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shinyrockalaska · 3 years

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Acceptance (or: Charlie's incident)

Summary: Charlie decides to drink Amortentia, just to see if it could affect him, so he could feel the same things everyone else around him seems to feel. Unfortunately, he didn't check who's Amortentia he was drinking...

Word count: 3.3k (my longest fic so far!)

More about the inspiration for this at the end of the post!

Enjoyy <3

He didn't plan it.

Well, yes, he thought about it a few times before, but only theoretically. He never intended to try and do something so drastic to change himself.

But he was in the sixth year and he was seventeen and everybody already had too many expectations of him.

They all acted as if they knew everything about him, who he was going to be, what he was going to do... he couldn't change it, he couldn't tell them they're wrong because he didn't know what was right. Yes, he's a kind and caring person. Yes, he sucks at school because he just can't focus or stop daydreaming. He's messy and obsessive and is definitely going to work with dragons after graduation. They all knew it, and so did he. But that's it, the rest was a blur.

He should've felt lucky. At least he always knows what he wants to do after graduation. Some of his friends, like Tulip and Ben, still had no clue, and they were all stressed out about it. But they all somehow fitted in. With the outsiders, yes, but most of the time Charlie felt like he's an outsider even to the outsiders.

Some may say it's because no one has ever seen him wearing any short clothes, not even in the summertime. He always walked around hiding in his big green coat. Or maybe because of his weird specific fears, that no one else seemed to share or to be scared of it as much as he did. Not even Ben. Or probably, because he never dated anyone and never talked about it with anyone. Charlie thought it was all of those things, that made him himself, but, weird. He never hated himself and was quite proud of being different. But in the end, it doesn't matter. Even the proudest quirky kids would choose to be normal - to fit in - if they could. So you can see why now, at seventeen, he felt that desire to fit in.

Every dinner with his family, his mum would nag him to try and find a nice girl. More for herself than for him, really. Because most wizards and witches find their partners at school. All of his friends already started to go out with each other and whatever student they liked at the moment. There were couples everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And he still couldn't figure out what's wrong with him and why he's not interested in any of that. Even the religious kids, the anxious kids, the awkward kids- all talked about their crushes non-stop. Not everyone dated, of course, but they all talked about it, and the pressure was high. All he ever heard around him was sex, kissing, dates and love. Whatever that was.

The worst part was that his friends were actually supportive.

At first, they would beg him to tell them who his secret crush is, which student he liked. They wouldn't listen whenever he told them that he doesn't have one. But they all calmed down after a while and he explained that he just doesn't care about this stuff. He just doesn't.. feel the need. And they accepted it. Accepted him. But now he was just being put in another box. They stopped talking about their crushes with him because they knew he wouldn't understand. And that was just not true. But could he argue with him when it's so clear they know him better than he knows himself?

So that was the situation he was in. That's why after a super frustrating Amortentia class, where everyone around him kept blushing and giggling at the smell of their own and everyone else's cauldrons, where his friends all sent him sad smiles and kept telling him how jealous they are that he has nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of, where he had to lie and tell Snape fake smells because, of course, he smelled nothing, he just couldn't take it anymore. He decided it was time for a change.

So when the class was dismissed, he stayed nearby. And when Snape left the classroom, he scooped some leftover potion into the weird-shaped glass bottle and drunk it without thinking, without hesitating, and without even knowing who's cauldron it was.

It's Amortentia, after all. The strongest love potion. If it increases those love feelings to others, then he might actually feel something, be somewhat normal.

He felt guilty for doing it and had to stop himself from running to professor Snape so he would give him the antidote right away before anything bad will happen. He knew the potion just cause obsession and trouble, but he had to know, at least for a little while, what's it like to be kind of in love.

At first, he didn't feel anything different. Lunch was normal, Care of magical creatures was normal. He felt dizzy at History of magic, but maybe it had more to do with the boring lesson than the potion itself. Charlie was disappointed but somewhat relieved when still nothing had changed by dinner time.

That is, until, Merula has entered the room.

He forgot that tiny, little, important detail that now he was madly in fake love with whoever brewed that potion. Which was, how unlucky for him, Merula. But now he didn't care about it. All he wanted to do was stay with her from now on and forever.

"Charlie, are you okay? You look a little sick," Barnaby commented about his appearance. "And a bit pale," Tonks added, but Charlie preferred to ignore his friends' concerns. "Have you ate something bad?" Rowan questioned, "is it because of potion class?" That question made him nervous, of course. "N-no! I'm just tired.. w-why would it have to do anything with p-potion class?"

"Because you smelled nothing, right? You're not upset about it, right?" They all looked at him with that same sad-apologetic smile as always. He hated it. Just because he's different doesn't mean he needs to be treated differently. "Guys, I'm fine. I don't care. It doesn't matter. Being yourself is the best thing anyone can be! Why would I want to be anything else but myself?" Maybe he was trying too hard to hide it. He sighed, "please just stop giving me those sorry faces. I don't need your pity, I-"

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Merula leaving the room. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said and hurried up after her.

He couldn't pick up the nerves to talk to her so he just followed her around to the Slytherin house in the dungeons. Then, he had to go to sleep, but he couldn't stop staring at the ceiling, smiling, and dreaming about Merula.

"What's up with him?" Ben asked as he entered their dorm. Jae shrugged, "I think he's been drugged." And when Ben's face showed panic he laughed, "just kidding, he's probably thinking about dragons."

Normally, Charlie would be tired after sleeping less than six hours, but he had an amazing dream about him and Merula on a date with candles and chocolate and all he wanted was to feel her hand in his own.

"Are you alright, Charlie..? You still look pretty sick," his friends told him at breakfast. "I'm more than fine, I've never felt better," he said with this wide fuzzy exaggerated smile and the fake spark in his eyes. He barely touched his food, he just kept staring at Merula. And his friends noticed.

"Why are you looking at the Slytherin table? Who are you starting at? Awwww did you finally got a crush?" Normally he'd be embarrassed by this question, which always made him feel unease. But this time, he wanted to be with Merula so badly, that he welcomed any help. "It's Merula, can you maybe get her attention? I really want to kiss her! And maybe.. more? I already thought about names for our kids! Human names even! We'll have a perfect life near the dragon reserve!" He babbled.

"What?!?! You can't be serious! That's- that's just- no!!" They were shocked and a bit disgusted. "It doesn't make sense, Charlie.. you hate Merula!" Talbott said, making Charlie angry, "well, maybe you don't know everything about me!" He shouted, and many students' heads turned around to look at him. "Ever thought about it? That maybe I am more than the way you see me? More than the things you see in me?!" He kept shouting, making his friends feel embarrassed, as they lowered their heads. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Charlie frowned. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to ask out Merula!" He shouted this sentence too, causing Merula to look at him, disgusted, and run out of the great hall immediately. He shot one last angry look at his friends, before storming out of the room, after Merula.

"As you all know I'm an expert in love and-" Andre started to say quickly but got cut off by Diego. "I think we can all agree I'm the love expert."

"True," Jacob's sibling said, "you promised to get me dates at the third year and you still haven't! Diego's been more helpful than you.."

Andre was irritated, "That.. that doesn't matter!! Can't you see that Charlie is-"

"Poisoned!" Rowan cut him off, "he's drugged on Amortentia!"

"No way! It's too hard to- oh no! He probably drunk it yesterday after class!" Penny was frightened.

"Dang it, Charlie! What do we do now??"

"We'll have to tell a professor. Even if he'll hate us. We have to do it before he does something stupid like actually making a move on Merula!" Rowan stated, horrified.

"Merula wait! Please, let's talk!" Charlie shouted, running behind her, and she surprisingly stopped. He caught her a few halls past the great hall, on the way to the dungeons. she almost got away from him. He took her hand and started talking, blushing, stumbling on his words. "I can't imagine my life without you! We will be so perfect together, don't you think? Let's run away and start a family together! Do you like dragons? I was thinking we could live next to the Romanian dragon sanctuary and have at least two kids. Do you like the names Violet and Jade? I think they're perfect! I picked them because it's like your eyes and the Slytherin colour. And also not dragon names! Oh, I feel so safe and happy around you. Can you tell me about yourself and your family and life and beliefs and every little detail possible?" He was now hugging her, clutching to her as close as he can.

"This is unsettling in so many ways, Charlie. Stop it now. I don't know what sick game you're playing but cut it now before I'll have to hex you, or call someo-"

"Game? No, no! This is love, baby! Don't you see it?" Charlie felt heartful, in a way he never felt before. And he liked it, being fearless. Feeling warm and being somehow full of love. "Did someone dared you to do it? Have you been drinking elixir to induce euphoria? Oh no, don't tell me you're-"

"Merula! I'm so sorry for Charlie's behavior." McGonagall called out from the end of the hall, followed by Charlie's friends. "What are you doing here?! Go away! I don't need you! I have my Merula! Don't ruin this for me! I deserve to have love too!" Charlie screamed and clung to Merula even more than before.

"Charles Weasley come with me right now!" McGonagall was furious. No student has ever acted like that.

"No! I'm staying here with the love of my life!" He tried to kiss Merula's hand who just pulled it out of his reach immediately, disgusted and uncomfortable. "Don't talk to me ever again, freak." She said and walked away.

"No! Don't leave me! We can make it work!" Charlie screamed as he hurried up after Merula, who now went from fast walking to running. McGonagall grabbed Charlie's arm and stopped him. "you're coming with me now, I cannot believe you!" she said loudly, disappointed.

"No!!! You can't stop me from being happy and in love! This is me, just go away! I have to get Merula back!" He was hysterical, tears running down his face. He cried so much his head started to ache, but he didn't care. he had to follow Merula. Had to be with her. He'd rather die, give up on dragons even, than not spend every single minute of his life now with Merula.

But McGonagall pulled him away from any hope to fulfill his dreams, all the way to her office. He kept cursing his friends, who looked very ashamed and worried, as he got dragged away from them. None of them laughed at the scene he caused.

"Drink this. NOW." McGonagall ordered, but Charlie refused. "I will not let you drug me and prevent me to have this! Let! Me! Go!" He screamed, caughting McGonagall off guard. But it wasn't the first time something like that happened, it just never got out of hand to be like... Charlie's case.

"Stupify." McGonagall cast the spell on Charlie, with a heavy heart. She hates using magic on students. Still, she poured the love-potion antidote liquid down his mouth and watched as he slowly got back his consciousness. She looked at him, all confused as he tried to remember what happened.

"Who did this to you? Was it Merula? She didn't look quite satisfied with your obsession but that doesn't mean it's not her. So tell me, who drugged you with love potion?" McGonagall asked him in both compassion and anger.

"What? Oh you mean the Amortentia.." he lowered his head, "it was.. me?"

"What?! This is beyond belief, Charlie! Why would you do that to yourself? You know it's a dangerous potion! You know the consequences! I expected better than yo-"

"That's exactly the problem!" He cut her off, rudely, "Everyone always expecting all sorts of things from me! I can't be everyone's version of me! I don't want to! I barely even want to be me! You wouldn't understand but I just had to fit in!!"

Charlie never in his life yelled like that at anyone or anything, especially not a professor. But he didn't care anymore. He was sick of everything. McGonagall was surprised again, it was very unlike him to behave that way.

"I- Charlie, listen." He looked at her a bit worried and ashamed. "You don't need to be fixed. You know that using potions and magic to change yourself is bad, especially if it's illegal.." she gave him an alerting look. "I can't tell you how to feel or who to be, but I want you to know that every person is different than the others and there is absolutely not a thing that is wrong with being yourself. Being different is good-"

"As someone who's been different his entire life, I can assure you it's not. Everyone always says it's wonderful to be extraordinary and different and special and whatever, but even the proudest weirdest kids would choose to be like everyone else and fit in if they could.." Charlie said, focusing on the wall rather than McGonagall's eyes, playing with the zipper of his coat.

"Maybe you need to have more pride, Charlie. You're a very unique person, let those special things about you define you by your choice, instead of being ashamed of them. I encourage you to find that strength to let go of the shame and fear in you and to just.. be yourself."

"Pride is stupid," Charlie murmured quietly, "it's something I had no control over. it's not a drawing I made that I put a lot of effort and time into it, so I'm proud of it. No. It's something I couldn't even choose, something I can't change. There's no pride in having no control."

"Well, could you have chosen to be a Gryffindor?"

"Uh, no, but.." Charlie went quiet, thinking.

"I know, you wanted to be in Gryffindor, but if you happened to be in Hufflepuff, wouldn't you still have some house pride in you?" McGonagall asked him.

"I guess.." Charlie shrugged, still upset.

"We cherish pride in us, based on what we learn from our surroundings as we grow up. But society is not always right. In fact, most of the time it's even wrong. And so, you need to be your own society, sometimes. Be the change you want to see in the world, and even if you're different than the way it seems society tells you to be, it doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. You need to accept yourself just like you would've accepted any of your friends, and just like you would want the world to accept you. Even if you turn out to be completely different than the person you thought you are. understand?"

Charlie nodded. He felt, not for the first time, like McGonagall can read minds. She answered all of his worries and questions and feelings, with her calming words.

McGonagall let him off of his classes for the rest of the day and he decided to write a letter to his family, explaining how he feels. He asked them to be kind and understanding, as he has no control or any choice over his feelings. He wrote down everything that bugged him in the past years. The letter was far too long, and contained seven full written pages. In the end, Charlie decided he won't send it yet. he felt better, but still wasn't ready to face his family's reaction to his incident and different behavior. He felt as if it might disappoint them. it was ridiculous, he knew, they would love him no matter what. Even so, seeing those words, his words, written down in those pages, in his own handwriting, made him smile. It was his choice, to write them, to use them. And he won't let anyone tell him it's wrong.

At dinner, he sat with his friends as usual, worried about what his friends might say. He didn't want them to be worried about him, but he knew they were, after what he did...

"Hey guys, thanks for, uh.. you know... watching out for me.." he said, nervously.

"Sure thing! How are you feeling, Charlie? Better? You're not mad at us for calling McGonagall, right..?" His friends were just as worried as him.

"I'm feeling much better, relieved. I don't know what I would've done if you didn't call McGonagall.. you really saved me.."

He could see Merula sitting next to Ismelda, and glaring at him, furiously.

"You could've chosen a better person to fake fall in love with," Andre joked.

"Yeah, even in this I didn't have a choice or any luck," Charlie laughed, a bit uncomfortable as this subject was still upsetting sometimes.

"How much trouble did you get to from that talk with McGonagall? We haven't seen you all day, so we figured you've got punished real hard.." Ben said, carefully.

"Well, I need to write an apology letter for Merula.. but I got off easy."

"Your mother's not going to like it.." he heard one of them saying, but even that part was okay.

"McGonagall promised not to tell my parents if I'll agree to meet her once a week and talk to her about what's bothering me, instead of bottle it inside me... she wants me to have more pride, and she trust me to choose the right time for me to tell my parents about this incident."

His friends smiled at him, and he smiled at them back.

He tried not to feel nauseous, remembering how foolishly he acted that day, convinced he has to fit in. He still sometimes thought it would be better for him to be like the rest. But he can't. So when he felt that way, he reminded himself of McGonagall's words and named all the good things in his life, and the things he does have control over.

Charlie knew from the moment he drunk the Amortentia, that life might not be easy for him, always having to be the odd one out.

But it was his own life, and he should be proud of what he has.

---

Wow! Finally! I had this idea for like a year and I've been trying to write it ever since, so this definitely took time...

---

I really like how it turned out, I hope you'll like it too. This is how I see Charlie.

The fic was inspired by another beautiful fanfic (here's a link) where Charlie almost drinks the potion but ends up not doing it.

Even though it's not canon, to me, Charlie is the closest thing we have to an aromantic and asexual representation, and it's just so, so important to have that. It took me years to feel comfortable with me being like this, I'm still working on it, and I think a big part of it is because we don't see anything about it in the media or anywhere else really.

Self-acceptance is harder when it comes to aros and aces because it's just so different than other romantic/sexual orientations, it's hard to define lack of attraction, but it doesn't mean it's bad!

Everyone is valid, and I know knowing this doesn't make it immediately better, but it helps to remember it. I don't want people to be afraid of who they are, to feel like they need to be fixed, to have to hide away.

So now, it's the end of pride month but you and I- we're still here! And we can still shine bright and be proud of ourselves for coming so far! The truth is always right, don't be afraid of it. 💜💚

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #charlie weasly #hphm fanfic #hphm fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #aroace charlie weasley #acceptance #asexuel #aromantic #tge representation I needed #idk what to tag as always

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btsmosphere · 4 years

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When You Know | KSJ x MYG

~summary: Seokjin and Yoongi aren’t just neighbours. They are enemies. Well, either that or they were destined to be in each other’s arms, but Yoongi can’t see that happening (nor can his cat). Let their friends try all they want, but they’d have to weather storms together and stand back to back in battle before Yoongi would look twice at Jin... Jin x Yoongi ~word count: 3.3k ~enemies to lovers, soulmate au (you have the name of your enemy AND your soulmate tattooed, without knowing which is which), neighbour au, crack, humour, fluff, angst if you squint? Rating: pg13 Warnings: swearing, that’s it :) ~a/n: welcome to my first mxm fic! This is for a special occasion as it is the wonderful @eternalseokjin‘s birthday!! To celebrate Dean’s birthday over at @thebtswritersclub we were sent a bingo card and a challenge to include everything on it in one fic. Our regular mxr content will resume soon, but this has been super fun to write, even if the outcome is -ahem- quite chaotic. So, enjoy, but don’t ask me what’s going on here. I don’t know, and the characters certainly don’t either...

At the end of the fic, I will include what was on my bingo square, in case anyone wants to know, and some basics about d&d for those who (like me a few weeks ago) know nothing about it, but I promise you don’t need to know this to read the fic!

“You’re not serious.”

“I am totally serious.”

Namjoon’s straight-faced response matched Yoongi’s exactly, leaving the two in a sort of staring contest. Seeing no change in the other, Namjoon cracked first, slumping back into the sofa with a sigh.

“Yoongi, come on. It’s not that big of a deal-“

“Why would I want to do it?” Yoongi grumbled.

“it’s just a bit of fun-“

“Then go and do it with Seokjin. I’m sure you’ll have a great time playing wizards, or whatever the fuck-“

“That’s the entire point!” Namjoon threw his hands up in frustration, “we will all be playing, you and Jin included, and we will have a great time.”

Yoongi wasn’t sure if he had ever been threatened with having fun before. Staring back at his friend, his expression remained guarded. Eventually, he sucked at his teeth, turning his eyes away from the younger man.

“Fine,” he bit out.

“Thank you,” Namjoon huffed, pushing on his knees to stand up, “we’ll start at 5 on Sunday, but I’ll get here earlier. Jin will bring food to make up for the trouble.”

Following Joon out to see him off, Yoongi’s brows furrowed.

“Wait- what trouble? And what do you mean you’ll get here-“

“You’ll be hosting. Okay, bye!”

The door was shut in his face before he could protest any further. Cursing Namjoon for knowing him so damn well, Yoongi stomped to the kitchen and soon began scrubbing the teacups to within an inch of their life.

He’d heard of dungeons and dragons before. Well, vaguely. It hadn’t occurred to him before to pay attention to Namjoon whenever he spoke about it, because surprisingly enough, he hadn’t expected his friend to suddenly whip it out as a method of forcing him and Seokjin – his mortal enemy – to bond.

The whole mortal enemy thing wasn’t even an exaggeration.

What else were you supposed to think when the new neighbour, whose name happens to be printed on your wrist, tries to turn your cat over to the authorities on their first day after it launched a ‘targeted attack’ on their pet sugar gliders.

Yoongi was yet to meet the mysterious V that graced his other wrist, but he knew for sure that Kim Seokjin was his enemy. He could not be soulmates with someone who thinks it’s okay to leave a pair of sugar gliders by an open window and not expect a cat to see them as a tasty meal.

When they had learned each other’s names, and of course connected them with their tattoos, an icy silence fell between the neighbours.

Every now and then, Yoongi would get a reminder of the fact his mortal enemy lived next door. Like this morning, when Seokjin’s wheely bin had blown over and spilled rubbish onto his lawn.

Yes, that man’s evil knew no limits.

And if Yoongi would have to endure his friends’ attempts at reconciling the two of them, in his own house, then he was sure of one thing. He was not going to eat Seokjin’s cooking. It was probably awful, anyway.

That Sunday, at precisely five minutes to five, Namjoon arrived. Yoongi’s eyes widened in alarm at the bulging folder held under his arm. He really had come prepared. Yoongi had barely spent twenty minutes scribbling down some things about his character. Well, except when he had to read all about the different class choices… and then when he needed to select the perfect traits… and picking his spells was quite tough too…

“Are you excited?” Namjoon grinned as he set his stuff down, but then he faltered, “…I did tell you Jin would bring food, didn’t I?”

“Can’t remember,” Yoongi muttered.

He slouched over to the sofa while Namjoon shrugged, grabbing a bite from the nearest bowl of snacks. The table was littered with them, and Yoongi would never admit just how early he had got up that morning to start cooking.

Jungkook turned up next, and of course the brat would instantly wolf down the tub of popcorn rather than the bites Yoongi had been slaving over.

Seokjin’s was the last knock on the door, and a timid one at that. Although it may have had something to do with the food his arms were laden with.

As Yoongi opened the door (Namjoon had shoved him towards it before anyone else had the chance to respond), he couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit guilty. It seemed his neighbour had worked just as hard as him on preparing it all.

But still, more of a grimace than a smile showed on his face.

“This way,” he spoke through gritted teeth.

His guilt was short-lived, irritation setting back in as Seokjin invited himself into the kitchen to put down his things. Jungkook bounded after him almost instantly, the pair’s loud greeting audible from the next room.

Turning away bitterly, Yoongi sat in the empty seat between Namjoon and Taehyung, determined to keep his distance from Seokjin.

In time, however, he came to regret this decision, if only because it put Seokjin in full view of the eyes Yoongi so desperately wanted to roll when he announced he wanted to attempt to charm his way to free dinner at the first inn they got to. His reason? His stupid elf claimed to be ‘worldwide handsome’.

The infuriating smirk on his face as he declared this (and then proceeded to pass his roll, because of course) left Yoongi with little doubt this arrogance was nothing but a projection.

After introducing themselves, Yoongi slumping back in his chair the whole time, he let the others take the lead as they set off to find monsters, or something. A pointed look from Namjoon prompted him to pay more attention.

In fairness, he had been a bit creeped out when Taehyung announced he had named his character ‘V’, but he tried his best to listen to the adventure as Namjoon described it. And so they went along, the supply of snacks steadily dwindling as they made their way through some ruins.

The scene was quite vivid, until-

“That’s cat food, Jungkook!”

“Urgh, gross,” Jimin groaned as Jin pried the bowl away from the sheepish-faced younger.

If it had been anyone else, Yoongi would have returned the fond-but-exasperated look they were all well practised in, given the nature of their younger friends. As it was, he ducked his head, scribbling nonsense on his notepad.

It would be a lie if Yoongi said he wasn’t quite proud of himself for solving a riddle to get them into the final room, and getting the final hit on the hellhound inside. And maybe, just maybe, he was a little excited for their next game.

Shutting the door at long last, Yoongi paused for a moment.

Screw Namjoon and his good ideas.

Clearing away the dishes, Yoongi couldn’t help a glance out the window to watch as Seokjin let himself in to his own place, his own stack of plates in his arms. Not that he would ever admit it, Yoongi hadn’t been able to resist just one bite…

Well, it turned into a lot more than that. Maybe Seokjin was a good cook after all.

But that was just one redeeming quality. Best not get ahead of himself.

Yoongi was in trouble.

It had only been a couple more weeks, but he knew that much. As they sat around his table, he caught himself laughing along to Jin’s jokes. And look, he was already calling him Jin! No, he had to stick to Seokjin, the evil neighbour, his enemy.

If he got fond, he would only be sorry later when Jin – Seokjin – did something to remind Yoongi of what a terrible person he was.

Shame all of this seemed to slip his mind the moment Jin came around again.

“The slope is steep, with rocks falling where you move your feet. You can still hear the song, though, and you are certain it’s coming from inside the dark opening you can see at the bottom of the path.”

“No. Absolutely not,” Yoongi was the first to speak.

“Are you kidding? We just spent like an hour trekking over here specifically because of that music,” Taehyung was next to chip in, jabbing his finger into the table.

“It wasn’t an hour,” Yoongi rolled his eyes, “Joon told us it was hour, it was what? One minute?”

A high pitched giggle from Jin was overtaken next by Jimin.

“No, I can feel the weariness in my bones! It won’t be complete until we hear the song!”

“We’ve been hearing it all this time! Aren’t you guys sick of it by now?” Jin retorted.

“No! Joon specifically said it’s the most beautiful music we’ve ever heard,” Tae insisted.

“I don’t give a shit if there’s a chorus of angels in there, my dexterity is not gonna let me get down that cliff,” Yoongi folded his arms to punctuate his argument.

“Ugh, fine, well I want to go down with V,” Jimin said.

The two factions that had emerged looked expectantly towards Namjoon.

“Okay, so V and Christian want to go down and Genie and Suga want to stay here. Anyone else?”

“Yeah, I’ll go down,” Kook shrugged.

All heads turned now to Hobi. Unease written all over his features, he glanced between the two groups.

“Come one, don’t be boring, hyung!” Jimin elbowed him.

“Yeah, come with us!” Kook bounced in his seat as Taehyung switched on the puppy eyes with a string of ‘pleeeease’s.

Cracking under the force of the youngers’ begging, Hoseok laughed and agreed.

Folding his arms, Yoongi leant back in his chair, more than ready to be a bystander to whatever the hell the others were about to get themselves into.

The others of course had an irritating success rate, somehow making it down the cliff without plummeting to their deaths. Not that Yoongi would ever wish death upon his own party members. Of course not.

It would have been funny, though.

Anyway, despite his aversion to following them, Yoongi admittedly was a little curious about the mysterious music they had followed here.

“Stepping inside the cave, the party hears the music louder than ever, ringing in their ears as it bounces off the rocks, making its source unclear. However, it doesn’t offend your ears. The cave extends further into the cliff, and you follow the sound further in. But as you take a step, a great groaning drowns out the music. Behind you, the mouth of the cave shifts, everything around you going black.

“Those of you at the top of the cliff stumble back from the edge as they see the path crumble away into the sea from the shaking of the earth.”

Namjoon sniggered softly at the silence that followed.

Staring at him with comically large eyes, Hobi and Tae looked terrified. As Yoongi watched, Tae slowly turned his head, a smirk turning the edges of his mouth underneath puppy eyes.

“Come rescue us?” he asked sheepishly.

Before Yoongi could respond, Jin was cutting him off.

“Well, that was a fun detour! Where was it we were heading again, Yoongi?”

Yoongi had been preparing to be mad at Seokjin, but his glare dissolved quickly into a snort.

“Yeah, that demon up the road needs seeing to,” he agreed, creating instant uproar from the others.

“You can’t leave us!”

“Justin’s scared of the dark!”

“Traitors!”

However, Jin’s squeaky laugh as he revelled in the others’ pain was all Yoongi could hear. Then Jin leaned closer.

It was all Yoongi could do not jump from his seat when Seokjin’s voice spoke in his ear.

“Shall we leave them?” he was barely containing his mirth.

Feeling rather like he was plotting a prank in the back of the classroom, Yoongi grinned and agreed with a nod. He didn’t quite trust his voice to function as Jin’s breath tickled his cheek.

“We’re leaving!” Jin declared, sitting back in his chair, satisfied.

Before any more chaos could erupt, Namjoon continued with a smirk.

“Okay, so Suga and Genie carry on their previous path, away from their friends and the cliff…”

This was officially getting out of hand.

First of all, Yoongi couldn’t believe how eagerly he was anticipating the weekend, when Seokjin and the others would come around.

Particularly worrying, however, was the way Yoongi had to restrain himself from going to see Jin before Sunday rolled around. It was as if that writing on his wrist was staring at him. The more he tried to look away, the later he would find himself sat up at night, glancing between his wrists and what was written there.

Surely, if Kim Seokjin was his enemy, he wouldn’t be dying to ask how he makes his ramen taste so good. Or how his day was, or any trivial thing, just to be able to have Jin’s eyes on him and his voice in his ears.

Second of all, he had no idea how their campaign had devolved into such utter chaos.

Since the party split, the others made friends with the sirens they found in the cave, and ended up at a drinking party with some demons while Yoongi and Jin were nearly killed by one some miles away on the surface. The demons had apparently taken a particular shining to V, as a tiefling, which resulted in the group they abandoned somehow siding with the very demons they were trying to kill at the start.

Last Sunday had seen Yoongi and Jin going out of their way to find random things to beat to death in the forest, trying to get as many points as possible to face off against four members and goodness knows how many demons.

Yes, this had got rather out of hand.

Two old foes stand face to face on a precipice. Around them, fire blazes. This battle has ravaged the very land they stand upon, whipped the air into a frenzy.

Admittedly, they can barely remember what started this feud. Rumour has it these two great powers were friends, once. If that was so, it was a long time ago.

V stands, battle-worn, waiting for his adversary to make a move.

Suga looks at the body of his fallen companion.

“I’ve only got one spell slot left.”

“Use it,” a whisper returned.

“Aren’t you dead?! Stop talking to each other!” Jimin exclaimed, finger pointing accusingly towards Jin.

“Okay,” Yoongi cut in before they could start arguing, “if this hits, I can take him down. But there’s a fat chance of that, with his AC…“

Trepidation filled him as he looked across the table to Taehyung, a small but unmistakeably victorious smile already on his lips.

A dry chuckle came from one side.

“It’s been a good run,” Jin clapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you accepting defeat?” Joon prompted.

“No…” a hand ran down Yoongi’s face, “I’ll give it a go…”

“There’s no way! If you succeed…” Jin laughed, “if you succeed, I’ll kiss you.”

A quiet round of laughter went around the others, too focussed on the dice in Yoongi’s hand to pay it any mind. But Yoongi could no longer concentrate on that. What did Jin just say?

He couldn’t mean that.

There was no way he would kiss Yoongi. Was there?

All he could hear was the slow drumming of his heart rushing in his ears. The breath caught in his throat as he reminded himself to raise his hand, dice cupped inside.

It wasn’t just the defeat of V he hoped for as it rolled off his fingers, dropping onto the tabletop.

The faces flipped over, every eye trained on it. Around the table, there was no sound. Even Jungkook had stopped munching his popcorn, mouth hanging open.

Round, round, round…

Yoongi caught a glimpse of 20, the magic number, right within reach.

A small thud, the dice settling. A number glared up at him.

All the air left his lungs, deflating as he stared at the number. For a second, the table remained silent as everyone came to terms with the roll, the only sound the tapping of his cat’s paws-

Wait.

When Yoongi turned to find his cat leaping onto the table, it was already to late to grab her as she dashed across the surface. As she went, her paws caught a bowl of snacks, Joon’s notepaper, the dice. Hobi exclaimed with shock, several yells going up as everyone snatched their own stuff out of her way. Jungkook had dived after the snacks.

“Hey!” Yoongi shooed her as he stood up, watching her dart out into the hall.

“Oh my god…”

The small mutter from Jimin caught his attention. Looking around, Yoongi found him staring at the table and followed his gaze to the crime scene. In the centre of which, the dice still lay.

But now, a different number was displayed.

Yoongi’s jaw dropped. It was 20.

“That’s not fair!” Taehyung cried.

“Shush Tae, Jin has to do what he promised,” Hoseok teased, nudging a very red-eared Jin.

“Yah! Hey, I-I, that’s-” Jin spluttered, mouth seemingly fixed open as his cheeks warmed, growing defensive.

As Yoongi watched, Jin only stuttered more under the teasing cries erupting from the other boys as they egged him on with an array of ‘go on’s and ‘you said you would!’

“I-I-“ his eyes flickered over to Yoongi’s.

And despite the jeering and laughter in the background, neither of them looked away. Jin’s lips remained parted, ears pink with embarrassment, protests lodged in his throat.

Yoongi stepped forwards and kissed him.

The distance between them closed in the blink of an eye, Yoongi’s hand flying to Jin’s jaw as he pulled him in, turning his back to the gasps and cheers of their friends.

But they didn’t hear it. Not when their lips were pressed together like this, lighting fireworks in Yoongi’s stomach until he felt like sparks might fly out of his fingertips, the ones he was trailing down Jin’s neck, the ones pulling at the small of his back to bring him closer.

The others had gone quiet.

By the time he groggily pulled away, Yoongi seemed to have forgotten what the world looked like. Were his feet even on the ground?

In what was probably a mirror image of his own face, Jin stared back at him, eyes wide and those perfect lips round with shock. Jin’s fingers trembled as he brought them to his mouth.

“Holy fuck.”

“U-uh, guys,” a small voice from behind them did little to snap them from their trance.

“That was-“ Yoongi breathed, words escaping him.

“It’s you, you idiot!” a grin broke onto Jin’s face.

A laugh left Yoongi’s throat, taking him by surprise.

“It- really?”

“Did you not feel that too?”

Eyes still not leaving the beautiful man in front of him, Yoongi realised. Jin was completely right. Everyone had always told him how it would feel, when he kissed his soulmate. Like butterflies, or a flame, or like the world turned golden.

But through all the different feelings people described, there was one common thread. When you know, you know.

“You’re my soulmate.”

It wasn’t something he had to question, the words leaving him as easily as air.

“You’re my soulmate!”

And then he was wrapped up in Jin’s arms, his lips captured once again, euphoric feeling surging through his body once more.

“Come on, guys…” Namjoon’s groans were completely ignored.

Taehyung was still a bit put out that V had been slain at the last hurdle, but it hardly seemed fitting to be angry about it anymore, what with his two friends falling in love in front of him.

Everyone left together after the revelation, and pretty swiftly at that, deciding to leave them to it. And for once, Jin wouldn’t be leaving with them, even if he would only be one house away.

Smile never once leaving his face, Jin turned to Yoongi after shutting the door.

“So, what are we going to do about my sugar gliders?”

Thanks everyone for reading!! Reblog if you liked it xx

Taglist: @aianloveseven @preciouschimine @kb-bangtanenthusiast

Okay, for anyone interested, my bingo card contained: dungeons & dragons, neighbours, enemies to lovers, namjoon, yoonjin, cats, fluff, music, soulmates And here are some dnd basics for those who want them: you have a dungeon master or dm (Namjoon here) who tells a story. The others play as a character and choose what they want to do in the given situation. There are scores that dictate how good your character is at certain traits, and you roll the dice to see whether you succeed in your choices. That’s really all you need to know for the purposes of this fic, but you can ask me any questions too!

Lastly, I have to give another HUGE happy birthday to the amazing writer and friend and person @eternalseokjin!! I hope you have the best day, you really deserve it! I’m so glad to have met you and of course played dnd together in the net! Lots of love xx

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hhoriginalworks · 3 years

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reckless | f.w

Reckless- you still couldn't decide if it was the death of you or the reason you woke up every day. Maybe- most likely- it was both. Being reckless led you to Fred Weasley, a storm of wild and thoughtlessness coated in dirt brown freckles. Recklessness brought you to him, where you spent your teenage years loving him and being his. The two of you were the definition of ungoverned youth- you two were crazy, free, and escaping the harsh realities outside of Hogwarts. The two were stolen kisses between classes, uncontrollable laughter in the library, and reckless love in abandoned classrooms.

The only problem with being free and young is that one day you wake up and realize you no longer have that privilege. You wake older and with more responsibilities, and you suddenly understand someone has to suffer the weights of your reckless behavior. You were the one who felt the consequences of your wild youth with Fred- the two of you flew too close to the sun, but only you got burnt.

You grew up pretty quickly after Fred left Hogwarts, surviving by keeping your head down and pretending that you weren't a week late on your period. You grew up even faster when you no longer had Hogwarts, and for some reason, you were waking up every morning sick. You completely stopped pretending you were still young when you couldn't ignore the fact any longer- you had gotten pregnant.

You cried, you denied it, and then, you finally accepted it. You packed your bags and left for South America, where you had been invited onto a Herbology Research Team, and you swore to never look back.

You kept your promise for four years- caring for the twin girls to the best of your ability- but then, the unimaginable happened.

"I am perfectly aware that I am not a match, but what do you mean there is no other match?" You asked, your eyes trained on the healer. "I moved back to London because St. Mungo's swore they could help. This doesn't seem like helping."

"Ma'am, we understand-"

"No, you don't. I have nothing in this world- I'm not married, I currently don't have a job, and I don't have any family besides my kids. I quit my job because when I reached out to all the wizarding hospitals in the world, St. Mungo's said they could help," You seethed, narrowing your eyes. "I don't need healer training to know that this is not helping."

"Does her father happen to be alive?"

"I- I don't know," you replied, sitting down on the chair outside of your daughter's hospital room. "The war ended months ago, and I- I never even- he left. He left before I even knew, and I don't even know how to contact him if he is alive."

"Did he have siblings?"

"Loads."

"You need to contact them, ma'am. I don't know how to say this any other way, but if you can't find a bone marrow match, there is only a matter of 9 months left."

"Okay," you whispered, your decision made. "Just- you don't let my kid get worse until I find him, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am, we'll do our best."

You smoothed out your pants, walking back into the hospital room, where your two daughters sat on the bed drawing together. "Hey, girls. What are you two up two?" You asked, your voice still shaking from your conversation with the healer.

"I'm coloring in a dinosaur," Genevieve stated plainly, her hand gliding across the smooth white paper. "The healers said they would hang it up in my room."

You smiled at her, sitting at the end of the bed. "Mummy has to go on a trip to Diagon Alley, and well, I'll be looking for someone who- is going to give you a toy for free. What would you like, Genevieve?" You asked, deciding it is too hard to explain something that might not even happen. "Perhaps a toy or a-"

"Cat. I want a cat," Genevieve interrupted, looking up from her coloring book. "But, I guess that you can just get me a plain toy."

"Nice try, and I'll see you when Finley and I get back," you chuckled, ruffling the girl's head hair. It was thin to the touch, but it was the same color of red you fell in love was years ago.

You got off the edge of the bed and grabbed your other daughter's hand, leaving to go to a place you could help but dread going.

You landed on the cobbled street with a gentle pop, the soundings of your surrounding deafened by your heating beating loudly against your chest. "Come on, Finley, let's go into this shop here," you urged, your eyes set on the shop in front of you.

You had memorized the address the twins had yelled when they left your seventh year, but you never imagined it would be as crowded as it was. You had to carry your daughter to keep her from getting lost in the crowd, and you had to place a hand on a shelf to steady your shaky legs.

"Y/N?" You felt the air knocked out of your lung- hearing the same voice that used to laugh with you until midnight did something to you that you hated. "I didn't know you were- I mean, you look- I missed you."

You stood frozen, your daughter asking questions in one ear and Fred talking as if he hadn't just left in the other. "Fred," you finally answered back, turning around.

His smile dropped, his eyes darting to the small child resting on your hip. "You had a kid- I didn't realize that you had moved on," Fred mumbled out loud, more to himself but audible nonetheless. "She looks just like you, except for the hair! If I didn't know better, I would say she's a-a George?!"

Another redhead hurried over, small dark bags under his eyes and an eccentric yellow vest over a striped button-up. "Hey, y/n, I didn't know you had gotten back from- Woah, is that?"

"I'm not here for you," you commented, straightening up your shoulders. "I'm here because I need you to get tested- my daughter needs a bone marrow match, and the best chance is a familial match. I- I have the right blood time, but for bone marrow, you need to match with antigens too."

"Familiar match, but you never- y/n, you never told me that you were pregnant," Fred replied, grabbing your arm and pulling you into a backroom with George taking Finley out of your arms. "I had- I have a right to know about these things."

"Stop it, Fred," you hissed. "You don't have a right to anything, and deep down, you know that. I wrote to you about it- I wrote to your friends about it!"

"The war- I was in the Order of the Phoenix, and I was a target, and you would have been too. I left because I wasn't ready to have your blood on my hand- I wanted to keep you safe," Fred argued back, his hands running through his hair. "I loved- I still love you. I've written a million unsent letters to you, but none of them seem right. I- I would've left the war if you had told me."

You looked down at your hand, still shaking and unsteady. "I know you would have, but it doesn't change anything. I-I can't even have this conversation right now, Fred. My daughter- our daughter- is sick, and she needs a match. You have to get tested."

"Okay, let's go." Fred grabbed a jacket and pushed the door to the back room open. "George, watch the shop- I'm getting tested."

"What? I think I deserved more information than that," George shouted, grabbing his own jacket and hurrying after Fred.

You watched in amusement with your daughter by your side- they were the same boys from Hogwarts. "Come on, Finley, let's go see Genevieve," You cooed, quickly paying for a small pygmy puff. "How do you think your sister will feel about this?"

"She'll like it," Finley chuckled, holding onto the small ball of fluff as you apparated.

You landed on the hospital's linoleum flooring, your heart rate racing as you walked into your daughter's room. "Hey, Genevieve, look what I bought you," you sang, setting Finley down so she could give her twin the pygmy puff. "I figured we could all name it together."

"Is it a boy? or a girl?" Genevieve asked, wrapping her small fingers around the ball of fluff. "If it's a girl, I like the name, Tessa. If it's a boy, I like the name- uh- George. Like the monkey."

"It's a boy," Fred stated, walking into the room, his eyes glued on the two girls that were sat on the hospital bed. "Only green pygmy puffs are boys."

"George, then," Genevieve stated simply, nestling the ball of fluff against her cheek. "I know you. Mummy showed up pictures of you, and she said you are her best friend."

"I-I am, yeah. I'm Fred," Fred grinned, his voice cracking. "I'm your mum's best friend in the whole world, and I- I'm so lucky to meet you."

"You have red hair like us," Finley added, pulling at her red locks. "Mummy says redheads are her favorite."

"Yeah, she used to tell me that too," Fred chuckled, cautiously walking over to the twins and sitting down at the edge of the bed. "I'm a twin, too. My brother, George, he's getting some tests done right now, but you'll get to meet him soon."

"My pet is named George," Genevieve grinned, handing over the small pygmy puff to Fred. "My mummy said my daddy is a twin too, but I don't know my daddy."

"Yeah, but mummy says he loves us a lot," Finley chimed in, causing Fred to quickly wipe his eyes. "Mummy said that our daddy is allergic to South America, so he had to stay here in London."

"That's enough, you two. Fred and I need to talk," You quickly interjected, grabbing Fred's wrist. "Be good, okay?"

"I want to come," the girls whined together, crossing their arms over their chests.

"You do? But we are going to be talking about big kid stuff like math, and rocks, and the color brown," you stated, pretending to be shocked when the two girls quickly quieted down. You turned to Fred, a smile playing on your lips. "Come on, best friend, we can talk outside."

You and Fred walked away from that wing of the hospital, a silence forming between you two. "I'm sorry, you know that, right?" Fred asked, breaking the silence. "I would've been there for them- for you."

"I know," you stated. "You can ask about Finley and Genevieve if you want."

"Finley and Genevieve," Fred repeated, a smile forming on his face.

"I knew you liked the name Finley, and well, I figure to keep with the 'F' and 'G' trend," you quickly explained, a blush forming across your cheeks. "They are like you- enjoy a bit of trouble. Too much trouble if you ask me, but I guess it adds character. They are too young to be showing signs of magic, but sometimes things just seem to happen. Finley -the oldest- is more like George than you. She is more contemplative, while Genevieve is more-"

"Reckless," Fred finished for you with a laugh. "I wish I had been there."

"It's not all your fault," you sighed. "I heard that you survived after the war, and I heard you got awarded the Order of Merlin. I just- I just was still so mad at you for leaving. It wasn't until there wasn't any more hope that I reached out."

"I should've reached out- Merlin, I love you. I thought about you every day, and when I heard you went to South America- I just- I'm sorry."

The two of you fell back into a comfortable silence, words that should've been said years ago settling between you two. "I'm staying in London, and the girls, they could use a father. I don't know how to explain it to them, but they deserve to know."

"I'll do anything- everything. I'll spoil the girls rotten," Fred smiled, reaching out for your hand. "I'll be the dad I wasn't for all those years."

"Not exactly- they know all about you, well, in a way. You're their favorite bedtime story," you told, taking his hand.

"Thank you for telling them that I loved him," Fred mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I do already, but you could've easily told them the truth."

"I did it for you, but also for them. The girls needed to know someone else out there cared for them as much as I did, and I knew that if you knew, you would've been that someone," you smiled.

The two of you somehow found yourself back outside of the hospital room, your hands intertwine and the feeling of something unfinished lying between you two.

"Hey, where were you two? They got the results back, and I matched perfectly!" George cheered, a pirate hat placed lopsidedly on the top of his head. "Us G-named people have to stick together, right, Gennie."

"Right!" Genevieve giggled, high-fiving George.

"I guess this is the start of a happy ending," Fred whispered to you, wiping the falling tears off your face.

#holyhead-hufflepuff archive

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weasleymalfoypotter · 4 years

Text

i hate you (but not really) pt6

masterlist

summary : summary: draco malfoy and harry potters twin sister have hated each other since they met. but in 5th year he comes to find that maybe he doesn’t hate her and the reasons he did end up be the things he loves

word count : 2.6k

warnings : mentions of abuse, fluff, angst, ron and hermione being in the outs which is a whole warning

A/N : sorry this out so late i’ve been so busy and i’m on this retreat but i’m so excited to get this part out and thank you so much for all the love on this series and we’re at 50 followers and i want to cry omg also if there are spelling mistakes i’m sorry

“hey princess” draco said while kissing the crown of my head before sitting down in the seat next to me in the back of the library. princess is still his favorite nick name for him a year after he called me that for the first time. i swear he says it 100 times a day. i’m not complaining.

“helloooo” i said smiling at him as he sat down.

“how was today? i heard snape gave you a hard time”

“oh you know the usual. he likes to remind harry and i that we’re not as important as the rest of the wizarding world thinks we are” i said light heartedly with a smile. snape actually used to be fond of me. i asked him why in my third year because he hated my brother so much and he explained by saying i reminded him of my mother. it was a soft side to snape that no one thought existed. all he said was that he knew her in their years at hogwarts but after harry told me about the memory he saw in the pensive i knew there was more to it. that was the same time he started giving me a harder time, treating me like the rest of the gryffindors, if not worse. i confronted him after class one day after he made a comment about harry and i, and he said i was becoming more like my father as i grew up. that’s what remus and sirius would tell me too. they said harry and i looked just like james, except for the eyes, but personality wise, he was all lily and i was all james. i stormed out of his class after that and any kind of friendship or comfort i found in that class dissipated and his past kindness became an afterthought.

draco and i spent the rest of the day in the library studying before we went to dinner. he still sat at the slytherin table during meals and i spent the time with harry and my best friends. although, today i’m sitting with just hermione so she’s not alone because harry sits with ron and hermione and ron are on the outs...again. it hasn’t happened a lot but it’s always about the same thing and they can’t even realize it. i wish they’d just get together already because i don’t know how much more “won won!!” i can take from lavender without punching her square in the jaw. and she really doesn’t like me. i think she doesn’t like any girl at hogwarts, as if they all pose a threat to her and won won’s relationship.

hermione looked down the table to see her leg on his lap while her hands moved up and down ron’s arm. he looked irritated. hermione chuckled loud enough so only i could hear.

“it’s funny that he picks the girl who doesn’t know not to mess with him while he’s eating” i laugh.

“the whole thing is ridiculous. i swear he can’t stand her anymore, it won’t last long, she’s way too clingy and they don’t mix well at all” she chuckled but i can tell it still hurts. “hey listen, he’s an idiot. one day he’ll realize how stupid he is and it’ll be him pining” she gave a half hearted smile. the whole thing has been hard for her. i hate to see her cry so much.

“yeah yeah, i just- i don’t know. i just can’t do this anymore.”

i nod along while she rants for the rest of dinner before we have to leave. afterwards she heads to the library and i head to the gryffindor common room for scheduled harry and ron time. it’s hard keeping up with school work, quidditch, prefect duties, and all my friends that can’t be around each other. i have to managed to spend time with draco away from harry and ron and hermione, but also spend time with hermione away from with harry and ron, and i also have to spend time with harry and ron without hermione or draco or lavender. it’s a mess. so now we’ve subconsciously gotten into a schedule. during breakfast i sit with draco and harry sits with hermione and ron is with lavender, if i’m in a class with gryffindors i sit with hermione, when i’m in a class without them, i sit with draco, at lunch i sit with harry and ron while hermione sits with ginny, during breaks i bounce between each of them depending on the day and whether or not i have quidditch, and before dinner i’m in the library with draco, during dinner i sit with hermione, and afterwards i hang out with harry and ron, and after that it’s cuddling with draco. it’s exhausting. not the cuddling part, that’s pretty great. everything else is just so confusing and it doesn’t give me a second to breath until the end of the night. but if i’m being honest, everything distracts me from thinking about sirius or cedric or anything along those lines. so i’m not really complaining.

i’m plopped down on the couch on the verge of passing out while ron and harry talk about harry’s potions book. i’m complete zoned out until ron asks

“hey, you guys are coming for christmas right?” i totally forgot christmas existed. it was only a few days before break and i had no idea we were invited to the burrow.

“are we? i didn’t know that was an option” harry said. he looked at me as if asking if i was up for it or not. of course i was.

“well yeah of course, mom wants to give you guys the sweaters in person this year” ron said excitedly.

“i’m totally down, is charlie gonna be there? i wanna hear about the dragons” i say the last part with so much joy. i loved charlie. he was so cool. honestly i think i just loved the dragons but same thing. charlie and i always talked forever about his work whenever i was with his family.

“i’m not sure if he’s coming or not, but either way you’re going to be there, you don’t have a choice” ron said.

“that’s true. molly might just hunt us down if we don’t show up” harry said. ron nodding along pursing his lips. he didn’t lie.

i totally forgot to tell draco that i was going to be at the weasleys for christmas until today which is the day before we leave. we’re sitting cross crossed on my bed across from each other, hands tangling with each other’s, and talking about our day.

“okay so should i leave your christmas present here and spell so you can’t open it until the day of, or should we wait, or open them now, or...?” draco rambled.

“well i’m not gonna be here on christmas, harry and i are going to the burrrow” i said. his face showed his confusion and i remembered i forgot to tell him.

“since when? not complaining, it’s better than you being here by yourself but i’m positive fred has always had a crush on you” he said with a laugh.

“okay one, since the other day, and two, fred does not and has never had a crush on me” i said laughing at the thought of me and fred. he was like my big brother.

“okay okay but if he gets handsy i will hex him into oblivion and lace his apartment with his own products” he said faking seriousness

“fred will not get handsy, i promise” i replied with a huge smile on my face. i don’t think fred has ever gotten handsy with me.

“alright well, i guess we could do presents now” he said with a very excited expression. i nodded excitedly. i was so unbelievably excited for him to see what i made him. that’s right. made. i spent forever on it trying to get every detail right but i managed to figure it out. with the help of astronomy records i found an image of what the sky looked like the night we had our first kiss in the astronomy tower. i enlisted the help of flitwick and told him it was for a personal project to figure out the charms to put the pattern from stars from that night on a ring. it looks so damn cool, i honestly want it for myself. after a few moments of getting situated, we were sitting across from each other with the others presents in our hands.

“okay you first?” i smiled and handed him his present. it was wrapped carefully in a small package.

“open it” i said softly while he looked at me with a questioning look. he took of the paper and opened the box on its hinges. his face lit up and he didn’t even know what it really was yet.

“oh wow” he said while eyeing it “this is beautiful”

“wanna know something?” he looked up at me “you see the stars on it?” he nodded “that’s what the stars looked like on the night of our first kiss” i said with a huge smile and his face dropped...but in a good way.

“you’re kidding” his eyes backs glossy

“nope” i said with a smile. he immediately slipped it onto his left ring finger. he then leaned in to kiss me. i smiled as we pulled away. points to me for the really awesome gift.

“okay okay time for your gift because if i look at this any longer right now i will cry” i eyed him jokingly “okay maybe not cry but you get the idea” he handed me the box as i laughed. it was small, almost the same size as the one i gave him. i opened it to find a small black velvet ring box. huh. when i opened the box on its hinges i gasped. a gorgeous emerald pear cut ring with small diamonds surrounding the green stone with a silver band. it was gorgeous. tasteful, classy, simple yet fancy. i was crying and i didn’t know it until his hand was on my cheek wiping away tears.

“you kind of beat me to the ring idea but i still think i scored” he was smiling so wide. a put it on my left ring finger and i jumped over to kiss him as he pulled me into his lap.

“i love you so much. i need you to know that” he said looking up at me after we broke away

“i do. and i love you too. more than you know” i replied, nudging his nose with mine.

christmas break at the burrow so far has been just as amazing as i expected. hermione wasn’t there obviously, but i still got to hang out and room with ginny and we were having a blast. quidditch games with the twins were fun because this time i was on their team which was definitely refreshing. they were way too damn good, and just because we were friends when they were on the gryffindor team doesn’t mean they’d go easy on me. quite the opposite actually. in third year i was in the hospital for two days after a really rough bludger from fred knocked me unconscious after hitting me in the head and taking me off my broom. he felt bad but it still hurt like hell.

it’s christmas eve and we were all in the living room cuddled up with tea and coa coa talking about fred and george’s shop and school and everything except the order and or voldemort until a knock came from the door. it was late so the room was full of confused faces while arthur and molly got up to get the door.

“oh goodness draco what happened?” i heard arthur say. i immediately sat up and everyone’s attention was glued to the interaction at the door.

“i’m so sorry Mr. Weasley, i- uh- i just, i didn’t have anywhere else to go” a voice i recognized all to well trailed off. i got up quickly making my way to the door to see a concerned molly standing next to a confused arthur with his hand on a bruised draco with a bloodied lip. my heart sunk and they all looked at me.

“oh my God draco what happened?” i said while closing the space between us and putting a hand up to the bruises on his face. he stuttered and molly looked around to find everyone zeroing in on the conversation.

“let’s go into the kitchen dears, i’ll make some tea for you draco and get you some ice and something for the bruises and your lip” draco nodded while we moved to sit in the kitchen. i could faintly hear molly telling everyone else to mind their own and we’ll let them know what was going on if we felt like it.

“draco what the hell happened to you?” arthur was waiting to hear the answer to my question while draco tried not to meet my eyes.

“m- my dad. he um, he found out about us. he told me that i could either be a true malfoy and follow in his footsteps and leave you or not be a part of the family at all. i told him i wouldn’t do it. i told him i wasn’t going to work for you know who and that you were my family now. that’s when he did this” he said gesturing to his face. my heart hurt. this was my fault. i knew it was better for him to be out of that house and not working for voldemort but i can’t help but think that the pain was because of me.

“draco i’m so sorry” i said with tears running down my face while squeezing his hand.

“well y/n isn’t your only family now son” arthur looked up at molly who seemed to have been around the hear the whole thing. she nodded. at him “there’s space in ron and harry’s room, if you’d like to stay with us. we’d love nothing more than to have you hear draco” draco was crying now. he’d been trying to hold it in. but hearing these words come from a father, hearing loving words, was his breaking point.

“i’m so sorry. for everything my family has done, for everything i’ve done. i- i- i could never truly tell you how much i loathe what my family is” draco said to arthur. “i’m sorry i showed up here so late i know i shouldn’t have i just, i had no where else to go” he looked down. molly came behind him and ran her hands on his shoulders.

“nonsense draco. we know you’ve changed, we’ve heard all about it” she said smiling “y/n is our family and that makes you family too”

the rest of break was actually great. it was cramped but i wasn’t upset about it. draco was feeling so much better after being around a loving family for once. he and harry and ron were actually getting along so well it was scary. i would actually say their friends considering he’s been spending more time with them than me. i actually saw them laughing together once. it was weird. but honestly i couldn’t have been happier to have him here. he was able to give the order information about voldemort and his connections to certain families and their plans. no one thought draco heard as much as he did but his information was valuable.

the rest of the school year was perfect. everyone was getting along, draco was out of his house, the rings on our fingers were a representation of hope for the two of us, and i knew this was the boy i would spend the rest of my life with.

TAGS: @idkmanicantenglish @dracoswhore007 @lordlodge

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space-helen · 5 years

Text

Never

Words: 1833

Pairing: Snape x Reader

A/N: First time writing Snape and honestly I don’t know how I feel about this one since there’s so much going on but yeah I hope I did the request justice!

Request: Hey! I've never requested anything before so not sure how to do this but I'd love love LOVE to see a professor!Snape x professor!reader please!! I really love your writing, thank you so much just for reading this! Just lots of fluff and kind of going from being friends to then being together with first kiss and all that fluffy goodness! Thank you! - @awkwardaxelotl

_________________

You marked the final piece of work before looking up at the man opposite you. It had become a weekly thing about two months after you started teaching at Hogwarts and now you were two years in. Your teaching experience had started out a bit rough there was a huge adjustment period for you but you’d quickly made friends with all of the other professors but after some time clicked the most with Professor Snape.

“How long have you been done?”

“Long enough to see you decide whether you wanted to award a point for the sarcastic answer.” the man said in his monotonous voice with a small smirk on his face. He showed you a different side entirely, one he didn’t show many other people.

You smiled “I really should just expect answers like that from now on.”

The man let out an amused breath “Well, Congratulations on your two year teaching anniversary.”

“Thank you Severus.” You leant back in your chair and gazed around your office taking in all of the books that you needed to clear away.

“You’ll come to dinner in the great hall later?” he asked as he stood up from his seat.

“Of course. I’ll just tidy up and I’ll be there.” He walked towards the door before speaking again “A word of advice. Don’t open any of the books. Otherwise you’ll never tidy them away.” He said with a quirk of an eyebrow.

You smiled “Now what makes you say that?”

“I know you. You get distracted.” With that he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

You sat back in your chair and shook your head in disbelief. When you’d joined the Hogwarts Professors team everyone had said things like ‘don’t take it to heart if he ignores you’, ‘deadpan sass is his middle name’ and ‘don’t expect to make friends with him, he only baseline tolerates all professors and only has a select few he enjoys the company of.’ Yet within weeks of being in Hogwarts the two of you had become more than just acquaintances and now you were friends.

Originally he’d just say a hello to you and carry on with his day but then he saw your passion for teaching, your love for the subject and your ability to be kind, relatable and humourous with classes whilst also being able to control them, he admired that and he wanted to know more.

You on the other hand didn’t try hard in the beginning at all, you’d be kind to the man and that was it, not going out of your way to see him or try and be his friend. You had plenty of other friendships with the other professors, McGonagall being the one who’d taken you under her wing. That was until one day Snape came to sit near you while dining in the great hall. It was unusual for professors to change seats but he did it with such conviction so no one questioned it. After that evening you saw that the man wasn’t so cold hearted and harsh afterall.

You looked at the meal before you as Severus took his seat next to yours. “I see you made it.”

“Yep I listened to your advice.” you said angling yourself towards the man.

“I guess there’s a first for everything.” He said before starting to eat his meal.

The two of you ate and fell into a natural conversation with each other and the other Professors at the table.

“Professor Y/L/N!” You peered up to see the Slytherin 6th year boy, Rupert Pickett, who’d been causing trouble in your classroom approach the front of the great hall.

“Yes?”

“Can you stop chatting up our head of house? It’s kind of embarrassing.”

You could feel all of the heat rushing to your face. This kid really did get your blood boiling before you could even say something a deep voice came from beside you. “How dare you speak to another professor like that. 50 points from Slytherin and a week's detention.”

“Just because you like her doesn’t mean you need to defend her. After all she’s a mudblo-”

Snape stood abruptly “That’s enough an additional 50 points from Slytherin detention for 2 weeks and all Hogsmeade privileges are revoked until further notice.” he had begun to raise his voice slightly at this point. Making much of the room notice the dispute happening.

The boy looked dumbfounded, his mouth agape but clearly mad. It took him a second to unfreeze before turning and practically stomping away.

“I apologise for his behaviour.”

You looked at the man tears collecting in your eyes but not falling. “Thank you. He's one of the harder ones to control in the classroom."

"He misbehaves often. I'm sorry you have to deal with him"

"There's always one" you adjusted yourself in your seat "Anyway, tell me more about that potion."

It had been a couple of days since the incident with the Slytherin boy and it was nearly forgotten about entirely.

“Any questions?” you asked the class.

A very young first year Hufflepuff girl raised her hand and you called upon her. “What’s a mudblood?”

You shook your head in disbelief “Miss French I’d advise you not to repeat that word again, it’s a derogatory term used in the wizarding word and it should not be used under any circumstances.” “Any other questions?” The class was silent. “You are dismissed.”

Turning you picked up a book from your table and walked towards your bookshelf. That’s when you heard a giggle and a pain shoot through your legs causing you to fall, as your head hit the floor you were greeted quickly by darkness.

Severus’ robes billowed behind him as he took strides down the corridor towards Madame Pomfreys. It hadn’t taken long for the news to spread that the lovely Professor Y/L/N was injured.

Pushing the doors open, making an entrance as he always did, he saw Dumbledore and McGonagall around your bed with Madame Profrey. He quickly joined them.

“Severus just in time. I’m afraid there’s going to be an investigation into some pupils in your house.”

Severus peered towards you. “Do we suspect they were the cause of this?” you nodded. “What’s the extent of the injuries?”

You went to open your mouth before you were cut off by Madame Pomfrey “Her bones were completely shattered in her left leg, I’ve repaired them but it’s still going to be painful for a while, she also had a nasty concussion.”

“So I’ll be using a walking stick for a couple of weeks.” you laughed.

The man huffed in response. “How are you feeling?” His eyes were full of concern as he looked at you.

“I’ve had better days. I’m just disappointed that this happened, McGonogall overheard some rumours that Mr Pickett had given the spell to one of the pupils in the classroom to cast.” you bowed your head in shame and sadness that a pupil would ever do this.

Anger boiled within Severus and he was soon storming out through the doors. He cared for you and he’d be damned if he’d let the boy who did this to you go unpunished.

Madame Pomfrey had kept you in overnight to ensure you didn’t have a concussion. Severus had sat with you long into the night and the two of you had talked about various things. Before long you had fallen asleep and Severus had sat with you for a while before deciding to return to his own quarters for the night.

“Ok when you’re ready stand up” Madame Pomfrey spoke to you. Perched on the edge of the bed you braced your arms either side of yourself ready to push yourself to your feet. Severus standing next to you with a walking stick ready for you to take.

You took a deep breath in and pushed yourself up quickly grabbing the walking stick from Severus and giving him a small smile.

“Ok take a step for me?”

Severus could see how unsteady you were and caught your arm to steady you just before you could tumble over.

You let out a small laugh “Walking is harder than I remember and it hasn’t even been a day.”

Madame Pomfrey laughed “It’s ok you’ll be unsteady for a while but that’s what the stick is for. Now I’m sure Professor Snape can help you back to your classroom but take it easy once you’re there. Practice walking but also don’t put too much strain on your leg.”

You nodded as Severus let go and offered you his arm properly. You wrapped your arm around his and held onto his forearm.

“Ready?” he questioned looking at you.

Clutching his arm tighter you brought yourself closer to him “Ready.”

The two of you slowly walked towards your classroom, clutching his arm tightly occasionally when you felt unsteady.

Arriving at your classroom you let him walk you to your desk before letting go of his arm and taking a seat. Thanking the man he moved around the desk and sat opposite you as you rearranged some items on the desk.

“Feeling better already?”

You smiled up at the man “You could say that.”

Severus started lecturing you about taking it easy when a pencil rolled off your desk and onto the floor. Pushing the chair back slightly, a shooting pain went through your leg from the pressure. The man moved around the table instantly, his concerned expression right at your side as he placed a hand on your shoulder. “Allow me”

Gently kneeling down next to you he picked up the pencil and placed it on the table. “Thank you.” you said quietly.

The man looked at you from his half kneeling position for a moment, he was knelt but still tall next to your chair. “Whatever are you thanking me for? It was only a pencil.”

“Everything.” you let your gaze flicker over the mans face. You’d be lying if you said some feelings for the man hadn’t developed and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t care for you.

Severus’ heart beat loudly in his chest as he slowly moved towards you and soon his lips were on yours. The kiss was short but sweet as he pulled away.

“I’m sorry I should never have ki-” you quickly leant in to kiss the man again letting him know you felt the exact same way before long his hand was on your face deepening the kiss.

Pulling away the man gently let his thumb run over your cheek before standing up and placing a kiss to your forehead. “You have a class to teach shortly. I’ll come back at the end of the day to escort you to the great hall”

With one smooth movement he was gone. Everyone had told you not to bother with Snape because he’d never want to be your friend, yet here you were doing the exact opposite. Tag List: (open) Snape: Harry Potter:

#snape x reader #severus snape x reader #professor snape x reader

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pretend-writer · 4 years

Text

Trainwreck (Draco Malfoy x reader)

Summary: Y/N is stuck with Malfoy coaching him before a Quidditch match.

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Title Reference: Trainwreck x Demi Lovato

Word Count: 1241 words

Warning: swearing, vulgar words and gestures

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

'Malfoy and Y/N can I speak to both of you please?' Our Quidditch captain, Flint motioned is to walk with him as he ended our practice of the day.

Gripping on my broom, I headed toward Flint as I was nervous of what he might possibly say to us.

Malfoy paced from behind, catching up to me as we reached our captain.

'First I'd like to say I'm impressed with you guys' improvement. We would definitely beat Hufflepuff next week if we keep at it.'

'But?' I sighed, knowing that this was going to lead with a bad news. It was so obvious, the tone in Flint's voice gave it away.

He cleared his throat. 'Malfoy, your speed on the broom is slowing down and I thought Y/N could help you. She's one of our best chasers.'

'Wait what?' Malfoy and I said in sync. At this point, I would of much rather have him lecture me about how bad I played last game or anything. Helping Malfoy was the last thing I wanted to do.

'Are you kidding me? I have to work with her?' Malfoy eyed me with a disgusted face. 'You just said we were improving.'

'You two are but Hufflepuff isn't the problem, Gryffindor is and we're playing them in a few weeks. I need you to improve your speed to beat Potter.'

Flint wasn't wrong, I've noticed that Malfoy have recently slowed down on his speed but of course I couldn't tell him that. The only reason why I'm even okay with being on this team was because I loved Quidditch too much to quit.

'You think that Y/N can coach me on speed?' Malfoy let out a sarcastic laugh, 'She was basically the reason why we lost the last game. Remember that?'

'There were many reasons why we lost the match but we can't dwell on the past.' Flint sighed. 'If you're not willing to do this for your team, I'm going to have to find a new seeker.'

Malfoy bit his lips and flared his nose, knowing that another word would get him in trouble. Flint starred at us for a while before he walked away.

'Meet me at seven in the morning, here.' I really didn't want to do this, everyone knew that. Winning the championship meant everything to me as well as respect from my teammates. If Captain said we had to do this, I didn't have a choice.

'Whatever.' Malfoy mumbled.

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

Surprisingly, Malfoy showed up in the morning even though he was twelve minutes late. I had to say, didn't think he would show up at all.

'What do you know about teaching how to fly, eh?' He grunted.

'Good morning to you too.' I joked, 'Also, I don't. I didn't sign up for this and you know that.'

Malfoy put his stuff on the ground and grabbed his broom. 'Lets get this over with.'

‘Alright then-’ Never thought in the few years that I’ve known him, I’d be teaching him about anything at all. After giving him a few pointers, of course he rolled his eyes. He quickly got onto the broom and started flying.

A few minutes have passed and he came back down, throwing the broom across the ground. Malfoy yelled, ‘Is this a joke to you?’

Crossing my arms, I shook my head. ‘Clearly not since I had to wake up early just for you.’

‘The way you told me to fly, is much harder and I don’t feel faster at all.’ Malfoy huffed, ‘You’re trying to make me worse to make me look bad, huh?’

‘Why would I do that?!’ I shouted at him, not being able to deal with his stupid assumptions anymore. ‘Why would I risk having to lose against Hufflepuff? You’re completely stupid.’

‘Of course you would! You want to get all the fame and attention once Slytherin wins against Hufflepuff!’ Malfoy paced back and forth, still blabbing about nonsense. ‘With me on the team, everyone would focus on me once I catch the Golden Snitch.’

I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath, his reasoning was so dumb it was so hard to process why he would even think that. Was he so narcissistic that I’d go out of my way to get him off the team? Yes, yes he was. Even I was surprised.

‘You know what? Clearly, I wasted my time and sleep coming here for you.’ I picked up my Quidditch bag. ‘You can just make yourself look stupid flying like a old wizard during the match and get yourself off the team on your own. Seems like you’re doing a good job so far anyway.’

‘What did you say about me?’

‘Oh now you’re deaf?’ I laughed, walking away from the field. ‘See you never because I’m sure we’re getting a new seeker after you fuck up during practice.’

‘Don’t walk away from me!’ Malfoy yelled from behind. Something in my brain just made me tick from the way he screamed at me. It was so sudden, I couldn’t control it.

It was totally subconscious, while this was happening I wasn’t thinking at all. It was as if my body knew exactly what to do without me processing everything. I quickly turned around, tackling Malfoy onto the ground. As I sat on his stomach, I threw my fist up.

That’s when it all came back to me, my mind was back and next thing I knew I was about to punch Malfoy in his smug face. I’ve always dreamed of hitting Draco Malfoy’s spoiled self.

Knowing myself, I knew I couldn’t do it, even if I really wanted to. It wasn’t right and I couldn’t risk getting kicked off the team either. I loved Quidditch too much and I’ve worked too hard to be the starting chaser.

Malfoy knew I was deep in my thought, he grabbed me and pushed me off then sat on top of me. ‘You really thought you could just punch me in the face?’

‘The only reason why I stopped myself was because once you fail out of Hogwarts, the only thing that’s left for you is using your smug little face to get things your way.’

Trying to struggle out of his grip and his weight in general was a fail. Didn’t think Malfoy was strong enough to hold me down. ‘Did you just say I was good looking?’

‘No, how did you even get that.’

‘You said I’d get things my way with my face. You think I’m cute.’

‘I never said that.’

‘Oh yeah?’ He grabbed onto my chin and leaned down, laying his lips on mine. My mind went blank once again, not understanding what was going on at all. I was ready to beat the hell out of him and the next thing I knew, we were kissing.

Malfoy pulled away and smirked, ‘You totally liked it.’

‘No I didn’t.’ I could tell my cheeks were getting red. My face was practically heating up and I hated that. He now had the upper hand because of this fucking kiss that wouldn’t have happened if I just walked away earlier. Quickly getting on my feet, I grabbed my bag and stormed off.

‘You kissed back.’ Malfoy yelled across the field as I walked away from him. I turned around and flicked him off as I kept walking. If Malfoy starts yapping about this to people, I was screwed.

#draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy fic #harry potter fic #harry potter one shot #draco malfoy one shot #malfoy x reader #slytherin reader

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weasleydream · 4 years

Text

All different

Wow, two posts in two days, I’m on fire! Kidding, just need some George love <3 and I just read a prompt which gave me this idea so here we are, enjoy!

Masterlist

(gif not mine)

“It’s amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total shit storm, don’t you think?”

As hard as it can be to imagine, Fred, George and I were contemplating the night sky one last time before the beginning of the battle. I was wrapped in George’s arms and we were both sitting with our backs against the wall of the Astronomy tower. Fred stood a few meters away, his eyes lost on the immensity of the black lake in front of him. But he was Fred freaking Weasley, unable to stay serious for more than five minutes, and he shared with us his incredibly poetic thought. I felt the vibration in George’s chest when he chuckled.

“Very inspiring, Fred. You’re impressing me.”

Fred grinned and turned his head back to the lake. I snuggled closer to George, and he gladly tightened his grip around me. None of us would say it out loud, because we didn’t want to make the others freak out nor did we went to disturb the almost peaceful atmosphere, but we were afraid. How could we not be? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would soon be here, it would be the great final of this war. Of all of them.

But there’s no gain without sacrifices, especially when your enemy is a powerful wizard. I had so much to lose tonight, things against which my life didn’t worth anything. I would have said I wanted nothing more than to win, and in a way it was true, but deep down, it wasn’t my only wish. I needed nothing more than to see George witnessing the next sunrise, to hear Fred’s awful deep thoughts attempts, to meet once more all the Weasley family and see they are all safe and sound, and the list goes on and on.

A violent shiver ran down my spine and George’s arms pulled me a bit closer to him. No word was needed, I knew what that meant. It’s going to be okay. We are going to be okay. But I also knew the lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything.

“Hey, don’t you listen to me?” Fred was looking at us with a well practiced false hurt look, an hand clenched against his heart. “I just made a very good joke about the Giant Squid and you didn’t even hear it.”

I tried to smile at him, but miserably failed. Instead, I felt the tears burning my eyes. It wasn’t really the moment, and I tried my best to blink them away. Seeing my state, Fred made his way toward us and sat right next to me. George kissed lightly my hair.

“Let them out, Y/N.” murmured Fred. “You’ll feel better. And you won’t be blinded when you’ll have to hex some Death Eaters.”

I chuckled and wiped my tears.

“How do you do this Fred?” murmured George.

The twins were looking at each other, a loving look I had practically never seen between them.

“I think of why I’ll fight tonight. Who I’ll fight for. While I keep that in mind, I know I’ll do my best and I’ll be okay.”

“And who do you fight for?” asked George.

“Come on Georgie, you know that,” smiled Fred. “For you. For Y/N. For our family and our friends. And for me, of course.”

We didn’t say anything after that. I didn’t know for the boys, but I tried my best to focus on the persons I wanted so badly to protect tonight. George. Fred. Ginny, who was a good friend of mine. Molly, who was like my second mother. My own parents, both muggles who hadn’t a clue of what was happening. I felt like a new strength boiling in my veins. I suddenly understood what Fred meant: while this fire kept burning inside me, nothing could stop me.

“Remember the first time we got a detention together?” suddenly asked George.

Of course I remembered. How could I forget the day that changed my Hogwarts years, and probably my life?

Argus Filch was holding tightly my wrist while mumbling he had enough of these little monsters and complaining about the time when the chains were allowed. For a terrified first year like me, it was kind of, well… terrifying. He dragged me in a room I had never seen before, where shelves were aligned and covered with trophees.

He handed me a rag, a bottle of elbow grease and left without stopping mumbling. I kept looking at the bottle without exactly knowing what to do until a voice made me jump.

“It will be easier if you open the bottle, you know.”

The boy who had talked was a first year too. I immediately recognized his bright red hair and his mischievous smile. Soon, his twin appeared and I couldn’t help but staring at them, trying to find something to tell them apart.

“It’s not really polite to stare like that.” said the second twin.

“I know, I’m just trying to find something to tell you apart.” I mumbled.

The twins looked at each other before laughing.

“Good luck!” said the first one. “Even our mother can’t always do it.”

I looked carefully at them both, trying my best to find something. Finally, I noticed a small size difference. And one of them had a slightly rounder face than the other. I proudly told them what I had just discovered and they nodded.

“Well done. I’m George, and this is Fred.” The tallest said.

“I’m Y/N.”

“A Y/H, aren’t you?”

“Exactly.”

I didn’t really process how we ended throwing oil at each other’s face, but our laughters where a bit too loud for three people in detention. Filch had come back as fast as he could and had given us another detention for the following week before chasing us.

“Why were you here?” asked Fred while we were leaving. “You don’t seem to be the kind of girl who loves making troubles.”

“You’re right. Some stupid person left Dungbombs in the corridor and Filch saw me walking in the same corridor.”

I saw the guilty look on their faces and they didn’t need to tell me anything.

“Let me guess...You are the stupid persons?”

But it didn’t matter, because I had just found my two favourite stupid persons in the world.

“How can I forget how dumb you looked with your closed bottle in your hand, Y/N?” mocked Fred.

“Shut up, I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Yes, what could you possibly do with a rag and elbow grease in a room full of trophees? It’s a mystery.” laughed George.

I groaned to show them I was upset but in fact - and they knew it perfectly - I was incredibly grateful. These two boys, and George more than Fred, let’s admit it, were the only persons on this planet that could make me laugh just before a battle. Resting my head on George’s shoulder, I looked up to the stars.

“Remember when we passed our OWLs in Astronomy?” I murmured.

“Yes, it was a total mess.” chuckled George.

George and I had been together for almost a year before our OWLs. It hadn’t changed my friendship with Fred, and we were known as the Mischievous Trio of Hogwarts. But even the best pranksters in the universe needed to study, and even if I had begun my revisions roughly a month before, the twins came to me totally panicked a week before our first day of exam.

“Y/N you need to help us!” George had grabbed my shoulders.

“Yes, Mum is going to kill us if we don’t have good grades!” added Fred.

“That’s not my problem.”

I wanted to show them I disapproved, but my cheerful voice and my playful grin indicated them they had already won. I had quickly given up, trying desperately to make them remember five years of magic in less than a week.

The fist half week of exams had been an approximate success for the boys but the night we had to climb to the Astronomy tower for the exam was the funniest I ever had.

First, Fred had realized he had forgotten his telescope. He had hurriedly cast a summoning charm and had almost knocked Lee out. After that, George had accidentally bumped into the wizard tasked with watching us, which made him drop the subjects. When the exam had finally started half an hour later, the time to restore the calm, George passed next to me muttering he had forgotten to go to the toilets. My laugh lasted a bit too long, and after that, the twins had sent me plenty of panicked or desperate looks whenever the wizard didn’t see them. They had eventually accepted their bad grade in Astronomy, and the last two hours were full of grimaces and stupid jokes.

“Mum has almost killed us but it was worth it, what a night!” Fred was almost crying from laughing.

Suddenly, a strange sound echoed in the castle behind us. I jumped, still wrapped in George embrace, and he pulled me closer to him as if he wanted to protect me. A heavy silence fell everywhere around us, and we quietly got up. We approached the little stone wall in front of us and watched without a word the magical barrier forming above us.

George’s hand made its way to my hair and I turned toward him, grabbing his face without losing a second and kissing him like never before. I felt the tears burning once more my eyes and used all my will not to let them roll. George was clenching my jacked, and I was slightly pulling his hair. My lungs were burning from the lack of air but I couldn’t pull apart, it would feel like it would be the last time and it would be too difficult. Finally, George broke the kiss and rested his forehead on mine.

“It’s okay.” he murmured. “Don’t worry Y/N, we’ll be okay.”

I looked up and met his teary gaze. I nodded, unable to say anything, and I saw George looking above my shoulder. I turned around; Fred was smiling at us, but his eyes were full of worry.

“Listen,” he started with a voice he tried his best to control, “we stick together. Understood? We stay all together, always back to back, and it will be okay.”

George let out a weak Don’t worry while I threw my arms around Fred’s neck. He patted my back and let me go, before engulfing his twin in a brief hug.

I had taken back my place between the boys, all three of us looking toward the skyline, and I suddenly saw all the things that had changed here.

“It’s strange,” I murmured, aware of George’s gaze on me. “How day by day everything is the same, but now, everything seems so different.”

And different things would always be, because we all had so much to lose. And we lost so much. Maybe not the war, but we lost friends, family.

We lost Fred.

Things would always be different.

#harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines #george weasley #george weasley x reader #george weasley x you #george weasley x y/n #george x reader

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luckyjak · 4 years

Text

essek week: day seven

For @essek-week day seven: AU. In this case, modern AU

TW: Homophobia, tw: implied transphobia, TW: Outing, Brotherly Love, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, religious conservative family trauma, Mighty Nein as Family, boys crying about feelings, Modern AU.

most of the trigger warnings are implied not explicit but I feel the need to warn regardless

He’s late.

He shouldn’t have come at this point, but something keeps tugging at him, making him move forward despite the rain of the city and his general tardiness. Perhaps it’s the fact that he bought a gift that makes him keep moving, or maybe it’s the fact that he hasn’t seen Essek in three years, or any number of reasons, but his feet keep moving, and he doesn’t stop.

When he arrives at the location his GPS tells him is the venue, he hesitates even as his hand is on the door.

It’s not a church, Verin thinks, smiling in spite of himself. Mother would have kittens if she knew Essek was getting married not in a church.

She'd have a conniption over the fact that he's marrying a man, too, of course. Not that she was coming to the wedding. No one from Essek’s side of the family was likely to come to his wedding, except for Verin, and it was that thought that gave him the courage to open the door.

At first, he wonders if he’s wandered into the wrong location, if he perhaps misread the invitation he received. But a quick glance tells him that, no, this is the right location. The planetarium looks like a garden exploded in it: there are flowers everywhere, and none of them match. But the chaos actually sort of works, aesthetically, as all of the flowers seem to glow with the night sky overhead.

He’s like, the only drow here, but the place is packed with people dancing and drinking. He tries to see if he can spot his brother anywhere, but before he gets too far there is a blue tiefling in his face.

“Hi!” She says to him, very bubbly. She looks like a princess, wearing a bright pink sparkly dress and a tiara. Across her chest is a sash that says Maid of Honor. “Are you related to Essek?”

He blinks at her, slowly. “I am. Is he, ah, still here…?”

“He is,” she bounces on her tiptoes, still grinning. He realizes suddenly that she is wearing matching pink converse shoes as opposed to heels. Another thing Mother would have a fit over, he thinks.

“Can I, uh, see him, or…”

He feels a large, rough hand on his shoulder, and he turns and finds himself staring at a very tall, pink haired firbolg. “We just want to have a little conversation, first.”

“I’m sure you are a very nice guy!” The tiefling tells him, still bouncing slightly. “But Essek said a lot of his family are dicks, so we just wanna check.”

“Yeah,” comes a new voice, and he turns to find a dark skinned human woman in a blue suit. She is also wearing a sash, although her’s says Caleb’s Best Friend Fuck Gender. “We just wanna make sure you aren’t here to start shit. Say something homophobic or something fucked up on his wedding day.”

A part of him feels warm on his brother’s behalf. The Essek he used to know never had friends who would stand up for him like this. He blinks slowly, and tries to find a kind smile within himself. “I’m not our mother,” he tells the three friends of Essek, and hopes it’s enough to convey his sincerity.

The firbolg slaps him on the back. “Good enough for me!” He points in the general direction of the center of the room. “He’s dancing with his husband.”

He wanders, for a little bit, but he still doesn’t see his brother. Instead, he decided to amuse himself by counting how many other people are wearing sashes like the tiefling and the woman in the suit. The firbolg is wearing one, too, he realizes, only his is on backwards; it says Made of Tea. There is a halfling in a yellow dress who has a sash that says Mama Bear. A half-orc wearing a ridiculous pirate hat whose sash says Best Captain. An incredibly buff woman with dark hair is dancing with a purple tiefling in a dress, and both of them are wearing sashes, too. The woman’s sash says Made of Honor (Also Guns) while the tiefling’s says Best Dead. The woman dips the tiefling as part of their dance, and the tiefling immediately cracks a joke in someone’s direction, which is how Verin finds his brother.

No wonder he couldn’t find Essek at first. He hardly looks like himself. Gone is the quiet boy who used to hide up in his room, or when forced out into public, hid behind several layers of thick robes. Instead he’s dancing in the center of the room, and the center of everyone’s attention, too. His brother wears a silk white halter top that sparkles in the starlight. Verin thinks it may be slightly translucent, too, but he’s too far to tell at this distance. His top is tucked into high waisted dark trousers with shiny gold buttons on them. Unlike many of the women here, his brother is wearing high heels, and more makeup than most of the women, too. He wears gold eyeliner and thick purple and blue eyeshadow, but it looks nice on him. Makes him look ethereal, which, Verin thinks, might have been the theme.

The man Essek is dancing with is half a head taller than his brother, and human, too, from the looks of him. He looks like a wizard, Verin thinks, which is sort of a ridiculous outfit to wear to a wedding, but it kind of works for him. He wears a long, light blue cape, robe thing? But the top half of it is sparkly, woven with silver thread to look like stardust. The man’s hair is very long and a vivid red, going down past his shoulders, but it’s been braided in an elaborate French braid, with bright flowers woven into his hair.

He’s also wearing makeup, Verin notices and grins. A light blue eyeshadow.

The song they are dancing to ends, and the newly wedded couple kiss, and Verin turns away immediately so he’s not looking at them, like they’ve done something embarrassing. Shame sinks into the bottom of his stomach as he does so, and he feels himself flush with anger and embarrassment. This is Essek’s wedding, he tells himself. There’s nothing wrong with him kissing his husband.

Why is it so hard to unlearn every toxic thing Mother ever taught me? Verin thinks, ashamed of himself. His hands grip the present he brought tightly, and he turns to try to find the gift table, to put what he brought there and then go home, and of course, that’s when Essek spots him.

“Verin?” his brother calls to him, so he stops and turns to face him. His brother looks so shocked right now, it’s hard to read any other expression on his face; Verin can’t tell if he’s happy to see him, or angry, or both. “You came?”

“You invited me,” Verin says sheepishly, although he knows that’s not a good excuse. They’ve not seen each other in three years. Part of that is on Essek; he left the family in a storm of anger and hurt, but part of it is on Verin, too. He didn’t reach out to him, even after Verin left the family, too.

“I invited the whole Den,” Essek says, gesturing around the room as if to point out the distinct lack of drow here. Most people are still dancing, but a few have stopped to watch his and Essek’s conversation; most of the people with sashes, he notices. “But they didn’t seem to make it.”

There’s so much Verin wants to say, then. He wants to say I’m sorry, he wants to say I was bigger and stronger. I should have protected you from them. He wants to say I’m trying to be a better person now and I should have contacted you sooner and it’s so hard, unlearning everything they taught us, how did you do it? And did you know Father died, the night you left?

But he doesn’t, can’t seem to find a way to make any of those words come out of his throat. The room is too crowded and too hot, so instead, he deflects. “Perhaps their invitations got lost in the mail?”

His comment causes Essek to grin. “All seven hundred and eleven of them, huh?”

“Seven hundred and thirteen,” Verin corrects with a gentle smile, his nerves vanishing with the familiar banter he’s missed from his brother. “Cousin Gwylyss’s wife had twins two years ago.”

“Those poor kids,” Essek muses. “I hope they don’t take after their father.”

“Oh, they absolutely do,” or at least, they did, before Verin left, too.

Essek practically doubles over with laughter, and when he stops laughing he smiles sharply at Verin, fangs poking out of his lips. “Did you know, Great Aunt Beszrima sent me a wedding gift? It’s just money, but it was still a surprise.”

Now it’s Verin’s turn to practically double over. “Did she really?”

“Oh yes. My theory is that the old bat saw the name Thelyss on a wedding invitation and sent money without looking any closer at it.”

Both brothers are laughing now, a shared joke no one else gets, and it’s so nice, he’s missed this so much. This connection, the shared past and the shared trauma. For a moment, they are just two brothers laughing at their extended family, and they can pretend that three years ago, Verin didn’t accidentally out his older brother to their religious, conservative family. That the fight that broke out between Essek and their father hadn’t turned violent. That, when the storm finally broke, both Essek and their father left, and the next time Verin saw their father he was in a casket, and he thought for years the next time he’d see Essek, he’d be in one, too.

His thoughts sober him up quickly.

“I’m sorry,” he says to Essek.

It’s not enough, it won’t ever be enough, but he doesn’t know what else to say. How can you apologize for not knowing any better? He was young and stupid and impulsive, but that’s not an excuse. How do you apologize for ruining someone’s life without realizing it?

But he doesn’t get the chance to say anything further, because Essek is doing something he’s not done in years, and hugging him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

He sobs before he can stop himself, and Essek is crying, too, he thinks, because he can feel the wetness on his jacket. He wraps his arms around Essek's back and hugs him tightly, sobbing because he feels too much.

“Enough of that,” Essek says shakily, pulling away. His makeup is smudged and runny, and he is trying, desperately, to stop crying. “It’s my wedding day. I’m not going to cry any more.”

Verin makes no such promises, and wipes his eyes on his jacket sleeve.

There’s a gentle hand on Essek’s shoulder, and the man he was dancing with earlier--his husband, Verin thinks--hands Essek a handkerchief without saying anything, although Verin can tell he’s been watching their exchange like a hawk. “Oh fuck,” Essek says, laughing as he blows his nose into the handkerchief. “Verin, would you like to meet my husband?”

“Of course. That's why I came,” Verin says, holding his hand out, wishing he looked less like a mess. “Verin Thelyss. Essek is my big brother.”

“Caleb Widogast,” the husband says, shaking his hand. The Zemnian accent is a surprise, but then again, Verin doesn’t know what he expected Essek’s husband to sound like. “Essek is my husband.”

Verin holds his head down, shame filling him again slightly. “I’m sorry I missed the ceremony.”

“It’s okay,” Caleb Widogast tells him with a soft smile. “Better late than never. We are glad you are here.”

“We are,” Essek assures him. He grabs Verin’s hand, and squeezes it gently. “I am so glad to see you again.”

Verin cries again, and squeezes Essek’s hand back. “There’s so much I’d like to say,” he says, his voice cracking as he speaks. “But I don’t want to ruin your wedding.”

“You wouldn’t,” Essek assures him, and squeezes his hand back. “You haven’t.”

“I think,” Essek’s husband looks around, and Verin notices suddenly that they are in a closed circle of people--all the people he noticed wearing sashes, the people who must make up the wedding party. They are circling them to give them privacy, he realizes suddenly, and he feels overwhelmed with gratitude towards these strangers who must love his brother so very much. “That perhaps, if you two wished to talk more privately, we could provide a distraction.”

Caleb’s Best Friend Fuck Gender whistles. “We are very good at distractions.”

Best Dead smiles sharply with his fangs pointing. “Something of our specialty, you might say.”

Mama Bear wiggles her fingers. “Chaos crew.”

“Go on then,” Essek’s-- Caleb, Verin corrects himself, tells them, squeezing Essek’s shoulder. “We’ll find you later.”

Then a firecracker goes off (where did that even come from?) and people are shouting and running about, and Essek drags his brother off to talk, privately, for the first time in three years, and it feels, a little bit, like forgiveness.

#critical role #essek thelyss #verin thelyss #shadowgast #my fic

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border-spam · 4 years

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Leech Lord : Sigil

(Early COV)

"Oh Seifa come on, come onnnn, it's not like that!"

She wasn't listening. Of course she wasn’t listening. If there was one thing Troy had realised in the last 18 months since they landed on Pandora, it was that no one who mattered ever fucking listened to him.

Or maybe it was just women. Tyreen and Sei would rip his balls off for ever daring to raise it, but hell did the pair of them have more in common than anyone would be stupid enough to admit within earshot. They were both stubborn, blockheaded assholes at times, and right now was one of them.

Man, he was so glad they were alone in her office wing. The last thing he'd want to add to the pile of shit he already had to deal with would be for some of her engineers to have been watching on as God King Calypso shuffled awkwardly behind one of his department heads, whining for attention like some giant Skag pup while she completely ignored him. She always did when she got like this, when she was moments away from working herself into a frenzy he knew was coming because you could feel her foul temper like static in the air.

She'd throw all logic to the wind and then lash out at him, herself, the COV, everything, unless he got her to listen now before she blew... and each second that ticked by without her calming was another step further away from this ending amicably. Troy hated this. Every time it happened was needless stress for both of them, just another problem he needed to shoulder and try to find a resolution for, and it wasn't even his fucking fault this time.

He ran a hand down his face with a groan, rapidly losing hope as Sei continued to storm across the workshop ahead of him, rage hunching the curve of her shoulders while she muttered insults Troy hadn’t been able to quite make out.

"Janked up skinny little shit." Ah... He heard that one fine, and if he didn't know her as well as he did, he'd take the hitch in her voice as weakness rather than a warning.

"Arrogant, two-faced prick." Made that muttered one out too, almost as crystal clearly as his head would have made out the wrench she’d just flung viciously backwards from her workbench if he hadn’t retained his reflexes from years of hunting on Necrotafeyo. This wasn't his fault!

"Sei.." he comforted tentatively, warily eying the other tools within her reaching distance as he took a step closer to where she stood shaking in front of the bench. "Please. Trust me, ok.. It really ain't like that."

"Like what, Troy?" she growled over her shoulder, slamming a crowbar against the solid wood table as he winced behind her. "Like you're not telling me I need to get your fucking copyright brand engraved into my skin? Are you HEARING yourself?". He was, actually, and if she would for one goddamn second instead of getting this defensive, then they might finally get somewhere and not waste the rest of their night at each other's throats.

He was close enough to hear her deep breaths, fighting to get her emotions under control enough to continue without unwanted tears making him think she was anything but furious.

"...you want to mark me like I'm.. like I'm property?" the crack in her voice at the end hit hard, he felt that one like a gut punch. It didn't matter that he knew she was wrong, or that she was blowing it massively out of proportion, this wasn’t the reaction he had expected. Seifa was logical, generally. She pushed emotion out of the way of hard numbers, facts, she’d swallow her feelings to make way for profits... He'd thought she’d understand the same way he had when Tyreen had discussed her worries about the Saints, he’d thought she’d take it well. He'd been an idiot. Look at him now: standing behind his closest friend as she held back tears, both of them tired, frustrated, hurt, and Troy was unsure of how the hell this had even happened yet alone how to fix it.

Her head bowed with a sniffle she hadn’t manage to hold back, and he dropped his eyes to the workrooms gritty floor with a scowl. Easier to stare at the dirt and pretend he couldn't see how much this was hurting her than watch her shoulders tremble. He chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to see the path out of this mess. Maybe he could still pull things back, reassure her and salvage things.

The iron fist at his side flexed involuntarily, nerves firing on reflex as he sighed. "No Sei, and it's not about you, ok? It's not some grand attack aimed to undermine you specifically. Pleeeeaase, just listen. Hear me out for once. You know damn well I'm not in the habit of agreeing with Tyreen if she's in the wrong, she's right about this Seifa, an-"

She spun whip fast to face him, pointing accusingly up towards his jaw with far more threat than someone her height should rightfully be able to wield, and he jerked backwards, snapping out of his lethargy as he staring down his nose at the finger shaking below him in fury. He’d never seen her this upset before, indignant as she hissed breath through clenched teeth.

“I won't be fucking owned by you, boy." Seifa spat... and the clever bite in that insult wasn't missed.

He fought back a snarl, lip twitching as he met her glare. Here it was, he should have fucking known, here was the attack.She always did this, acted like there was nothing between them once she’d decided he’d riled her up, regardless of what had actually happened. Any affront on her pride was met with the same focused rage towards whoever she saw as the aggressor, and the chain of command ceased to exist instantly. Size, age, power, always treated him like he was some sick, stupid little kid, like she was always right and he never was... She never fucking listened to him.

Troy shifted on his feet, standing straighter as he stared down at her, pale and shivering below him. He gently pushed her finger away with a hand that dwarfed hers, and leaned forward, still towering above her even as he hunched to come closer to her eye level.

"Seifa." he hissed, jaw tight and frosty eyes narrowed to daggers. "YOU won't be owned by anyone. This has to happen, for all the Saints. This is how it needs to go. Ty’s right. I wasn't sure she was either but I checked in with our new advisor and he completely backed it up, not doing this would end in a waste of lives I'm not willing to lose even if you're apparently happy enough to risk the one I'm trying to save right now."

She laughed, a snorting wheeze with a smirk far too fake to remotely touch her eyes, and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest, cocking a hip in haughty challenge. "Ahhhh, I get it...” she tapped a finger to the center of his bare chest and smirked as she felt him flinch subtly beneath it. Troy sucked in a breath, but she cut him off before he’d even managed to get his next word out.

“So your new space wizard I've never so much as met, Ven was it? This Magic 8-ball lookin fucker gets to decide I'm marked as owned by you, Calypso? Funny... here I was thinking you were the big boy of this organisation, that it was you in charge... not that you were some weedling little shitbag bending to his big scary sister's demands while using a fucking scam artist he's been stupid enough to be taken for a ride by as his justificati-"

"STOP"

He immediately regretted the outburst as it echoed through the empty workshop, bouncing off the skeletons of technicals suspended from the ceilings and scrap metal pilled against walls. It was far louder than he’d intended at all, but the hurt little choking sound she made in response? That was even worse.

Troy whistled in a lungfull and held it, tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he counted down from three, tightening the steel fist by his side till the metal creaked in distress and interrupted the heavy silence.

The tension between them was palpable in the dark heat of the hangar, nothing to break the the uneasy quiet bar the murmuring hum of the machinery outside her sealed quarters. He slid his eyes open and lowered them to her at the end of his count.. but the tears she was struggling to hold back winded him, and he no longer felt the justification he needed when he realised how much she was hurting.

She looked away, lip trembling as her arms wrapped around herself, more for comfort now than to force an air of confidence. God, he wanted to fix this. He didn’t want to see Seifa small. She was meant to be unbreakable, not something that could be hurt at all. Troy lifted his hand to touch her shoulder but stopped, catching himself before his fingers brushed against her skin, reconsidering. It didn't feel right... he shouldn't. It wasn't what she needed, she needed...

"Sei.." he whispered, slowly lowering himself to his knees, waiting for her to shudder in some wracking breaths before gently placing mismatched hands on her hips and tugging her lightly, pulling her step by step closer to where he knelt In front of her. "L-look at me." he rumbled, voice soft and stutter unhidden.

Her red rimmed eyes shifted down to his from where he looked up at her, and he risked a lopsided smirk. She mirrored it shakily, breathing out a hitching laugh as she clumsily wiped a sleeve across her eyes, black liner smeared along her cheeks and ego dropped alongside the gesture, Just DeLeon and A'Rosk again, like before all this cult bullshit. God’s and titles be damned.

His thumb brushed across the ridge of her hip as she sniffed, waiting for him to continue. "Please Sei, j-just trust me on this, please, for once.”

“If some scumbag slaver got their hands on a transport vessel with a woman insisting she was a fuckin' Saint of the COV, it wouldn't mean shit. They wouldn’t believe it for a second. We're growing so fast Sei. So fast. In a month's time how many fakes you think there's gonna be, huh? How many people risking their necks for fame or favors by saying they're one of our Saints, huh? You know how supply and demand works b-better than I do..."

She nodded quietly, avoiding the concern in his eyes by staring at the curve of his jaw instead. He figured she was embarrassed, or still hurt maybe, but she was listening, and her hands slid from around her waist to lay on top of his.

That bloomed something warm in his stomach, flickering and deep. It was working, Troy was fixing this. She was listening and he wasn’t needing to pretend to be someone else to be heard for once, hadn’t needed to sneer and intimidate like he was playing a part that didn’t suit. She didn’t need threat to care, she cared too much if anything, he knew that, even if she hid it under layers of false hardness.

"Sei, telling people you’re a Saint won’t do anything if you’re in danger. OK? It won’t, it’s like.. zero protection. You know that, you’re cleverer than me and I know that, so stop b-bullshitting ok? Words aren't going to mean fuck all, but a symbol? A symbol can't be a lie. A symbol will keep you safe. Keep all of you safe as we keep getting bigger. No one would risk wearing our sigils without our blessing considerin' what we'll do to them. People will know it’s not a lie being made up on the spot cause right then the fear of them is greater than the fear of us."

He was right and she knew it. He’d won even if she hadn’t agreed yet. That was her too, a woman so stubborn that silent surrender didn’t cut her as deep as admitting defeat. Just like Tyreen. Just like Mom.

He squeezed slightly, shaking her gently and snorting out a chuckle at the wobble that ran up her torso as she shifted back and forth with his movements, failing miserably at pretending she didn't want to laugh. “Are you... are you negotiating with me and winning, Troy?” he could hear the playful challenge in that without needing to read it on her lips.

“Ohhhh you got me...” he cooed, pouting up at her from under dark eyelashes “I learned from the best though, nightmare to fuckin work with, she should get all the blame.”

That was it. That’s what he wanted. That ugly snotty laugh she choked out, the smeared makeup and terrible hair piled haphazardly on top of her head as her nose scrunched with the width of her smile. That was Seifa, not the cold shell she tried to hide behind when she encountered a threat to the control she’d built a lifetime of survival on.

He moved closer, a subtle shift that pressed his forehead against her stomach as he carefully leaned against her, voice dropping to a whisper as her hands moved to rest on either side of his collarbone. "Seifa, the danger out there is real. It's so r-real Sei and it's goin' to get more vicious and more aggressive every goddamn day as who you are and who you’re close to becomes so valuable, people will kill for a touch. It's not a brand. I promise, it’s not ownership. It's protection. It's to keep you safe. You aren’t property, you’re not. I mean, God. Like you could be owned, like I could ever have y-"

The words caught in his throat as she dropped to her knees on the dirt floor, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug so tight that he could feel her shuddering sobs echo through her chest and into his ribs.

Good timing, he realised with a wave of confused emotion.

Really good timing.

Asks are Open!

#Borderlands #borderlands 3 #bl3 #troy calypso #calypso twins #seifa #leech lord #lldrabbles #my writing #my hcs

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morwensteelsheen · 3 years

Text

unfinished emyn arnen kid ficlet below

Inspired by an anecdote from this article about Mark Twain.

The day had been sunny and bright, pungent with opportunity for adventure and misadventure, though Théo had immediately forsaken the potential for fun by slipping off to the gardens with a thick book from Ada’s library.

Left to his own devices, Elboron had gone out in search of peril in the great, impregnable hills of Emyn Arnen, and had found it in spades. There, he had defeated orcs, stormed the ancient and troll-infested tombs of Dwarrowdelf, and forced back the Southron invaders.

Satisfied with his defence of the realm, he had tromped back towards the house, mindful of the setting sun and Mother’s explicit instructions to never be out past dark.

Midway up the garden path, in sight of the large metal gates that marked home territory, he was besieged by a very new foe: a fluttering page, which whipped across his nose before swirling down and down, coming to rest on the dusty pavers.

When the page settled, it became apparent to him that it was far more interesting than the books Ada and Théo read, not least because it had a brilliant illustration on it.

And so, judging that there was still sun enough in the sky to finish the page, Elboron sat against the hedges and read it in its entirely. And then read it again. And then once more for good measure.

The story was mesmerising: a young princess with hair spun from gold, ensnared by a snake and a dark wizard. The princess was trapped in a cage made of mithril, wearing nothing more than her undergarments. The scoundrels who had stolen her clothes were attempting to terrify the princess into surrendering her crown to the dark wizard.

But then the story ended abruptly, continued on the pages that he did not have and could not find. Enthralled by the story, Elboron immediately ran home, clutching the page to his chest so as not to risk losing it. He had to know what happened to the princess, and if there was anybody in all the world who would know what became of her, it was surely Ada.

Inside, he circled all the rooms of the house until, at long last, he found the entire family tucked away in Ada’s study. Théo sat on the floor nearest the window, book on her knees and face in hands. Mother perched on the arm of Ada’s chair, both of their heads bent over something immeasurably dull.

As soon as he spilled through the door, he took several gasping breaths. Then, with Ada and Mother’s attention secured, he read the story off from the page. He read well, he thought, even stretching himself to do voices for all the characters that spoke.

Mother appeared to quite like the story, and her eyes brightened as they did when she thought she had won something. Ada, by stark and worrying contrast, seemed to grow more and more agitated the longer he spoke, until his jaw was set in a firm, imposing line.

“But,” said Elboron breathlessly, “I have only one page and do not know the end of the story!”

“Do you not?” asked Théo from the window, brow furrowed. “Are you quite sure?”

Mother shot Théo one of her characteristic looks that usually meant that Théo was being too much of what Ada called “precocious.”

“He’ll have to learn to think eventually,” Théo muttered, and Elboron scowled at her.

But he had a mission and would not be deterred, so he turned away from his sister and back towards his parents.

“Ada, as a prince surely you must know of the princess,” he pleaded.

“Oh, honestly,” said Théo, slamming her book shut and earning herself another rebuke from Mother, though Mother’s humour remained generally good.

“I might know something about it,” said Ada, looking perturbed by something written in the ledger in front of him.

“I don’t remember quite so few clothes,” said Mother to Ada with a wicked grin. Ada neither returned it nor rose to its challenge, which worried Elboron.

“Do you know the princess then?” He asked, stumbling forward to flatten the page against Ada’s desk. Mother reached forward to take it, smoothing it between her fingers.

“Oh I certainly don’t know any princesses.”

“Almárînde,” said Elboron.

“Adanára,” said Théo, then returned to her book.

“Princesses who might have been in this particular condition,” Mother corrected, then laughed merrily and passed the page to Ada.

He looked at it long and hard and a furrow appeared between his brows.

“So?” asked Elboron, struck by impatience.

“So,” said Ada. “There has been a long, hard fall from grace for our esteemed historians.”

“Oh,” admonished Mother, squeezing his arm. “It’s a caricature, nobody was harmed, least of all its subject.”

“And who was its subject?” pressed Elboron.

Théo groaned dramatically. “Bron, use your brain. The princess is mama, the cage didn’t exist, and the story ends with,” she waved her hands in the air, the household symbol for no living man am I! “And there was certainly no nudity.”

“Well,” said Mother.

“No,” said Ada firmly. Mother laughed once more.

Elboron, not content with the answer, sighed. “Then what was real?”

“The wizard,” said Mother. And then after a long pause, “The snake.”

“The cage was made of stronger stuff than mithril,” said Ada, and Mother looked at him in the way that spurred both Elboron and Théo alike to gagging noises.

Once they had recovered from their fit, Elboron continued his investigation: “But why change the story?”

“I suppose,” said Mother with an enormous sigh, “that the real story is not half so sympathetic as the tale of a gentle maiden beset upon by magics outwith the ken of ordinary men.”

“I think your story is far more interesting,” said Théo with an indignant sniff.

“And I thank you for that,” Mother replied with a warm smile.

#e writes #théo as a little know-it-all shit is very funny to me #elboron not exactly dumb but just very much interested in Other Things #also lmao that Mark Twain anecdote really is something eh

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longitudinalwaveme · 4 years

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Where Are The Ghostbusters When You Need Them?

Hi! Thanks for checking out my story!

Despite the title, the story actually does not feature the Ghostbusters, but it does feature the Flash Rogues. That's almost as good, right?

The story can't really fit anywhere canonically since Evan and Sam are alive simultaneously, among other things, but hopefully it'll be an enjoyable story anyhow.

Mirror Master I: You ever seen one of those creepy houses? You know, the ones with broken windows and crumbling spires and ivy growing all over them? The ones that used to belong to super rich people and are now allegedly owned by some mysterious “third cousin once removed” that no one’s ever actually seen? The ones that stupid teenagers dare each other to spend the night in? Well, Central City has one of those creepy houses. Or, more accurately, Central City’s Pine Woods suburb has one of those creepy houses. It’s commonly known as the old Jackson place. It's a three-story mansion, with broken windows, crumbling stone, a creepy staircase, massive spires....the works. It was even used as a set for a horror movie back in the 80s. Even though it technically isn’t in the city proper, it’s close enough that everyone knows about the house-and the stories surrounding it. Allegedly, the old Jackson place was built by Adolphus Jackson in 1792, after he immigrated from somewhere in Ireland with his family. They were Central City’s first settlers (the Rathaways were second). He and his wife, Betty, had sixteen kids (although only ten survived to adulthood). All the dead kids were buried in the backyard of the house, so things are already getting creepy. (Some people say that you can hear crying when you go by the house, and other people have claimed to see ghostly children.) His oldest son, Jared, inherited the house when old man Jackson died in 1846. (He was buried behind the house, and yep, people have claimed to see him, too.) Jared worked alongside Martin Garrick (yes, he IS related to Jay Garrick) and my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Shawn Scudder, in Central City’s Underground Railroad. (Am I shaming my heritage? Yeah, probably. Moving on.) People have claimed to see the ghosts of slaves and such around the old Jackson place, and they’ve also claimed to see the ghosts of Harold and Rufus Jackson, an uncle and nephew who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. In 1877, Jared died, and his second son, Arnold, inherited the house. (His oldest son was Harold, who died at the Battle of Chancellorsville.) Arnold got married to his second cousin, which is several levels of weird, and he added onto the house, making it a lot bigger and more impressive looking. He died in 1885, after adding to the family’s sizable fortune, and his son, Bernard, inherited the house and made it even fancier. Bernard is also where the really messed up stories about the Jackson place begin, as his oldest son, Robert, fell in love with a girl his father hated (partially because he had planned for his son to marry Lydia Rathaway, Piper’s great-great-great aunt). Their arguments over it got really nasty, and so eventually Robert ran away with his chick and got married to her, only for his father to threaten to cut him off. Sonny boy decided that he wanted the money more than his wife, and he abandoned her and was remarried to Piper’s great-great-great aunt. There was only one snag: his old wife had gotten pregnant and drowned herself in the pond (now dried up) on the back of the property to get revenge a few days after her baby was born. (People claim to see her ghost quite frequently.) Her parents, the Desmonds (and the Rathaways, who were mad that Bernard had had his son marry their daughter when he already had a wife) sued the pants off the Jacksons and the family was reduced to semi-poverty. Robert hung himself a few weeks after the lawsuit was settled (he allegedly haunts the house, too) and Bernard started drinking. A lot. He died in 1910 (probably from alcohol poisoning) and the estate was inherited by his only surviving offspring, a 19-year-old daughter named Alicia, who became a librarian and never married. (Alicia didn’t live in the house after the age of 21, probably because of all the bad memories, but people still see her ghost there.) She died in 1971, and the house, which had sat unused for over three decades, had already gained a reputation as being massively haunted, a reputation that only increased when some stupid 17-year-old broke into the house on a dare, fell down the old stairs in the dark, and broke his neck in 1995. (Since then, people have claimed to see HIS ghost as well.) So you get the point: the old Jackson place is massively haunted, massively creepy, and massively empty, so, of course, Captain Cold decided that we needed to break into the place on Halloween. Now, to be fair, we do something to get our adrenaline up every year on Halloween, but there’s a difference between going to a commercial haunted house, where nothing is real, and going to an old house that might actually be haunted, especially when said old house is falling apart and everyone is wearing ridiculous costumes (as we do every year). Earlier in the month, we had decided to dress up as classic movie monsters. Or at least I thought we had. As it turned out, some people had badly missed the memo….

Mirror Master II: Okay, so maybe the scarecrow costume I had wasnae all that scary, but it wasnae my fault! How was I supposed to ken that all the scary scarecrow costumes would be sold out by October 24? I wasnae PLANNING to be the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz! But I’m off topic. All of us had agreed to meet on the front lawn before we broke into the haunted house, so at 7:00 PM on Halloween night, I got into me costume and went to the lawn. Golden Glider (dressed as a vampire), Scudder (dressed as a zombie), the Trickster (dressed as a bedsheet ghost), Captain Boomerang (dressed as Frankenstein’s monster), and the Pied Piper (dressed as the Phantom of the Opera) were already there, and, of course, as soon as he saw me costume, Scudder started laughing. “They were sold out of the scary costumes, ye eejit,” I said. “Then why didn’t you alter it or something? You don’t look scary at all!” Scudder asked. “Hey, at least I look scarier than the Trickster. And besides, not all of us be seamstresses, Scudder,” I replied. (He’d made his own costume and thought that nobody knew. Eejit.) Scudder flushed and suddenly became very interested in the bushes. At this point, Captain Cold showed up in cat ears. That was his whole costume. Otherwise, he jus’ looked like a hockey fan (which he be). His sister-a bonnie lassie, she-wasnae pleased with that. “Lenny, you were supposed to dress up as something scary!” “I did. I’m a werecat.” I’m nae sure why he thought that would be convincing. “Oh, come on! You didn’t even try!”“I never try. Why are you acting like this is something new?” The Glider threw up her hands. “Because you promised me you would try this year!” “I have a tail. Does that make it better?” The Glider rolled her eyes.“I give up.” She tossed her golden hair over her shoulder-I tell ye, she is a bonnie lass-and went to talk with the Piper. The Weather Wizard showed up a few seconds later, and I saw soomthing I never wanted to see: him in a dress. “What are ye supposed tae be, me gran?” The Wizard scowled.“I’m a witch!” I looked at him oddly. “Ye could have been a werewolf, and ye decided tae be a witch?”“It’s thematic! You know: wizards are magic; witches are magic….” I laughed. “Look, if ye want to dress up like a lassie, ye kin. Just donae expect me tae understand why.” The Wizard stormed off, and the Top arrived on the lawn, dressed as a gigantic top. Scudder laughed so hard that he had tae sit down, and I laughed pretty heartily myself. “What is so amusing?” the Top asked. Naebody bothered to explain that it was because he wasnae cooperating with the theme, because we all knew he wouldnae listen. “They’re just being stupid, sweetie pie. You look amazing,” the Glider said. (I’m nae sure if she meant it or if she was just trying to calm him doon.) Luckily for the Top, Heat Wave decided to show up at this point, and his costume made Captain Boomerang laugh so hard he wet himself and made me laugh so hard that I had to join Scudder on the ground, so everyone forgot about him. “Why are you wearing a tutu?” Captain Cold asked (as soon as he was capable of speech again.)“Well, I was gonna be Frankenstein, but Digger stole my idea, and I didn’t have any other ideas, so I decided that me in a tutu was scarier than any monster,” Heat Wave replied. I looked him over again and immediately wished I had nae doon it. He was right; the sight of a 6’6”, 250 pound man in a frilly pink tutu is more terrifying than any monster. His logic seemed to work on everyone else, too, because Captain Cold quickly changed the subject. “Okay, are we ready?” Scudder raised an eyebrow. “To break into the creepy ghost house? No, but I know I’m doing it anyway,” he replied. (At the time, I thought that he was being a wet blanket, but as it turned out, he was right to be a tad worried.) “As long as we’re bringing flashlights, I suppose so,” the Piper said. (He had been against going to the haunted house, tae, but he had been opposed to it because of some kid who had died there back in the 90s because the house didnae have lights, not because of Scudder’s ghosties, which he didnae believe in. Because of that, he had changed his tune after Cold promised him that he could bring a flashlight if he wanted tae.)“Then let’s go,” Captain Cold ordered. With that, Scudder and I transported everyone to the house via Mirror Realm. Having only lived in Central City for a year, I had never seen it before, and I was a tad freaked out by what I saw. The house itself wasnae too bad, but the creepy dead grass and trees, and the graveyard in the back of the house, were spooky, especially under the huge moon.“‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here?’ Really?” Golden Glider said scornfully, pointing at a sign in the yard. Her brother shrugged. “Probably some kid’s idea of a prank.” Piper, meanwhile, was looking nervously at a different sign. “Cold, this sign is from the government. It says the building is condemned. Are you sure we’ll be safe to go in there?” he asked. “Since when do we care what the government thinks?” Captain Cold replied. “When a building might collapse on our heads!” Piper exclaimed. “And when it’s haunted!” Scudder added, sounding happy to have an excuse tae go home. Captain Cold sighed and rolled his eyes. “Piper, if the house seems like it’s gonna collapse on us, we’ll just have Scudder and the Scotsman transport us out. We’ll be fine,” he said. Piper seemed to relax.“Good point,” he said. Sam didn’t look as calm. “But what about the ghosts?” he asked. “Sam, ghosts don’t exist. They’re a product of overactive imagination and too many horror stories,” the Piper replied, only for Captain Boomerang to join the conversation.“They are too real! My second cousin’s ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend’s dad’s third cousin’s aunt saw one!” he exclaimed, sounding offended. Piper didnae look convinced. “That’s hardly conclusive proof of-” he began, only tae be cut off by Captain Cold. “Enough about ghosts! Let’s go inside already!” he exclaimed. With that, Trickster picked the lock on the door. He pushed it open, producing a loud CREAK, and then we went inside.

Weather Wizard: I’m going to tell you a secret: the witch costume was an accident. I swear, I thought I ordered the Dark Wizard costume, but when I opened up the package a week before Halloween, I found a witch costume instead, and because I didn’t have another two weeks to wait (or any more money) I was stuck with it and just decided to pretend it had been my plan the whole time to save face. (At least it matched the theme, unlike cats, tops, and ballerinas.) But I digress. So, after the Trickster picked the lock, we went inside and Piper and Cold turned on their flashlights. The hallway contained cobwebs and a moth-eaten carpet, but nothing else.

“We'll cover more ground if we divide and conquer, so let’s split up into groups and search this place for valuables. Lisa, you’re with me. Scudder, you’re with McCulloch. Mardon, you’re with Rory. Rathaway, you’re with Jesse. Dillon, you’re with Harkness,” Cold barked.

“WE’RE SPLITTING UP? That’s like the #1 way to die in a haunted house!” Scudder whined. (As it turned out, he was right to be worried, but at the time, I thought he was overreacting.) Hartley sighed.

“Sam, ghosts do not exist,” he said. (He was wrong.) Then he turned to Cold and asked,

“How will the Mirror Masters be able to transport us to safety if we’re not in the same part of the house?” Cold rolled his eyes.

“Piper, unless there’s an earthquake, the Mirror Masters will be able to get to all of us before the house falls. They basically have access to a teleportation system. We’ll be fine,’” Cold replied. Piper didn’t look entirely convinced, but he didn’t keep arguing.

“Why am I with Harkness? He’s an uncultured boor,” Dillon demanded.

“Well, I ain’t too fond of you, either, you wowser!” Harkness yelled.

“Why can’t I be with Roscoe, Lenny?” Lisa asked. Cold sighed wearily.

“Fine. Dillon, you’re with Lisa. Harkness, you’re with me. Sam, stop whining. Now let’s go!” Cold exclaimed. McCulloch saluted, dragged Scudder into a mirror, and vanished, and the rest of us fanned out to search the house. After walking through some more cobwebby hallways, Mick and I reached what I assumed was the living room. The room was filled with decaying furniture and mysterious old knicknacks, everything was covered in cobwebs, and part of the roof had fallen in. Seeing this, I had to wonder if the Piper had been right about the dangers of the building.

“How long do you think it’s been since someone touched any of this?” Mick asked me.

“If I had to guess, I’d say at least forty years,” I replied. I glanced out the window and noticed that a cloud had covered part of the moon and that the rest of it had turned red, and I shuddered. “Mick, there’s a blood moon.” I said quietly.

“So? They talked about that on the news,” Mick replied as he started pawing through the knicknacks laying on the floor.

“Never mind,” I said quickly as I joined him. I didn’t want him to think I was scared or anything. Several minutes later, we were still sorting through things and had found nothing but a broken teacup, a broken porcelain doll, and a dusty beaded shawl.

“I hope the whole house ain’t like this. If it is, Captain Cold’ll be mad,” Mick said. I shrugged.

“That’s his problem, not mine.” I heard a rumble of thunder in the distance, and, a few seconds later, the sobs of a child. Mick looked up from the floor in shock.

“Did you hear that?” he asked me.

“The thunder, or the kid crying?”

“The kid crying!” I nodded.

“Yeah, I heard it too. Why?”

“Because we need to go help that kid!” he replied. I rolled my eyes.

“Mick, we’re here to get rich, not help some kid.” Mick ignored me and pulled me in the direction of the crying sound, despite my attempts to break free from his grasp. We had gotten halfway across the living room when we saw a little girl. Her hair was in...uh, ringlets, I think they’re called?-and her dress came down to the floor. She was crying (of course) and Mick went over to her.

“Hey, there, little one. Are you lost?” he asked gently. I thought about leaving Mick with the girl and continuing to search for loot, but there was something about the little girl that made it impossible for me to pull away, and NOT in a “she’s so small and helpless” way. Mick reached out to put his hand on the girl’s shoulder-and his hand went straight through her! My knees went weak under me, and then the world went black. When I came to, I found myself on a dusty couch. I looked around the room and saw Mick waving good-bye to the vanishing ghost.

“Oh, hey, Mark. Glad to see you up-although there wasn’t really a reason for you to faint like that. Georgia was just worried that we were gonna hurt her doll. When I told her we weren’t, she cheered right up and went away,” he said cheerfully.

“The ghost has a name? And is friendly?” I asked. Mick nodded.

“I don’t even think she knew she was dead. Poor little thing,” he said, and I sighed in relief.

“In that case, let’s get back to work. If she’s the only ghost here, we’ve got nothing to worry about,” I said. (Famous last words.) With that, the two of us continued our search of the living room.

Trickster: The Piper and I- James Jesse, con artist extraordinaire-decided to investigate the attic. I’m a horror movie junkie, so if I’m breaking into a haunted house, what better place to get that adrenaline rush than the attic? Piper and I climbed three sets of narrow, creaky, cracked, cobwebby stairs to the attic (although Piper got winded halfway up the second flight and I had to drag him up the last one). Then I opened the door to see lots of cobwebs, a shattered mirror, a broken window, an old, rusted bedframe, some old-fashioned cabinets, a sword, an old rocking horse (sadly, it was too small for me), and a bunch of other old stuff. The roof was low, and it was really dark. My heart pounded, but in a good way.

“This is so much better than the fake haunted houses! We should go here every year!” I exclaimed. Piper swept his flashlight from left to right, and then started examining the boring knick knacks that were lying around. I pulled out a yo-yo and some bubble gum and waited eagerly for the walls to start dripping blood. After about two minutes, Piper pulled a stack of old papers out of one of the cabinet drawers.

“James, these are from the Civil War!” he exclaimed excitedly. I yawned.

“So?” I asked. Piper looked shocked.

“James, these are valuable historical documents! If they’re really as old as they look, they could provide priceless information about the role of Central City in the Civil War!”

“Can they summon a ghost?” Piper sighed.

“No. They cannot.” I blew a particularly large bubble.

“Then I’m not interested. Let’s find something that CAN summon a ghost!” Piper rolled his eyes.

“James, you’re not going to find something that can summon a ghost, because ghosts-” Suddenly, the windows rattled and we heard a loud moan.

“Don’t exist?” Piper squeaked. Five seconds later, a transparent man with a noose around his neck appeared and floated towards us. Piper screamed and bolted down the stairs, and I whooped with joy and followed him, narrowly missing the ghost’s clammy hands.

“Catch me if you can, you stupid ghost!” I yelled. I followed the Piper to the second floor and into a spooky old bathroom, complete with dusty mirror, a big tub with clawed feet, a broken toilet, and a sink. Mold was growing in the sink and on the walls, and I grinned. This day just kept getting better and better! Piper slammed the door and locked it behind us.His chest was heaving and he looked exhausted. (Rich kids don’t have much reason to be athletic.)

“You were saying?” I asked ‘sweetly’. Piper gave me a death glare.

“NOT the time!” Piper said. I laughed.

“Do you really think a locked door will keep out a ghost? It can’t even keep us out!” I asked him. Piper’s face went white, and he ran over to the dirty mirror.

“Sam! McCulloch! Get us home now!” he yelled. There was no response.

“Piper, you know the Mirror Realm doesn’t work that way. You can only talk to them through it if they want you to, and if they haven’t had the good luck to run into a ghost, they won’t be able to guess that you might want them to pick us up.” I said as I played with my yo-yo. Piper whimpered and buried his head in his hands, then started muttering incomprehensibly as I whistled merrily.

“How can you be so happy?” Piper demanded after a few minutes.I grinned.

“Kid, we’re being chased by a real, honest-to-goodness ghost! It doesn’t get more awesome than that!” Just then, the ghost drifted through the door, and I pulled out my camera and started snapping pictures as Piper screamed.

“We’regoingtodiewe’regoingtodiewe’regoingto die !” He darted to the door, fumbled with the lock, and opened it just as the ghost brushed his clammy fingers against his back. He screamed louder and ran down the hall. I snapped a few more photos, stuck my tongue out at the ghost,and followed Piper. The ghost roared angrily and flew after me. I caught up with Piper after about a minute and lead him into a dumbwaiter, then slammed the door behind us.

“James, how is this closet preferable to hiding in the bathroom? The ghost can still walk through walls!” Piper demanded.

“Piper, YOU’RE the one who had all the servants. Shouldn’t you know what a dumbwaiter is?”

“I know what a dumbwaiter is,I have just never seen one before. I was not allowed to spend time with the servants.You can hardly blame me for mistaking it for a closet. Besides, my point still stands: why would hiding in here keep us safe from the ghost?” I laughed.

“Piper, that ghost is Robert Jackson, who hung himself because he wasn’t rich anymore and gave up the love of his life for money! Entering the dumbwaiter that the servants used would be beneath him. As long as we’re in here, we’re safe. For a guy who’s college educated, you sure are stupid,” I explained. Piper frowned.

“You were taking selfies with the ghost, and I’M stupid?” he yelled. I smiled “innocently”.

“I never said I wasn’t stupid...but I’m not a graduate from Harvard, either. But I knew how to save us from the ghost, and you didn’t,” I replied. Hartley sighed wearily.

“Whatever you say, James...but how did you know what a dumbwaiter is? You thought that the American Civil War started in 1961 until last month, so you cannot have known about them from history, and you were not wealthy, so you cannot have had servants who used one,” he asked.

“My Nonna Gianna was a maid for a wealthy family in Italy when she was a girl, and she used a dumbwaiter when she worked for them,” I explained.

“Wait...you’re Italian?” Hartley asked.

“Sí. Well, Italian-American, anyhow.My paternal grandparents immigrated from Italy in 1935 after Mussolini took over and invaded Ethiopia. When they got to America, they joined the Big Circus because my Nonno Antonio had been an acrobat in Italy. They had a whole lot of kids, and my dad was the youngest. He was born in 1955, and he married my mother, who was a second-generation Italian immigrant herself, in 1980. I was born eight years later,” I explained.

“But your name is James Jesse! That doesn’t sound remotely Italian!” Hartley protested.

“Hel-lo! My nonni were Italian immigrants performing for the American public at the height of World War II! They took stage names: Jesse for the last name, and Rosie and Jared for their first names. By the end of the war, they’d gotten so famous under the Jesse name that they couldn’t really change it back to their real one, so they just kept the stage name. My dad’s real name was Alessandro, but he called himself Jacob. My mother’s name really was Helen, though, because her parents had given her an American name. My real name’s actually Giovanni Giuseppe. How’s that for a mouthful?” I exclaimed.

“Sai parlare italiano?” Piper asked.

“Nonni, nonna, nonno, pizza, spaghetti, Venice, Rome, sí, il Dulche, Mamma Mia, madre, padre, nipote, figlia, figlio,Ti amo, caro, Coinvolgimi, bella noche, Dov'è la birra? That’s all the Italian I know. Well, that and a lot of swear words,” I replied.

“En d’autres termes, tu sais autant d’italien comme vous le français?” Piper asked. I looked at him oddly.

“English?”

“So, in other words, you know as much Italian as you do French?” he replied.

“Yeah, pretty much. Not everyone can afford tutors for twenty languages,” I said.

“I only speak six languages-Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese, and I can only write in the first four. I’m passable in Arabic and Russian, too, but I’d hardly say I can speak twenty languages.” I grinned evilly.

“Let’s go find some more ghosts!” I exclaimed.

“No! I’m staying right here, where it’s safe,” Piper yelled.

“Spoilsport,” I said. I started using my yo-yo again.

Captain Cold: So, as I guess you already know, I ended up partnered with Captain Koala, because he and Roscoe insisted on being stubborn morons. I wanted to look for the safe, but Digger insisted that we go to the kitchen because he was hungry, and, since Digger seems to have an immunity to food poisoning, I figured it would probably be safe to let him eat 85-year-old food, and feeding him would get him to shut his big mouth besides. Digger, who practically has an internal homing device for food, found the kitchen in about a minute flat. The kitchen was dusty, covered in cobwebs, and filled with a lot of rusted-out junk, and it was so dark that, without my flashlight, I don't think I would've been able to see two feet in front of me. It was a little creepy, I’m not gonna lie. But I don’t scare easy, so I started pawing around for valuables while Digger found the world’s oldest box of crackers and started digging in. I found a bunch of silver spoons and shoved them into my bag…and then something weird happened. A really attractive lady appeared out of basically nowhere and walked right through me like she couldn’t even see me. It felt like when I accidentally shot myself with my cold gun, and I frowned. Ghosts weren’t supposed to exist. However, I had business to do, so I ignored the ghost lady and went back to my work. Digger, on the other hand, didn’t take the ghost so well. He let out a string of Australian swear words, yelled something about a “ghost sheila” (knowing him, it was probably the exact opposite of polite), grabbed his crackers, and started to run. I grabbed him by his scarf before he could exit the room.

“Let me go, you bloody loon! You’ve got kangaroos loose in your top paddock if you want to stay here with a ghost, Cold!” Digger yelled.

“Stop freaking out, Digger. She doesn’t have any weapons, she’s not dripping blood, and she’s not bad to look at besides. Just ignore her. We have work to do.” Digger looked closer at the ghost and grinned.

“Bloody oath! She is a beautiful Sheila, ain’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty. I just said that. Now get to work.” I said. Digger ignored me and walked over to the ghost.

“G’day, Sheila. I’m Captain George Harkness of the Australian Secret Service. Who are you?” he asked. (He tells every girl he takes a fancy to that he worked/works for the Australian Secret Service. It’d be a great pick up line if it wasn’t a total lie.) I rolled my eyes as I helped myself to some fine china plates. Was Digger seriously hitting on a ghost?

“Is Australia a northern state, Master Harkness?” the ghost asked. She sounded terrified, and had an accent I couldn’t quite place. Digger laughed.

“Oz? In the North? Sheila, it’s called the Land Down Under for a reason,” he replied. The ghost looked terrified and started to cry. I tried valiantly to ignore the sound and shoved the remainder of the china into my bag.

“What’re you crying for, Sheila?” Digger asked, sounding annoyed.

“B-b-because if you a Southern soldier, you gonna take me and my baby back to slavery!” I noticed that she was, indeed, carrying a baby and grimaced. I did NOT have time for dealing with this crud. Digger walked back over to me.

“I didn’t notice she had an anklebiter. She’s a lovely sheila, but not enough for me to want to be a daddy. And why’s she wailing about slavery?” he asked.

“How should I know? I dropped out of high school at 14, and I don’t have many dealings with ghosts,” I replied in annoyance as the ghost’s wailings got louder. She moved rapidly toward Digger and fell on her knees.

“Please, don’t take my baby, Master Harkness. Let him be free, please, please!” she begged. Digger shot me a pleading look, and I sighed wearily. How did Digger get himself-and me- into these situations?

“Look, lady, we don’t want you or your baby. Now go on, shoo. You and the kid are free, and “Master Harkness” and I have business to do,” I said. The ghost stared.

“Ain’t you Confederate soldiers?” she asked, obviously confused.. Digger and I looked at each other in equal confusion.

“What’s a Confederate?” Digger asked the ghost.

“They’s the soldiers who be fighting to make their own country,” she replied.

“What’s she talking about?” Digger asked me. I shrugged.

“The Civil War…..I think,” I said, drawing desperately from my memories of 8th grade history.

“You mean the war you Yanks had between each other? What’s that gotta do with this sheila?” I racked my brains for any connection between the two and wished that I hadn’t chosen 8th grade history as the class to sleep through.

“Um...she was talking about slavery…I think the South had slaves...probably….and that was maybe why the war started? Possibly? And-and since you said you were from the South, and she’s probably about as well-educated as we are, she didn’t realize that you meant you were from another continent entirely, and so she thought that you were gonna want to make her a slave again,” I said, feeling pretty proud of myself for figuring all that out.

“Didja hear that, Sheila? I’m not a Confederate, whatever that means! Australia’s an island. It ain’t part of America. Now, it’s London to the brick that I’m dangerous, so you probably wanna steer clear of me, but I’m not gonna be taking you to slavery, neither. And, hey, if you got any single friends without anklebiters,, tell ‘em t’ look up Captain Harkness, will ya?” Digger told her cheerfully.

“I..I’m free?” she asked quietly.

“As a bird. Now get outta here. You’re safe in this city,” I told her flatly.

“Thank you, sir! Thank you!” she said. She kissed her baby, and they passed through the kitchen wall and vanished into thin air. As soon as she was gone, I glared at Digger.

“Okay, now that you’re done hitting on a ghost, can we get back to work, please?” I asked.

“If you want to, that’s fair dinkum. I’m gonna go back to my chips,” Digger said. He tried to walk back to the table, but I grabbed him by the scarf before he could and forced him to clear out the rest of the valuables while I took a smoke break. He swore colorfully in Australian the entire time, but I ignored him. He was just packing the last of the chinaware away when another ghost, this one holding a gun, showed up. One look at him told me that we were in trouble, and so I ran out of the room, Digger hot on my heels.

Golden Glider: So, while Mick and Marky-Mark were in the living room, James and Hartley were running around like lunatics, and Lenny and Digger were running away from history as much as they were running away from ghosts, Roscoe and I had decided to investigate the backyard. It contained a rotting porch and a small cemetery, one which was surrounded by a wrought iron fence. It was quite dark, because there were no porch lights, but that just made it all the more romantic. As soon as we left the house, I snuggled up close against Roscoe and we both sat down on the one intact porch step. “Isn’t the darkness so romantic?” I asked him. He looked puzzled, and it was adorable. “I believe that the darkness is the absence of light, my darling,” he said. I tittered. “You’re so funny, Roscoe,” I cooed. He smiled. “I am glad I have pleased you, sweetums,” he said. A cloud moved and revealed the moon, big and red and lovely. I pointed at it in excitement. “Roscoe, look at the moon! Isn’t it beautiful? Doesn’t it remind you of us?” I asked. Roscoe looked concerned. “My darling, the moon is a celestial body that revolves around the Earth. I do not see how it can remind you of us. Did no one teach you about the nature of the moon? It is not a human being,” he said. I sighed; having forgotten how literal Roscoe can be. “Roscoe, dear, I was speaking figuratively. I said it was like us because it’s beautiful, just like we are,” I explained. Roscoe’s eyes lit up in understanding. “I see. Forgive my confusion, my darling,” he said. I kissed him on the cheek. “Of course, honey,” I replied. He kissed me on my cheek, and then I kissed him full on the lips. We were still embracing five minutes later, when a young girl in a white dress appeared. She was completely transparent, and stared at us in silence for a few seconds. “Are you lovers?” she asked quietly. “We are indeed, and my Lisa is a goddess among women,” Roscoe replied. Her face fell, and then twisted into fury. “How dare you flaunt your happiness in front of the grave of a poor rejected woman? Is it not enough that I was rejected by my Robert? Is it not enough that I killed myself of despair? Must I be mocked by your love as well? For your impudence, I will make you suffer as I have suffered!” she screamed. She moved over to Roscoe, kissed him on the lips (please don’t ask me HOW) and then disappeared. Roscoe shoved me off his lap violently and stood up. “Get off of me, you wretch!” he spat. The words felt like a blow. “R-R-Roscoe, what….what’s wrong?” Roscoe had never talked to me like that before, and in that moment I saw Lewis-my “father”-in his face. “You are what is wrong! I am a gentleman, and you-you are common trash. Why I was mad enough to kiss you I’ll never understand!” Roscoe said coldly. “What are you saying?” I asked. “I am saying that I have had enough of dating a welfare queen,” Roscoe replied. Normally, I would have struck back, but I was so bewildered by his behavior that I just stared at him. After a few seconds, he scowled. “What are you staying for, you pathetic wretch? Leave me!” he ordered, and I found my tongue. “No, Roscoe. I am staying right here with you. You may not think you love me anymore, but you will not drive me away. I won’t give you the pleasure of ordering me around like a dog,” I said. “Why not? You are a dog,” Roscoe spat. I moved to slap him, but before I could, we were interrupted by another ghost, this one wielding a old-timey gun, who charged at us. I kicked at the ghost on impulse, but, of course, it went straight through him. While I was distracted, Roscoe abandoned me, but after I regained my balance, I rushed after him and we went into the dining room. “Stop chasing me, you hussy!” he yelled. “I’m not chasing you, I’m running away from the ghost,” I said. As if on cue, the ghost lifted a table and threw it at Roscoe’s head. I pushed him out of the way and narrowly avoided being hit myself. “Why did you save me? It will not make me love a woman like you,” he demanded harshly. This time, I did slap him. “You’re welcome,” I spat. Roscoe frowned. “You dare lay a hand on a gentleman?” he demanded. Before he could continue, however, the ghost levitated all six chairs in the room, and so I grabbed him and pulled him into the hallway. A series of loud crashes followed almost immediately. “I notice that you don’t complain when I touch you in order to save your life,” I said pointedly. Roscoe sniffed haughtily and didn’t reply. Under normal circumstances, I would have led us to the door and left the house, but with Roscoe acting so strangely, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to leave only for Roscoe to keep treating me like dirt, so I decided to stay and take charge of the situation. “All right, so where do we go from here?” I asked. Roscoe scowled. “‘We’ are not going anywhere. Have I not made my disdain for you utterly clear? I am going to one of the bedrooms to go to sleep, and you-I care not where you go, so long as you stay away from me,” he said. I shook my head firmly. “No, we’re staying together. Even if you really do hate me, from a logical standpoint you’re obviously safer with me around,” I replied. Roscoe pondered this for a few seconds, then nodded. “Very well. We will stick together. However, let me make one thing clear: I do not love you. Our current predicament does not change that,” he said, and I felt my heart break. I slapped him again and said, “Fine! See if I care!” With that, I pulled Roscoe up the stairs to the second floor and into one of the bedrooms, which contained an canopy bed, a broken window, an old armorie, and a painting of a handsome young man. The plaque beneath it read "Robert Jackson, beloved son". It was a picture of the man who had spurned his lover. How appropriate. Roscoe laid down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately (he is definitely not a night owl) and I started crying. How had this perfectly romantic night gone so badly awry?

Mirror Master II: After a quick trip through the Mirror Realm, Scudder and I arrived in the basement. It was awfy dark doon there, I’m nae gonna lie, but the way Scudder was reacting, you’d have thought it was a torture chamber. He was jumping at every little sound and keeping so close tae me that I was practically tripping over him. After aboot a minute of that, I got fed up with him and decided tae tell him tae grow a spine.

“Stop acting like a wean, will ye? It’s hard eno to move doon here without having tae avoid you,” I told him. He moved about an inch further away.

“If we run into a ghost, I’m feeding you to it,” he muttered. I laughed and started looking for trinkets, while he stayed right next tae the stairs. After a few minutes, I uncovered an emerald ring.

“This is worth something, int it no?” I asked happily. Scudder shrugged.

“Great, you’ve found your prize. Now let’s get out of here!” he said.

“Not yet! I need a bigger haul than this!” I replied. Scudder frowned.

“Look here, you second-rate Mirror Master. I am not about to have my brain turned into soup by a ghost just so that you can sell two rings instead of one. We’re going upstairs now,” he said.

“Who are ye calling a second-rate Mirror Master? I use the Mirror Realm better than ye ever could, ye minger!” I yelled.

“You don’t even know how it works. You just swiped my equipment, you Glaswegian thug!” Scudder replied. Then I punched him, and he punched me, and we got into a fist fight. He was trying tae get oot of my stranglehold when soomthing weird happened: a ghostie showed up. You ken those drawings of fat rich people? It looked like that. I was so surprised that I let Scudder go, and he screamed like a lassie and dove intae the Mirror Realm. Me? I just froze. I didnae have a clue how to fight a ghostie, so I did soomthing pure stupid: I waved at it! The ghostie levitated a lamp and threw it at me head, only narrowly missing me. I dove intae the mirror after Scudder. He was panicking.

“I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die I don’t wanna die; please don’t let me die please please please don’t let me die!”

“Calmy doony, Scudder. The ghostie canae come intae the Mirror Realm,” I said. Ten seconds later, the ghostie came intae the Mirror Realm.

“You just had to say it!” Scudder wailed.

“Dinae just stand there, run!” I yelled. Both of us took off running, and only stopped when the ghostie vanished. I grinned.

“We did it! We escaped the ghostie!” I yelled. Scudder smiled slightly, but then he looked around and his smile vanished.

“Oh, no. This is bad, this is bad, this is really bad,” he said.

“What do ye mean? We escaped from the ghostie!” I replied.

“Look around you! Do you recognize any of this?” I looked around, and realized that we were in big trouble: I didnae recognize anything around me, and I ken most of the Mirror Realm like the back of my hand.

“We’re lost,” I said.

“No duh, really? I had no idea,” Scudder replied sarcastically. I tried tae punch him for that, but he dodged me swing.

“I don’t see why you’re punching at me. I was against coming to the creepy ghost house from the start, and if we had stayed home and watched A Nightmare on Elm Street like I suggested, we wouldn’t be in this mess! But did you-or anyone-listen to me? Oh, no! “Ghosts don’t exist, Sam.” “Stop being such a wimp, Scudder.” “We’ll be fine.” “Stop being such an idiot, Scudder.” Well, WHO’S THE IDIOT NOW?” he yelled hysterically, and I wished that Captain Cold hadnae put me with him, because he looked downright loony.

“Ah am, all right? Now help me find a way oot of here!” Sam laughed weakly.

“Find a way out of the Mirror Realm? You might as well tell me to beat Superman in a fist fight. It’s impossible. There’s a reason that I never go out of sight of the mirror portals: the Mirror Realm is so vast that if you get lost, you’ll probably never find your way back to them-and they’re our only way out of the Mirror Realm. I can’t get us out without the portals, and, thanks to you, Len, and that ghost, I have no idea where they are. Heck, I don’t even know where WE are!” he exclaimed.

“The Land of Abstract Art, mebbe?” I suggested. We were surrounded by swirls of colors and strange shapes, ye ken? Scudder didnae seem to find that as funny as I’d thought it was.

“Really? We’re lost in a never-ending mirror maze, and you’re cracking jokes?” I shrugged.

“Aye. Beats whining aboot it, ye jerrie.” To tell the truth, I was just as freaked out as Scudder was, but I wasnae about to let him know it.

“You’re a lunatic,” he spat.

“Ah am’nae!” I yelled back. I punched him, he punched me, and we ended up in another fistfight that only ended when both of us collapsed from exhaustion. Apparently, all the running had taken a lot oot of us. Scudder basically ended up falling asleep on my lap, and I was too tired to move him. After aboot a minute of embarrassment, I fell asleep tae.

Heat Wave: Hi, there. I’m Mick Rory, but you can call me Heat Wave. Everyone does. So, uh, while everyone else was running away from angry ghosts, Weather Wizard and I were still searching for valuables, and not finding any. After about an hour of searching, I got bored, pulled out my flamethrower, and lit the sofa on fire. It was beautiful and pretty and warm, and I decided to touch it. Bad idea, because I was still wearing the tutu, and..well...tutus are really flammable. The fire didn’t exactly hurt me (the prison doc tells me my skin’s so badly burned by this point that it doesn’t feel pain anymore), but it did freak out Weather Wizard, who doused me (and the sofa) with what felt like a gallon of water.

“Hey! You put out my beautiful sofa fire!” I complained. The Wiz scowled.

“In case you didn’t notice, YOU were on fire, too!” he said angrily.

“And now I’m sopping wet AND don’t have my precious fire. I don’t see how that’s an improvement,” I replied. In response, the Wiz beaned me over the head with his wand. (He doesn’t have a good swing, so it didn’t really hurt.)

“Being wet doesn’t kill you, you big oaf! You know what does? BEING ON FIRE!” His face was red and his eyes were crackling with electricity, so I knew he was pretty upset. Because he can create tornadoes, I decided to apologize.

“You’re right, Mark, and I’m sorry. Thanks for saving me,” I said. His eyes stopped crackling.

“Just don’t do it again,” he said. I nodded and sat down on what was left of the sofa, and Wiz went over to the window and gazed out of it.

“A storm’s brewing,” he said. I don’t think he was trying to sound spooky, but with his tone of voice and his witch costume, he did. A few seconds later, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Wiz opened the window and leaned out. The wind whipped his (impossibly spiky) hair, and he stared at something in silence. After a few seconds, it got creepy, and so I went over to him and dragged him away from the window. I closed it as soon as he wasn’t in the way.

“Come on, Mark, let’s go to another room. Captain Cold’ll be mad if we don’t find something valuable,” I said. When he didn’t move, I picked him up, threw him over my shoulder, and took him up the stairs and into a bedroom which looked like it might have belonged to a little kid at some point, since there were a bunch of old toys in it. One of the windows was broken, and everything, including the toys, a rocking chair, and a crib, was covered in dust and cobwebs. It was very spooky, although it was in better shape overall than the living room had been. I started looking for something valuable, and the Wiz made a beeline for the window.

“Hey, knock that off! Just ‘cause you’re the Weather Wizard doesn’t mean that you get to look at the weather and not help me!” I said. Wiz turned around and locked eyes with me.

“The storm...it’s an ill wind that blows no good,” he muttered. It was almost like he was in a trance or something. And then it happened: a ghost appeared. Now, it wasn’t super gory-really, it just looked like a transparent teenager-but let me tell you: it was scarier than anything I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. At almost the same time, it started to rain heavily. The Wiz passed out again, and the ghost advanced on me. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor (what? I saw Shakespeare on TV one time), threw the Wiz over my shoulder, and ran downstairs and out of the house with him. (Question: Why is it that he was WAY heavier when he was unconscious than when he was conscious?) I wanted to make Captain Cold happy, but I wasn’t gonna fight a ghost just for some loot. As soon as we got out the door, the ghost stopped following us, so I dumped the Wiz on the ground and began what proved to be a LONG wait for the Mirror Masters to come pick us up. Wiz woke up about five minutes after we got out of the house and cleared up the rain (thank goodness), then took a look at me and smiled.

“You should see yourself. Your tutu’s unrecognizable and I can see your underwear,” he said. I felt my cheeks heat up. Man, that was embarrassing.

“Yeah, well, you fainted twice, so I think we’re even,” I replied. The Wiz flushed, and looked at the ground. A few seconds later, he yawned, then produced a wind that dried up the ground.

“I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when Scudder shows up,” he said. With that, he curled up on the ground and dozed off. After a couple seconds, I sat down next to him, and, after a few minutes of trying and failing to come up with an excuse for not finding any loot, I dozed off too. (One of the benefits of being….less than legally employed is that you learn to fall asleep anywhere.) I woke up about twenty minutes later when the Wiz poked me in the side with his wand.

“Huh?” I asked drowsily.

“Where are the Mirror Masters at? Surely they’ve gotta be finished by now,” he whined. I shrugged.

“Maybe they’re still looking for stuff. Or maybe they hit the jackpot and are still gathering up all the stuff they found,” I suggested.

“Well, they better hurry up. I’m bored and tired and I want to get back to my nice soft bed,” the Wiz replied.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” I said. Then I fell back to sleep and was dead to the world for another forty minutes.

Pied Piper: After being trapped in the dumbwaiter for about ten minutes, I turned off my hearing aids. Not being able to hear is never a pleasant experience, but it was highly preferable to listening to a bored Trickster sing “This Is the Song That Never Ends” again and again and again. This solution worked reasonably well until I realized that I very much needed to use the powder room and needed advice as to how to do so without attracting the nightmare creature that wanted to devour my internal organs. Therefore, I had to turn my hearing aids back on, because none of the other Rogues have ever bothered to learn sign language and I had no desire to play charades. As soon as my hearing turned back on, I was greeted with what must have been the fortieth rendition of “This is the Song That Never Ends”.

“James. James. JAMES! I, um, need to use the powder room. Do you have any idea as to how I can do that without meeting the ghost?”

“Depends. What’s a powder room?” He batted his eyes and smiled in the most irritating manner imaginable.

“You know full well what a powder room is!” I exclaimed. James’ smile grew wider as he shook his head.

“I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need, Piper,” he said. I sighed and gave in.

“It’s a restroom,” I said, blushing terribly. James laughed and did a particularly impressive trick with his yo-yo.

“Oh, so you need to pee! Why didn’t you say so?” he asked.

“Because my parents did not allow me to discuss bodily functions in public. Ever,” I replied.

“Did your parents allow you to breathe without their say-so?” I frowned. My parents had indeed controlled my days down to the second before they disowned me, but I didn’t want to admit it, so I said,

“Never mind that. Just tell me how to use the powder room without getting killed!”

“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll close my eyes, and you can do your business in here,” James replied. As I did not have access to a mirror, I cannot be sure about this, but I believe that I blushed even harder.

“No!”

“Why not? You can even blindfold me if you want. Believe me, I do NOT want to watch that,” James replied. I scowled.

“Because that is disgusting, James.”

“I don’t see why. It’s what we did in the circus,” he said, sounding genuinely confused.

“This is not the circus!”

“Well, it isn’t exactly Rathaway manor, either. I’m not saying that it isn’t gross, but this place is in bad condition already. You can’t make it much worse,” James replied.

“I think I would rather face the ghost,” I said. James laughed.

“I can’t believe that you’re more scared of breaking your parents’ rules of being “proper” and pretending that you don’t have bodily functions than you are of a literal ghost,” he said.

“This has nothing to do with my parents!”

“Somebody’s in de-ni-al!” James singsonged.

“I’m not in denial. Just because I do not want to be Digger does not mean that this has anything to do with my parents,” I insisted.

“Yep, definitely in denial,” James said. I ignored him and pulled out the mirror that I had brought with me in order to contact the Mirror Masters.

“Sam! McCulloch! If you can hear me, I need you to get me-and James-out of this house!” Nothing happened, and I sighed wearily. There went that idea. About three minutes later, I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer. I opened the doors nervously and, not seeing anything, bolted down the hall to the powder room, used it, and was on my way back when the ghost reappeared. I screamed like a little girl (which is quite humiliating in hindsight) and just froze up in terror. If I had been alone, I don’t want to know what would have happened next, but, luckily for me, James showed up at exactly this point and yelled,

“Hey, Casper! Over here, you preposterous poltergeist!” The ghost howled and started chasing him, and he whooped with glee and ran down the hall in the direction of the staircase. Thirty seconds later, I heard a loud cry of pain from James. I bolted to the top of the stairs and saw that one of the steps had given way under James, and that he had clearly broken his ankle. Worse, the ghost was floating over top of him, and, for the first time, he looked scared. I stared at the scene for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, and then pulled out my flute and started playing it in the desperate hope that its hypnotic powers would work on a ghost. I tried to ignore the fact that my knees were shaking under me as I played, and, after a few seconds, the ghost stopped howling and floated away from James. I carefully went down the stairs to my partner, still playing, then knelt down beside him and put the flute away.

“Do NOT do that again! You scared the daylights out of me!” I snapped. James smiled.

“Aww, you do care,” he said. All his fear seemed to be forgotten and I shook my head in amazement. He had almost been killed (possessed?) by a ghost, and he was already making jokes.

“I did owe you. After all, if you had not attracted the ghost’s attention, I might have been killed. How’s your ankle?” I asked.

“It hurts like the dickens,” he replied.

“Can you walk?” James stood up shakily, winced, and quickly sat back down, then smiled and said,

“I can walk on my hands!” He proceeded to demonstrate. In spite of myself, I laughed a little.

“Can you keep that up long enough to get to the front door?” I asked him after I stopped laughing.

“Probably. Why?”

“Because we are leaving. I don’t know how long my hypnosis will last, but it will wear off eventually, and I do not want to be here when it does,” I explained.

“Aww, but I wanted to see some more ghosts!”

“Can you run on your hands?” I asked. James grinned slightly.

“Maybe?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Let’s go. We can watch The Shining when we get home if you want,” I said. (It’s James’ favorite horror movie, and very useful as a bribe.) James’ grin widened.

“You know me well, Piper. Let’s go home,” he said. With that, we left the house-only to find Mick and Mark asleep on the lawn; Mick in little more than his underwear.

“There’s something you don’t see every day,” James said.

“What, Mick and Mark sleeping on the lawn or Mick in his underwear?” I asked.

“Both, but mainly Mick in his underwear. That’s an image I’ll never get out of my mind,” he replied.

“Me, neither,” I agreed. After a few seconds, James sat down on the ground and pulled out a pack of bubble gum.

“I swallowed my gum when that step broke under me. Want some gum?” he asked.

“I suppose,” I replied. James handed me a stick of gum and then took out one for himself as well. I sat down next to him, unwrapped the stick of gum, and started chewing it. James blew a huge bubble.

“How do you do that?” I asked.

“Blow bubbles? Haven’t you ever had bubble gum before?” he asked. I shook my head.

“My parents said that gum was for plebeians,” I replied.

“Well, if they really did cut you off, you are one now, so that shouldn’t be a concern anymore,” he said. I smiled.

“You have a point. So, carnie, how about teaching this ex-patrician how to properly blow bubbles with bubble gum?” I asked.

“You’re on!” James exclaimed.

Captain Boomerang: I hate all the bloody ghosts in that bloody ghost house! (I also hate Cold for making me go into the ghost house, but that’s beside the point.) After Cold and I ran out of the kitchen, the ghost chased us through several rooms and to the basement stairs. We exchanged a brief look and ran down the stairs into the basement.

“If that bloody ghost follows us, I’m gonna be as mad as a cut snake,” I said. I was tired of all the running, tired of risking my life, and even more tired of not getting to eat my chips.

“I think he’s stopped chasing us,” Cold said as he looked around. Then he gasped.

“What is it?” I demanded. Cripes, I need a coolie , I thought.

“The Mirror Masters...at least one of them left their Mirror Gun here. It’s their only way back into our dimension. They’d never leave it here.”

“Well, if they’ve carked it, there’s nothin’ we can do. Let’s take our loot and leave this spooky place before another ghost shows up!” I said. I thought that I’d made a good point, but Cold disagreed and punched me in the face.

“We don’t have any proof that they’re dead, so we’re goin’ in after them. They’re too valuable to lose, and besides, the Rogues don’t abandon their own,” he said. Cold activated the portal to the Mirror Realm and dragged me inside by the scarf. As soon as I got inside, I had a sickie and vomited all over the floor.

“Scudder? McCulloch? It’s Cold. Where are you?” Cold yelled. No answer. I stopped vomiting and looked around, then noticed something shiny. I went over to it and discovered that it was an emerald ring.

“Cold, have a Captain Cook at this! We’re rich!” I exclaimed. Cold looked at it...and went pale.

“Oh, no….one of the Mirror Masters must have been spooked by something and dropped it-and if they ran that way and were so panicked that they didn’t notice that they dropped a valuable thing like that, then they’re lost in the Mirror Realm,” he said.

“Okay. They’ve carked it. Oh, well. Let’s go home,” I replied. Cold shook his head.

“No. We’re gonna find them,” he said.

“Cold, you just said that they were lost in the Mirror Realm. If THEY got lost, we’ll get lost, too,” I protested. Cold didn’t listen.

“We ain’t gonna get lost, because we’re going to make a trail to follow,” he said. He drew one the spoons out of the bag and placed it on the ground next to his feet. Then he moved about ten feet forward and did the same thing, and did it again about seven feet after that. He’s got kangaroos loose in his top paddock for sure, I thought.

“What are you doin’, Cold?” I demanded.

“I’m making a trail,” he said.

“Outta spoons ?” I asked.

“Didn’t you ever hear the story of Hansel and Gretel?”

“I don’t read fairy tales. They’re for wusses,” I said. Cold scowled.

“Look, I have a little sister, okay? Anyway, Hansel and Gretel didn’t want to get lost in the woods, so they used bread crumbs to mark where they’d been. That way, when they turned around, they’d know which way would take them back to their starting point. This is the same idea, only our markers can’t be eaten by anything,” he said. With that, he started dragging me by my scarf towards the direction he thought the Mirror Masters had taken.

“You know, I can walk on my own,” I said.

“ Maybe so, but if I let you go, you’ll probably be walking towards the exit, so I’m keeping ahold of you to be on the safe side,” Cold replied. I stuck my tongue out at him, but he ignored it. After about twenty minutes of walking, we entered the weirdest place I’d ever seen. There were all these bloody weird shapes and colors, and I couldn't tell which way was up. It freaked me out, but for some reason, it didn’t seem to bother Cold at all.

“Cold, this is really freaky. Can we go back now? We’ll never find the Mirror Masters in this crazy place,” I said.

“Shut up, Digger. We are going to find them, and we are not going to stop walking until we either do or run out of silverware,” Cold replied.

“Ace!” I muttered sarcastically.

“What was that?”

“Nothin’,” I lied.

“That’s what I thought.” He dragged me along for about ten more minutes before I opened my big mouth again. (I think that must be some kind of record.)

“Can we stop now ?” My legs were killing me (not to mention my neck)!

“No. Stop acting like a six-year-old,” Cold replied. I really need a coolie, i thought.

“I wouldn’t be actin’ like an anklebiter if you weren’t actin’ like a dictator,” I snapped. Cold punched me in the side and continued to drag me along like a bloody kelpie. After about four more minutes, i decided that I’d had enough of being dragged around and stabbed Cold in the arm with one of my razor-sharp boomerangs. He swore in pain and let me go, and I grabbed the mirror gun and ran towards the exit. Sadly for me, Cold managed to bean me over the head with a plate and knocked me out. When I came to, I awoke to see a pair of unconscious Mirror Masters. Normally, I would’ve been crosser than a frog in a sock that Cold had knocked me out, but at the moment I was too glad that Cold wouldn’t be dragging me through the Mirror Realm anymore to really care.

“You little Ripper! You found them!” I exclaimed happily.

“No thanks to you,” Cold muttered. He shook McCulloch awake.

“Cold? How did ye get in here?” he asked.

“Either you or Sam dropped your Mirror Gun outside of the mirror in the basement, and I used it to get in here,” Cold explained.

“But how did ye find us?”

“Stubbornness, mainly,” Cold replied. I laughed.

“That’d be right!” I exclaimed. Cold looked at McCulloch oddly.

“Why is Sam sleeping in your lap?” Cold asked.

“ WHAT? ” McCulloch yelled. He quickly moved Sam off his lap and stood up. This woke Sam up, for obvious reasons. Once he realized what had happened, he noticed Cold, gave him a huge hug, and then punched him in the face.

“I’m...getting some mixed messages here,” Cold said.

“I’m happy you found us, because I thought we were going to die here, but I’m about equally angry at you, because you wouldn’t have had to rescue us if you hadn’t decided to take us to the creepy ghost house in the first place,” Sam explained. I laughed. It’s always good to see Cold get taken down a peg, the arrogant knocker.

“I do nae see why you being here is a good thing. We do nae ken how to get back to the Mirror Portals from here, we’ll all die here,” McCulloch said.

“Actually, we won’t. I marked the path we took from the portals with our loot, so we’ll able to get back fine,” Cold replied. McCulloch grinned, and my stomach growled.

“Can we go home now? I’m hungry,” I asked.

“Ye and me both, Digger,” McCulloch said. Cold nodded.

“Let’s get back to our reality,” he said. With that, we started the long walkabout back to the Mirror Portals.

Top: My nap lasted precisely twenty-five minutes and fifteen seconds. Then I awoke to see Lisa crying quietly. Normally, I would have felt horrible upon seeing such a sight, but at the time, I simply felt disgusted.

"Stop sniveling, you piece of gutter trash. I will not be moved by your feminine wiles,” I spat. (I have since apologized profusely for this comment, and for all others made under the influence of the ghost, but my darling Lisa is still distrustful of me, and her brother would have beat me to within an inch of my life for them had she not stopped him.)

“All right. I WILL stop crying. I should have known better than to show weakness in front of a man who’s just like my father,” she replied angrily. If I had been myself, I would have been horrified by this accusation, but as I was, I merely sniffed dismissively.

“I am nothing like your father. He was an alcoholic boor who lived off of welfare for most of his life, and I am a gentleman,” I said haughtily.

“And yet you’re calling me names just like he did,” Lisa replied. (In hindsight, her self-confidence was quite admirable, but at the time, I found it irritating.)

“Shut your mouth!” I snapped, unable to refute her argument.

“And let you walk all over me? I don’t think so,” Lisa said. Furious, I raised my hand to slap her, but thankfully, the Civil War-era ghost interrupted us before I could. Lisa grabbed me and pulled me out of the room before the ghost began to levitate anything, thereby saving my life for the third time that night.

“I told you not to touch me!” I said icily. In response, Lisa kissed me on the cheek and I pulled away sharply in utter disgust. (I believe that she was trying to make me uncomfortable in an attempt to snap me back to my senses.)

“I just saved your life again , and you want to complain about me touching you? AGAIN?” she yelled.

“I was aware that we were in danger. There was no need for you to touch me,” I replied coldly. The ghost drifted out of the bedroom we had been in, and the two of us ran to the stairs-only to find that one of the steps had collapsed. Lisa sighed and slid down the banister to the bottom of the stairs, and I reluctantly followed her when the ghost appeared behind me and it became apparent that there was no other means of escape. (We were able to keep our balance because my darling Lisa was a figure skater and I am very resistant to vertigo.) We ran back through the dining room and back into the backyard, and were greeted by a most unusual sight. The ghost who had kissed me was holding hands with another ghost, this one with a noose around his neck.

“Oh, darling, you’re back!” she cooed. The other ghost kissed her.

“Yes, and I’ll never leave you again. I’m so sorry that I abandoned you all those years ago. My father was wrong: you were more important than our money ever could have been,” he said.

‘I forgive you, Robert,” she replied. Lisa started to cry again.

“Oh, shut up, you sniveling hussy! You are too far beneath me to deserve my sympathy,” I said harshly. Lisa frowned and dried her tears rather angrily, then elbowed me in the side.

“Where have you been, Robert?” the female ghost asked.

“I don’t know. All I remember before seeing you tonight was a lot of anger at something,” the other ghost replied. The female ghost embraced him.

“Oh, well, you’re here now. That’s all that matters,” she said. They kissed again, and then the female ghost noticed us and frowned.

“Are you the lovers?” she asked.

“Formerly. I thank you profusely for showing me my folly,” I said. Lisa nodded sadly.

“Why do you want to know? You can’t possibly make me any more miserable,” she said. The ghost smiled.

“Because I am going to show you both mercy. Since my happiness has been restored, I will restore your happiness,” she said. She kissed me once again, and all my love for Lisa came flowing back-as did a crushing sense of guilt.

“My darling, I am so sorry for what I said. I don’t know what came over me, but I swear to you that I do not care how rich you are. You are a goddess, and I adore you. Please, please forgive me,” I pleaded. I felt like an utter cad. Lisa frowned.

“R-Roscoe?” she asked nervously.

“Yes, sweetums,” I said. I tried to kiss her, but she pulled away.

“Don’t , Roscoe. After what you said to me tonight, I just don’t trust you. How can I be sure that you aren’t saying you don’t care that I’m “gutter trash” only because of your hormones? What if two or three years down the line, you don’t find me attractive anymore? Will you still love me, or will I suddenly become a “welfare queen” again? I still love you, but I can’t trust you anymore,” she asked

“You...you are breaking up with me?” I was heartbroken and rather tempted to attack the ghost (if that was even possible), but I could not really blame her.

“I’m not sure. Let’s call it a vacation,” she replied quietly. There was an awkward pause, and then I said,

“In that case, since our date is off, perhaps we should go to the front lawn and wait for the Mirror Masters to take us back to our hideout.” Lisa nodded, and we left the backyard, walked quickly through the house, and made it to the front lawn of the house without issue. Upon arriving, we saw Mark curled up on the lawn, fast asleep, Mick napping in little more than his underwear ( a sight that will haunt me until my dying day), and James and Piper blowing bubble gum. James waved at us.

“Hi there, lovebirds! How was your date?’ If there is one thing that James is the master of, it is saying things at the most inopportune times.

“Badly,” Lisa replied. With that, she left my side and sat down next to Mick. James looked at me quizzically.

“It is a very long story that is frankly none of your business,” I told him. I walked a few feet away from him, sat down, and buried my head in my hands, ashamed of what I had done to the one person in my life I ever cared for. Apparently, I dozed off at some point, because the next thing I remember was the two Mirror Masters arriving alongside Digger and Leonard.

“Look alive, everyone! We’re moving out!” he barked. Five minutes later, we were all back in our hideout (thanks to the Mirror Masters). Lisa immediately ran over to her brother and started sobbing. My stomach twisted with guilt and I looked away.

“Shhh..shh...shhh..Sis, what happened?” In response, Lisa told him the whole story through hiccups and sobs. When she was finished, Leonard marched over to me.

“ Is this true, Dillon?” he demanded.

“Sadly, yes,” I replied awkwardly. In response, Cold punched me so hard he knocked me to the ground.

“Then you’re gonna wish you’d never been born. NO ONE hurts my baby sister,” he snarled. He moved to hit me again, but before he could, Lisa ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

“Lenny, don’ t! He was under the influence of a ghost! It wasn’t all his fault,” she said. Cold scowled, but he walked away anyway as Lisa helped me back to my feet.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Better than I should be after treating you so terribly,” I replied.

“It’s good to to have you back, Roscoe,” she said.

“Does this mean that we’re back on?” I asked eagerly.

“No, Roscoe, I’m afraid not. It’ll probably be awhile before I feel comfortable around you again,” she said. She left me and went upstairs, and I was left to mentally berate myself for my idiocy.

Mirror Master I: And...that was basically it. We managed to get home alive from the creepy ghost house, everyone changed out of their costumes, and most of us, exhausted, went to bed (except James and Piper, who decided to watch The Shining for some reason.) The next morning, Trickster went to the hospital to get his broken ankle treated, and the rest of us decided to never, ever go to any house that was supposed to be haunted again. A week later, the Flash caught Len trying to fence his loot, so he’s in prison again. Lisa still hasn’t forgiven Roscoe, and James’s ankle is still very broken, but otherwise, things are pretty much back to normal for us Rogues. So, with that in mind-we would like to wish you all a Happy Halloween!- What James said.

FIN

#flash rogues #ghosts #dc comics #lisa snart/roscoe dillon #len snart #sam scudder #evan mcculloch #james jesse #hartley rathaway #george digger harknesss #mick rory #mark mardon #fanfic #@gorogues

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alarawriting · 4 years

Text

Inktober 2020 #5/Writeober 2020 #1: Blade

I have a feeling this might be based on a Tumblr prompt but I can’t remember where or when...

***

Aster finished haggling with the merchant for tomatoes, and turned, certain that someone was watching her. There was an old woman standing in the center of the market way, looking directly at Aster, and there was something strange about her – aside from the gray braid that went down to her knees, given that the old women Aster knew cut their hair short to make it easier to keep it, since they were going to put a kerchief over it anyway. After a moment, Aster isolated it – no one was looking at the woman. No one was looking away from her either. It was as if no one in the market could see her, aside from Aster.

She went on to the merchant selling cauliflower, broccoli and beans. The old woman followed her, and now she was closer. There was still no one else looking at the woman, but they all stepped out of her way, casually, as if they just felt like bending their path slightly.

Finally, Aster went to a tree on the side of the market, and waited. The old woman strolled over to her. “You’re Aster Sennadotter? Daughter of Canlon the Eater of Fire?”

“Who wants to know?” Aster asked. Mom and Dad had been heroes, once upon a time. Some of those who’d know that Dad was the legendary Fire-Eater were those who’d have nothing but praise for him and his deeds. Some… were not.

“I’m an old friend of your father’s. Has he never told you of the wizard Enteleki?”

Aster’s eyes went wide. “That’s you?” She looked the tiny, ancient woman up and down. “I thought you’d be taller.”

“Many say that. Tell me, has your father trained you in the blade?”

The phrasing was a little weird; it took Aster a moment to realize that Enteleki meant trained her to use blades, in general. “Mom taught me some dagger work. Throwing, mostly, but some up close, for self defense. Dad hasn’t taught me anything.” She abruptly realized how that sounded. “Anything like that. I mean, he taught me how to fish and ride a horse and identify weeds and things like that. But nothing about blades.”

“So you’ve never learned to use the Sword of the Eater?”

“Are you kidding?” Aster laughed disbelievingly. “I’ve never even seen it. Dad said it was lost after he defeated the last of the Servants of the Phoenix.”

“It wasn’t,” Enteleki said. “He’s still got it. He must have hidden it from you.”

Aster shrugged. “He probably had good reasons. He’s done adventuring, he says. He just wants to live on the farm and grow our crops in peace.”

Enteleki shook her head. “Short-sighted. Of course, he’s done adventuring, no one would expect a man his age, with a family and a farm, to go on a quest. But the thought never entered his mind that the world might need you, did it?”

“Why would the world need me? My mom and dad may have been heroes, but I’m just a farm girl.”

“Your father was a farm boy before he was a hero. Your mother, the granddaughter of the village wisewoman. They were nothing special, before destiny called them.” She leaned heavily on her staff. “Just as it’s calling you now.”

“Why me?”

“You’ll figure it out. Just know for now that you are your father’s daughter. Ask him for the sword and prepare to leave. Or the Lady of Light will destroy everything – including your town, including your farm.”

Aster scowled. “I’ve never heard of her, but, generally speaking, why would someone named the Lady of Light be evil?”

Enteleki looked up into her eyes, and it felt like the old woman was a hawk, sizing Aster up as prey. “Phoenixes are creatures associated with life and rebirth; why would evil people call themselves the Servants of the Phoenix? Evil people lie, Aster. And they lie to themselves, and tell themselves they are good, perhaps that they are the only good ones in the world. Battles are never between good and evil. They are between those who seek to cause harm, even though they may think they are doing what is best for everyone, and those who seek to mitigate or stop the harm, or to make something that helps come to pass.”

“Okay, but… if evil people think they’re doing what’s best, and good people think they’re doing what’s best… how do you tell which is which?”

Enteleki barked laughter, sharp and hard. “How indeed. But the Servants of the Phoenix were burning the wisewomen, claiming that those who followed the ways of the Phoenix would have eternal life, and wouldn’t need wisewomen to heal them, and therefore wisewomen were evil because they tempted people away from the righteous path of the Phoenix. Tell me, was anyone ever good because they burned healers to death?”

“No,” Aster said firmly. Her own mother was a wisewoman, just as her great-grandmother had been. “All of that sounds wrong. I mean… why would you have to worship the Phoenix? What if you have a different god? And even if you did worship the Phoenix… no one ever said the worshippers of the Phoenix come back to life, only the Phoenix itself. And even if you were going to come back to life, why would you not want willowbark for a headache, or a poultice if you get injured? Phoenixes come back to life by dying in fire first. You’re not going to set yourself on fire if you strained your leg.”

“And that is why your father had to defeat them, with the help of your mother and their friends. The Lady of Light claims that she will drive out the darkness, and bring enlightenment. But her idea of ‘darkness’ includes men drinking in pubs and tossing dice, women brewing beer, people telling stories where anything happens that involves an evil act even if the evil act is done by the villain of the piece, men and women who love their own sex, and people who join in love before marriage even if they’re betrothed. As well as many other things. She sees our land as steeped in sin, and she wants to conquer us and burn out the ‘sins’ of the people… by setting fire to their homes and farms, if necessary, and for some reason she always finds it necessary.”

“Okay… yeah, that does sound pretty evil. But how do I know you’re telling the truth? Maybe you’re an evil wizard and this Lady of Light person is actually great and you’re lying to me.”

Enteleki smiled. “Your parents taught you to question. That’s very good. A skill that will serve you, in life. But the answer is, firstly, your parents know me, so you can ask them if I am trustworthy in the things I say. Secondly, you can go deeper into town and give the crier a coin and ask them to tell you everything they know about the Lady of Light, and my suspicion is, they’ll back up what I’ve said, because there aren’t many of her followers around here – which is why she wants to burn it all. Ask a few women at the washer-well what they’ve heard. Ask your parents if they know anything about it. And then take everything you’ve heard, and use your own judgement to decide who’s right.”

“All right,” Aster said. “I will.”

Beginning with telling Mom and Dad all about this.

***

Canlon Shreveson, called by some the Fire-Eater, stormed out of his house in a fury, grabbed his horse, and rode down the dirt path outside his property far enough that he knew neither his daughter nor his wife would see or hear any of it. He dismounted, and yelled, “Enteleki!”

There was no guarantee she would come just because he’d said her name. Wizards weren’t summonable. They showed up when they wanted to. But he suspected Enteleki would want to, and he was not disappointed. One moment there was nothing at the edge of the forest, and in the next, there was an old woman wrapped in a cloak.

She hadn’t changed at all. Most old women, if they didn’t die between the time you first became a man and the time you were settled with a farm and a wife and a teenage daughter, became frailer, more wrinkled. Thinner, usually. Sometimes smaller. Enteleki looked exactly the same as when he’d last seen her, nearly twenty years ago.

“What in seven hells are you trying to do with my daughter?”

“I’d think it’d be obvious,” Enteleki said. “You’re in no shape to go kill the Lady of Light, or even stop her, and you’re not the right one for the job anyway. Your daughter is.”

“My daughter is the Chosen One for some new damned quest to stop some other monstrous person from causing death and chaos. Am I hearing this correctly?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Canlon said, almost roaring it, in the tiny woman’s face. “NO! Aster is fifteen. Fifteen, damn you! She’s not even old enough to get married!”

“Senna was sixteen.”

“Senna was our healer. We tried to keep her out of the fighting as best as we could. And I don’t know what you told her grandmother to let her come with us, but whatever it was, I suspect she cursed you to have the eternal crows pick your bones when she realized what you’d sent a child into. I was too young then to realize how wrong it was for Senna to go with us… and Senna was a year older than Aster is now.”

“Do you think I do this for fun?” Enteleki glared up at him. “Do you think I send children into battle out of love for their parents’ distress? Just once I would like to find that the Chosen One is twenty-six and an experienced mercenary, thank you. But no. You were eighteen when the bones and the ashes told me you were the one. And forty years before you were born, it was a girl of thirteen years, and I did my best to protect her as best I could, but she wasn’t as fortunate as you. She lived, but there was darkness behind her eyes all her life, and she took it finally, three years after you were born. And before her, there was Melen the Rogue, who was seventeen then. I don’t know why it’s always children. I don’t know why we need to have heroes at all – why can’t ordinary people taking up arms do what must be done? But it’s always the same – so much more war, so much more death, if the child heroes don’t go up against the evil of the day. Maybe the world would eventually prevail and become a bright and loving place again, but there would be so many dead, so many made displaced refugees.”

Enteleki had never spoken to Canlon this way before. She’d seemed so encouraging, so strong, when he was young. It had honestly never occurred to him that any part of what she did might bother her. “And so you need to sacrifice my daughter so that hundreds can live in peace.”

“Yes.”

“No! Not my daughter. Not this time.”

Enteleki’s eyes narrowed. “You know well that if the Lady of Light isn’t stopped, this whole land will burn. Your farm as well, and your neighbors’. You know that if the duke musters an army against her in time, which is unlikely in itself, your farm may be burned by your own countrymen so that the Army of Light can’t resupply here. Are those good fates for your daughter?”

“No. But she shouldn’t be the one.” Canlon took a deep breath. “I’m experienced. I know how to wield the Blade of the Eater. She’s never held a sword in her hands before. I’ve done this before and I can do it again. I’ll be the one to fight the Lady of Light, so that Aster can stay safe.”

Enteleki shook her head sadly. “You’re not the one. You’ll fail. Aster’s the one who can succeed.”

“My daughter is not taking up my blade – that she has no idea how to use – and going to war. End of story. I’ll go. And if I fall, at least I’ll fall knowing I was protecting my daughter.”

“Which will reassure her greatly when she becomes an orphan.”

“You can’t stop me, Enteleki. I know you. You can’t take my sword from me; I’d have to give it to you for you to give it to Aster, and I won’t. I’ll take it with me to challenge the Lady of Light. Now you can fight by my side and maybe make it less likely that I’ll fall, or you can get out of my way.”

“I won’t stand in your way,” Enteleki said, almost sadly. “And I’ll do what I can to help you. But it won’t be enough. You will fall, and then either Aster will take up your blade, or this land will burn.”

“We’ll see about that,” Canlon said.

#inktober 2020 #writeober 2020 #alara's october 2020 prompt fics #fantasy

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my-woozi-happiness · 4 years

Text

The Guardians of Hogwarts Ch.1

The guardians of hogwarts on Ao3

5 years ago

The 5 boys looked at their headmaster before focusing on the floating crystal.

“I’m not sure if I understand correctly, sir. You’re saying that all us have a different kind of magic from other students?” Wonwoo frowned as he stared at their headmaster.

“That’s correct Mr Jeon. Your powers are far more powerful than any kind of power I have seen in years, but, since you are new to this and only first year students, you will have to learn more about them. There are a few rules you have to remember.” Walking down the steps, Headmaster Yu looked at Jihoon. “This crystal only responds to one person and that person is you Mr Lee.”

The moment that has been said, the crystal began to glow and floated towards Jihoon who stared at it with wide eyes before holding his hands up, gaping in surprise as the crystal stopped glowing and dropped into his hands.

“I don’t get this, aren’t we just wizards? What is this about greater power? And what is with that crystal? What’s so special about him?” Seungkwan looked at Jihoon, crossing his arms, pouting.

“I understand the confusion, Mr Boo, but you will learn soon what your place is here. You will receive private lessons 3 times a week. Do not talk about anyone about this, don’t show anyone the crystal.” Headmaster Yu looked at everyone sternly. “Now I think you can all tell me a story where you used magic you couldn’t explain where it came from, am I right?”

The boys looked at each other, a look in their eyes that the other could only confirm they were the same.

“Now for the last part, Mr Lee.” Headmaster Yu focused on Jihoon. “Can you hold out the crystal and say ‘Guardians unite.’ ?” He ignored the slight scoff from the other boys and nodded at Jihoon. “Go ahead boy.”

Swallowing nervously, Jihoon held out the crystal in front of him, not knowing what was going on. Clearing his throat he opened his mouth.

“G-guardians unite.” Everyone gasped at the blinding light, covering their eyes they could feel a burning inside their chest. Once everyone opened their eyes again their eyes widened as they took everything in. “W-what is going on!?” Jihoon held the crystal close to his chest, taking a step back.

“Y-you have wings!” Minghao pointed at Jeonghan then looked around. “You all have wings.” He looked at their headmaster for an explanation.

“You are the new guardians of Hogwarts. Being a wizard or a witch is already special and we’re extremely thankful there are still so many of us around. But being a guardian is so much more important. You are here to restore the peace in our world. There are far more dangers than just a wizard that took a dark turn.” Clearing his throat, Headmaster Yu looked at all of them. “Are you guys ready to learn what your powers are?”

____________________________________________________________________________

Current

“Jihoon watch out!” Jeonghan made a barrier of ice, growling as the enemy went for Jihoon again. “Don’t you fucking dare! Wonwoo, Minghao go!”

Jihoon groaned as he hit the ground hard, looking up he quickly tried to stand up again only to look down to see he got stuck in the mud created by Jeonghan’s water.

With his wings caught in mud, Jihoon couldn’t get up and help his friends. Pressing his palms flat onto the ground, he concentrated hard on the location of the enemy. The ground shook as massive vines sprouted from the ground and up into the air.

“Seungkwan, Wonwoo, watch out!” Jihoon held his breath as they barely avoided the vines. “Do it Wonwoo!” He watched as the fire guardian melted parts of the vines around the enemy’s body. With his last bit of energy Jihoon slammed his fist on the ground, bringing their enemy down onto the ground as well.

“You’re almost clean, Jihoon.” Jeonghan, the water guardian spoke. “Jihoon? Jihoon!” Jeonghan caught him just in time as Jihoon passed out into his arms.

“He’ll be fine, hyung, it was a long day.” Minghao held both hands around their enemy’s throat, zapping him unconscious. “It’s over now, you guys did well.” Smiling slightly, he walked over to his friends. “I’ll fly back fast to warn the headmaster where the monster is. Stay here till he arrives” With that, Minghao set off.

“Jihoon hasn’t been himself today, is he sick?” Seungkwan placed his hand on Jihoon’s forehead. “Hyung, he’s burning up! He should’ve stayed home.”

“You know that’s not possible, Seungkwan. Jihoon is our leader, the only one with the crystal, if he isn’t with us, we can’t fly and fully use our power.” Sighing, Jeonghan lifted his hand, water wrapping around his hand, gently laying it over Jihoon’s face, trying to cool him down.

“Hyung is right, Jihoon is our center, without him, we couldn’t do all of this.” Wonwoo rubbed Seungkwan’s back. “Once the headmaster is here, we’ll leave ok?”

Seungkwan nodded slowly as he leaned against Wonwoo, mumbling on how he wanted to be with Hansol right now, making the two older boys chuckle.

“Do Hansol or Mingyu have any suspicion?” When they shook their heads, Jeonghan sighed. “Jisoo does, he’s worried about me everytime we leave.” When he saw the look on their faces he quickly shook his head. “He doesn’t know, don’t worry about that.”

“Mr Yoon?” Headmaster Yu appeared behind them with 4 other wizards. “We’ll take it from here. Bring Mr Lee to the infirmary. And remember, land far away from the castle. Mr Xu is waiting for you”

“Yes sir!” Holding Jihoon in his arms, he and the rest of the guardians flew off. “Seungcheol is going to throw a fit when he finds out Jihoon has a fever.”

“That’s Seungcheol for you, no matter what Jihoon does, he is always worried. You would think he’s in love with Jihoon.” Seungkwan laughed. “If I didn’t know any better I would think they would already be a couple.”

Looking down, they safely landed on the ground, walking towards Minghao.

“We can’t blame Seungcheol, this wouldn’t be the first time we almost lost Jihoon.” Frowning Wonwoo looked at the other guardians. “Jihoon can be reckless, but he’s our greatest strength, our leader. But we’ll definitely have a talk with him once he wakes up.”

“Guys, we have a problem, our wings aren’t gone and the crystal is still glowing.” Minghao took the crystal out of Jihoon’s shirt, holding it up. “We need to get to the infirmary before anyone can see us.”

________________________________________________________________________

Seungcheol’s face darkened as soon as Jeonghan told him about Jihoon’s fever, storming out before the Ravenclaw could even finish talking.

“And here we go again.” Smiling, Jeonghan ran to catch up with Seungcheol. “Seungcheol! You can’t even go see him, you don’t even know the password!” Jeonghan tried not to laugh as the Gryffindor stopped running. “But I know it.” It didn’t even faze him as Seungcheol glared at him. “Promise me you won’t yell at him when he wakes up, he didn’t want to bother anyone. Only then will I give you the password.”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Seungcheol stood up straight.

“I’m not mad at him, just really worried, he has been pushing himself too much lately.” Seungcheol looked away from the Ravenclaw, biting his lip. “Jihoon doesn’t like it, but he needs to learn to depend on others.”

“Pork cutlets.” Jeonghan smiled gently at the confused look on Seungcheol’s face. “That’s the password.” He watched as Seungcheol took off once again. “Our leader is very lucky, don’t you think Minghao?”

The Slytherin stepped out from behind the wall, chuckling as he leaned against the Ravenclaw.

“Very lucky, if only he would stop being so stubborn. Seungcheol hyung is right, even in our fights Jihoon hyung tries to do everything alone, but he has to remember that when we unite we’re much stronger, if we’re not balanced it could go wrong very quickly.”

“Jihoon looks out for all of us, he doesn’t want us to get hurt. But you’re right.” Pressing a light kiss against Minghao’s temple, Jeonghan smiled softly. “I’m going to find Chan, he was looking for Soonyoung earlier, the coward was hiding in the library.” Rolling his eyes, the Ravenclaw walked off.

_________________________________________________________________________

“You know you’re not allowed in here right?” A bratty 2nd year Slytherin blocked Seungcheol’s path, glaring up at him.”

“Listen here you little shit. I’m older than you so you should respect me a little more. And I’m not here for you, I’m here for Jihoon.” Shoving the kid away, Seungcheol made his way up the stairs, ignoring the 2nd years protests, stopping in his steps when he heard Minghao’s voice.

“Twan, shut up. This isn’t the first time you see him here. Do you want Jihoon hyung to know what you have been saying about Seungcheol hyung?” Raising an eyebrow, Minghao stared the 2nd year down. Grinning as he heard Seungcheol laugh.

Slowly opening Jihoon’s door, he slipped inside the room. Approaching the bed he sat down, looking down at his best friend.

“Why can’t you take care of yourself a bit better?” Seungcheol caressed Jihoon’s cheek, frowning at how warm he felt. “I hate seeing you like this, kitten.” he whispered, leaning down to place a kiss on Jihoon’s forehead before laying down next to him. “Come to me when you need help, I’m always here for you.” Pulling the Slytherin closer, Seungcheol closed his eyes.

Jihoon’s eyes were wide and he prayed to the gods that Seungcheol wouldn’t hear his heart beating like crazy. ‘Did he call me a kitten? Did he just kiss me?’ His headache started to become worse so he curled himself up more against Seungcheol, shivering as the arms around him held him even closer.

“I’m here, Ji. I’m not going anywhere.” Seungcheol slid his fingers through Jihoon’s hair, trying to calm him down. “You’re so silly for not asking help from anyone.” Sighing softly, he buried his nose in Jihoon’s soft black hair. “I’m not mad, you just make me worry so much.”

Jihoon slowly lifted his head, face bright red, panting softly from the fever.

“I-i’m sorry, Cheol.” Jihoon pouted. “I thought I could practice just fine, it was just a warm up.” Huffing, Jihoon moved closer to Seungcheol. “Stupid fever, it’s nearing winter, why are we even practicing.”

Seungcheol laughed softly as he patted Jihoon’s head.

“You could’ve postponed the game, aren’t you the captain of the team?” Grinning, Seungcheol gently pinched Jihoon’s cheek, watching in amusement as the realization downed in on Jihoon.”You’re too precious, kitten.”

“Y-you’re calling me that again.” Jihoon whined, hiding his face in Seungcheol’s chest. “I’m not a cat.” Poking Seungcheol’s stomach, he smiled a little as the older flinched away.

“Mmh you kind of are.” Seungcheol looked down at Jihoon lovingly. “Did you take your medication yet? You should also take a warm bath and wear something warmer, you’re only in a tank top.” Seungcheol slid out of the bed, walking to Jihoon’s personal bathroom.

“Madam Bae gave me my medication already. A bath sounds nice though.” Jihoon slowly sat up, sliding off the bed, hissing as his feet hit the cold floor. “I want a rug here, the floor is too cold.”

“Will arrange that for you, I’m filling the tub for you now, get in while I pick out something warm you can wear.” Seungcheol gently pushed Jihoon into the bathroom. “I’ll help you soon.”

“H-help me?” Jihoon’s eyes widened. “W-why?” They have seen each other naked before, but the older they got the more Jihoon realized how he felt about the other. “I-i can take a bath by myself.”

“Alright, I’ll go change your sheets then, I’ll also see if the house elves can make some soup for you.” Smiling, Seungcheol ruffled Jihoon’s hair before he walked away.

Jihoon sighed as he dipped into the warm water, looking up at the ceiling.

‘I hate lying to you so much’ Jihoon looked at the closed door, his eyes watering. ‘I want to tell you everything, to show you my world, show you everything.’ He squeezed his eyes shut as tears rolled down his cheeks.

____________________________________________________________________________

Jisoo looked up as he heard yelling before his bedroom door was slammed open.

“Jeonghan? What happened to you? You’re covered in mud.” Jisoo stood up, taking Jeonghan’s coat from him. “You’re freezing. What did you do?”

Jeonghan glared at him as he slapped Jisoo’s hands away, the events of today getting to him, he was exhausted, all he wanted was to lay down and sleep till next week.

“I only asked why you were covered in mud, you didn’t have to react that way.” Jisoo looked at Jeonghan’s back with a sad look in his eyes. “I’ll leave you alone now. I love you.” When Jisoo didn’t get a reply, he sighed walking out of Jeonghan’s bedroom.

Jeonghan wiped his tears away, this was all too much for him, hearing Jisoo sound so broken, broke him, breaking out into loud sobs he screamed Jisoo’s name, whimpering his lovers name over and over again.

Jisoo set his foot on the first step of the stairs when he heard Jeonghan, he immediately turned around and ran back into the room. His eyes widen at the sight of his boyfriend.

“Oh Hannie.” Jisoo wrapped his arms around Jeonghan, holding the boy close, whispering. “I’m right here, angel, I’m right here.” Rubbing his lovers back, he whispered sweet nothings in his ear trying to calm him down. “It’s ok, Hannie.”

Jeonghan clung onto his boyfriend, trying to hold him as close as possible. Being a guardian wasn’t easy, they risked their lives daily for the safety of their loved ones. It was too much for them at times, but this was their destiny and they couldn’t just leave that behind.

“Let's take a shower ok? It will do you good.” Jisoo pressed a soft kiss against Jeonghan’s forehead. “Everything will be ok, angel.”

Jeonghan looked at his boyfriend, wanting to tell him everything at that moment, wanting to share the adventures with him but he knew he couldn’t.

“I love you.” Closing the distance between them, Jeonghan pressed his lips against Jisoo’s gently, eyes fluttering shut and he wrapped his arms around Jisoo’s neck, holding him close.

Jisoo looked at the Ravenclaws face as they kissed, knowing his lover was hiding something from him, but also knowing that Jeonghan would tell him when he was ready for it. Closing his eyes, he lifted up Jeonghan with ease, moving them towards the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind them.

_________________________________________________________________________

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it, Hoonie?” Seungcheol looked down at Jihoon as they approached the gardens. “You still felt a little warm this morning, maybe you should head back inside?”

“I’m fine, Cheol. I can manage to be outside for a while, the fresh air will do me good.” Smiling slightly, Jihoon pulled his jacket closer, watching as Seungcheol dropped everything on the ground. “What exactly does she want us to do?”

“Not sure, but at least we won’t have to be attending classes this morning.” Grinning, Seungcheol pulled the Slytherin closer. “You are going to help me, whether you like it or not.”

“I thought you liked divination? You never shut up about it.” Jihoon frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of dropping that class?”

“I love it, but it’s nice to be out.” Seungcheol glanced at Jihoon. “And it’s not always that I can spend some alone time with my best friend.” He smiled at the blush on Jihoon’s cheeks. “Ok lets get working!.”

Jihoon watched helplessly as Seungcheol tried to attend the garden. Professor Kwon asked him to help the Gryffindor out but Jihoon knew that once he touched the ground he would be found out, he had a hard time controlling his powers when he was around his best friend.

Jihoon and Seungcheol had been best friends since childhood but the younger has never told the other about his powers.

Jihoon wasn’t your average wizard, there were times that he didn’t need to use his wand. Plopping down on the ground, Jihoon crossed his arms as he stared at Seungcheol, wandering if he should say something.

“You’ve been quiet for a while, Hoonie.” Seungcheol looked to his side. “Something on your mind?”

‘Just that I’m dying to show you what I really am, what I really can do….’ Jihoon shook his head. “I just didn’t sleep very well.” It wasn’t a lie, Jihoon had a hard time falling asleep when Professor Kwon asked him to tend the gardens with Seungcheol. “Why do you need help anyway? You’re doing a great job.”

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow then looked over the massive garden and then slowly back at Jihoon.

“Are you serious? Jihoon! Of course I need help!” Groaning, Seungcheol sat down next to Jihoon. “This garden is way too big.” Leaning against the Slytherin, Seungcheol puffed his cheeks. “What exactly were you doing yesterday for you to get a fever and pass out? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“The headmaster wanted to see me for something, nothing too important.” Looking away, Jihoon closed his eyes as the memories of the previous day came back to him. It was a close call but they managed to defeat the monster. ‘If only you knew, Cheol.’

There were far more dangerous enemies in this world than evil wizards and witches. The things Jihoon and his friends almost daily had to fight was something he didn’t want Seungcheol to be exposed to, it was far too dangerous for him.

Glancing back at his friend, Jihoon blinked in surprise when Seungcheol’s face was much closer to his than before.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Placing a hand on Seungcheol’s shoulder, Jihoon tried to push the Gryffindor away. “C-cheol…” Jihoon was getting flustered and he didn’t like the way his heart was reacting to this.

“Something is troubling you, I can see it even if you don’t tell.” Cupping Jihoon’s face with one hand, Seungcheol caressed the youngers cheek. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Jihoon’s face turned red, his lips twitching. He couldn’t possibly tell Seungcheol, he knew he couldn’t, it would only bring him in danger if he did. Gulping he placed his hand over Seungcheol’s, gently taking his hand away from his face.

“It’s nothing too bad, but I can’t talk about it Cheol, not yet at least.” Smiling sadly, Jihoon traced a finger over Seungcheol’s palm. “I really don’t want to hide things for you, you know I never would.” Jihoon closed his eyes, slowly standing up. “Le-lets work on this garden, shall we?” Taking a deep breath, Jihoon smiles softly at the Gryffindor.

Seungcheol eyed the Slytherin’s movements, standing up as well.

“I will bring us some more tools, I’ll be right back.” Looking at Jihoon once more, Seungcheol walked back to the greenhouses.

____________________________________________________________________

“What do you mean there are more of us!?” Seungkwan screeched only to be shushed by Jeonghan. “S-sorry, g-go ahead headmaster.”

“Like I said, we have always thought that there would only be 5 guardians. Mr Jeon, Mr Boo, Mr Yoon, Mr Lee and Mr Xu, you are our 5 guardians, but I have noticed some strange behaviour in 2 other students.”

Jeonghan locked eyes with Wonwoo who only shrugged his shoulders.

“Does that mean they have different kinds of powers?” Jeonghan frowned when the headmaster nodded. “What kind of power do they have? Are they a threat to us?”

“I’m not sure yet, Mr Yoon. I myself haven’t found that out yet.” Sighing, the headmaster sat back down. “The two students are Choi Seungcheol and Kim Mingyu” Headmaster Yu locked eyes with Wonwoo who was shocked.

“M-mingyu has...no-no that’s not possible!” Standing up, Wonwoo shakily walked towards the headmaster. “I would’ve noticed if something was off! He can’t possibly be a guardian!”

“Wonwoo calm down, Mingyu probably hasn’t even noticed it himself.” Minghao gently pulled him back to sit down. “Remember, we didn’t even know we had these powers till our first year here.”

“Mr Xu is right, Mr Kim and Mr Choi probably aren’t even aware of their newfound powers.” Nodding at Minghao, he spoke again. “Mr Xu I want you to inform Mr Lee, Mr Yeon, I want you to keep an eye out on Mr Kim.”

After being dismissed by the headmaster, the boys walk back to their dorms.

“I’m going to send an owl to Jihoon, you should do the same to Mingyu, Wonwoo.” The Slytherin eyed the Ravenclaw who didn’t seem to pay attention. “Won-” Minghao started but was cut off by Seungkwan.

“I think I can speak for everyone here, but knowing there are 2 more guardians pains me.” Seungkwan looks down. “Not that I hate it, but we all know how dangerous this is, this isn’t some special playtime or an advantage to learn more.” Biting his lip, Seungkwan shook his head.

“But they need to know, Seungkwan. Jihoon doesn’t even know this, I don’t even know how he will react to all of this.”

After agreeing to send out the owls, Jeonghan walked Wonwoo back to their common room.

__________________________________________________________________

3 years ago

“Hoonie how many books are you planning to read? This is the 4th book about magical creatures you’ve read today. I don’t remember having any homework about that.” Seungcheol groaned, leaning back into the chair.

“It’s just an interesting subject, maybe you should try and learn a bit more about our world.” Sticking his tongue out at the Gryffindor, Jihoon continued to read. Desperately trying to find out more about his kind.

“I thought we had a little date going on here.” Seungcheol glanced over at the Slytherin, deciding to tease his friend a little. “I don’t remember dates being like this. Come on Jihoonie~”

Jihoon’s face turned red, shoving a book in Seungcheol’s face, mumbling.

“C-can you stop with that! W-we’re not on a date!” Jihoon frowned, not finding anything about his power, not even a single page. ‘Are we the only ones? Didn’t he say we were the new guardians?’

“What’s a guardian?” Seungcheol had his chin on top of hand as he stared at Jihoon, smiling. “Is that what you were looking for? We could sneak into the restricted section.” Grinning, Seungcheol stood up. “Maybe the book you’re looking for is there.”

Jihoon stared at Seungcheol in a daze. ‘I really need to learn not to talk out loud, dangit.’ following the Gryffindor quickly, Jihoon kept looking over his shoulder to see if they were alone.

“Nah, it’s cute when you mumble.” Chuckling, Seungcheol pushed Jihoon forward, closing the gate behind them. “Is a guardian a magical creature?”

“Wh-what?” Jihoon raised an eyebrow, knowing for sure he didn’t say that out loud. “Y-yeah we, I mean they are.” Groaning, Jihoon scanned some books, swiping his fingers over the back of them. “I’m going to look over there, you see if you can find something here.” He might have to get some help, even if it’s from Seungcheol.

“Sure thing, kitten!” Seungcheol walked to the other side, laughing. “Too cute.” He continued to look at Jihoon till the Slytherin disappeared behind some shelves.

“Mermaids, trolls.” Shaking his head, Jihoon continued to look. “Guardians of Kandrakar. No no- wait.” Stepping back, Jihoon took the book out. “Kandrakar, what is that.” He felt the tugging of the crystal, quickly taking it from under his sweater, he saw the crystal glow a soft purple.

“Jihoon? Found what you were looking for?” Seungcheol saw Jihoon standing with his back to him. “Ji? Are you ok?”

Jihoon panicked, quickly closing the book, the crystal fell back against his chest. ‘Are we from Kandrakar? What exactly is that place…’

“I-i got what I looked for, now let's go quickly ok?” Jihoon tried to push past Seungcheol but the Gryffindor wouldn’t let him. “Seungcheol, I’m not in the mood to play around right now.”

“You’re doing that again. Hiding things from me.” Letting out a sigh, Seungcheol managed to smile. “But I’m sure you have your reasons. Let's go back before we get caught.”

‘I’m so sorry Seungcheol, I never wanted to lie to you. Maybe one day I can tell you.’

After telling Seungcheol that he will meet up with him at dinner, Jihoon quickly turned back around to head over to the headmaster’s office.

“Everyone needs to know about this, why hasn’t he told us about this? He's so vague it’s annoying.” Jihoon growled as he stepped into the office without knocking. “Headmaster Yu, I have some questions.”

Headmaster Yu looked up slowly, shaking his head.

“What can I do for you Mr Lee?” His eyes widened slightly before controlling himself again. “I see you went into the restricted section. You know you’re not allowed in there, Mr Lee.”

“What is Kandrakar? The crystal responded to this book, it turned purple, the crystal I mean. Were there guardians before us? Who were they? What happened to them? Are we from Kandrakar?” Jihoon took a deep breath “We’re not wizards are we? Is this why most of our classes are separate from the rest of the students? Is this why we can’t use our wands? The moment I had this crystal I couldn’t use it anymore. What is going on!?”

Headmaster Yu sighed, motioning for the boy to sit down.

“I’m afraid I’m not the one to ask, Mr Lee. I have heard about the guardians from Kandrakar, but they existed long before I was born.” Headmaster Yu studied the book Jihoon was holding. “But I think you may find some answers in that book. Gather the rest and see what you can figure out. I’m only here to guide you.” Eyeing the Slytherin who kept glaring at him he sighed once more.

“Mr Lee, you 5 are the first guardians in over 500 years.” Headmaster Yu sat back down, resting his chin on top of his folded hands. “We don’t know why the generations have stopped for so long. The book might have the answers for you.”

Jihoon walked down the hall in a daze, the book clutched against his chest.

“Are we different from the last guardians? I need to get the rest.” Gripping onto the crystal, Jihoon closed his eyes, the other guardians invading his head. “Mr Jung’s old cabin, right now.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“He’s a little bit dense sometimes, but I guess that’s one of many things I like about him.” Jihoon smiled with his eyes closed as he pressed his palms onto the ground, opening his eyes slowly as he watched the flowers grow. He looked next to him, tilting his head at the deer that stood there. “What do you mean?”

‘There is something, all animals can feel it, you are not alone guardian.’ The deer moved his head to look behind Jihoon, making the Slytherin look behind him.

“What are you talking about?” He looked back at the deer but saw it was already gone. “What does it mean that I’m not alone…” Frowning, Jihoon’s fingers twitched, causing some flowers growing out of control. “Ah no! Stop!” Clasping his hands together, he sighed in relief when they stopped growing. ‘This isn’t good, is there another monster?’

“A monster? Where?” Seungcheol walked back to Jihoon, frowning. “Did something happen while I was gone?”

Jihoon’s eyes widened as his face paled. ‘Did I say that out loud?’ Staring at Seungcheol, he swallowed slowly.

“T-there’s no monster, silly!” Jihoon tried to laugh it off, patting the dirt from his pants. “The garden is done, should we go get inside? It’s getting cold.”

“Did you do all this while I was gone?” Looking at the garden in awe, Seungcheol grinned. “Was I gone that long?” He rubbed his neck, chuckling. “Sorry, Ji.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes, grabbing Seungcheol’s arm, tugging him back towards the castle.

“Come on, slowpoke! It’s getting cold and I’m hungry.” Pouting, Jihoon started to walk faster.

“Yah!” Seungcheol only laughed, wrapping an arm around the Slytherin. “Don’t be so grumpy, Hoonie, we’ll get you your food.”

Jihoon yelped in surprise as an owl flew right over his head, turning around he spotted his owl.

“Hana! Don’t scare me like that!” Puffing his cheeks, he noticed she had something in her beak. “What do you have there girl?” Holding his arm out, the owl landed on it. “Thank you, Hana.” Letting the owl fly away again, Jihoon opened the letter, his eyes scanning quickly over the words. “What the….”

Seungcheol moved to stand next to him, frowning when Jihoon quickly hid the letter behind his back, moving away.

“Jihoon? What was that? Did something happen?” Seungcheol moved quickly when Jihoon started to tremble, wrapping his arms around the shorter boy. “Hey, it’s ok, you can tell me anything.” Pressing a kiss against Jihoon’s head, Seungcheol continued to rub Jihoon’s back.

Jihoon couldn’t believe what he had read, Seungcheol is a guardian as well? Was he hiding it from him? Did he know about him and the others? Jihoon’s eyes widened as he recalled Seungcheol repeating words he haid said in his head.

“You…” Gently pushing himself away, Jihoon looked up at Seungcheol. “I’m going to do something and it might be really stupid and I want you to forget it if it’s not working, ok?” Waiting for an ok from the Gryffindor, Jihoon focused. ‘Are you really a guardian? Have you been hiding this from me?’ Jihoon’s eyes watered, he bit his lip to keep his tears in but failed as soon as Seungcheol replied to him.

“A guardian? This again? You’ve been talking about this before but I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ji” Seungcheol frowned, wiping Jihoon’s tears away. “Hoonie, why are you crying? What was in that letter?”

“I didn’t say anything, I asked you this question in my head…” Jihoon didn’t know what to do, he wanted to run away, hide, but he needed to know what was going on here. ‘He wouldn’t lie to me, does he even know this himself?’ Taking the letter from his pocket, Jihoon scanned his eyes over it again. “You don’t know…” Taking a deep breath, Jihoon grabbed onto Seungcheol’s hand. “I’m going to gather the rest, I will meet you at the garden in 40 minutes, ok?”

“Yeah, ok?” Seungcheol tightened his grip on Jihoon’s hand, not sure what was going on. “I’m not sure what’s going on.” Lifting Jihoon’s head, Seungcheol smiled softly. “I’ll wait for you there.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were joking.” Mingyu sighed, sitting down next to Wonwoo. “So, let me get this straight, there are 5 guardians. You, Jeonghan, Jihoon, Seungkwan and Minghao, correct?” Seeing Wonwoo nod, Mingyu turned to take a better look at this lover. “And all of you have powers? Not magic, but a power? Alright.”

Wonwoo started to feel uncomfortable with the way Mingyu was looking at him. Clearing his throat he opened his mouth.

“According to Headmaster Yu, you and Seungcheol hyung are guardians as well, we never knew, we thought we were alone in this.” Wonwoo looked down, biting his lip. “He doesn’t know what you are yet though. Have, have you ever noticed something strange about yourself that you couldn’t make sense of?”

Mingyu slowly shook his head before he gasped holding his finger up.

“There was something a few weeks ago, in Divination, Professor Chu told me she saw something black, a black monster in my near future, weird right?” Mingyu chuckled, but soon stopped when he saw the look on Wonwoo’s face. “Babe, you have to help me out here, cause I have no idea what’s going on.”

“I do-” They both looked up to see Jeonghan standing there. “Jeonghan? What’s wrong?” Wonwoo immediately stood up.

“Jihoon wants us all to gather, you too Mingyu.” Nodding at Wonwoo, Jeonghan immediately took off again.

Mingyu stood up, walking to his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Is this about what we just talked about?” When Wonwoo didn’t say anything, Mingyu stayed quiet, gently squeezing his waist, ushering him out of the room.

On their way to the great hall, the group slowly came to a halt in front of Jihoon.

“What are we going to do, leader?” Seungkwan looked at Jihoon with scared eyes while clutching onto Jeonghan’s arm. “Are you sure this is ok?”

“If they are truly guardians, they need to know the truth.” Looking over at Mingyu, Jihoon frowned. “I assume you know everything already?” ‘I might have a feeling what he might be…’

“Y-yes.” Mingyu swallowed nervously before whispering to Wonwoo. “Why did Seungkwan call him ‘leader’?”

“Jihoon was picked as our leader, he holds the heart of all of us, it’s the crystal I talked about.” Wonwoo tugged Mingyu a long when the group started walking. “He’s our leader, our center, without him, we wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“Seungcheol is waiting for us by the garden.” Jihoon quickly glanced over at the rest. “Have you explained our powers to Mingyu yet, Wonwoo?”

“N-no, not yet, I was waiting for you to do that.” Wonwoo gripped onto Mingyu’s hand tightly.

Jihoon started to walk a bit faster as soon as he saw Seungcheol, not noticing how the crystal started to glow a dim light.

“There you are! I’m freezing here!’ Seungcheol chuckled, wrapping his arms around Jihoon when he was close enough, ignoring the ‘dumbass’ that came from the Slytherin. “So, are you going to tell me everything now?”

“Yes, I will.” Thanking Seungkwan as he started a fire, Jihoon took a deep breath, he started to tell the story, from their discovery 5 years ago till now. “And today Jeonghan and the others found out we apparently have 2 more guardians, you and Mingyu.” Biting his lip, Jihoon looked at Seungcheol waiting for his reply.

“So all these times you ditched our study sessions, quidditch practice and all these excuses of seeing the headmaster was because you were out there fighting some monsters?!” Seungcheol’s face turned red from anger. “Is this!” He turned to look at Jeonghan while pointing at Jihoon. “Was his fever a result from fighting?”

Jeonghan blinked in surprise but couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up in his throat.

“Yes, he used his power to its full extent this time, got stuck in mud so he couldn’t move anymore, when the fight was over, he passed out.” Jeonghan had a hard time containing his giggles.

Jihoon stared at Seungcheol in disbelief, not quite believing what he was hearing. ‘Is this idiot more concerned about that than what we just told him!?’

“Of course I would be worried, Ji!” Seungcheol turned to look at Jihoon. “Everytime you would disappear I would look everywhere for you, asking everyone if they knew where you were! And when you got sick I didn’t know what to do, so I blamed myself for not looking after you.”

Jihoon didn’t know what to do or how to feel. Tears flowed freely down his face as the crystal started to glow more, lifting itself from under Jihoon’s sweater.

“Jihoon, the crystal. It’s reacting to Seungcheol.” Minghao took a step forward. “What did you do for it to react like that?”

“I...I was talking in my head…” Jihoon looked from the crystal to Seungcheol. “Telepathy, mind reading?” Gasping, Jihoon looked at the crystal, quickly wiping his tears. “Guys, I think it’s time to show them, and let's see if we can see Seungcheol and Mingyu’s true form.”

“What? What true form?” Seungcheol’s confused face only made Jihoon smile. “Jihoon?”

“Guardians unite.” It was but a mere whisper but the crystal heard him. When they opened their eyes again, Jihoon looked down at Seungcheol and Mingyu. “This, this is what I have been wanting to show you for years.” Flying down, Jihoon cupped Seungcheol’s face, smiling softly. “I have always wanted to tell you, about my world, my powers.”

“You’re beautiful.” Seungcheol looked at Jihoon with soft eyes, a gentle smile on his face. “You have always been beautiful, but now, you’re glowing.”

Jihoon sputtered as he backed away, his face bright red. Pushing a laughing Seungkwan and Jeonghan away.

“Can I touch your wings?” Mingyu looked at Wonwoo, an excited look on his face, getting a chuckle from Wonwoo.

“You’ll burn yourself if you do, honey.” Smiling, Wonwoo landed in front of the Gryffindor. “Guys, maybe we should introduce ourselves officially?”

As soon as they landed, they took turns to introduce themselves.

“Boo Seungkwan, Guardian of air.” Seungkwan bowed, his wings fluttering.

“Xu Minghao, Guardian of electricity.” He snarled as his wings zapped him a bit. “Stop that!”

Jihoon chuckled at that but continued to keep his eyes on Seungcheol, finally noticing that the Gryffindor looked a bit older and his clothes had changed as well.

“Yoon Jeonghan, Guardian of water.” Jeonghan mumbled something behind it but the others heard him.

“Jeon Wonwoo, Guardian of fire.” Wonwoo blushed as Mingyu squeezed his hand.

“Lee Jihoon, leader of the Guardians, I’m the Guardian of earth.” Jihoon bowed slightly, keeping eye contact with Seungcheol. “According to our headmaster, you two are guardians as well.” He tilted his head. “Although, you might be a bit different than us, I don’t see your wings.”

“I noticed something before, Seungcheol answered your question but you never said anything, has this happened before?” Jeonghan tapped his chin as he flew a bit closer to Seungcheol.

“It has actually, he has been answering me a lot lately, without me actually asking them.” Jihoon cocked his head to the side, the blush on his cheeks still there. “Y-you look older.”

“You all do, and your hair is longer too.” Mingyu looked around in awe before finally looking back at his boyfriend, who gasped as he locked eyes with him. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Your eyes, they’re yellow.” Lifting his hands, Wonwoo cupped Mingyu’s face. “Jihoon, is he what I think he is?” Wonwoo watched as Jihoon flew closer to them.

“Transformation, Mingyu, have you ever had any blackouts? Parts of a day you can’t seem to remember?” Jihoon watched the young Gryffindor carefully, chuckling as realization hit him. “I may be able to help you two with this. Remember the book I found in the restricted library, Cheol? It might have the answers to our questions.”

Seungcheol looked at the Slytherin, not being able to look away.

“Now I know why the flowers never die around here.” Seungcheol chuckled, making the others smile.

Minghao looked around as he heard someone coming their way, his eyes widened as he saw it was his boyfriend.

“Leader!” Minghao landed quickly while pulling Seungkwan and Jeonghan down with him. “People! They’re coming this way.”

Jihoon focused quickly, hand wrapped around the crystal as everyone turned back to normal. Hiding his crystal just in time as Jun appeared.

“J-jun, what are you doing here?” Minghao smiled nervously, clearing his throat as Jeonghan nudged him. “Wait, did I forget the time? I’m so sorry Junnie!”

Jun chuckled as he looked at his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“It’s ok, I forgive you.” Jun winked teasingly. “Now, can I steal you away from everyone or are you still busy?”

Minghao quickly looked over his shoulder at Jihoon, who nodded smiling.

“You can take me away.” Minghao giggled, holding onto Jun’s arm, waving as they walked off.

“How much do you guys trust Vernon and Jisoo?” Jihoon looked over at the flowers, sighing. “I know what the headmaster has said. But please think about it.” Jihoon looked at the air and water guardian. “You have been a couple since forever, same for you Seungkwan. They deserve to know the truth. It’s time that we stopped lying to everyone.”

Seungkwan and Jeonghan looked at each other before they bowed and ran off.

“Are you sure this is ok, leader?” Wonwoo asked, frowning. “I know Mingyu and Seungcheol are guardians as well, but do you really think it’s a good idea for their lovers to be involved as well?”

“They deserve to know, Wonwoo.” Jihoon looked at Seungcheol. “Besides, I think Seungcheol and I have things to talk about as well.”

Nodding, Wonwoo took off with Mingyu, occasionally looking over his shoulder till they were out of sight.

“What did you want to talk about, Ji?” Seungcheol’s eyes widened as Jihoon transformed again. “I thought you couldn’t do that without the rest?” Seungcheol took Jihoon’s hands in his.

‘You kept reading my mind, without even noticing.’ Smiling softly, Jihoon cupped Seungcheol’s face. ‘I should’ve known you were different. You have done this for years but you never questioned it.’ The blush on Jihoon’s cheeks returned, flying up a bit, he looked into Seungcheol’s eyes. ‘I love you, Seungcheol, I have always loved you.’

Seungcheol looked at Jihoon in awe, did he hear that right? Jihoon loves him? Smiling widely, Seungcheol wrapped his arms around Jihoon’s waist, bringing him back down.

“You have no idea how long I have been wanting to do this.” Brushing his thumb across Jihoon’s lower lip, Seungcheol leaned down to gently press his lips against the Slytherin. Holding him close as he felt a strong but gentle wind surrounding them, slowly lifting them up. Pulling away slightly, Seungcheol smiled gently. “I love you too, kitten, so much.”

___________________________________________________________________________

“Boo, you need to calm down. Did you do something? Did you get into trouble with Professor Bae again?” Hansol chuckled as Seungkwan pouted. “If that’s not it, then what is it? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“You love me, right? No matter what I do, or what I am?” Seungkwan mumbled the last part, a little surprised as he was suddenly pulled forward. “I-I mean...uhm…” Biting his lip, Seungkwan avoided his lover’s eyes.

“I don’t care what you do or what you are, I love you for who you are Boo. I wouldn’t change anything about you.” Hansol smiled. “You’re perfect, even if you say you’re not.” Pressing a soft short kiss on the Hufflepuffs nose, Hansol continued. “Now, if you can’t tell me, why not show me?”

Seungkwan tried hard not to break down into tears then, why was his boyfriend so sweet?

“I c-can’t actually show you, I-I would need Jihoon hyung for that…” Biting his lip, Seungkwan looked away. “But….I think I can show you a little bit of what I can do.” Taking a deep breath, Seungkwan blew towards the paper lanterns that were on his desk, popping them open and letting them float around a bit.

Hansol watched with curious eyes, smiling widely.

“How did you do that? When did you learn that? That is so cool, Boo!” Hansol pulled on Seungkwan’s arms, clearly excited, making Seungkwan laugh. “What? What’s so funny?”

“If you think that is cool, then wait till I can show you more, but I really need Jihoon hyung for this.” Seungkwan huffed. “But he might be a bit busy right now.”

“That’s ok, whatever you want to show me, it can wait.” Hansol smiled. “Apparently I have a mysterious boyfriend.” Grinning, Hansol pulled Seungkwan on his lap. “You’re so cute, Kwannie.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Ok so, please don’t freak out ok? I’m really nervous right now and I might mess up.” Jeonghan paced the room, making wild hand gestures. “I will tell you everything that has been going on, I will show you as well.”

Jisoo stared at his boyfriend, a bit amused as the Ravenclaw continued to mumble.

“Angel, I don’t know if you know, but this would be the 4th time you telling me the story, I have listened all 3 times, I admit, I’m a little confused, but I believe you.” Smiling slightly, Jisoo kissed Jeonghan’s forehead. “Now take a deep breath, show me what you want to show me ok?”

“Y-you’re not mad? I just told you that I’m not a wizard but a guardian.” Jeonghan frowned when Jisoo just smiled. “And you’re not going to question anything?”

“No, I mean, you have told me everything from when you first found out till now, right?” When Jeonghan nodded, he chuckled. “Then I have no questions, I think it’s amazing how there is more than just the magic we’re taught here at school.”

Jeonghan let himself fall down on the bed, whining.

“You’re amazing, do you know that? I thought you would be mad at me, for lying, for disappearing all the time.” Jeonghan closed his eyes. “I can show you a bit of my power though...you deserve to know everything.”

“While I don’t like it that you lied to me, I understand now. I will admit that you worry me daily when I can’t find you. I love you so much, angel, I can’t bear the thought of losing you. You mean so much to me, Jeonghan.” Jisoo looked up surprised at the splash of water. “What was that?”

Jeonghan opened his eyes, slowly controlling the water in the glass while he listened to Jisoo talk. Slowly bringing the water closer to his boyfriend, his eyes widened when he heard Jisoo’s confession, dropping his hand, the water fell onto the floor.

“Y-you won’t lose me! I promise you that!” Jeonghan scrambled to sit up straight, holding onto Jisoo’s shoulders. “I promise I’ll be more careful in my battles!” Tearing up, Jeonghan raised his hand, letting the water flow back into the glass again.

“So you control water.” Smiling, Jisoo pulled Jeonghan closer. “Be careful, but do what you have to do, I trust you completely, angel.” Whispering sweet nothings in Jeonghan’s ear, the Hufflepuff rubbed his boyfriend's back. “You’re doing something so amazing, Hannie, I’m so proud of you, don’t ever think anything otherwise ok? I love you so much.”

_________________________________________________________________________

“I wish you could fly as well.” Jihoon laid on his stomach, his wings fluttering against his back as he watched Seungcheol dip into the lake. “It feels so much better than flying on a broom.” He squeaked as Seungcheol splashed him. “Yah!” Jihoon pretended to be mad but couldn’t help the giggles escaping him.

“I would love to see you fly around more.” Seungcheol swam closer to the edge. “You’re so beautiful, kitten. It all makes sense now that animals love you so much.” He grinned as Jihoon blushed.

Jihoon stood up slowly, walking into water as he felt his wings disappear. He locked eyes with Seungcheol, feeling a shiver run down his back at the look the Gryffindor gave him.

“S-seungcheol.” Jihoon was slowly backed up against the edge, Seungcheol trapping him there between his arms. Jihoon’s face turned bright red as Seungcheol leaned down.

“You’re too cute.” Nuzzling Jihoon’s neck, Seungcheol wrapped his arms around the Slytherin. “You’re driving me crazy.” Chuckling, he pulled back a little. “Should we head back and warm ourselves up?” At the look on Jihoon’s face, Seungcheol scoffed. “In front of the fireplace, Ji. You little pervert.”

“I wa-! I didn’t!” Jihoon stuttered as he looked away. “S-stupid Seungcheol.” Pouting, Jihoon climbed out of the water, waiting for Seungcheol to do the same. Jihoon couldn’t help but sigh, looking at Seungcheol lovingly as he recalled some memories of almost getting caught by the Gryffindor everytime he would practice his newfound power.

Flashback

Laying on his side after a hard fall, Jihoon looked up, ready to yell at the person who was currently laughing at him.

“Oh, it’s you.” Sitting up slowly, Jihoon rubbed his side. “Hope you’re not here to tell me how ‘easy it is’ to fly, you're literally the guardian of air.” With a roll of his eyes, Jihoon stood up, blankly staring at Seungkwan.

“I wasn’t, I came here to warn you.” Seungkwan sighed. “I know we all have to practice hyung, but be careful of where you do it, this is an open space, everyone can see you if you’re not careful enough.” Looking over his shoulder. “Seungcheol hyung has been looking for you, that’s why I hurried over here.”

“Thank you for warning me, if you see him, tell him I went to the library.” Winking at the younger, Jihoon flew up, trying to stay balanced, cursing as he tumbled forward. “Why isn’t this working!!”

Seungkwan looked at him, shaking his head before focusing and opening his heart to the crystal. He slowly flew up to the Slytherin.

“Hyung, you need to trust your power, become one with it, you have to fully embrace it, if not, you will never be able to learn how to control it properly.” Seungkwan looked a bit annoyed. “You’re just like Jeonghan hyung. Too cocky. You might be our leader but we rely on you, hyung.”

After practicing for an hour, Jihoon slowly got the hang of it, sheepishly thanking the young Hufflepuff.

“I’m going to fly around for a bit, can you do me one more favor?” Seeing Seungkwan nod he smiled. “Can you send Hana to me when Seungcheol is trying to find me again?”

“He’s going to be so mad at you, didn’t you have a study date with him?” Seeing Jihoon’s flushed face, Seungkwan grinned. “Oh? Did our leader forget about his date?”

“Sh-shut up! It’s not a date!” Jihoon grumbled as he took off, leaving Seungkwan on the ground. “Stupid Seungkwan, stupid Seungcheol.” The blush on the Slytherin’s face darkened as he thought about the Gryffindor.

Looking down at the quidditch field, Jihoon spotted Wonwoo talking with someone, silently asking his wings to go faster, he made his way towards him. In the middle of yelling Wonwoo’s name, Jihoon’s eyes widened as Wonwoo looked at him with a panicked look.

Jihoon yelped as he saw who Wonwoo was talking too, he quickly dove down behind one of the towers before the Gryffindor could fully turn around.

“What was that? What did you see?” Seungcheol frowned as he called for his broom. “I’m going to check, you stay here.” Mounting his broom, Seungcheol was gone before Wonwoo could say anything.

“Sh-shit, what the hell was he thinking!?” Wonwoo could feel the heart of the crystal close. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jihoon flying towards him before landing next to him, his wings quickly disappearing. “You’re in so much trouble, you’re such an idiot.”

Flashing the Ravenclaw a sheepish smile, Jihoon rubbed the back of his neck.

End of flashback

“I love that look on you, but you’re wet and trembling, we should go head inside, kitten.” Smiling softly, Seungcheol wrapped his arm around the smaller boy. “What were you thinking about?”

“Just one of the many memories where I have almost been caught by you.” Grinning, Jihoon nudged his boyfriend. “I can’t believe I had to hide this for 5 years.” Looking down sadly he continued. “It was torture, not being able to ask you for help, not being there by your side, I’ve been gone for most days without a real explanation.”

“That’s the past, what’s more important is what’s happening now and what the future holds for us.” Seungcheol leaned down, pressing a small kiss against Jihoon’s temple. “You never have to hide again, not from me.”

Snuggling against his boyfriend, Jihoon smiled shyly. He really had to hide a lot. ‘Have to admit that it was fun at times, to hide, watching you look for me.’ Jihoon covered his mouth, giggling.

“You little! Nothing fun about it when I’m worried sick.” Seungcheol shook his head, a small smile on his lips. “Promise me to be careful in the future, with your battles, but also with others?”

“I promise.” His voice was small, Jihoon hung his head. The rest of the trip back to the castle was spent in silence.

____________________________________________________________________________

Jun raised his eyebrow as he watched Minghao pace around the Slytherin common room.

“Babe, why don’t you sit down? You’re making me dizzy.” Jun held his hand out, only to drop it next to him as the Slytherin continued to mumble, panic clear on his face.

“Oh great! Now he’s here!! How many people know the password?” Song Junsu, a bratty 2nd year complained. “Filthy Ravenclaw.”

Looking up, Minghao marched over to the boy, grabbing him by his robes as he pushed him against the wall, electricity running down his arms in anger.

“Don’t you ever talk about my boyfriend like that again, I have no problem kicking your ass.” Minghao’s eyes darkened as he slowly lifted up the boy. “If you do-”

“Mr Xu?” The headmaster had just walked in with Chan, another Slytherin. “What is going on here?” He studied Minghao, warning him with a single look, making Minghao drop the boy, crossing his arms. “Alright. Mr Song, go ahead.”

After some mumbling, Junsu left the common room, but not before shooting a dirt look Jun’s way.

Chan was sure he saw something strange around Minghao but decided to ignore it for now.

“W-why are you here?” Minghao didn’t mean to sound so rude but he was feeling extremely emotional now, the electricity still pumping through his veins. “Is it important?”

Jun frowned, never having seen his boyfriend behave like that, slowly walking over to him, he carefully wrapped his arms around the Slytherin’s waist.

“I have heard Mr Yeon and Mr Boo have told their partners, I’m gonna assume you have done the same?” Turning around, the headmaster walked towards the fireplace. “I have warned all of you not to tell anyone, but I can’t bla-”

“What are you talking about sir? What are you supposed to tell me, Hao?” Jun looked confused, looking down at Minghao he noticed how pale his boyfriend looked. “Hao? Are you ok? Yah! Minghao?”

Minghao stared blankly at the ground, not moving a muscle, when he heard the words of the headmaster, he went pale, his heart racing. ‘They told them everything? Are they crazy!? This is dangerous, I don’t want to put him in danger!’

“S-sir I think he’s hyperventilating!” Chan didn’t know what to do, he had seen the electricity, he had seen the flicker of change in the older Slytherin. But he wasn’t going to bring it up now.

The headmaster turned around, waving his hand over the room slowly, muttering a spell blinding everyone for a second. Once everyone opened their eyes again, they were inside the headmaster’s office. Minghao passed out onto one of the couches.

All 7 guardians and their boyfriends were present, all looking around wondering what was going on.

“Sir?” Jihoon stepped forward. “What’s going on? The crystal went crazy, it wouldn’t stop glowing and shaking! What happened to Minghao?!”

“Calm down, Mr Lee.” Headmaster Yu looked at everyone. “While I’m not happy that you told your partners, I do believe it is only fair that Mr Moon is in on this as well.” He motioned for Jun to step closer. “Mr Lee, it’s up to you to tell him, or have Minghao do it himself.”

Jihoon looked shocked at the mention of Jun not knowing, he slowly turned around, eyes meeting Jun’s.

“I think it’s only fair that Minghao does it, but like showing Seungcheol and Mingyu, we need to be together, I’m going to assume Jisoo and Hansol hasn’t seen everything yet?” Seeing Jeonghan and Seungkwan nod, he continued. “Alright, let Minghao rest first, when he’s awake, come to the garden with him.”

Jun nodded slowly, not sure what this was all about. He only wanted Minghao to be safe. He honestly didn’t care about anything else

“Y-yeah, we’ll be there.” Picking Minghao up, Jun quickly made his way out of the office, mumbling. “Always found them strange.”

“While I’m excited to show you everything, I’m extremely worried about Minghao.” Jeonghan still looked at the spot where Minghao laid. “Minghao is the most fragile of us, while he may not seem like it, his emotions can get out of hand, much like Jihoonie.” Sighing, Jeonghan squeezed Jisoo’s hand.

“Just one question, why am I here and what are you guys talking about?” Everyone turned around to look at the youngest Slytherin. “What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“If you’re going to tell me that there are more guardians or whatever I’m not gonna hesitate to turn this office into a fucking green house!” Jihoon scowled, getting irritated.

Headmaster Yu stared at Chan before slowly shaking his head.

“He’s probably not one, but it should be clear once you have used your crystal, Mr Lee.” Sighing loudly, the headmaster continued. “Now, everyone return to your rooms, get some rest as well. You all have a lot of explaining to do.”

Waving his hand once more, the room was empty.

#seventeen fic #seventeen fanfic #svt #svt fic #svt fanfic #jicheol #jihan #soonchan later #verkoop #meanie #junhao

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bebraveridethedragon · 4 years

Text

I’ve Got No Fucking Clue

Chapter 1

Warning: I don’t think there’s any warnings for this chapter.

Chapter 2

Douxie had managed to fall asleep in the middle of the night, luckily with no nightmares. When he woke up he felt energetic, surprisingly.

It must be the thought of seeing Nat again, or meeting any of the new people. Archie stood up from where he was sleeping on Douxie’s chest before arching his back and stretching.

“You ready Arch?” Douxie asked after he had gotten dressed and brushed his teeth. He doesn’t eat breakfast.

“Yes, I’m quite excited to meet everybody and to see Nat again.” Archie said. He jumped up onto Douxie’s shoulders before he walked out of the room.

It wasn’t until mid day that people started arriving. First was Nat with Bruce, and shortly after that Rogers had shown up.

“Nat!” Douxie yelled as he ran over to give her a hug.

“Hey Doux, Arch, how’ve you been?” Nat asked as she hugged him back.

“I’ve been great, I actually have friends other than Archie now. Although most of them are still in high school. Archie’s also doing good.” Douxie said.

“Well that’s good, now let’s go meet the man out of time.” Nat said. She turned on her heel and walked towards a jet.

A blonde man that reminded Douxie of Steve walked down the ramp. This must be Steve Rogers, Douxie thought.

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers. Is that Hisirdoux?” Coulson introduced Nat and Steve.

“Hey Coulson, it’s great to see you.” Douxie hugged Coulson.

“Hey Archie.” Coulson scratched behind Archie’s ear.

“Ma’am, uh hi Hisirdoux?” Steve waved awkwardly.

“Please, call me Douxie.” Steve nodded before turning to Nat.

“Hi,” she turned to Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. Face time.” Coulson nodded before leaving.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.” Nat said.

“Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” Douxie asked.

“Trading cards?” Steve looked confused.

“They’re vintage, he’s very proud of them.” Nat said. They started walking towards Bruce Banner.

“Dr. Banner.” Steve walked up to Bruce and shook his hand.

“Oh yeah, hi. They told me you’d be coming. They didn’t tell me a kid was going to be here though.” Bruce turned his attention from Steve to Douxie.

“I’m 19, not a kid.” Douxie smiled. Bruce raised an eyebrow in a challenging way, suggesting that he still considered Douxie a kid.

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve said.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked.

“Only word I care about.” Steve replied.

“Must be strange for you, all of this.” Bruce pointed to everything.

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve said.

“Gentleman, you may want to step inside for a minute. It’s going to get a little hard to breath.” Natasha interrupted their conversation.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked.

Bruce looked skeptical, “Really, they wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Bruce and Steve move to the side of the helicarrier and look over.

“Oh no, this is much worse.” Bruce said when he saw the engines.

The helicarrier started rising, and they all walked inside to the bridge.

“Gentlemen.” Douxie heard Fury say. Steve handed a 10 dollar bill to Fury which confused Douxie. He’d have to ask about that later.

Fury walked over to Bruce, holding his hand out. “Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking nicely. So uh... how long am I staying?” Bruce asked.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear. You’ll also have Hisirdoux helping you look.” Fury told him.

“Who’s Hisirdoux?” Bruce looked around confused.

“That would be the kid, although he prefers Douxie.” Steve answered.

Douxie huffed, “I’m not a kid.”

“You look pretty young to me.” Nat said. Douxie glared at her, she knew his real age and still called him a kid.

“Where are you with finding the Tesseract?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

Fury looked at Coulson to explain. “We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not going to find them in time.” Nat said. Only those close to her could tell she looked disappointed.

“That’s why Hisirdoux is helping.” Fury said.

“You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce asked, getting back on topic.

“How many are there?” Fury asked.

“ Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce asked.

“Agent Romanoff would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please. And take Hisirdoux with you.” Fury said. Nat nodded before leading them down the hall.

“You’re gonna love it doc, it’s got all the toys. It also has extremely expensive stuff so try to keep an eye on Douxie.” Nat said. Douxie let out an offended huff.

Bruce chuckled, “Alright, I’ll babysit. Although I’m not promising I’ll be good at it.”

“Oh you don’t have to babysit him, just don’t let him break anything.” Nat laughed.

“I won’t break anything.” Douxie tried to defend himself.

“That’s what you say every time, right before you break something.” Nat said. Douxie huffed again before sitting down on a chair in the lab.

The chair broke right as he sat down.

“Fuzz buckets.” Nat and Bruce started laughing as Douxie groaned.

“Told you.” Nat said smugly.

“Haha, congratulations. You were right as always.” Douxie mock laughed.

“I’m going to leave you two now, see you later Doux.” Nat left the room.

“So how are you supposed to help me find the Tesseract?” Bruce asked.

“Oh I’m not looking for the Tesseract, I’m searching for Loki’s staff while you look for the Tesseract. But I can help you if you need help with anything.” Douxie responded.

“How are you supposed to find the staff?” Bruce asked, looking genuinely interested.

“Magic.” Douxie said while waggling his fingers. Bruce looked at him in disbelief.

“We’ve got a hit, doc your staying here but Fury wants Douxie to come with us.” Steve came running in saying. He looked confused as to why Fury could want a kid to fight a god but he wasn’t going to question it.

Douxie jogged out to where the jets were and saw Nat boarding one. He entered behind her and she smiled at him and Archie as she sat in the pilot seat. She told them where they were going and then started preparing for takeoff.

Steve joined them after a few minutes, wearing his Captain America get up. His helmet was off though, so it didn’t look too weird.

“Hey Spangles nice of you to join us.” Douxie said, smiling widely at Steve. He glanced at Douxie with a face that said I don’t know why your here but don’t mess anything up.

Douxie got that face a lot. He got it a lot from Morgana when he first started being Merlin’s apprentice. She never really liked him, she thought he was a screw up that didn’t deserve to be Merlin’s apprentice.

Yeah well, jokes on her Douxie thought. The flight to Germany was a long one, but not as long as it would have been on a normal plane. It was a few hours at most.

When they got there they heard Loki making a speech with everybody kneeling before him

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki said, his arms thrust out.

One old man stands up. “Oh fuzz buckets.” Mutters Douxie.

“Not to men like you.” The old man says.

“There are no men like me.” Loki says.

“There are always men like you.” The old man argues.

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” Loki points his staff at the old man. Steve jumps from the plane at the same time. Steve lands in front of the old man and uses his shield to deflect the blast from Loki’s staff.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Steve says.

Douxie laughs from where he’s standing in the jet.

“The soldier. A man out of time.” Loki mocks.

“I’m not the one out of time.” Steve retorts.

The jet starts moving and Nat points a machine gun at Loki. “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Nat demands.

“Your puny guns are no match for me.” Loki says before shooting a blast at the jet. Nat moves out of the way while Douxie jumps from the jet.

“They might not be but we are.” Douxie says. He’s in a crouching position with Archie flying right behind him.

“You’re a wizard.” Loki states. Douxie can see a flash of fear before it’s replaced by a determined look.

He shoots a blast at Douxie but Douxie summons his staff and brings up a shield.

“Our turn.” Douxie says before Archie shoots fire out of his mouth and Douxie warps it to surround Loki. Loki desperately starts to put out the fire. He manages to get out and he summons more of himself.

AC-DC starts blaring over the radio on the jet and everybody looks up in confusion. Iron Man blasts the real Loki back before landing on the ground and pointing all of his weapons at Loki.

Steve, Douxie, and Tony surround Loki; Steve with his shield, Tony with his suit, and Douxie with his staff and Archie right behind him.

“Make your move Reindeer Games,” Loki puts his hands up in surrender and his armor materialized away.

“Good choice.” Tony says.

“Mr. Stark.” Steve says.

“Captain, why’s there a kid here?” Tony asked just now noticing Douxie.

“Hi I’m Douxie.” Douxie introduced himself.

“And the flying cat?” Tony pointed at Archie.

“Oh that’s Archie.” Douxie smiled at them before walking into the jet that had landed.

Steve and Tony followed him, pulling Loki with them. They were on their way back to the helicarrier when it started storming out of nowhere. Nat’s talking to Fury over her head set as she pilots the jet.

“I don’t like it.” Steve says, looking at Loki.

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily or being outshone by an emo teenager with his cat?” Tony asks.

“Actually, I’m a dragon that can transform into a cat.” Archie says from where he’s perched on Douxie’s shoulders. Tony shrieked and Steve jumped before staring at the cat in shock. Douxie started laughing and it was a miracle that Archie stayed on.

“Since when can you talk?” Asked Steve.

“Since always, but I felt like scaring you when you least expected it.” Archie replied easily.

“I don’t remember it ever being this easy. This guy packs a wallop.” Steve said after getting over the shock of a talking cat.

“Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?” Tony asked.

“Maybe he does yoga.” Douxie said. Tony pointed at Douxie showing his agreement.

“What are pilates?” Steve asked.

“It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle.” Tony said. Steve stared at him, unamused at his nickname.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Steve said after a couple beats.

“Really, he told me.” Douxie says.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you. Or put in a file.” Tony added that last part as an afterthought, looking at Douxie.

Thunder and lightning hit the jet, causing it to shake for a moment.

“Where’s that coming from?” Nat asked. No one answered.

More thunder and Loki was starting to look a little uneasy.

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve mocks Loki.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows.” Loki says.

Lightning hits the jet again and a thump can be heard from the top of the jet. The ramp is forced open and a man with long blonde hair walks in before grabbing Loki and then flying out.

“Fuzz buckets.” Douxie mutters before going to follow them.

“Stay back kid, let the adults handle this.” Tony says grabbing his bicep. He puts his helmet on.

“Another Asgardian?” Nat asks.

“Think the guys a friendly?” Steve asked after no one answers Nat.

“Doesn’t matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” Tony says before moving down the ramp.

“Stark we need a plan of attack!” Steve says.

“I have a plan. Attack.” Tony jumps out of the jet. Douxie rolls his eyes before he’s held back by a different hand.

“Tony was right, leave the fighting to us.” Steve says.

“I’d sit this one out Cap.” Nat says.

“I don’t see how I can.”

“These guys come from legends, they're basically gods.”

“There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.” With that Steve jumps out of the plane.

“They’re going to get themselves killed.” Archie says.

“So follow them, you’re older than both of them combined don’t let them bench you.” Nat says.

“But I kinda want to see how this plays out.” Douxie says. Nat smirked and got the jet as close as she could.

They watched as Steve jumped into the middle of the fight and immediately get hit with a flying hammer. Steve went flying, while Tony shot a blast at the Asgardian.

Douxie rolled his eyes, “Oh fine I’ll go help them.”

Douxie jumped out of the jet and landed right in between the Asgardian and Tony. Steve was standing up from where he was knocked down. Douxie used his magic to cause a small explosion that knocked them all over.

“Kid? I thought I told you to stay in the jet?” Tony says standing up.

“I’ve never listened to people before, why would I start now?” Douxie asks.

“Who are you?” The Asgardian asks.

“Hisirdoux Casperan, but everyone calls me Douxie.” Douxie answered.

“I am Thor, god of thunder. I’ve heard of you, the Son of Coul mentioned a wizard named Hisirdoux the last time I was on Earth.” Thor said. Douxie looked surprised at that.

“Cool, can we talk this out now. Loki’s just sitting by himself.” Thor nodded before going and getting Loki. They entered the jet and sat down.

“What are you?” Steve asked Douxie.

“A wizard, Archie’s my familiar.” Douxie answered.

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the helicarrier.

Chapter 1

This story is also on AO3 if you want to read it there.

#wizards #tales of arcadia #douxie #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #avengers #marvel #tony stark #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #clint barton #bruce banner #nick fury

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