#so remus is 18 and sirius is just 1 year older than him (instead of 26)

[suspendedinbush]

hiiihihihihi hiii youuuu simmy my beloved loml you i juuust watched howl's moving castle for the first time tday (ik appalling srry) but the entire tim i was thinkinng abt you my beloved and now i want to know abt yr r/s au <33 as much details as you dont mind saying pls <333 bc i was thinking like it would actually!! work sooo well for them ike r being not that conventionally attractive , and growing old w/a big nose while s still finds him just soooo pretty and also being dramatically vian himself AND swallowing! a STAR! and having a heavy heart that belongs to remus like itys sooooo it fits sooo well, but Also howl being a welshman is making me think it could work either way too! esp w/the turning into a crow thing paralleling werewolf tranforms and sirius instead being the son of a mother who would sell him out like sophie im!!!!!! i also know yr basing the au sorta on the book so im wondering which roles ud see fit instead! but aah im just my brain is so abuzz im so excited for whatever u plan to do however u plan to do it! this got wayy too long srry love u MWAH

LAYLA OMG!! firstly hi hi hi hello love <33 SECOND YOU WATCHED IT!!! ahhh having a little party in celebration also tell me everything what did you think??? (i'm running into your inbox right now just so you know!) and you thought of me…literally handing you my heart on a silver platter!! MWAH yours forever <333

also okay the au… (under the cut because minor spoilers and also this is so fucking long)

it definitely started as like taking direct inspiration from the book with a few nods to the movie (like the walking on air scene because obviously) but it’s evolved a lot in the past months mostly because i felt that my sophie-remus wasn’t remus enough and needed a more remus-like journey and destination in the story (not sure any of this will make sense with absolutely no context about what i’ve actually written), and then adapting the story to fit r/s more in tone (i.e the war, queerness, rejection from society etc) i got carried away and things have expanded a lot. i would still say a lot more book inspiration than movie, stuff like michael's character (rather than markl) and the minor details that the movie brushed over, like sophie’s sisters & fanny & the ben sullivan+prince justin story line, i’ve kept from the book but there are definitely some things that i knew i would change that directly contradict:

firstly and the MOST crucial detail for me, remus isn’t secretly pretty all along!! like this is the thesis of the entire au actually, it’s not an ugly duckling arc! he doesn’t break the curse to be young and beautiful again but with more self-confidence, he’s just not conventionally attractive full stop. he’s plain if not ‘ugly’ and in no way particularly impressive, he’s only 18 and hasn’t even allowed himself the space to start figuring shit out. sirius falls in love with him while he’s old with no knowledge of what remus really looks like because knowing that appearance just wasn’t even a factor in s desiring and falling for him revolutionises remus’s view of himself and his assumptions about who sirius is and also…

sirius as howl is not really that vain! this might be a spoiler, but i'd say one of the big theme’s in the au is that everyone is lying and no-one is who they appear to be and/or especially who they SAY they are and it’s remus’s assumption that sirius cares a lot about looks and would only fall in love with someone equally beautiful. howl’s vanity & concern for his looks makes sense for book howl and that story, but i wanted them to be more r/s than howl and sophie so in the au sirius’s flashy clothes and hours spent in the bathroom are more about self-expression, queerness and non-conformity, the contrast of remus struggling with otherness, not fitting in and his failed masculinity (poor baby is too sickly for the draft :/ ) and sirius being so extravagant, rocking the boat, rejecting expectations for his masculinity and flourishing—as in he literally builds a moving castle and lives on the fringes doing whatever he likes and running from/against authority (also should mention the working title for the au is 'Sirius Black’s Moving Castle for Misfits and Runaway Curse Victims').

in terms of roles i do feel like sirius is the natural howl but i did consider what r as howl would be like, i think there is something to work off with howl’s insecurity and one BIG trait being a slither-outer and a coward…very r if you ask me, but at the end of the day i don't think sirius as sophie works and remus-howl would change his character and role in the story by a lot to make it fit...

like howl’s personality by itself is sort of neither r nor s, there are similar and contradicting traits, the vanity and cowardice being the most un-sirius but (maybe a spoiler here) even in the book it’s up for interpretation how much these traits are really howl or instead a symptom of lacking a heart or even a deliberate front. so it was quite an easy adjustment in terms of sirius doing the same howl actions but with slightly different more sirius-like motivations, whereas for R as howl i don’t think you could get him to act the same way.

not sure that makes sense but i think the howl-sirius parallel works because his role in the story is much much more suited to S, like you could write an R-howl playing up the insecurity and the slither-outer trait but to me there isn’t really a story there, like where would it go…because howl is already very comfortable in his position outside polite society: he breaks convention ostentatiously, relishes in mainstream disapproval for standing out and enjoys and actively encourages his terrible reputation (for heart-eating, draft-dodging and other failings in his character). once you give reason for the apparent vanity and cowardice, howl as the prodigy who couldn’t care less about living up to expectations is perfect for sirius.

the thing about sophie's step-mother is that both dwj and miyazaki refuse to write antagonists without nuance, there isn't a clear villain like you WILL empathise with everybody—and with sophie’s step-mother especially, she’s worse in the book until she’s not! despite sophie being so lonely and unhappy at home, the story is about overcoming her own fatalistic worldview and internal feelings of worthlessness & inadequacy rather than an external battle. her family especially her sisters care a lot about her and do want the best for her even if it’s sometimes misguided but sophie has to learn to stand up for herself and stop putting everyone else first (hello martyr complex). AND there's a lot of repression (which goes to remus like water to a fish), even allowing herself to want things out of life, like it literally takes her being cursed to be an old woman and being so ashamed of her predicament and having no other choice for her to finally leave her suffocating home because she is so afraid of challenging the world head on (which is sort of antithetical to sirius).

so yeah then with sophie-sirius not working… like it’s possible to write her family and the hat shop to imitate the blacks but the problem for me is the characters themselves are basically opposites so you’d have to abandon one entirely and it would either be a completely different story to hmc or a completely different character to sirius… (also talking about the characters i mean book howl and sophie but i honestly can’t remember what’s different/missing in the movie??)

and really remus was ALWAYS the perfect sophie to me like in the wip he’s certain that in failing to be a strong, healthy, beautiful perfect specimen of a young man who can fight for the country, instead being sick, unattractive + the nebulous but undeniable fact of his queerness means there’s some innate monstrosity or wrongness about him, and being rejected by his peers has confirmed it, so he represses, withering away hiding in the dark and it’s a mixture of thinking ‘there is nothing better out there nor am i capable or deserving of any better, this is my lot in life and i’ll make do’ that keeps him there. UNTIL he’s forced to leave and comes across sirius who has made a life for himself on his own terms and on the outside seems to have everything: beauty, talent, confidence, freedom but is very flamboyantly throwing people’s admiration & acceptance (everything that remus covets) back in their faces.

in the story sophie is quite resentful of howl in a similar way remus is of sirius (here and in canon i think) and like sophie, he ‘knows’ that he’s a nobody with no future and just expects to fail. also the hat shop is much more remus’s natural environment, exhibit service worker R: ‘he was little more than a puppet in grey felt—marionette strings binding him tightly to the shop, a little flimsy and worn through in places from dancing around for customers all day long. A walking, talking, hat-fetching piece of furniture.’

sooo those are my thoughts on the casting obviously just my opinion and personal thoughts on r/s. oh and the turning into the crow thing and being corrupted by magic, it wasn’t in the book but i have incorporated it only with a different character…and someone turns into a dog also not sirius...other quick points about the wip: peter has a big part in this might be obvious who as but he’s so fun in this one, petunia is also a sympathetic character, Hope is long dead (as per), Lyall dies in the first few sentences and Andromeda has more lines than James i think. i didn’t use the whole multi-verse plot line from the book, we’re in an approximate uk somewhere between 1910s and 40s but it’s more a vibe than a time period because magic and wizards are well integrated with the culture, politics and technology etc, Market Chipping & The Waste are in the Scottish highlands (so Scottish Remus and Lily), Sirius is not from Wales unfortunately but someone does live there (also if ur interested in the book i would highly recommend listening to the audiobook to get the full of effect of Howl’s accent). and the star swallowing/giving away his heart!! it's a major plot point so i won’t say too much about that but THAT SCENE….the one with howl in the field with the shooting stars!! yeah i’m so so excited about it, it’s sooo fitting for what i have planned and only another reason why sirius just couldn’t NOT be howl!

[desidarling123]

FACT CHECK: Did JKR sue people for writing Wolfstar fanfiction? [FALSE] [with sources]

So, if you're at all active in the HP fandom, and ESPECIALLY if you're on TikTok, you've likely come across a post or video claiming the following:

JKR LITERALLY SUED PEOPLE OVER WOLFSTAR FANFICTION! AND THAT'S ALSO WHY SHE MADE REMADORA CANON -- TO SPITE THE SHIPPERS!

I'm not sure who first started this claim or how its various permutations grew, but it spread at the speed of light across social media. This widely-circulated meme summarizes it:

For the LONGEST time, I didn't know what to make of it. The claims were vague enough that they seemed like they could be true -- after all, JKR is a megacunt and a renowned TERF. You don't need to fact-check either of those things.

But then -- for the first time ever -- I came across a video on TikTok claiming that what was being said was NOT true, and that it was being used SPECIFICALLY to stir up drama. Which was... crazy, to say least.

And that led me, well, to do my own research & fact-check. I've taken the original video's structure and added some exposition as well.

So here's the truth:

That 2003 case the above meme refers to? Not even REMOTELY what the situation was about. Hell, not even CLOSE.

In 2003, JKR sent a cease-and-desist letter to an explicit adult HP fan fiction website, called "Restricted Section". Here's the letter:

As the above letter states, the site was sent a notice because of overarching concerns that minors would accidentally stumble onto the sexually explicit content the site hosted after searching up 'Harry Potter'.

The hand-wringing over minor safety probably seems dated now, but it was, in fact, standard practice in the early 2000s - sexually explicit fan content was being removed across the internet for those exact concerns. In fact, just the year before, in 2002, fanfiction.net was purged of NC-17 content (which would happen one more time, in 2012).

I feel ridiculous stating it, but just to be clear -- in the above letter and all my subsequent research, there's NO evidence she went after Wolfstar -- or any ship, for that matter -- directly.

In fact, the letter goes an extra mile to declare that "our clients (JKR) make no complaint about innocent fan fiction written by genuine Harry Potter fans", but that, "there is plainly a very real risk that impressionable children... will be directed... to your sexually explicit website".

But that leads in nicely to the next point -- the website DIDN'T shut down, as per the letter's request. Instead, they added password protection to ensure only members older than 17 were accessing it.

OK, but why did JKR and Warner Bros go after this site in the first place? Most believe it was because of a widely-publicized article in THE SCOTSMAN that talked about the website. But, once again, this article doesn't go after Wolfstar in particular -- it only goes after Harry x Draco and Harry x Snape. The inclusion of latter was arguably what generated the biggest controversy -- the pairing of Harry, a fictional minor, with an adult character, in slash stories largely written by adult heterosexual women, was not one that could be cast in a good light to the general public. It's hardly a surprise JKR's lawyers sought to do something before the controversy got out of hand and worried parents started to make calls.

What I said before still goes, though. The legal core of the issue was ALWAYS to do NOT with the ships, but the EXPLICIT NATURE of the work -- and the (very real) concerns that the series' then-mostly-under-18 readership could find said works with very little as far as guardrails were concerned. (I know, because I was one of those kids)

TLDR; JKR did NOT sue people over Wolfstar fanfiction, she sent a cease-and-desist notice to a website that was not taking adequate precautions to prevent minors from accessing the explicit adult content on the site.

To be clear -- this is not meant to be a statement on what to ENJOY in your fandom ships. You can ship Wolfstar, Remadora, both, neither -- it really doesn't matter. I think the fandom is critical enough of the author to have reclaimed her work on our own terms, and people should be allowed to just, idk enjoy things.

But propagating straight-up falsehoods is dangerous, especially when it comes at the expense of 1) a safe fandom environment (see: the current fandom ship wars between Remadora and Wolfstar, which are difficult to watch) and 2) serves as a distraction from the ACTUAL garbage JKR engages in (of which there is plenty -- no need to make it up lol).

Also, truth be told -- inter-fandom ship wars don't generally add anything productive to the necessary conversations that need to be had about her works. The thought that dashing fan ships was a key motivator in her writing rather than, I don't know, plot concerns, is ludicrous on face, and gives fans a level of control over the original writer that just... doesn't exist IRL? And certainly didn't back then?

And again -- the books would have been VERY different series, plot-wise, if Sirius Black HAD lived. Him being in a relationship with Remus, confirmed or implied, has no relation to that decision.

If we have talk Harry Potter, I'd rather talk about just about anything else -- the racism, the misogyny, the lack of any sort of organic queer rep and JKR's inability to just own up to the problems in her works. But the minutiae of ship wars -- and the inevitable stream of disinformation that comes with it, sans any kind of concrete evidence -- is one I'd prefer to pass on.

SOURCES:

Cease-and-Desist Letter Copy: http://archive.is/HTLsq

THE SCOTSMAN Article: http://archive.is/VdEaY

Restricted Section Updates Page:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030815233612/http://www.restrictedsection.org/news.php

BONUS: The original TikTok video I came across whose structure and sources I shamelessly stole to read and build out my argument. I copied a lot of their wording because it explained it better than I could, you just get some bonus snarky commentary from yours truly

[ourloveisforthelovely]

In Love and Death Part 2

Harry Potter 

Link to Chapter 1

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: M- light  smut

_____

Hot water washed over your sore joints. The heat was a welcome change from the chill of the hotel room. You rubbed a hand through your soaking hair. Regulus hadn’t joined you yet. You frowned. Normally it would take him all of three seconds to hop into the shower with you. Heat plus your naked bodies being pressed together was enough to entice the man into anything that you wanted.

Your mind went back to the previous conversation. Regulus’ aversion to going back to the order and coming out as a couple made sense. You knew that your friends, Moody, in particular, wouldn't take it well. Hell, your own father probably wouldn’t take it well (had he been alive). You didn’t remember much about his temper but from what your mother said Evan could go off over the smallest thing. His best friend dating his daughter would be a sure way to set Evan off.

Thinking back to Evan Rosier, you couldn’t help feeling a little sad. You were four when he was killed by none other than Moody himself. The world didn’t know the same Evan that you knew. They didn’t know the man who gave up most of his own dreams in order to be a dad at 16 or the man that would sit on the floor of the Rosier family manor to play dolls with you (he wouldn’t admit the latter part but you knew it happened.) The world only saw the death eater that thought it was smart to come up against Mad-eye Moody and didn’t live to see the next day.

You closed your eyes trying to remember what you could about Evan. As you got older you were beginning to forget the little things like his voice, the way he held you as a child, and the way that you would sit on his foot in some pathetic hope to keep him home. Pictures only went so far.

After you grew up and got away from your family’s ignorant ideals, you began to realize how crazy your father really was. He never should have been out running around with Voldemort. Evan should have been at home being a good father. Your grandmother was kind enough to raise you for the first year while Evan and your mother finished school. Running around with a maniac and getting killed was a pretty shitty way to repay her.

Regulus was another source of confusion for you. You could only remember bits and pieces of him. You were two when he technically “died.” The most you could really remember about him was pulling his hair when he would come to visit your parents.

Grandmother would die if she knew…

You could already see the horrified expression on her face when you would bring Regulus in for the first time. The old woman would probably think that she was losing her mind.

That would be slightly desirable

You thought with a smirk. Your grandmother was just like the rest of your family. Snarky purebloods who thought that they were better than everyone else. Maybe it would do her some good to come back down to planet earth.

Regulus’ arms wrapping around your waist pulled you from your thoughts.

“Took you long enough.”

You said as Regulus shoved his head under the water. Flipping his hair over his shoulder, he shoved you back against the wall. He wrapped both of your wrists in one of his hands and held them over your head.

“Sorry.”

Regulus said before trailing his nose down your neck to your shoulder.

“Is it bad that I don’t want to go back?”

He asked, softly. You lifted a leg over his hip trying to pull Regulus closer.

“We don’t have to.”

You replied. Regulus stood back up straight. He stroked a finger down your cheek.

“And we will be hunted down like dogs.”

“They’ll have to get used to it...you and I. I’m not giving you up to appease anyone.”

Regulus let your hands go so he could cup your face.

“I think that I’ve been a bad influence on you. Before you and I got together you were this sweet little girl that wouldn’t say the word fuck now you are talking about sassing Mad-eye Moody. I have to say that I’m impressed.”

You smiled as Regulus peppered kisses down your cheek.

“You’re the first guy that I have ever given a damn about.”

Regulus lifted you enough to align himself to your entrance. You didn’t wait for him to tug him down instead you sunk down onto his length. Regulus groaned, holding his head back. He was going to miss being able to have you whenever the hell he wanted. Since Regulus started sleeping with you, he began to see why his brother was such a manwhore. Sex was actually very nice!

Maybe if he played his cards right, the two of you could get away from Grimmauld Place soon enough. Being back home was the last place that Regulus wanted to be. Between Mad- eye watching his every move, his mother’s portrait profeessing her undying love for him, and Kreacher holding onto his leg sobbing like an emotional toddler; being home was exhausting.

“What a coincidence, you are the first girl that I have ever given a damn about. Now pay attention to what I am doing to you.”

Regulus said with a grin before leaning in for another kiss.

(The next morning)

Both Regulus and yourself stood outside of Grimmauld Place staring at the door handle with matching frowns.

“So, we are on the same footing here?”

You asked. Regulus nodded.

“Yes, if they give you a hard time. I’m coming in and cleaning things up. They won’t want that.”

“Then we apparate the fuck out of there…”

Regulus nodded.

“Sounds nifty.”

Before you could say anything else, Tonks opened the door and pulled you into a fierce hug that left the two of you on the floor. She wrapped herself around you like an oversized cat. You ignored Moody who was muttering about “did they forget how to open doors?”

“Y/n, I have missed you! I missed your face! I missed everything about you!”

Tonks held your face in her hands as she looked down at you from your place beneath her. It took all that you had not to laugh at your best friend's over the top dramatic greeting. You couldn’t have expected anything less from Tonks.

“I missed you too.”

You said with a smirk as Tonks started stroking your hair. The moment that her eyes landed on the love bit that Regulus left on your neck, her mouth dropped. She glanced over her shoulder at Regulus. He didn’t make any facial expression upon realizing that Tonks had put the “secret” together.

“It was then that they realized that neither one of them needed a man.”

Both Tonks and yourself jumped up the moment that Sirius spoke. You have Sirius a scowl.

“In your wildest fantasies.”

Sirius grinned. He enjoyed the fun back and forth banter that the two of you had when it came to sex.

“Let me go get a drink and I will gladly sit here and watch. Neither of you has to touch me.”

Both Remus and Regulus were glaring at Sirius now.

“Shut up, Sirius.”

Regulus snapped. Sirius grinned even wider before his vision stopped on the love bite too. You watched as his mouth dropped before he glanced between Regulus and yourself. He leaned over to Remus and held out his hand.

“You owe me a ton of chocolate.”

“It's not what you think.”

You said, assuming that Sirius figured that Regulus and yourself were just sleeping together. What you didn’t know was Sirius and Remus had made a bet that the two of you would end up in a relationship. Knowing Sirius the way that you did, you assumed the bet was just sex-related.

“It's exactly what he thinks.”

Regulus replied. Tonks had her hand over her mouth and you went to stand beside Regulus. You wrapped your hand around his as Moody walked in.

The older man automatically frowned. Your goal was to tell your friends in a “soft” calm manner but now you weren’t surprised. Nothing in your life ever went according to plan.

“Both of you in the living room. NOW!”

Moody snapped. He stormed in the room fighting the urge to wipe that sneer off of Regulus Black’s smug little face. Moody waited until the both of you sat down before speaking.

“How long?”

You were the first to speak. It was probably a good idea that you did the talking. If it were Regulus doing the talking, hexes would start flying in seconds.

“Right after we got to Greece.”

Moody growled. His attention locked on Regulus.

“I told you to leave her alone.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. He wasn’t about to back down from Moody.

“Let me tell you something about Y/n. She doesn’t do a damn thing that she doesn’t want to. Besides, it's not your decision upon how she lives her life.”

“Did she do you too?”

Tonks asked. Both Regulus and yourself turned to stare at Tonks. Had the situation not been so serious, you would have laughed at the expression on her face. You were thankful for Sirius who was giggling so hard that Remus had to reach out and pinch him.

“Sure. Tonks. I have sex with every guy that I go out with!”

You snapped. Tonks frowned.

“And Regulus is okay with this?”

Remus put a hand on his girlfriend’s back.

“You aren’t helping, love.”

You quickly stood up.

“I am going to say this once. It isn’t anyone in this room’s decision on who I am going to be with. I’m an adult.”

“He was there when you were born. That is messed up.”

Moody snapped. Regulus’ scowl intensified.

“Remus is older than Tonks and I don’t see you bitching about that. Apparently, you are forgetting the fact that I was 18 when I died and look at that...still 18.”

“Fine, it's because you are a death eater. You should have stayed dead.”

“Alastor!”

You snapped his name as Moody turned to face you.

“I’m not watching you throw your life away on some death eater because you have unresolved daddy issues from your father's death.”

Everyone in the room became instantly silent. You blinked a few times before Regulus reached out for your hand.

“Love…”

You shook yourself loose and stared at Moody with heartbroken eyes. This was by far the cruelest thing that he had ever said to you. That comment was worse than how he treated you when you became an auror. He didn’t trust you then because of whose daughter you were and it took you forever to gain his trust. Once you did, however, he adored you and treated both Tonks and yourself like his own daughters. Now you felt as though you had been slapped in the face.

“I don’t have daddy issues. My father made his decisions. You were the one that blew him away. He made bad decisions in his life but that isn’t Regulus’ mess to clean up. That was Evan’s fault not Regulus’.”

Moody frowned.

“Let me make this simple for you, Y/n. You are an auror and a brilliant one at that. You have potential...a spark. Don’t throw your life away for some death eater with a bad attitude.”

You stood in silence for a moment not looking at anyone but Moody.

“That's enough.”

Regulus said, in a warning tone. He had no issues with hexing Moody. Whether the two men were on the same side of not, Regulus was not going to let him upset you anymore. The comments about Evan were below the belt. You didn’t ask your father to make poor decisions.

You recovered after a few moments of trying to keep your Rosier temper under control.

“Fine. I quit. I’m done. You can take this auror job and shove it.”

“Y/n…”

Tonks said, gently. You shook your head brushing off your best friend and partner’s attempt of trying to “smooth the situation over.”

“I’m done.”

You turned and walked from the room leaving everyone in silence. Regulus smirked at the shocked expression on Moody’s face. That was one way to shut the man up.

“You’ve been most helpful.”

Regulus said coldly before standing up and going in the direction that you had gone in.

You stood in his bedroom angrily staring at the wall when Regulus finally caught up to you. Kreacher was busy whispering to you in some hope of cheering you up.

“Kreacher, that will do.”

Regulus said as the elf looked up at him with those teary eyes. At the moment, the last thing that Regulus wanted to do was deal with a pissed off girlfriend and a sobbing elf.

“Yes, master Regulus.”

Kreacher muttered before popping out of the room. Regulus was a bit surprised that Kreacher didn’t beg to stay. Since Regulus had come back, Kreacher was finding any excuse to be in the same room. Regulus figured it was because he was the one person (except you) that was remotely nice to the elf.

Regulus closed the door behind him and cast a quick silencing charm. The last thing that he wanted was for anyone downstairs to be listening at the door.

“You sure showed them.”

Regulus commented before kneeling down in front of you. Your blue eyes met his and Regulus had to fight the urge to stomp back down the stairs and chew everyone out individually. He wasn’t for sure why he was so mad at Sirius and Remus. They had been mostly quiet through that whole fiasco but Regulus could find something.

“What was said when I left?”

Regulus shrugged before gently pushing your backward on the bed and planting himself on top of you.

“I really don’t know. I made a snarky comment and left too. I’m sure they are tearing us apart right now. You know, I really didn’t expect you to go and quit your job. Watching Moody look so stunned was rather amusing though. I wish that I had one of those muggle cameras.”

You smirked.

“Your cell phone has one.”

It took all that you had not to giggle at the unamused expression on your boyfriend’s face.

“I hate that thing.”

“You’ve gone through 4 in two months so I kind of got the idea. Was I wrong down there?”

Regulus shook his head.

“No. It took all that I had not to open my mouth. Look, I don’t need any of those idiots downstairs to make my life happy.”

“I make you happy?”

You questioned. Regulus raised an eyebrow before leaning down and kissing you. The sugary sweetness of the moment would have made him gag years ago now it was welcomed. Now Regulus was ready to soak up any bit of love that you had to offer him.

“Of course. All I need is these blue eyes, these full lips, and this smart mouth.”

You laughed.

“I’ve never heard anyone say that they enjoyed my smart mouth.”

Regulus took your hand and placed it on his crotch. Giving you a small smile, his fingers started on the buttons of your dress.

“That should answer your question, silly girl.”

“I would rather do this than be downstairs.’

Regulus nodded and tugged his shirt over his head.

“For the record, I have never had a girl in this bed.”

You quickly started unbuttoning your dress.

“Maybe you should take that silencing charm off of this room so we can make everyone very uncomfortable?”

____

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[fanfictionaries]

The Seduction of Sirius Black - Part 1

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Sirius Black

Summary:

Hermione loves her boyfriend, but there’s just one little problem -- she’s hopelessly attracted to Sirius Black. 

Warnings: Swearing, Smut/18+ NSFW, Angst, Ron bashing (sorry) 

Author’s Note: Posting some old stuff! Honestly, editing it has been a nice lead back into really writing. Very cathartic! 

Also, apologies for the Ron bashing in this story. I know it’s a stupid trope and to a certain extent I really enjoy Ron as a character, buuuuut I’m using it as a cheap way to move plot. 

ALSO, this is obviously a AU where Sirius didn’t die in the Department of Mysteries. 

ALSO (and this is the last one I swear), I AM a big fan of Wolfstar but I also have daddy issues and find Sirius Black extremely attractive and this is my tumblr so I can write the stories I want I guess. Haha Not to mention, Sirius Black gives BIG bisexual energy.  

MASTERLIST

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Hermione didn’t really know when it had happened – this attraction to Sirius Black. It wasn’t as if she had woken up one day with the sudden urge to jump across the table and shag the older wizard into the next life. The whole thing had occurred much more gradually than that, she supposed. However, despite all of the trivial aspects of her…situation, Hermione chose instead to focus purely on the fact that he was entirely off limits. For many reasons. There was no way anyone in her close-knit circle of friends would be okay with her becoming entangled with a man more than twice her age and who also happened to be her best friend’s god father. It would be unacceptable. It would be impractical. Most of all it would be highly inappropriate as she was currently dating her other best friend, Ronald Weasley.

She supposed the attraction was inevitable to a certain degree. At the beginning, nearly a year and half ago, things like physical attraction were far from her mind. She’d just started her new position at the Ministry, Harry and Ron were training to be Aurors, the war had just come to an end and thus her life was a whirlwind of people and places. But over time things slowed down. Ronald was stationed away on official Auror business more and more often, leaving very little time for him to visit her and when he did come back, he had to split his time between her and his large family. Harry, having waited for Ginny to finish her final year at Hogwarts, had gone and married her the summer after and for all intents and purposes abandoned her. Harry…

It was really all Harry’s fault. Or at least that’s what Hermione liked to think whenever she felt her heart skip and her pulse slip between her thighs in Sirius Black’s presence. It had been Harry’s idea for Hermione to move into Grimmauld Place with him and Sirius after the war. Family, it seemed, had taken an important role in everyone’s lives when Lord Voldemort fell for the final time. All of the Weasley children had moved back to their childhood home of the Burrow – even Charlie much to everyone’s great surprise and delight. Tonks and Remus moved in with her mother and father, Andromeda and Theodore, to bask in the cheer of their newborn baby Teddy. And Harry had moved in with Sirius. Everyone had felt the need to be closer than ever to the ones that they loved, and Hermione completely understood that need. In fact, if she had had a family to go to, she would have moved in with them as well. But her parents were still in Australia somewhere, the location even unknown to herself as she’d designed it that way. Harry, being fully aware of this fact, insisted that she move in with him and Sirius. Hermione had been fully prepared to get her own flat in London. But after a bit of prodding she’d accepted Harry’s offer, secretly grateful that her best friend was so kind and thoughtful. Now, she probably cursed him name at least five times a day.

Hermione had been happy for him and Ginny when they announced their engagement. She’d cried not only when Ginny asked her to be her maid of honor, but also when the two had said their ‘I do’s. However, Harry moved out of Grimmauld Place following their marriage and subsequently left her to live with Sirius Black all by herself. So now she sat in the quaint little kitchen of the Black home, sipping her morning tea, and trying incredibly hard to keep her attention on her book rather than glance up at the rugged wizard sitting across from her.

“Hmpf” Sirius let out the little sound of surprise before continuing, “Would you look at that. Sources say that while Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, announces no final decisions have been made in regard to the recent Magical Creature Equality Act proposed last month, there are certain voices in the Ministry that are persuading not only the members of the Wizengamot, but the Minister himself to vote yes for magical creature equality.” He read the words aloud, peaking over his paper at her and raising his eyebrows. “I wonder who those certain voices or voice is…” he mused humorously.

It was no secret that shortly after being appointed a position in the Ministry department of Magical Creatures, Hermione had gone about being a personal activist for Magical Creature rights. Merlin, she had written almost the entire Act herself. Her hand still cramped at the thought of the hours she spent in her office and the library at Grimmauld Place scribbling away with her quill.

“No idea,” Hermione responded, feigning ignorance but blushing all the same in embarrassment. She kept her eyes on the pages of her book but found no matter how many times she read and reread the same paragraph she couldn’t retain it. Slowly her eyes shifted to the man in front of her. His gaze was fixed on the paper and so she was free to take him in. He had just showered, his wavy brown hair hanging damp to his shoulders. It made him look, in her opinion, especially delectable that morning. Hermione felt herself blush even deeper at the lewd thoughts threatening to enter her mind before looking back down at her book and scolding herself.

“So, when is Ronald coming for a visit again? Need me to clear off any time soon?” Sirius asked, sparking up conversation after the long bout of silence.

“Unfortunately, he won’t be back till next month,” she sighed, ignoring the second half of Sirius’s question.

“Well that’s not too bad I suppose—” Sirius smiled warmly and set down his paper as he stood up “—It gives you plenty of time to focus on getting the Ministry on board with your Act before you’re…distracted.” Sirius added the last part with a teasing implication not lost on Hermione.

“My Act?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly as she stood up as well and took her teacup to the sink. She grabbed the sponge to begin washing up when Sirius took it from her hand.

“I can do the washing up. You’re going to be late for work. Besides, it’s not like I work or anything. Might as well do something productive today,” he stated dryly, turning on the tap.

“Hmm, yes. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. You’ve become quite the lay-about. When are you going to get a job and start contributing to the household?” Hermione asked cheekily.

“Lay-about? Need I remind you that this is my house that you live in, rent free. You’re lucky a kind old man like me has taken a liking to you, or you’d be on the streets, kitten,” Sirius said, flicking some water off his fingertips in her direction.

“More like taken pity on me—” Hermione shook her head “—and you’re far from an old man, Sirius. I swear, you’d like people to think you’re closer to eighty than twenty!” She exited the kitchen and slipped into her heels next to the front door.

“Mind picking up some milk on your way home, kitten? We’re almost out!” Sirius called out to her, ignoring her statement on his age. Hermione tried not to focus on the way her stomach flipped in response to Sirius using his nickname for her for a second time that morning.

“Sure thing!” she called back before exiting the front door and apparating the moment she hit the sidewalk.

Hermione found it very difficult to work that day. The summer heat had become abysmal, proving to be quite the sticky, humid season, and of course that meant the Ministry’s cooling charms were on the fritz. By the time the day was over, Hermione’s hair had grown three times its size. Catching her reflection in a Ministry window, Hermione had gasped at its state. Even she hadn’t known it could get that big. In addition, her silk blouse that she had tucked into a polyester pencil skirt had become damp and uncomfortable from the sweat that accumulated on her body throughout the day.  And even after casting multiple drying spells to herself and her clothes, there was still nothing she could do about her hair. To add to her physical discomfort, she also struggled with a mental discomfort as well. Ron had been plaguing her mind all day long.

Ronald Weasley. Her oldest friend, now boyfriend. It hadn’t been a shock to anyone when they had gotten together after the war had ended. It had almost been expected in fact. She’d liked him since third year and aside from his short tryst with Lavender Brown, it had been obvious they would be together. Hermione loved Ron, she really did, but he was gone so often. Gone often and when he was home things felt…off. His affection seemed to have waned and Hermione was left thinking that perhaps it had something to do with her. Every time he chose to kiss her cheek as opposed to her lips or pat her leg friendly instead of holding her hand Hermione felt a little blow to her confidence. Bitterly she thought of how he and Lavender had been all over each other sixth year. She certainly wouldn’t enjoy having Ron’s tongue shoved down her throat in broad daylight, but surely, it’d be nice to have him show a bit of affection. In the beginning he’d been much more enthusiastic. They would often sneak off for a cheeky snog and hands often lingered under tables. They’d even gone all the way. It had been romantic and sweet, and Ron had certainly enjoyed himself. Or at least she thought he had. But now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe she’d been rubbish at it and he didn’t know how to tell her. Maybe he just didn’t find her attractive anymore. She had put on a bit of weight in the past year and a half. Hermione figured it was for the best as she was no longer starving to death on the run from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But now when she looked in the mirror her eyes focused for too long on the swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the thickness of her thighs, and the softness of her stomach.

Despite this possibility, Hermione couldn’t help but feel guilty about her lustful thoughts involving Sirius. She often tried to reason with herself that it was perfectly normal to feel such base emotions. Everyone had them and as long as she didn’t act on them, she was fine. She was just lonely, and Sirius was there.

Resolving to speak with Ron about her concerns when he returned in a week, Hermione shook the troubling thoughts from her head and continued down Diagon Alley, intending to just pop by the small corner store at the end for some milk and maybe some ice-cream for later. She needed a small pick-me-up after the day she’d had. Jogging the last few steps to the corner store, Hermione pulled open the heavy door and sighed happily as the cooling charms inside enveloped her. She wiped her forehead with her arm and headed to the back of the store where the freezer section was. The store was practically deserted aside from a single witch staring at the ice pops with a heavy look of concentration. Hermione walked up next to her to stare at the ice-cream choices and smiled when she spotted the Rocky Road. It was Ron’s favorite.

“It’s a scorcher out there, innit?” commented the witch, her thick London accent coming through endearingly sweet. Hermione looked to her left and took in the girl. She was thin and tan with beautiful golden hair tied up into a long ponytail. She had a friendly, heart-shaped face and sparkly green eyes. Something about her seemed familiar – Hermione must have seen her somewhere before.

“I’m practically melting,” agreed Hermione, shaking her head, and grabbing the Rocky Road, thinking she would have that tonight rather than her usual Mint Chocolate-Chip.

“Any fun plans for the heat?” the pretty blonde asked casually, grabbing a box of grape ice pops and a carton of Rocky Road ice-cream as well.

“Not really. Probably just go home and cast as many cooling charms as possible—” Hermione crinkled her nose and quirked the corner of her mouth in a wry grin “—Yourself?”

“Me and my boyfriend are planning a nice night in. He’s just got back from assignment with the Ministry. He’s an Auror, so we’re doing a bit of celebrating before he has to go back.” The girl smiled, her voice heavy with adoration.

“How nice! My boyfriend’s an Auror as well.”

“Really?” the girl asked, eyes lighting up.

“Yes, he’s actually away on assignment right now. I wonder if they know—” Hermione had been about to ask if perhaps their respective partners were familiar with each other when a voice called out from the end of the aisle.

“Babe, they didn’t have the crisps you like, but—” Basket hanging from one hand and a bag of Salt and Vinegar crisps in the other, Ron stopped dead in his tracts at the sight of Hermione. His eyes grew wide, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “’Mione?”

Hermione stared back too, but unlike Ron she was unable to find her voice. Instead she just stared. Ron was back from assignment? Why hadn’t he told her? What was he doing there? Why was he calling this girl babe when—

“Wait—‘Mione? As in Hermione Granger?” the witch asked, taking a step back from Hermione and towards Ron. She looked at Hermione with wide, incredulous eyes. “Oh my gosh, I feel so foolish. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

Hermione looked on in confusion as she watched the witch hook her arm in Ron’s and smile politely back at her.

“Hermione,” Ron said her name again, but Hermione was too busy taking the two of them in. She felt like an absolute fool. The carton of Rocky Road slipped from her fingers and landed on the linoleum floor of the shop with a dull thud. Then, in a panic, Hermione turned on the spot and fled, hearing Ron’s call after her mix with a small ‘Oh my’ from the pretty blonde witch.

There were a million places Hermione could have gone. There were a million places Hermione should have gone. All of them much better choices than the seedy little muggle bar she found just outside of Diagon Alley. She should have gone home. Or to Harry. Or to Ginny. The smart choice was to tell someone what had happened and to talk it out. But instead, she spent the next four hours doing her best to get well and truly pissed. Drinking wasn’t like Hermione and certainly the first glass of whiskey had been hard to get down. But she found after the first two, she hardly tasted the biting liquid anymore and the dulling effect of the alcohol was just so nice.

It was just past ten in the evening when Hermione left the bar, tipping this way and that way in her heels and feeling exceptionally light-headed. The night had cooled down and the sun had just set, allowing Hermione to feel some semblance of relief as she walked down the street to a nearby alleyway. It probably wasn’t the best idea to apparate when she was so inebriated, but Hermione wasn’t really thinking in that moment. She just knew she didn’t want to walk. Thankfully, she managed to land, although very ungracefully, in front of Grimmauld Place without splinching herself.

“Shit,” Hermione whispered followed by a snort of laughter when she tripped over the threshold after finally getting her key in the keyhole. The world had gone all wobbly it had taken her ages to find the right key and get it in the lock. Closing the front door as quietly behind her as possible Hermione found herself overtaken by the strong urge to laugh again. Hermione Granger was well and truly sloshed and for some reason she found that to be very funny.

“Hermione?”

Hermione jumped at her name, letting out a little shriek as she turned around and found Sirius standing in the hall. The hall was dark, but light streamed out through the doorway to the kitchen illuminating him in long shadows where he stood, arms crossed.

“Sirius—” Hermione held a hand to her heart, feeling it beat wildly in her chest. “I didn’t think you’d still be up.”

“It’s past eleven, where have you been?” There was a strange tone to his voice, like he was angry with her but also like he was speaking to a small, frightened animal.

Past eleven? How long had it taken her to unlock the front door?

“I was—” Hermione tripped on the rug, catching herself on the wall and letting out another little laugh “—I stopped and had a little post-work drink.” Her words were slurred, even to her own ears and she laughed again, holding a hand over mouth in embarrassment. “Well, maybe one or two post-work drinks.”

“Are you drunk, kitten?” Sirius asked, sounding amused now.

Hermione continued down the hall, getting closer and closer to Sirius. Each step was a new struggle. A trip here, a wobble there. But Hermione didn’t care. In fact, she felt…good. Free almost. “Maaaaybe,” she drawled, giggling like a small child as she closed the last bit of distance and swayed before Sirius.

He stared down at her, arms now uncrossed as he seemed to be trying to figure out whether he should be amused or concerned. Hermione’s mouth went dry. Now that she was closer, she could see him more clearly and Merlin did she see him. There was a shadow of facial hair across his square jaw, and down his neck. Hermione found herself wondering what it felt like – whether it was soft or rough. Gaze traveling down the thickness of his neck she found his upperhalf bare, the only thing covering his torso, an open robe revealing the inky black of his tattoos. She loved his tattoos. They made him look dangerous. Mysterious. Hot. His chest was free of hair, the lean muscles dipping low and high like delicious hills and valleys she’d so like to explore. In fact…she reached out a hand, her body working opposite of a clear head as her fingertips tentatively touched the smooth planes of Sirius’ chest. He was warm.

He went sort of rigid under her touch, but Hermione barely noticed. Instead she was too entranced by the feel of him. Had she ever touched him before? She didn’t think she had. Her gazed traveled further south and with it, so did her fingertips. Ghosting down the center of his chest from sternum to bellybutton, she blushed furiously at the sight of thick dark hair starting at his navel and disappearing below a pair of pajama pants that sat dangerously low on his hips. She swallowed thickly, her breath coming in thick hot puffs as her hand traveled further, barely brushing the thick hair before a hand shot out and grasped her wrist.

Hermione gasped, looking up suddenly into the stormy eyes of Sirius Black before her. He lifted her wrist to shoulder height, pulling her forward slightly as he did it. The distance between them closed even more.

“Kitten.” It was a warning. Hermione knew it. But for some reason her whiskey-idled brain didn’t care. She liked the risk behind his tone. Her body practically purred at the sound of his special nickname just for her – the irony of that sentiment lost on her in the moment.

“Yes, Sirius?” she responded, her voice coming out deep and breathy and dare she say seductive? Hermione had never sounded like that before. She kind of liked it. Looking up at him with her best attempt at innocent eyes, she waited for him to say something.

Sirius stared down at her, his face a stony mask, but a war was raging behind his eyes. Hermione’s gaze flickered from the stormy grey of his eyes to the fullness of his lips and back up. With a deep breath and a long swallow that made his Adam’s apple bob in a mouth-watering way, Sirius finally spoke.

“You should go to bed.”

Hermione huffed, a bit like a petulant child but not quite as bratty. “What if I don’t want to?”

“It wasn’t really a suggestion.” His tone was dark, and it sent a surprising thrill through Hermione’s body. Her center throbbed. Her breath hitched. Maybe it was all in her head – this thick tension between them. Or maybe it wasn’t. It was certainly taboo, this…energy radiating between them. But Hermione didn’t really care because in that moment she made the sudden realization that she could have this. She could have this and not be the bad guy. Ron was the bad guy. All those months of guilt for feeling basic human attraction and he was off shagging some beautiful, leggy blonde. But now…she didn’t have to feel guilty anymore.

Before she could stop herself, Hermione lifted up onto her toes and closed the distance between them. Their lips pressed together for a moment, firm and warm. When Sirius failed to respond, Hermione’s stomach dropped, and she made the mortifying realization that he didn’t want to kiss her. She was just beginning to pull away, an apology poised on her lips when the grip on her wrist vanished and reappeared around her waist, pulling her in tightly as Sirius’s lips claimed her own.

It all happened very quickly. A meshing of lips and teeth and tongue that left her hot, sticky, and out of breath. Before she knew it, she was being pushed up against the wall of the hallway, her back and head hitting the plaster hard, but she did not care. The only thing she could focus on was the feeling of Sirius’s lips on her own and the hot cloud of their shared breath.

His hands remained wrapped tightly around her torso, gripping the material of her blouse in his fists, but Hermione’s hands were everywhere. She wanted to touch all of him, and she was determined to do so. It wasn’t until her hands wound themselves around his neck and threaded up into his hair, gripping the strands vice-like, that Sirius broke. He let out a ragged groan before moving his hands from around her waist to her front. Grabbing the material of her blouse in each hand, he gave a great tug, not even bothering to try and unbutton it. Hermione gasped at the sound of ripping fabric and the pop of her blouse buttons. Cool air brushing her sensitive skin and the hitch in his breath made Hermione acutely aware that she was now bare to him from the waist up. She remembered the bra she’d chosen to wear that day – a thin and see-through number that cupped her breasts perfectly but left little to the imagination. He was kissing her neck then, sucking and biting in ways that left her breathless and needy. His hands covered her breasts, kneading and stroking in a gentle way that contrasted so strikingly with how he was attacking her neck.

The only thing Hermione could do in that moment was hold on for dear life. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest and when Sirius’s mouth traveled south to envelope of her nipples, she thought that actually had. She let out a low, needy moan and arched into him. Feeling bold, she slid a hand from his hair, down the firm planes of his chest and to the front of his pajama bottoms. At the feel of his hard length she whined, high and breathy. Her hand had been there for barely a moment before Sirius tore away from her, distancing himself the width of the hallway. Hermione leaned against the wall behind her, needing the stability of it to stay upright due to her still drunk nature and the shaky state of her legs.

“What?” she asked, looking at the panting man across from her with confusion.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, chest falling up and down as pieces of his thick dark hair hung in his face. Hermione tried to focus but the only thing she could think of was how much she wanted to brush that hair from his gorgeous features so she could see him more clearly.

“You’re drunk. You should go to bed,” said Sirius, his voice low and gravely and filled with an edge of regret.

“But—” Hermione hesitated, confused at his response “—I don’t understand.” She crossed the distance between them, kissing up the older wizard’s neck. Did he think she didn’t want this?

“Kitten.” Sirius’s voice was strained, but he still managed to grab Hermione’s wandering hands and push her away again. Hermione gasped at his rough touch as he pulled her off of him. “I said you should go to bed.”

Hermione stared up at him in shock for a moment before a surprising rage filled her. Was she not good enough for him? Was she not pretty enough? Did he not enjoy what they’d been doing? The hot sting of angry tears reached the inner corners of her eyes and she tore out of Sirius’s grip before stomping up the stairs towards her room with a huff.

Part 2

[sunflower-swan]

Wolfstar Chapter 18

A/N: Here’s what you need to know: I created this story for Writer’s Month 2020. Every day is a new prompt, and therefore a new chapter. This is an AU Wolfstar where Remus is a tattoo artist next door to Sirius who manages a flower shop. James and Lily are alive in this universe and own a coffee shop across the street. And to make parts of the story work with the prompts, Remus is about 10 years older than Sirius. It also takes place more or less in present time, minus Covid-19.

This is chapter 18 of a multi-chapter work. If you’d like to start from the beginning, here is chapter 1.

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters. I just like to play with them.

Day 18 Prompt: Myths

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 1115

Tags: fluff, date night, dessert

Chapter 18

Sirius

Goo Goo Dolls, “Iris”

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

And sooner or later it's over

I just don't wanna miss you tonight

Remus’ face flushed.

It was true, what Sirius had said. Everything Remus had done and been through, made him the incredible man who sat before him. And Sirius wouldn’t want him any other way.

“I recall a mention of strawberry shortcake,” Sirius said.

Remus chuckled and looked down at their now empty dinner plates. “Yes, there is still strawberry shortcake.” He looked back up at Sirius and gave him a half-smile. “What if I make some tea, and we have dessert in the living room? I have some Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Black Tea I’ve been saving for a special occasion.”

“Sounds good.” Sirius gave Remus’ hand a small squeeze before standing up. He collected both of their plates, “I’ll take care of these while you take care of the tea,” and walked over to the sink.

“You know,” Remus said, still sitting at the table, eyebrows raised. “You are my guest. You don’t have to help clean up.”

“I know. But I’m going to anyway.” Sirius shrugged. Consider it repayment for all the times you took care of me the last couple months. Instead he said, “All things considered, it’s the least I can do.”

“Ok.” Remus laughed. “I’m not going to argue with someone who volunteers to wash my dishes.”

He patted Sirius on the back. It was a brief moment, but Sirius could feel the warmth of Remus' hand through his worn Pink Floyd shirt long after the hand was gone.

Sirius hummed quietly as they finished their tasks. Whatever popped into his head in the moment: Def Leppard, Montley Crue, Poison, Joan Jett...the classics. The kettle whistled at the same moment he finished cleaning the last dish, and they retreated to the living room to enjoy the tea and strawberry shortcake.

“Did you know strawberries are one of my favorite foods?” Sirius asked. He sat in the middle of the couch, and stretched his left leg out and propped his heel on the coffee table.

Remus sat to his right, with his back to the armrest. He tucked his left leg under his right. “I have to admit, Lily might have mentioned it while she was convincing me to invite you over tonight. Luckily for you, this entire meal accounts for about half of what I am capable of cooking decently.”

Sirius snickered. Of course Lily had a hand in this. She was entirely too clever for her own good. Not that he was complaining. He put a big bite in his mouth.

“Mmmm...this is really good, Remus.” The shortcake was firm on the outside, yet soft and melty on the inside. And the strawberries...well, it’s hard to go wrong with those.

“Thanks.”

“So,” Sirius leaned back and turned a little toward Remus, “here’s something I’ve always wondered, but never had anyone to ask. If a person can only become a werewolf by being bitten by another werewolf, then where did the first werewolf come from?”

Remus nearly choked on the bite of shortcake in his mouth. He coughed and washed down the offending bite with his tea.

“Sorry,” Sirius said. Merlin, Sirius. Really? What the hell, man? “I didn’t mean...it’s just…” That all sounded a lot better in his head, now he heard it come out of his mouth. “Shit.”

He didn’t mean to sound like an insensitive prick. Being this close to Remus did something to him that was more than nerves. His body was still humming from holding Remus’ hand at the end of dinner. Now, sitting next to him on the couch, it was as if every atom in his body was vibrating. Apparently a side effect of this was blurting out whatever was floating around in his brain. Sirius took a deep breath, and set his partially eaten desert on the coffee table.

“Remus, I’m sorry.” He ran his hands through his hair and twisted to face Remus. “That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. I’m just...trying to understand.” He gently placed his hand on Remus’ knee. The same warm humming sensation began in his hand again.

“It’s ok. I get it.”

For a moment it appeared Remus would almost put his hand over Sirius’, but at the last second, settled it on his leg right next to and almost touching.

“I have actually done some research on the topic,” Remus said. He stood and walked to the bookshelf. “I was a little worried you might pick out one of these and ask about it before.”

He scanned the stacks with his finger before pulling one out. The tome had a worn leather cover, and no title. He brought it back to the couch. When he sat back down, he was closer than before. Sirius’ flesh tingled warmly where their legs contacted.

Remus opened the book on his lap and leaned over it. Sirius leaned over to get a look, too. He placed his hand on the small of Remus’ back, and traced slow, lazy circles there.

“This is an old book on Greek mythology. So, this,” he pointed at a picture of a regal looking man, “was King Lycaon. Lycaon was a prideful king.” He turned the page. “One day he tried to trick Zeus into eating the remains of a sacrificed boy. Zeus did not fall for it, and became angry. As punishment, he cursed Lycaon and his sons into wolves.”

Sirius rested his head in his hand, his elbow propped on his knee. He had sat in silence, enthralled by the tale.

“Wow,” he said, and angled his head to look at Remus.

The lamps in the room cast his face in a warm glow. For the first time, Sirius noticed faint scars across the bridge of his nose. Remus also had a light speckling of freckles across his cheeks. Why had he never noticed before? Sirius swallowed.

“So, Lycaon was the first werewolf?”

Remus closed the book. “Probably not. It’s only a Greek myth. But it makes for a good story.” He smiled at Sirius.

Sirius felt his breath steal away.

“Does it --” Remus picked at the cover of the book with his thumbnail, “-- does it really not bother you...that I’m a werewolf?”

“It really doesn’t,” Sirius whispered.

“What about --” Remus took a deep breath. “-- the age difference. I mean --” He looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. “-- I’m a lot older than you. Wouldn’t you rather date someone...more your age.”

“Remus, I’ve dated people my age. None of them made me feel the way I do when I’m with you.” The flame that had been growing slowly in his chest since the day of the bunny tattoo suddenly burst into a wildfire.

Next Chapter: Chapter 19

[ngfics]

Flower Watch

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Flower Watching and Bird Picking

(SIOC as Lily Evans x Augustus Rookwood)

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Story Title: Flower Watching and Bird Picking

Fandom: Harry Potter

Characters:  SIOC as Lily Evans, Petunia Evans, Severus Snape, Mr. Evans, Mrs.Evans, Eileen Snape, Tobias Snape, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Mary Mcdonald, Marlene McKinnon, Xenophillius Lovegood, Barty Crouch Jr., Evan Rosier, Augustus Rookwood,  Vrious Ocs, Hogwarts Professors, Hogwarts students

Relationships:  Lily Evans x Augustus Rookwood, Severus Sname x Christine McDougal, Evan Rosier x Elizaveta Flavius  

Tags: Rawenclaw Lily Evans, SIOC as Lily Evans, a colder take on Lily Evans, does not like James Potter, avoids Marauders, works on maintaining a good relationship with Snape and Petunia, Xenophillius Lovegood and Barty Coruch Jr. as best friends, a Ravenclaw trio, Wizarding Culture, Pureblood culture, delving into depths of this, and using it for her own ends, piano playing, magical music, Wizarding Music, Unspeakables, Wizard inventions, War against Voldemort, Neville Longbottom is the Chosen One, Lily plays both sides for benefits, the Great Muggleborn Mystery, Time Turners, Time Sand, Werevolves, When in the Wizarding World do as the Wizards do

Summary: She was born Lily Evans. Red haired and green eyed. If that didn't tell her just how much crap would be coming her way, nothing would.

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Posts . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27

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Slightly ordered notes and Ideas

SIOC is somewhat depressed to be reincarnated as Lily Evans, she doesn't believe she can be as kind and forgiving as the original. Resolves to do things her own way instead

Works hard on maintaining a good relationship with Petunia, resolves sisterly problems to the best of her ability and due to her mental age she succeeds.

Makes friends with Snape before he knows that she’s a witch and always insist on being his ‘best friend’, lets him know that she doesn’t think of him in a romantic sense, also that she won’t be dating in Hogwarts at all. (she has bigger things to worry about)

Severus eventually gets over it, after a bit of pouting and teenage angst, she helps him, by being understanding as only an adult can

Lily Is actually sorted into Rawenclaw at her own insistence. Wanting a more inconspicuous house.

Makes friends in Hogwarts with Xenophillius Lovegood, Batrimus Crouch Jr., Alice Jones(later Longbottom), Severus Snape,Jonathan Abbott, Sarah Abbott. Later friends with Elizaveta Rosier (nee Flavius) a French dress robe designer.

Meets Barty and Xeno on Hogwarts Express after she and Severus have their tiff with James and Sirius. Barty and Xeno help both her and Severus integrate better into the Wizarding society, after she mentions that she only had three months to prepare for the Wizarding world and apeeals to their sense of pride and superiority.

Barty warms up to her even more once she saves him from a possible detention.

Delving into things like Wizarding wear, dress robes, color choice, design - what is appropriate for her age and station. She gets tonnes of book recommendations that she looks up in the Hogwarts Library and once she remembers in the Room of Requirement.

Doesn't like James Potter at all, not even when he supposedly changes - though she does give him one chance (which he blows) - she doesn't trust him not to revert.

She knows, or rather she is told, that he will become a 'good man', but she does not trust this. Lily is wary of his fickleness, sees the malice in him when he fights with Slytherins. She has no interest in keeping a leash on a childish man when she has so much to deal with, it's not her job to make him a responsible adult

Doesn't run off when Snape calls her a mudblood and keeps defending him unlit marauders leave. Forgives Snape for his words, but tells him that its a problem for her as she can no longer tell when he's lying, compares him to James - which snaps him out of it pretty quickly.

Lily invests in warding her parents home as soon as she feasibly can, but it's for naught as they die in a completely muggle car accident, driving back from visiting Petunia and her Fiance Vernon Dursley

Augustus Rookwood is three years older than Lily, Evan Rosier is two years older than her. Lily has a minor crush on Evan in her fifth year, but doesn’t do anything about it.

Augustus had only heard of Lily while in Hogwarts, but the first time he hears about her and pays attention is from Evan, when they meet during summer after the debacle with Snape, Marauders and Lily, when Rosier tells him of an interesting mudblood

Lily never flinches when addressed as Mudblood, her response, when heckled by snakes as to why she doesn't flinch, why she isn't insulted, is usually 'I care that little for your opinion'

Lily helps Snape get a date with Christine McDougal, they hit it off well.

As a part of Dumbledore's meddling Lily is Head Girl together with James Potter, suffice to say they don't get along well at all. This Lily is much colder than the original. Cold and pragmatic, but warm and caring to her close friends and family.

She ends up getting a job as an Unspeakable where her colleague is Augustus Rookwood. They get into debates over Muggleborns and give eachother something to think about

Her 'day job', as no one can actually say that they work as an Unspeakable (and it's best to have a job away from the ministry if you do work as an Unspeakable, to serve as a cover), is as either a pianist or a cellist

She is very sought after and present at many galas because she's a prodigal musician - was a musician in previous life, not as a job, but recreation

Lily Evans is credited as the maker of what is called 'The Evans Method' in wizarding medicine and 'The flutter' in casual use (this can only be used at MOMs discression, one cannot buy this sand in stores for their own use, but one can petition if their work is too intensive and they find themselves 'needing more time')

As she studied Time in the Department of Mysteries she experimented with time-turner sand and found out how to use it on people (without a container) to slow down their time, thus prolonging their life (this is more used in medicine to slow down diseases so that a cure can be found), or sometimes speeding themselves up and managing to do more in less time.

This is before she and Augustus marry, but while they're in a relationship of sorts, once her discovery is public, Voldemort begins to approve of their relationship, which is a relief to both of them.

At some point Death Eaters start getting caught and Lily, who had been already working on this, trying to make it a beauty product, covers Barty's and Augustus's death eater tattoos with a paste that makes their skin look like it looked in the past and if applied enough can take away years.

Their marks become invisible, she tells no one else of her project and is very happy when explaining that they are lucky she was working on something like this and had not told anybody.

Voldemort is suitably impressed and interested in aquiring such an asset.

After a Death Eater accuses Barty of being a Death Eater, she nearly faints in relief for her thinking ahead and protests that claim saying that at the time Barty was with her helping plan her wedding, she says that Xenophillius Lovegood can confirm because he was there at the time, they call him to confirm and share a pensieve memory

In her third year Lily discovers that Xeno can create extremely believable false memories and mentions how useful that can be so their little trio (Xeno, Barty and Lily) form a pact that Xeno will provide them with alibis.

They are almost caught once because a teacher nearly asks for their memories too - afterwards they find a way around it so that Xeno can share false memories with them as though they are their own (only slightly modified as not everyone remembers everything the same - they hear different things if they walk past a place at a different time for example)

This is later used for Barty's alibi

It was very lucky that Lily was sitting in on that court case cause his father might have tossed him to Azkaban without trial or Barty might have done something rash...as he tended to when faced with his father.

The paste cannot be removed by charms or cancelers, or pretty much any spell, but has to be removed by a special oil that Lily herself made (ironically it is an oil made from lily flowers), it cannot be removed, traced or seen as there is, technically, nothing wrong with the person's arm, it is their still their skin...only from the past.

Lily and Augustus have three children together.

Emanuel Rookwood who is Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood's age and twin daughters Iris and Amaryllis Rookwood who are Metamorforgi.

This leads to a revolutionary research by Lily Rookwood as this ability is not hereditary in Rookwood line and, according to some wizarding beliefs, should not be present in a Muggleborn line.

Leading to research conclusion that Muggleborn are there to dilute the blood on purpose, because while pure blood that is rich with magical talent is good of itself it is also limiting.

Because families become specialized in their branch, like herbology and when people with different specialties marry into families there is more likeliness for their abilities to be lost as they fight for dominance and rarely merge together. They even might destroy one another - producing a squib.

It also concludes that metamorphose ability is something likely in pureblood families with some history of dark magic and/or transfiguration specialty when mixed with Muggleborn blood.

Thus presence of Muggleborn is considered to be good and a way to bring back old magical talents that are dying out.

It also concludes that Muggleborn are in fact first generation witches and wizards (as the first witch and wizard would have had to have muggle parents or all muggles are in fact squibs and wizards came first, but had to experiment with whom to breed as some mixing killed magic and magical talents altogether)

With enough generations, a child of a Muggleborn will become a pureblood

Actually...Let’s make the birth of magic a global phenomena, where at some point there were only muggleborns, people born with extraordinary powers that their parent could never hope to have

Some of them married with one another (to preserve the powers) while others married outside to spread them (and children of muggleborns are always magical.)

Intermarrying worked until concentration of magic became too much and lineages started killing each-other off, which would be why the offspring only inherited one talent, because one Parent's gift was overpowering.

While those who married outside, spread their gifts (and their children             are always half-bloods).

Muggleborns, who are either descendants of squibs whose magic had to take generations to harmonize due to conflict, or are first generation witches and wizards because magical population seemed to be falling or needed diluting usually have clean unrestricted magic that allows them to specialize in what they want, rather than just what they're good at.

This also lets their children, should they have them with those of more potent magic, have greater power behind their intent and less inner magical conflict, thus less stabilization through mediation and rituals needed

Lily does this research through the first 6 years ( till she's about 32, Augustus being 35) after her daughters are born and becomes quite famous, gaining her own Chocolate Frog Card.

Her work being published in a book series called 'The Muggleborn' by Lily Rookwood (Published when Lily is 36)

This book becomes famous in all circles of wizarding society , pureblood because they want to hear what a Rookwood says on the topic, muggleborn because they want to hear what a muggleborn says and half-bloods to see where Lily stands.

As a part of Voldemorts orders Lily approaches six werewolf females who had formed their own pack and they join on her behest. This is also meant as a warning to Lily and her family, so they would not think to toe the line.

This backfires on Voldemort as Lily is fast to make friends and allies among the intended targets. Later during the Battle of Hogwarts they defect the moments after LIly does, reminding the surprised at whose behest they joined in the first place.

One of these werewolves is Mary Mcdonald a Muggleborn Mulciber attacked while they were at Hogwarts. Lily rekindles that firendship, offering help and later protection from Voldermort by being under his rule.

She and Mary discuss and laugh about many pureblood traditions and ettiqquette, their motto and inside joke becomes 'When in Rome'

Later in life, maybe after the Battle of Hogwarts even, Lily makes 'The Evans Scholarship' which allows Muggleborns to get apprenticeships for which they are usually overlooked for pureblood candidates.

As Lily managed a Mastery in Potions, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Aritmancy than she is elligable to be a Master and thus she is giving away apprenticeships for all four subjects.

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snippets and drabbles incoming, no beta! you’ve been warned!

POV meanders in some parts, don’t give yourself a headache trying to figure it out. Also! Hints of melodrama, because I sometimes I want to write that hahahaha

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Posts . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27

Fic Masterlist

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[maraudersmessrs]

Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban--- Chapter 30: With Friends Like These

Ao3 link

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22 / Chapter 23 / Chapter 24 / Chapter 25 / Chapter 26 / Chapter 27 / Chapter 28 / Chapter 29 / Chapter 30 / Chapter 31 / Chapter 32 / Chapter 33 / Chapter 34

The caretaker's mood hadn't improved since their--frankly, embarrassing--shouting match and after he had unlocked his office with an old, grungy looking key, he planted his feet as Remus went in.

 He looked back out at Filch curiously, but all the man did was stare at him sourly with his arms crossed, face still red. Obviously, he didn't want to trigger the boggart and expose his deepest fear. Not unreasonable, Remus had to admit, as he was not too eager to do so himself. And, considering his obvious humiliation at merely asking for help, Remus doubted he was prone to the sort of emotional vulnerability that would require. Unfortunate, that, as it would have saved both of them a great deal of frustration over the past few days if he had just been able to ask in the first place instead of trailing him like some sort of ill-tempered stalker, unable to put away his dislike of him long enough to ask him for help.

It is what it is, it will be what it will be. At least his search was over, the slowly mounting panic that he would not find anything in time was quenched. He would not be failing Harry. That in itself was like a sigh of relief and he felt it loosen his shoulders, his chest, his forehead. He couldn’t bear to have failed another Potter.

Filch’s office was just as dingy and oppressive as he remembered as a child; the same thicket of filing cabinets, the same ominous chains hung behind his desk--though now they sparked a twinge of revulsion, rather than fear. Returning to this place as he grew older revealed exactly how much pedagogical chicanery he had simply accepted as necessary fact as a student. The idea of such a punishment being used on a student, someone like Harry or Neville...Oh, we indeed are changing, aren’t we? Even just the implied threat of them was enough to set his teeth on edge. Grimly, he turned back to Filch, drawing his wand from his robe, rolling up his sleeves. “Where is it, Argus?” He asked, carefully keeping his voice polite.

Filch grunted and jerked his chin at a corner cabinet, one of the drawers pulled out halfway with a slew of papers strewn beneath it. “In there. Popped out when I opened it, few days ago. Haven’t gone near it.” He resumed glaring at Remus, as if it were his personal fault--maybe even his devious plan--that such a thing had found its way into his office. Granted, Remus thought, going back roughly 20 years, that wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibility.

“Do you have a box of some sort? A chest?”

Filch made a scornful noise. “I’m not a novelty shop.”

“My mistake.” he said lightly. “ I suppose it isn’t fair to assume you should keep track of all those sorts of things. Well, I've done some exploring in my time, I'm sure I could dredge up something….” Pocketing his wand, he started to move toward the door.

Filch seemed to bristle like his cat and swiped a hand through the air to make him stay where he was, snarling as he stomped away, “I know where they are.”

Remus laced his hands behind him as he waited, stifling an unseemly chuckle--really, Remus--as he innocently scanning the pages scattered on the ground, presumably dropped in shock at the appearance of the boggart. Filch must have been refiling, for this parchment seemed older than those piled on his cluttered desk, yellowed and stained, bearing the dates--

He blinked. That’s….

Stooping, he drew his wand a cautiously sidled up to crouch by the file cabinet, lifting a few pages from the floor, eyes on the cabinet. No movement from the drawer. He backed off, back to the doorway and read;

ttigrew caught with contraband material. Confiscated. Reported. Punishment unadministered.

ALL FILES PERTAINING TO SIRIUS BLACK, JAMES POTTER, REMUS LUPIN, AND PETER PETTIGREW ARE FORTHWITH COMPILED INTO A SINGLE DOCUMENT FOR  FILING SPACE

NOVEMBER 20th, 1974

Black and Potter caught out of bed. Claimed to be sleep walking. Reported. Punishment unconfirmed.

DECEMBER 2nd, 1974

ALL THE QUILLS FROM THE STAFF ROOM ARE GONE IT WAS THEM I CAN'T PROVE IT BUT I KNOW THOSE

(here, it devolved into a string of rather spectacular and slightly illegible cursing)

DECEMBER 13th, 1974

Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew all caught at the edge of the Forest. Claimed they weren't going in. Reported. No punishment administered. Ludicrous.

DECEMBER 15th, 1974

Black refuses REFUSES to stop throwing tinsel everywhere he goes. He claims it's not him, but I've SEEN it after he leaves a room. I've confiscated it all, there is no more tinsel on the tree, it is contraband whERE IS HE GETTING THIS TINSEL DUMBLEDORE CLAIMS IT'S FESTIVE AND I CAN'T PROVE IT I CAN'T BELIE

DECBER 15t 1974 secnd enrty

MI NIATURE REIND E E R HOW THIS IS N

FULL BRIEFING FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 1974 HAS BEEN MOVED AND COMPILED INTO SEPARATE DAMN FILE SEE CABINET E

He almost began to feel sorry for the man again, until he glanced at the well-oiled chains hanging eagerly on the wall. Perhaps not. An odd combination of bright mirth and aching longing twisted within his chest. Oh, the reindeer had been complicated, hadn't they; quite the illegal charm bauble Sirius had had squirreled away from Knockturn Alley.…

The muttered cursing and puffing of the returning Filch stopped him from reading more but he did not hide the parchment as the caretaker came in, face now a sticky shade of maroon and slammed a packing trunk down on the floor. Filch's eyes darted to the file, but Remus just smiled pleasantly and said, “Thank you.”

“What's that.”

He gestured with the parchment to the pile on the floor. “My file, it seems. Or, our file. Part of it. It's...ah….” Amusing was going to be his next word, but the curdled look on Filch's face made him reconsider. “Quite a read.”

Filch said nothing, watery eyes venomous, glaring at him as if he was a particularly revolting stain that wouldn't come out of a rug. Well, back to business, it seems. He could not ever remember the caretaker being so tight lipped before, when he was a student, being on the receiving end of a countless number of tirades and threat laden rants. Do we only punch down, Argus? He wondered, dryly. Not willing to pick on someone your own size? Sirius had always teased that he had an overdeveloped sense of justice.

And we see how that turned out…

Remus shook his head, tight lipped, and planted himself firmly in this space. Enough. No more stalling. He let the parchment flutter to the floor. “Close the door, if you would, please."

With wand, he popped the lid on the trunk and spun it facing the file cabinet. Then, he took firm hold of the drawer handle and pulled it wider as he heard the door snap shut.

Immediately, the boggart boiled from the cobwebbed depths, congealing as a huge, sickly moon before him, drawing the same jolt of reflexive nausea and panic it always did. His mind knew it was a creature vainly trying to scare him, his body only knew that such a sight meant agony, terror, and loss. Wand steadily aimed, Remus couldn't help a glance at Filch, to find he was nowhere to be seen, door shut--probably around the corner in the corridor. Fair enough. He might have figured whatever would scare a werewolf would not be something he wanted to see.

Raising his wand, he settled on the spell to force it in--and hesitated. Pushed the drawer so it slid shut, leaving the boggart nowhere to return to. The moon edged nervously sideways, slowly, as if looking for a way out. Curiously, he stepped back until he was almost against the opposite wall, giving it ample room and watched the orb bobble before turning his back on it, as if considering something interesting in the rough grey stone. The faint glow that had silvered the edges of the cabinets and chains abruptly disappeared as a scrape and a thunk rang out behind him. When he turned back, the trunk had been pushed a bit off center, the lid shut, as if something had thrown itself inside at speed.

Well. No need to over-complicate things, it seemed. Not all boggart captures were so easy, especially in his experience, but with such a small room with no place big enough to squeeze into, it had taken the bait. All very humane and so simple, a Muggle could do it; though, after its first few trips in and out of the trunk, he doubted that would still be the case. He knelt by the trunk, securing it both physically and magically before levitating it beside him. It rattled, agitated at the movement, but was otherwise inert. He was about to open the door and bring back his prize, triumphant, sore, and quite dusty, when he hesitated again and looked back to the pile of files on the ground. Pensively, he rubbed a hand over his chin. It couldn't hurt….

Filch was indeed down the corridor, far from the door as he lovingly stroked Mrs. Norris, who was curled up in his arms. As he approached, they both glanced up with identical, baleful looks.  “Successfully removed, Argus. Thank you, by the way--I've been looking for one of these everywhere.”

The caretaker looked as if he rather detested the idea that he had made Remus’ life easier, but managed an aggressive shrug. “Just get it gone from here is all I want.”

“You're welcome,” said Remus, though Filch had said nothing close to prompting this, which seemed to irritate the man more. Remus began to fancy some part of himself was doing that on purpose. “Oh--I had a question; probably impertinent of me--”

“Unsurprising,” Filch muttered, which Remus chose not to hear.

“--but about that file, I was wondering….” He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if I could have it.”

Filch was silent for a long moment, eyes going between Remus’ face, the trunk, and the door to his office, mouth twisting as he scowled suspiciously, obviously weighing something. Mrs. Norris gave a warbling yowl, for Filch’s hands had stilled. Frankly, as the moments passed, Remus was surprised that he seemed to be considering it at all, as he had known full well what the answer would be the moment he had asked. He mentally braced to give a friendly face to whatever biting remark was coming.

Then, Filch grunted, “Fine.”

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Oh. Well, tha-”

Filch continued, “It's not like anyone who cares about it is alive anymore,” He eyed him. “'Cept you.”

Remus smile went cool around the abrupt squeeze in his chest, hand tightening on his wand that guided the trunk. “...Thank you. For your generosity,” he said, mildly.

Another grunt as he stumped past him into his office. The door slammed, leaving him alone in the corridor with the boggart and an ache from the well placed blow. How was it that conversations with Severus and Argus always made him feel as if he was dueling? Quite the feint. Nice wind up; hit square in the gut. Well. He had gotten everything he wanted, hadn't he? A rewarded search and a momento; success by any definition. Slightly tarnished, perhaps….

Filch returned sans cat, brandishing a file sleeve of parchment thick enough to be a text book, which he dropped without much care into Remus’ arms. Then, he left without a word. And returned with another file, more disorganized and crammed haphazardly, making it bulge more than the first. And again, 2 more times, each seeming bigger than the last, until Remus’ fingers were clinging desperately around the bottom lip of the stack and his already protesting arm muscles began to tremble slightly. Something like 10 files, all thick enough to be stocked on the library as a manuscript reached past his chin, braced against his cheekbone, smelling of mildew, dust, and dry parchment. Filch gave him a dubious, appraising look and growled, “That’s it.”

With difficulty and partly bracing the stack with his knee, Remus managed to free his wand to tap the stack. Immediately, the weight lightened considerably, allowing him to hold it in one hand, the other steadying the top and he looked back at Filch and gave a pleasant smile. “Thank you, aga--” he began, but all he saw was the back of Filch’s threadbare robe as he returned to his office wordlessly.

He looked down at the packing case, hovering demurely near his knees. “Well, then.”

[owlways-and-forever]

A/N: Welcome to the end of Book 1! I hope you've enjoyed it so far and find this last chapter to be... well, enthralling, heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, etc. You've been a wonderful audience, and I hope to see you all for Book 2, which will be entitled "The Questions in my Heart".

A few quick notes of thanks: first of all, to @mischiefpuff, @indiebluecrown, and @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 on tumblr, huge thanks for helping me beta this chapter and indulging a little writer's insecurity and uncertainty. Second, thanks to everyone who's read this piece, you are all wonderful people. Finally, thanks to everyone who has left feedback - your positive reviews and words of encouragement have been highly motivational and at times a real blessing. I love you all! See you in the next book!

Read the previous chapters at the links below, on ff.net, or ao3.

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11,Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26

Chapter 27: Untimely Demise

The first year students were halfway through their Potions exam when Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall, and all heads turned toward her. She approached Professor Slughorn and they whispered together, both turning to look in the direction of the four Gryffindor boys. Remus idly wondered whether it was Sirius or James who'd gotten in trouble, or perhaps both. Professor Slughorn nodded, and Professor McGonagall began to walk in their direction, but Remus' attention had already returned to the exam in front of him. He was rather surprised when she came to a stop beside his own desk, staring down at him with a grim expression, and he looked up at her cautiously.

"Mr. Lupin, will you please follow me?" she asked, her voice unusually soft, and his heart began to race.

Remus stood and followed Professor McGonagall as she led him to a small chamber attached to the Great Hall, and as he walked he'd never felt smaller. Everyone's eyes were focused on him as he walked, and he felt about two feet tall. It didn't help that Professor McGonagall seemed to tower over him even more than usual.

"Remus," she said softly once they were alone, pulling off her glasses and rubbing them against her robes, "I'm afraid there's something I must tell you, and it's not good."

Remus swallowed hard, his eyes already filling with tears because it had to be something big, something very very bad, for Professor McGonagall to place her hand on his shoulder the way she had.

"Your sister, Zeva, she became very sick a few days ago, and it seemed as though she would be fine, but I've just had word from your parents…"

Remus didn't really need to hear the rest to know where it was going, but Professor McGonagall continued anyway, speaking the words that felt like they were ripping his insides apart.

"…this morning she took a turn for the worse, and I'm very sorry to say that she – she didn't make it."

She may have continued talking, but Remus couldn't be sure, because all sound seemed to leave his ears at that point as the world tipped and fell out of focus. He thought he might have collapsed because something hard was suddenly beneath him, but all he could think about was his little sister.

"Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonagall said softly, her hand on his shoulder bringing his attention around slightly, "I'm afraid I must cover a few quick points of order."

He nodded dimly, trying to keep his attention on her words.

"You will of course be excused from the remainder of your exams, and transport will be arranged home for you first thing in the morning," she continued. "You may stay here until the exam is concluded, and I will send Messrs. Potter, Black, and Pettigrew in once they have finished their tests."

"Thank you, Professor," Remus said quietly, turning away from her as he felt tears start to well in his eyes.

"I am sorry, Remus," Professor McGonagall whispered, her voice sounding as though she might be choking up herself, and placing a handkerchief on the table in front of him.

He listened to the door shut behind him and then let the sobs begin without restraint, his small frame shaking with the force of it. Little Zeva, gone. She would never get to go to Hogwarts, never find out what house she would be in. No flying lessons or charms or best friends or first kiss. She wouldn't ever get to live her life. She wanted to be a pilot, but she'd never even gotten to fly in an airplane. He wished it was him, he was a monster, he deserved to die, not Zeva. Remus' head fell into his hands and his world crumbled. He almost wished he didn't have to go home and see the devastation on his parents' faces. And for all they said they loved him and he knew they did, Remus knew deep down they would also be wondering why it had to be sweet little Zeva instead of their monster of a son.

Professor McGonagall walked down the aisle of the Great Hall, trying to keep her own tears from spilling out, and immediately felt three pairs of eyes fixed on her. As she drew close to the three boys, Sirius nearly leapt out of his seat, concern written clearly in all of his features.

"Please sit, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall whispered sternly.

"Not until –"

"After you've finished your exam," she interrupted, but her words only fixed a more determined look on his face.

"I'm done," Sirius answered defiantly, snatching his exam from his desk and thrusting it at Professor McGonagall.

"Remus was always the smartest," James added slowly, standing and holding his test out to her.

"I already answered what I can," Peter said, joining the other two.

"As you wish," Professor McGonagall replied with a sigh, collecting their exams from them. "You may quietly join Mr. Lupin in the side chamber."

The three boys nodded and scrambled to get their belongings together, wasting no time in hurrying to the side of their friend.

"Boys," Professor McGonagall said quietly, and all three of them turned to look at her, "he's going to need you more than ever."

Sirius nodded somberly, leading the other two as they walked quickly toward the chamber at the front of the Great Hall. She watched them enter it and felt a small wave of relief. If nothing else, Remus had three wonderful friends who would be by his side through this trying time. Those four boys, Minerva thought, were something truly exceptional. They were the kind of friends who would be with each other through everything, and she would see them fifty years on and they would be up to the same antics, still all together. She was sure of it.

"Do you want us to come home with you tomorrow?" Sirius asked, snuggled up next to Remus in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

"You still have the rest of your exams," Remus sniffled, voice barely audible with his face buried in Sirius' shirt.

"I'm sure we can ask Professor McGonagall to excuse us," James answered.

"I'll fail mine anyway, so I might as well skip them," Peter added. His words drew a small snort of laughter from Sirius.

"I can go talk to her if you want," James volunteered, quickly scanning the room for his shoes.

"Yeah, we want to be with you, mate," Sirius continued, wrapping his arms tighter around Remus.

"If you'll have us," Peter said, ever sensitive to what his friend wanted. "But you don't have to do this alone."

Peter was the only one who noticed James quietly slip out of the dormitory, silently grabbing his shoes on the way. The other boys from their year were sitting in the common room, and they looked up at James as he passed through. Word had spread through Gryffindor Tower quickly, but everyone seemed to know well enough not to say anything to Remus, to let him grieve in private. Firmin O'Frighill had even told James that he and Lance Campbell would stay with some of the older boys so that they could have the dormitory to themselves for the night. James nodded to Firmin as he passed, a courtesy, a thank you for understanding, and then slipped out of the Common Room and walked through the quiet halls.

It was late, well past curfew, but James didn't care. He was utterly confident that if Filch even tried to put him in detention right now, Professor McGonagall would override it. But he didn't meet Filch on his path, he didn't meet anyone but his own thoughts. He couldn't imagine the pain Remus felt, the complete aching loss. He'd never had siblings. But James could imagine losing any one of his three best friends, and the idea made him shudder. He didn't even want to think about it, in case that somehow brought it about. It would crush him, he didn't think he'd ever be able to continue without his friends. Which is why he needed to make sure Remus knew that he was not, and never would be, without them.

James knocked on the rough wood of Professor McGonagall's door and it took only a moment before she opened it, clad in a tartan dressing gown, but otherwise looking wide awake.

"Mr. Potter, what may I do for you so late at night?"

Her voice sounded strangled, as though she had spent a significant amount of her evening crying, and part of James wanted to reach out and hug her, to comfort both of them.

"We were wondering - me and Sirius and Peter - if we could be excused from our exams, so that we could go home with Remus tomorrow," he explained carefully. "We don't want him to be alone, and you said yourself that he's going to need us."

"You're a good friend, Mr. Potter," she answered with a sad smile. "Unfortunately, as it is not your relation, I cannot excuse you from your exams." James dropped his head, feeling defeated, but Professor McGonagall continued. "Nor do I think Mr. and Mrs. Lupin should be... overwhelmed by having three additional boys to care for during their time of mourning. However, I can arrange for the three of you to take your exams early, I think over the next two days, and then send you home to your families after that. Then they may accompany you to visit the Lupins and pay your respects. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Yes, Professor, thank you," James admitted. It wasn't what he wanted, but it seemed like a fair compromise. And Professor McGonagall was right, Remus' parents shouldn't be burdened with extra children hanging around their house all the time.

They hardly slept that night, and the little rest they did get was fitful. They had all piled into Remus' bed, hugging as much of him and each other as they could. There were tears and nightmares and more than once Remus woke himself through the force of his sobs, but morning came eventually, and the four boys dressed and walked down to the Entrance Hall together. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them there, looking more composed than she had the night before.

"I will take you by apparition to your parents' house," she said kindly to Remus, before turning her attention to the other three. "You will leave via Hogwarts Express in two days time. Your families have been contacted to meet you at Kings Cross. I'll give you a moment."

She moved to stand by the great oak entrance doors, but she needn't have given them the privacy. There was nothing they could say in that moment that they hadn't already said the night before. No more words left between them, just a heavy feeling weighing in all of their hearts.

"We'll come as soon as we're home," Sirius said finally, breaking the silence.

"If you need anything, just owl," James added, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "We'll gladly break out of this place to come see you if it's what you want."

Remus smiled weakly. Grief had certainly taken its toll on him already, but there was something else that was beginning to drain his energy. He guessed the full moon was two or three days away, but there was nothing to be done about that. He would just have to keep his friends away on the night and then... he could excuse most of the lingering symptoms with grief. At least he wouldn't have to worry about hurting Zeva this time.

As soon as that thought occurred to him, he felt sickened with himself, wanting to rip himself apart from the inside. How vile and despicable he must be to even for a moment be grateful that his sister was gone. It only reinforced the idea that it should have been him who died, for being the monster that he was.

"I should go," Remus said, unable to look at any of his friends, and he turned to leave, walking hurriedly toward Professor McGonagall.

They walked in silence through the grounds for a few moments, and Remus took several long, shuddering breaths as he tried to keep from crying again, his watery eyes roving over the tree line.

"Your friends care a great deal about you, Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonagall said after some time.

"Only because they don't know everything," he answered quietly, still not looking at her.

"I don't think you give them enough credit," she replied carefully, and Remus' head whipped around, his eyes the size of saucers as he looked at her. "No, Mr. Lupin, I don't think they've guessed your secret. But I do think they would be more... accepting than you believe."

"I can't tell them," he said, his voice sounding less certain than he would have liked.

"Perhaps not, that is your decision," Professor McGonagall conceded, though she sounded very much like she disagreed, "but don't think that the only other option is pushing them away either."

He gave her a quizzical look, not sure how she could possibly know that the idea was in the back of his mind every day, and more prominent around the full moon.

"You are not the first of your kind that I have known," she said by way of an answer. "It does not make you a bad person."

"Most people disagree," he answered.

"Most people do not know you as I do," Professor McGonagall smiled. "Do you think your family saw you as a monster, Remus?"

He didn't answer. They might not admit it, but the answer was yes, deep down he believed they did. They had mourned the loss of their son the night he was bitten.

"Do you think your sister saw you that way?" she pressed on when he was silent.

"No," he choked, tears welling up once more unbidden. "But she was special."

"She loved you, and saw you for who you truly are, Remus, as do so many others," Professor McGonagall said as they passed through the gates of Hogwarts. "You should try to remember that."

[sunflower-swan]

Wolfstar Chapter 2

A/N: Here’s what you need to know: I created this story for Writer’s Month 2020. Every day is a new prompt, and therefore a new chapter. This is an AU Wolfstar where Remus is a tattoo artist next door to Sirius who manages a flower shop. James and Lily are alive in this universe and own a coffee shop across the street. And to make parts of the story work with the prompts, Remus is about 10 years older than Sirius. It also takes place more or less in present time, minus coronavirus.

This is chapter 2 of a multi-chapter work. If you’d like to start from the beginning, here is chapter 1.

Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters. I just like to play with them.

Day 2 Prompt: Quarantine

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 1150

Tags: language, original character, angst

Chapter Two

Remus

Lumineers, “Ho Hey”

I been trying to do it right

(Hey) I been living a lonely life

(Ho) I been sleepin' here instead

(Hey) I been sleepin' in my bed

(Ho) I been sleepin' in my bed (hey ho)

“Remus! Sirius!” James roared from behind the counter as the pair walked into Potter’s Wheel. “How’s it going?” He bounced around the counter to embrace Sirius in a hug like a brother.

“Siwus!” James’ young son Harry came running through the back door with his mother hot on his tail. The boy jumped into Sirius' arms.

“Hiya, squirt!” Sirius ruffled the boys' unruly hair. “Alright there, Lils?” he asked the mother.

“He just doesn’t stop moving!” Lily exclaimed. “I look away for one second, and POOF!” she threw her hands into the air, “he’s gone.”

Remus chuckled to himself, and sat down at a nearby table. The warm ambiance of the place had filled him with contentment from the first time he visited. With each successive visit over the past 18 months, he felt more at home than he would have believed possible before.

 James and Lily were Sirius’ oldest and dearest friends, and he watched the interaction between them with mild interest. Sirius' happiness and affection for his friends and their child were so evident on his face. He had a light in his eyes that Remus found intoxicating. Oh, shit. Lily was smirking at him with a knowing look. She caught me staring. Remus quickly looked down at his hands. Yeah, you don’t look guilty at all now. 

Sirius sat down across from him, holding Harry in his lap. “What’s good today, Lily?”

“Got a Creamy Thai Carrot Soup with Basil. Picked the ingredients from our vegetable garden this morning.”

“Well, doesn’t get much better than that. Does it?” he asked Harry and tickled him.

“Uncle Siwus!” Harry giggled. “Stop it!” Harry wriggled out of Sirius’ lap and went to his mother.

“What about you Remus?”

“Carrot soup sounds great. And a slice of your amazing chocolate cake if you have some.”

Lily gave him a wink and herded Harry into the back room with her.

“I don’t know how you eat so much chocolate and stay so thin.” Sirius pointed a finger at his companion. “Most men your age have at least a little bit of a belly, even if they do take care of themselves.”

Remus shrugged in response.

“It’s not natural.” Sirius narrowed his eyes and laughed.

“Good metabolism,” was all Remus offered in reply.

The little bell attached to the front door rang. Remus sniffed the air and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Sirius turned to see who had come in. “Silas!” He stood to greet his boyfriend with a hug and a chaste kiss on the lips.

Remus looked away from the display of affection. Be nice, he reminded himself. This kid has done nothing to you. If only his gut would listen to his brain.

“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked.

“I got done with training early, so I thought I'd surprise you. When you weren’t at the shop, I figured I’d look here,” Silas explained. “Alright there, Remus?”

“Just peachy, Silas,” Remus responded with a tight smile.

“We’re having some soup. Sit down,” Sirius gestured toward their table. “Then you and I can hang out at the shop a bit. I have a couple more orders to finish today.”

Silas sat as Lily arrived with the soup and Remus’ cake. “Hey, Silas,” she said.

“Hey, Lily.”

“Silas will have some soup, too, Lils,” Sirius stated.

“No problem,” Lily said with a smile, and skipped away.

“That’s a big piece of chocolate cake, Remus,” Silas commented. “You going to eat that all yourself?”

“That was the plan,” Remus responded in a flat tone. Not like it’s any of your fucking business, mate.

“I hope when I’m your age I can still eat whatever I want and look as good as you.”

Remus shoved a huge piece of cake into his mouth to resist the sarcastic retort that was dying to fly off his tongue.

Sirius barked, “That’s what I was just saying to him!”

Yeah, but when you said it, it was cute. Remus thought to himself. When this imbecile says it, I want to smack him.

Lily returned again, this time with Silas’ soup, and water for the three of them. “If you need anything, just give me a holler,” she said as she walked away.

How quickly can I eat this food, and get away from Silas, without seeming rude? Remus wondered, as he blew across a spoonful of soup before placing it in his mouth.

Interrupting his thoughts, Silas asked, “So Remus, how come I’ve never seen you with anyone? I mean, no girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

“Ahem,” Remus cleared his throat, “I … don’t date.” Nosy little bugger.

“What do you mean you ‘don’t date’?” Sirius asked with an incredulous look. “Everybody needs somebody, Remus,” he added in a matter of fact way.

“Yeah,” Silas continued, placing an arm around Sirius’ shoulders. “Someone to worry about you, care for you, 

If this fucking soup wasn’t so hot, then I would tip it from the bowl straight into my mouth in order to get the hell out of here. “I don’t need another person to make me feel complete. I am a complete person on my own,” Remus explained. “I don’t date anymore would be more accurate. I’m in a self-imposed romantic …” Remus paused, searching for an appropriate term. “... quarantine, if you will.” It’s too soon, and I’m too dangerous to be in a relationship anyway. 

“Romantic … quarantine?” Sirius repeated. “Wha’ … why?”

Remus placed both hands flat to the table. Annoyance flared within him as his muscles tensed. “Um … because I am.” Remus wiped his face with a napkin and rose. “I need to get back to the shop. Thanks for the food.” He strode toward the door, “Tell James and Lily for me that the soup and cake were delicious.”

Remus stalked across the street to his tattoo parlor. He unlocked the door and slammed it behind him, willing his breathing and heart rate to slow. What is it with that guy? Remus had asked himself this question many times since the relationship began. It’s not like Silas was a ‘bad person.’ But something put Remus on edge when he was around. His instincts were usually spot on, so he couldn’t understand this unexplainable agitation. 

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, he started the nightly ritual of cleaning up the tattoo parlor. By hand tonight. His emotions were running a little high to trust he wouldn’t bollock something up if he tried to use magic.

He finished his cleaning a few hours later. His irritation had subsided some time ago through the physical labor. Stepping outside into the darkness to lock the front door, he noticed lights were still on next door in the flower shop. Weird, he thought, looking at his watch. Sirius had said he was working late this week, but even this was a little ridiculous.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3