#seamus fanfiction

[fallingforfictionalcharacterss]

Hiii, I know u are usually writing for Draco but hear me out: friends to lovers with Seamus Finnigan. Reader and him are friends but she has a crush on him and when he gets beat up by the Carrows she takes care of him. And when she thinks he's unconscious she confesses her feelings. If u don't write for him, just ignore this but I just love ur writings and would love to read this.

Thanks for your request. I´ve never written for Seamus before, so I´m hoping I´ve written his character in the way you imagined it. Anyway, enjoy reading!

Refuge

Warnings: mention of blood

“This is just amazing.”, you stated, as you looked around in awe.

You had been in the Room of Requirement several times before, but it had never looked like this. Until now, you had mostly been here for the DA meetings and the room had looked like a training hall, but now reminded you more of your dorm and the common room in the Gryffindor tower. On the one side of the room stood several beds, each of them looked as if they were already used, except for one. On the other side were some tables and couches. Behind a door in the back, you suspected the bathroom. The walls were draped with the banners of the different houses. You noticed, that the arms emblem of Slytherin was missing. This room was the perfect sanctuary.

And Godric, you needed one. Since the new year had started a few weeks ago at Hogwarts, many things had changed. Snape was the headmaster by now and the jobs of the DADA and Mugglestudies teacher were filled by the Carrows. They were brother and sister and one was just as cruel as the other. While in the last few years it had been the job of the teacher in Mugglestudies to teach you about the world of the Muggles, about the differences but also similarities between muggles and wizards, Alecto Carrow now taught you that muggles were scum and not as worthy as wizards. And while the DADA teacher had taught you how to defend yourself against the dark arts, by now, you learned how to use dark magic yourself.

Only today, Amycus Carrow wanted to force you to practice the Cruciatus curse with some first years. When you had refused to hex the little girl standing in front of you, Amycus Carrow wanted to cast the spell on you instead, but somehow you had managed to escape. Seamus had found you in one of the corridors and brought you here.

“´t was Neville´s idea.”, Seamus stated. “Think by now he knows everything there´s to know about the room.”

Neville had been the first one who had to disappear. He had found refuge in the room he had spent so much time in back when Harry had founded the DA. By now, he literally lived in here, rarely ever leaving the room. And one after one, people had to follow Neville into the underground, because they had done something the Carrows didn’t approve of. Sometimes it was enough to just disappear for a few days until they had forgotten what you had done, but some people, like Neville and Seamus, knew that they might not survive the consequences they would have to face if the Carrows would catch them. But sometimes they still snugged out to help other students or to sabotage the work of the Carrows or Snape. They were aware of the fact that they risked their lives any time they left the room, but that was a risk they were willing to take. Because they knew what they were fighting for. And so did you. You knew you would have been able to live a peaceful life at Hogwarts if you would have obeyed the regime since you were a pureblood, but you also knew that other people weren’t that lucky. Whenever you doubted that all of this was actually worth it, if it may not already be too late and you should just give up, you thought about Dean, one of your best friends, who was currently on the run since he was a muggleborn. So was also Hermione, who you had shared a dorm with for the last six years. You knew that if they would get caught they would be lucky if they would stay alive -even if you weren’t sure if what they would have to face then wouldn’t be worse than death. And whenever you thought about giving up, you thought about your friends, who were somewhere out there and you knew that what you did, was worth fighting for.

“Your bed´s over there.”

Seamus pointed at the empty bed to his right.

“How is it possible that there is exactly one left?”, you asked.

Your friend shrugged his shoulders.

“Whenever someone new appears, a new set appears ´s well. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff banners also only appeared when the first of ´em came here." He grinned. "The room works in mysterious ways, you know?”

You shook your head in disbelief and smiled.

“That´s great. I really feel as if the school wants to support us.”

You went over to your bed and sat down. Seamus followed you and let himself fall onto your bed as well, laying down and looking at the ceiling. You lay down as well, watching the boy from the corner of your eye.

Seamus and you had been friends since the first year. It hadn’t been love at the first sight though. When he had set his feather on fire in your first Charms class, you just couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t that you laughed at him, it was more that the entire situation had been very bizarre. Seamus had mistaken your laugh and thought you would be making fun of him, which had kind of offended him. But when a few weeks later in potions class he had blown up his potion, covering you in some violet slime and you laughed again, he quickly realized that you were just genuinely entertained by his ability to blow up everything he touched. And when you hadn’t held it against it that the slime had burned some holes into your uniform, your friendship was set. From that moment on, you spent much time together, annoying each other just as much as everyone around you. But while you seriously tried to help him brew a potion without making it explode just once, he may or may not had screwed up some charms on purpose, just to see you laugh about it. Not that he would ever admit he had done so. But you not only liked him for his extraordinary talent in pyrotechnics. Seamus Finnigan was probably one of the most lovable people you had ever met. He was always in a good mood and had a heart of gold, not speaking of his great sense of humour. Seamus was one of the people who got along with nearly everyone and everyone genuinely liked him, even though sometimes he was quite hot-headed. That had led to many arguments between the two of you over the years since neither of you was one to cave in easily. But you also both were able to admit if you had screwed up something, which was why, any time you had gotten into an argument, you had only grown closer afterwards.

Over the years though you had realized that you may had grown too close to the boy. Or at least your feelings had. You didn´t even remember the moment you started to have a crush on your best friend. But you for sure remembered the moment you had realized. In your fourth year, due to the Triwizard Tournament, Hogwarts had hosted the Yule Ball. Seamus and you had agreed on being each other's date for that evening, not because you were interested in each other in a romantic way, but because you knew that no date could be as fun as each other’s company. And you had been right. Even though Seamus had been a terrible dancer -and also had shown absolutely no interest in changing that, you had had the most amazing night, dancing, talking and eating. And at one particularly slow song, when he had placed his hands on your waist and you yours around his neck, and you had finished laughing about how cheesy the entire situation was, he had somehow managed to -for the first time- not step on your toes once and when you had looked into his eyes and saw him smiling at you, you had felt an unknown warmth flushing your body. And first, you had tried to brush it off and blamed the entire atmosphere that evening, but for some reason after that night, the butterflies in your stomach returned every time you saw his dimples when he laughed, or he laid his arm around your shoulder.

Dean, who had been inseparable from Seamus since the first day, had noticed of course. When he had started to date Ginny, he had always tried to talk Seamus and you in “double dates”, which you had always refused to participate, you as well as Seamus always assuring Dean, that the two of you were just friends. Still, the four of you had always spent much time together. And sometimes when you had been sitting in the three broomsticks or on the couch in the common room, and Ginny and Dean had started all the cute talk and at some point snogging, you had caught yourself at the thought, Seamus and you could be just the same. Not just him flirting with you to mock Dean or laying his arm around your shoulder just because you were friends, but him assuring you that he loved you because he meant it and his arm not around your shoulder but around your waist or his hand holding yours to not only tell but show you how much he loved you.

But unfortunately, Seamus didn’t love you. At least not like this. And now that he laid beside you on your bed, he could have done the same with everyone else. He wouldn’t pull you close, wouldn’t whisper sweet nothings in your ear, he would just stay there, neither disappearing nor doing anything else but staying where he was.

After a few minutes of silence, you spoke up again.

“So what are you doing here all day when you are always stuck in this room?”

That´s when Seamus turned around, now facing you.

“That´s the best thing. We aren’t.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you couldn’t get out most of the days.”

A proud grin appeared on the boy´s face.

“I said we couldn’t get into the school most days.” He sat up. “Time to show you the secret passage.”

“Do you think something happened? They should be back by now.”

You looked at Lavender Brown anxiously. The girl just shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

“I hate this just as much as you do, but all we can do for now is wait.”

By now, it had been more than half a year since you first entered the Room of Requirement. And you barely ever went back into the school, since it had only gotten worse. Over time, most of the Gryffindors, many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and even some Slytherins (A/N: I know it´s different in the books but it´s my story so idc) had made this room their second home. Nearly every day someone new came here and people barely ever left. If someone went back to school it was mostly to help other students out, just like today. Neville had heard that the Carrows were torturing some first years down in the dungeons and he, Seamus and some Ravenclaws had sneaked out of the room to rescue them. You would have come as well, but since Lavender and you had been with Aberforth when the others heard the news, they were already gone when you had come back. Now all you could do was wait for them to return. What should have been half an hour ago. You didn’t even dare to think about what the Carrows would do if they would catch them.

A few weeks ago they had caught you, sneaking some supplies into the Room of Requirement. You didn’t know the curse they had used, but it had made small cuts appear all over your body. You had already lost much blood when the others had managed to get you to Aberforth who had luckily known what to do. Still, you had been in a dozy state for the next few days. All you could remember was that Seamus had stayed by your side the entire time, refusing to leave you alone, even at dinner or at night. He had held your hand assuring you, you would be fine again, blaming himself for not protecting you. You didn’t do so though. But as long as you knew him, it had been the first time, where he hadn’t had a quick-witted saying on his lips and the fire that had always been burning behind his eyes had been expired. It had hurt you to see him like this, but it had also given you hope that there might be more he was feeling for you after all. But if there was something, he didn’t show. You had spent several months literally living together, but nothing had happened between the two of you, except for the fact that your feelings for him had only grown stronger. You knew this wasn’t the right time to think about a possible romantic relationship. You fought for your life every day and there was a war going on and even if Seamus would feel for you the same way you felt for him, you didn’t know how much time the two of you would have left. On the other hand, wasn’t that another reason to confess to Seamus? If you could die every day, wouldn’t you want him to know? What if they had caught him today and you would never see him again? If they would kill him and you would never get a chance to tell him how much he actually meant to you?

“They are going to be just fine.”, Lavender´s voice made you snap back to reality.

You had buried your face in your hands, furiously trying to fight the images that appeared in your head. You smiled at her weakly, thankful that she was trying to cheer you up.

Just as you were about to answer, the door swung open.

“We need help over here. Quick!”, you heard Neville shouting.

You exchanged a frightened glance with Lavender before you jumped up and ran up to him.

Many people had already gathered around the returnees. You fought your way through the people.

That´s when you saw it. Neville and a Ravenclaw boy were carrying a third person. His face was disfigured beyond recognition, full of blood, just as well as his clothes. For a second you were wondering if the person was even breathing, but then a small whimper escaped their lips. And that´s when you realized who it was. It was Seamus.

As if you had been petrified, you watched Neville carrying him to his bed, carefully laying him down.

“We need to vet him.”, Neville said. His gaze fell on you. “(Y/n), what are you waiting for?”

You still didn´t move. Aberforth had shown you some tricks on how to help people who had been hurt and you had already doctored several people. But never Seamus. Never someone who meant that much to you. Someone you were scared to lose more than anyone else. And the way he looked made you doubt there was anything you could do to help him.

“(Y/n), quick!”

And that´s when your body started working on autopilot. You grabbed the tinctures and ointments you had stolen from the hospital wing -even though you were pretty sure that Madame Pomfrey hadn´t locked the medication away that day on purpose- and headed over to Seamus.

You didn’t know how long you had been sitting there, cleaning up his wounds, stitching him up, treating the scars with ointments and spells. All you knew was that in the end, you were sure Seamus would make it. He was still unconscious which was, in your opinion, not even that bad. At least he wouldn’t be in pain. You double-checked if you had done everything correctly before you sat down on the edge of his bed and looked down at the boy. He looked so peaceful the way he was laying there, unaware of the horror his friends had been through because of him in the last few hours.

Your gaze fell on your hands. While you had freed Seamus from all the blood, your hands were still red. Your vision went blurry and your hands started to shake as the realisation set in. You could have lost him today. Quickly, you grabbed a towel and tried to get rid of the blood on your hands, rubbing them furiously, until your skin wasn’t red because of the blood but because of the rough treatment.

“Are you okay?”, you heard a soft voice.

You looked up and looked into Neville´s worried eyes.

“He will make it.”

“That´s not what I asked you.”

“I´m fine.”

“Are you sure.”

“I said I´m fine, Neville!”, you snapped, your voice louder than you had intended.

A small groan escaped the lips of the boy lying in the bed and you regretted your tone immediately as you looked at Seamus worriedly, before turning around to Neville again.

“I´m sorry, I… It´s just…”

You felt an uncomfortable tingling in your arms and legs and somehow there was a ringing in your ear, that got louder and louder. You clenched your jaw to prevent your lips from shaking like your hands already did.

“Don’t worry (Y/n). It´s alright. I know how much he means to you.”

In every other situation you would have felt your cheeks redden now, but today all you could do was nodding.

“What happened?”, you asked, trying to distract yourself.

Neville grabbed a chair that was standing nearby and sat down.

“It was a trap. There was no one in the dungeons except for the Carrows and some of their followers. Crabbe and Goyle. All those people, you know?” In a low voice, he told you how they had been trying to fight their way out and how Seamus got hurt so bad. “If it wasn’t for him,”, Neville closed his report and looked at Seamus, “we wouldn’t have made it out of there. He saved us.”

You just nodded and a small smile appeared on your face. Seamus had saved the day once more. You just hoped that the price he had to pay for this wouldn’t be too high one day.

It was already night. The other students had already gone to bed, but you were still sitting on Seamus´ side. When you had been hurt, he hadn’t left you alone and neither would you. A few hours ago, Aberforth came here, looking for Seamus. He had praised your work, telling you he couldn’t have done it any better. Even though you highly doubted that it had still made you smile.

Seamus was still unconscious. In the subdued light of the remaining lamps, his bruises looked even worse. You had intertwined your fingers with his, making sure every minute that you could still feel his pulse and hear his breath. When you looked down at him, you couldn’t help but smile. When Seamus would wake up, he would probably pride himself on all the bruises he had now, making sure everyone would know how he had gotten them. But that was the least he deserved after everything he had done for all of you. Carefully, you brushed some strands of his messy sandy-coloured hair out of his face. If it wasn’t for the blood on his uniform, it wouldn’t look more messy than usual. His Gryffindor tie, which he was still wearing proudly, hang loosely around his neck and the upper button of his shirt remained open. If Professor McGonagall would see him like this, she would take some points from him immediately. But probably not nearly as many as she would give him for his bravery, even though she would probably call it sheer luck that he hadn’t been killed today. And she wouldn’t even be wrong with that. Once more, you realized, how close you had been to losing Seamus today.

“I´m so sorry.”, you whispered into the silence. “I´m so sorry that happened to you. All of this. You don’t deserve this. And I wasn’t there. I should have been. I could´ve helped you. If you… if you wouldn’t have made it today…” The words got stuck in your throat as you felt your eyes starting to sting. “I don’t know what I would do without you. It´s just… I don’t want to lose you. I can´t.” You felt the first tear rolling down your cheek. “I love you, Seamus, you know that? I love you. I think I always did. It just took me some time to realize. And even more time to admit. But I know I don’t want to spend one day of my life without you. Do you remember in our fifth year, when we fought about that you didn’t believe Harry, but I did? I didn’t speak to you for two weeks.” A sad smile appeared on your face. “That´s been the worst time of my life. Just not being able to be near you. And when you came up to apologize, I have been so pissed I brushed you off at first. But you know what? That wasn’t because I was mad at you. It was because I had been scared I might have lost you. And I didn’t want to feel that ever again. And I thought maybe it´s better if we wouldn’t be so close anymore, but that was stupid. That was so stupid. I want to be close to you. More than ever. And just because I´m scared to lose you I shouldn’t push you away from me. You know what´s funny? I kept doing this even when we were friends again. Because I don’t want to be just friends with you anymore. I want to be more. But I am so scared to tell you because I don’t want to lose what we have. But now that I have nearly actually lost you, I realized that I don’t care. I want you to know. And if you don’t want this it´s okay. But I need you to know. I love you, Seamus. I love you so much.”

Your voice broke and a small sob escaped your throat.

Suddenly, you felt your hand being squeezed tightly. You nearly jumped up in shock, as you looked up at Seamus. As far as you could see in the dim light, he still looked pale, but he grinned at you nevertheless.

 “Merlin, you have scared me.”, you gasped.

Seamus chuckled but then he pulled a face in pain. You looked at him worriedly.

“How are you?”

“Only hurts when I breathe.” His voice sounded raspy. “But from what I just heard this was worth it.”

You felt your face flush.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”, you mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“I thought you wanted me to know.”

“But not like this. This was so cheesy. And I know we are just friends and I didn’t mean to…”

“I love you too (Y/n).”, Seamus interrupted you.

You lifted your head and stared at him in disbelieve.

“What?”

“I love you too.”, the boy said with a wry smile.

You still stared at him, not sure what to do, since you hadn’t foreseen this.

“I think this is the part where you´re supposed to kiss me.”, Seamus said, the grin on his face only widened as he saw you blushing. He tried to sit up in his bed, but flinched in pain, sinking down into his pillow again.

And as you bent down and your lips softly brushed against his, all your worries and all the embarrassment was gone. The way his skin felt on yours just felt too right to leave any room for doubts.

When you pulled back, you smiled at him shyly, his eyes interlocked with yours. Your lips ghosted over the bruises on his skin you had just doctored a few hours ago and his rough hands were tangled in your hair.

“Stay tonight.”, Seamus asked you, looking up at you with puppy eyes.

You couldn’t help but laugh.

“I will.”, you smiled. “As long as you want me to.”

And when you laid down next to him, his arm wasn’t around your shoulder but around your waist and he didn’t just lay there but pulled you closer to him. He placed his hand on your upper arm, drawing small circles on your bare skin, giving you chills.

“Maybe I should get tortured more often.”, Seamus joked and you rolled your eyes.

“I won´t heal you next time.”

“You won´t?”

“Well, maybe I might.”

Taglist: @marigold-morelli @writingwitch007

[slaymybreathaway]

WASTELAND BABY! (Chapter Two)

Chapter List Masterlist Prev. Chapter

Word Count: 3k

Contents: cursing, mentions of catcalling and misogyny, some sibling slagging, intense pining and FLUFFF

September 1994 ○ The Great Hall

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

As the last 1st year student to be sorted made his way over to the Ravenclaw table, Dumbledore stood up out of his seat to the podium. "Now that everyone is settled... I have an announcement to make,"

Over on the gryffindoor table, y/n slept with her head resting on her crossed arms. After being up since 7am and not being able to sleep all last night, she couldn't keep her eyes open. Neville, who was sitting beside her, gently tried to shake her awake.

"Here, Longbottom that's no use. If death eaters bombed the school, she'd sleep through it," Seamus laughed from across the table, from where he was sitting between Dean and Ron. He took a couple of Fun Snaps out of his robe pocket and threw them down on the table, exploding beside his sister's ear.

Y/n woke up in shock, her heart racing at the loud noise that disrupted her sleep. As she took in her surroundings and noticed that half the table had turned their heads at the sound of the loud noise, her face turned a deep shade of red.

She gave her brother a hard kick to the shin under the table, which turned his raucous laughter into a shout of pain.

Y/n smirked at this as she turned to listen to the headmaster.

"This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well," Dumbledore spoke to all of the students. "You see, this year Hogwarts has been chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament"

Excited chatter spread across the whole room as Dumbledore explained the event. Every triwizard champion in history became rich and famous afrer winning the tournament, and every student wondered if it would be them this time round.

"What'd you think the chances of me winning are?" Ron asked, to no one in particular. While the whole group resisted the urge to laugh, Y/n took it upon herself to answer him.

"About as the same probability of me getting picked as quiddich captain," she shrugged. It was no secret that her athletic skills were very limited. The only time you'd ever catch Y/n Finnegan running was if Voldemort himself was chasing her.

No one heard her joke, however, because as she spoke the doors of the great hall swung open to reveal about a hundred girls dressed in baby blue school uniforms. They moved, in a way that could only be compared to floating, down the middle of the great hall, gracefully greeting the crowd every few paces.

Every single one of the girls was breath-takingly beautiful, the kind of looks that would make you insecure. This observation clearly wasn't missed by all of the boys in the room, who were entranced by the scene infront of them. Sounds of over-the-top clapping and obnoxious whistling filled the air as the boys showed their appreciation to their schools' new guests. Even Neville had stood up to get a better look what was going on, the palms of his hands turning red from all of the clapping.

Y/n, Hermione and Ginny shared a look of uncomfortable disgust. It seemed all of the girls seated at the house tables were feeling the same thing, as they clapped quietly from where they sat, unable to meet the eyes of their male peers once they sat down.

After greeting Madam Maxine, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, Dumbledore returned to his place behind the gold podium at the front of the hall. "And now... our friends from the North. Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their headmaster, Igor Karakoff,"

The doors of the great hall swung open once more to reveal a crowd of boys dressed in a brown uniforms, their hair tightly cropped to their scalp. They marched down the centre of the great hall, doing tricks with the wooden staffs they held in their hands.

Y/n elbowed Hermione in the side and shot her a smile as she recognised the face of the final Durmstrang student to walk in, Victor Krum. At the Quiddich World Cup, the girls realised that they both found him quite attractive.

"Look y/n, it's your fella," Seamus smirked over the shoulder at his sister, knowing what her opinions were about the Bulgarian seeker. The only reply that he recieved was his sister's two fingers in the air, telling him to fuck off.

Neville turned to face her, eyebrows raised. "Your fella?" He shot her a joking smile.

"Don't mind him, I don't know what he's on about," Y/n replied, before shooting Seamus a dirty look. She really didn't want the whole of Hogwarts to know about her celebrity crush.

○

Y/n lay in bed, staring at the leather-strapped watch that adorned her wrist. All of the other girls in her dorm had fallen asleep hours before and now it was just her that remained awake. She watched the thin, second hand tick slowly forth until it met both of the other hands at 12. Midnight.

Slowly, the girl pulled back her duvet and sat up, trying her best not to wake Lynott who was curled up asleep on the end of her bed. She laced up her black Doc Martens over her fluffy socks, and pulled a dark green hoodie, embroidered with the crest of her local quiddich team, Kenmare Krestals.

Y/n crept out of her dorm room, making sure not step on the creaky floorboards that she had memorised the location of sometime between then and first year. Just as she was about to head down the stairs the common room, she stopped herself and turned around, walking down the corridor to the section with the 3rd year girls' dorms.

She opened one of the doors just enough for her to enter, the light from her wand illuminating the floor as she quietly snuck over to the bed that her best friend peacefully slept in.

Ginny's red hair was splayed across the pillow, limbs tangled in the red and gold duvet. Her mouth hung slightly open, releasing light snores that circled the, otherwise silent, room.

Y/n smiled to herself, she knew that Ginny would be the one to fall asleep. She shook the girl lightly to try and wake her "Gin?" "Ginny wake up, it's midnight,"

The red-headed girl stirred and slowly opened her eyes, jumping in fright when she saw y/n standing over her in the darkness, looking a bit like the grim reaper. "What're you doing here?"

"You fall asleep every year," she chuckled lowly before throwing Ginny the knitted jumper that was laying ontop of her trunk. "It's midnight, c'mon,"

At those words Ginny quickly got out of bed in a rush. "Shit already? I swear it was just lights out?" she whispered.

Ginny quickly pulled on a pair of socks and runners, not bothering to tie the laces as she tucked them down the sides. She then tugged the jumper over her head and rolled up the sleeves to make it fit. It was one of George's old Christmas jumpers, but she got away with wearing it since they had the same first inital.

"Let's go, they're probably waiting for us," y/n spoke. They followed the light from their wands as they made their way out of the dormitories, trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake McGonagall, who's quarters were located at the end of the hallway.

As the girls reached the common room they spotted Neville, sitting on one of the couches as he waited for them. He lay back comfortably, his eyes closed as he listened to the music playing from the earphones connected to his walkman.

Y/n smiled, a plan hatching in her head. She knew that Neville wouldn't be able to hear them if they were quiet. She turned to Ginny and put a finger to her lips, letting her know what she was about to do.

She then snuck up behind the sofa where the boy was sitting and hopped over the back, landing beside him. "Boo" she laughed, watching his scared expression slowly turn to a relieved smile.

Neville saw someone appear to the right of him and his heart dropped, thinking someone had caught him out of bed past lights-out. When he saw it was just y/n, he couldn't help but grin at her playfullness and his heart skipped a beat once more. "Hi, I was waiting on you," he replied shyly.

Y/n flung her legs over his lap, and crossed her arms behind her head. "Yeah I know, but I had to wake up this lazy bitch," she nodded towards Ginny with a playful smile.

"Shut up, I'm awake now aren't I?" She responded, from where she was leaning against the back of the sofa, with an over-exaggerated eye roll.

Neville filled with intense embarrasment once he realised that Ginny had been there all along. He was greatly thankful for the dim firelight that disugiused how deeply he blushed when y/n sat next to him. If he wanted this crush to remain a secret, he would have to get better at hiding it.

"We should go. Luna's probably up at the tower already," Ginny pointed out. Y/n agreed and sat up, taking her legs off of Neville's lap.

The trio left the Gryffindor common room and manoeuvred their way to the other side of the castle, checking around every corner to make sure there was np sight of Filch and Mrs. Norris. Eventually, they found themselves climbing the spiral staircase which led to the astronomy tower.

Ginny was right, Luna was already at the top when they got there, looking up at the night sky. Four mugs of tea rested on the safety railing beside her, steam visible in the cold Autumn air. Without turning around, she greeted them all "Hi guys,"

The past few years, the four of them created the tradition of coming up to the astronomy tower at midnight whenever they came back from a school break. It started when Luna had read that there was going to be a meteor shower that night, so the other three went up to watch it with her. Last year, the house elves had realised what they were doing and started to leave tea up there for them.

They all stood beside their blonde haired friend and followed her gaze up to look at the bright cresent moon, surrounding by thousands of stars dotted across the sky. It always seemed that the stars shined brighter while they were at Hogwarts, which probably had something to do with all the magic around the school's grounds.

The group drank their tea and stared up into the sky in a comfortable silence. None of them ever seemed to feel the need to fill quiet moments with small talk, they were more than happy to just enjoy each others presence.

Luna was the first to speak. "We aren't the only one's doing this, you know"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Neville asked, turning to face the blonde-haired girl. The space between his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Doing this, looking at the stars." She replied, a smile making it's way onto her face. "I bet that there are other people doing exactly the same thing as we are,"

Y/n considered it for a moment, she had never taken the time to think about how every person saw the same sky at night, counted the same stars. It was comforting to her, in a weird extistential way.

"Yeah, but we are way cooler than those other people," Ginny joked. The others let out silent laughs, which were visible in the frosty air.

○

The group were sat down on the edge of the astronomy tower, their legs dangling off the side. The only thing stopping them from falling off was a metal bar. A cold breeze blew past them, making Ginny shiver and pull her arms around her chest. "Guys, I think I might head back to bed. It's freezing out here,"

Luna nodded in agreement. "I'll come with you, Ginny. I need to return these to the kitchen and thank the house elves," she collected the empty tea mugs into her arms. "Are you two coming aswell?"

Y/n shook her head and put up her hood, to shield her neck from the chilling air of the Scottish highlands. "I think I might stay for a while. I'm not quite ready for bed yet,"

Immediately after she finished her scentance, Neville started to speak. "Y-yeah, me too. I think I'll stay here with y/n" he crossed his arms and nodded, as if it was the best idea in the world.

"Okay" Luna smiled. She hugged both of her friends and walked over to the stairs, her footsteps not even making a sound on the stone floor.

Ginny lingered for a minute longer. She shot Neville a look, in silent question of his odd behaviour, before saying goodbye and disappearing down the spiral staircase with Luna.

Once they had watched their friends fully leave, the pair turned back to look at the view infront of them. From the height that they sat at, they could see everything: the forbidden forest, the black lake, the mountains and even the lights of Hogsmede village in the distance.

"Thanks," y/n spoke. The word cut through the silence, so crisp that they  could almost see it written out in the air infront of them.

"For what?" Neville asked. As far as he remembered, he didn't do anything to deserve a thanking.

"For staying out here with me" she shrugged, turning to look at boy best friend. His overgrown hair moved with the breeze, but it didn't do anything to hide the smile that grew on his face.

Neville turned to face the girl he had been infatuated with for the last month. Before he returned to school he had hoped his feelings were just on account of Summer lonliness, but they haven't gone away, quite the opposite acctually...

"Anytime"

And he didn't mind it one bit.

The pair of them stared at eachother, studying the changes that had occured in the face of the other over the summer.  Y/n noticed that Neville had lost a lot of that child-like roundness to his face, his features slowly sculpting into structure. Neville noticed that y/n had gained a couple of new freckles along her forehead and nose, representing her days spent on the beaches back home in Kerry.

As if they were in sync, both of them looked up at the same time making unexpected eye contact. They were unable to look away, like a deer in headlights knowing it will be killed by a massive lorry if it doesn't move off of the motorway.

Y/n broke first, clearing her throat as she looked down. She could feel her face heating up and hoped she could excuse it on the cold. As her eyes scanned back up, the headphones resting around Neville's neck caught her attention.

"Um- whatchu listening to?" She asked, desperate to change the topic of conversation.

"Here," Neville took the headphones from around his neck, placing them over y/n's ears before pressing play on the walkman clipped to the waistband of his blue striped pyjama bottoms. He watched as her face grew into a massive grin when she recognised the song playing.

"Is this this the mixtape I made you?!" She asked, hearing the last verse of The Waterboys' 'The Whole Of The Moon' through the little orange foam ear pieces.

Neville nodded, "I've been listening to it ever since you gave it to me... it's the only tape I have," he shrugged sheepishly, still flustered from the previous encounter.

Y/n thought for a moment before standing up, dragging Neville onto his feet also. She rewinded the tape back to the start of the song and unplugged the headphones, letting the song's opening drums and keyboard riff flood the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Noticing the look of confusion on the boy infront of her's face, Y/n took both of his hands in hers and started moving them forwards and backwards as she she swayed her hips to the rhythm. She couldn't help but sing as the lyrics began:

I pictured a rainbow

You held it in your hands

I had flashes

But you saw the plans

Neville smiled, she geniunely had such a pretty voice. Once he got into the song he began to sway to the beat.

I wandered out of the world for years

But you just stayed in your room

Neville twirled y/n around and heard and her joyus laughter filled his head. As the next line of the song came in, he joined in with her,

I saw the cresent

You saw the whole of the moon

He had to admit, he wasn't much of a singer but it was hard not to sing along in that moment... which was cut short by a loud shout coming from the outside of the tower.

"WHO'S UP THERE! WHICH ONE OF YOU LITTLE BUGGERS IS OUT OF BED!" The scraggly voice that could only belong to Filch shouted up the tower.

"Fuck!"

NEXT CHAPTER

Taglist (comment to be added): @divinestarling @bookhoe33 @whotfskai @pursuedbyamemoryy @zippyskitty @gia999 @warrenluvr @h3ll0k1ttyl0v3r @emstar07 @the-sander-fander @carlslactationstation @the-deamus-kid @trickvsterpotter @elemental-of‐magic @regsg18

[drarry-ficrecs-fanart]

Harry: *at breakfast in the great hall, staring at Draco*

hey Seamus, does having sexual fantasies about other guys make me gay?

Seamus: well it doesn’t make you straight!

[kyalongbottom]

First chapter on Wattpad 🫶

[keykeep]

Kinktober Day 13: Picture Perfect- Dean Thomas

You awoke in the morning, your eyes adjusting to the early morning light streaming into the boy's Dormitory. As you took in the surroundings listening to the snoring of the Gryffindor boys including your boyfriend Dean Thomas asleep under you. You were a regular in the boy's dormitory after lights out, you would sneak into the boy's room for late-night activities before falling asleep with him and disappearing before any boys woke up.

You wandered around his dormitory taking the chance to look through his belongings when you stumbled upon a black old book. You knew this was his art book and that he had taken it everywhere.

Curiosity peaked as you lazily flicked through the book until you stumbled upon the latest artwork. It was a portrait of you naked on top of him mid-orgasm. Hands on your breasts, head tilting back.

You let out a gasp as hands snaked around your waist pulling you into his chest.

"What do you think?" Dean asked quietly before kissing your cheek. You blushed looking at the artwork, it was excellent, and there was no argument that he's talented. "Do I really look like that when I cum?"

"Yes, I should know, I love watching you unravel with pleasure knowing that I caused it," he said pulling you in for a passionate kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck as you smirked at his cheeky face. "I don't think I look like that though," you said softly. "should we tape it? so we can watch it together"

You had to admit that the idea was turning you on. The thought of you two keeping a video and watching it would lead to round two with him. So you nodded biting your lip at him.

You noticed the boys starting to stir as you kissed Dean one last time as you said "what do you say to us catching up tonight?". "I can't wait," he said watching you sneak out to get ready for classes.

The day passed in a blur every hour was just a countdown of tonight's adventure. Before you knew it you were back inside Dean's room with an awake array of boys. You looked at him confused as he kissed you passionately.

"What is everyone still doing here?" you asked, "Well I promised Neville and Seamus my chocolate frog cards if they could help with filming. "I can't do it in front of an audience" you blushed. "Forget them and focus on me," he said kissing you deeper.

You nodded before turning to the blushing boys "if you say anything about this, I will hex you" they both nodded behind the camera as they pressed record.

He slid his hands into his pants gently stroking his erect penis. You copied his movements as your hand slid down your pants and into your wet folds. Both of you stared into the eyes of the other as you set the pace.

"God this feels so good" you moan as you watched his cock spring free from his pants as you watched his hand stroke from base to tip in long slow strokes. You bit your lip as you undressed from your waist down and sat on dean's bed with your legs spread giving him full access to the show as you continued rubbing your clit.

You watched him as he massaged his cock moving his hand slowly not wanting to ruin the video by finishing too early but as his eyes were transfixed on you watching the pleasure build as you thrust your fingers in and out of your cunt. Your hips wiggled as your finger reached deeper inside yourself.

Dean knew his orgasm was coming faster than he expected. You groaned as your orgasm ran through your body turning it into a shaking mess. You removed your glistening fingers now coated with a white substance and popped them in his mouth. You felt him suck and lick the juices.

His hand pumped faster vigorously as cum shot out landing on his stomach. You bent down licking his tight abs from any mess that he made before wiping your mouth. "that was fun, but we should clean up while we are waiting for you to get hard again" you said giggling as you winked at your boyfriend.

After you showered and changed into a dress you walked into his dorm, to hear your boyfriend bragging to his Seamus and Neville about your healthy sex life. You laughed kissing him "you ready?" he asked, you silenced any words unspoken with a kiss which he voluntarily deepened as you tore each other's clothes off your bodies between hot kisses.

"Are they filming?" you asked quietly, Dean nodded as he fell onto his bed. You joined him straddling his hips feeling his hard cock between you. For the next few minutes as you kissed you ran your hands over his torso, as he ran his hands over your ass cupping it in his hands.

You wrapped your hand around his cock as you moved your hips to position it at your wet entrance. Inch by inch you lowered yourself as you felt yourself filling with his big cock. You moaned against his mouth as he moved his hands across her back as you rode him, driving him as deep as you could with every thrust.

Dean bowed his head until his hot breath was on your chest as his hands squeezed your breasts before putting one of your breasts in his mouth he licked, and caressed the breast and stiff nipple while massaging the other with his hand before switching to the other doing the same movements.

You tilted your head back in ecstasy as you moaned loudly, lips parted slightly and breath shallow, You looked into each other's eyes as your body quivered and your muscles tightened as you convulsed on his hard cock. Dean grunted driving himself deep into her quivering body as his own orgasm hit.

He clenched his teeth as he shot deep inside her. Almost reluctantly they slowed panting you sat aside from him both sweating and breathless and drained.

"Perfect" he breathed against your lips before colliding his with yours. As you came out of your little bubble you momentarily remembered there were two other guys in the room. Your head turned to Neville and Seamus with straining cocks and smiling faces. "Can we watch it now?" you said eagerly "while you two boys have cold showers?" Dean said. Seamus and Neville ran out of the room quickly leaving you alone.

" I forgot they were there" You confessed as Dean nodded "Me too," he said, "well let's watch you cum" he laughed kissing your cheek. "before the boys come back," you said.

Dean waved his wand turning your muggle video camera into a projector. The wall of the boy's dorm danced with footage of your make-out session, your eyes both mesmerised as you viewed you both naked and feeling each other up. "wow nice cock" you said kissing him as he grinned at the compliment.

The sex had started and as you watched it you admitted to Dean it was hot and that you wouldn't mind more videos together. You watched as your past self orgasmed watching the sticky white substance coat his cock making it easier for him to slide in and out of you.

"oh, I do look like that, that picture is so vivid in detail" you confessed as he laughed "I have picture-perfect memory," he said leaning to kiss you. Seamus and Neville joined by Ron and Harry in their quidditch gear entered the dormitory "not again" Neville yelled out covering their eyes. Dean looked at his friends and said "sorry no peaking this time" as he waved them away so you two could have a quick round 2.

[l1lyfl0w3r]

I desperately need a fic with a 'fake lovers' trope but where they don't fall in love.

For example

Ginny x Dean

Where Dean x Seamus is the actual ship

But Ginny wants Harry to be jealous, and Dean wants a way to forget about Seamus.

In the end Dean x Seamus start dating after Seamus gets upset and confesses.

Ginny gives up on Harry. Harry realises he likes Ginny after the fact. Maybe they end up together in 6th year, maybe not.

Canon compliant as much as possible but also not at the same time. Iykyk, I don't even know tbh

I will probably have to write this myself, unless someone wants to do it for me.

[mastermindmiko]

Gatherings at the Burrow (Ron edition)

Pairing: Ron Weasley + Reader Warnings: none, but lmk Word count: 4627 words Summary: Gatherings at the Burrow, through a series of events always lead to a happy couple forming, this time it's Ron's turn.

I'm going to make this a little series with each Weasley having a chapter with sort of the same overarching theme, I'm not going to set any deadlines, cause we all know I'm not good with that, but here is the first one!

Gatherings at the Burrow have never been anything short of brilliant, I've only ever gone there for three years, but each year seems to be better than the one before it.

"You really should visit more often, dear." Molly says, whilst giving me a hug as soon as I enter. I raise my voice, sure to make sure that a certain someone that is also present hears, "I would, If my stupid boss gave me some time off every once in a while!"

"Go complain about it to HR!" Percy yelled back from the kitchen. Molly leads me to the living room where the whole room is filled with excitement. I wave to everyone and then take a seat next to my closest friend in the room Ronald Weasley.

"I haven't heard from you in a while, I almost thought about visiting Percy at work just to see you." Ron says, pressing a kiss to my cheek as greeting. I smile at the gesture and replied, "Since when was two days ever considered a while."

"It is when you're my friend." Ron says with a cheeky grin. Harry waves from behind Ron, and I say, "It must be terrible working with him everyday."

"It is..." Harry agrees, "Especially when he only talks about you or the Chudly Canons."

I flush a deep shade of red and pretend to not notice the way Ron shoves Harry. The twins babble about their new inventions and how great the shop's been ever since they finally rebuilt after the war. The older Weasleys (Bill and Charlie, along with their father) bicker about how Bill can't give his child candy after seven at night. Ginny telling Fleur how excited she is about her first Quidditch game as the Chaser of the Holyhead Harpies next week.

Even with all the clatter and noise, it's still very comforting, even more so when Ron slips his arm around my back. Another person enters the room and Ginny runs excitedly to the door. I hear a load of giggles and at their recognizable sound, Ron removes his arm from around me.

Ron and Hermione got together as soon as the war ended. I only got to know them when I started working for Percy, especially since the twins wanted to know who 'Percy's new victim' was. They seemed so happy together but before their one year mark, they broke it off. It's been two years since, I can't help but wonder if they sometimes think it's a mistake.

I've never been one to meddle, but as Hermione sat across from us, next to Ginny and Fleur, I couldn't help but notice the way Ron was avoiding her eyes. He'd only gave her a half-assed wave when she entered the room.

With my heart (for some absurd reason) heavier, I sighed and went to the kitchen to get myself a drink. I stand up and Ron's hand wraps around my wrist. He asks, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go get a drink, want one?" I asked, and he shakes his more than half full cup at me with an appreciative smile. I turn to everybody in the room and shout, "Anyone want a drink?"

The room quiets before everyone starts telling me their drink orders, hectic as always, just the way I love it. I head to the kitchen and Percy's got his papers set out in front of him, working. I walk in, and say, "You can't be married to your work forever, you know."

"I'm aware..." He trails off, as he continues to read some paper, underlining certain aspects. He continues, "But until that day..."

He continues to work, not even sparing me a glance as I start filling up eight glasses with drinks, trying not to get in Molly's way while she's cooking. I say, "You can afford to not work, excessively for one day, you know."

"I'm aware of that too." Percy says, and I slide his drink across the counter to him. The noise alerts him and he reaches out to grab it before it slides off the edge. He opens his mouth, but I interrupt him, "You can't possibly be doubting my ability to make a drink for you after three years."

He presses his lips into a firm line, and nods his head in thanks. I've learned to pick up on his mannerisms over the years. I try one last time, "Percy, come on, everyone's waiting for you, and I really don't want to spend the night, thinking that you're here all alone, working."

"I'm hardly alone, I've got mom."

"Who's about to finish cooking and will light up your papers, if you don't spend time with your family." Molly threatens, and Percy's wise enough to start packing up his papers. I finish up the last of the drinks, and place a spell to send each of them to their respective owners.

"Are you sure you don't need any help, Molly?" I offer for the third time that night, careful not to call her Mrs. Weasley as to avoid getting scolded. "No, no, no, you go rest my dear, and you enjoy your time, I simply do not know how we spent all those years without you."

"Your youngest son is to blame for that." I say, blushing at Molly's kindness. Molly fumes, "I honestly do not know how you were with that boy in school not only for seven but for eight years, and he's never even talked to you, I know he regrets it, all those years he's wasted not being in love with you."

"He's not in love with me-"

"He is." Percy interrupts me, and I say, "He's still hung up on Hermione, that's for sure. Besides, he's expressed his feelings about dating his friend more than once with me..."

After Hermione and Ron broke up, it sort of shattered the dynamic for a bit. All the awkwardness hung in the air, and even if it's mostly faded by now, Ron always says how he'd never date a friend, and how he'd rather face Voldemort again than go through all of that again. Sometimes when he talks about it, I feel as though he is looking right through me, warning me even.

"Ron's always been a bit daft when it comes to matters like these, give him a bit." Percy says, and I roll my eyes, I'd be foolish to even allow myself a sliver of hope, especially since I couldn't care less about who Ron dates.

I head back into the living room and once again the only spot left is beside Ron, I sit back down next to him on the sofa. Percy enters the room and the twins shuffle aside to provide a place for him, and Fred sends me a wink while George wiggles his eyebrows between me and Ron.

I roll my eyes at their antics, and Ron says, "There's something I haven't told you."

I shift all of my focus to him, and gesture for him to keep talking. Ron explains, "You know how strict the ministry is about breaking Auror Protocol, even more so when you've just finished training- like me, and long story short, I broke protocol, and now I'm suspended for two weeks."

"Ron! Have you told your family about this?"

"No."

"What did you even break protocol for?" I ask, furiously. It's already nerve wrecking enough that he's an Auror, dealing with all these dark wizards constantly, and not just him, but Harry too. Ron says, "Harry was in trouble."

I sigh, knowing that there is no way I could scold him for that. I place my palm on his forearm and say, "You've still got to be careful, Ron."

"I know, I can't have anymore dark wizards harming anyone I care about." He says, and he looks at me, that look, that stupid stupid look with his stupid blue eyes. I feel the butterflies flutter in my stomach. I urge them to stop, these are dangerous feelings and I will not have them.

"You really should tell them, sooner rather than later too." I advise, and he nods. He continues to look intently into my eyes, if this wasn't Ron, I'd be sure that he was going to kiss me, but Ron wouldn't dare. He'd sooner kiss an enemy rather than a friend.

He clears his throat, looking away, and pulling away from my touch. The butterflies die, and they are replaced with a painful feeling in my chest. He leans down, elbows on his thighs. He says, "I hear you're moving."

"Yeah."

"With um Thomas?" Ron says, and it's at moments like these where I think that there's something more. I reply, "Dean? No, it's not like that with him."

"You aren't dating?" Ron says, looking at me, eyes wide. I swallow, "No, I would've told you if I was dating someone, and it's been like that with Dean anyways."

He nods, and gulps down a few sips of his drink. He straightens his back and asks, "When are you moving?"

"I'll be officially moved in by Saturday."

*** ⋆｡°✩***

"Thanks for helping me Dean."

He sets down the last of the boxes, and he wipes away a bit of sweat from his forehead. He smiles, tired but genuine. I add, "I really appreciate it."

"You know I love spending time with you, but why couldn't Weasley help you out?" Dean asks, and I turn around and start pulling out a few items from the box entitled kitchen. I act, "Percy? He's working yet again, could not get him away even with a-"

"No, Ron. I'm sure he'd be happy to help, after all he is in love with you." Dean explains, looking at me intently, I turn around to face him and sigh. I haven't told Dean about the many conversation I've had with Ron regarding this topic. Last he talked about it was during Bill's birthday party, less than a month ago.

"Congratulations Bill! You're not only old, but you're very old!" George lifts a glass and laughs. The laughter echoes around the table, as Bill shoves his younger brother. Bill replies, "In a blink of an eye, you'll be even older than I am."

George waves his hand dismissively, and sits down next to his future wife Angelina. He wraps an arm around her and gives her a kiss on her temple. I could only hope to be that in love with someone someday. I can imagine how wonderful it would be, the kisses, the stolen glances, the words of appreciation-

"It's manic if you ask me." Ron whispers in my ear over the loud music in the club. I turn to look at him faces so close that I can could the freckles on his cheeks. I ask, "What is?"

"Dating your friend." Ron says, and I sigh, getting ready for another monologue. He starts, "If they break up, not only would if effect them, but also the whole group, I mean, he'd lose her and maybe even Lee, not to mention, it would put Fred in an awkward spot, who to chose, and-"

"I think it's wonderful." I stop him, and he raises an inquisitive eyebrow, I start my own rant, "You wouldn't have to go through any of that first date awkwardness of not knowing what to say or what to do. You wouldn't worry about what to get them for gifts because you've already gotten them gifts your whole life. You'd feel comfortable around them and you'd feel like they're your best friend too. My favorite part of it is that when you get older, and have kids, and grandkids and all that, you'd have so many more stories to tell them about how much that person means to you even before you ever fell in love with them."

I take in a breath, looking at George and Angelina, Bill and Fleur, Luna and Ginny, hoping that someday I might have what they have. I turn to look at Ron whose been silent since I've finished talking, and I could feel the gears spinning in his head, and I could see his cheeks turn red. He says, "You didn't think of one last thing."

"What is it?"

"That if you lost them, it would hurt a million times more."

Dean says, trying to convince me of my hidden love for Ron, "Don't give me any of your bullshit, I'm the one person who knows you better than he does..."

He takes a step towards me and places a hand on my cheek. He bends down and presses a small peck to my lips. He whispers, cheeky, "And that's only because I've been inside you."

I gasp, and hit him arm playfully, he laughs, and I turn red. "And you love him too, and don't even try to object."

"We've been at this for seven years now, and the only times when you stop kissing me or more is when you're in love with someone. The first time, it was with Neville and now, it's with Ron. You can deny it all you want like I know you've been, but you're going to find out soon enough."

"I really hate you sometimes, you know." I huff, pursing my lips. He smiles, "You know you love me."

I break into a smile, and wrap my arms around him in a friendly hug. He reciprocates, and then presses a sweet kiss to my cheek. He sighs, "I've got to go meet up with Seamus."

"Okay, thanks again for helping." I say, and the doorbell interrupts us. I wasn't expecting anyone. I walk over to the door, and open it. Before the war ended, I would've never done such a thing, but now I can open the door to my home without worrying about being attacked.

Ron stands with his face flushed a bouquet of my favorite flowers. Dean picks up his bag from the ground, and that's when Ron notices him, his expression hardens immediately. Dean says goodbye to both Ron and I then walks out the door.

I don't mind Dean's flirts from behind Ron, as I roll my eyes, and pull Ron inside. I close the door behind us, pressing my back against it. A smile on my mouth, as I wait for Ron to say something. Ron asks, "Is that Thomas?"

"Yes, you've shared a dorm with him for seven years, I figured you'd know what he looks like by now." I joke, but my grin drops when Ron scoffs and lowers the bouquet. Ron asks, "What was he doing here?"

"He helped me move in." I explained. He frowns and says, "Magic couldn't help you with all those boxes?"

"Not in a muggle neighborhood, no." I say, and Ron folds his arms. The bouquet bunches up at the ends from the action. I tentatively take a step towards him and I question, "What are the flowers for?"

"And you didn't think to ask me for help?" Ron snaps, and his tone surprises me. I shrug my shoulders and say, "I thought you'd be busy, and I wouldn't want to bother you."

"But you'd bother Dean all you'd like."

"Why are you saying his name like that? You guys are friends." I say, appalled by his tone, spitting venom. Ron sets the flowers down on one of the random boxes that surround us, and spits, "If you didn't want to tell me about your personal life that's fine, but you didn't have to lie to me."

"I didn't lie to you about anything." I defend, getting heated up myself at all his accusations. He shouts, "And Thomas only came here to help you move."

"Yes!"

"I'm not an idiot, I know what's going on between the two of you." Ron says, and I sigh, exasperated, "Nothing is happening!

"Please! It's been happening since third year." Ron says, and I huff, "Yes, but it's stopped, for a while actually. And you don't get to do this! I don't owe you any information about my life that I don't want to share."

"My mistake, I actually thought we were friends."

"We are friends, but you don't get to accuse me of things that only you see, and even if I was dating him, why would it be any of your business?" I shout, and he opens his mouth to retort, but then shuts his mouth and the door of my new apartment right behind him.

*** ⋆｡°✩***

I still hadn't gotten over what happened with Ron by the time that I go into work on Monday. The first thing I notice is Mr. Weasley not standing beside me in the elevator. The second thing I notice is the lack of red hair on my way to my office. The third and most concerning thing is that Percy Weasley, the Percy Weasley has submitted an absence notice.

If Percy is not working that must mean that something awful has happened. I send a Patronus to Percy and hope that he sends a reply quickly, my worry has me waiting twenty minutes before I rush to my supervisor's office to ask her what happened.

I knock on her door, and wait for her sharp voice yell a sound of acknowledgement. I walk into her office and stand in the middle of the room with my heels digging into her thick fur carpet. I say, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you knew why Per- Mr. Weasley isn't here today."

"It was a surprise to me too, if I'm being honest." Her voice is harsh as she scribbles something down with her quill. She continues in a slow voice that has be just about ready to start yelling for her to get out with it, "Something about a family member in the hospital."

My heart lodges into my throat, and I think of all the horrible horrible possibilities as I excuse myself and nearly run to the apparition grounds to make it to St. Mungo's.

Molly's been getting really tired with her old age what if something happened to her, and Mr. Weasley too especially after Nagini attacked him a few years ago. What about Fred and George? They couldn't survive without each other! What about Bill? He's got a kid now!

Ron...what if something happened to Ron? Despite his stubborn attitude and insane jealousy, I don't know what I'd do without him. I haven't heard from him since the fight either. My fast paced walking turns into a full blown run, and as soon as I make it to the apparition grounds, I recklessly apparate without any regard for my safety.

What would I do if I didn't have to spend a decent amount of time writing him a letter everyday? What would I do if I had to spend a day without his incessant nagging and his irrational logic, and his gentleness and care, and his dumb smile.

St. Mungo's isn't as busy as it usually is. The receptionist tells me the ward that an unspecified Weasley is staying in, and I'm sure that I look insane, running like a mad woman to get to the proper room. I can feel my heart pumping in my ears as I see a sea of red hair. I see them one by one; Molly, Arthur, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and-

"Ron!" I say, as I wrap my arms around him in a bone crushing hug. He's takes a step back from the sheer force of my hug, and encases me in his arms. I pull back and the words spill from my mouth, "I came as soon as I heard, I thought something happened to you."

"People should know that not all Weasleys are interchangeable, they should always mention who got hurt, I was so scared that something happened to Percy or Fred or Bill or-"

"It's Ginny who's hurt." Ron explains, and I feel stupid with the way I've been complaining when someone is hurt, and even more so when I feel everyone's teasing eyes on us. I ask, "What happened?"

"She fell off her broom in a match, and she would've been fine if she wasn't hit by a bludger too." He says and I scrunch up my face at the description. I just can't imagine what poor Ginny must be feeling right now. I ask, "What did the healer say?"

"That she's in stable condition, she's not awake at the moment, but none of the broken bones are that serious. She won't be playing for a while, but nothing is permanent, and she'll be okay." Ron says, and I nod my head. My relief along with worry take over my body.

I look into Ron's eyes, and lift my hand up to cup his cheek. I sigh, looking at him. Grateful that nothing's happened to him. The relief is too overwhelming that I believe I can't deny what I'm feeling any longer. He gives me that look, and he pulls me in by my waist.

Ron was right, it would hurt a million times more if I lost him. That's when his touch felt like fire, and I could feel my throat close up. I can't believe I let this happen. I fell for him, for this moron standing in front of me right now. I let out a shaky breath, and pull away from his grasp.

My initial reaction is to run away and never look back, but instead, I go sit next to Percy, who has worry radiating off him. I provide support for the rest of the Weasley family, not sparing Ron one glance, hoping that the words don't tumble from my throat.

*** ⋆｡°✩***

The next Weasley gathering was in celebration of Christmas getting closer and closer as well as Ginny's fast and marvelous recovery. No one, not even the healer's expected her to bounce back that quickly, but Ginny is an amazing witch, it was foolish to not expect it.

I wasn't going though, I'd sent Ginny a gift, and an apology to Molly for not being able to make it. My obstacle at the current moment was trying to get Percy to leave the office to go to said gathering without me. I say, "I can't go, Percy."

"You say that but you still haven't provided a valid excuse." Percy says, and I shrug my shoulders, "I've got work."

"Did you forget that I'm the one who gives you that work? You don't have anything to finish!" Percy says, exasperated, and I sigh, "I just can't Percy."

"But if you-"

"I can't." I stop him sharply, I run a hand through my hair, hopelessly and whisper, "Not while he's there..."

"I'm sure Ron wouldn't mind it, you had a fight, all friends fight. It's normal." Percy reassures me, and I feel my eyes water as I begin to explain, "I fell for him, Percy, and even if he does like me back...You know how he feels about dating his friends, imagine how he would feel about dating me, who is a friend and even considered a member of his family."

"I'm sure everything will be alright." He says, before mumbling something quietly under his breath. He apparates to the Burrow and I organize my office before going back to my apartment for the weekend. I place the pens back into my case. The paper sin the drawers and I lock them up with enchantments and passwords.

I hated not being at the Burrow, not making everyone their drinks, not seeing Ginny after being very worried about her. I couldn't believe that I let my feelings influence my life this much, especially when it came to the Weasleys. They are some of the most important people in my life, and I couldn't-

"Percy told me you'd be here."

I gasp at the voice, and I spin to where it came from. Ron. The silence was thick between us. I cleared my throat, and turned around to continue sorting papers into stacks. I ask, "How's Ginny?"

"Good..." He trails off and the silence spreads over us once more. I ignore it this time and try to focus on getting the organization done as soon as I can to get back home. I'm not sure how long it is before I feel him wrap his arms around my middle and spin me around to face him.

"Mom was disappointed you didn't come." Ron said, and I hoped what he really meant was 'I was disappointed you didn't come.' I don't say a thing, and he pulls me closer to him. The butterflies threaten to swallow me whole. I push his arms away, and I say, "Ron, you should get going."

"Why?"

I try to push passed him but he cages me in between his arms and my desk. I look past him focusing on a picture hung in my office behind him. He adds, "Didn't you think I would notice the way you've been giving everyone the cold shoulder since you saw us at St. Mungo's?"

I stay silent, he was right. I didn't send any letters, and the replies that I've sent were dry to say the least. He says, "I'm sorry, if this is because of the fight, but-"

"It's not because of the fight." I reply, and look at him. I can see the desperation in his eyes, and it gets my heart pumping faster. Ron furrows his eyebrows, and questions, "What is it then?"

My eyes well up, and I look down at the ground. Ron lifts my chin up with his index finger. He says, "You can tell me anything, you know..."

I let out a bittersweet laugh, and sniffle, "Not this, you'll hate me for it."

"I could never hate you." He reassures me, but he doesn't know how little it does. I feel a tear fall, and I cover my face with both my palms. I sob, "I'm so sorry, Ron, I didn't mean to, I promise."

"I'm in love with you." I say, the weight off my shoulders and onto my chest as I await his response, tears falling faster than before. I hear him take in a shaky breath before wrapping his fingers around my wrists. He pulls down my palms away from my face. His movements are slow and they feel like torture, waiting for him to say something or do something.

He gazes at me, and I feel even worse than before, I can't lose him. I can feel another apology about to tumble from lips when he silences me. I'm completely irresponsive as I feel his lips against mine and the feeling of his palms on my cheeks spreading to the rest of my face. I pull away from his lips and ask, "But you said-"

"Everything I've ever said about not wanting to date a friend was a weak and desperate attempt of trying to get you to not fall for Dean." Ron says, and I question, "But when Hermione-"

"The reason why Hermione and I broke up was as I told you, I didn't like her anymore, but the other reason was because my older brother's secretary had it out for me and my heart, and I couldn't spend another moment away from her. I didn't want to rub it in Hermione's face, but I should've handled it better than that."

"You're acting very mature right now." I say, beginning to light up, and Ron chuckles, "Bill had a talk with me after you left St. Mungo's, I've been waiting for the right time to talk to you about it."

"Remind me to thank Bill."

[elliebyrrdwrites]

The Heist pt. 6

You can read it from the beginning, here.

A New Addition

Draco, along with the three other wizards in the room, froze as a swath of red hair preceded the voice of Ginny Weasley. As she entered Draco’s study behind her husband.

“Hello, boys.”

“I thought I said I drew the line at Weasley!” Theo practically bellowed.

Draco quirked a brow at him. “I thought you had been referring to her brother.”

“I was, but you get one and you end up with the lot of them!”

“That’s not a thing. Besides, she’s a Potter.” Harry protested on behalf of his wife who huffed out a laugh.

“It’s sort of a thing.” Ginny Weasley swayed into the room like she owned it. Draco recalled her being rather confident, in comparison to her older brother. But this was a woman who not only exuded confidence, but looked utterly un-phased by Theo's ranting.

“What are you doing here, Aunt Ginny?” Teddy, who looked rather nervous, asked as he slid the guards lanyard behind his back.

Ginny strode over to the couch and set herself down, propping her feet upon the coffee table and announced, “I want in.”

Draco, of course, grinned broadly at her husband. But Theo managed to choke on his saliva as he struggled and failed to dignify the witch with a response.

“She figured out that I was up to something.”

“How?” Seamus asked as he fist bumped Ginny before setting himself across from her on one of the arm chairs.

“Well, first off all, Hermione dropped by the other day and insisted she speak to him in private. I always know that whenever she can’t speak to him in front of me, it has to do with naughty wizards.” She sucked through her teeth. “Secondly, I found Ron covering for him at work.”

“Weasley is covering for you?” Seamus raised a brow.

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged. “Who else can I trust to cover for me?”

“Not Weasley!” Theo growled.

“Ron wont give me away, Nott. Calm down. He knows about mine and Grangers schemes to get the some of the human traffickers caught.”

“Don’t you play Quidditch?” Draco asked, as he searched his drawers for something to munch on.

“Not anymore.” She drawled. “I work with Fred at the Joke Shop.”

“Oh, just what we needed. How fruitful your experience is to us. How useful you will be—”

“Exactly.” Ginny cut him off, casually and completely ignoring his sarcasm. “I’m glad you see it my way. Besides,” She sighed. “I’m bored.”

“Bored?!”

Draco shrugged, because well, he could relate. He had tried to retire from this life and worked part time for the Ministry as an auditor. But, half the time, he felt like stuffing his head into a carousel, just so he could have something more entertaining to do.

Theo opened his mouth to protest but paused and looked over at Harry. “Where is Granger?”

He shrugged and slid onto the couch beside his wife, who promptly moved her feet to his lap, instead. “I thought she was with you lot.”

“She was.” Theo squinted his eyes, briefly, then shook his head. As if to dispel his mind of any ill thoughts.

“Ginny,” Draco began. “You can help Potter set up a meeting with Astoria Greengrass.”

“Alright.” She didn’t ask anything except for, “Under what pretext?”

“To discuss the ongoing work of incorporating the normalcy of Muggle ways into the Wizarding world. Such as,” He gestured toward the two of them. “Cell phones.”

“Speaking of which. We should probably get some.” Harry tossed in. “Burner phones, anyway.”

“Why would we want to burn phones?” Theo scoffed.

“I’ve burned phones before. They sort of explode with enough heat applied.” Seamus nodded enthusiastically.

“Not —” Harry pinched his brow and sighed. “Nevermind. Just ask Hermione, will you?”

Draco agreed with Harry. Cell phones, though he had not much experience with them, seemed terribly convenient.

“If you had to guess,” Theo mused. “Where would you say Granger is?” He glanced at the old grandfather clock Draco had acquired from an antique shop many, many jobs ago.

“Probably doing something sneaky.” Ginny snorted and Harry chuckled. Theo frowned deeply as he played with an hour glass on Draco’s shelves.

Draco was on the verge of asking Ginny a question about the meeting when the aroma of garlic and onion began to waft through the door.

Just before Granger rounded the corner and held up two bags of Chinese take out.

Draco nearly groaned at the sight of it and the smells. Instead, he grinned broadly at her as she smirked across the room at him.

“Just lovely.” Draco directed at Theo who scowled at him.

“Where have you been?” Theo rounded on the witch who frowned up at him as she handed him a bag.

She took her wand from her pocket and quickly transfigured an old wooden cigar box into a dining table, and then added several chairs transfigured out of random items from Draco’s study, such as pens and decorative rocks.

“Hi, Gin!” Granger greeted her friend with absolutely no surprise at finding her presence.

“Hey ‘Mione!” Ginny called from her spot on the couch.

“I got Dinner, Theo.” Granger said to him.

He settled into a chair and frowned at her, clearly disbelieving her.

“Well,” She sighed and gestured to the seat at the head of the table for Draco before settling into one directly across from Theo. “I did make one extra stop.”

“Oh, did you?” Theo leaned back in his chair and watched as she unpacked takeout container after takeout container.

“I did.” She looked rather pleased with herself, causing Draco to smile at her as her twinkling eyes met his.

“And?”

“Well,” She bit her lower lip and reached into that little charmed purse of hers.

When she withdrew her hand, she held up a long, slender piece of ivory.

“Is that walrus ivory?” Draco asked, impressed.

“It is!” She handed it to him as he settled at the table.

Harry, Seamus, Teddy and Ginny all joined and began to pick through the food.

“You want to make a replica.” Draco murmured, nodding as he turned the piece over.

“I do.” She grabbed a pair of chopsticks and tucked into a box of chow mien.

“And where did you happen to come up on a tusk of a walrus?”

Granger shrugged and took a bite of noodles. “I stopped by Cormac’s.”

Theo made a gagging noise while Harry and Ginny cringed.

“I knew it.”

“McLaggen?” Seamus’ nose crinkled in disgust.

“Yes, he owed me a favor.”

Draco decided that while it was amusing to watch the lot of them degrade McLaggen, he didn’t appreciate the flustered look on Granger’s face as she tried to avoid all of the disapproving looks from her friends.

“I found out whose blood was used for the ward on The Wand,” Draco broke into the tension as he pinched a piece of salt and pepper chicken.

“You did?” Granger’s discomfort immediately vanished. “Who?”

“Astoria Greengrass.”

Theo choked on his noodles and Granger glanced at him before tilting her head. “How odd. How did you find out?”

“Well,” He poked around the paper container a bit before setting it down. “I saw her at the museum talking with the curator and after a bit of research I found that she is, indeed, the one who donated the item from a personal collection of art she has been building over the years.”

“Oh, well, how do we get some of her blood?”

“That’s where the meeting with the Potters comes in.” He nodded to the couple who nodded in agreement.

“Okay.” Granger’s mouth pulled to one side. Her little forehead furrowed as she thought about it. “How is Harry and Ginny supposed to get her to give them blood.”

“Why don’t you meet with her?” Theo asked to which Draco chuckled at.

“You know Tori hates me.”

“Yes, but, when she inevitably slaps you and cuts herself on your rings as you lift a hand in defense, then we can get some of her blood. Deal done.”

“Why does Astoria Greenhouse hate you so much?” Granger leaned her elbows onto the table, eager eyes taking in the exchange between him and Theo.

“Because he left her at the alter.”

Ginny and Granger gasped, affronted. Granger leaned back in her seat and gaped at him.

“Why?” She finally asked.

Draco swiped the chow mien from where she had placed it and took a bite. When he swallowed, he frowned at her and shrugged.

“Oh, I think I remember that, now!” Ginny nodded emphatically. “Of course, I don’t remember any article saying that you ditched out on her.” She grimaced while simultaneously piercing Draco with a disapproving look.

“It doesn’t matter.” Granger shook her head, as if sensing the same discomfort in him as she felt when interrogated about McLaggen. “What matters is that Draco cannot be the one to get her blood, so it’ll have to be you two.”

Theo nodded. “And it’ll have to be creative.”

Teddy raised a hand, lazily as he reached over for an eggroll. “How does one get blood, creatively?”

Everyone around the table fell quiet as they ate.

“We could stab-” Seamus began.

“No.” Ginny cut him off.

“We could stupefy her.” Teddy shrugged. “Take her blood then obliviate her.”

Draco robbed at his jaw with a chuckle.

“Or,” Granger’s eyes were moving back and forth, looking between everyone around the table and doing some sort of mental calculation in her head.

“We could ask her.”

Theo laughed once. “Why didn’t we think of that, already?”

But Granger shook her head, undeterred. “She’s interested in the Muggles in some way, is she not? I mean, she’s donated a a piece of history to a muggle museum.”

Draco nodded. “She did. She has pushed her family to accept and embrace Muggles and things like Science and Art.”

Granger’s eyes lit up. “Exactly!”

“What are you saying?” Theo leaned forward, pressing his own elbows into the table.

“We could have Ginny and Harry pretend to be involved in some sort of Muggle foundation meant to study the link between the two. We can also tell her that it is meant to help the Wizarding world advance in Magic and Science, save lives or some rubbish like that.”

“Okay,” Harry nodded. “But in the Muggle world, there are specialist that take blood. We’re not Phlebotomists.”

She nodded. “A few of us can act like members of the foundation.”

“So we need to arrange a meeting with her to discuss it, first.” Ginny held up her chopsticks.

“Tomorrow.” Draco nodded.

“We’ll need Polyjuice potion.”

Draco nodded to Theo. “That’s not a problem. We have plenty.”

Granger leaned back in her seat. “This foundation needs to look real.”

Draco nodded and began to dig into his Salt and Pepper chicken with a renewed enthusiasm. “It will be real.” He smiled at her as he chewed.

“You mean Zabini?”

He nodded and Theo chuckled. “Zabini is going to help us screw over Greengrass. This is going to be interesting.”

“It’s going to be brilliant.” Teddy whooped and tossed an eggroll into his mouth. “Please tell me that I get to go.”

Harry and Ginny began to protest but it was Draco who appraised the kid and nodded. “What else can you morph into?”

“I could morph into a dog if it meant you’d let me play a bigger role.”

Draco laughed and glanced over at Granger who looked slightly concerned for the kid. Then at Theo who was grinning broadly at Teddy Lupin.

“This can work.” Theo nodded before settling his excited stare onto Draco.

Both men looked to Granger and watched as she fought the twitch of her lips, the fight against the smile that pushed to be seen once they settled their own onto her.

She sighed. “We’re going to need books on Phlebotomy, Teddy.” She glanced over at Draco’s clock. “The library should be open for another hour. We can make it if we hurry, now.”

Draco nodded, appreciatively, and winked at Granger.

He wasn’t sure if a slight blush had crept into her cheeks, or if it was a trick of the lighting.

"Oh," Theo perked up, suddenly recalling something. "While you're out, Granger, will you get us some of those burning phones?"

[citruswriter]

Hogwarts Cast + Fancasting + Other Characters - Pt 1

❤ = Original Actor

🩵 = Fan Cast

💘 = Original Character

Hermione Granger ❤ Harry Potter ❤ Ronald Weasley ❤

Ginny Weasley ❤ Fred & George Weasley ❤

Seamus Finnegan 💙 Oliver Wood 💙

Pavarti Patil 💙 Everett Goldhorn 💘

[nyrandrea]

Of Blood and Oil

Summary: The little stray cat had brought salvation to the inhabitants of the Walled City in their darkest hour, now it was time for them to return the favour.

(Takes place after the events of the game, so there will be spoilers!)

Also available to read on AO3!

Enjoy!

A lone tree, surrounded by intertwining vines and flowers that little insects danced around as if they were celebrating the purpose that it gave them; to spread its seeds and have life thrive in yet another cycle.  

No sign of them here either.  

Murtaugh paid the insects no mind as they angrily buzzed around his ear as if to chastise him for trespassing. He circled around the tree once, twice, three times just to make sure, sniffing every inch before finally giving up, granting the bugs their wish as he turned tail and left.

Perching on the edge of what once trapped an entire civilization, the little ginger tabby washed his face as he watched the robotic inhabitants below living their daily lives, taking time to face the sun and appreciate it for a few moments before going back to whatever task they were doing.

It had taken them a while to accept that the Outside was even really a thing that existed. Most of them had still to leave the city; only a handful had dared to step a foot out of what had been their sanctuary—their prison—for their whole lives. A stubborn few even had to be coaxed out of their homes, but with the cat’s presence—and persistence—they finally stepped out.

A little furry pest, they had called him, but there was a fondness in their tone.

The Outsiders had started building a few settlements outside the city, with Momo and Clementine heading the project while Doc provided some technical know-how every now and then, his main priority being making up for lost time with his son. Zbaltazar didn’t provide much help physically, but made sure his fellow companions took some mindful breaks, with a little persuasion.

Murtaugh took it upon himself to teach the robots how to hunt as they seemed clueless on how to feed themselves properly. They were interested, if not a little fearful when he brought them live prey, encouraging them to make the killing blow.

At first it was thought that perhaps the cat that they had grown to trust was about to betray them and eat them like the Zurks had done, but a little explanation from Doc about how organic predators worked had put them at ease. Though they would still take pity on whatever poor soul was dropped at their feet, and would usually try to release them, much to Murtaugh’s annoyance.

Without B-12, there was a language barrier that neither species could overcome, which would often result in crossed-wiring as the cat would try and make sense of their garbled sounds and vice versa. Eventually one would get tired of the other and leave; this became more and more common until it was decided there wasn’t much point anymore.  

The robots had their own lives to rebuild and families to raise, and Murtaugh had to find his own, so he had decided it was time to leave.

He hadn’t travelled far though, only wandering a few miles outside the wall as he felt somewhat compelled to stay. Ever since birth he had always had his family watching his back, and B-12, through his own strange ways, had kept him safe within the walls of the city. This was the first time he had truly been alone.

All the more reason to find them.

The last time he had been with his own kind was when they were on the outskirts of the wall, yet there were no scent trails or marks to follow. It was as if they had completely vanished off the face of the earth.

Just how long had he been trapped inside?

The cat flicked his tail a little. No, they wouldn’t just leave the territory like that. They wouldn’t abandon him. Unless there was a pressing reason. They always kicked the competition out, and their competitors were fierce, especially during the winter when prey was scarce. But they always managed to get out of a scrape with their rivals fleeing with their tails in-between their legs.

So, what could have driven his family out?

Getting up and stretching, Murtaugh decided to do another patrol. They were always on the move; perhaps he had just missed them.

There wasn’t even time to react when jaws sank into his flesh.

xxx

“A little more to the left,” Clementine called out, beckoning to the poor construction crew worker as he heaved a massive sheet of metal that would act as a roof to one of the many houses they were building next to a lake they had found near the outskirts of the city.  

She remembered that night well. They had just stepped out for the first time, wandering amongst the trees that towered over them like buildings when they stumbled upon it. The sun dipping itself into a massive body of water as its fiery glow blinded them before sinking entirely. The color reminded her of the little outsider.

The sky eventually darkened, the stars started to appear, and there was a moment of anguish and panic that they were trapped inside the city again and their escape was some kind of cruel illusion, but Clementine was the first to realize that these were real stars. She laid there all night, completely mesmerized by the very thing that used to strike dread into her hard-drive.

“How about now?” The worker drawled out in a bored tone.

“Little more.”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, y’know,” Momo piped up from behind, flinching when she gave him a sharp look.

“What would you know about perfection, with that ugly garb?” Clementine snapped back, instantly feeling guilty when he put a hand on his chest in mock offense, a broken heart lighting up his screen.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s just...we only get one chance to get this done right.”

“And plenty of time to do it,” Momo replied, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Besides, I think my hat is quite fashionable.”

“I wasn’t talking about the hat.”

“We shouldn’t rush, is what I’m saying,” Momo nodded and waved the worker off for a break, and the guy didn’t need telling twice as he rushed off to his poker-playing buddies.

Clementine hummed thoughtfully, gazing off towards the lake.

“Did you ever think we’d make it out?”  

“No,” Momo admitted. “Not until that little furball showed up.”

She huffed a laugh. “After everything we tried. The sacrifices we made. All it took was a cat and a tiny drone to save us all.”

“You sound disappointed,” Momo noted.

“No. It was impressive, just...,” she sighed. “I don’t know. Thought we would have played more of a part.”

“Speak for yourself.”

This time her laugh was genuine.

“Say, you haven’t seen the little rascal about, have you?” Momo asked, looking around his feet as if the cat would magically appear.

“Not recently. Why?”  

“Haven’t seen him for a while now, that’s all. Used to visit me quite often. Interrupt my work. Try to knock my hat off.”

“Maybe he was trying to tell you something,” Clementine said, smirking when he looked truly offended this time.

“I haven’t seen the little one either,” a gentle voice chimed in from behind, both robots turning to see Grandma, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed and hands busy. She had insisted on joining them on their project, offering kind words of encouragement and repairing the worn-out safety vests of the workers when they were on their breaks.  

“The last time he visited, there was...an uneasiness about him.”

“How do you mean?” Clementine prodded.

“He would make those cute little sounds and when I talked back, he seemed reserved, almost agitated. Even when I tried to stroke him, he would swat at my hand and then leave. It didn’t hurt but I was concerned for the poor dear, he was always so friendly,” Grandma shook her head as she knitted absent-mindedly.  

“Yeah, I noticed that too, he’d leave whenever I started talking to him,” Momo said as he put a hand up to his chin. “He must not be able to understand us without that drone of his. I wonder how Doc is getting on with transferring that data.”

“I’m working on it,” Doc’s voice turned everyone’s heads as he and Seamus walked towards the group, with the former carrying a pair of fishing rods and a sloshing bucket.

“Uh-huh, I can see that,” Clementine directed an unamused look at the pair. “What do you plan on doing with those?”

“What kind of father would I be if I didn’t take my son fishing at least once during my life cycle? Besides, our ancestors would keep them as pets. An aquarium, I think it was called, fascinating stuff...”

“ Anyway, even with the drone, we couldn’t understand him ,” Clementine pointed out. “And we didn’t act all sullen and depressed about it, so what gives?”

“I... I think it’s more than that,” Seamus timidly added.  

All eyes silently turned towards him.

“Do you guys remember the way I was? When dad disappeared and I was...alone?”

Seamus awkwardly rubbed his arm as his father looked away, there was a moment in which he raised a hand to comfort his child, but decided against it. The topic was still raw for both of them.

“I do,” Momo nodded. “It was a difficult time for you. You didn’t leave the apartment for months and when you did, you wouldn’t talk to any of us.”

“Right, now the cat’s acting the same way.”

“So... you’re saying... the cat misses his dad?” Clementine asked.

Seamus rolled his eyes, as much as a robot could.

“Well, maybe not his dad per se, but he lived on the Outside before he was trapped in the city, right? Maybe he had other cat friends or family or something.”

“Seamus, cats are relatively solitary creatures,” Doc tried to gently explain. “In fact, in ancient times, there were these exceptionally beautiful cats called ‘Snow Leopards’, who would spend their entire lives isolated on...snowy...mountains...,” Doc trailed off as his son’s screen warped into an angry shade of red.  

“Solitary or not, everything has a family, right? Our ancestors, us, even the snow leopards,” he shook his head as red changed to blue. “Look, I just...I just know, okay? And the fact that he can’t understand us without that little buddy of his probably makes him feel even more lonely. And loneliness leads to frustration, see what I’m getting at?”

“Then perhaps he went off to find his family?” Doc tentatively offered. “Maybe he even found them! Probably why he hasn’t returned for a while, too busy off doing...cat things.”

“We should check up on him,” Seamus said. “Just to make sure.”

“Look,” Clementine put her hands up. “It’s a nice sentiment but we have to be smart about this, we’ve barely been beyond the wall and who knows where the cat is or what else is out the—”

“I quite agree, Seamus,” Momo interrupted, resulting in bewildering looks from all around.

“What?!”  

“Really?” Seamus gaped.

“Momo...,” Clementine warned, though he took no heed.

“Come now, where’s the brave Clementine who defied all the rules and recklessly put herself in danger at every given moment?”

“That Clementine had nothing to lose back then. But now we have a future to build, for the generations to come.”

“Which wouldn’t have been possible if not for our furball friend, no?”

“He has a point,” Grandma spoke up. “If not for him, none of us would be here now, where our ancestors once basked in the sunlight and sang under the stars.”

“I... I agree,” Doc added, finally finding the courage to put a hand on Seamus’s shoulder. “If not for that cat, I wouldn’t have been reunited with my boy. We owe it to him to remind him that...we’re his family too, language barriers be damned.”

“Dad...” Seamus didn’t need to say any more as both their screens lit up with hearts.

“Then it’s settled!” Momo said, though everyone still looked to Clementine for final confirmation.

“Suppose I did say that he’s one of us now,” she submitted. “Fine, but I’ll go look for him. Everyone else can finish off building here.”

“Not without me, you’re not,” Momo chided, a newfound air of confidence about him.

Clementine smiled. “You really have gotten braver, haven’t you?”

“And what about me?” Seamus shoved his way in. “I want to come with you.”

“Son,” Doc took him by the shoulder. “How about you help me finish restoring the drone’s data to its new body? That way the little one may have one more friend to return to.”

With a determined nod, Seamus let his father lead him back to their lab, Grandma started knitting a blanket with new-found vigor and even a few construction workers that had been listening in started putting together a new house from spare metal, one that was far too small for any robot.

With a small smile, Clementine and Momo made their way towards a small opening of trees towards the lakes edge, where Guardian had posted himself. Inside or out, he still took it upon himself to be their first point of protection.

“Hey,” Clementine greeted, earning a small nod in return. “We’re gonna head out for a little while.”

“May I ask why?” Guardian enquired. She knew he wouldn’t try to stop them, but they would still need a good reason should they attract anything dangerous towards their camp.

“The little orange cat,” Momo replied. “We were starting to get a little worried about him, you wouldn’t have happened upon him by any chance?”  

Guardian nodded. “A couple of days ago. Wandering amongst the hedgerows, seemed to be heading up the pipes near the wall.” His fingers tightened around his staff. “I have seen other beasts up that way. My database came up with the term ‘Dogs’; quite big but seemed easily scared off by my presence. Still, be cautious.”

“Will do,” Momo nodded, though his confidence had waned a little, as noticed by Clementine.

“Not too late to head back,” she offered as they walked. Secretly—and ashamedly— hoping that his fear would get the better of him.

“No. I promised myself to stop being like this. Besides, if what Guardian says is true, the little fellow won’t last long on his own.”

Clementine made a noise that resembled something of a snort. “Please. That cat was more resourceful than all of us combined. He’ll be fine.”

“That may be. But he had help, from us and that drone. He must be awfully frightened if he’s completely alone out there. Wouldn’t you be?”

“Well then, let’s just hope he found his buddies.”

Momo nodded, before turning to her again.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

And she never would.

xxx

Oooooh don't we all just hate a cliffhanger? :)

Chapter 2 ---->

[ginnysocks]

A ROW OF FOOLS ON A ROW OF STOOLS Pairing: Seamus Finnigan/Daphne Greengrass Song Choice: That Don't Impress Me Much by Shania Twain Five times Seamus Finnigan tried to ignore his feelings for Daphne Greengrass, and the one time she followed through on hers. Written for Facebook's Fairest of the Rare's bi-annual Sing Me A Rare comp, Gone Country edition. https://archiveofourown.org/works/50001484

[slaymybreathaway]

WASTELAND, BABY! [prologue]

Masterlist

Chapter List

[Word Count: 762]

July 30th 1994 ○ Neville's Bedroom

___________________________________

It was 11pm when Neville Longbottom heard a tapping sound on his bedroom window.

He was sitting ontop of his patchwork bed covers, in his pyjamas, reading a muggle book that he had found in an old bookshop near his house earlier that day.

At first he took no notice of the noise, it was often that branches hit against his window whenever the wind blew a certain way. However, when these 'branches' started making a squawking noise, he turned his attention away from the book in his hands.

The boy walked over to his window, where he saw a white barn owl sitting on the outside windowsill. The bird looked up at him, an ivory envelope held in it's beak. Neville opened his window slowly, trying his best not to scare the owl away.

"Thanks mate," he spoke, taking the envelope from the bird and watched as it flew away into the dark summer night.

He shut his window before turning the envelope over in his hands. It was thick and felt like it had something  rectangular inside of it.

The address on the front was written in a neat-but-slanted way, which he recognised almost immediately to be the handwriting of Y/n Finnigan. Neville smiled, letting the excitement show on his face.

Y/n and Neville had known each other since their first year at Hogwarts. She was his friend, Seamus's twin sister so naturally, he was friends with her also.

The odd thing was, that over the summer months, Neville found himself feeling a strange buzz of happiness whenever she sent him a letter. It even got to the point where every letter that wasn't from her seemed unimportant.

He couldn't quite explain what he felt or why he felt it. So instead, he just put it down to the lonely-ness of Summer.

The front and the back of the envelope was covered with small doodles of stars and balloons. The smile on Neville's face, somehow, grew wider at the thought of her taking the time to draw them on, individually.

The boy opened the envelope just above the green wax seal on the back and out fell both a letter and a casette tape. He picked up the letter and started to read:

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

Dear Nev,

Happy Birthday!!! I was going to give you your present on the train to school but I just couldn't wait. I hope you like the mixtape (it's for the walkman, by the way)

See you soon,

Y/n

(PS. Tell your granny that I was asking for her)

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

After reading it a few times, Neville took the box out from under his bed that contained all of the letters she had sent over the past two months and placed the new one on top. He slid the box far enough under his bed that it couldn't be seen by anyone that walked into his room.

The boy rifled through the drawer in his bedside locker until he found what he was looking for, his walkman. When he bought the muggle device, he didn't realise that the music wasn't included so he couldn't use it... until now.

When he looked at the tape closely, he could see that it was labeled on either side with ☆Neville's Mixtape☆ written in red marker. He opened the walkman and carfully placed the tape in before putting the headphones on and pressing the "play" button.

The boy turned off the light and lay in his bed, pulling the covers up to his shoulders as he heard the acoustic guitar play softly through the opening bars of the first song on the tape.

He couldn't help but imagine where Y/n was the first time she heard this song. Did it come on in the radio in her Dad's car? Or did she find the album that this song belonged to in a dusty old casette shop and waited until later that day to listen to it, when she was lying in bed. Just like he was doing right now. He smiled at the thought

A male voice sang softly the lyric:

"All the fear and the fire of the end of the world.

Happens each time a boy falls in love with a girl,"

Neville swore that he would remember those words forever beacause it was in that moment that he finally realised what that buzz of happiness was.

The was falling in love with her...

And man, did he feel the fear and the fire of the end of the world.

_____________________

[cursedmoon-doll13]

I: First Week - Misfortunes & Misfires.

Cw: Swearing, Mild Gore

Features S/I OCs: Jasmine, (mine) Scarlet, (@vincent-sinclair-deserved-better) & Minoes (@myers-meadow)

Word Count: 6.8k

Dividers by @/saradika

I awoke as if emerging from murky, clouded water. Wherever I was, I hadn’t the foggiest. I reached a sluggish hand over to grab my glasses from my nightstand, but they weren’t there. Instead, I felt across an expanse of silk curtains. I cracked one crusted eye open, and was almost blinded. 

Of course. I was at Hogwarts. 

My giddy excitement from the night before had tapered off into a pleasant, fluttering hum. The early morning light streamed brightly through my domed window. Beside me sat Peaches, her stubby, ringed tail whipping my leg. She chattered hungrily at the scattering of birds perched outside on the spires. I grinned lazily at her, yawning and rolling myself onto my elbow to stroke her soft neck. She chirped and leant into my touch until she fell over clumsily into my sapphire sheets. I wheezed a fond chuckle.  

Unveiling my bunk, I slid down the ladder and half-stumbled my way into my robes. Luna was absent this morning, as was Cho; one glance at my watch told me that those two early birds had most likely flown the nest already. My only remaining company was a scowling Padma Patil, who was fiddling frustratedly with her earrings. She looked so grumpy I decided to save wishing her a ‘good morning’ for later, jamming my glasses onto my face. 

After refilling her dishes, I smooched Peaches on her fuzzy forehead and set off whirling down the tall spiral staircase, my long braid trailing behind me. 

The great hall was dotted sporadically by groups of breakfasting students. I glanced up to see the enchanted ceiling rolled in thick, overcast clouds of solemn slate grey; a typical British September. 

I approached the Ravenclaw table, my stomach panging sorely with hunger. I saw that Luna was grazing on toast, her pale eyes flashing behind her spectrespecs. She tilted her head and waved cheerfully at me as I sat down. I smiled back, relieved. Apparently she had forgotten - or perhaps forgiven - the sour note we left on last year, when I accidentally let slip that I considered The Quibbler to be the wizarding world’s greatest satire magazine. 

“Hello, Jasmine,” she greeted airily. 

“Hi, Luna…” 

Starving, I wasted no time at all in demolishing my plate of eggs and bacon. Then, a floating streamer wafted by and dropped a roll of parchment neatly into my lap. I gulped down the last of my pumpkin juice, unfurled it and examined my new schedule:

Charms is nice for first thing on a Monday… Ugh, but Potions class this bloody early…  Don’t we have that new Defence against the Dark Arts professor…? 

“Did you sleep alright?” Luna piped up. 

“I did. Thankyou for asking.”

I stashed my timetable away. 

“How are you this morning, Luna?” I asked gently. 

“Perfectly well. Cho was up even earlier, you know.” 

Oh, that’s right… I scanned the length of our table, but Cho’s shiny black head was nowhere to be seen. 

“Well, maybe she’s trying to get in some early quidditch practice,” I reasoned.  

“She really should be careful, though,” Luna said seriously. “The quidditch pitch is infested with man-eating brackadrills this year.” 

True to my house, I wisely held my tongue. 

Professor Flitwick spent our first Charms lesson carefully going over the syllabus, but for Potions, it was business as usual with Professor Snape. I was immediately lambasted for my shoddy work, (which was really just par for the course for me) though the presence of the now familiar Minoes and Scarlet helped to soothe my nerves somewhat. 

Our first Defence against the Dark Arts lesson - indeed taken on by a new and rather haggard professor - began with a simple lecture on banshees, which I caught Seamus grimacing at rather harshly at times. By the evening, my Ancient Runes class had rolled around, and I was tired and sore. I had spent all Summer going soft, and was no longer used to traversing the labyrinthine halls or playing games of musical chairs with the grand staircase. 

But how dearly I'd missed it! How glad I was to be in the thick of it again; a shocked and awed foreigner in this vast, mystical place, as Alice in Wonderland. 

Arriving barely on time, I found a friendly seat nearby Neville and Minoes. Their conspiratorial whispers died to a hush as Professor Babbling swept in.

“Welcome, all!” She announced. “Well, I’m glad to see a good turnout this year. The more, the merrier, as I always say! Not everyone understands the value and complexity behind our sacred runes, but clearly the lot of you have done your research, and…” 

Professor Babbling rambled on for about half an hour before finally conjuring up our lesson plans. Then, she drifted off once again into a completely unrelated story concerning her trip to Peru, until the ever-diligent Hermione steered her firmly back on track. 

“Professor Babbling, we’ll be studying the differences between simplified and traditional scripts this year?” She prompted. 

“Ahem… Yes, we will, Miss Granger.” 

Actually, I had already sifted through my copy of Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms before this, unable to temper my enthusiasm. To be honest, my fascination with it was more along the lines of researching ancient tombs and the like; the reality of it was a little more drab, but it was still an interesting class so long as Professor Babbling stayed on target.

Be that as it may, I was eager to leave for dinner. Hogwarts never disappointed when it came feasting, its dining tables lined with food, all drowned in gravy. Above, the grand roof swelled purple with storm clouds as it echoed the raucous boom of thunder from outside, magnificent. 

After a hefty meal, stuffed full and yawning, I approached the eagle knocker. As always, it calmly presented me with a riddle: 

“Without wings, I fly. Without eyes, I cry. What am I?” 

Without wings… Without eyes… Flying without wings… A manta ray? No, they don’t cry… Neither do sycamore seeds… Ferocious rain beat down against the massive windows as I stood there, lost in thought. Wait… It’s raining… And…   

“Oh. A cloud. It floats in the sky, and cries rainwater.” 

“Hm… A fair answer. You may enter.” 

The lock clicked, and the door swung open. I entered, and felt a trickle of warmth flow through me at the sight of our common room. Apparently someone had requested ABBA, because there were a number of joyful students who were dancing badly around the fireplace. The more studious Ravenclaws were already started on their first essays, curled up on armchairs, glaring at these rowdy newcomers. Being somewhere in the middle, I decided it best to relax for the evening and tossed off my scarf.

Padma, quite at ease now that it was dusk, was laughing heartily as Peaches streaked frantically across the cobalt blue carpet. 

“Jas, your cat has the zoomies!” 

I grinned and fiddled with my glasses as I reclined on the sofa. I was worried Padma would dislike her, considering that she was quite protective over her old, sickly parakeet. 

Peaches finally calmed down after a few more laps and padded over to me, chirping as she jumped onto my leg. That night, I amused her by charming one of Padma’s dragonfly hair-clips (with her permission) to flutter ceaselessly around the Ravenclaw dorm, glittering like a winged jewel. 

It was still soaring in shaky arcs as I fell asleep, admiring the gleaming array of stars outside my bedside window, content and peaceful. 

The next morning was damp and miserable. 

Perfect weather for being stuck inside, of course. After a healthy helping of kippers and an even healthier book haul, I convinced the eagle knocker to let me in on a technicality and spread my parchment over an empty table. As much as I adored Hogwarts’ library, I preferred Ravenclaw tower; it was cosy, it had the best view in the castle, and most importantly, you could play music here. 

I suppose I should explain how we Ravenclaws managed to circumvent the zero tech policy. 

Typically, most electronics fizzled out in the presence of so much raw magic, so a digital setup in Hogwarts was a no-go. But here was the trick; a nice, simple record player, and fine collection of vinyls. How did we procure this filthy contraband, you ask? None other than our resident Giles Taylor. Most of his wit and wisdom went towards smuggling various muggle things into Hogwarts; I guess we both felt a little homesick at times. 

Now, Giles was quite precious about this treasure, but if you buttered him up enough, he was willing to allow you to spin just about any album on it. 

This was a generosity I often took advantage of. 

“That better not be what I think it is, Jas,” warned Giles, chuckling nervously as I slid a fresh record from its glossy folder. “Because If Roger tries to exorcise my record player one more time, I’m going to have to ban you, simple as that.” 

I cackled in remembrance.

“Don’t worry… I’m behaving today.” 

He still glared suspiciously at me. 

“I swear, Giles, I solemnly swear,” I assured him, dramatically flashing my vinyl. “It’s Robert Smith, see? Look at him, he wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“I dunno, bloke looks a bit peaky to me.” 

But he relaxed after that, allowing me to play my record. I opened my books and dipped my quill in ink. Giles winced sympathetically.

“I guess you’ve got a lot of work to do.” 

“‘Course, naturally,” I said. “It’s Professor Snape.” 

He leant forward to inspect my unfurled parchment. 

“Oh, bollocks,” he groaned. “He set you a footlong?” 

“Um… Several, actually, on uses of Lavender.” 

“Yowch.” 

“Mhm.” 

“Well, I haven’t summoned yet,” Giles continued. “I have Potions class on Thursdays and Fridays, though…” 

“I’m sure you can’t wait,” I said dryly. 

Giles stretched luxuriously across the sofa, hurling another log into our fireplace. It crackled richly, filling me with vigour as I plodded through my essay. 

“So - oh, hey kitty! (Peaches fled hurriedly away from his grip) - All of that aside, we’re still on for that chess match later, right?” 

Flourishing my signature, I grinned. 

“Oh, yeah.” 

Wednesday was also fraught with heavy sheets of rain, and poor Cho tread into the great hall sopping wet, mucky and shivering. Her teeth were chattering so violently that Padma and I both helped to cast exaresco to suck up the moisture, offering her hot plates of syrup-smothered pancakes to warm her up.

“It’s freezing out there,” Cho shuddered out. “You’d think it was mid-Winter already!”

As Professor Binns resumed his usual droning without much fanfare, I almost doubted he noticed our absence over the Summer at all.

Beside me, Minoes fought bravely to resist his soporific power. I tried my best to do the same, jotting down as much information as I could possibly garner from his lecture. And yet, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander a little towards my next class. I had taken on Divination out of pure curiosity, but I was always a bit of a sceptic. That said, I knew I couldn’t rule it out entirely; magic definitely existed, after all. I remembered back to when my dad once told me about a ‘witch’ living in a cottage near the outskirts of town who had made some incredibly accurate predictions about the future. Would this ‘Professor Trelawney’ be like her? 

After the bell rang, I, rather fittingly, felt a bad premonition coming on, so I packed up and escaped History of Magic as quickly as possible in order to scope out the North Tower where I’d be taking my first Divination class. As expected, I got lost.

Out of breath from running, I straightened my glasses and brushed damp hair out of my face. The halls grew cold and solitary. This area of the castle was unfamiliar to me. But then, I realised it was because something about my usual path had changed: a huge, gleaming suit of armour that usually stood sentinel by the corridor wall had vanished. Hidden behind it was a small door that I had never seen before; one so tiny I could only imagine it being used by a house elf. 

What could be in there… What could be… 

“Ooh!” Squealed a painting of a hearty, green-clad barmaid. “Quick, he’s gone! Try going in!” 

I bit my lip, pulling my robes closer to my body. I was sorely tempted… But no, I ought to be responsible and make a good first impression… 

“I can’t,” I said glumly. “I have Divination.” 

I’ll come back later… Yes… 

“Killjoy!” The barmaid roared after me. “Let me tell you, girl. Back in my day, I knew a couple of right daring wee lads. They’dve chanced it!” 

But I was already gone. 

I was late, of course, and was forced to waddle awkwardly over to make my excuses to Professor Trelawney under the scrutiny of my peers. 

“Yes,” she murmured. “Did I not foresee this? That one of our number would battle great confusion on their journey here? Go on, take a seat…” 

Professor Trelawney waved me away with a spindly, jewel encrusted hand. I breathed a glad sigh that I was not scolded, but as I scanned the misty, incense-ridden chamber, I saw that most of the pouffes were taken. The only free spot was by…

“Hi,” I whispered, sinking into a plush armchair.

Scarlet glanced over at me, their mouth curling into a brief smile. I noticed they wore the Slytherin robes now, their vibrant, purple hair pulled into a ponytail.

“Hi,” she replied. “Nice seeing you again.” 

I nodded distractedly as I unloaded my bag. Were they alone for the same reason as last time? For some reason, this random thought sprang to mind.  

“We’re supposed to read our tea leaves,” Scarlet explained quietly. “Drink up, then we’ll swap.” 

They brought a delicate, blue teacup to their lips and gulped down a mouthful. Still frazzled, I lagged behind in drinking mine. It was scalding hot - and I was never much of a tea drinker anyway - but I didn’t want to hold up the lesson. I winced at the bitter taste, but once I’d swallowed it all, I slid it over, and swiftly received hers. I fumbled nervously with my copy of Unfogging the Future as I rotated the cup around, trying to decipher some understandable shape…

“Oh, It looks a bit like a unicorn,” I reported. “That’s sweet… That means you’ll ‘find love,’ apparently. (They snorted) But there’s a bit here too… Like a sort of cudgel looking thing… Wait, it says here that if you get that, you’ll be ‘attacked…’ Um…” 

I whipped through a few pages to confirm it. 

“So - er - I guess you’re going to be attacked by a person you fall in love with,” I finished. “Or fall in love with your attacker, maybe?”

“Wow,” they said flatly, scoffing. “Finally, I have something to look forward to.” 

I couldn’t help but stifle a giggle; I quickly turned it into a fit of hiccups as Professor Trelawney approached, her many necklaces glittering. 

“Ah, Pimpernel, my most faithful student,” she praised. “What do you see in Daly’s cup, my dear?” 

Scarlet hurriedly returned to my tea leaves. 

“…Fire. Yeah, a big nasty flame,” they muttered, squinting into my teacup. “Uh, wait, I remember. A fire, that means ‘passion.’”

Professor Trelawney nodded sagely. 

“Yes, ‘passion!’ The burning fire of passion, for a beloved hobby, perhaps? A pastime you are most devoted to? Or, yes, a passionate love affair.” 

“Oh,” I said pleasantly. “That’s nice!”  

But then she stopped rather abruptly. 

“Wait!” 

Surprised, I peered up at Professor Trelawney. Her dreamy, tender smile had vanished. Now, her magnified eyes were huge and glistening.  

“Give… Give that here…” 

She reached out with thin, quivering hands to receive the cup. Scarlet’s brows were knit in concern, and we exchanged puzzled looks. I felt my stomach lurch as Professor Trelawney paled a papery white. That did not appear to be promising… I squirmed in my seat. 

“Oh… Oh, no… No…” 

“What?” I urged, nervous.

Professor Trelawney fixed me with a teary stare. It felt uncomfortably like that of a doctor about to diagnose their patient with a terminal illness. 

“You have…” Her lip trembled. “The Grim.” 

Shocked gasps echoed around the classroom. 

“…”

What the fuck is a Grim?

This answer was so underwhelming, my anxiety immediately dispersed into confusion. I glanced dubiously around the other pouffes, unnerved by the funereal atmosphere. Lavender and Parvati were gazing at me mournfully, as if I might be struck dead by lightning at any second. 

“Um…” I felt dumb. “What’s that?” 

“A most terrible death omen!” Professor Trelawney let out a frightened sort of moan. “T-to have two sightings of the Grim in such quick succession, oh…” 

A death omen…? The words rippled in my mind. 

Our panicking teacher wavered delicately on the spot, and for a moment I believed she might actually faint. Her arm went limp and the offending teacup dropped onto my lap. I saw for the first time the ominous shape of a black dog at the bottom of it… 

The Grim… 

“You are dismissed!” Professor Trelawney cried, clutching a hand to her chest, as if willing away an oncoming heart attack. 

I was prickled by whispers and mutterings as I hurriedly stuffed my books into my bag. A sceptic I may have been, but the collective dread of the classroom, the headache-inducing perfume and the exhaustion had all bubbled nausea into my belly. 

“Um, look,” Scarlet began, gently brushing elbows with me. “Harry got a Grim too, last year, and he hasn’t snuffed it yet. You’ll probably be fine.”

I smiled shakily. Considering Harry Potter’s penchant for misfortune, this wasn’t exactly reassuring news, but I knew that she was only trying to comfort me. 

“Was just a wee bit unexpected, is all,” I mustered up. “How did I go from ‘whirlwind love affair’ to popping my bloody clogs?”

“Maybe you’ll get some first,” Scarlet shrugged. Y’know. Before you die.”

“Oh, Fantastic.”  

After the drama of my first Divination lecture, I was glad to return back to my bed (after sassing that eagle bastard) and curl up beside Peaches. 

She didn’t know what was wrong, of course, but she purred for me like a cute little motorcycle. Stroking her soft fur made me feel a lot less freaked out, and given that Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures were both due on Thursday, I made the mistake of looking forward to tomorrow…

But on Thursday, I was still thoroughly spooked. That familiar sense of unease plagued me all morning, distracting me constantly. I barely remembered how to chew my toast or drink my pumpkin juice but for drifting off into strange, unwelcome states of mind, which concerned my housemates quite a bit. 

“It’ll be fine, Jas,” Cho told me over breakfast. “My grandma saw one when she was a girl, and she’s celebrating her 90th birthday this year!” 

I smiled weakly at her.

As much as I would’ve liked to pretend that the old superstitious tales didn’t affect me, I unfortunately carried that bad energy right over through Charms and into Potions with Professor Snape. This was when my sour luck truly reared its ugly head. 

“Today we will be brewing the Draught of Peace, a potion meant to calm the mind and relieve anxiety,” he explained flatly, swooping into the classroom. “As this is a simple OWL level assignment, I expect you all to prepare and complete it easily.”  

I could really use a bit of anxiety relief right now…

“Be aware,” Professor Snape deliberated, crossing his arms, “That should you fail, its sedative properties are extremely potent…”

His black eyes narrowed as they passed over us, and I sucked in a shaky breath, fumbling with my potion-brewing equipment. Beside me, Minoes stood at attention and was listening raptly, while Scarlet ignored Malfoy’s haughty glare as much as possible. 

“You may begin.”

As I mashed up my powdered moonstone and my ladelled in my syrup of hellebore, Professor Snape’s oppressive aura weighed down on me like a ton of bricks. I used to be properly scared of him in my very first year, and I still wasn’t entirely over it now. Glancing over toward Minoes, I saw her brows furrowed in concentration, and her potion looking exactly how it should be… My heartrate spiked rapidly as he stalked over to our table, rushing to turn down the heat as he grilled Minoes on her ‘unconventional crushing style.” 

Cold sweat beaded my neck. My potion was now a dark, inky substance which resembled tar; not at all the light baby pink it should be at this stage. Somewhere along the line, I’d mucked it up. Panic spiralled in my brain as Professor Snape approached, black robes billowing, and I accidentally knocked my cup of powdered porcupine quills over the counter… 

Now, he loomed over me. I swallowed down a lump.

“Tell me, Miss Daly,” Professor Snape began. “Precisely where in your textbook does it specify that your potion should look like an oil spill? 

“Nowhere, sir,” I muttered, scraping up my quills. 

“And yet… Somehow, you have managed it.” 

I nodded shamefully, head hung over my cauldron. 

“As it seems that you are incapable of following basic instructions,” Professor Snape continued silkily, lips curling unpleasantly, “I shall monitor you.” 

From the other side of the dungeon, I heard a nasty sniggering that I knew came from Malfoy. I pushed my glasses back up the bridge of my nose, my stomach plummeting. On Monday, Professor Snape had simply insulted me as he usually did, but it seemed now he wanted to humiliate me. I briefly wondered if the rumours that the Weasley twins had set off dungbombs in his ingredients store were true.

“Go on,” he said softly. 

Picking my thumb nervously, I fiddled with my wand. Didn’t the next step include a bit of light spellwork? I could barely remember, and I was too afraid to check while Professor Snape was watching me. So against my better judgement, I twirled my wand shakily over the simmering surface of my cauldron. 

And unfortunately, this was a bad idea. 

You see, my wand, while loyal and sweet, is often quite unreliable; just like me. Sometimes it misfires. Sometimes my spellcasting goes horrifyingly wrong.

Like right about now. 

With an awful bang, The hem of Professor Snape’s robes combusted into a small inferno. Gasps issued from across the dungeon as the acrid stench of burning fabric filled the air. My heart almost stopped. Professor Snape stared right at me, furious. 

“What,” he spat through gritted teeth, going the colour of spoiled milk. “Exactly did you just do!?” 

“Well I just- Sir, you’re, um, very flammable, and…”

I hurriedly jammed my fist into my mouth. 

What the actual fuck did I just say?!

A chorus of hysterical giggles erupted around us. Even some of the Slytherins were sniggering, though not as much as the Gryffindors, who were practically howling with laughter. There was a terrible clattering as Seamus Finnigan had bent over double and knocked over his cauldron, spilling violently bubbling orange liquid onto the dungeon floor. Professor Snape’s face paled further into ashen white. He actually seemed to be trembling with rage. The flames licked now dangerously high, but he stood there, unmoving, as if petrified by their mockery.

“Aguamenti!” Minoes cried. 

She leaped in and extinguished it with an icy jet of water from the tip of her wand, her face wrought in panic. This immediately thawed him from his frost. 

I, on the other hand, couldn’t move at all. 

“Mr Finnigan!” He snapped, whirling around to face Seamus, burnt clothes dripping everywhere. “That’s twenty points from Gryffindor, and a failing grade!” 

This sobered Seamus up rather quickly.  

“Clean that up, Finnigan!” Minoes scolded him. “Before it ignites!” 

“Oh, right!” 

Seamus scrambled to clean it up himself, but Scarlet flung herself across the dungeon and did it for him: 

“Scourgify!” 

I watched idly, trapped in a sort of numb daze. My traitorous wand felt blisteringly hot in my hand, so I stuffed it down my robes as if I’d stolen it. A few Gryffindors were still tittering away, but now the Slytherins glared at me with hateful venom. 

“Jasmine, what are you doing?!” Minoes hissed. “Look, your mixture’s completely overflowing! It’s spilling all down your— oh, give it here!”

I flinched as I was bustled away from my worktable. She swiftly neutralised my failed concoction by scouring it just before it exploded.   

“Um… Professor,” Scarlet tried gently. “Are you hurt?” 

But he didn’t answer, his jaw twitching furiously.  

“And you, Miss Daly,” Professor Snape turned back to me, absolutely fuming. “Fifty points from Ravenclaw, and I want you in my office, now!” 

I could only let out a terrified squeak. 

Oh God, I am so dead. 

That afternoon, I received what was perhaps the most vicious tongue-lashing of my life - courtesy of Professor Snape - as well as an entire Friday’s (plus weekend’s) worth of paying reperations! This was a massive shock to my system, as I had not spent one single minute of my life in detention before this. My once flawless record had been besmirched. 

And the worst thing was, after the stunt I’d pulled on my teacher, I honestly felt that I deserved it. 

So, feeling outrageously lucky that I had not been kicked out of Hogwarts entirely, I dragged myself to lunch, though I was barely hungry at all. Once I entered the great hall, I was immediately bombarded by furtive glances and excited whispers. 

I understood why, of course: there had been a desperate desire for gossip, and I’d come to fulfill it. My ‘fiery outburst’ had garnered me some mild infamy, though most could barely decide if it had been intentional or not. Regardless, I was still left shell-shocked as my Gryffindor classmates approached me one by one, grinning from ear to ear: 

“Hey, crazy pyromaniac girl!”

“Daly, that was class!” 

Even Fred and George Weasley, who I had never spoken to before in my life, marched right up to me and congratulated me heartily, as if I’d won a prize.

Reception among my own house was varied. I felt deeply uncomfortable under Cho’s pitying gaze, though she surely meant well. However, my mood dropped several more notches as Padma regarded me coolly, deliberately ignoring me as I passed her on my way to the Ravenclaw table. Luna, on the other hand, seemed quite calm and serene, and I was now more than ever grateful for her forgiving nature.

Of course, the Slytherins seemed to have forgotten how happily they’d laughed along with the Gryffindors; they were all giving me the stink-eye.

“Pathetic excuse for a witch, that Daly,” Malfoy was yammering loudly: “Can’t even brew a simple potion without mucking it up!” 

Unable to muster the nerve to insult him back, I tightened my jaw, determined to keep on chewing. My food tasted like gravel in my mouth. 

“It must be all the Mudblood,” he sniggered. 

Embarrassed, annoyed and flustered all at once, I left for Care of Magical Creatures after shoving a few  steak and kidney puddings down my gullet. But my moodiness was swiftly replaced with delight as I was introduced to Hagrid’s new creatures alongside the rest of the group: a herd of beautiful Kelpies. 

Some of the others seemed a bit apprehensive at first, but I had been itching to return to this class all Summer. My reputation had always been good here, so as a demonstration, I was allowed to try and fit a bridle onto one of the Kelpies with the use of a Placement Charm. 

“Easy does it, now…” Hagrid advised, watching me mount a particularly calm, benign mare. “Steady, tha’s it. Now, hold on tight to ‘er!”

My robes swirling in the mire, I gasped as the cold sensation of water hit me. I gripped her damp, slippery neck tightly as we swam a couple of short laps around the pond. Relishing the feeling of freedom, I almost forgot my troubles. Almost. 

“I knew yeh’ could do it!” Hagrid beamed at me. I grinned sheepishly back, stroking the Kelpie’s mane. Well, at least I’m not a complete failure. 

That evening, my tired eyes stung as I squinted up at the glimmering, star-strewn sky. 

Hello, Andromeda… Delphinus… There’s Pegasus… Aries, Pisces, Aquarius… Perseus and Triangulum… Oh, Canis Major isn’t too easy to see yet… 

Professor Sinastra’s clacking heels echoed around us as she patrolled the Astronomy tower, softly instructing us. I felt so drowsy, I almost nodded off at my telescope. But then I remembered her number one rule: ‘no sleeping during class…’

By the next day, my unfortunate story had mutated into  a far stranger beast. Now, I was some kind of anti-Professor Snape vigilante, a loose cannon ready to lob a spell at the slightest provocation. I had a funny feeling that this was simply the story people wanted to tell, rather than the one they actually believed in. In fact, the Gryffindors were so positively delighted by the concept of Professor Snape suffering that, despite everything, I almost felt a bizarre sort of sympathy for him. 

This sentiment was dampened, however, as Professor Snape seemed to take pleasure in assigning me the worst possible tasks imaginable: polishing his most stubborn cauldrons (by hand), cleaning out the infirmary bedpans (also by hand) and disembowelling fresh specimens (the gore was absolute hell to remove from under my fingernails). All the while, Professor Snape would sneer coldly down at me, docking points from Ravenclaw for any minor infraction he could justify it for; and some for which he couldn’t. Once he’d gotten to the point of threatening to feed my spoiled concoctions to Peaches, I decided it was mutual hatred, and battled the mad impulse to torch him again.

My one consolation was that I wasn’t alone; if there was anything to be gained from this, it was my newfound camaraderie with Seamus Finnigan. 

“Ugh, this is feckin’ rotten,” he groaned over our freshly dissected pile of grindylow guts. “Hey, Jas. Pass me over them tweezers, I got this stubborn…” 

I slid them across the sticky, blood-soaked table. 

“At least you’ll be done after this, Seamus,” I said grimly, harvesting a gallbladder. “I still have a whole bloody weekend of this shit to look forward to.” 

“Miss me, will you?” 

“Oh, you know it. Who else am I gonna gab with?”  

Yes, we were felons chained in the same gaol, but Seamus was good company, and I was glad to resume my natural talking speed around him.

“By the way,” he started, grinning cheekily. “If the fire was an accident, I’ve done that before, too, but… What possessed you to call the man ‘flammable?’”  

“‘Foot planted firmly in mouth’ syndrome.” 

“Hah. Go figures.” 

“As for the fire-starting itself,” I continued wearily, grimacing as I ripped out a slimy grindylow spleen. “I suspect it’s the Protestant in me.” 

Seamus snorted. 

My Friday lessons were similarly overcast by my Potions mishap, but I tried my best not to let it distract me, and I even managed to enjoy myself in DADA and Wizarding Literature. Still, It was clear that had not impressed Professor McGonagall with my badly mangled rat-kettle hybrid.

“Now, I know you’re capable of better work than this, Miss Daly,” she lectured me sternly. “I can’t understand why you keep disappointing yourself.” 

As a matter of fact, neither could I. 

My workload had multiplied tenfold since I’d been indentured by Professor Snape, so once I finally had a bit of spare time, I had no choice but to spend it writing my other essays. Luckily, Saturday’s lunch break granted me a little breathing room, so I sped off to the library to borrow a few books. While I was there, I ran into none other than Minoes. 

“Hi,” I whispered. 

“Oh. Hey, Jas,” she replied quietly. 

Minoes was carrying a stack of heavy books, all stamped heavily with alchemical symbols. She adjusted her grip as she looked at me.  

“So,” I tried, brushing a stray lock behind my ear. “Uh… What are you reading about?” 

“Just some stuff for Potions,” said Minoes.  

“You’re far better at that subject than me, haha…”

There was a weighty silence for a moment. 

“The fire on Thursday was a complete and total accident, by the way,” I assured her quickly, “I would never do something like that on purpose.” 

Minoes’ expression was indecipherable. Nevertheless, It felt as if the atmosphere had brightened a bit. 

“Well, I suppose you’re feeling the consequences of your actions now,” she told me. “It’s definitely not a pretty grave, but you dug it yourself.” 

Grimacing, I nodded somberly. A very practical answer, but I had come to appreciate that of her. 

“Um… One more thing, Minoes.” 

“Yes?” 

“Well, I was wondering,” I began. “If you’d maybe like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? I mean, I sort of can’t… I’m a bit busy right now.” 

I shifted anxiously, checking for Madam Pince. 

“Sure,” Minoes replied quietly, shrugging. “Actually, that sounds like it could be fun.” 

Relief flooded me, and I sighed happily.

“Great!” 

“Oh, but is it alright if I invite Scarlet to come along with us?” Minoes asked. “We all had such a nice time on the Hogwarts Express together, after all.”

This suggestion thrilled me even more. 

“Yes, of course, that’s totally fine,” I said, nodding.

Her dark lips twitched into a smile. 

“Okay, then. See you around,” Minoes finished. Cradling her heavy tomes to her chest, she spun on her heels and walked away. 

“Be seeing you…” 

Hogsmeade…

This was it, a little scrap of hope I could latch onto. My mood lifted, I finished my hour of studying and then set off to do more chores for Professor Snape. 

By Sunday, my five seconds of fame had largely blown over, as I was overshadowed by the Weasley twins’ typical shenanigans, which I was very glad for. For a while my reputation as a quiet, absent-minded student had been in great peril, and so to celebrate my return to normalcy, I decided to visit Hagrid. 

My neck wound in my sapphire scarf, I set off across campus grounds, the grass still damp and mucky from rain. The weather had picked up a bit, but it was still quite windy, blowing strong, bracing gales that whipped stray hairs powerfully against my face. The fresh air helped to clear my head a little, though. Today, I also wanted to help Hagrid to prepare lessons like I occasionally did last year. I hadn’t been able to speak to him properly until now because Professor Snape kept me so busy, but now I had been cleared of all charges, I finally had time. 

On arrival, I knocked heavily against the door. 

“Come in!” Hagrid bellowed, and I entered. 

I paused. Hagrid wasn’t alone; Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were here as well, nursing huge, grimy mugs the sizes of buckets. 

“Um, hi,” I said quietly. 

“It’s you!” Ron cried, his freckled face breaking into a grin. “The crazy firestarter girl!” 

“Ron!” Hermione hissed, nudging his elbow. 

Harry took a swig of his tea. I smiled awkwardly. 

“Jas!” Hagrid beamed, cutting through the tension. “Sip’a water?” 

“Oh, Thankyou.” 

I sat down, and he slid the entire pitcher over to me. 

“Hey, Fang,” I said quietly. Fang the boarhound licked sloppily into my hand, probably hankering for the remnants of buttered toast left there. 

Eager to change the subject, I turned to Hermione.

“We’re both in Ancient Runes, aren’t we?” 

Hermione’s face lit up at this. 

“Yes, we are! Professor Babbling is brilliant, isn’t she? When she can stay focused, anyway…” 

“Yeah, with a lot of help from you,” I chuckled. “Everyone in that class adores you, since you ask all the questions no one else wants to ask.” 

She smiled happily at me. 

“We’re in Hagrid’s class together,“ Harry finally spoke. “With Luna Lovegood.” 

I looked at him. This was my first time properly talking to Harry Potter, though of course I knew his name. Meeting him face to face, I realised he probably dealt with far more unwanted attention than I did, and thinking this, I tried desperately to stare at anywhere else but the scar on his forehead. 

“Ah, that reminds me,” Hagrid grinning beneath his dark, tangled beard. “How’d yeh like them Kelpies? Fascinatin’ creatures, eh?” 

“Oh, Hagrid, I loved them, they were all so wonderful,” I said warmly, and Hagrid beamed with pride. 

“Yeah, they were alright,” agreed Harry. 

“Hah… Right, need ter’ bring in somethin,’ hold on,” Hagrid grunted, almost toppling the whole table as he stood and shuffled out of the hut. 

“And - um - it was a great distraction, after the mess I’d made earlier,” I admitted, sheepish. 

“I heard it was bloody brilliant,” Ron mumbled on, ignoring Hermione’s warning glare. “Seamus kept talking about it. Wish I could’ve been there…” 

“Ron, I’m very sure she doesn’t want to repeat it,” said Hermione, glancing over to me. “Right?” 

“Actually, it’s fine,” I said quickly, surprising myself. 

“But it’s not like you think, Ron. Um, It was more that my wand backfired, it wasn’t intentional.” 

This didn’t seem to discourage him at all, though. 

“I’ve had that before, too,” he winced. “When my wand broke, y’know, it kind of snapped - remember, Harry? - and my spells went bad.” 

“Mine’s just like that,” I told him, shaking my head. “It’s always been a fickle thing.” 

“Shame you didn’t get Malfoy, as well, though,” Harry remarked dryly. “Both of them probably deserve it just as much.” 

“Really, you two,” scolded Hermione. 

But I couldn’t help cracking a grin. The absurd hilarity of the situation had finally hit me. Laughing about it - instead of moping - was better in the end.

“But I was sort of expecting things to go wrong, somehow,” I continued; I was on a roll now. “The day before, I was in Divination, and… I got the Grim.” 

Fang whined and rested his head in my lap, slobbering great big globs of saliva all over my jeans. I scratched him affectionately between the ears. 

“Tell you you’d drop dead, I ‘spose?” Harry grumbled. 

I nodded, almost giggling in remembrance. 

“Well, Professor Trelawney is very flaky, isn’t she,” said Hermione reprovingly. “Honestly, Jasmine, I don’t think you should worry about it.”

“Yeah, It’s not as bad as Trelawney says it is,” Harry agreed, and then he added: “Actually, when I saw it, some - er - good things happened, too.” 

“They did?” Curious, I raised my eyebrows.

But Harry said no more, merely exchanged furtive glances with Ron and Hermione. I was encroaching on a social circle I didn’t belong to yet, I realised. 

Just then, Hagrid burst in through the door. 

“Ooh,” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “What’s in there?” 

Huffing and puffing, he was hefting a large, lumpy sack over his massive shoulder. It thunked as he set it down, resting it nearby the hearth. 

“‘Fraid tha’s a secret,” Hagrid said, winking. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked quite hesitant. 

“Yeh have ter’ keep ‘em nice and warm, yeh see,” Hagrid went on, misty-eyed as he gazed at it. He swaddled it lovingly in a patched blanket. 

“Hagrid…” Hermione had knit her brows worriedly. 

Our attention was swiftly diverted away from this mysterious sack as Hagrid broke out the rock cakes. Conversation was light and pleasant from then on, with no mention of Professor Snape or Grims. Ron was a laugh, and I found that Harry had a very dry, sarcastic wit that was enjoyable to spar with. Hermione and I, the resident cat lovers, even agreed on a play date of sorts for Crookshanks and Peaches, before we were eventually sent away:

“Well, ‘s awful late!” Hagrid boomed, flushing up to his ears in a way that was decidedly suspicious. “Yeh’d best be goin’ off, then, off yeh trot!” 

After he ushered us out, we tramped across the campus grounds back to Hogwarts. The frigid September air whistled right through me, and I tightened my scarf around my neck, shivering. Still disconnected from the trio’s link of friendship, I lagged behind, watching as the evening stars peeked out from the clouds and twinkled. For a while, I lingered among the howling gales. 

And then, underneath the bruising sky, I saw it: There, lurking silently on the horizon, was an enormous, shaggy black dog.  Dread washed over me like a bucket of ice water, and I rushed to rejoin the group. No, it probably belonged to Hagrid… But that foreboding image stayed with me right up till midnight, as I lay beside Peaches, her rumbling purrs soothing me into sleep.

[acanadianmuggle]

Complete - Rated T - 3100 words

There's been a theft at London's National Portrait Gallery. Luckily Auror Detective Hermione Granger is on the case and she's pretty sure she knows where the clues will lead her.

DFW DOND - Broom Cupboard

[pagsys-writings]

29. Muddled

“I told you it was a bad idea,” Dean said through a grunt. He fixed his grip on Seamus’s belt and heaved him up, so Seamus’s arm was across his shoulders and the majority of Seamus’s weight was supported against his hip and side. “We’re going to have to walk,” Dean decided. He wasn’t terribly inebriated from the drinks he’d had, but he didn’t want to risk injuring Seamus further. Seamus mumbled something incoherent — but sounded suspiciously like a complaint — as his head lulled to bump against Dean’s shoulder. “You don’t get to complain,” Dean said with a huff as he started to basically drag Seamus down the sidewalk. “I told you attempting that spell while drunk was a bad idea.” It had backfired spectacularly, leaving Seamus in his current muddled state. “Besides,” Dean began his slow, unsteady walk forward, “I’m the one doing all the work.” Seamus made another unintelligible grumble, though this one bordered on a whine. Dean smiled tenderly despite their current predicament. “I know. We’ll get you fixed up in no time. Don’t worry.”

[broomsticks]

wrote some ultra rare pairs for HPFC holiday bingo!

✨ Lighting the Menorah: kindling and memory (1.5k, G), Andromeda & Fleur/Tonks & Dean/Seamus, for @nienna324! A post-DH AU, first Hanukkah after Ted's death. Jewish Tedromeda + Seamus, soft angst

✨ Free Space: To the Moon and Back (500, G), Luna/Petunia with a side of Cho/Dudley. It's a tradition for Cho & Dudley to host wintertime parties. Inspired by this fanart and a music rec by @black-sparroww! p.s. first fic for this ship on AO3

✨ 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: when what to my wondering eyes did appear (500, G), Argus Filch/Irma Pince, written for the person who introduced this pair to me! established relationship in which they adopt a squib child. blended family, asexual QPR, NB kid, lil bit of dyslexia rep in there too. fluffy fluffy fluff.

bit late for the holiday season, but really there's never a bad time for this message:

For every person that has ever lived outside the boring box of normalcy. You don’t just deserve to be seen. You deserve to lead, to be the center of the storyline. You deserve the grace to make mistakes and be human. You deserve to be in spaces where you’re the majority.

you deserve unconditional love, you deserve easy effortless understanding and you deserve unquestioned acceptance for being who you are, you are not too weird to have a place and a community, and you are never too strange to be loved. 💝