July and August were technically your summer holidays, you’d barely had a second to rest. You were, at this point, running on fumes and sheer will power. Extensively using magic was bound to wear you out, however, getting a good night’s rest after a gruelling training session had become something of a luxury for you. Visions of the future and retellings of past torments plagued your dreams and allowed you no time to rest. One vision in particular had been reoccurring, it arrived every night for the past two weeks, taunting you. The autumn chill that dripped down your spine reminded you of the premonition, having your hairs standing due to fright, rather than cold. It was always the same, no details ever shifted or warped and, unfortunately, the experience never grew any less harrowing. The warning that the vision brought about weighed on you heavily and followed you around like a stray cat. Images of a cold, desolate, blue-hued cellar lived behind your eyes, the phantom feeling of freezing metal shackles weighed on your wrists painfully and the undiluted terror combined with the indescribable agony brought about by the unfamiliar wand shoved against your throat had you forcing yourself to stay awake until you physically couldn’t anymore, each and every night. Nobody knew about the vision, you didn’t want to worry them, though, you knew that your distress was beginning to become visible; dark bags were prominent beneath your eyes, Harry had watched you fall asleep in the middle of the day, often on his shoulder, almost everyday that week and Remus could tell by the sluggish movements of your wand that your mind was elsewhere.

A few minutes passed before your bus arrived, the journey to Grimmauld Place was quite long but you couldn’t seem to warm up to floo travel, so going on a regular bus was the better option. When the red double decker pulled up, you greeted the driver with a smile and paid for your ticket. You made your way up to the second story and sat right at the front. The bus, as it normally tended to be, was empty. Resting your head against the window, you let your eyes slip shut, the noises of tree branches brushing against the speeding windows lulling you into a, hopefully, peaceful sleep.

Thankfully when you woke up, no visions lingered. You woke up just in time too as the bus was rounding up to your stop. As usual, Remus waited for you at the bus stop, his hands shoved deep in his tattered jacket pockets and a gentle smile on his lips.

Still groggy from your nap, when you exited the bus you greeted Remus with a tired wave.

“Dare I say you haven’t been sleeping well, dear?” He said gently, walking alongside you towards the house.

You thought about it for a second, perhaps telling someone wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. “I’ve just, well, I’ve been having this nightmare,” you started, growing nervous just thinking about it.

“Nightmare or vision?” He pressed as you walked into the house.

Guilt creeped into your chest upon seeing the clear worry on his face, “I think it’s a vision.”

Remus nodded quietly, placing his hand on the small of your back and pushing you in the direction of the living room. He gave you a warm smile, when you sat down on the sofa. He grabbed a blanket that hung over the back of the sofa and draped it over your lap. “I’ll make us some hot chocolate and we can discuss this,” he suggested.

“I thought you had an important lesson for today?” He only shook his head, smiling lightly.

He made his way to the door wordlessly and returned within two minutes with two big, steaming mugs in his hands. Remus handed you a mug and sat down beside you on the sofa, accepting your invitation to pull the blanket over his lap too.

“Now tell me; what has been going on in that wonderful mind of yours?”

You took in a deep breath, staring into the hot chocolate and avoiding his understanding gaze, “It happened for the first time around two weeks ago. I thought that it was just a dream, it didn’t feel like a dream but I thought that if I kept telling myself it was I would start to believe it,” you started, taking a sip of your drink before going back to staring at it, “But it kept coming back. Every night for the last two weeks. I haven’t been able to sleep, I’ve been too scared to,” your voice was small as you made the confession. You hated that the feeling of helplessness was beginning to wash over you yet again.

“What happens in this vision?” At his question, you placed your cup on the floor and turned to face him fully, turning on the sofa and pulling your knees up to your chest.

“It’s always the same. I wake up and the first thing I know is that I’m absolutely freezing. I’m in this cellar-like thing. I’m chained up by my wrists and my feet are barely touching the ground… I can’t see anyone but I can feel-“ your breath hitched and you rushed the swipe the tears that were falling away from your cheeks, “I can feel a wand against my throat, it’s pressing hard. There’s a whisper, it’s quiet and ghostly and I can barely make it out but I hear them say; crucio.”

Remus’ eyes widened in horror.

“Then I feel nothing but agonising pain and then I wake up,” Remus’ eyebrows furrowed.

“You’ve had this same vision every night?” You nodded.

“I know I should have said something but I didn’t want anyone to worry,” it was then that Remus grabbed your hands and looked at you with a sense of urgency you didn’t know he could possess.

“I need you to listen to me very carefully,” his eyes were wild and his hands shook lightly as they held yours, “You-Know-Who is back. There are already reports of certain Wizards going missing and none of us have any doubt that it’s his doing. And although I- we- care for you a great deal, it would serve us all well to remember that you’re a detrimental piece in this war. If he catches wind of you, he’ll stop at nothing to take you from us,” your heart was now running at the speed of a hummingbird. “We have a plan in place to keep you safe, I fear we may have to implement it sooner than planned.”

Before you knew it, you were surrounded by the entire Order of the Phoenix, all of whom looked grave. Cecillia sat to your right while Nymphadora Tonks occupied the seat to your left. You had the pink haired auror to thank for your duelling capabilities, as well as Remus of course. Her presence was comforting, she made it a point to shoot you a wink every time she caught your eyes looking more fearful than usual.

“Our original plan will need to be tweaked, I ran into Narcissa Malfoy in Diagon Alley and she very plainly insinuated that I was a person of interest in the death eating community,” Cecillia informed the table, a, for lack of a better word, bitchy tone laced in her voice. She’d told you many of her Hogwarts stories, you could recall her telling you that she and the woman she’d mentioned, Narcissa, had once been good friends until around their fourth year. She hadn’t told you what exactly had happened, only that it had been messy.

“What was the original plan?” You asked, growing frustrated with the Order’s lack of communication skills.

Thankfully, being one of the younger members of the group, Tonks understood your frustrations and spoke up on behalf of the group, regardless of whether they were ready for you to know or not; she understood that it was your life they were coordinating.

“We talked about relocating you to CeCe’s. We also, and far more pressingly, planned on erasing all traces of you from both the muggle and wizard world. Which would mean using a memory charm on your family and friends in the muggle world,” Tonks explained, eyes locked on yours while everyone else in the room glared daggers at the purple haired girl.

“Yes. Though we also planned on telling you this information with a far more delicate approach,” Snapped Molly Weasley from the end of the table, causing Fred, who sat to her left, to roll his eyes.

“She’s been riddled with visions of being ruthlessly tortured with an unforgivable curse for the past two weeks. I think the time for delicacy is long passed,” the older of the two twins practically scoffed. George nodded in agreement.

“Besides,” he set his gaze on you, eyes genuine and unwavering as he spoke, “she’s strong enough to handle the truth. It’s time you all stopped acting like she isn’t.”

The table fell silent. His words hung in the air as many of the adults hung their heads.

“By memory charm I’m assuming you mean obliviate?” You broke the silence, if you could you hoped to start an open conversation with the experienced witches and wizards that surrounded you.

“Yes. They’re completely reversible and once the war is over I’ll restore all of the memories.” Cecillia said.

“We know it’s a huge ask, dear, but it’s our best chance at keeping you out of that wretched creature’s hands,” Molly attempted to soothe both you and herself when she pictured what it would like to be in your shoes, how she’d feel if she had no other choice but to be forgotten by the thing she valued the most; her family. Molly Weasley had never been very good at hiding her maternal instincts, over the summer that fact had become glaringly obvious to you. You and Harry had laughed about how the children of Privet Drive had a special place in her heart.

“I understand,” you told her sadly, chewing on the inside of your lip, “I’m guessing by the atmosphere in the room that I won’t be home to say goodbye before you wipe their memories,” you shifted yours eyes from person to person, stopping when Cecillia took your hand firmly in hers.

Her lips were downturned and her eyes filled with guilt, she shook her head mournfully, “I’m afraid we can’t risk it, my darling. Even being here places you in danger at the moment.”

“Where will she go then? If CeCe’s place isn’t an option we’ll have to find a safe house,” Sirius sounded and, simultaneously, both Fred and George stood up, shoulder to shoulder with very professional expressions on their faces.

“We may be able to help with that, actually. George, if you would,” Fred started, nodding to his twin who straightened his shoulders and puffed his chest out over so slightly.

“Thank you, Fred. As you know, we have a property for Weasley Wizard Wheezes secured and we’ll be living in the flat above where the shop will be,” everyone at the table, including yourself, stared at the twins in confusion, not quite sure where they were going with their little pitch until Fred took over again.

“And that flat has three bedrooms,” he said, a smirk growing on his thin lips.

George spoke again, “Which means there’s one for me and one for Fred.”

“Which means there’s one spare,” Fred grinned wickedly.

Tonks let out an impressed laugh once the penny finally dropped, “We apparate her in and nobody would ever know a thing. Nobody other than those of us in the room know that Y/n is a friend of the Weasley’s, plus us visiting the joke shop wouldn’t raise any suspicion. I have to give it to them, it’s a great idea,”

“And one of the two of us will always be within shouting distance if anything happens,” George added, somewhat pleadingly.

Sirius looked across the table at you, “Y/n, it’s up to you. Whatever you decide will be final, we won’t interfere,” he promised sincerely. It was an easy decision, but still, it weighed heavily on your chest. In all honesty, you weren’t worried about your location, staying with the twins would surely be a light and fun time amidst all the doom and gloom. Your worry was that you would, once again, be handing over your control. Sirius dressed it up as though it was your choice, but you knew that this was probably their best option and in reality you really had no other choice than to move in with Fred and George.

“Sounds good to me,” you whispered halfheartedly, eyes dropping to stare at your lap as your teeth pulled anxiously at the skin of your lips.

“So it’s settled then,” Remus said, “Y/n will go with Fred and George tonight.”

Abruptly, you pushed your chair away from the table and stood up. Sparing nobody a glance, you left the room as quickly as you possibly could, before the lump in your throat could choke you or the tears that pooled in your eyes spilled like water through a broken dam. George made a move to rise from his seat only for Remus to stop him by placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Give her a moment.”

You found yourself locked in the second story bathroom, sitting in the bath. Your legs hung out over the side of the tub while your head was tilted back against the black tiled wall. As hard as you tried to prevent them, tears were streaming down the expense of your cheeks, neck and beneath the neckline of your shirt. The minutes ticked by yet your chest continued to rise and fall rapidly due to the sobs that shook it, your breath uneven. Visions of brutal torture were bad enough when you were in your own home, in your own warm bed, with your parents just a room away and ready to make you a hot cup of tea after you woke up screaming. Now, the visions would without a doubt continue to plague you, unlike before though, you wouldn’t be waking up in a familiar setting, nor would you fall asleep in the comfort of your own mattress, when you woke up screaming so loud that your throat grew raw, your comfort would rely on two seventeen year old boys who seldom took things seriously. It’s not that you didn’t trust them, no, you trusted them with your life- you are trusting them with your life, it’s just that there was already a lot going on in your mind at the moment, moving in with your crush and his identical twin brother isn’t exactly your idea of a nerve killer.

A knock against the bathroom door pulled you from your thoughts. You rushed to wipe your tears with your sleeves, sniffling, “Come in,” you choked out. Cursing your voice for breaking when you spoke.

Remus’ head poked through the door, his body following soon after. Even in an atmosphere as dense as this one, a sense of gentle calm always followed Remus wherever he went. Clumsily, the werewolf slid into the bath beside you with a low “oof” sound, mimicking your position with his much longer legs dangling closer to the wooden floor than your own.

“CeCe has gone to collect your things for you and get Harry, then, I believe, perform the spell,” he eyed you cautiously, hyper aware of your glassy eyes and puffy face. When your eyes widened and you whipped your face towards him, his stomach twisted into knots, he hated seeing you like this. He could sympathise with your feelings. When James and Lily were killed, and Sirius went to Azkaban and even when Peter was presumed dead, Remus had been left with a vicious frustration fuelled by his belief that he was utterly powerless in his own life. He could see in your eyes that that same notion was starting to creep up on you too.

“Already?” You gasped out, pulse rising again, a slight panic setting in. “It won’t hurt them will it? The spell?” You fretted, looking pleadingly to the man beside you.

He shook his head, tenderly taking your hand and placing it against his clothed chest, his beating heart present against the palm of your shaking hand. “I promise you that they won’t feel a thing. They will go on living an exciting life, travelling, seeing the world safely while you’re away. When this is all over we’ll place their memories of you back in their minds and it will be as though you were never gone.” Your teeth found the inside of your cheek again, gnawing relentlessly at the skin as you failed miserably to hold back a fresh set of tears. Remus squeezed the hand he held against his chest. “Let it out, Y/n. It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone,” he whispered, heart sinking lower when your bottom lip quivered and you let a rasped sob leave your body. With a deep sigh, Remus used the hand he was already holding as leverage to pull you into him, wasting no time he enveloped you in his arms, holding you securely as you cried against his chest. Admittedly, it felt good to let it out, Remus’ hand rubbed soothing circles against your heaving back and eventually, you didn’t know how long it had been, you calmed down, your tear ducts all dried out.

Remus held you in his arms for a while longer, even though you’d stopped crying, he could feel your body as it continued to shake. “I can’t promise you it will all be okay, but I can assure you that myself and Sirius, and everyone else for that matter, will be there for you at the drop of a hat; whatever you need,” he spoke against your hair.

“Whatever I need?” You echoed, the pit in your stomach ever growing.

“Of course,” he confirmed.

Remus startled slightly when you suddenly tore yourself away from him. As best you could in your awkward position, you turned to face him and grabbed his hands with as much urgency as he had done with yours. “I need you to do something for me,” Remus furrowed his brows in confusion, but nodded his head anyway.

“If anything happens to me… Don’t make them remember,” you instructed, maybe the request would’ve seemed radical if you had said it to anyone else, but you knew that Remus had experienced losses like no one else you knew, perhaps Harry came close but even his shortcomings couldn’t compare to Remus’. “It’d only cause them pain. If I die and they’re happily living none the wiser, leave them be, please,” the man let out a heavy sigh and took a moment to take you in. Your eyes were hard yet pleading, they left him no room to negotiate and he understood perfectly where you were coming from.

“Alright,” he agreed before raising his eyebrow and readjusting himself to get a better look at you, “However you should know; no matter what may come of this war, none of us will forget about you. In such a short time you’ve given us so much… you gave Harry his first friendship, a friendship that he cherishes more than anything in the world, I might add. You saved Sirius from death, my fiancé and Harry’s godfather. Mentoring you has given Cecillia a new lease of life and Molly Weasley one more child to knit jumpers for at Christmas,” he took a brief pause then went on, “For the sake of saving time I won’t even begin to tell you what you mean to the twins. My point is;” there was a melancholic type of smile on his face when he paused again, as if he was imagining what it would be like to remember you fondly if you did in fact die for the cause, “What you’re asking is incredibly selfless. And while your mother and father may not remember how wonderful you are, we all will.” Remus chuckled lowly when you shuffled your way back into his arms, squeezing his middle tightly. He slung his arm around your shoulders and delicately pressed his lips to the top of your head. You held so much love in your heart for the man who was currently cradling you in his arms. You debated telling him, you weren’t sure if it was entirely appropriate but after the speech he’d just given you couldn’t have cared less, “Remus?”

“Hm?”

“I love you,” you murmured, looking up at him innocently.

He offered you a toothy smile and breathed out a soft laugh, “I love you too.” With a content nod, you rested your head back against his chest, enjoying his soothing heartbeats against your ear. A melodic hum rumbled against your cheek, a quiet giggle left your mouth when you recognised the melody to the song he was humming. The tune of “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac floated through the bathroom bringing a genuine smile to your lips. The werewolf’s humming was interrupted by another knock against the bathroom door, whoever was knocking didn’t wait for a response before entering the room. Sirius stepped in and quietly shut the door behind him. He didn’t question you and Remus' position in the bath but simply slid into the tub on the other side of you, sandwiching you between himself and Remus. The black haired man let out a heavy sigh and leaned his head back against the tiles.

“The mother hens downstairs are worrying up a storm,” he said in exasperation, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tonks so riled up about someone’s safety. I tasked Molly with making you some hot chocolate to keep her occupied”

“Maybe I should go back down…” you muttered halfheartedly, begrudgingly peeling yourself away from Remus’ warm body.

Sirius gave you an apologetic look, “I held them off for as long as I could.”

“Thanks,” you whispered, bumping your shoulder to his, making him chuckle. After pulling yourself out of the bath, rather clumsily, you took a second to check yourself over in the mirror.

“You’re glowing, darling,” Sirius all but sang from behind you and you couldn’t stop the slight snort that escaped you.

“That’s one way to put it.”

“If you don’t believe me go on downstairs and ask George what he thinks,” Sirius teased, wiggling his eyebrows and receiving a light shove from his fiancé who couldn’t hide his grin.

“Leave her alone, love,” he chastised weakly, “You look perfectly fine, Y/n. Go downstairs and get something to drink, you need to rehydrate.” A bittersweet smile broke out on your lips, his fatherly tone simultaneously soothed you and left you yearning for what you were in the process of losing. Trying not to dwell on the sad fact, you left the bathroom and slowly descended the stairs.

As you assumed, the second you stepped back into the kitchen, Molly began to fret over you as if her life depended on it. Sipping on the hot chocolate she’d given you, you were reminded of how desperately tired you were. All the crying hadn’t helped ease the heaviness in your eyes either. Every bone in your body felt heavy for that matter, you were struggling to even hold your head up.

“You can lean against my shoulder if you’d like,” George’s voice broke you from your hazed state, you’d completely forgotten he was sitting beside you despite his leg that was pressed against yours beneath the table. You gave him a sleepy but grateful smile, as subtly as you could you scooched closer to the ginger and slotted yourself against his side, letting your head fall onto his shoulder. “Will you keep me awake until Harry and Cecillia get here?” You requested in a slurred murmur, your eyes fluttering between open and shut.

“Of course,” was all he said, he looked down at you adoringly, smiling like an idiot when you nuzzled into his shoulder, your nose rubbing against his neck. Try as he might, George couldn’t pull his eyes away from your drowsy face. “What do you propose we do?”

You shrugged your shoulders lightly, “Just talk.”

“How would you like your new room decorated?” He asked quietly, his head tilted down while he spoke to you, so you could hear him and so he wouldn’t ruin the lulled bubble you’d managed to obtain between you by talking too loudly. A sweet smile grew on your face, a smile that all but knocked all the breath out of George’s lungs when you angled your head to make eye contact.

“Can I have a double bed?” George snorted at your question and shook his head no.

“Nothing smaller than a king. What else?”

You pretended to ponder for a moment, “Can we paint it?” The ginger nodded, taking his bottom lip between his teeth.

“If you want to,” he started, almost sounding nervous, “We could paint it together?” Even in your sleep deprived state you hadn’t missed the vulnerability in his voice, it was the same vulnerability that you’d noticed when he’d asked you to go get a butterbeer with him a couple of months ago.

“I’d love that,” you told him, your answer causing his lips to twist into a pleased smile, “How do you feel about the colour green?”

Immediately, his smile dropped and he let out a disgusted scoff, “Green is a Slytherin colour.”

“You keep forgetting that I don’t get the whole house sorty thing,” you reminded him, not happy with his reasoning for hating your favourite colour. “Besides, I love green, it’s my favourite colour.” You told him truthfully. Not content with his disgruntled facial expression you began to defend your preference, “A lot of beautiful things are green; you’ve got grass, trees, emeralds- did you know that emeralds are really useful for enhancing psychic abilities? It also evokes clarity of thought,” you rambled, willing yourself to be quiet when you registered George’s fond expression.

The look of endearment aimed at you brought butterflies to life in your stomach, effectively waking you up somewhat.

“Do you have any emerald?” He asked, you assumed he was only feigning interest, you didn’t know that he could’ve listened to you go on and on about anything and everything for the rest of his life.

“No, not yet. I should probably get some though.” You said through a yawn. Your breath against his neck made him giggle, it was pure and unsuspecting but you took note of it. Everything about George Weasley felt like sunshine to you, his laugh filled your chest with warmth whenever you heard it, his eyes found yours like a lighthouse, guiding your lost mind back to the present each time your gazes connected. His voice, like his laugh, warmed you up when you were cold, giving you a reason to stay awake when you’d rather just slip away. In conjunction with the sun, even if you couldn’t physically see him, you never doubted that he was always there. As well as all of that, like your favourite tarot card; The Sun, he signified good things, hope that hard times will end with you on top, contentment and happiness. While your thoughts consisted of George’s similarities to the sun, his were consumed with the, in his mind, overwhelmingly cheesily romantic notion that you were the moon and the stars, he would’ve cringed if he didn’t wholeheartedly believe it. Everything that made the night sky magnificent was reflected in you. Like the stars, you were mysterious and captivating. Nothing seemed to compare to your glow or beauty, if you were to ask him what he preferred; you or the night sky on a clear night, he’d happily ignore a blank, starless sky in favour of simply staring at you as you went on tangent after tangent about crystals or tarot cards.

The pair of you were pulled from your musings when Harry rushed through the kitchen door looking unmistakably heartbroken, ever the empath when it came to his best friend, Harry’s heart sank the moment he laid eyes on your form, limp against George’s side. The second you saw him you all but ripped yourself from George’s side and the older redhead felt a surge of irrational jealousy begin to build in his chest at how fast you left his hold in favour of the chosen one. He knew it was ridiculous, he’d heard the way each of you respectively talked about each other, at this point you were practically siblings. But he supposed it was rational to be jealous when you liked someone the way he liked you.

Quickly, you crossed the room to Harry who had his arms already outstretched. He knew you were emotionally exhausted when you didn’t bear hug him. You meekly slid your arms beneath his open zip-up hoodie, tucked your head beneath his chin and didn’t say a word. “I shouldn’t bother asking if you’re okay then,” Harry muttered to himself, leaning his cheek against the top of your head and wrapping his lanky arms around your frame.

“Did Cecillia remember to bring Astra?” You asked, it was all you wanted to know about the night’s events.

“She’s in her cage in the living room, darling,” Cecilia said, walking into the room looking guilty.

“C’mon, let’s go have a chat,” Harry suggested, leading you out of the kitchen and upstairs to his unofficial room. Once inside the room you sat down on the edge of the bed, the blue duvet softly creasing beneath you. Harry plopped himself down beside you and offered you a gesture that was always saved for when either of you felt the other was on the edge of something dangerous. Your hands rested against your lap and he deftly slid his pinky over yours, intertwining your two littlest fingers. It was such a familiar experience; he’d done it when your grandparents died, when you’d cried over failed exams that you worked hard for, and in turn, you did it for him when he’d felt as though he had no place in the world, when he’d open up about his parents and when Cedric died and the ministry dragged his name through the mud you’d find your pinky tangled with his almost every night after he’d sneak over to your place after another nightmare or panic attack. “Do you want to talk about it?”

You shook your head, “Not tonight. I don’t want to cry anymore,” you croaked out, looking straight ahead of you at the grey painted wall.

“I understand,” he said, sighing and dropping his head onto your shoulder, “Let’s talk about something else then.”

“Like what, Haz?”

Harry snorted out a chuckle, “Like the way George looked like he wanted to hex me when you left him to come to me,” he teased, a smug lilt to his voice.

“He wasn’t teasing me, perhaps I’ll go back to him,” you grumbled, ignoring Harry’s childish giggles.

“Yeah you’d like that wouldn’t you?” You smacked his arm lightly with your free hand, doing a bad job of containing giggles of your own. “Don’t worry, since he’s going to be your new roommate there will be plenty of time for “oh George I’m so sleepy, please hold me until I fall asleep”,” you let out a cackle at Harry’s terrible impression of your voice, laying your cheek against his wild hair.

“That is so not what was going on, Haz,” you defended with a tiny smile.

Harry let out an airy, disbelieving chuckle, “Then what was going on?”

“He just said I could lean on him until you and Cecillia arrived and we just started chatting about how I wanna decorate my room,” you explained truthfully and Harry nodded.

“Riveting,” he mumbled sarcastically. Despite his snarky comment, the boy removed his head from your shoulder and pulled you against his chest. “Jokes aside, I’m glad you’re staying with him, I know he’ll look after you for me,” you rolled your eyes at the sentiment.

“I don’t need to be looked after,” you reminded him, looking up at him with a chastising smile.

He rolled his eyes right back at you, jostling you slightly in his arms, “No. But you like to be.”

You threw your head back in laughter, “Yeah, I suppose I do.” You did. You quite like both doting on people and being doted on, you’d grown up in an affectionate family so it was no wonder really.

“It’s getting late. We should get you settled into your new home,” Harry announced, pulling himself and you up from the bed, “I wasn’t going to say anything but you look terrible. You need sleep.”

“Thank you, Harry. Just what every girl wants to hear before moving in with her crush,” you joked, gently hitting your hip against his.

The kitchen was quiet when you returned, it seemed everyone had grown tired from the dramatic events of the evening.

“Ready to go then?” Fred asked, his coat already on and a handful of your bags in his hands.

“As I’ll ever be I suppose.”

After saying goodbye to everyone you, Fred and George traveled to their apartment by floo, to your dismay. The apartment was bare as they’d only just moved in but you could see it had lots of potential for becoming a cozy home for the twins.

As your first night in your new residence began, your aching eyes and tired mind didn’t leave you with any time to dwell on current events, the second your head made contact with the pillow you were out like a light. A dreamless slumber welcomed you for a while until your peace was broken by the all too familiar nightmare.

The first thing you recognised was the burn coming from your wrists. Shackles adorned them and effectively held your hands high above your head, stretching them uncomfortably. Goosebumps painted the expanse of your arms and legs, due to the freezing temperature in the nondescript cellar. A feeling of hopelessness planted firmly in your chest, the feeling only hightening when the familiar echo of footsteps, heavy and loud, drifted from the corridor outside of your field of vision. You knew who was approaching, you’ve lived this before, and so, you held your lip between your teeth and squeezed your eyes shut. The face of the dark wizard who always brought about your intense suffering was, for the most part, completely fuzzy, unrecognisable, featureless and bone-chillingly terrifying. You’d learned over the last two weeks of having this vision that it was less harrowing if you closed your eyes.

“I’ll ask you once more,” The voice was distorted, like it was being heard through a weedy radio, ominously unplaceable, “Where is he?”

You held no control over your voice, as was the norm during visions, as you felt and heard yourself reply, “I’ll tell you once more; I’d sooner die then sell him to you.” You felt your teeth gritting and your jaw clenching while you spoke. Jaw only tightening when the pointed tip of the wizard’s wand stabbed unforgivingly against the column of your neck.

“And die you will, my dear. But not yet-“ your eyes sealed themselves shut and you did your best to shake yourself out of the vision before what you knew was coming took place, as usual, your attempts were fruitless, “-Crucio.” Just like that your body was consumed by pain, the likes of which you’d never imagined possible, until you couldn’t even register yourself screaming anymore.

You bolted upright, clutching at the sheets of your new bed. Laboured breaths left your mouth and you aimlessly gripped at your neck, where the wand had been pressed, and let the tears spill freely. Momentarily disoriented, you’d forgotten where you were. Deep, heavy bursts of air left your mouth as you hastily scurried out of bed and towards the door. Somewhat aimlessly, you gravitated to the door across the hall. A yellow hue seeped from under the frame into the otherwise dark hallway. Light flooded the hall once you managed to fumble the handle down and pull the door ajar, a discombobulated ginger greeting you with half lidded eyes, obviously having been dozing off before you disturbed his peace.

“Sorry,” you rasped once your peace of mind returned to you and you realised where you were. Despite knowing that you shouldn’t have been standing numbly in his doorway, your feet seemed to be rooted in place, you couldn’t have walked away if you wanted to.

“S’alright,” George called out to you softly, sitting up in his bed, his back against the headboard. “You can come in, you know.”

Shutting the door behind you, you nervously shuffled into the room, stopping when you reached the side of his bed. George’s eyes roamed your face and he took notice of your still somewhat panicked expression, he drew his covers to the side and patted the empty space by his side. Something that always intrigued you was people’s preferred side of the bed, some people gravitated towards the left while others were more biased towards the right, but George Weasley? He slept right in the middle. The twin slept with a huge number of pillows, to the point where it was almost laughable, many of which you could only guess he’d smuggled from the Burrow.

Far too wound up to save face, you slid into his bed and didn’t shy away when he guided you into his side and tucked you tenderly beneath his lean arm. His embrace offered a greatly appreciated warmth as the chill of the dank dungeon always lingered long after the vision itself was over.

“What’re you doing up so late?” You asked, your voice gravelly. As you spoke, George effortlessly shuffled your body and his down so that your backs were resting on the mattress and not the headboard. Your head found it’s home against George’s shoulder and your hair was being tentatively twirled between his fingers.

“It’s our first night actually sleeping here. I couldn’t get to sleep,” he explained, his voice low and laced with fatigue. “I’m not really used to having my own room. It’s strange not hearing Freddie snoring or breathing.”

“I get that,” you whispered, “it’s quite comforting knowing for certain that someone is there with you.”

George nodded then. His eyes were glued to your face and he hadn’t even registered his own thought process before his lips were pressing delicately against your forehead. Today had appeared to be the day for laying all your cards out on the table, yourself and George hadn’t danced around your feelings for each other half as much as you usually did when you’d be in each other’s presence. Neither of you had the energy anymore, besides, if today’s events proved anything it was that; things were getting seriously messy as the war built momentum and it was clear that time was something that could very well be running out.

“Yeah,” he regarded you carefully, a little grin growing on his lips, “It is.”

A comfortable silence overtook the room. George’s twirling of your hair never ceased, every now and then his fingers would ghost over your shoulder and you’d catch yourself smiling against the cotton of his shirt as your eyes grew tired enough that they were close to falling shut.

Just as you were working up the motivation to lift yourself up and trudge back to your own bed, George spoke, “You can sleep here if you want, with me,” there was that innocent vulnerability again. There was never an ulterior motive when it came to him, he did things purely for the sake of making others happy, if he felt he could make a difference he simply needed to. Especially when it came to you, he realised.

“You don’t mind?” You asked, daring to peek up at him.

“Course not. I could use some company anyway.” He reassured you, his lips returning to your forehead, only this time the action held far more intention. “You don’t snore do you, love?”

You snorted out a giggle, looking up at the ginger cheekily, mischief dripping from your little grin that forced George’s heart to stutter rather violently and he hoped you hadn’t noticed. “No. But I drool.”

George’s face contorted, his nose scrunching up adorably in disgust, “Do you really?”

“Suppose you’ll have to find out, won’t you?” You teased and he sighed deeply, his disgruntled expression melting into a soft, adoring smile.

“I should’ve expected this, I knew you couldn’t have been completely perfect,” he said, mockingly sorrowful.

You scoffed, pushing his chest lightly, “You’re doing a lot of sweet talking tonight, Mr. Weasley,” you told him and he shrugged innocently.

“Just wanted to see you smiling again, darling.”

“Yeah, well, you’re doing a good job,” you assured him, the bashful yet tired smile that stretched your lips as you gazed up at him proved that you meant what you’d just said. “I like it by the way, the sweet talking.”

At your words, a huge, shit eating smirk grew on the boy’s freckled face. He managed to rearrange your bodies so that you were still tucked under his arm but you were now facing each other at eye level. “I knew it,” he proclaimed cockily.

You raised a challenging eyebrow, biting back a smirk, “Oh did you?”

George nodded pridefully, “‘Course I did. You see, I’m a little bit psychic,” his words forced a booming laugh from your lips, your cheeks hurting from the smile he’d orchestrated.

You shook your head, smile never dulling as you let out a chastising whisper, “oh sod off.”

“I love your smile,” he said suddenly, his eyes widened in horror when he realised he’d uttered the words out loud. The world could’ve stopped in that moment and you wouldn’t have noticed, all you could take in was George’s face, his eyes searching yours for something.

Carefully, you slid from hand from his chest to his red, blushing face. You cupped his cheek gently, moving your thumb against his cheek bone, almost swooning where you lay when he nuzzled against your touch. Working up some Gryffindor courage, George mimicked your movement, removing his arm from around your shoulder and bringing his palm to rest against the curve of your jaw.

As you stared at each other, you weighed up the pros and cons of telling him that you were completely head over heels for him. Your decision, apparently taking far too long, was made for you when George tugged you impossibly closer to him.

“I wasn’t going to tell you… you’ve had so much going on I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” he said, brown eyes boring into your soul.

“Tell me what?”

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for every possible outcome that may spring once the words on the tip of his tongue are spoken aloud, “That I love you.”

[fanficbitch]

In Another Life // Jane Emily

A/N: The first child between Y/N and Hotch!

Aaron Hotchner x y/n

September 2013

The level of uncomfort I am feeling is indescribable. It hurts when I lay on my side, it hurts when I lay on my back, it hurts to sit. Just everything is painful. I don’t know how people do this multiple times. This might have to be my only pregnancy. 

Aaron has been out on a case for the last four days and I am practically useless. So Jess has been coming over to help and take care of Jack. I don’t know how we would survive without her.

Jess left me propped up against the headboard by at least four pillows. I am nearly sitting up. However, this just happens to be the best position that I have found. I glance at my clock and see that it is nearly 2 in the morning. I have to get some sleep, but I don’t feel that happening soon.

To my surprise, the door to my bedroom opens to reveal Aaron. “What are you still doing up?” he asks as he walks in.

“I can’t sleep. I’m too uncomfortable,” I whine. Aaron gives me a sympathetic look then begins to undress from his suit. “How was the case?”

“A little complicated. We were stumped for a while till Reid had a genius moment and figured it out.”

I chuckle slightly. “He’s quite good at that, isn’t he?”

Once Aaron has his pajamas on he gets into bed and properly greets me with a kiss. “Now, how have you been?”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly,” he confirms.

“I have just been miserable. I can’t sleep or sit properly,” I say then place my hands on my stomach. “I just need this baby out.”

“It should only be a few more days,” Aaron assures me.

“Your time off starts now right?” I ask and he nods. Although him and I both know that he could still be called in at any minute.

Aaron scoots closer to me so he can place his hand on my belly. Almost immediately, I feel kicks at the top of my stomach. Aaron smiles while I wince in pain. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this,” I mutter.

“You have to admit she knows her daddy,” Aaron smiles. A true smile from him. I am lucky and see them more than most people do, but every time I see one I am overjoyed.

I place my hand on his cheek and his eyes meet mine. “This baby has no idea just how lucky she is,” I say.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Aaron says. He leans in and kisses me slowly until the kicking starts again. I place my hand on top of his hand that rests on my belly.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I whisper into his hair.

“Me too,” he smiles.

                                                          **********

When I wake up, it’s to a jolt of pain. With my eyes closed, I reach my hand out and try to find my boyfriend’s hand. After a moment of searching, I open my eyes and see that no one is there.

I check my clock and see that it is almost 7 in the morning, which means Aaron is already knee deep in emails.

I hoist myself out of bed and waddle down the stairs. I find Aaron exactly where I expect to find him, in his office. I peek inside and see him intently staring at his computer with his glasses on. “Hey,” I whisper as I walk in the doorway.

“Hey,” he says and whips off his glasses. He quickly gets up and leads me out of the office and into the living room then onto the couch. Once I’m settled, Aaron takes the other side of the couch. “How was your night?” 

I sigh. “It was rough. I had contractions nearly the whole night, but they’re at least a half hour apart and not lasting very long.”

“Okay, well do you want me to make you some breakfast?”

“Always,” I smile.

“On it,” Aaron says and gives me a kiss before heading to the kitchen.

I manage to get a magazine off the coffee table and flip through it for a few minutes, then I get bored. I move to the dining room so I can overlook Aaron in the kitchen as he makes breakfast.

“So, how has work been today?” I ask.

“I’m on vacation,” Aaron tells me.

“Listen honey, we can do this whole thing where we both pretend you aren’t working, but know you are. Or we can just talk about it,” I say as he bites his bottom lip in thought. “I really don’t mind. I like hearing about work.”

“Well in that case, Morgan is taking over for me while I’m gone and he was just asking a few questions,” he says as he butters my toast. “He says he’s going to do his best not to bother us these next two weeks.”

“Hmm, okay,” I hum.

“What?” Aaron asks as he slides the toast in front of me then sits next to me.

“I just don’t think there is anyway you can stay away from work for that long,” I say. “If Morgan doesn’t call you I’m sure you’ll lend your services.”

“That is not true,” he fights back. I raise my eyebrows at him, but still continue to eat my toast. But halfway through my first piece, pain pierces through my stomach. I lean over and clutch my stomach with one hand while my other one finds Aaron’s hand. “Just breathe through it,” Aaron coos and I do. It’s over within 30 seconds, but it was still painful.

I look up and meet his eyes once it’s over. “Are you sure these aren’t braxton hicks?” Aaron asks.

“I’m sure. These are way stronger than ones I’ve gotten earlier,” I say and he nods.

Just then, a sleepy Jack turns into the dining room, still in his pajamas. “Hey buddy,” Aaron says.

“Hey,” Jack croaks then sits at his seat. “Could I have breakfast please?”

“Yes, I will get you some cereal,” Aaron says then runs off to the kitchen. Jack’s sleepy expression quickly turns to happy when he realizes what we’re getting close to.

“Could she come today?” Jack asks excitedly.

“She could,” I say with a nod.

“Can you please, please, please tell me her name?” he begs.

“We aren’t set on anything,” Aaron says as he returns to the dining room with the cereal. Jack looks back at me from his dad and I give him a wink. I’d say we’re pretty set on the name, Aaron just doesn’t completely know that yet. 

Jack quickly finishes his cereal then goes upstairs to get changed. Aaron slips on shoes even though he is still wearing his pajamas. “You’re taking him to school like that?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”

“It’s just an interesting choice for someone who usually wears a suit everyday,” I say. “At least I won’t have to worry about any soccer moms hitting on you.”

“I think they’ve learned better by now,” Aaron says as Jack runs down the steps with his bag. “Okay, buddy let’s go,” Aaron says as he ushers him to the garage.

“Bye Jack!” I call.

“Bye Mom!” he calls back and then the door shuts. I’m still not completely used to Jack calling me mom, but I still love it.

I get myself out of the dining room chair then waddle towards the steps. Before I can even get up one step, a gush of water spreads down my legs. Oh no.

                                                         **********

Luckily, it did not take Aaron long to get back. Once he got home, we both sprang into action and grabbed our things then got in the car. 

I got checked in relatively quickly and am currently sitting in my hospital bed. The contractions just keep getting closer and closer together. I know she’s coming soon.

“Aaron,” I say because he is across the room talking to the doctor. He quickly leaves the doctor and comes to my side. “Hold my hand,” I say, nearly begging.

“Of course,” he says and takes my hand. 

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“The doctor is going to check to see how far along you are,” he says and I nod.

Dr. Larson soon pops out from my lower parts with a smile. “Okay, Mama it’s time to push. Are you ready?”

I look to Aaron before responding. He gives me a reassuring nod which gives me more confidence then he’ll ever know. “Let’s do this,” I say.

HOTCH POV

I lightly coo to the new bundle of joy that rests in my arms. I try to be as quiet as possible because Y/N just fell asleep. 

I slowly rock my arms back and forth as my baby stares up at me. She’s calm and quiet, just like her dad. She let out a few cries the moment she was born, but since then she’s been quiet as a mouse. Her eyes flutter open and close, showing me her beautiful brown eyes. 

I glance up at my girlfriend again. I can’t believe we created something so precious. I forgot that feeling when you have a newborn, but it’s all coming back. The warmth, the wholeness, the pureness. I can’t believe I have gone eight years without this feeling.

There is a soft knock at the door, then Jessica pokes her head in. “Can you take a visitor?” she asks and I raise my eyebrow, unsure. She pushes the door open a little wider and Jack carefully steps into the room. Jessica closes the door again to give us some privacy. 

“Can I see her?” Jack asks softly and I nod. He comes the rest of the way over and stares down at her. “She’s really small.”

“You were this small once,” I whisper. We both stare down at her for a moment while she sleeps. 

“Can I have my baby back?” I hear from behind Jack. Y/N has woken up from her very short nap, but has her arms held out for a baby.

“I wanted you to sleep a little longer,” I say as I stand up slowly.

“I can’t,” Y/N says. “This bed is lumpy.”

Finally, Y/N notices Jack and shows a large smile. “Jack! Did you get to meet your sister yet?”

“Yeah, but she’s sleeping,” he says.

Y/N scoots over to make a small empty space on the bed. “Come up here,” Y/N says. Jack hops up on the bed so he is squeezed next to Y/N. “Do you want to hold her?”

Jack nods excitedly. “Okay,” I say as I place her in Jack’s arms. “Make sure you support her head,” I add. Once the nerves go away, I realize my heart is bursting. The three people I love most in the world all in one place.

“Can I know her name now please?” Jack begs.

I look down at Y/N and smile which is all the confirmation she needs. “Okay,” Y/N says. “Her name is-,”

“Hi!” I hear from the doorway. Garcia is standing with a large bouquet of balloons. “Can I come in?”

“Yes, come in,” I say and she does. Garcia sets the balloon holder on the ground then slowly walks up to the bed. She looks down at our baby for a moment, then covers her mouth. 

“Oh my gosh, she is just beautiful!” Garcia says.

“Well we think so,” I say as I stare down at her. She begins to fuss in her swaddle then lets out a loud wail. Y/N takes our baby from Jack then sighs.

“I think she’s hungry,” Y/N says. 

“Okay, we’ll give you guys a minute,” Garcia says then leads Jack out of the room. Before I know it, Y/N is already feeding our baby. I sit on the edge of the bed and place my hand Y/N’s leg.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Y/N chuckles.

I shake my head in disbelief. “I’m just so happy,” I say. “I am also so proud of you. I can’t believe you brought this beautiful, little girl into our lives.”

Y/N smiles down at her. “She is pretty perfect.”

I lean forward all the way and give her a kiss. “You’re perfect,” I whisper.

“Oh, Aaron,” Y/N laughs.

The more I think about it, the more I realize my whole life is perfect. I have a beautiful wife, two healthy children and a stable job. There is nothing more I could ever want.

I scoot closer to my daughter and my girlfriend. “Jane, how have we gone this long without you?” I ask.

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Request: Near Death (Volturi Leaders x Reader)

WARNING: Major Injuries! Near Death Situations! 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or in the medical profession. I did some google searches for the themes mentioned. Such injuries usually take weeks to months of healing not to mention rehabilitation. I’ve had to condense this process down significantly. 

Alice's eyes shifted rapidly, panic etched across her face. Jasper held her hands, sitting beside her. It was his attempt to comfort her but she didn't seem to recognise he was even there, too caught up in the vision as well as the panic. She wouldn't even explain what was happening before her. Alice begged for someone to contact the Volturi. However Carlisle was at work and no one else knew if he'd have a direct line to them. 

Regardless, Alice continued to plead to inform the Volturi. Inform them of what, it was yet to be known. She wouldn't say. "What is it Alice?" Jasper asked again, trying to get her attention as Emmett typed away on the laptop. "We're going the long way." He said hurriedly as Rosalie grabbed the phone. She looked over Emmett's shoulder as she dialled. She didn't even spare whoever it was on the other end of the phone a greeting. "This is Rosalie Cullen and you need to pass the phone to the Volturi immediately! No, not just a guard! Aro! Anyone! Just do it!" Rosalie turned her attention to Alice. "Alice, you need to tell us what's happening now!" 

Everything was peaceful in the Volturi castle. Yet the receptionist seemed to start pandemonium in a matter of seconds. She hurried to the first guard she could find who had been Jane. She stared the human down as the receptionist hurriedly relayed that Rosalie Cullen was on the phone and had to talk to the leaders. All in fluent hurried Italian with fear of the situation as well as fear of Jane. Jane silently took the phone, telling the human to go back to her post which she did. "Rosalie?" Jane said into the phone. "Jane!?" "Yes?" "Jane, this is an emergency. You need to go to Aro immediately!" "What is this about?" "Don't ask questions, just do it!" Rosalie snapped. All the while Jane could hear a panicked Alice Cullen in the background rambling. Jane huffed but complied. 

Jane moved briskly into the throne room, moving into the middle, phone in hand with a stern expression upon her face. "Masters, pardon the intrusion but Rosalie Cullen is on the phone. She deems it is an emergency. I believe I may have heard (Y/N)'s name." The three suddenly had all their attention on Jane. "Jane!? Jane are they there!?" Jane put the phone onto speaker. "We're all here and can hear you." "Alice had a vision about (Y/N). Some thing is happening!" 

Rosalie's attention moved back to Alice. "Alice! They're on the phone! You need to tell us what is happening!" "I chased it!" Alice cried out. "I chased the vision. I saw (Y/N) in a car and i think it was about to crash!" There was silence on both ends, only Alice saying a word. "I'm trying to see further!" Alice continued to talk, no one else able to say a word. "I saw them lying there in a hospital bed, please let me be wrong! Please!" Suddenly Alice screamed and the three leaders rushed towards Jane who still had the phone. "Alice, what is happening!?" Aro demanded. "They...it crashed. They...they're not moving!" 

Charlie Swan kept his hand on his radio, listening in for any updates. More police had been called in when it was discovered the driver who collided into the taxi vehicle was very drunk. He had been speeding whilst intoxicated and both vehicles were absolutely destroyed. The taxi driver had so many injuries that he couldn't be properly identified. It was clear the man was dead. He had to have died instantly. His passenger on the other hand wasn't so easy to determine. Although Charlie recognised them immediately. You were a family friend of Carlisle's. 

The paramedics on scene determined it was necessary to remove you from the vehicle. So with help from officers, they did. You were laid on the cold ground. From what Charlie could hear, you were barely clinging on and completely unresponsive. You had to be taken to hospital immediately. That was when Charlie could get a better look at you. You were in very bad shape and covered in blood from your head. Never would he know, as his thoughts went to the Cullen family, Alice had already seen the image of your unconscious body and unable to hold back, she screamed. 

Before the three Volturi leaders decided they'd immediately go to America, another phone call was received this time from Carlisle. Half an hour after Alice's phone call. "Are they alright?" Aro asked. Carlisle was silent in the other end of the phone before finally answering. "We nearly lost them on the way to the hospital. They're condition is very unstable right now. However we're doing everything we can to stabilize them. We'll be working on them all night. I'd ask that you wait for my next call before you leave." "You ask that we stay here whilst our mate is over there and injured!?" Caius seethed. "I need your trust. I will do everything I can. As soon as I have more answers, I'll give them to you and we can go from there." "Carlisle..." Marcus finally spoke up. "Are they going to make it through the night?" There was silence again. "I will do everything in my power to make sure that the next time we speak, (Y/N) is stable and we can arrange for you to come. I'm sorry, I can't give you anything more than that." Marcus clenched his eyes shut turning away. Aro and Caius knew what he was thinking immediately. He couldn't go through this again, losing another mate. Caius wanted to demand that you be changed but he knew that wasn't possible in your condition and where you were. There was too much attention surrounding you. 

Hours passed and the silence from Carlisle was slowly killing the three leaders. Caius was the first to break the silence. "We should never have left them there." His voice was quiet- which was very unlike him. "It's what they wanted." Aro replied softly. "We wanted them here." Caius shot back. "We don't even know how this happened." "We will." Aro responded. "We need to have hope that (Y/N) pull through." "If they don't?" Caius asked. "That's not an option." Aro replied. 

For twelve hours, a different kind of silence lay over the Volturi castle- a heavier one. The three perked up as the phone rang again. Caius and Marcus stood up sharply. Marcus had his hands covering his nose and mouth, pure anxiety hitting the man at this point. Aro was the one who answered the phone. "Hello, Aro. We were operating all night. I have good news and bad news. I will start with the good. (Y/N) is alive and significantly more stable." Marcus exhaled, falling back into his chair, Caius putting a hand on Marcus' arm to steady him. Caius' hand stayed on Marcus' arm as he glared into the phone as though trying to pry out more information. "They are?" Aro responded. "Yes. Although I'd ask you all be sitting down for the bad news. It's quite hard hitting and extensive." Caius grumbled but also sat back down. "Go on, friend." Aro said.  "(Y/N)'s injuries are mostly in their head and torso. Their legs are badly bruised but not broken. They have minor cuts in their hands and arms from the glass shattering. We believe they moved their arms to cover their face. Their spine is bruised but not broken. Upon the investigation with the police, (Y/N) was jolted multiple times upon impact. Their face is bruised but I couldn't feel any fractures or breaks. Unfortunately we discovered more serious injuries upon further inspection which forced us to operate. (Y/N) has broken ribs which punctured her organs and caused internal bleeding. We have since stopped the bleeding and corrected the breaks within their ribs which will be healing in weeks. However, I must inform you that (Y/N) has not been responsive or conscious during their observation period. We have discovered that (Y/N) has minimal brain activity." "What does that mean?" Aro asked quietly. "It means that (Y/N) is in a coma." "Carlisle, I don't know what that means." Aro said flatly but his jaw had begun to clench. "It means that (Y/N) is alive but cannot be woken up. They show no sign of awareness and is unresponsive to their environment. Sometimes the extensive injuries cause the brain to shut down to minimal activity so that the healing process can take place. They are currently in a vegetative state and at this time, all we can hope is that they will at one point wake up on their own." "Can we go to them?" Marcus asked. "I have to keep in what we are and I think it's best if you make that decision, wary that the smell of their blood will be stronger." Carlisle answered. "It will take us a few days." Caius continued, the other two leaders no longer able to speak. "Surely that would be enough for that to settle." "Of course. All I ask is that you prepare yourself to see them. It will be a shock and I will need to prepare you before hand regardless." 

When those days passed and the three leaders had arrived. They discovered there had been no change in your condition. Carlisle had somehow been able to get you transported to his home given the relationship he had with you. Therefore he would be able to care for you, just as he had in the hospital. However, as unconventional as it was, the hospital insisted they remained updated with your condition. 

The three leaders and Carlisle stood outside your room, Carlisle put his hand on the handle. Before they'd enter your room, Carlisle warned the three again. "You'll see them attached to a lot of machinery. Keep in mind it's a very good sign that (Y/N) is breathing on their own, however they do have apparatus to help them breathe better. Although I am more concerned that their visible injuries will be shocking for you." "Thank you for preparing us, friend." Aro said passively and Carlisle opened the door. The three were around your bed in moments. All exhaling with horror and heartbreak. 

You looked more fragile than you had ever. Purple, black and blue bruises across your body from what they could see. However the cuts in your hands seemed to be the first thing to really heal. "Why not change them now?" Caius said flatly trying to hide his emotions but the way he physically sank into himself, as well as the broken look in his eyes, he was broken by the very sight of you. Carlisle shook his head. "They can't be changed. Not until they wake up." "Why?" Caius asked sternly. "Because right now there is a chance that they won't wake up. Changing them won't fix this. We need to give them time." "So we sit and do nothing and hope they wake up!?" Caius snapped. "You're role is just as important and it's vital that you do it. Be there with them, talk to them, comfort them because I can't do that. You're their mate." Carlisle responded before turning to Aro. "All we can hope is that they wake up and then we'll take it from there." Marcus lightly touched your hand. "Do they knew we're here?" "Comas aren't so clear. We don't know if they can hear us." Carlisle responded. "Regardless it's important you interact with them because it may prompt their brain to respond to stimuli. Even if you don't get a response. It'll help." "Thank you, Carlisle." Aro said with a blank stare. Carlisle nodded. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't fix this." Carlisle said with sympathy and some guilt. Aro nodded. "You did everything you could." "I had really hoped for a better outcome. That they'd be awake for you arriving." Aro smiled slightly. "We all had that hope, nevertheless, our mate is alive because of you. For that, we are grateful." "Carlisle?" Caius spoke up, his fingers coaxing your hand gently into his. "How did this happen?" "The accident?" Carlisle asked. Caius nodded. "A drunk driver, speeding and collided into the car (Y/N) was in. The one driving in (Y/N)'s vehicle died instantly." Caius mouth twisted in hatred. "A human...nearly killed our (Y/N) because they were intoxicated?" Carlisle slowly nodded. "Don't tell us who it was." Marcus said gravely, his eyes stuck onto you. "If you do, we won't hesitate to kill him." "Laws, be damned." Caius agreed. "One more thing..." Marcus spoke up, finally tearing his eyes from you and towards Carlisle. "Are they in pain? Right now and before. Has (Y/N) suffered?" Carlisle shook his head. "They haven't been conscious and now that we know they're in a coma. I can safely say that haven't felt a thing. Due to the minimal brain activity and unresponsiveness, they won't feel any pain. None of their senses are working." Carlisle continued. "Remember what I said, the most random of interactions at any time can be picked up and that's the first sign of waking up." 

Aro was the first to really approach you. He ran his fingers across your cheek. He couldn't see anything from the accident onwards. He didn't dare lose hope that you were still in there though. "Hello, beautiful. We're here now." He said softly, kissing your forehead. Caius silently looked at his brother. Watching as he doted over you with ease. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, wishing he could move past his emotions and do the same. However the most he had been able to accomplish was lightly touching their hand, coaxing it into his own. It wasn't the same, your hand was described as the rest of your body. Unresponsive. His touch went unnoticed and he had never longed for even a twitch in your body. Some movement that told him you were there. However his silent pleads went ignored and you didn't move.  Aro smiled at his brothers, seemingly knowing what they were feeling and why they hesitated. "You need to think of it like they are here because for all we know, they are. They've been waiting for us."

Sometimes all three stayed with you, other times they took turns individually, each growing to find comfort that you were still alive and it's easier to think you were still in there. When it was Caius' turn. You'd have been shocked as he had closed himself off from everyone, barely speaking a word whether in company or left alone with you. Caius seemed to struggle the most with your condition. He struggled to see past it. Struggled with knowing you weren't conscious and you didn't know he was there. He found it more difficult to talk to someone who wouldn't give even the smallest sign they had heard him. 

The first thing he did was approach your bedside, hovering over you to kiss your forehead. Caius whispered something to you, in that moment, unable to care whether you could hear it or not. The relief had finally sank in that you had survived the accident. "Thank you for not dying." He pulled up a chair beside you. "I never thought I'd see you like this." Caius softly admitted. "Forgive me. I find it difficult to talk to you. I know it could help. I look at you and the pain in my chest only grows bigger. So much that I'm unable to talk. I want to be optimistic like everyone else. Talk to you because you will eventually wake up. I want that more than anything. Instead I can only stare as my heart breaks over and over again because someone hurt my (Y/N) and I wasn't here to protect you." Caius paused, his eyes running over you. "Marcus says that you look peaceful. Like your sleeping. I think to myself about how deluded that sounds. Even looking at you now. This isn't you sleeping. All I see is your body laying there. Day in and day out." Caius sighed. "So I must ask of you, please sweetheart." Caius leaned closer. "Please, fight to wake up. Let us see those beautiful eyes again. What I wouldn't do to see that wonderful smile again." Caius trailed off, the small reminiscing smile falling from his friend. "I know it's a lot to ask. Please understand that I have to. If you can hear me, please fight to wake up and come back to us." 

Aro was the most capable of them all to speak to you. He did so with ease and without hesitation. "Hello cara mia." He smiled as he kissed your forehead. "All of that bruising is healing nicely. Some of the smaller ones are gone. Isn't that wonderful?" Aro gently held your hand. "The guard have been asking about you, perhaps we'll let them see you soon. Once some of more these cuts and bruises heal. You'll get a break from Caius, Marcus and I too." Aro hummed in amusement. "As tempted as we were to bring the full guard. Perhaps that wouldn't have benefited anyone. “The twins are here with us and we're expecting Felix and Demetri within the next couple of days. We'll all be here when you're ready to wake up." Aro leaned closer. "I know you will, my love. You will wake up. Do it even to spite Caius for being a pessimist." Aro smiled slightly. You had always enjoyed challenging Caius and in all honesty it was enjoyable to watch. "We will help you. Even after you wake up, you'll have us at your side. We'll get through this together." 

Marcus gently cradled you hand between is own, lightly kissing the back of your hand. He stared at you, for the longest of time. He noticed the soft fall and rise of your chest but other than that, so still. Finally Marcus broke the silence. "I've been trying to think of what I could say to you. Aro is better than Caius and I at this. As you know." Marcus continued after a moment of thought. "Although Aro has his faults. We never told you it was Caius who was determined you'd stay with us. He took one look at you and that was it. You had his heart and he whether we agreed or not. You would be with us." Marcus wore a small smile. "He convinced me to put a little trust in you. He was right. You have given me so much joy and love in the time we've been together that, you asking to stay was a sacrifice I was willing to make. We were all willing to make. So I'd like to ask you to make a sacrifice for us, my beautiful (Y/N). I want you to wake up. I want you to claw your way back to us if you have to. Although I'm aware that given your condition you might not want to. That might be too much for you to face alone in your mind but I need you to know you're not alone. We're waiting for you, sweetheart." Marcus leaned towards your ear. "Make sure you come back to me, okay?" 

One day the Volturi came back from their hunt to an absolute miracle. Carlisle was waiting for them when they arrived with a smile. "We have progress." The three could barely stop themselves from bombarding into your room. "They're out of the vegetative state." Carlisle explained. "Right now, as we speak, they are sitting up." Caius and Marcus inhaled sharply as Aro smiled. "I need to you to know that (Y/N) isn't awake. They can't see or hear us yet but their eyes will be open and they're beginning to register touch. Whilst they didn't respond to holding my hand, they did move away slightly because I'm colder and will move if in any discomfort. They won't talk yet either but regardless this is a very good sign." 

The four entered the room to find you sitting up. You were hunching over slightly, your eyes drifting ever so slowly at times. As Carlisle had said, you weren't focused at all and didn't seem to notice that they were there. Your eyes and hands were a major give away. Your hands were limp whilst your eyes seemed a little glazed over. Carlisle moved to your side, taking the cup of water at your bedside before putting it to your lips. To the leaders surprise, you leaned into the cup and actually drank it's contents. Aro moved closer whilst Caius' and Marcus were so taken aback they were rendered speechless. "Did they sit up on their own?" Aro asked. "No, they're still healing. I was checking on them and I couldn't help but notice that their eyes were opening. Once their eyes were completely open. We gently helped them sit up. They've been sitting like this for forty-five minutes." Carlisle finished with a smile. "It's working?" Aro asked. "Interacting with them? Yes." Carlisle smiled. "However I do think I'll get them to lie back down now. Everyday, we'll get them to sit up for a short time." That being said, Carlisle lay you back down gently. Your eyes remained open, continuing to focus on nothing. 

A day passed and whilst the leaders were spending time with you together, they noticed a small change. You were lying down, eyes open. Caius was mumbling into your ear, his head hovering inches over yours. His eyes narrowed on you when he noticed that your eyes drifted towards him but this time your eyes stayed drifting to the side he was on. You blinked, your eyes shifting back slightly up and down motions. "(Y/N)? Can you hear me?" Caius asked softly, getting Aro and Marcus' attention. Aro immediately got Carlisle who looked you over. He insisted that Caius continued speaking to you and didn't move as he did so. Carlisle and Caius both kept their gaze on your eyes, that still hadn't moved on from Caius' vicinity. "Judging by the eye movement, I appears to be (Y/N) is trying to focus on something which is a very good sign." Caius smiled down at you lovingly. "I'm here, sweetheart." His voice barely above a whisper. 

The next sign came at random. The next day Marcus had your hand in his with a very light grip, his fingers barely curling around your hand. Whilst your hand occasionally twitched you didn't seem to really notice his hand, only the cold temperature. That was until your hand shifted again. This time you curled a finger slightly around his own. The movement had Marcus watching you intently but you made no other sign. You had the leaders on the edge of their seats every given moment. Yet you seemed to take your time, taking the moments they least expected to startle them. Although regardless, they would be patient. They'd wait forever if they had to. 

It wasn't too long after that day that you shocked the leaders again. Caius and Aro had laid on either side of you. Marcus was beside your legs. Your head was tilted towards Caius as he ran a cold fingers up and down your hand as the three spoke to you. Once again your eyes shifted to Caius, who was significantly closer to your head than anyone else. Your eyes passed Caius as they had hundreds of times, trailing back and forth. Then they stopped, directly on Caius' face. Caius ran his thumb across your cheekbone before noticing your eyes hadn't moved. "(Y/N)?" He said gently, getting both leaders attention. All three stared at you for a moment before you took a deep breath, blinked and moved your head. However your eyes were different now. Their was cognition behind them. The leaders had seen you move before so they had to be sure. "(Y/N)?" Marcus said and your head turned to him. You had heard them. The three gasped, you were awake. "Hello, sweetheart." Aro smiled widely. "oh grazie ... grazie, tesoro." Caius sighed in relief, mumbling Italian under his breath. Marcus couldn't tear his eyes from you. 

As Aro stood up to get Carlisle, Marcus took his place. He didn't even dare to blink. Your eyes followed him as he moved beside you. "Can you hear us?" You made a slightly nodding motion before reaching out slowly, cupping his cheek. Your brow began to furrow and the two grew increasingly worried. 

In that moment, Carlisle entered the room along with Aro. "Well, well, look who's awake." Carlisle smiled warmly. "Hello, (Y/N)." Carlisle moved beside Marcus. "Can you hear me?" You tried your best to nod again, against the aches of protest in your back. "Good. I imagine you're very confused right now and you should know it's perfectly fine to feel that way. You may not remember but you were in a car accident and fell into a coma. You've been unconscious for many days now. You're injuries were severe but you are healing and I'll run some tests on you to see how you're doing. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. You may feel some slightly discomfort or pain, you're on very heavy pain killers. The best you can do it relax and rest." You looked down at your bruised body. Carlisle was right. There were aches and pains all over but a numbness too. The mixture made you aware that whilst you felt some pain, you weren't feeling even half of it. Carlisle continued but his voice was so low that only the leaders could hear him. "They'll likely feel irritability and confusion. Comfort them and try to be patient. It'll take some time for them to come to terms." 

When Carlisle left, you were still looking down at your body, brow furrowing and tears welled up in your eyes. Marcus moved a hand to your face, getting your attention, your eyes met his before you swallowed hard, lip quivering slightly. Your sobs were silent but heavy at first, wracking your body. As your sobs continued they grew louder, the closest thing to your voice they had heard in days. "Oh tesoro." Aro said softly as Caius shifted further down the bed. Your sobs now jutting your shoulder into his chest but he didn't mind. Slowly and gently, he put his arm across your waist, the best he could do to hug your frail body. His head against yours with his eyes shut. Marcus took your other hand, pressing a kiss to it before leaning into it. They let you cry and you cried until you fell asleep. 

When you woke up. Marcus and Aro were gone, leaving Caius and another two visitors. Felix and Demetri smiled at you. "You scared the hell out of us." Felix said to you. "My heart was nearly jumpstarted after centuries only to have a heart attack." It was rough but a hum of amusement escaped you. Felix was always able to make you laugh and now more than ever, Caius appreciated it. Caius smiled down at you, lightly tracing patterns against your hairline. 

The visits were lovely distractions from the pain in your body, but you couldn't help but be more aware of it every passing day. The cycle of all it. You wake up, get more pain medication that led you to be as high as a kite and then the small moments of clarity clicked in when you realised, you weren't okay. You were bloodied and bruised, scarred from surgeries and your brain slow and fogged from being in a coma. You tried to be happy and swallow the pain and fear for your mates if not for yourself but the more coherent you became and the more you healed, the less medication you needed. Finally left with the simple knowledge that you weren't okay. You were so lost in thought that you didn't even notice your mates trying to get your attention. You looked over to the three, worry etched upon their faces. After a moment, you reached your arm out to Aro. He took your hand with ease, before he looked back to you. "Cara mia, we know. You can feel this way. We're here to help you no matter how you feel each day." Caius and Marcus looked to Aro for an explanation. "(Y/N) isn't feeling too well today. It's a bit much, they're a little overwhelmed but have been trying to put in a brave face." You knew Aro would give them more detail out of your ear shot and whilst grateful, even that made you want to cry. Caius immediately turned to you, his hand immediately reaching out for your arm. "Look at me." He said firmly but quietly. "We love you, no matter what. Having you here with us, alive is the greatest gift you could have ever given us. Don't you dare, hold back any emotion you are feeling for us or for anyone." 

 A few days later, Carlisle began his daily routine, checking in on you and your injuries. "Hello, (Y/N)." Carlisle smiled at you and you did your best to smile back. "How are you feeling today?" You held a hand out, palm down. "Somewhere in between? That's better than before." Carlisle smiled. "I'm going to ask you some simple questions, I know you can't talk yet, but don't worry you shouldn't have to with these. That will come soon." Carlisle assured you. "Remember, slow and gentle movements. I'll pick them up better than you think." You smiled slightly at the tease. "How old are you?" He asked. Without having to think about it, you held up the appropriate fingers. "Very good!" He praised with a smile. "Didn't even hesitate. How many movies did you watch last night?" You promptly held up two fingers. "Very nice. How many mates do you have?" You didn't seem to notice how intently the leaders stare was but it was more than likely you were used to that by now. You held up three fingers. "Alright and where are they?" Carlisle asked. You pointed to the three leaders. "Great. This is a very good sign. Your response times are very good." Your injuries had cleared much more, the bruising on your body no where near as bad as before. The swelling in your face barely noticeable as well as any cuts you had. You ribs where the biggest problem if anything. However you still hadn't said a word. That was Carlisle's next goal now that he knew your memory was in tact. 

"Alright, you may not like me today." Carlisle warned you with a smile and you looked at him with confusion and dread, wondering what sort of test he'd out you through now. "This one will be a little more complicated but today, you're going to try and talk." Your eyes widened a fraction, dread completely over taking your confusion. "We'll start with names, specifically, the names of your mates." You scrunched up your face. They didn't have the easiest of names as it was. "I assure you, once you get used to talking, you won't have to think twice about it. We'll start easy. Try to say Aro's name." You took a breath, thinking hard before being unable to hold back a smile. Never had talking seemed to complicated? Like you had to think about using your mouth and creating the sounds you wanted. "Take your time and be patient with yourself. Let your brain wake up." The expression on your face said a thousand words. First, curse Carlisle. Secondly, this is embarrassing. Thirdly, if you mess up Aro's name you'll never forgive yourself. Lastly, you are so sorry if you mess up his name. Aro couldn't help the small chuckle escaping him, the other two smiling in amusement. "A...Aro." With so much concentration, you had shut your eyes, testing it out. Your voice was a little scratchy from not using it in a while but it was still clear. "There you go, one down. Can you try to say Caius?" "C..." You paused trying to think it through. "Cai...Caius." You finally forced out and Aro giggled with glee, Caius reaching out for your hand. "Alright, this is the more difficult one. It'll require a little more brain power. Marcus." You remembered the motion to make a 'M' sound. That being the difficult part of the name. It took a few more pauses but you slowly managed it out. "Well done." Carlisle smiled. "So since you didn't need promoting on how to say these things, I'm confident you could start talking just fine. Just remember to be patient with yourself." 

Soon after showing the extend of your talking and cognitive abilities, Carlisle told you that it wouldn't be long before you got to go home. The leaders were delighted, more than eager to bring you to Italy and finally put this nightmare behind them. "How did you do it? How did you cope when I was out?" You asked, finally finding the courage to do so after all this time. Aro and Marcus looked at each other and to your surprise Caius responded. "We pretended you could hear us, that you were with us. I found it the most difficult."  "I don't think I could have done this without you." You admitted quietly. "You could have." Marcus replied. "It is us who couldn't have survived without your strength." "We wouldn't have it any other way." Caius added softly. "When you're better, we're bring you with us back to Italy." Aro smiled at you. "We almost had to live without you. Now we can't stand the thought of you being so far from us." Caius explained.

[jangmi-latte]

>♡< may i order some cheesy pomefiore headcanons with an s/o who's a ballet dancer?

➻ content: almond chocolate cocoa

➻ warnings: none

➻ comments: i've always wanted to try ballet. makes me wonder how weak my legs are. i've broke my boots one time attempting to stand on my toes :'D this was fun to write. i do be having mad respects for ballerinas.

i. vil schoenheit

➺ with him as a model and actor and you as a ballerina, there is no doubt that both of you will have strict self-care schedules for yourselves. daily yoga and workout with him during the mornings (maybe even late at night) is one of the ways you two would bond with each other.

➺ you may have your own healthy diet and vil somehow keeps track of what you eat to keep your slim figure.

➺ your diet is probably not as strict as vil’s so there are times you would tease him when it comes to any cheat day.

“look vil, i bought fried donuts.”

“get those detrimental calories away from me.”

“but they’re yummy :D”

“no.”

“come on just have a small bite for me.”

“y/n no--!”

➺ vil is a very supportive partner. he values and respects the hard work you went through just to master balance and grace. he would be there for your rehearsals and performances. if magicam had a story function similar to instagram, he would totally add you to his stories.

➺ being a ballerina includes inevitable bruises and wounds while practising. vil makes sure these instances are taken care of instantly. he cares for your physical wellbeing.

➺ dance practices with each other is one of your dates. he would catch you doing a grand jete and would smile in delight. like, damn look at his lover go.

➺ you're a sub mentor during the vdc.

➺ struggling to do a certain dance routine? vil is there to help you. we all know how strict he can be as a teacher and he’s no different when he’s helping you. you handled his teachings before anyways, there’s nothing new to it.

➺ he also uses that as an excuse to touch you (affectionately).

➺ imagine having his hands on your waist while he helps you posture properly during a certain step and then it wanders towards your stomach. the last thing you know he’s already hugging you from behind.

➺ if you’re a popular ballerina then it’s no doubt the paparazzi already caught wind of your relationship. vil would, one day, post a picture of you together and there you go, shippers everywhere.

➺ pomefiore students would be baffled by how flexible you are. you know those flexibility challenges on tiktok? you would definitely do that and the students would question if you have any bones. it’s possible you’re more flexible than vil, he’ll totally ask how you stretch during yoga.

“stretching that far back is scaring me,” he said, watching as you bent back while you sat in a front split. “be careful, you might break your spine.” you sat back properly, smiling at your boyfriend while you brought your legs back together. sitting doll-like while stretching your feet, “that’s my favorite stretching position. really helps with the back.” you stretched your arms this time, arms rising above your head before standing back up. vil simply sighed, knowing not to question the capabilities of a ballerina. you are far beyond your liege. his eyes wandered over to the shelf in the dance studio. there sat both your awards, his from modeling and acting, while yours are from your magnificent dancing. the real epitome of hard work.

vil’s mind began to wander at how far you two had gone-- until he heard a loud bang against the studio floor that his head snapped over to your fallen form. “ow…” you giggled while he clicked his tongue. “see, from stretching too much you got weaker. doing too much of one thing isn’t good.” his legs swiftly brought him to your fallen form. strong arms lifting you up bridal style towards a chair. “are you hurt?” he spoke with concern laced in his voice.

“this fall is nothing compared to how hard i’ve fallen for you though,” you shrugged.

“okay, that’s enough bonding with rook and epel,” he sighed.

“i love you though.”

“thanks.”

“vil! ow- ow okay okay i may or may not have bruised my knees--!”

ii. rook hunt

➺ most supportive boyfriend you had.

➺ it’s likely he fell for you after seeing you dance. would compliment you in the most poetic ways possible and even knows the words to ballet steps.

➺ his phone gallery and camera will be full of pictures of you. ranging from you in your ballet costumer to you during rehearsals yet in the most elegant pose you can do. you would think his wall would be adorned by your pictures too, but no, he has a corkboard just on the other side of his room with pictures of you.

➺ you bet, he’s there during your performances.

➺ would call for your help concerning the vdc since he knows you have potential that can help vil training the juniors. he really just wants you there since he, himself, gets tired from practicing yet he doesn’t show it.

➺ you accidentally kicked him on the face once you did a high split and damn, even with a bleeding nose, was he impressed. let’s not ask how you even kicked him, he just popped out of nowhere.

➺ if you were able to use a bow and arrow using your feet then… just imagine hearing a thump somewhere in the room because rook probably fell off a tree seeing that. that’s some hard ass skill to do and he just fell for you more.

➺ totally your videographer and photographer!!! taking confidence in your skills and looks considering you have to look fit and need to feed your fans with some content, rook would be your best go-to person when it comes to taking videos and pictures. he has got the best angles to capture your utmost beauty.

➺ people wouldn’t even question why rook is smiling while staring at a distance again. yet, as vil and epel had observed, his smile was more soft and sweet while he watched you suddenly dance in the school’s courtyard. he can’t believe you were actually his lover.

➺ is willing to run around and help you with what you need. leg warmers? check. water bottle? check. just as long as he gets to watch you perform he’s contented.

➺ if you have a performance outside of the country, rook would try his best to watch via social media but before you leave, he’s going to give you encouraging words and how he’ll miss you. when you come back home, you got, not only rook with a very proud smile on his face, but also vil (who apparently watched after seeing rook so immersed).

you cried and yelled awake as another cramp hit your calf. oh, those very painful cramps when you stretch your legs after continuous leg workout. rook was jolted awake by your screams and immediately sat up and bent your toes backwards. his hair disheveled and eyes panicked and concerned despite having sleepiness in them. “mon cheri...” his husky (still sleepy) voice called as you whined, feeling the pain immediately leave from the aid of your boyfriend. “are you alright?”

“sorry…” you sniffed, carefully adjusting your leg after rook had let go of your toes and laid back beside you. “that was your third cramp this week,” he spoke worriedly. half-lidded green eyes looking in concern. “aren’t you overworking yourself?” he asked. rook is, no doubt, a very supportive boyfriend when it came to your talents, but that doesn’t mean he’ll support the fact you're getting hurt and tired from overworking yourself. he has woken up to your screams of pain for three consecutive nights. he didn’t mind waking up to aid you, he’s just really worried unto why you’re even having cramps in the first place.

“maybe…” you mumbled, hiding your face on the crook of his neck, “scold me next time please… i don’t really like waking up to this or even disturb you from your sleep.”

rook chuckled quietly, whispering, “your dancing is one of the reasons i love you. but if i do need to watch out then i’ll call vil. i’ll be too immersed watching you dance to even notice.”

“rook,” you whined.

“alright, alright. now relax yourself, mon cheri. bonne nuit.”

iii. epel felmier

➺  is amazed at how high you jump and how flexible you are. he’ll attempt to do the same even though he has no idea how to do it exactly. when you mentioned it’s ballet, he went red and exclaimed, “t-that’s ballet…?!”

➺ remember when he complained to vil about the dane being meandering and girly and now he needs to do ballet? guess who he ran to.

➺ is actually quite skeptical that he may not look manly as he wanted to be but after you said that learning ballet can help with his muscles, he’s already bombarding you with questions.

➺ thanks to vil, both him and deuce already have ballet shoes. since they didn’t have to do a releve, it was just simply stretching and balance to teach.

➺ “epel, you need to look like a swan not a seal having an asthma attack.” “wHAt?”

➺ sure, you’re both in a relationship, but epel would still get flustered by your touches during dance rehearsals. like come on, he’s supposed to be the guy holding your waist to look attractive and not the other way around.

➺ even so, he’s thankful for your help. you’re not as ‘demonic’ (as ace would put it) as vil. 

➺ when he’s just watching you, damn, the admiration in his eyes was oiling your gears more. he really wants to be strong and you know even your talent can help him go where he wants to be with vil’s guidance as well. 

➺ deuce would downright be confused on how close you two are until you kissed epel’s cheek when he successfully spun without toppling over. the first year was dumbfounded.

➺ “all thanks to y/n!” he would cheer when vil pointed out epel’s improvement. man, seeing vil’s proud smirk and epel’s victorious grin-- you had to hold onto rook to avoid fainting.

➺ epel would want to have an innocent competition with you on who can spin the most without getting dizzy and he instantly lost while you’re still spinning. and you’re on a pointe.

➺ your magicam would be videos and photographs of him attempting and succeeding certain ballet routines or even just him practicing for the vdc. relationship goals and ace feels stupid about love.

➺ you would let him smack your ballet shoes (to soften them) on stairs or something if he’s pissed. at least your shoes will be easier to use. 

“shit, this is harder than i thought,” the first-year pants as he collapsed on the floor. you rubbed your nape, watching as deuce’s knees quivered while balancing on a board. “alright, enough you two,” you called and gave them water bottles. you assisted the both of them epel by removing his ballet shoes and there, your eyes softened. he hasn’t even experienced the full ballet course (like what you’ve experienced) and you can already see bruises and the evident veins prodding on his skin. 

“we’ll do some stretching tomorrow. you both did enough balancing for today. no legs shall be strained too much, who knows what’ll happen if you got injured during the duration of the vdc.”

“no, wait! i can do more!” epel persuaded as he stood up, only to wince and drop back on the floor after feeling the pain on his ankles. “see, that’s what i mean.” knowing the ice bags would come in handy, you approached your boyfriend and laid them on his feet. “you’re excelling enough, epel. do it more slowly. you were able to do a pirouette even without doing a releve and that’s already an achievement.”

you heard him sigh, watching his face grow solemn as he looked at his feet. “i just want to prove myself to vil…”

“and you’re proving yourself enough. he’ll see your progress and i can already see him being proud. all i did was guide you, you did all the hard work yourself and that’s what’s important to vil. chin up.” you smiled, pecking epel’s nose as he immediately looked away. his lips quivering to a small smirk before nodding. “t-then...i’ll make sure i can be strong enough to even beat vil! that’s my promise!”

poor deuce being a third wheel.

[waywardsummoner46]

(Un)Pleasantville

A/N: Second one shot, yay! Definitely toying with expanding this as well as my Lucifer!Sam and Michael!Dean fic. I’m open to requests and let me know if you want to be added to my tag list (never had one before, oo this is exciting). As ever enjoy the fic and let me know what you think!

Word count ~ 1620

______________________________________________________________

Alright so, not to sugar coat anything but this was an absolute nightmare.

  You, Sam and Castiel had gotten word of a hunt - well more Sam but that’s besides the point - and had left yesterday. You’d paused at a gas station outside of a place called Charming Acres but the dude at the counter said something was off about the place… so naturally (or supernaturally) you all went to check it out. And a dude’s head just completely blew up out of the blue after he came in for his phone?

  Pulling into the town itself, now that was something. You felt as though you’d walked into a 1950s sitcom about some cheesy, lovesick marriage story. Something that you’d like to stay well away from. Consequently, you met a cheesy, lovesick couple called Justin and Cindy Smith who said they’d heard absolute zilch about any deaths and “this is a very close-knit community, nothing goes on here without everyone knowing” blah blah blah.

  Anyway, the strangest thing for you wasn’t the clothes, nor was it the 1950s behaviour, no, it was the fact Justin didn’t seem to recognise what a phone was. You silently ogled at him but he paid no attention to you. So now you definitely thought something was off about this place. 

  After that fateful encounter, you all stumbled upon the local diner “Harrington’s” who was run by the Mayor Chip Harrington and his daughter Sunny. You thought Sunny was a very sweet young woman who honestly looked like someone you’d get along with, however you noticed her head perked up once conversation about Conrad (watermelon head guy) started. Castiel so delicately stated, “Oh no! His head exploded” rendering everyone in the diner speechless.

  The Mayor stuttered for a moment then questioned “Excuse me?”

  “Like a ripe melon in the sun.”

  Whilst this confrontation was happening, Sunny gave you and Sam milkshakes, as Cas had refused earlier, so you were busy trying not to spit it out as you found that conversation hilarious. Chippy boy gave you the information where Conrad was last seen and then you all took off but not before Sam abruptly said “Alright, you know what? We’re leaving, bye.” And that was that.

  When you’d all arrived at the boarding house, a too cheerful Ms. Dowling greeted you at the door, and creepily said she knew you were coming because it’s a small town and things travel fast. Honestly, what is it with these people? From there, and after a brief explanation on why you all were there, she showed you to Conrad’s room and said he moved in a few weeks ago.

  Being your observant self, you came to the conclusion that the bed had been barely used but there were passionate and just plain disgusting letters under the mattress addressed from Sunny (so maybe she wasn’t so innocent, neither were you).

   At the same time Sam suggested you all stay overnight and divulge and investigate more thoroughly in the morning and yet his almost desperate tone of voice put you on edge. Obviously, you were all tired and weary but Sam was just on a whole new level of “oh this is amazing, we should stay here because it’s so cool”. So reluctantly, you and Cas agreed but not before exchanging an uncertain glance with each other, the intuition of a teenager and an angel right?

  Sam and you were sharing a room since Cas had insisted on his own, and instantly something changed with how he addressed you. “(Y/N), please take your shoes off, you’ll ruin this lovely carpet,” and “(Y/N), sweetheart, don’t you think wearing something a little more lady-like would be more appropriate, hm?” 

 All you could do what was sit and stare because not once had Sam ever been this pedantic or pathetic and he certainly had never called you “sweetheart”, so too baffled to engage in intelligent conversation, you went to bed just after Sam as you were too busy burning incredulous holes into the back if his hairy head. Struggling to grasp sleep, you softly whispered a “What the fuck?” and thank god Sam didn’t hear you because you would’ve absolutely hated the outcome.

  The next morning you were woken up quite rudely by an angel banging on your door. Blearily you struggled out of bed and opened the door, rubbing your eyes. “What time is it?” You said.

 “Time to get up, get dressed and Sam-Sam?”

 Noting Castiel’s confusion, you turned quickly in what was once Sam’s direction only to find your lovable older brother had disappeared to Chuck knows where. Great, man hunt at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. Cas immediately raced down to the stairs to seemingly find Ms. Dowling leaving you rushing to change into something more appropriate that pyjamas.

 Descending the stairs you notice the front door open and a frantic looking Castiel waiting in the Impala, waving for you to get in. Shouting a quick “thank you!” to Ms. Dowling, you sprant for the car and sat in Sam’s seat.

 Castiel started the car and you asked “So? We know where he went?” 

  “I’ve been told he left this morning saying he was going on a walk to the diner and wanted a milkshake, but only after screaming at Ms. Dowling who had her eardrums blocked with ear plugs,” he said. You nodded, absorbing the information and pondered why Sam would just up and leave for a milkshake.

  “Cas, you don’t think that there’s something wrong with the milkshake? Or like, this town in general? Because I do and Sam was being a real overbearing douchebag after you left yesterday and acting completely out of character.”

 He didn’t hesitate to nod his head, “I must admit, the strange customs have piqued my interest and Sam did drink quite a lot of that milkshake yesterday so it might be a possibility that there is a supernatural force going on here.”

  He looked like he wanted to say more, but you’d turned a corner and arrived just before the diner. Castiel left the car and went to inspect whilst you decided a smart move would be to ring Sam’s phone… only to find it ringing in the back of the car. Typical frustrating Winchester. 

  Placing your hands on your head, you massaged your temples and tried to think of any reasonable explanation as to what on earth was going on. 

 You heard the driver’s door being opened and looked over to see Castiel already turning the keys in the ignition. “He’s gone to Mr and Mrs. Smith's house,” was the only explanation you received.

  Suddenly determined, you nodded and said, “Alright, we’re getting somewhere, onward!” So, the car started and picked up speed, as you made your way to the Smith’s house you took a chance to observe the area a bit more.

  It was definitely something outdated and old-fashioned but the people did look happy, even if the shops were called something despicable like “The Rainbow Restaurant". It was very bright and colourful and you didn’t doubt that even if a thunderstorm hit, these people would still be acting on top of the world.

  Upon finally reaching your destination, you took notice of the white-picket fence and the massive garden. The house was huge and definitely unnecessary for only two people. Regardless, you and Cas sauntered up to the door and knocked three times respectively. On the third Cindy opened the door with a clear smile on her face and a very pleasant scent of lavender perfume. “Hello, can I help you?”

 You and Cas glanced at each other before he answered, “First of all, I’d like to offer my condolences for your husband's death but we really need to know-”

  He was cut off by a very confused Cindy Smith who said, “My husband? Honey, I think you might be mistaken. My darling husband is in the kitchen, fetching his newspaper. Justin, dear, come say hello!” 

 Again, Cas looked like he wanted to continue but a very familiar, moose-like voice interrupted “Coming darling! Won’t take two slices  of a carrot cake!” It was, unmistakably, Sam.  You gaped and stared questioningly at Cas in silent question. He merely returned your look.

  Moments later, Sam appeared in the doorway. Wearing a pair of glasses. A ponytail. And a fucking cardigan. A cardigan, because why the hell not? He wrapped his hands around Cindy’s waist and looked at us in confusion. Or sorry, at Cas in confusion, but when his gaze landed on you his face went more stern. 

 “Young lady, do you not remember what I said about un lady-like clothing? Because those denim jeans and that ridiculous jumper are hardly suitable for my daughter, little miss. I suggest you get in this house right now and put on that lovely dress your mother bought you,” he basically seethed.

  Now you were definitely the equivalent of a fish, with your wide mouth and wide eyes. You managed to compose yourself a bit before stuttering “Sam?”

 His eye twitched and there was no warning before he grabbed your arm and pulled you in the house then promptly dragged you into the sitting area. He guided you to the sofa on the left of the fireplace and very softly explained, “My sweet honey, I know that this is hard for you, but your mother and I want what’s best for you. Now, be a good girl and wait here until your mother and I have finished our pleasant conversation with our new neighbour, hm?” Then he planted a kiss on your forehead and returned to Cindy’s side to continue conversing with Cas.

  All you could think was: what the fuck?

[heroloverangel]

Cloud City

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled filth for some surprise Sad Boy Hours.

You’re six years old when Oboro Shirakumo drops into your life. Quite literally, in fact.

It’s your first day of school, and you’re terrified. Your family only moved to this city a few weeks ago, and you haven’t had a chance to meet any of the other kids in the neighborhood. So here you stand in the school yard, shyly watching from behind a tree as your new classmates play together. You’re lonely, but too nervous to approach them. Your tiny mind is on the verge of a breakdown and you can feel the sting of tears in your eyes. “Don’t cry,” you whisper to yourself. “I’m not a baby, don’t cry.” You sniffle, but your train of thought is interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping above you.

There’s a boy floating on a cloud several feet over your head, one hand grasping a branch to keep himself steady. “Hi!” He grins down at you, and you look back with wide eyes. “I’m Oboro! Wanna be friends?” You gawk up at him; you’ve never seen a quirk like that before. Even his hair looks like a fluffy cloud in the breeze. 

“Okay,” you agree after a few more seconds of confused staring. Your new friend gives you a thumbs up, immediately loses his focus, and the cloud dissipates underneath him. Both of you scream as he comes crashing to the ground, landing on your back. You’re rewarded with some impressive scrapes to both your knees, and him with both his front teeth knocked out. You’re inseparable from that moment on.

You’re the best of friends through elementary, but things begin to change once you hit middle school. It’s cute when you’re six and happily tell your parents that you’re going to get married when you grow up. It’s just awkward when you hit puberty and start to discover that your feelings for your best friend suddenly aren’t so cute anymore. The two of you grow apart with separate friends and different interests, but still make it a priority to walk home together every day. 

“High school admissions are due soon,” he points out during one of these walks. It’s been storming all day, and the two of you huddle under the same umbrella in a half-hearted attempt to stay dry. He’s hit a growth spurt over the years and towers above you now; it’s hard for both of you to stay out of the rain if you’re not nestled suspiciously close together. “You figure out where you’re applying yet?”

You shrug, stepping wide to avoid a puddle that he ignores. “Probably just Endor. It’s close, and they’ve got a pretty decent reputation.” You nudge him with your shoulder. “You’re going for UA, right?”

It’s never been a secret that Shirakumo wants to be a hero, and there’s no doubt in your mind that he’ll be great at it. He stops walking and you look at him, surprised to see his expression so discouraged.. “Yeah, of course. You’re not? Their general studies class is supposed to be one of the best, too.”

You glance away. “Too much pressure, I think. And it’d be hard, going to school in a different city where I wouldn’t know anyone.”

“You’ll know me.” You’ve both had a grip on the umbrella, but now his fingers wrap tightly around your hand and squeeze.

“Oboro…” You’re not used to him having such a serious look on his face, his eyes wide and unblinking as they stare into yours.

“Come with me.” It’s not an order, it’s a plea, and your chest feels tight at the thought of disappointing him. You swallow hard and nod. It won’t hurt to apply, you think. You probably won’t even get in.

Shirakumo pushes a stray strand of hair out of your face and leans down to press his lips against yours. Your first kiss isn’t perfect; his neck is bent at an uncomfortable angle to make up for your height difference, your nose bumps awkwardly into his as you shift, a car drives by too fast and splashes both of you with frigid water. Still, when he pulls away his smile is as warm and bright as the sun. You’ll gladly follow him to UA. You’ll gladly follow him to hell and back if it makes him happy.

He’s accepted into the hero course without a problem, but you make him promise that he’ll go even if you fail. You’re more shocked than anyone when you open the envelope to find an acceptance letter welcoming you to UA, and you finally allow yourself to feel excited. You’ll be going to the best school in the country, and you’ll be there with your favorite person in the world. For the first time you won’t be in the same class, but you’ll still be close enough to watch him reach his dreams. 

The first few weeks of high school are a whirlwind of chaos before you settle into a routine. You have to be at the train station before dawn; every morning Shirakumo meets you outside your house, still half-asleep and groggy as you walk. You split something simple for breakfast most days while you ride. When you’re lucky enough to find two open seats together, you can manage a well-deserved nap slumped against each other’s shoulders. Your classes are tough but with enough effort you manage to do well once you form a study group going with the other girls in your class. They’re friendly, and they’re both impressed and jealous to learn that you’re already dating a hero student. They swoon when he appears at your side on the first day of school to buy you lunch, and you can’t help but gloat just a little at your good fortune.

The hero course is even busier than general studies, and you don’t get to see much of your boyfriend during school hours. It’s nearly a month into the term before he catches sight of you at lunch again and practically sprints over, flanked by two classmates you recognize from the stories he’s told you on the ride home every day. “Guys,” he grins and throws an arm around your shoulder. “This is my girl! The one I’ve been telling you about.” Your heart skips a beat at being called his girl, and knowing he’s been gushing about you to his friends. Yamada’s a bright, loud ball of energy when he introduces himself, while Aizawa barely mumbles his name and looks like he’s been dragged over against his will. They both seem nice, and you’re happy he’s found some good friends to work with.

Everything goes surprisingly well for your first year at UA, and your second seems like it’ll be just as good. It’s late one night, several months into the school year, when you’re woken by a tapping at your bedroom window. This isn’t the first time Shirakumo’s snuck you out of your house, but the window gets harder to crawl out of every year and you’re glad that graduation isn’t too far off. “Hey, come look at the stars with me. They’re really pretty tonight.” It’s not like he needs to give you the excuse, but you can see he has a point.

Ten minutes later you’re laying on a cloud together, floating a few feet over the power lines in your neighborhood. It’s cold up there, and you cuddle together for warmth as you watch the stars overhead. You know more about the sky than him, and he’s happy to listen while you point out a few things above you. A chilly breeze blows through your thin pajamas and makes you shiver, and he pulls you in closer to share his heat. “Was all of this just an excuse to get me alone up here?” You laugh, kissing his smiling lips.

“Not all of it,” he jokes with a smirk. “We’re past the halfway point this year already. Just one more, can you believe it?” You curl up close and listen to him chatter about his big plans for the future. You’ve heard this all before; he’s always so excited about the idea of opening that hero agency with Aizawa and Yamada. “I figure we’ll do the sidekick think for awhile, work up some solid experience, y’know? Then it’ll be smooth sailing when we break off on our own after that. Four, maybe five years?” You nod, running your fingers through his familiar fluffy hair. “And then once things settle with the agency, we can get married if you want,” he announces with only the faintest blush betraying his nerves.

“Oboro, what?” You bolt into a sitting position, gawking at him with wide eyes. Sure you’ve thought about the future you might have together, but the two of you have never talked about it before. “You can’t just spring that on me out of nowhere!”

He folds his arms behind his head, totally unconcerned. “It’s not really out of nowhere, is it? You know I’ve been in love with you since we were six, right?”

This boy is ridiculous. “Me too, but still! Isn’t this a little sudden? There’s so much more to talk about if you want to get married.”

He shrugs. “Like I said, it won’t be for a couple of years. We’ve got plenty of time to talk it over.” He grabs your hand and pulls you back down to rest your head against his chest. “I’ll wait for you, as long as you want.” You stay like this for a few minutes, mulling the proposal over in your head. “Just think about it for a couple years, okay?”

Slowly, you nod. “Okay.” You’re already warming up to the thought of marrying him. You’re seventeen, and you’ve been together for eleven years now. You can give him another five. Or ten. Or fifty, if that’s what he wants. In your heart you already know you’ve decided on an answer, and you murmur it into his ear later as he’s helping you climb back through the window into your bedroom. He’s beaming with happiness as he kisses you goodnight and flies off. You’re too giddy with love to sleep the rest of the night.

If you’d known what was coming only a week later, you never would have said goodbye. He promised to call you after his internship the night before, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d fallen asleep instead as soon as he got home. You’re not worried until he doesn’t show up in the morning to walk with you, even after you call him twice with no answer and wait until the last possible minute to leave on your own. You arrive at school just as the final bell rings, and it’s a bit of a relief when you catch a glimpse of Aizawa looking even more tired than he normally does. They must have had a really tough time on their patrol, you assume, and Oboro just decided to take a well-deserved day off.

Your day is uneventful until lunch, when you hear your name called to the office. The principal sits there with your homeroom teacher and the counselor, all of them looking grim. A lump forms in your throat; you’ve got no idea what you could have done. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes. We understand that you’re particularly close with Oboro Shirakumo from the hero class.”

You nod. “Yeah, we’re dating. Um, actually we’re kind of engaged now, I guess?” Your stomach drops at the sad expressions facing you. “Did...did something happen? I haven’t seen him all day. Is he hurt?”

Nothing in the world could have prepared you for the answer. “He was killed in an encounter with a villain yesterday. I’m sorry for your loss.”

You want to argue, insist there’s been some mistake, but the words don’t come. A sudden sense of numbness sweeps through you as it sinks in, and it feels like everything within you shuts down. Your brain doesn’t process the voices offering you sympathy and compassion. Your lungs refuse to take in air. You’d swear that your heart itself stops beating in some attempt to defend itself. You’re not even aware of your movements as you stand and leave the room while your teachers are mid-speech. You need to get out of there. You need to be alone. You need to breathe, but you can’t. You’re on autopilot as you rush down the empty hall, if you can get up to the roof there’ll be fresh air-

Completely blinded by your grief, you collide hard with another body and almost fall before hands grab your shoulders to steady you. “Sorry,” you gasp through the lump in your throat. “I just-” You blink back your tears and stop when you recognize him. Up close, he looks even worse than usual. His eyes are red and hollow, the dark bags under them could pass as bruises. It’s obvious he hasn’t slept all night, you can practically feel the exhaustion radiating off of him. “Aizawa,” you croak, your voice cracking on the syllables. He doesn’t say anything, only gives your shoulder a squeeze, and something inside you completely breaks.

“Oboro, he’s...” is all you can manage through your tears. You fists ball into Aizawa’s jacket as you sob against his chest, and he doesn’t stop you. He knows there’s no comforting you; the only thing he can do is let you use his shirt as a tissue while you mourn. You’re vaguely aware that a bell rings to resume class, but you ignore it. You can’t bring yourself to do anything except cry until there’s nothing left, and he stands there holding your shoulders to keep you upright. It’s the best way anyone can help you right now.

An eternity later, you wear yourself out. Your throat feels raw, your eyes are burning, and your fingers hurt from the grip you’ve had on his uniform. “Thanks,” you manage out, and he nods silently. He’s not the most exciting, but you’ve always liked Aizawa’s calm personality as a match to your boyfriend’s unstoppable energy. Your own emotions are a train wreck, and you don’t think you could handle being around anyone else after that news. “I’m glad he had you,” you muse out loud.

“Thanks,” he says awkwardly with a shrug before fixing his wrinkled jacket. “You should get back to class.” Aizawa walks off before you can think of anything else to say.

You don’t go back to class. The other students have noticed something’s off, and rumors are beginning to spread around campus already that there’s a new, empty space in the hero course. You grab your bag and head for the exit as fast as you can, ignoring everyone else along the way. You spend the rest of the week at home; your parents allow it once they learn what happened. It’s a struggle to get through the first month without Shirakumo’s presence hanging over you like a cheerful little cloud, and the rest of the year doesn’t get any easier. Your friends do their best to console you, but it’s a losing battle when you feel his absence every minute of your day. It’s all too familiar, too easy to see the missing piece that’s been a part of your life for so long. You transfer to Shiketsu for your final year, where no one knows about Loud Cloud and you aren’t stuck going through a routine that’s been irreparably broken.

It’s an uphill fight. You force yourself to do well in school, because it’s what he’d want for you. You throw yourself into work and establish a good career, because it’s what he’d want for you. You make yourself move past your loss and date other men, because it’s what he’d want for you. By the time you’re 31 you’ve got a divorce under your belt, a sad excuse for a social life, and a cat with fluffy white fur; you loved him the moment you laid eyes on him. You’re not entirely satisfied with how your life has turned out, but it could be worse. You can go entire weeks now without thinking about him. Sometimes you wonder what kind of life the two of you would have, but you try not to dwell on those thoughts. 

You’ve had the day off and have spent it happily lounging around the house. You treat yourself to lunch and settle on your couch to watch a movie with your beloved cat when an unfamiliar number pops up on your phone. You answer without a second thought. “Hi, if you’re out of noodles, I can just get rice instead. It’s fine.”

There’s a beat of silence before the man confirms this is the correct number. You don’t immediately recognize his voice, but you’re sure you’ve heard it somewhere before. “I’m not with a restaurant. This is Aizawa, from...from UA, when we were younger.” You can tell he’s choosing his words carefully, and he continues. “We need to talk. It’s about Shirakumo.”

It’s surprising how hearing his name is enough to reopen wounds you thought healed years ago. You swallow nervously, fresh dread pooling in your gut. You can hear how hoarse your voice is when you answer. “Okay. I’m off today, if you want to meet.”

You’ve got a very bad feeling about what you’re about to learn.

[ryeimagines]

Anchor - Liam Dunbar Imagine

Based on this prompt. Word count 1496. I’m not really sure about this one but I hope that you enjoy it. I’m a bit rusty, getting back into the swing of things so please be kind. You can kind of see it as a pre slash, up to interpretation. 

The banging on your window woke you from your slumber, a soft moan escaping your throat as you suddenly found yourself on the floor instead of the comfortable you remembered falling asleep in. Dazed you slowly rose on your feet, it took you a minute to remember what had woken you in the first place. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the occasional nightly visits from your best friend, spending more time in your bedroom than in his own house to the point you had a routine in place. Things weren’t always so easy though, it took a while for him to be comfortable enough to stay around, let alone fall asleep. You knew he had anger issues which often got him into trouble.

That was, before he suddenly did a one eighty out of no-where and pulled the disappearing act on you, always finding excuses to not hang out, or forgetting plans you’d made. It had been weeks since he set foot in your room, and frankly you were getting close to losing it. You knew something big had happened and what was hurt the most wasn’t even the fact that he suddenly had a new group of friends he hung out with or forgetting about you, it was the fact that your best friend was hurting and you couldn’t do anything to help, he didn’t tell you about it. And now here he was, showing up out of nowhere after ghosting you like nothing ever happened.  

“What do you want Dunbar?”You tried your best to sound indifferent, but it fell a bit short. A pained noise made you turn around to face him.

“Liam.” The brief rush of relief of seeing him with your own two eyes was overtaken by a wave of fear meeting his gaze, finally taking full notice of his state, eyes glowing yellow. He growled, unwittingly making you take a step back in response. Something was seriously wrong. You’ve seen him mad before, in every kind of emotion really but never anything like this. He looked wild, animalistic, ready to tear someones’ throat out. It was the first time you had ever been afraid of him, sensing the danger that you were in. But it was still your best friend, no matter what he did, or whatever strange new stuff he was into. Whatever it was, you could fix this, you wouldn’t leave him. Which is why you went against your gut and stepped into his personal space, inches from his face without breaking his gaze, moving slowly not to startle him.

“Liam, I-”You faltered for a second, not sure what to say. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, or why you have claws all of the sudden, believe me that’s something we will discuss later, but something is up with you and I need you to snap out of it. This isn’t you. You are Liam Dunbar, my best friend, one of the kindest and most loyal people I know. I know you’re not going to hurt me, you can’t.” A soft whine came from the boy in front of you and you took it as encouragement to slowly raise your hand and touch his cheek, fingers brushing against the sharp fangs that were coated in crimson. 

“Come back to me. I need you. Whatever this is you’re going through, we can work it out together. I’m right here. Always. You’re not a bad person, you’re not a monster. You have a choice. I know you will do the right thing, you always do.” Please, come back to me. 

You were surprised by fingers gently brushing against your wrist, opening your eyes to meet familiar pools looking back at you with apprehension and pain and something you couldn’t quite put a name on. Your body moved on instinct and you found yourself clinging onto him before you knew what you were doing. After the shock had worn off, your brain started buzzing with unanswered questions that you had put on hold until now, begrudgingly untangling yourself from his arms. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.” He smiled sheepishly, fidgeting with his shirt. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you or anything?”

“I’m fine.” You assured him, glad he couldn’t see the bruises that would most likely appear soon on your arm where he grabbed it a little too tight at some point.

“What’s going on with you? Don’t you dare give me that nothing bull. You came in here soaked and covered in blood. I’m hoping it isn’t yours by the way. What the hell is going on?”

“It’s a long story. You should probably sit down.” You did, sensing the seriousness in his voice. 

“Okay so, werewolves, very much real.” 

That was your introduction to the supernatural world, and everything werewolf. That was quite the shock, you were glad you heeded his advice. He kept sending you looks through out his explanation and you urged him to keep going, you needed to know it all. That was a lot to take in, part of you were mad that he didn’t come to you sooner about this, but more than anything you were afraid. Terrified. For him, of all these people and supernatural creatures who wanted to hurt him. You were thankful to Scott for saving his life but also pissed that he put him in danger like this, which you weren’t shy to let him know the first time you joined Liam at one of their pack meetings, introducing his face to a bat. 

“You better keep him safe McCall. If he get’s hurt out there, it’s on you.” He nodded quietly nursing his bloddy nose, recognising the truth in your words. “Good, we understand each other.” You grinned, a little satisfied at the gleam of fear in his eyes. 

“You’re going to fit in perfectly.” Lydia snorted, gesturing for you to come over to join her. “I could use some help with this research, these ingrates are no help whatsoever. ” 

“Hey!” Stiles interjected from where he was laying on the couch, eyes still glued to the screen. “I helped. I’m just taking a break.”

“I’d love to.” You ended the conversation there before it got any further, returning Liam’s smile before burying your head in the books. It was all you did for the next couple of days, researching everything supernatural. Lydia introduced you to the bestiary, containing every possibly nightmare you could imagine. When you weren’t researching, you spent the time interrogating the pack and asking questions. You made it clear from day one that you two were a package deal, wherever Liam went you followed. The younger Hale was the only one who protested your precedes, letting out a disgruntled growl from where he was lurking. You ignored him. Apparently his uncle was even worse, you weren’t to keen to find that out for yourself though.

There was one thing that kind of bothered you, that kept on creeping up on you when you least expected it. Remembering that night, and the state he was in, and then being totally fine again. Actually, there was a couple of things but you hadn’t talked about it. Part of you was hesitant, but the other was growing more impatient each day and that was the one that finally won out one afternoon a couple of weeks after the incident took place. It just kind of came out, you were not really a person of tact, blurting it out over the kitchen table at dinner, causing him to start coughing like crazy. 

“So why did you show up in my room exactly? I mean, I get that you went kind of feral, but why did you show up here? Did you meant to do that?”

“Uh.” He shrugged, finally collecting himself. “I don’t know, it wasn’t really a conscious choice. I just felt this instinct to run to safety. Home.”

“My house?”

“No, I was running to you. There’s something about you that helps me stay in control. My wolf feels safe around you. I remember them trying to talk to me but it didn’t work. Only with you.”

“Oh.”

“I talked with Scott about it, and what he said made sense. I didn’t really know how to tell you so I just kept quiet about it but. You’re my anchor.” You sat speechless, wondering how he could be so calm about this new development, like it wasn’t a big deal. You had stumbled across anchors before during your deep dives, and there was a lot to it. You weren't sure if you should feel happy or terrified at the prospect that he put so much fate in you, essentially his humanity in your hands. 

“Why me?” You finally managed, voice hoarse. 

“It’s always been you, you were always there. Who else would it be? I trust you, I need you. Me being a werewolf means a lot of changes, but not that. You’re the one thing I’ve never doubted.”